The Dominion SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1926. AN OCCASION FOR UNITED ACTION

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 208, 29 May 1926, Page 8

The Dominion SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1926. AN OCCASION FOR UNITED ACTION

At the moment the position exists that two distinct bodies have raised funds with, which to establish memorials to, Wellington soldiers who served in the Great War. The Citizens War Nlemorial Committee holds a sum of approximately £20,000, and, the Carillon Society has within the last week or two raised £lO,OOO in the course of a remarkably brief and effective campaign. A mere glance at the facts should convince anyone that there are the strongest reasons for considering whether the two bodies named, both of which have clone excellent work, cannot come together and reach such an agreement as would enable them to pool their funds and erect a single memorial. When the carillon proposal was first mooted, some members o, the War Memorial Committee objected on the ground that it would be impracticable to raise the additional funds required within a reasonable period. Pointing out that the collection of the £20,000 in hand had been a slow and difficult process, these members contended that the raising of another £lO,OOO for a carillon would be an impossible task. Although at the time they seemed not unreasonable, these contentions have been very completely upset by the extraordinarily prompt and ready response made by the public to the appeal of the Carillon Society. It is obvious that the members of the society did their work particularly well, but more than this is to be inferred from the splendid spontaneity with whjch the carillon funds were subscribed. No better evidence could be desired that the carillon movement is approved whole-heartedly by the community in general. If any serious doubts, are still entertained on this subject, they could be tested by an appeal to subscribers through the Press for endorsement or objections to the policy of pooling the funds and erecting a single memorial in the shape of a suitable tower carrying a carillon. The opinion probably will be almost universal, however, that the speedy success which crowned the appeal of the Carillon Society provides in itself all the evidence that is necessary. The whole matter should be considered without prejudice in light of the changed conditions brought about by the enterprising and successful efforts of the Carillon Society. The ruling aim, indeed the only aim, should be to erect a memorial worthy of the meh and women who laid their city, their country, and the Empire under a debt that can never be repaid. If that aim is adopted and pursued unswervingly, the War Memorial Committee and the Carillon Society may well agree to act unitedly in erecting such a memorial. Detail difficulties certainly will be overcome if all concerned come together in the right spirit. The question of site, for instance, need give rise to no controversy. It is a matter only of selecting the best site that is available. The erection of a war memorial is an undertaking of -all others in which it should be possible to count upon united action and smoothworking co-operation. In the present case, co-operation should be all the easier since it has been made manifest that public opinion strongly favours the idea of embodying a carillon in the memorial to be erected in Wellington.