WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1925, Page 10

WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM.

fOUNDATION STONE LAID.

PRIME MINISTER PERFORMS

CEREMONY.

A NOBLE REMINDER OF SACRIFICE.

' The foundation 6tone of Auckland's War Memorial Museum was laid this «fternoon by the Prime Minister, the Hon. J. Gordon Coates, at a brilliant ceremony, which was witnessed by a very large gathering of citizens. Fortunately, the weather, which had been < threatening, broke opportunely, and the view from the glorious hill-top on which the memorial is situated was magnificent, and imprjessive. The Coromandel granite base is sufficiently advanced to enable one to realise what a very noble , building the museum will be. At the north-east corner of this granite base, at a point that overlooks the harbour, , the foundation stone laying ceremony took place. Flags fluttered from the high lattice derrick, which can be seen from all round the vicinity, and a temporary dais round the base of the build- ' ing near the foundation stone was hand- ' somely decorated with more bunting and • palms and other greenery in tubs. The presence of the Municipal Band enlivened the gathering, and a smart guard of honour of cadets received the Prime i Minister. Noticeable among the large- ! gathering were a number of members; of 1 the Returned Soldiers' Association, ' many of whom wore their war decora- i lions, and a band of splendid old vet- : erans from the Veteran's Home, who ' were present by special invitation. i It was fitting that the chairman of : the Citizens'. Committee, Sir James Gun- i son, who has done so much for making ■ the memorial possible, should preside. ] In opening the proceedings Sir James : paid a fine tribute to the late Hon. W. - F. Massey, who had taken the keenest interest in the' project of such a memorial since the time it was initiated ' in 1920. Sir James acknowledged the j generous support the citizens of Auck- ■ land had given the movement. He em- , phasised the fact that the War Memorial • •was the dominating Idea of the museum, ( -the museum part of it being a combined j feature. Reference was made to the j long and faithful services of the late , Mr. Thomas Cheeseman, who for over , 50 years was curator of the museum, , and had been followed by a worthy sue- , cessor in 'Mr. Gilbert Archey. Sir James , ■ said* the museum, was greatly indebted , to the Auckland City Council for the , lease of the splendid site that had been selected, the lease having been validated by Parliament. The building would -form a great memorial offered as a tribute, of gratitude and affection in ■memory of those who had fought and fallen, and'also as a tribute to those -who had fought and were still with us. An Inspiration. In the unavoidable absence of the Mayor (Mr. George Baildon), the DeputyMayor (Mr. J. A. Warnock) represented the City Council, and explained the part , that body had taken in bringing about, .the consummation of the movement to fittingly respect the memory of our war heroes. Mr. Warnock said it was indeed a red letter day in the history of our beloved' city. To-day they were assembled to mark v ;' their presence and interest and us citizens in erection of a beautiful ™.l stately memorial to the beloved dead who paid the supreme sacrifice' in the. great war. They gave them all freely, and did not count the cost too- great, and surely it was only fitting that the citizens in their turn should give willingly of their substance in order that the great memorial might be truly jvorthy and not hampered for lack of funds. There was a fairly substantial sum still to he raised, but Mr. Warnock said it would, be forthcoming when the final appeal was made. Referring to the part the City Council had taken in the project, the DeputyrMayor said that when the memorial was decided upon the Citizens' Committee approached the council to see if it would be possible r to secure a site on some part of the endowment properties. The council recognised that" the very best site could not be too good, and finally decided to offer the present position* subject to Parliamentary 'sanction, .which was obtained, and the site was leased to the Museum trustees for a term of 99 years. The council was unanimous in its decision, although generally its policy was •not to alienate any portion of its endowments, but in the present case, what citizen would be so mean of soul as to find fault with it for transferring the site practically for all time? It was a splendidly situated site, having a noble outlook, and the memorial coiild be viewed from all' quarters, eyen being easily picked out from out at sea. The memorial, .said Mr: WArnock, would stand up overlooking the' whole city, a splendid structure, majestic in its proportions and graceful in its lines,, a continual reminder of the debt of gratitude the people owed to those in whose honour it-was erected. It would also stend out as , an inspiration to the citizens of the generations vet unborn, to continue to beautify and ennoble their city of which the citizens were so justly proud. Mr. Warnock said he must congratulate the Citizens'. Committee on the success so': far attained,- and he sincerely trusted that >yhen the building was finished and the wonderful wealth of objects now in the old museum and stowed away in all .sorts of places, were set up in their : new home the whole might be opened , free of debt! He expressed his personal ' appreciation and felt he was also voicing ' the sentiments of the citizens generally, . haA Z L mes 61u196n f ° r the part he CtoJiStS f 8 Ch + t l ' rman 0f ole Chens' ! Committee for the great thought and j work he had devoted to the nrnionf ' taSSd effolt kn 7 the houfs ° f Hs£> demised "* * at >«Ponsibility j fDj fte «v2i e ilf r ??" h0 P J Of New Zealand ' (JJr. Ayenll) had said a prayer »«_ the Lord's Prayer had been repeated, the handsome granite foundation stone was • swung into position by one of the cranes and declared well and truly laid by the Prime Minister, who was presented with a trowel by the architects (Messrs .Gnerson, Aimer, and Harrison) and a .mallet by the contractors (Messrs. Hansford, Mills, Ltd.). A copy of the Archbishop's prayer, a history of Auckland and of the Museum, the daily papers and the official list of subscribers to the' building fund were enclosed in a copper casket and enclosed in the foundation stone. A Worthy Memorial. . , The Prime Minister, who made an excellent speech, said he felt deeply honoured by being'asked to. lay the stone. He referred with regret to the unavoidable absence of. the GovernorGeneral through illness, and alio of the Mayor of Auckland. Speaking of Mr. Massey, the Premier said hie late chief 'had always taken a great interest in the Memorial Museum since its' inception. l .

