HAWAII'S MENACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 269, 13 November 1935, Page 25

HAWAII'S MENACE.

OVERMILITARISATION.

A PASTOR'S COMPLAINT. I HONOLULU, October 20. People of Hawaii face a peril in overmilitarisation, according to Dr. Albert W. Palmer, president of the Chicago Theological seminary. Dr. Palmer recently returned to Hawaii after an absence of eleven years. He was for several years pastor of a local church. After lauding progress made in the islands, Dr. Palmer said, "The greatest question mark concerning Hawaii which jny visit raises is the overwhelming presence of the military." Dr. Palmer sees in tTie building up of great defence structures here a dangerous influence in the civilian progress in a community whicll is.more than half of Oriental blood. "It is difficult," said Dr. Palmer, "for military people, who are here so briefly and who are pre-conditioned by an inevitable professional bias, really to understand the true Hawaii. Is there not danger that, with the increasing emphasis of military preparation, civilian life will be more and more subordinated? All of you may bo marching around and drilling in gas masks in a few months if the present accelerated pace of armament races continues." Dr. Palmer claimed hysteria is responsible for this trend. He expressed the belief that neither America, nor Japan would ever attack the other. "We ought," said Dr. Palmer, "to come to an understanding and disarm the Pacific as we have disarmed the Great Lakes and lived at peace with Canada." He urged Hawaii to continue to present a lesson to the world in amity among races and warned the islands not to be influenced by a false prosperity which comes with the expenditure of heavy sums here for defences. Dr. Palmer was on the summer school faculty at the University of Hawaii.