PEACE OF MIND

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 144, 14 December 1940, Page 8

PEACE OF MIND

MUST BE RESTORED

TASK FOR NEW ZEALANDERS

"New Zealanders in the past have gone out from these islands and played an important part in world affairs. Is it too much to hope that they may do so in the futui'e in ever-increasing numbers, and that those not privileged to serve on a large scale may yet play their part in restoring peace—not to nations perhaps, but peace of mind to war-torn individuals?" This was the hope expressed by Miss G. E. Mayhew, headmistress of Marsden School, at the annual prize-giving ceremony. j "Most of us here in New Zealand have sad hearts, for to many of us England is still 'home'—a home typified to one by the roar of the London traffic, to another by some village with its elm trees and its duck pond, and to yet another by a warm August | evening with the pheasants feeding in the stubble," said Miss Mayhew, "Now no part of it is beyond the incessant hum of the aeroplane, and the daily j sight of tanks and guns. We would like to be there with its men, women, and children, sharing their dangers and the inconveniences and discomforts of their daily lives. "It seems that we can do so little Ito ease their burden. We know that i they will carry it and we know that the Empire will emerge victorious, but we know also that it must leave England, who of necessity is bearing the brunt, exhausted, physically, mentally, and financially, even in the hour of | her triumph. This should have a direct bearing on our attitude towards the boys and girls of New Zealand. Their lives must be as normal as possible, their work and their games must still occupy the major part of their time and their thought; but a school is a training ground, and as such must re-! fleet life in true if softened lines. We [ do not, want their thoughts to dwell on the war, but neither can we let the older ones ignore it. "These boys and girls growing up in security under normal conditions should have a worth-while contribution to make when the time comes for reconstruction; a time that will call for the qualities of generosity of mind, clearness of outlook, calm judgment, and much tact and sympathy. It seems almost inevitable that those who for months on end know net what it is to sleep in comfort and security— those in whose ears the 'alert' is continually screaming its warning note, must suffer in just such a way as will make these very qualities most difficult to achieve at a time when they are most needed."