AN ANZAC DAY MESSAGE

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23003, 24 April 1940, Page 10

AN ANZAC DAY MESSAGE

National Leaders’ > Joint Appeal “SAME SACRIFICE TO-DAY ” Wider Implications Of War (PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, April 23. The Governor-General (Lord Galway) has associated himself with Ministers of the Grown and other representative citizens in giving to the people, an Anzac o ay message outlining ideals associated with the spirit of Anzac. The message has been signed by Lord Galway, all the members of the Cabinet, the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton), and other prominent members of the Opposition, the Chief Justice (the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers), representatives of the native race, the Mayors of the four principal cities, representatives of several of the principal religious denominations, the Chancellor of the University of New Zealand (the Hon. J. A. Hanan), and representatives of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, the. Labour Party, the Municipal Association, the Counties Association, the Farmers’ Union, the Associated Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Labour, and the Employers’ Federation. The full tejet of the message is as follows: “Twenty-five years ago to-morrow the Anzacs landed on. Gallipoli. Their sacrifice and the sacrifice of those who went later was made to build a better world from which war would be abolished. Theirs was essentially no less than a heroic sacrifice in order that the foundations of a new world order might be securely laid in peaceful associations among rations. “But to-day we are again at war. To-day our young men are facing the same sacrifice in the same spirit and to the same end as those who gave their all 25 years ago. The men of 1914-18 did their job and did it magnificently. But the moral and spiritual law which should influence human life and action has been given no adequate place in the relations that have subsequently emerged between nations. Truth, justice, these have, been denied, and in their stead the doctrines of force, dictatorship, and aggression have in later years been openly espoused. “Inspiration and Challenge” “To free the world from this menace we are again at war. Memories of the determination, courage, and sacrifice which to-mor-row’s anniversary calls forth serve as both an inspiration and a challenge in this present grave hour of crisis. But Anzac brings more than reverence for the memories of those who have passed bn. It brings also realisation of responsibilitiesto-! those who are left. “Our responsibility in the present conflict is clear. It is not merely our own security which is endangered, nor merely the future of- the British Commonwealth which is in the balance. It is not only our political institutions and democratic forms of Government which are threatened. It is those very principles which have made civilisation possible,- which give value and meaning to life itself, that are at stake. The rule of law, the search for truth, the protection of the weak against the strong—these are the vital issues. "On such issues there can be no compromise. From the defence of these principles there can be no turning back. The task we have set ourselves may be fraught with tremendous difficulties and may require heavy sacrifices. The immediate struggle will be arduous. It may. be long. It certainly will demand from our nation that it should withhold nothing that may contribute to oUr strength. ’ “We must live, work, think, and act constructively, collectively, and unitedly, submerging with willing cheerfulness individual, sectional, and national prejudices not only for the sake of New Zealand but for the whole of humanity. However the war develops, one thing is certain—its outcome will depend upon the determination of the peoples of all nations, including our own, to unite in a common purpose' to bring into being the spirit of love, honesty, and unselfishness which alone can provide , a basis for lasting peace.” List of Signatures The full list of signatures to the message is as follows: Galway, Governor-General; P. Fraser, Prime Minister; W. Nash, Minister for Finance; D. G. Sullivan, Minister for Industries and Commerce; H. G. R. Mason, Attorney-General; H. T. Armstrong, Minister for Housing; R. Semple, Minister for Public Works; W. E. Parry, Minister for Internal Affairs; P. C. Webb, Minister for Labour; F. Jones, Minister for Defence; W. Lee Martin, Minister for Agriculture; F. Langstone, Minister for Lands; D. Wilson, Leader of the Legislative Council; Adam Hamilton, Leader of the Opposition; G. W. Forbes, M.P.; J. G. Coates, M.P.; Michael Myers, Chief Justice; A. T. Ngata, M.P.; E. T. Tirikatene, M.P.; Ernest Davis,- Mayor -of Auckland; T. C. A. Hislop, Mayor of Wellington; R. M. Macfarlane, M.P., Mayor of Christchurch; A, H. Allen, Mayor of Dunedin; W. Perry, Dominion president of the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association; J. Roberts, president of the New Zealand Labour Party; T. Jordan, president of the Municipal Association of New Zealand; C. J. Talbot, president of the New Zealand Counties’ Association; W. W. Mulholland, president of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union; W. S. Mac Gibbon, president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of New Zealand; A. McLagan, president of the New Zealand Federation of Labour; W. Machin, president of the New. Zealand Employers’ Federation; J. A. Hanan, Chancellor of the University of New Zealand; Campbell New Zealand, Primate; F. A. Bennett, Bishop of Aotearoa; T. F. Connolly, Vicar-General, on behalf of Archbishop O’Shea; J. Lawson Robinson, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand; Leslie B. Neale, president of the Methodist Church of New Zealand; J. Evan Smith, Lieutenant Commissioner of the Salvation Army; S. Katz, Rabbi of the Jewish Community.