The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1933. OUR ANNIVERSARIES

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 101, 23 January 1933, Page 8

The Dominion. MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1933. OUR ANNIVERSARIES

A cynic has observed that anniversaries gave for festivals and banquets Certain it is h J niversar o f W eltOT “ as,/,he ra “ s ’ Of worthiness in it,”, observes George Elio o{ its “must feel an answering thrill when it I s J d it is rem inded and children’s children. . u 1S T IS that « hist „y is nr. which does not spring out of, and blossomsrnp , „ Hence a “K 'haTK°Ss eoXta same passion tor -niversanes as is observed in the older countries it is - n New z ea . - - only cm an 1 Old World civilisation implanted in new soil and estab , g with YeartDay the Easter festival, and the Saints’ days of England, Scotland and Ireland, a . Empne Day.fhe War , however, we obtained our first real thrill of ‘national consciousness, and calendered anniversaries peculiarly our own° n Th”Galfipoli Landing and Paschendaele, to mention bu wo of the innumerable occasions when our manhood was suprenidy tested, were epics to be immortalised, not by festivals and Junketings but by solemn intervals of prideful reverence and introspection The eminence, the nobleness of a people,’ says Geoige El ot depends on its capability of being stirred by memories, and of striving tor what we call spiritual ends—ends which consist not in immediate materia nossesson, but in the satisfaction of a great feeling that animates the collective body as with one soul.” That is an anniversary sentiment particularly appropriate to the times.