PEACE MEMORIAL GATES

Horowhenua Chronicle, 12 April 1923, Page 3

PEACE MEMORIAL GATES

Weraroa’s Great Day, PRIME MINISTER PERFORMS THE CEREMONY. Tim. PIONEERS COMMEMORATED. Enthusiastically advocated, arduously toiled for and splendidly consummated, Weraroa’s ‘ambitions were happily realised yesterday, when in glorious weather and before a large and representative audience, the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey performed the opening ceremony of the Peace Memorial Gates which now give entrance to Weraroa Park. Long before the lime for the ceremony the crowd began to gather, and when the Main Trunk express arrived over a thousand people, including a large contingent of school children, had gathered at the junction of Oxford street arid Mako Mako Road. The Prime Minister, who was accompanied by Sir John and Lady Luke, Messrs J. Linklater, M.P. for the district, and J. A. Nash, M.P. for Palmwston, and lii& private secretary, Mr Thompson, was met at the station by the chairman and members of Hie Weraroa Committee and the Mayor. The party were regaled with a cup of morning tea by Airs T. Bevau at the residence, Mako Mako road, and were then driven direct to the entrance to the Park, where the initial ceremony took place. The Salvation Army Band was present and assisted in the ceremony.

The proceedings were opened with the singing of the Old Hundredth, led by the choirs and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. Apologies were read from Sir Maui Poniare and Mr H. D. Grocott, Chief I'lisiuiasfer, Wellington. HISTORY OF THE GATES. Mr W. Thomson, who was chairman of the Weraroa Mardi Gras Committee during its fund-raising campaign, in his introductory remarks, said first and foremost they wished to extend a hearty welcome, to the Prime Minister and to apologise for having had to postpone (tie ceremony. That had been due to Mr Massey’s engagement in the Tauranga battle, where he had been so deeply entrenched that several blasts of shrapnel from Weraroa had failed to dislodge him. Now flushed with a famous victory he 1 was amongst them and in such good form that they certainly appreciated his presence. Mr Thomson also extended to Sir John and Lady Luke and the other members of Parliament a very hearty welcome and trusted that all the visitors would carry away with them very pleasant recollections of the gathering. The speaker said that the celebration (bat. day was the result of the oath of allegiance taken by Queen Joan of Weraroa, as Owen-elect of the Mardi Gras, wbo contracted to do all within her power to further the. ideal of the City Beautiful. When the Mardi Gras was first mooted, it was suggested that Weraroa should run a Queen for the purpose of placing the grounds in good playing order. At that, time they were practically a wilderness. Tthe first proposition, however, developed into something higher - ami . bigger:. ■■ ’With the amount of money raised it was possible to do something more than merely put I he; ground in good playing order. A concrete cricket pilch and a football ground bad been laid down and these would be of great benefit to the children of the school, who would have the rigid of using them for all time as a memorial to the brave deeds of the men who left our shores to fight for King, Empire and liberty. Mr Thomson mentioned that Mr Thomas Bevan had done splendid work in superintending the laying out of the grounds and the erection of the fence and gates, during the unavoidable absence of Mr Here Nicholson through illness, Mr Bevan carrying out the whole of the work. Although Weraroa had carried through, the scheme it should not be looked upon merely as belonging to Weraroa, but to Levin as a whole. The work was not yet complete, and it needed only organisation to make the corner one of the beauty spots of the town and one that would prove an asset to the whole community. If thei people were united and put aside all differences they could make the spot one to be proud of. Mr Thomson paid a tribute to the great work performed by Miss Bowen, postmistress of Weraroa, whoso great gift for organisation had been mainly responsible for the success achieved, and he hoped she would be spared to carry on the work till the full scheme had been completed. Miss Bowen also had been responsible for (he idea of planting the trees in memory of the pioneers. It was a happy thought and put a fitting crown on the proceedings. The speaker concluded amid applause, by thanking all who had worked so hard for the success attained.

