GEORGE V. MEMORIAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 104, 4 May 1937, Page 4

GEORGE V. MEMORIAL

APPEAL BY HON. ADAM HAMILTON. I wish to give my support to the appeal which has been made by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Mr. Savage, and his predecessor, the Rt. Hon. Mr. Forbes, for contributions towards the King George the Fifth National Memorial Fund. The money which is subscribed to this fund will be used for the establishment of permanent children’s health camps, and as a former Postmaster-General whose department has previously appealed for money for the maintenance of these camps through the sale ot health stamps, 1 have some knowledge of the work the camps have accomplished. For some years they have been an integral part of the national health policy, and if they are now placed on a permanet basis they will play a ■ vital part in improving the health ot 'many of our young people. | The benefits which the children deIrive from these camps is truly aston- ' ishing. Taking one of the large I camps for example—the average weight of 614 children (comprising ,272 girls and 342 boys) increased during their month’s stay in the camp 'oy approximately 51b. per child. Onlv I three of the 614 children failed to show any increase in weight. In regard to height—while 237 of the 614, showed no appreciable increase In height, the remaining 377 improved in this respect by an average of half an inch. In New Zealand we have succeeded in reducing infant mortality and in prolonging the average span of life, but we want something more tha'i that. I am sure it is the desire of all tthat we should also have a high standard of physical fitness. Physical fitness is one of the main factors in health, and health in turn is largely the foundation of happiness and contentment. We want our young people to make the most of their lives, whether they are at work or at play, and if they are to do that, they mint get as near as possible to that natural condition in which the exercise of the limbs is an enjoyment instead of a fatigue, and in which the vitality of the body sharpens and concentrates the faculties of the mind. Remember we can do far more good to public health by preventing people from contracting diseases than by providing elaborate and expensive facilities to cure people who have already contracted diseases.

I commend this appeal earnestly to you all. It is an appeal which must go straight to the hearts of everyone who is interested in the weifare ot the children of this country, interested in heir development, and in their health and happiness. And I say here that ■ country children as well as town children have benefited from these I camps. The scope of the camps has ,been national, and when placed on a permanent basis they will be a fitting national memorial to His late Majesty.

To carry through the scheme a large sum of money will be required, but we rely on the admiration and affection which we all cherish for the memory of a beloved king, who reigned not only on the throne, but in our hearts for a quarter of a century, to make these permanent health camps possible. Our objective can be accomplished only It the support for the memorial flows from the homes and hearts of all the people. The Government wants this fund to be a real offering of the people, and 1 know that none of us who are associated in this appeal will be disappointed. We all look forward to the long procession of the years to come and see someone asking now th«s» camps came into being, the answer will be “These camps were given bv the generation which knew King George the Fifth as a thanksgiving for his life ot service in order that his memory might live in the happier lives of their children and their children's :hildren.’’