A Moral Equivalent

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 172, 16 April 1932, Page 18

A Moral Equivalent

“Never was, the need of a ‘moral equivalent for war’ more apparent and more urgent than now,” adds Dr. L. P. Jacks in the HiUbert Journal; “but is it not equally evident that the said ‘equivalent’ has not yet been found? We are unquestionably confronted with great perils, not less formidable though less spectacular than if a foreign foe wei’e threatening to invade our shores in overwhelming force. “If ever a situation can exist in which it may be counted a virtue to be willing to die for our country that situation is before us now. Yet nobody has asked us to show this willingness, nor aro we spontaneously showing it. We are being asked instead to make some relatively small sacrifices; to bear a little more taxation, on backs, it is true, that are heavily burdened already; to have our unemployment benefit reduced; to pay a little more for our beer and cigarettes, to cut down our establishments, to spend less cm cinemas and to gamble less heavily at Monte Carlo. “Such are the sacrifices we are asked to make; but some of us are not willing; and others, while admitting f that they must bo made, insist that the ‘other fellow’ shall make them. All this shows our lack of disciplined courage. The moral equivalent for war has not been found, though an equivalent for the peril of war is clearly before us."