The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1933. THE MESSAGE OF ANZAC.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19474, 26 April 1933, Page 8

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1933. THE MESSAGE OF ANZAC.

Through the eloquent tributes paid yesterday to the memory of Ilie gallant men who gave their lives on the shell-swept shores of wild Gallipoli eighteen years ago, ran the lofty note of remembrance. New Zealand’s duty to the honoured dead may be expressed in live words: “Do not let them die.” The sublime spirit of self-sacrifice, the magnificent self-abandon, the selfless courage of the men of Anzac could not belong to things that die. Not only does their name live for evermore, but the inspiring example of their sublime devotion to duty should fortify the everyday citizen of these hazardous times with fresh inspiration to face and overcome the terrific handicaps that confront the world to-day. Out of the welter of a world war there lias emerged international understandings, the League of Nations and a more closely knit Commonwealth of British Nations on a scale undreamt of in the philosophy of the Greeks —all finally cemented in the blood of their citizens. To the old immeasurable claim —the call of true citizenship—men more in number than the stones in the walls of Athens were found in the Great War ready to make the same unquestioning answer as the Athenians made in defence of their cities. The call of Anzac revealed a spirit of devotion no less absolute than that which inspires the obedience rendered by an Asiatic to a monarch, whom lie regards as the delegate of God. But in enlightened democracies as in ancient Athens, the. obedience is rendered by the citizen to the will, not of a despot, but to fellow citizens. The same spirit has inspired the great progressive movements of history:

“Her will I obey,” said General Lee, who, at the head of the Southern Armies in the American Civil War, showed himself the greatest soldier who had taken the field since Napoleon, “however lamentable the fate to which it may subject me”; and to Maddison he wrote, “no consideration on earth could induce me to act a part, however gratifying to me. which could be construed into disregard of, or faithlessness to, this Commonwealth.”

Strictly speaking Anzac Day is a community sacrament, associated with national sacrifice. A day significant of a common sanctity

—a call to public consecration to the cause in which men made the supreme sacrifice. Tt was this inspiration, which prompted the greatest Athenian statesman Pericles at the funeral of citizens who gave their lives in defence of their city, to deliver a speech so instinct with this spirit of dedication, in which he concluded: . . . . So they gave their bodies to the Commonwealth and received, each for his own memory, praise that will never die, and with it the grandest sepulchre, not that in which their mortal bones were laid, but a home in the minds of men, where their glory remains fresh to stir to speech or action as the occasion cames by. For the whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men; and their story is not graven only on stone over their native earth, but lives on far away, without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men’s lives.”

New Zealand still needs men of the Anzac breed lor work not so much without the gates in the moving theatre of war, but within the gates, in the difficult everyday life of the. community; men alert and active its the Anzacs were at Gallipoli, men with the same kind of daring and dash, the same kind of pluck and perseverance, the same kind of courage for public right, the same sublime carelessness of merely personal consequences. Men into whose lives is woven the very stuff of which heroes are made. But if on Anzac Day, we join in services of remembrance, those supreme, sacrifices ought to inspire every member of the community to follow the lead of Anzac in the warfare that has to be waged against the ruthless foes that, threaten the very overthrow of society. At Gettysburg, with its fifty thousand graves, a vast concourse of Americans was addressed by Lincoln in words which recalled the Periclean oration at the funeral of those who had given their lives for the Athenian Commonwealth in the Peloponnesian wars. Concluding, Lincoln said by way of peroration : . . . . The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. We have not discharged our duty to the valorous dead by proclaim ing an Anzac holiday in which the memory of the fallen is honoured. We have not discharged our duty to the fallen by the erection of memorial halls and the planting of avenues of honour, nor by the holding of countless commemoration services. It is for us the living, as Lincoln says, “to lie dedicated to the unfinished

work which they who fought have thus far so nobly advanced.” This is the message of Anzac Day. It is this realisation that an unquenchable fount of inspiration was given the world by the sacrifices of tlie men who fought and j fell, that sometimes prompts chosen speakers at Anzac setvices to ask if the citizens of today sufficiently realise their need of fellowship with the immortal dead that springs out of the Anzac heritage—the duty not only of conserving the sacred memory of their sacrifice, but of giving the Anzac spirit the fullest expression in the industrial, social and political activities of the day. THE BOROUGH ACCOUNTS. At the final meeting of the Timaru Borough Council held on Monday evening, comprehensive statements were presented, furnishing the fullest details of the financial operations of the municipality during the year ended on March 31. Special attention will no doubt be directed to the borough accounts in view of the interest aroused by the municipal elections this year. At first sight, it would appear that the municipal administrators who have had charge of the borough’s affairs during the last two years, have overspent their financial resources. The deficit of £2472, which is shown in the borough budget, will no doubt furnish the subject of discussion during the campaign which opens to-night. Tt is just as well for the ratepayers to subject the borough accounts to a close scrutiny before passingjudgment on the financial operations of the year just closed. As a matter of fact, the mere capacity of balancing the budget does not necessarily indicate efficient control of finance. The most reckless spendthrift and the most persistent borrower invariably find no difficulty in making accounts balance. It is merely a matter of passing on the burden and asking somebody to foot the bill. There are, of course, but two ways of making financial ends meet: increase of resources by levying heavier taxation; or careful control of revenue with due regard to the capacity of the ratepayer to carry the burden of rates. The municipal administration now going out of office in Timaru, has won for itself a well-deserved reputation of having substantially lessened the burden of rates carried by the people of the borough. If the Mayor and Councillors who go out of office at the forthcoming election, had been principally concerned in making a fine show by producing a substantial surplus, they could have done so by the mere stroke of the pen. But the City Fathers of Timaru, after mature consideration, came to the wise conclu sion that the best service they could render the borough was to lessen, within a reasonable margin of safety, the burden of rates carried by the people. In a single year, the Timaru Borough Council eased the burden of rates by £3893, and then in the second year of office, another welcome easing of the burden was granted and another reduction of Id in the £ was made, representing nearly £4OOO. It will thus be seen that in the second year of the municipal regime now going out of office, the ratepayers were asked to contribute to the borough treasury by way of rates, something like £7670 less than in the second year of the former Conneil. This in itself is a fine record of service rendered the ratepayers. The wisdom of the Council’s policy of reducing rates in days of difficulty, and making other concessions in charges with corresponding reductions in expenditure, is emphasised in the summary of borough accounts published this morning. The Council, in its wisdom, foresaw the devastating effect of the economic pressure that has dried up the financial resources of many ratepayers, and made concessions accordingly. This necessitated a careful grip being retained on all expenditure particularly in view of the heavy calls for relief of unemployment which made unex pectedly large demands on the financial resources of every local governing body. It is just as well that the ratepayers should not jump at conclusions, after a cur sory examination of the borough accounts. The most arresting j phase of the financial operations of the Timaru Borough Council now going out of office, is that the ratepayers have been given relief by way of reduced rates by nearly eight thousand pounds, and generous provision lias been made to relieve the hardship of unern ploymeut. And while there is a comparatively small deficit shown in the accounts for the year’s operations, this can be explained by the simple statement that the amount of borough rates out standing at the close of the financial year totalled £8323, which, of course, represents a substantial asset to be taken into account in Ihe next financial year.

A brief review of the work undertaken during; the past twelve months by the Works Department of the Timaru Borough Council was given at Monday night's meeting of the Council by Councillor W. H. Hunt, chairman of the committee. He dealt with various improvements which had been effected, particularly stressing the work done on the roads, stating that they were in better order now than they had ever been. Possibly they could have done more, but they had been handicapped by a tight-fisted chairman of the Finance Committee.