THOUGHTS FOR THE

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 8, 4 October 1941, Page 8

THOUGHTS FOR THE

DAY’ Comments —Reflections Intercession. Almighty God, from Whom alone come wisdom and strength, send upon our King and Queen, the rulers of the conquered nations who yet stand free and true, and all to whom Thou hast committed the responsibility of government and leadership among the nations, Thy wisdom and’ Thy strength. Give them special gifts of understanding for the right direction of the present crisis, and the vision of truth and justice that all things may work together for good, and in the end by their counsels all nations and classes may work together in true brotherhood. —Amen.

Winning will put? any man into courage.—Shakespeare (Cymbeline).

"Shortage of scrap iron is so serious that it may cut U.S. steel production 10 per cent, this autumn. The principal reason for the shortage is the 25,000,000 tons of scrap the U.S.A, exported in the last' eight years—most of it to Japan.”—New York “PM.”

“The essential freedom is the freedom to modify opinions and policies, by speech and study and writing. More important than any programme, this is the method inseparable from intelligent judgment. Its justification lies in the necessity to test any thinking, in the search for truth, since all our discovery comes by experiment and proof and all our enlightenment is evolutionary and progressive. This is the adventure, inescapably, in the life of mankind, and this is its dignity in the world we want.” —The report of an American commission appointed to study the organization of peace.

"Since 1918 perhaps some of His Majesty’s Governments have forgotten the self-evident fact that foreign policy can only. be really effective if it has behind it the backing of force, and they may have pursued a foreign policy which had not the requisite backing .since they had allowed that force to dwindle. Foreign policy pursued under such conditions is based really on bluff,” said Lord Perth, formerly Ambassador at Rome, speaking in the House of Lords. He was supported by Lord Stonehaven (since deceased), formerly Ambassador at Paris, Cairo and Vienna, who declared that diplomats could only play the hand that was dealt to them by the Government at home, and they had had a mighty raw deal for a good many years past. The majority of the mistakes that had been made had been made here at home, by politicians, and not by the Diplomatic Service.

“If this life is not all and is itself but a school of character, then we can recognize that even in wartime — nay, especially perhaps in wartime — we can enjoy fullness of life and gain those riches of the soul which should be the true prize of life and which are hardly to be gained in the pursuit of safety first. In the last war 1 knew a man who although he earned the Military Medal never rose above the rank of a lance-corporal, but whose company office: - described him to me after he was killed as ‘one of the noblest men I ever knew and one who if he had been spared would have been my friend for life.’ The last time I saw him he said to me, ‘I shall never regret this war. No, not if 1 am killed tomorrow. What would my life have been if I had never joined up? Five and a half days at the warehouse, with a little cricket or football at the weekend and a week at Blackpool or the Isle of Man in the summer. Now I have seen the world and men; yes, and I’ll say it, I’ve played the man. It’s been worth while.’ If we are, as they say, all in the front line in this war we all have a chance to play the man.” —“Artifex” in the "Manchester Guardian.”

“We iu Britain may have taken a long time to learn it, but we have learned now that our chances in this war depend on the success, and on the speed, with which we can multiply our output of munitions. We have learned more than that. We realize now that that output will not be good enough till the whole supply of labour and machinery and materials available to the Allied nations is being used to stoke the furnace of the war Indus tries. So well does the public understand this at last, that it is not ready to tolerate any longer the spectacle of key commodities like petrol being wasted, or individuals failing to work all out, or bad industrial management jamming the gears of the machine. For these reasons I find myself cheered by the fact that a brisk controversy has flared up in the last few weeks on such things as absenteeism and incoin petent management in our war factories. It shows that the British people are thinking and talking abou' things that matter. Now let us take note of one thing. Measured by the percentage of the national production which is being devoted to war pur poses, Great Britain's war effort is roughly equivalent to Germany’s at about 50 per cent., and compares favourably with those of some other Allied countries. Examination of the detailed percentages suggests that, by and large, British working people need not be ashamed of the share of the day’s work they are doing for the common liberation of mankind. Thai does not imply, however, that all is perfect. The Allies will not be out of danger till every Allied country is making a bigger effort proportionately than Germany.”—Mr. Douglas Jay in a recent broadcast talk.

Retribution. I wake to the higher aims Of a land that has lost for a little her lost for gold, And love of a peace that was full of wrongs and shames, Horrible, hateful, monstrous, not to be told: And hail once more to the banner of battle unroll’d: Tho’ many a light shall darken and many shall weep For those who are crushed in the clash of jarring claims, Yet God’s just wrath shall be wreaked on a giant liar: And many ar darkness into the light shall leap, And shine in the sudden making of splendid names, And noble thought be freer under the sun, And the heart of a people beat with one desire. —Tennyson.