ANZAC DAY.

Northern Advocate, 25 April 1921, Page 2

ANZAC DAY.

The though i s of Anzac Day are of son;('thing mot'.' than the Lulling of tlic Auync Division on the shores of Gallipoli. Our eomriiemorr.tion covers the whole campaign—that glorious failure —upon the peninsula and, indeed, the whole of the wnv with it> tale of duty done and sacnfice nobly achieved. li is a day lor solciuu ■ thought, for a solemnity tlmt still is touched with sadness, though the passage of the years is lighting up the grief of the bereaved families with n little * pride. To-day we can think -with pride and affectionate gratitude of the men who inade their great sacrifice for us, and ive may perhaps pause for a moment to isk ourselves whether we and the world 'mve proved worthy of the heroes of iallipoli, Palestine, France, Belgium tnd Italy. Hon' much bettor arc wo 'or the great gift they gave us —the (ift of their lives that wo might be m.fc and free? During the war wc all loped that it would be the last war. lerman ambition had plunged the rorld into an agony of travail and ,3ufering: there was scarcely a countiy n the face of the earth that remained ntouched by the catastrophe; the lock of civilisation was put back. We oped that the awful strife and carnage ,-ould purge, the passjons of nations nd o>. men. In that hope the nations ;

gave birth to the League of Nations. The '''impracticable" dream of poets and philos iphors became Iho only practical moans of eseapc from Ihe recurrence of disaster. So the League was l)orn, a new era was begun, ami we faced the world full of eon fidenee in the future of fruitful ami bennieent peace. T>day as wo look hack over (hi- events of six years wo .may be pardoned if wo wovider whether .we are realising <>'ur high destiny, whether wo are repaying the sacriJieo of our young men whose dust is mingled with alien soil. War Ims not ended; nations *uv competing with each other in building fleets and equipping aimies ns if thr-y are preparing once more to decide 11 oir differences by ■he ruthless arbitrament of war. Do these thing.', mean tlv.it our hopes have been in vain? To tlunk so would be to pay a poor tribute to whom we commemorate to-dnv. The two great causes of war in the past hive boon international misunder -standing* and dynastic ambitions. Many autocrats and their advisers have followed the pvecox.it nl' Atrichia veil:: "War ought to be the only study of a prince. Tfe ought to consider peatonl.v as a breathing-trne, which givehim leisure to contrive, and furni-hrs ability to execute, military plans." This was the dolibonu.o policy of Ciert many from the Danish war onwards.

But in three great empires autocracy has been destroyed by the great war, ana from its ashes democracy is arising. The process is slow, .but where the people have an effective voice in the Government a nation does not light - v take up arms. . The empires of Germany, Russia and Austrin-lluncrar" were a perpetual menace to the world'* ponce. As democracies the nations embraced in these vast territories will be more patient, and with the help of thn\ great international nrgruiUation which is now established we may hope that e.ll the world will live in a -weeter, oleirer atmosphere Let us regard Anzac Day as a day of hope. We cannot ep.sily forget the horror and suffering of the war, the evil and haired it begot, the racial enmities it aroused. 'Surely we can never forget those whose fortitude enabled us to commemorate Anzac Day a? a day of victory and hope, not a day of despair. Let us in humble, affectionate thankfulness pay our tribute to the memory of those who ■ndured for us, even unto the end. j'hev mnv h<ive fought for some great thought "but dimly understood,' von.e nnufic city of a dream; but what ever their motive they fought end the? won, and they saved us. By their life and their death alike they have deserv •od as recompense 'ha l . wo show ourselves worthy of their sacrifice.