NEW YEAR GREETINGS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue XLIX, 5 January 1916, Page 2

NEW YEAR GREETINGS

HIS EXCELLENCY'S MESSAGE

His excellency the Governor, on be half of the Dominion of New Zealand, has telegraphed the following New Year messages:—

To the President of the French Republic : New Zealand sends greetings to the sons of France who are fighting so heroically both in their native land "and also alongside our own New Zealand troops in other spheres, and -devoutly prays that victory will crown the cause of the Allies in the not far distant future. *

To His Majesty the King, of the Belgians: The Dominion of New Zealand desires respectfully to express'to your Majesty the earnest hope that the New Year will be the herald of .-great Allied victories, and that at no far distant date the gallant kingdom of Belgium will be freed from the aggression of the invading foe. To His Majesty the King of Italy; New Zealand desires to-place on record her profound admira-tron-for tiie Armies of Italy, and at the same time to respectfully express- to Your Majesty her earnest hope for a speedy and successful termination of the present struggle, in which the Italian- troops- are so manfully maintaining the traditions of their forefathers.

To His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Japan : New Zealand sends" her New Year greetings to the people of Japan, and at the same time respectfully tenders to Your Imperial Majesty an expression of her high appreciation of the services of the Japanese Navy in the cause of the Allies.

To His Majesty King Peter of Serbia : On behalf of this Dominion, I desire to respectfully tender to your Majesty an expression of the admiration K>f New Zealand for the indomitable bravery and steadfast determination of the -Serbian nation, and at the same time to convey the earnest hope that the New Year just dawning will witness the ovetthxow of the common foe. To His Majesty King Nicholas of Montenegro: New Zealand, through me, desires to respectfully forward New Year greetingsi to Your Majesty's armies, who are fighting so nobly in the common cause. FROM SIB JOSEPH WARD.

The Minister of Finance (Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward) has ; issued the following message to the people of the Dominion: "At the close of the year the Empire still is engaged in the most terrible war of history, pouring out blood and trea'sure in a" cause which- we all know to be the cause of right and justice, and which posterity -will remember thrbugh r I :out the ages as- the sacred trust of the British people and their Allies. Never before in this much blessed country, frirt around by the seas, on which the British flag flies unchallenged, have we tasted as we are tasting now of the bitterness and sorrow and suffering that folio v in the train of the most awful - of the scourges that, continue to afflict the nations. In many a horn's up and d-dwn. the land there is mounring for husbands and fathers, sons and brothers, daughters and sisters, our .bravest and best, who have raven their lives. freely - , cheerfully, proudly, that- the laws of humanity and civilisation might be upheld, and the pledges and integrity of the Empire maintained. Our first thought to-day on the threshold, of the New Year, •■will' be for' the .mourners who have -made .the ultimate sacrifice as, truly and as fuily as those who have stood in the battle-front jand sealed with ..their own. bloodf ■ the ideals and aspira-r tibns of their race. . To these we at least . can offer. the comfort that their sacrifice' has not been mad© in vain. The ready response of the British people overseas .to the call'elf* the Motherland probably has done more than anything else could to confound our enemies, and to sustain and. encourage our kith and kin through the weary months of waiting and striving. ; How much it will have contributed towards the complete .victory of the' Allied arms that is-.com-I ing and to the enduring peace that will . follow.none of us can yet tell; but it ) will remain for'' all time as one of the brightest records in the annals of the British race, and one of the surest hopes I for the future of the nation. The NewYear will find- the Empire chastened -may be with anxiety and sorcow, "but still undaunted, more' determined than ever to cany the war sbo a successful j conclusion, more confident in its streno-th : and resources, more self-reliant, more i certain-' of the righteousness of ; its. cause:,and more' grateful for the hlessings ithas enjoyed.even in the. darkest hours 'of its supreme trial. Let us all renew our resolutions ;of service and sacrifices • to-day, prepare ourselves if or Whatever the future may hold, whether of progress or of delay, and set our. faces firmly and unflinchingly, without boasting 'and without fear, to the completion of the great task destiny has set' in cur way." ■■-, -'■■:-