GERMAN WAR BOOK.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19665, 8 July 1929, Page 10

GERMAN WAR BOOK.

I "READ IT IN SPITE OF ITS | DIRT." MR ARCHER'S ADVICE. '"I say to every man, 'read that book in spite of the dirt that is in it.' '" In this way the -Mayor (Mr J. K. Archer) gave his opinion to his congregation at the Colombo street Baptist Church last night, on Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front, ; the famous war book that is causing much debate. ~ , . "You cannot destroy tire truth by banning it," said the Mayor "Some of the greatest writings of the world have been burned so that people could not read them Again and again the Bible has been banned and mutilated because there is no book in the world that is such an enemy to injustice. You must not imagine that a book is bad because it is banned. The whole truth about the war has never yet been told Soldiers did not tell it in their letters, partly because or the censor, and partlv for fear of shocking their friends and relatives with the horrors of the fighting fronts . . . It is now time that we were men and women enough to face the truth. " 'All Quiet on the Western Front' is by a young German who tells the truth as he saw it. Politicians, newspapers, parsons, and schoolmasters drilled it into the young German people that the war was a righteous one. Throughout the book there is not a single word of hate for any man, only a consuming hatred of war and death. The men were not fighting against one another but against death, for thev knew it was a case of kill or be killed. The book contains some very dirty sayings and some smutty stories. In fact one or two are so dirty that it is hard to believe that they are true. But war is a dirty business and therefore one cannot be surprised if there is dirt in the book. Some people might throw the book aside on coming across the dirty pages, but bv doing that they miss its whole lesson. ft is a pity that thero passages are included, for they tend to lessen the strength of the moral. It is a very lurid picture of the war but it is not as bad as it could have been made. . . Although frightfully outspoken the author does not tell the whole truth Bimply because he dare not. Some good generally comes out of evil. Remarque- tells of the wonderful 6pirit of comradeship that arose from the war. Newspapers Attacked. "The newspapers have something to answer for in regard to the war. The German papers preached war long before it came about and some of the British papers also fostered the war spirit. The papers, more than any other factor, fostered the war spirit. Remarque believes that Germany will never go to war again. There would be a revolution before war. He believes also that the great conflict was caused bv 20 or 30 people To-day the British Empire and New Zealand have more men in trainine for war than there were in 1913. The best way to bring about disarmament is for Britain to set the example. The fools, the liars and the traitors say that the way to prevent war is to prepare for it. I sav to you men, in spite of the dirt that is in it, read that book! For war is the enemy of Christ, of God, and of the human race."