WORK OF Y.M.C.A.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21949, 5 November 1934, Page 11

WORK OF Y.M.C.A.

WARTIME AND PEACE GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S PRAISE UNFLAGGING DEVOTION [by telegraph —OWN correspondent] WELLINGTON, Sunday

"It would be difficult to overstate the value to our Dominion soldiers of the noble, far-reaching and selfless work of this great organisation of Christian philanthropy during the Great War, or of its unflagging devotion to the highest interests of the youth of the country since peace was declared," said the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, when officially opening the new Y.M.C.A. memorial hut at Petone today. "No organisation in war time contributed more to the physical and spiritual comfort and happiness of our soldiers while away from their homes than the Y.M.C.A.", said His Excellency, "and it is equally 'true to say that no organisation during the stressful and anxious period of the last three years has done more to inspire hope and happiness in the youth of this nation, to save them from moral degradation and decadence, or to find them employment in conditions of unprecedented difficulty. "For the strenuous, unremitting fight for the maintenance of Christian ideals and against the perils of despair and idleness, the people of the Dominion owe to the Y.M.C.A. a debt which I can find no words adequate to acknowledge, and which can only be fittingly recognised by extending to them and their public-spirited leaders and workers all the assistance, moral, practical and financial, that wo possibly can." That public support and sympathy had not been lacking was evidenced by the fact that during the war the people of New Zealand contributed no less than £361,000 toward the work of the Y.M.C.A. overseas, said His Exellency. "I doubt whether any part of the Empire with a similar population or the same amount of material resources could have put up such a fine achievement in the matter," he added.

"I notice with satisfaction that in certain districts an attempt is being made to co-operate the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A., so that, by a reduction in overhead, they may be able to carry on more efficiently in some districts. Both bodies have suffered considerably during the last few years, and where it is possible to rejuvenate the movement by joining forces in administration it is well worth sympathetic consideration."