VALUE OF SELF-HELP

Taranaki Daily News, 17 June 1932, Page 9

VALUE OF SELF-HELP

WIDER RELIANCE NEEDED.

A plea for a wider reliance on selfhelp, as opposed to Government help,

was made by the Governor-Geueral, Lord Bledisloe, speaking at the annual meeting of the Auckland Centre of the St. John Ambulance Associatiou on Monday evening. Apart from Divine help, there were

three sources of help to which human beings could look in times of necessity, His Excellency said. They were selfhelp—and he hoped that New Zealand would never lose that fine, old characteristic of the early pioneers—mutual help, of which the Order of St. John was an outstanding example, and Government help. “I venture to say that, in times such as these, self-help is infinitely more valuable than any assistance from the Government,” said His Excellency. If he had any fear for the future, of New Zealand it was that the country might lose its desire for self-help and come to lean more and more on the Government. He earnestly hoped that would never be the case.

The large attendance at the meeting and the obvious enthusiasm, His Excellency said, induced him to express his most cordial goodwill and wish all who had put their hands to the work success and God speed. Their movement was an extraordinarily valuable asset to the Dominion. If at any time he entertained doubts as to the continued vigour and development of the country there were about six movements to which he could turn which would remove those doubts and restore his confidence in a land of opportunity and sunshine. One of those movements was the Order of St. John. No one could live in New Zealand with one’s eyes open without realising that the St. John Ambulance was an ever-ready help in time of accident—on the football field, the racecourse and in the busy haunts of mankind—and one could not help realising the efficiency with which members discharged their humanitarian work. The order was founded 700 years ago and to-day was the oldest order of chivalry, based on the qualities of piety, human sympathy and courage. Until the Order of St. John had been lacking that element of human sympathy which had rendered war durinor recent centuries much less barbarous Than used to be the case.

“I congratulate all of you who are givincr up time to this noble and selfsacriScino- work,” His Excellency said. “Neither human sympathy nor courage can be of any great use unless they are buttressed by efficiency and knowledge. There is no work in this country for which I have a more profound sympathy than that which is being carried out by your association.”