“S’!l'. HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD.” The Mayor, Mr D. W. Matheson, then briefly introduced Mrs Banks, at the same time congratulating Queen Joan on her choice of the one who was to have thei honour of presenting the golden key—the gift of Mr L. A. Bowen, formerly of Levin and now of Waipnkerau—to the Prime Minister. The Mayor referred to thci really wonderful work accomplished by Mrs Panics during the war period. In those four years she was personally responsible for preparing and despatching no fewer than 3700 garments for the needy of Great Britain. ‘‘l know of no woman who has done greater service and certainly none who did her work with less show or fuss, so that few outside of her immediate acquaintances realised the magnitude of the task she carried, through. Mrs. Banks, who was received with .hearty applause 1 , then stepped forward jam] presented Mr Massey with the golden key with which to unlock the 1-Jeace. Memorial Gates.

:i HE PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS. Mr Massey, looking remarkably tit ;m!(l well, then stepped forward to the accompaniment of a warm round of applause. After returning thanks for the hearty welcome, Mr Massey said it was not the first time he had had the privilege of looking upon the residents of this district. He apologised for delaying the ceremony, but pleaded I (hat much more urgent business de:1 tained him in the north. He was one 1 of those who believed in the maxims [ of Scripture, especially that which

said: “Whatspever tliy hand find to do, do it with thy might.” (Applause). ‘‘l have,” (tie added done something with all my might in the Auckland district.” It afforded him a great deal of pleasure to be present at the dedication of the memorial to the men who went to the war—not only to those who had fallen, but to those who had passed through the rigours of the training camps and found their way to the battlefields. They should remember also the sacrifice made by the nurses who tended the sick and wounded soldiers. Nor should they forget the parents—the mothers who had pointed the way of duty to their sons and. the wives who had sent their husbands to the field of honour. There were, also those people who would have been glad to go, but duty and disability had detained them, Mr Massey paid ai glowing tribute to the bravery of the men of the Allies who had driven back to the country whence they came those mighty avmie- >d' the invader, who if he had succeeded in his design would have robbed ns of that freedom which to many was dearer than life. In the words of Wordsworth—

"They must lie tree or die Who speak tiie tongue tliai Shakespeare spoke, Or hold tiie faith that Milton livid. "We fail sometimes to realise imimportance, of the victory gained mins. . . We should never forget, die men who died to save us from a. despotism and tyranny which, had it been successful would have smashed our Empire and put the clock of civilisation back a thousand years. We mourn to-day those who fell, but our sorrow j is mingled with pride 'at the knowledge of their noble sacrifice. The British people for many centuries will remember the sacrifices and what happened in those awful and strenuous years of war, for it was that sacrifice which allowed them to live' under the Empire's Hag in liberty and hi such a glorious country as this with every-1 thing I hey lequired for their liappi-: ness and su-teuance. Mr Massey said j he would like lu quote Scripture again: : "Greater..love hath no man than this, 1 that a man lay down his life for his friend." A great many men and some ; women have, given their lives fur us, ' and we tire here to honour and revere ' (heir memory. Their bodies to-day lie in foreign soil, bit) their names and ■ deeds will never be lorgutien. They ! did their duly and it is lor us to do ' ours.” UNLOCKING THE GATES. Alter the ceremony of unlocking the i Gales, the official parly filed through | the brave, if somewhat diminutive, 1 guard of honour of Boy Scouts, and 1 then those assembled chanted Psalm | 56. following which the Rev. J. C. Da-! vie- led in prayer. j PIONEER AND WARRIOR. 1

In a brief and happy, speech, Rev. Geo. Frost, on behalf of the churches I>r itie town, said his office —to lilt, die function into a spiritual atmosphere —had hem made easy by the Prime Minister's speech. “If he were a Meihndist local preaehor I should say ho had preached a very line sermon with numerous appropriate illustrations on iho textile had chosen from Scripture ■“We’arc reminded to-day of two’class* e.-, of heroes we are honouring, and we have made them one because the pioneer settlor and his warrior son arc really of the same stock and their work has been carried out in the same spirit. We should especially he saved from having a pessimistic spirit. We are indeed called upon to have a generous conceit of ourselves when we remember the race from, which we are sprung—a noble race perpetuating the highest ideals, ideals for which our great Muster stood. As Het lived so must we also live. As the pioneers were, so must we also be—'always helpful, always courageous, always selfsacrificing.” Mr Frost concluded his brief but eloquent discourse by exhorting his hearers to make this a city in glorious reality, a city such as the old Greek philosopher dreamed of—“that it shall be good to look at, good to look from and good to look through.” So should these islands he made—

