Delication of Faith In God Urged

Manawatu Times, Volume 70, Issue 267, 12 November 1945, Page 4

Delication of Faith In God Urged

(Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Nov. 11. “Is this civilisation of ours worth all this sacrifice?” asked the Bishop of Aoteroa (Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett) after detailing the war casualties of the Dominion in two wars to a congregation gathered in the Ngati-Poneke Hall, Wellington, this afternoon for a memorial service for the fallen of the Maori Battalion. The bishop said the Dominion had lost 1(5,000 of the cream of her manhood in the 1914-18 war and 9000 in that just concluded.

* ‘ When I think of all the money which is being spent in gambling and on drink,” he said, “I ask: ‘ls this civilisation of today worth while?’ ” In New Zealand the people were scarcely touched and they hardly knew they hud been in the war Thanksgiving for the sacrifices made by the fallen should be dedication ta the faith of God and to the welfare of mankind. There were always those two things before them and it was God’s intention that each one of them should do a little for the good of Christianity. Bishop Bennett quoted official figures for the casualties of the Maori Battalion, including .15 died of sickness, 20 accidentally killed, 160 died of wounds and 411 killed in action. A total of 012 had passed to their rest. There were, too, IS missing. Among the prisoners of war were 184, and 1900 had been wounded. Apart from this, many Maoris had joined pakeha units. The total numbers in the Maori battalion were 3000 and the number in other units about the same. There was a great future in the Maori race, but it needed sympathetic handling. The time would come when the Maori could stand beside the pakeha without keeping his eyes to the ground and the pakeha would look with pride at his achievements if he went on lighting into the days of peace. Among those present were the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. P. Fraser), the Minister of Finance (Hou. Walter Nash), the Minister of Defence (Hon. F. Jones) and the United Kingdom High Commissioner (Sir Patrick Duff). Lieut.-Colouel C. M. Beunett (former commander of the Maori Battalion) read the list of the names of the fallen of the battalion and Captain Kingi Tahiwi read the lesson.