Mr. Massey had gone great work daring the war, and had. shown a sound, firm judgment, had never wavered, was always cheerful, and full of hope, and above all he had an unfailing belief in the final success of the Allies. Mr. Coatee reminded his hearers that we were now within three days of the anniversary of the declaration of war, and that led him to refer to some of the causes of the trouble. • The causes were well known, but they would, bear repetition. The first was a desire to uphold the treaty for the defence of the weak, to which Britain had attached her name. That was a matter of honour to the name of Britain and, therefore, to the British Empire. It was not long before it was realised that other issues were at stake —the safety of civilisation and of the •Critish Empire. There was the choice offered of freedom under the Union Jack or of domination of the world by a Power whose brutal methods no one desired to be placed under. From that wonderful day in 1915, at; Gallipoli, until the closing days of the ; war, the men of New Zealand and Australia, in co-operation with the soldiers of the Motherland, achieved the impossible. - New Zealand soldiers made a name for themselves in history, a name which future generations will do their utmost to uphold. Innumerable tributes to their qualities as soldiers had been paid to them by those who were privileged to lead them. An Empire Movement. Speaking generally of war memorials, the Prime Minister said the movement ■had now become an. Empire one. Numbers had been dedicated, and many others all over the Empire were still in course of erection. It was a good sign, for.such memorials represented the outward expression of the soul of the people in appreciating the services and sacrifices of the men of the Allied Forces, and particularly of the British Empire. As His Majesty the King had said in his message to the people on the occasion of his visit to the Belgian and French Memorials in 1922: "Never before in history have a people thus dedicated and maintained individual memorials to their fallen, and in the course' of my: pilgrimage I have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to. come than this massed multi-tude-of silent witnesses to the desolation of war. And I feel that so long as we have faith in God's purposes, we cannot but believe that the existence of these visible memorials will eventually serve to draw all peoples together in sanity and self-control, even as it has already set the relations between our Empire and our Allies on the deep-rooted bases of a common heroism and a common agony." Mr. Coates went on to give particulars of New Zealand's battlefield memorials at Longueyal, Les Quesnoy, Messines, Gravenstafel and Chunuk Bair. There was still to be erected a memorial to commemorate the exploits of the Mounted Rifles in Palestine and Syria. In addition to the above six memorials, the cost of which was born by the !\«» Zealand Government, there had also been erected on the Suez Canal banks a memorial to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand men who laid down their lives. That memorial had been erected with funds subscribed for by the men of the Australian and New Zealand .forces in Palestine, each man giving a day's pay. To supplement that the New Zealand Government had given £50,00 and the Australian Government £10,000. New Zealand's War. Effort. Recalling New Zealand's part in the war, Mr. Coates said the total number of ' men sent abroad was ' 100,444; in training on the date of the armistice, 9924; New Zealanders enlisted in the British Army, 1279; enlisted in the Australian forces, 2091.. The number of deaths overseas was 16,697; died in camps in New Zealand or after discharge from war disabilities up to December, 1923, 1469. The Prime Minister paid a tribute to the part played by the native races. The number of Maoris sent overseas was 2227; Rarotongans, 263; Niueans, 198. The Maoris in training at the armistice numbered 176, Rarotongans 93, Fijians> 54, Gilbert Islanders 23. The figures showed that the enlistments within the Empire worked out at: United' Kingdom, 22.11 per cent of the whole'male population; New Zealand, 19.35 per Cent of the white population; Canada. 13.48 per cent; Australia, 13.43 per cent; South Africa, 11.12 per cent. '.'... Generous War Pensions. ", •• - Referring briefly to the matter of war pensions the Premier-showed-that the total payments to March 31 last, in New Zealand amounted to £11,384,479. The gross annual • value -of - all pensions granted to March 31 last, was £3,505,302, and the number of pensions in force at the date mentioned was 21,318. - Coming more particularly to the War Memorial .-which Auckland' was' raising in honour of its soldiers,. Mr. Coates emphasised the pleasure it had, been for the Government to co-operate ; ' With the Auckland citizens by making the substantial donation of £25,000. Mr. Coates thought the Auckland Memorial was unexampled in scope and size anywhere in the Empire. It would be a truly grand memorial of the men who had so well upheld the -honour of the country, and had died in its service, and also to those -men who -had -fought- and had happily survived. The scope and grandeur of of Memorial , was an. evidence of the public spiritedncss of • the people of Auckland. ■ The site was unique, and'no one could look out over that wonderful panorama and not -pronounce the site well chosen. •Turning briefly to international affairs Mr. Coates spoke of the necessity for the cultivation of good understanding. He specially mentioned the forthcoming visit of the-United States Fleet, which he looked upon as an influence to promote- a- better feeling- between the nations of the Pacific and for the preservation of peace and the paving of the way for a further reduction in armaments. ' Mr. Coates emphasised the vitial necessity for Britain to maintain the supremacy of her sea routes and ensure security for her world-wide commerce. After reiterating his sense of honour at being asked to come up to Auckland to lay the stone of a building which would perpetuate down the.centuries the sacrifices of our kith and kin, and the part 'particularly played by the boys who came from Auckland. 'Mr. Coates closed 4 fine address with the following quotation:-— . , , "They shnll not st«~ old as we that are alive prow old, Age shall not weary them, nor veirs condemn. ' ■ , At the Bpttjß down of the sun and in the morning 1 Wo shall remember them.:,'. General MelviU, General Officer Com- . manding the New Zealand Forces, spoke • on behalf of the .returned soldiers, and » paid a fine tribute to the noble memorial ,v the'people of Auckland were "erecting." i