Plans change - Peace celebrations in 1919

The British government's plans

Letter to local bodies about changes to peace celebrations

After preparing its own plans the New Zealand government tried to find out from its British counterpart whether the peace celebrations should occur after the preliminary or final peace. They failed to get an answer and, wanting to provide some certainty to the public, made their own decisions. In April 1919 Acting Prime Minister Sir James Allen announced Cabinet's decision that the celebrations would occur on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after the announcement that preliminary peace had been signed.

Despite its good intentions Cabinet's decision proved unpopular. A number of local bodies expressed concern that this timeframe would not give them sufficient time to prepare. So in mid-May it was decided that peace celebrations would occur on the second Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after the announcement.

By this time some information had come from London suggesting the British intended holding peace celebrations in July. But it wasn't until mid-June that the British government officially notified New Zealand of its plans, which by then involved four days of celebrations in August: a military pageant, a day of thanksgiving, a naval display, and a children’s or general rejoicing day. Initially Cabinet agreed to fall in with the British plans and on 23 June advised the public that its previous plans would be abandoned. But just two days later, perhaps realising the similarities between the two proposals, it announced that it would stick to its original plan.

Britain's influence - peace bonfires

Then, on 28 June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, bringing an official end to the war between the Allies and Germany. The King proclaimed Sunday 6 July as a general day of thanksgiving. Then, with his sanction, it was decided that all celebrations should be held on 19 July. The New Zealand government was notified of these revised plans by coded telegram in early July. It was explained that the dates had been altered in order to have the date of thanksgiving as close as possible to the actual signing of peace, and that general opinion supported bringing forward the date of the celebrations more generally. Cabinet met on 3 July and again agreed to follow Britain's lead.

But many communities who had planned celebrations over three days were unhappy with this decision. The Christchurch's Peace Celebrations Committee cabled the Minister of Internal Affairs to argue that:

At the Government's suggestion, the Committee has already arranged for three days’ celebrations, and expenditure has already been incurred, on the strength of the Governments promised subsidy, in preparation for three days celebration.

Labour's attitude to peace celebrations

Amid these and other similar protests, Cabinet agreed to extend the subsidy to cover children’s day on 21 July. The two days were officially gazetted as public holidays on 16 July 1919. After much confusion, the dates for the celebrations were finally set.

The coal crisis

The delayed instructions from the British government hindered New Zealand’s efforts to plan peace celebrations. But the coal shortage had a far greater impact on the form they eventually took.

In December 1918 the government had decided to localise peace celebrations because the worsening coal shortage meant it would be difficult to transport large numbers of people to the main centres. On 8 July 1919 it announced that soldiers could travel free on the 19th and 21st and children on the 21st. But the lack of coal meant special trains could not be provided, and scheduled services had been reduced under the coal saving railway timetable introduced on 2 July. Given the significant cuts made to the timetable it seems likely some people were unable to attend local celebrations.

British General Electric Company's illuminations catalogue

The other impact of the coal shortage was to reduce the number of places that had electric illuminations during the celebrations. The government's initial plans proposed that both the soldiers' day and the children's day end with illuminations. They noted that they should not be generally adopted 'owing to the shortage of coal', but that they should be set up at suitable points in all cities and boroughs, that public buildings should be illuminated and streets 'festooned with electric lights'.

Cartoon about illuminations in Wellington

In early July, faced with a deepening coal crisis, Cabinet decided to tighten the criteria even further. On 8 July the Minister of Internal Affairs advised that 'no peace illuminations involving the consumption of coal were to be allowed, and no subsidy would be paid by the Government in cases where such illuminations took place'. He went on to explain that this 'prohibition covered the use of gas and electric light where current was produced by means of gas'. This announcement affected celebrations in communities reliant on coal to power their steam or gas plants, like Wellington and Auckland. Only communities like Christchurch, which relied on water power from Lake Coleridge, could really go all out in their illuminations.

Read more:

• Sir James Allen (Wikipedia)
• The Treaty of Versailles (Wikipedia)