“Great, glorious and free, As flowers of the earth, as gems of the sea.” THE MEMBER FOR THE DISTRICT. Mr Joseph Linklater, M.P. for the district, said fie was thankful 1o have a part in the opening of the Peace Gates in honour of the men of Levin ami district who fought in the defence of the Empire. It was fitting, he said, that they had the Prime Minister with them, for no man had been in closer touch with the soldiers in camp and ;it the front, and he could be relied on to see that they had a square deal now. “The men who left these shores were well-known to us. They went to the front and did nobly and well We knew perfectly well they would give a good account of themselves. They were acclaimed as heroes flu British Army was glad to receive them as comrades and the British citizens were proud to own them as kinsmen.’ Mr Linklater said llvat when the French mission was here recently the officers who viewed Hie Stone of He tnembrance were, astonished to note the large number of names of men from Ibis district who had made the ■great sacrifice.’ “The French,” they said, “will never forget that sacrifice These men are now sons of Prance because they are now part of the soil oi France.” In conclusion Mr Linklatei said: “These men have made ; a great sacrifice. Let that sacrifice guide oar conscience and guard onr future lives.”

THE PIONEERS. MEMORIAL TREES PLANTED. The scene of operations was then transferred to the tree-planting in commemoration of the pioneers. Owing to the lateness of the hour the ceremony was curtailed and the speeches made as brief as possible. A large tablet of beaten bronze on a concrete pedestal was first affixed by Mr Thos. Beivan, and Sir John Luke briefly referred in reminiscent vein to Ihe groat work of the pioneers. He read a telegram from Mr W. H. Field, M.P., who was unable, to be present but wished the gathering every success. “T stand myself as one of the foremost pioneers,” said Sir John, “because in 1891, our firm made the 1 first big plant for the Prouse Bros, and we erected It here, the fore-runner of the

umu had lost several men since last season and would not be able to put in a satisfactory senior team It was a small district and they did not .vive a large selection of players to pick from He doubted if they could pet a good junior team together and to compel them to play senior would not be in Ibe best interests of football The Chairman said this was a mat lor for the Management Committee. Mr W. Moynihan said iie would like to know who was responsible for the sending out of the notices comnel'ing certain teams to play senior. le seemio him that this was a matter that should have been left to the iiE'in'ig committee.

The Secretary said that the qu: turn of classification was one that was always cropping up. The late Management Committee, when considering this question had decided to seij cut these notices to the two leading teams in the Junior Competition, which were Tokomaru and Paraparaumu, and leave it to them to protest against fins to tne incoming Committee if they had a grievance.

Mr G. Cluny said that it was always the desire of every club to promote men to senior rank where possible ard the matter of classification should he left to the Club. Mr Carmichael said that the sc’tctors were in the best position to judge and the matter was best left in their hands.

Mr Bebbington said that he had a recommendation from the Wanderers Club that no player who had once played as a senior should be allowed to revert to junior rank. He thought himself that classification should be done at the end of the season. In the case of clubs where a big selection was not available, this would give time to look around for players for the com ing season. This also applied to the Clubs which played junior teams only as otherwise after the first couple of games, a classification might take some of their men and spoil the team for the season.

Mr W. Moynihan said that he would recommend that the new committee inform Tokomaru and Paraparaumu that they would not he compelled to play senior teams. Tokomaru was in very much the same position as Paraparaumu in regard to players, and It was doubtful if a senior team could be got together.

Mr W. Bevan said that his reason for voting that these teams be compelled to play senior was that they were so much better than other junior teams that the games were a farce. Mr Moynihan said that he had nothing against individual members of (earns being put up to senior, all he asked was that the whole team should not bo put up. Mr Moynihan’s motion (hat only individual members of the Tokomaru and Paraparaumu learns he compelled to play senior, was put and carried unanimously.

A hearty vote of thanks to the chair concluded the meeting.