“IS SPIRIT OF ANZAC DEAD?”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 88, Issue 95, 22 April 1944, Page 4

“IS SPIRIT OF ANZAC DEAD?”

SERVICEMEN’S LEADER ASKS SEARCHING QUESTIONS

EACH CALLS FOR AN HONEST REPLY

(P.A.) Wellington, April 21. “I feel it my duty, as president of the New Zealand Returned Services’ Association (an association non-party, non-political, and non-sectarian), to address a message to all returned servicemen and to the people of New Zealand as we approach the fifth Anzac Day of the present war.” said Mr. B. J. Jacobs (Palmerston North) to-night. “It is twenty-nine years since the first Anzac, Day and three years since the men of the 2nd N.Z.E.F. were first in action, on approximately Anzac Day, 1941, at the pass of Thermopylae, in the land of our gallant ally, Greece. “In doing so, I am not unmindful of the undividual effort and sacrifices made bv some of those to whom I must address my message in general. My message concerns ‘the spirit of Anzac,’ and the manner in which the people of New Zealand, from the highest to the lowest, seem to have lost this ideal. As I understand it, the spirit of Anzac is a spirit of cooperation, of service and of selfsacrifice in the interests of one’s country and fellowmen—in other words, doing something voluntarily, and for nothing, to assist one’s country and fellowmen. Are we measuring up to this standard in the fifth year of World War II? Let us look at the various vocations and ask the respective classes some pertinent questions. “Mr. Politician (and this applies to all political parties): Are you honestly and seriously giving the winning of the war and the good of New Zealand, as a whole, first place in your thoughts and actions, or are you taking opportunity to secure petty, verbal victories in party politics, and overlooking the larger and more important issues, because these may mean disciplining the people and the possible loss of votes? Are you really giving a lead, setting an example so that more of everything will be available for the war effort? “Mr. Farmer: Are you seriously trying to increase production, and are you prepared and to sell at the fixed prices to help the war effort, or have you already slowed up for your own comfort, or because more production may mean more taxation? “Mr. Manufacturer, Professional and Business-man: Are you doing everything you can at the cheapest possible rate for the war effort, and for New Zealand, or are you seizing the opportunity to profiteer if you can? Are you holding any Grade A single men on appeal from the armed forces for your own personal profit, and persuading yourself that it is for the benefit of the country? “Mr. Trade Unionist and Worker:

Are you giving honest work for the whole period of your working day, or are you seizing the opportunity to force further concessions from your employers? Are you loyally co-oper-ating for the benefit of the country to produce and to win the war, or are you making the rate of wages and the number of hours worked more important than the winning of the war? “Mr. Citizen Generally: What ;ffe you doing individually in a voluntary capacity and for nothing to help your country in this crisis, and to win the war? Are you making any personal sacrifice at all, or are you avoiding taxation? Are you trading on the ‘black market’ for petrol, or for rationed commodities? Are you cooperating with the leaders of the country, or do you grouse at every small sacrifice imposed on you? Are you hoarding? Do you speak and act as though the war had been Have you become complacent and apathetic regarding the war? “Let each one answer the questions honestly himself. If you have to accuse yourself, and I am afraid many of you shall have to, then the spirit of Anzac has been lost to a large proportion of our civilian population. “Thank God it is still alive and vigorous in all branches of our fightng services. “I appeai, on this Anzac Day, to all people to dedicate themselves to the resolve that they will revive the spirit of Anzac, by co-operation with leaders of the country, and by personally making voluntary efforts and selfsacrifices to help shorten this terrible war. “Who is there amongst us who cannot work harder, or give up some pleasure so that he can invest more in national savings loans? Who is there who cannot help a returned serviceman, or the dependents of one who will not return, not by way of charity, but by work and genuine friendliness? Is there one amongst us who cannot ask God’s assistance daily in this awful conflict, but how many do? “I say, with all seriousijfss, that, with the real spirit of Anzac alive in us, we can win this war, and more important still, win the peace afterwards. Without this spirit any peace or security after the war will prove a hollow mockery. “Let each one examine himself in the light of this statement, and then make a definite resolution to relive the spirit of Anzac in his daily life, and co-operate in all things for the benefit of this glorious country. “If, imbued with this spirit, we unite and place service of God and country before self, who can resist u», If it be in war or in peace?”