THE H.B. TRIBUNE. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1919. MEMORIAL ROADS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IX, Issue 80, 19 March 1919, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1919. MEMORIAL ROADS.

The local discussions or the celebrations that are to mark the formal return of peace to the wot Id w ill quite naturally ami probably i-ngdsi: ■the attention of those to whom may be committed tne task, oi devising and miking ippiopint t im,c merds. Such an occasion calls tor a full and jovtul expression ot the feeling of ultimate relief that it will bring- an'd the thanks of the community will bi dm to those who give time and trouble to it. l>ut. after all. althougn these celebrations inav be given a most valuable and impussne chuicm th it will miki of them an educative memory tor the present generation, they must, at the best, be relatively of but of transient effect. Not. so. however, should it- be with the memorials which are to be instituted for the purpose of perpetuating the intimate association of this Dominion, and its gallant soldiers, in the great world struggle which has resulted in so great and glorious a victory for the liberties of mankind. These should and must be designed of such a character as to provide a reminder not to the presently existing generations only, but to numberless generations to come, of all that was done and suffered that the nation to which they belong might remain a free people. It is therefore proper that the most serious thought should be given to the form which these memorials are to take, and that, in considering the various proposals, the two elements of permanency and inpres'siveness should hold the foremost places. That there should be something of uniformity in the character of those memorials, so that they may in their general effect produce a sense of national, as distinct from local, recognition of a great national service, seems to be essential to the fulfilment of their first purpose. The introduction of too great a variety must necessarily result in a diffusion of ideas and in the missing of the main object, which should always be in the direction of promoting and preserving as a national trait a sentiment of neverdying gratitude to those who risked, and in so many cases sacrificed, all in order that we and those coining after us might live our lives as free men and free women. It therefore seems to us that, without in any way cheeking the natural impulse in various subsidiary communities to have their own particular memorials, there should peivade all a methodical purpose of producing a general and un escapable effect.

With these leading principles to guide us, it would seem to us that in no surer or more impressive way is it p/ossible to achieve the desired c hv in cfi fii+igr* r\f n system of great victory roads, spreading over the country a network of remembrance from which none may escape. It inav be thought that in such a suggestion there is overmuch of the utilitarian element for it to satisfy the sentiment that aJ s tor so in thing it in artist < in 1 more definitely consecrated nature. But. in this connection, there is nothing whatever to prevent expression being given to this more delicate and pci ips HinuitK idi oi the question, tor along the course ot such a system of highways nncht be ereded such fitting artistic i icin > rials as would not tail to arre t th attention of all warfarers. In all that is to be done tn the wav ot run meiuoration the salient fact mu t not be overlooked that it, is t > h done not merely for satisfaction ti gratification to those now hvnic, but still more tor the maintininc tnrouirhout the country s lustily ol a realisation ot its obligations to t past, and of its duty to carry rn th traditions that have their soinie in the achievements and sacrifnis ot the (neat Mar. The mere fact th it these roads would in themsehi m a means ot bringing about irnpi vt i conditions tor t.he pjeojde at 1 if. should certainly not operate is i deterrent trom adopting tne [io posal. but rather as an meentm t si'e it carried out to the tidiest pi sible extent. Were it possibk tit those who have given alt tor iht i country s weal to have a void in saying how they would wish ’hiii memories perpetuated among thosi for whom tuey gave ail. we thn that they would be tairlv unammou in declaring for something th t would also work tor the same ml The suggestion ot memorial reads is everywhere receiving serious con sideration, and nowhere with more acceptance than in America. Hun the utilitarian aspect of tne natio lai memorial lb tuns olcicu .is <lll essential, one writer in a big NewYork daily saying that, “regardless of the form it may ultimately assume, it must be som|ething useful to the living in their every-day lifesomething big and national in its scope, something not merely artistic and beautiful, but permanent in character, and stimulating to national growth and patriotism.” The present age, he says, does not look with favour upon useless display in monuments as a means of doing honour to a useful life, but as has been said, the artistic eye will also be capable of being satisfied in connection with the great commemorative work, whose various sections would bear names that would thus be handed down to posterity in a manner much surer than any provided by a history written in mere words.