Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1946 1947-SALUTATIONS AND SPECULATIONS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 67, 30 December 1946, Page 4

Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1946 1947-SALUTATIONS AND SPECULATIONS

THE first year of the new-found peace has ended, with nothing more than the jangling of abortive Peace Conferences, and the conclusion of the mightiest triumph of justice m the death sentences of the major war criminals. The prophets of woe, who foresaw a new war breaking out m ail s ghastliness before the twelve months had ended ave sen confounded. The year of Grace, 1947 which will be born on Wednesday morning carries with it the jubilant iact that the nations after the tumult and the shouting of the chaotic post-war days, have now mellowed towards each other. The international -relationship is healthier oy far than it was during the nervous days of the Soviet-Rer-sian impasse, or the Soviet claims against the inoffensive Turks. Straight talking has been indulged m to,a. marked degree by Foreign Ministers of England, America, Russia and France. It is due mainly to this that a positive understanding has been reached and each of the allied nations now realises exactly what the other is thinking. At least we have had a tangible foundation which to lay the . first tentative stones of the new structure which all mankind is praying will make for permanent security and peace. The new year must see the consolidation of the nations peace efforts, it must likewise see the re-birth of the organisation which wi put into tangible effect the humanitarian work of U.N.R.K.A. which unfortunately has been allowed to die—sacrificed on the alter of international trade complications. The C.U.K.b.U. set up is but a pale replica of the magnificent structure envisiaged by Roosevelt. The new year must also clarity the policy of occupation of the defeated Axis powers, whereby something like eighty millions are spent annually by Britain alone in Germany. In the realm of industrial research, the application of atomic energy will combine to occupy the best scientific brains in the world with a view to bringing man’s most startling discovery into servitude. The great forces behind U.N.O. will likewise be put to the test. Its disciplinary measures must inevitably be applied sooner or later, and it. remains to be seen whether or not it will follow the ignominious exit of the now almost-forgotten League of Nations, which failed to have the necessary authority to enforce world order when it was most urgently needed. Certainly the fabric of the new world order has commenced to take shape and broadly speaking it is based upon the tenets laid down by the Atlantic Charter. It now remains for mankind in general to apply his God-given commonsense in carrying out the essence of the prospeptus, and in putting into practice the policy which has been dictated by the recent Christian festival of Christmas ‘Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Man.’ ... -