MO WAR MEMORIAL

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 11783, 20 March 1924, Page 7

MO WAR MEMORIAL

itU-LINGTON S REPROACH SIX | YEARS GONE, AND £IO,OOO I STILL REQUIRED. “ ANOTHER “DRIVE” DUE? Va uished, apparently into the limbo of forgotten tilings is the idea which once prevailed for furnishing Wellington with a suitable memorial in honour of tluose who fought in the defence of freedo’sin in the Great War. It is now nearly! sis years since the war ended, and sjtill Wellington, the capital city of they Dominion, has no public monument /to mark, in a tangible manner, its citizens’ gratitude to those who fouglitt and to remind future generations joi the debt they owe. ojrHER TOWNS’ EXAMPLE. In (this the city enjoys a distinction which it could well afford to be without, there is hardly a town or hamlet throughout the country which has wot its war memorial or some kind or another, modest or ambitious. In Auckland there has just been completed the raising of a huge sum of money to be expended for this purpose. Christchurch, after six years’ of effort, has Hts Bridge of Remembrance, but Wellington, after six years of effort, can show l only a vacant 6ite, and something over half the amount of money required to put a monument upon it WHAT HAS BEEN 'DONE. The public know tht there is a War Memorial Committee in existence, whose function it is to raise money for the erection of a suitable monument, but it may not be generally known just where its activities to date have led it. When the first “drive” was undertaken in 1922, it was decided that £25,000 should be collected, and energetic steps were taken to raise this gum. Numerous committees were formed among the different sections of the city’s population, and the town was systematically canvassed, but the response, though considerable, was far short of what was required. The City Council gave £SOOO to the fund, and by one means and .mother a further £IO,OOO has been raise!. This was the position shortly before Christmas —a deficit of £IO,OOO, and an indolent if not indifferent public to reiy upon for obtaining it. Then the Radium Fund appeal came along and the War Memorial Committee agreed to suspend its campaign until the other was completed. BEST SITE UNAVAILABLE. Thu inevitable battle of tiie sites has been fought, and lost; that is to say., the ccmmittee has had to accept a site less ihan the best, because the obstacle! imposed by official obstinacy bave proved too rigid to be overcome. Throigh the generosity of the City Cornell that piece of land in the angle between Dixon street and Manners street has been secured, hut the ideal site, where the temporary cnotapn site, .where the temporary cenotaph Burnings, has been denied by a paternil Government. Tie form which the monument is to take has not yet been decided upon, except within fairly general limije, and competitive designs will he called for, and a selection made. THE CITIZENS’ DUTY.

Another “drive” for the money still required is now about due, and it is hoped, that the public will respond in such a way as to remove the reproach at present resting upon the city. Effective organisation and a vigorous campaign are required from the committee in charge; whole-heart-ed co-operation and a spirit of generosity are needed on the part of the public. '