ANZAC DAY OBSERVANCE

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 78, 1 April 1936, Page 6

ANZAC DAY OBSERVANCE

ANOTHER SOLDIER'S VIEW. (To the Editor.) In connection with tlie proposed plebiscite on Anzac Day observance by the Auckland R.S.A., may I suggest they add a third, as an alternative to the questionnaire, viz., "i r6 you in favour of the abolition of Anzac Day?" Further, as I believe the A.R.S.A. represents only about one-third of the ex-soldiers in the district, will they give every man, member or not, the opportunity to express an opinion 011 a matter that concerns nioro than the executive and its members, so that we may obtain something more final than their present indeterminate proposal? That Anzac Day observance, as such, has become a farce is increasingly evident; its intended is of 110 concern to an increasing majority The memory of the war dead remains enshrined in the hearts of those wlio loved them—relatives, friends, and their mates who served with them—without an Anzac Day They would not ask for more who gave their all.. Every man who served did so because of ail "ideal" —the ideal that he was in a. "war to end war," and for which he knew lie might have to give his very ljf c What has been the result of this service for an ideal? The condition of the world to-day is the answer; but not attributable to the "idealists." Even here in Xcw Zealand we have just read in the Press, the Minister of Defence (and War Pensions) thinks that legjslation to amend the War Pensions Acts so badly needed by so many ex-servicemen' is likely to be postponed to another session. *Ho also says he intends to popularise territorial camps. So the "war to end war" remains as ever, tlie great illusion. The welfare of its survivors can remain as something to bo postponed to another time, perhaps to make way for the popularising of military service and ceremonial parades in preparation for the next "war to end war." Is this why we perpetuate Anzac Day? Let us be absolutely honest in this matter. ANOTHER ONE.