THE WORLD-WIDE UNREST.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 64, 15 March 1919, Page 15

THE WORLD-WIDE UNREST.

(By CHAS. A. WILSON.)

During the past weeks your columns have contained ample food for thought on this and kindred questions. Mr Thomas, a prominent Labour M.P. in England, finds fault with the whole social system. Millions of thinking men and women in Continental countries are fighting to change it, in Australia and Mew Zealand they have open sympathy from Pulpit and Press.. This evening you record the Pope's cordial approval of Unionism and its aims, and two local clergymen (jive candid criticism of business men's attitude towards practical Christianity. An Arbitration Court judge warns the country that unless the Legislature stops the undue increase of prices there must come a tinie when wagee can be no longer raised to meet them. With so much smoke there must be fire. The present system is certainly not ideal by any means, but it has possibilities for good which even the past few years have brought out. With vast numbers of people separated by geographical and climatic conditions, by race and religious prejudices and 'by differences of education and opportunity, even the most whole-hearted effort* on the part of a minority must take a long time to show any definite improvement. If we, for instance, could organise all our multitude of welfare societies into one big Progress League and co-ordinate for the betterment of New Zealand as a nation we would make greater progress, but first of all it would be necessary to start from a basis of mutual helpfulness and, in short, altruiem. Those who can make this possible are the business men, manufacturers, professional men, farmers and employers of all kinds throughout the land. Each could determine that he would not worry about reforming the whole world at one ewoop but would "do his duty in that state of life into which it hath pleased God to call him.' . In other words, he would make hies own ! business a model, would strive to understand his workpeople, to overlook their limitations of education and opportunity, and strive by continuation classes, Iby training and by sanitary conditions i and example to make up to them what they had lost. Therein lies true Christianity. Also it is good business, as has been proved by Henry Ford and hundreds of other captains of industry. Naturally in a small country like thie such examples are not common, but in our onvn city there are business men who i are striving successfully to "make this I earth an Eden" for their workpeople. Such places will have no labour troubles, because the increased efficiency and lack of waste make up the generous additions i given the workers. Those who will be "left" are the employers who consider that they have a right to all that is left after the lowest possible wages have been grudgingly paid, and who never regard their "hands" as other than machines. So much rubbish has been -written about Socialism and Bolshevism that the ruling classes considered these as sporadic outbreaks of a discontented and uninformed minority. What is causing the Church and the business men concern is to find that it is no such thing, but a world-wide protest against oppression of any kind. Ostensibly the nations were aroused to fight the German autocracy, but they found that there were many other abuses which could be righted while they were "on the job." It is no new occurrence. The Crusades to free the Holy City from oppression liberated the bulk of the Crusaders who were serfs —to-day's armies, largely recruited from a class in bondage to the mortgage hold*T|, the profit-1 eer and the land shark, are demanding! a greater share of the world's real j wealth. A student of history such as : President Wilson knows all these things, j He sees how the promises of war time | have been disregarded in peace, and how the exhausted and penitent armies have again been drawn up in battle—and he wants to assure the world of a better compact than ever before. As always, such views have the backing of the thinking world, but the mere parasitic j classes, which feed on the helpless, have i much to say. They, iwith the military I classes, who gain by war, fulfil their tra- j ditional function of stirring up strife. Yet the more settled portions of the communit,- in all ages desired peace in; order to progress in the arts and , sciences. Time and again they have I been deluded and denied. If the stable j business men of every community looked at these questions from a broadly practical and humanitarian standpoint they would be wealthier and happier in the true cense of the word. Otherwise it means unremitting strife and a class hatred which can only end in one way, in the demolition of society as at pre- j sent established. I have absolutely no sympathy with anarchy as such, for the i reason that I think the world is pro- i gressing on the right road. To break , down present institutions is useless, be- J cause they are only blameworthy when j used as a means to rob the populace, j The world will toe advanced by adequate | production and distribution, by the a,bo- j lition of want and excessive toil, and | the enlightenment and education of the j people. That is a war on society as at j present constituted, but it could be as bloodless and peaceful as a Conciliation Court in Auckland, if we had some start towards unanimity. The Church can! help and the business men can help! mightily. When they have made a pro- ; per effort to understand their duties and privileges they will sre clearly the answer to many problems.