SPLENDID WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 139, 14 June 1932, Page 5

SPLENDID WORK.

ST. JOHN AMBULANCE. GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S PRAISE VALUE OF SELF-HELP. High appreciation of the service rendered to the community by the St. John Ambulance Association was expressed by the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, at last evening's annual meeting of the Auckland centre. "No one could live in this country with his eyes open without realising what an invaluable aid those who work in the ranks of the St. John Ambulance are," declared his Excellency. The large attendance at the meeting and the obvious enthusiasm which workers and sympathisers alike displayed, said his Excei'iency, induced him to express his most cordial sympathy with the work of the association throughout New Zealand, and to wish all who had put their hands to the work success and God speed. During the last two and a half years, said his Excellency, lie had had opportunities of seeing what an extraordinary asset to New Zealand the movement was. "Indeed, if I was inclined at any time to entertain doubts as to the continued vigour and development of this country, there are six movements to which I could turn to remove those doubts and to fill me with confidence as to the future of this country of opportunity and sunshine—and one of those movements is undoubtedly the St. John Ambulance," declared his Excellency. " Ever Ready to Help." The St. John Ambulance, said Lord Bledisloe, was an ever-ready help in the event of an accident, whether on the football field, or on the racecourse, or in the busy haunts of mankind, and one could not help realising the efficiency with which members discharged their humanitarian work. The Order of St. John had existed for upwards of 700 years, and to-day was the oldest form of chivalry in the world. The Order was based on the qualities of piety, human sympathy, and courage. Before it came into existence there had been lacking that element of human sympathy that had rendered war a much less barbarous undertaking. Apart from Divine help, said his Excellency, there were three sources of help to which human beings looked in times of necessity. One was self-help — and he expressed the most earnest hope that New Zealand would never lose that fine old characteristic of the early pioneers—another was mutual help, of which the Order of St. John was a great example, and the third was Government help. "I venture to say that in times of trouble and distress such as the present self-help and mutual-help are infinitely more valuable than any help from the Government," declared his Excellency.

Value of Self-help. Lord Bledisloe expressed the earnest hope that the people of New Zealand would never lose their desire for selfhelp and come to lean more and more on the Government. As long as it was found that there was a large proportion of the population who were willing to give not only money but also their personal services to such a work as that of the St. John Ambulance, his Excellency, for his part, believed that there was a great future for the country. In conclusion, Lord Bledisloe complimented all those who were carrying on the work of the association. "There is no work being carried on in this country," he said, "in which I have a more profound sympathy than that which is being carried on by your association."