THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 7, 3 October 1941, Page 6

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Comments—Reflections Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends. —Shakespeare (Henry VI). • • • ‘‘lf we let ourselves be discouraged that is a proof that our wanting was inadequate, and that the future lies in the hands of those who more energetically wanted something different.” —“Begin Here,” Dorothy Sayers. * * ♦ The day returns and brings us the petty round of irritating concerns and duties. Help us to play the man, help us to perform them with laughter and kind faces, let cheerfulness abound with industry.—From the “Prayers,” of It. L. Stevenson. * * ♦ “Ere I had regained my health the War of Independence was won. I pray God that time may soften the bitterness it caused and heal the break in that noble race whose motto is Freedom. That the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack may one day float together to cleanse the world of tyranny.” —W. Churchill (U.S.A.) in “Richard Carvel.”

“Armament factories have been using music, relayed by loud-speaker, as a stimulant for some time. Now the 8.8. C. is seeking to discover what kind of music has the happiest effect on output. Accountancy will be busily en-* gaged in recording the productive potency of Strauss and ‘swing’ and possibly in assessing even the rival values of Beethoven and Sullivan, of Mozart and ‘Tin Pam Alley.’ It would be exciting to discover in a gun factory that ‘rolling out the barrel’ was more accelerated by a classical air than by the rollicking melody of that name. It is alleged that sometimes as many as 200 loud-speakers are at work in a single establishment. A synic might observe that if certain modern tunes are thus ‘plugged’ the workers might lustily increase their output, hoping that the added roar of the machines would overwhelm this too intense bombardment by a too mechanic Muse.”— “Manchester Guardian.”

“The 8.8. C. ‘Brains Trust’ made very heavy weather in trying to define n ‘lady’ the other day, a little intimated, perhaps, by the contribution of Lady Oxford tmd Asquith—‘l’m afraid I don’t know.’ No one thought of Defoe, and. Indeed, his definition, food, for all times and all places, is to be found in an unlikely hiding-place—his ‘Essay on Projects.’ ‘A Woman,’ he declares, ‘wellbred and well taught, furnished with the additional Accomplishments of Knowledge and Behaviour, is a creature without Comparison; her Society is the emblem of Sublime Enjoyments; her Person is angelic and her Conversation heavenly; she is all Softness, Sweetness, Peace, Love, Wit, and Delight; she is every way suitable to the subliinest wish; and the Man that has such a one to his Portion, has nothing to do but to rejoice in her and be thankful’.” —“Lucio” in the “Manchester Guardian.”

“To suggest that, when he launched his attack against Russia on June 22, Hitler was ‘returning to the policy of “Mein Kamipf” ’ is to ignore the development of Nazi technique which has taken place during the past 16 years. It Is certainly not fanciful to suggest that Hitler, when he decided in favour of the overthrow of the Bolshevik regime, was influenced by the degree of compliance which the Vichy Government had shown toward Germany. Admoral Darlan’s diligent pursuit of a policy of ‘collaboration with our conquerors’ had proved that the military overthrow of a country need not necessarily preclude far-reaching co-opera-tion with a regime born of defeat. To think of Hitler’s invasion of Russia in terms of the elimination of the Red Army and Air Force, plus the acquisition of oil and wheat, is vastly to underestimate the scope of Germany’s ambitions. The Germans undoubtedly look forward to the day when a Russian Government, both anti-democratic and anti-Communist, will perform for the Reich in the East of Europe services, diplomatic and military as well as economic, comparable to those which Vichy is already rendering in the West of Europe, in the Near East, and in Africa. Such a Government would assist the Reich in putting pressure upon Turkey; it would threaten British interests in Iran and interfere in the affairs of India; instead of assisting China against Japan, it would hold out to Japan the bait of collaboration against china.—Mr. Peter Matthews.

“Scientific investigation shows that the demand for reprisals is on the increase. Six months ago, in October, the Gallup Poll asked the question: ‘ln view of the indiscriminate bombing of this country, would you approve or disapprove if the R.A.E. adopted a similar policy of bombing the civilian population of Germany?’ The vote wars exactly evenly distributed. Forty-six per cent, sa'id they would approve of indiscriminate bombing of Germany, forty-six per cent, they would not. The remaining eight per cent, expressed no opinion either way. The Gallup Institute has just completed another poll on a question almost exactly the same as last October’s, and this time the answers show that fifty-three per cent, would approve the policy of bombing civilians in Germany, and thirty-eight per cent, would disapprove, an increase of seven per cent, in favour. Nine per cent, had no opinion either way. That isn't a very big increase, rather smaller perhaps than all the discussion in the newspapers might have led one to expect. An analysis of the voting reveals some rather interesting things. It reveals that people who have been blitzed tend to be less anxious for revenge than those who haven’t. For instance, in inner London there is a ■small majority against reprisals (fortyseven per cent, against, forty-five per cent, for), whereas in Cumberland, Westmorland and North Yorkshire, so far a comparatively Immune area in north-west England, there is a thumping big majority for revenge (seventysix per cent, for, only fifteen per cent, against)—the biggest pro-reprisals vote of any district.” —Mr. Gerald Barry in a recent broadcast talk.

Homeward. From the thing that is My comfort is come. Wind washes the plain road: This is the way home. —Laurence Binyon.