The Northern Advocate Daily TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1937. KING GEORGE V. MEMORIAL

Northern Advocate, 23 March 1937, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Daily

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1937. KING GEORGE V. MEMORIAL

Registered tor transmission through the host at i Newspaper.

“Not in brass, or stone, or marble, but yet in the creation of this tangible memorial of Children’s Health Camps, a form he himself would have preferred, will the name of George the Fifth be an everliving memory to the people of this far-flung outpost of the British Commonwealth of Nations which he served, literally unto death.”

It was with these simple hut strik ing words that the Prime Minis ter last evening concluded c broadcast appeal io the people of the Dominion to contribute tc a fund for the establishment of a memorial to the late King George V.—an appeal which, we believe, will awaken a whole-hearted response from all classes of the community throughout New Zealand. The appeal is printed in another portion of today’s “Advocate,” and we commend it to the earnest perusal of our readers. The Government has given careful consideration to the form which New Zealand’s memorial to the late King George, V. should take, and it has come to the conclusion that nothing would be more in keeppig with the humanitarian spirit of the dead Monarch than the inauguration of a National Fund for the permanent establishment of Children’s Health Camps in New Zealand. The principle involved in the proposal is a noble i one, and the Government, in addressing an appeal to the people, has made a raofct generous gesture, which definitely gives the memorial a national complexion, while allowing the individuals who constitute the population of the country to make their own contributions, and thus share in what is one of the greatest humanitar-j ian movements it is possible to conceive. The Government has opened the Memorial Fund with a donation of £25,000, and, in addition to that magnificent sum, will grant a subsidy of £1 for £li for all moneys subscribed by the people of New Zealand after the

| fund (inclusive of the £25,000) I has reached a total of £50,000. It is the hope of the Government that the total sum raised will amount to £IOO,OOO, which, it is claimed, is the minimum amount required to ensure the proper establishment of two permanent camps in each island. In choosing this form of memorial to the late King George, the Government is building upon the foundation laid by the people of the Dominion themselves, for the movement to provide Children’s Health Camps, which started in a small way just after the Great War, has increased its momentum year by year, until last year the. amount of money raised by means of Health Stamps and other methods constituted a record. It is noteworthy that Mr Savage, in his appeal, makes generous reference to this fact, and pays tribute to what previous Governments have done in

this regard. His action in asking Mr Forbes, the late Prime Minister, and Mr Adam Hamilton, the present Leader of the Opposition, to associate themselves with the King George Memorial appeal, is typical of Mr. Savage, who obviously wishes that in this movement there should be no thought of party in any shape or form. The people of New Zealand shared in a common love for King George Ihe Fifth, and it will be their desire to share in the tangible expression of that love and devotion.

The Government, apart from the great help it is rendering by heading the list with its donation of £25,000, and promising to subsidise all money raised in excess of £50,000, does not intend to do anything which would make the raising and administration of the 1 fund a matter for anybody but the people alone. The Dominion Advisory Board which controls the . Health Camp Movement is to administer the fund, and the . itioueys raised will not be paid into the Consolidated Fund, but will be formally vested in trustees, of whom the Minister of Health will be one. The memori ial, therefore, will be essentially a national one, and, by reason of tbit fact, should inspire every individual to make a contribution, according to his or her means. There is no need to dilate upon the importance of the Children’s Health Camp Movement. With the limited amount available in the past, remarkably fine work has been done for children who needed the physical and mental stimulus of fresh air and sunshine and the wholesome and happy influence which comes of community life under the control 1 of skilled medical and social workers. The results of the system constitute the camps’ own testimonial. The establishment of permanent camps in the North Island and the South Island, especially if endowed as the Government 1 hopes will result from *the fund raised for the King George V Memorial, should multiply many times the facilities for the rendering of service to children. For that reason, the people of the Dominion have at their hand a wonderful opportunity to act in the spirit of “Inasmuch.” We hope that there will be started, as soon as possible, an . organisation which will stimulate . interest in the memorial appeal ; in this district. We gladly acquiesce in the Prime Minister’s ‘ desire that we should open a sub- j ’ scription list, and we hope that I A we shall be enabled to publish the names of a large number of people who wish to be associated i with a great movement.