OUR FIRST THOUGHT

North Otago Times, Volume CII, Issue 13461, 4 January 1916, Page 7

OUR FIRST THOUGHT

roil THOSE WHO MOUKN. .MESSAGE !■'ROM 811! JOSEPH WAHD. ' Tin 1 following New Year message to |lm people of jNcw Zealand lias been soul to tin; press for publication by the flight- Hon. Sir Josi']ili Want, Minister oi' finance:— "Al tlie. close of the year the Empire is slilJ engaged in I lie most terrible war of history, pouting our blood anil treasure in a cause which wo all know to be the cause ot' ii;;lit an«l.juntice, Hint Avhicli posterity will remember throughout the ages as the jsacred trust of the British people anil (heir allies, Never before in this much-bless-ed country, arouiul by the seas on which the British Hag Hies unchallenged, luive we tasted, as we. are tasting now, of the bitlerness and sorrow ami suffering-that follow in the train of the most awful of the scourges that coutin tie to afflict the nations. *

"In many a home, up and down (lie. laud there is mutiruing for husbands and fathers, sous uud brothers, daughters and sisters, our bravest ami beel, who have given their lives freely, cheerfully, proudly, that the laws of humanity. and civilisation might lie upheld and I lie pledges and inlegrily of I lie Empire maintained. Our lirsi thought to-day, ou the threshhold of Ihe new year, will be for the mourners who have made the ultimate mcrilice as truly and lis fully us those who have stood in tho battle-front-and sealed with their own blood the ideals and aspirations of their I 'race. To these- we, at!least, can offer, the comfort that their sacrillce has not been made in vain,

"The ready response of the British people oversea to the call of the .Motherland probably has .done more than an villi ml; else could to confound out' enemies, niul |o sustain mid oilcourage our kith and kin through the • weary months of waiti'njj'ainl striving, Mow much it will-hnviM'oiil-ribuled-to-iviiids the complete victory of the allied arms Hint 'is coming, arid to the enduring; pence Hint will follow, none of us can ye! tell, Hut it will remain for nil time, as one of the brightest records in the annals of the British race, and one of the surest hopes for the future of the nation.

"The now your will liml the Empiru chastened maybe with anxiety ami sorrow. hut still muliimiU'il, more determined Oi;iii ever to curry tlio war to :i successful roiiclusion, more coiiliilcut in the strength and resources, more .selfreliant, more certain of the righteousness of its cause, and more grateful for the blessing it has enjoyed, even in the darkest ours of its supreme trial. Let us all renew our resolutions of service and sacrifice to-ilny, prepare ourselves fiir whatever the future may hold, whether of progress or of delay, and set our faces linuly urnl unilincliiii»ly, without lionsliit;' mill without fear, to the. eomplejioii of the great task destiuy has set in our way,"