NAVY LEAGUE STREET COLLECTION

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22344, 7 March 1938, Page 4

NAVY LEAGUE STREET COLLECTION

*0 THJt BDITOa OP TUB P8833. m,-—The Rev. P. H. Pritchett has attempted to discredit my assertions by introducmg much talk about ag orpssion but I can find little ot real value in his letter. He rppards the fact I stated that .Britain s expenditure on armaments has always been one of the highest in the world. Might I also suggert that any aggressiveness on the part other nations may not havo been due any “weakness” of Britain, but to a foolish foreign policy? Your correspondent talks much or “aggressors” and apparently realise that rarely is there such a thing as an aggressor in modern warfare lncidentally, I was astonished at such rash remarks (especially by a c }ergy man) concerning certain Biblical passages. Christ made no qualifications about aggressors when He said, iney that take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” His statement applies to all as is clearly indicated by the variant readings of Weymouth and Moffat; “For all who draw the sword shall perish by the sword,” and All who draw the sword shall die by the sword.” Also, if your correspondent were to read Moffat’s version of the passage to which he referred me, viz., Ezekiel xiii, 10-16. he will firm, the passages he intended for my enlightenment. “There is no peace, saith the Lord God,” etc., do not occur and an entirely different meaning is assigned to the passage. Also, the verse following, “When a strong man armed, shows the futility of trusting in force. I am not a profound Biblical student, but I have yet to find anyone, clergyman or otherwise, who can persuade me that Christ would ever condone the murder of innocent women and children by gas and aerial warfare' eveh in the precious names of “defence” or "security.” Of course, I realise that all our armaments are for defence, even the many bombers recently added to the Air Force, and that all other statesmen are liars when they suggest that their armament is for defence or to resist the menace of British rearmament. Anyone who believes that we are such a chosen people as to have a monopoly of truthfulness and good will, has. to my mind, a foolish egotism.—Yours, etc., T. E. MILES. Hokitika, March 3, 1938. [As this letter was written and posted before the correspondence was closed, it is allowed. —Ed., “The Press.”]

TO THE EDITOR OP THE PRESS.

Sir,—The object of our original letter was to draw attention to the anomaly of granting a street collection, properly reserved for charitable causes, to such a movement as the Navy League, and nothing has transpired to merit any change of opinion. “Not Frightened” suggests that pacifists put a big label on themselves to escape the “horror” of war. But pacifists realise a fact that he seems to overlook—it is impossible for anyone to escape the “horror” of war, when it comes, just as it will be equally impossible for him to defend his father and mother during thenext war. “Not Frightened” must face the facts. Brigadier-General Crozier wrote In his book, “The Men I Have Killed”: “A lifetime of professional soldiering has brought me, by painful ways, to the realisation that all war is wrong, is senseless. When we were fighting for the victory of war I was in *he front line. To-day I am glad I am still in the front line —fighting for the victory and blessing of peace, and by my side are thousands of my old comrades of the battlefield. . . There is no longer such a thing as victory in war. Both sides must lose. There is nothing to be won in warfare, no lasting good, nothing but senseless slaughter, the massacre of combatants and innocents, the spread of hate and misery and a legacy of turmoil and disruption, not only for the opposing nations but for the whole world as well”

The accusation of using Scriptural quotations to support a contention comes strangely from the Rev. P. H. Pritchett and, in fact, both he and “Not Frightened” immediately go to the same source for further quotations. But the. Christian position is quite plain. If there is anything in the life of Christ and His teachings, then it is unthinkable that his followers should support a method which is revolting to every concept of His nature. Mr Pritchett concludes his letter with an amazing appeal to Christian men c-nd women. We suggest that no thoughtful Christian could utter such a litany—they have far more to fear from Mr Pritchett’s philosophy than from that of.—Yours, etc.. THE CHRISTIAN PACIFIST SOCIETY, March 6, 1938. I.This correspondence is now closed.— Ed., “The Press.”]