MEMORIAL HUT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 262, 5 November 1934, Page 5

MEMORIAL HUT.

WAR WORK OF Y.M.C.A.

PETONE BUILDING OPENED. LORD BLEDISLOE'S TRIBUTE. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Sunday. A memorial Y.M.C.A. hut which has an interesting history was officially opened at Petone this afternoon by the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe. After the Armistice, and prior to demobilisation, New Zealand soldiers contributed a sum of approximately £1500 as an expression of their gratitude for the work which had been done for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force through the Y.M.C.A. The money was placed on deposit until the total increased to over £2000, and at the last conference of the New Zealand Y.M.C.A. Movement the decision was- made to build a war memorial Jnit at Petone.

"It would be difficult to overstate the value to our Dominion soldiers of the noble, far-reaching and selfless work of this great organisation of Christian philanthropy during the Great War, or of its unflagging devotion to the highest interests of the youth of the country since peace was declared," said his Excellency in performing the opening ceremony in the presence of a large gathering.

"No organisation in war time contributed more to the physical and spiritual comfort and happiness _of our soldiers while away from their homes than the Y.M.C.A.," said his Excellency, "and it is equally true to say that no organisation during the stressful and anxious period of the last three years has done more to inspire hope and hapiness in the vouth of this nation, to save them from moral degradation and decadence. or to find them employment in conditions of unprecedented difficulty.

"For the strenuous, unremitting fight for the maintenance of Christian ideals and against the perils of despair and idleness, the people of the Dominion owe to the Y.M.C.A. a debt which I can find

no words adequate to acknowledge, and which can only be fittingly recognised by extending to them and the publicspirited leaders and workers all the assistance, moral, practical and financial, that we possibly can." That public support and sympathy had not been Tacking was evidenced by the fact that during the war the people of New Zealand contributed no le6s than £301,000 toward the work of the Y.M.C.A. overseas, said his Excellency. "I doubt whether any part of the Empire. With a similar population or the same amount of material resources could have put up such a fine achievement in the matter," he added. "I notice with satisfaction that in certain districts an attempt is being made to co-operate the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A., so that, by a reduction in overhead, they may be able to carry on more efficiently in some districts. Both bodies have suffered considerably during the last few years, and where it is pos-

sible to rejuvenate the movement by joining forces in administration it is well worth sympathetic consideration." Included in the gathering this afternoon were a number of former Y.M.C.A. field secretaries who served in various theatres of war. They held a reunion dinner last evening in the Y.M.C.A. hut at Trentham.