TE AWAMUTU COURIER Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays MONDAY, 29th MARCH. 1943 A GREAT LEADER AND A GREAT CONTRADICTION

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 66, Issue 5598, 29 March 1943, Page 2

TE AWAMUTU COURIER Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays MONDAY, 29th MARCH. 1943 A GREAT LEADER AND A GREAT CONTRADICTION

WHEN the Prime Minister yesterday paid tribute to the life and work of the late Right Hon. M. J. Savage he spoke undoubtedly for New Zealand. The reference to a great leader will be echoed throughout New Zealand, and it is true also to say that Mr Savage was revered by “ the mass of the pepole.” His memory is respected just as surely as his works live oh and are “his finest statue/’ But between what the Prime Minister said and what the Government has done in memory of such a leader many opinions will conflict. Of all else, Mr Savage was great in his ceaseless toil marked by two great outstanding characteristics which endeared him to the people—his sincerity and his modesty. How* greatly those whom he left to carry on his work have departed from these virtues was revealed in yesterday’s ceremonial. The lack of sincerity in the marshalling the whole national resources to meet the titanic demands >f war is reflected in the diversion of all that has been necessary for the form of memorial. At a time of rationing, at a time when people have been called upon to limit the demands on such commodities as steel and cement, on timber and glass, on the many supplies and services that have been made available to carry out this project, the Government has been ■rationing supplies in every other direction. The precious petrol and rubber that have been used in the conveyance of the many thousand tons 4»f material to the site, and also the -diversion of so many thousands of -man-hours when, supposedly, Government leadership was making war purpose its only and greatest impulse, must now occasion bitter reflection. How different this dissipation of the nation’s resources ! Instead of the Sincerity which made the life of Mr Savage respected and revered, is not the Government’s misdirection of purpose akin to insincerity ? All of this mis-application of man-power and commodities has been going on during the months of bitter trial when controllers have been rationing availie supply and directing with the stated purpose of attaining a maximum of war effort. It is c. 2 ry contradiction, conflicting even with Ihe modesty of the man who had so endeared himself to the people. Would he have ordered so much grandstanding and pageantry ? Those who knew him best will have ready answer to this question. The nation, however, rightly believes that there should be a memorial, but there is a time which rightly suits every occasion—and the time is surely not now.