PEACE MEMORIALS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12718, 13 August 1919, Page 4

PEACE MEMORIALS.

HEATHOOTE COUNCIL FAVOURS

INDIVIDUAL ACTION

A brief discussion took place at the meeting of the Heathcote County Council on the question of the proposed Peace memorial. The chairman (Mr C. Flavell) said that the letter from the City Council inviting the council to send a representative to the public meeting on Monday to consider the question had come too late for a delegate to be appointed. It was now necessary to select a delegate to attend future meetings. MvW. Scarff said it would he as well for the council to decide whether it was in favour of joining in with the city or having a separate memorial of its own.

Mr G. M. Hall favoured the council having a memorial of its own. He said that he knew of no better way of commemorating Peace than by planting trees, and he was in favour of the council planting avenues of trees as a Peace memorial. When in Australia, he had seen an avenue of honour at Ballarat, which had been planted as a memorial to soldiers who had fallen, and on each tree was a plate bearing the name of some soldier who had gone away from the district. He could see in his mind’s eye those trees growing and making in the future a beautiful avenue of a wonderful historical interest. He was not sure that the same idea could he carried out m this country, hut he was m favour of planting avenues of trees wherever they were possible. Mr G. K. Burton said that the council could not do anything until it heard what the city proposed to do. Ho moved that Mr Hall should be appointed the council’s delegate to the committee. Mr A. H. Adams seconded the motion. Mr W. Scarff said he was in favour of the county having its own Peace memorial, and he thought Mr Hall’s suggestion about tree-planting was well worth considering. Trees were the best form of memorial, and they were wanted everywhere throughout the whole country. His idea was that for every tree cut down two shpuld he planted, and he thought they could do no better than plant trees as their own memorialThe motion was carried. RANGIORA’S DECISION. At a meeting of the Ilangiora Borough Council, held last evening to deal with special business, the question of the attitude to be taken up in connection with the proposed Peace memorial at Christchurch was introduced. After a brief discussion the following resolution was carried unanimously:— “That this council regrets that it cannot see its way to participate in the movement to erect a Peace memorial in Christchurch, for the reason that it will be necessary to concentrate all its energy and available resources on the erection of the borough and county soldiers’ memorial in Rangiora.”