THE HOUR OF VICTORY

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4045, 9 May 1938, Page 8

THE HOUR OF VICTORY

GENEROSITY TO AN ENEMY. THE WAY TO PEACE. “While we remember with pride the bravery and achievements of our men during the Great War, let us vow that if ever we are again called on to fight for the Empire we will show a more generous and Christian-like spirit, to our enemies when they are fallen and we come to make peace with them.” This was the burden of the remarks of Mr R. J. Richards, headmaster of Christ’s College, at the special Anzac service held in the college chapel. “Did we try to help our enemies at the end of the Great War?” Mr Richards asked. “We actually endeavoured to get £17,000,000,000 in reparations from them. To be fair, it must be said that Great Britain did not take the lead in this extortion. But the Empire weakly gave way to her vindictive allies. We had succeeded in our purpose in going to war—that was to displace the arrogantly militaristic Government which had ruled Germany for so many years. We saw that good men were put in the place of this militaristic Government. But so hard were our demands that we saw one of the new men literally worked to death in his endeavours to meet the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. It is right that you should feel that you owe allegiance to your country and that you should fight for it,” he added, “but it is not right that you should be fiercely patriotic to the point of vindictiveness. Generosity of action at such a time when an enemy is in defeat is noble.”