ARMISTICE DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14798, 11 November 1921, Page 4

ARMISTICE DAY

Three years ago to-day the last shots in the Great War were fired and a war-weary world rejoiced. For upwards of four years the struggle had rag-ed: the cost in lives and treasure was staggering, and all the nations emerged from the ordeal battered and bleeding, and on the verge of bankruptcy. The contest unsettled men's minds: old ideals and ambitions had hern shattered, and no one could predict what the future had in store. The war was a new experience; it was gigantic and world-shaking. Never before had such a cataclysm befallen mankind; it was-appalling in its magnitude. The statesmen had to blaze their own trail; history could teach them litltlc concerning the conduct of a contest so vast. As it was in war, so if has proved in peace- Faced by a wrecked and chaotic world the peoples bad to set, themselves to reconstruct. The process lias been slow. The war wrought a change in Hie outlook of men, and conditions had to be altered to meet flic new aspect. There was social disorder and-industrial strife. and even the optimist at times has been on the verge of despair at the calamities which threatened to overwhelm us. Gradually the clouds are clearing, and to-day it is possible for the thoughtful observer to discern the outline of the new order which is being evolved. II is abundantly apparent that things will never return to the pre-war state. Fresh appraisements have been made and new slandards set. The war marked the inception of a new era, but as the struggle against force was painful and bitter, the development, of the new regime will he slow though sure. Posterity will be able to look bade upon these days and recognise the meaning of the experiences through which civilisation is passing- They will realise that the world is now in travail, and they will he able to rejoice in the birth of a new order which will result, in humanity being lifted to a higher plane. The value of the sacrifice of those whose memory we honour to-day will be appreciated by those who are ablc.ito read*present-day events in the light of history.