A BETTER WORLD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 134, 8 May 1945, Page 4

A BETTER WORLD

THE TASK AHEAD. R.S.A. PRESIDENT’S CALL. To mark the occasion of the termination of hostilities in Europe, the iolloAving message to the nation has been issued bv the Dominion president of the N.Z.R.S.A. (Mr B. J. Jacobs):— “This surely is the day toivards Avhieh avc have looked so hopefully, so anxiously, but for so long. J trust that tho delay in its arrival, fraught as it has been Avith the -added burden of anxiety and Avith the ever increasing aggregate of human sacrifice, may serA-e to make the day to us correspondingly more significant anil may similarly increase our determination to see that what has been Avon at such huge cost is not Avasted. “To the men and Avomen of our own Services Avho have contributed to the results, avc of tho older generation avlio call ourselves their cobbers express our unstinted pride and admiration. We pledge ourselves aneAV to devote ourselves t-o their highest interests.

“How many times have avc promised ourseh-es that Avhen this hour arrives we shall not repeat the mistakes of the past? I borroAv a thought I expressed on Anzae Day. J east my mind back over tho years in an endeavour to recapture the spirit that characterised the series of celebrations marking the collapse one by one of the nations arrayed against us in the last Avar. One memory . stands out above all others. It is this: Saturated as avc AA-erc Avith the oft-repeated caption that avc had been engaged in a Avar to end Avar, -avc' gaily repeated it still once again and loudly proclaimed the daAvn of a uoav era of happiness and contentment of peace and goochvill to all men. Then, hiving delivered ourselves of these lofty sentiments, avc dispersed to our various homes Avhere lnctaphorieaily speak-

mg wo selected a good hook and a comfortable chair in front of a warm fire and contentedly puffed at our pipes and cigarettes and (this time not metaphorically, but actually) wo left it to the other men to do something about it It was this self-satisfaction that helped us into another war A bitter lesson. Jt was through this complacency that today we mourn the loss of thousands or young promising lives—the greatest asset this country possessed. It was through this apathy that for another generation \yc shall‘have with us thousands of 'men and women broken physically or mentally on the wheel ot the chariot of- war. Let each one of us, therefore, now dodiluuiself to the task of seeing that this new and better world of which wo have written, thought and spoken so much (particularly in our daikest hours) shall become a reality. 1 know and I warn you, that the way will not be an easy one, and that it ", en tail many sacrifices for each and every one individually, hut if we make courage, determination and perseverance our watchwords we shall succeed. “One more thought. The last war did give us something. It gave us he New Zealand Returned Services Association which stands today a livig proof that men of all creeds and religions, of all shades of political opinn and philosophy, of all sections of the community and of all walks in life can exist in complete amitv and mutual confidence and with the fullest co-operation and understanding. With this example before us and just as in t le events of the past five years (which °„: w l i" ISO “V? incomprehensible) I can sec the guiding hand of the Almighty, tlm 1 P r ‘V that He may establish in ,i™ h f a . r k of , e ? ch ono . ot ' 118 tiio ItCCCS--1‘ •') i-i )lu i- u; d foundations for our new mir kJ!F i ) that He may implant in i ? as t®. the spirit of tolerance and ; "'if >°ut which our workimu slnp w ,n not he perfect. l-uiaUy, may this-memorable dav ' ' inarching boldly forward in tl o hrccLon 1 have perhaps inadequately indicated.”