THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 137, 6 March 1941, Page 6

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Comments—Reflections

“True peace is in the hearts of men.” —His Majesty the King. * * * “ ‘When I was a youth and under the care of my uncle the priest of Dunipace, all 1 could carry away from him was a single proverb, but it seemed to me above all price and I never forgot it. It was this: — “I tell you a truth, liberty is the best of all things. My son; never live under a slavish bond.’ ” —Sir William Wallace, Scottish patridt. * « 4 “Not by treaties or agreements, but exclusively by force, Great Britain built up a vast Empire.” Those are the words of Adolf Hitler, and there is much reason to think that he really believes them. His complete misunderstanding of the British Empire—not only the mind and temper of the British people, but the plain facts of Empire history — has been a disaster for the world. Had he not been obsessed by the idea of force as the foundation of empire, he might not have placed too much faith in It as the sole measure and instrument of German greatness. Had he not believed that the British Empire was built by force, and that the force had now wasted away, he might have thought again before, challenging a combination of peoples whose moral and material strength he is only just beginning to realize.”—H. V, Hodson in the “Spectator,” London.

“The only nucleus round which a stable, peaceful, democratic world’can be built after this war is if the United States and Great Britain possess between them more aeroplanes, ships of war and key positions of world power such as I have described than any possible totalitarian rival. Then, and then only, will political and industrial freedom be secure and will it be possible for a free economic system to prevail against the economics of totalitarianism. If we are to set the world going again, not only must we have strength, but we must not adopt the fatal policies we all pursued after the last war —the establishment of prohibitive tariffs, trying to collect fantastic reparations and war debts through those tariffs, then hoping to dodge the inevitable consequences of these follies by a policy of reckless lending. Markets and employment for all should be the main purpose of our post-war economic policy. It is the great strength of democracy that brings responsibility down squarely on every citizen and every nation. And before the Judgment Seat of God each must answer for his own actions.” —From Lord Lothian’s last speech in America.

“We all know the bullet-proof train which the Fuehrer twice used for his meetings with Mussolini, We know the big car —a Mercedes, isn’t it? —in which the Fuehrer rides through Berlin, standing up, his arm extended in a rigid acknowledgment of salutes —behind an invisible wall of bulletproof glass. We know the dramatic gestures of the Duce on one or the other of the high balconies of a huge palace or on a promontory-like tribune from whence he shouts to masses carefully ringed by compact lines of blackshirts. We know the Moorish—not Spanish—bodyguard which surrounds the Caudillo Franco in theatrical display when he rides through Madrid, in a bullet-proof car which the Fuehrer has presented to him. On the other hand, we know Mr. Chamber lain and Winston Churchill and the King and the Queen walking on foot through the streets of British towns. What I want is to stress to you, .the British, the significance of ■ men who can walk in the streets, freely—the physical and the moral valour of a cigar hangipg in the corner of a mouth, or a casual bowler hat. Don’t let it get lost." —A Spanish correspondent, Senor Arturo Barea, in the “New Statesman,” London.

“It has been the ‘decadent’ democracies that have produced the finest acts of courage in this war. The outranged British cruisers closing in on the Graf Spee; the Finnish infantry cutting Russian columns to pieces in the grim winter forests; French regiments, misled, betrayed, holding their part of the line like a little Verdun against the German tanks and Stukas; British soldiers of the rear guard at Dunkirk and British civilians manning motor boats to take the defeated but not beaten army home; British men and women—ordinary, plain-faced people who used to make a fuss about a cut finger—crawling out of their bombarded homes with the magnificent gesture of the uppointed thumb; the crew of the Jervis Bay fighting their unarmoured vessel against the German pocket battleship; the airmen of the R.A.F. going up in all weathers, against all odds, day after day, night after night, to guard the homes and shrines of Britain; the bomb squads methodically removing time-bombs that may explode at any moment. It is the glory and splendour of these tremendous days that the brave deeds are done without hope of reward or fame. The commanding officer has no monopoly of the precious wealth of courage. It springs up everywhere, from the immemorial turf of ancient estates and from the mud and dust of streets.” —“New York Times.” ♦ ♦ * True liberty consists in the privilege of enjoying our own rights, not -in the destruction of the rights of others. — Montaigne. » » • Zero Hour. Now in their courses The hesitant stars halt, watchful! Sea and Land Stake their opposed forces — Work of man’s hand Awaits the elements and their shattering thunder Breaking his slow-built dreams, h-is hopes, asunder. Eyes tensely drawn from scanning The wastes of tumbling sea and desolate air! Mind dazed with thought and planning ! Well may your actions fare! Your straining dusk, your sevenmonth vigil blended Of doubt and guess—God be your shield!—have ended! —“E.T.” in “The Observer” (London).