WHAT DOES THE WORLD WANT MOST.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3382, 11 July 1927, Page 7

WHAT DOES THE WORLD WANT MOST.

(By Professor J. Arthur Thomson,

M.A., LL.D. “The world wants Christianity,” said the Bishop of London on returning during the week-end from nis world tour. The statement gives added interest to Professor Thomson’s stinking article. The most vital need of the world at the present time is better health. No doubt everything would be better if we had a great religious and ethical revival, seeking first tne kingdom of God; if there came an overwhelming wave of good will; if we were better educated so that we could face the facts in their nakedness; if our eyes were opened by imagination; or if the young people of the world fell in love witn beauty. But the first need is better health. First, because every one desires it; first, because it is fundamental; first, because it is in some measure immediately attainable; first, because it is so far-reaching. Progress means a balanced movement of the social whole towards a fuller embodiment of the supreme values —the true, the beautiful, and the good; but this cannot be attained without wealtn and health. Without these there cannot be stability of persistence. Wealth we have got in abundance, though it is badly distributed, for wealth simply means a command, of natural resources; and there was never more of these than now. But we have not got a high level of health, without which life can never be, as it ought to be.a satisfaction in itself.

This is rare, because man so readily acquiesces in bad health and sudhealth. , Knowledge has grown from more to more; and it is true that knowledge means foresight, and that foresight means power. But we have not all round the vigorous health which would enable us and force us to apply to the problems of life the knowledge that lies to our hands.

Good will abound?; probably the world never held more of it • but much if not most of it effervesces because vve have not the resoluteness to translate emotion into motion. And the resoluteness depends on our health, which means as much more than the absence of disease as peace means more than the absence of war.

To feel the thrill of positive health is the most vital need of the world today, and 1 probably the need that can be most readily met! Let us cultivate an enthusiasm for health. A higher standard of health would throw off the handicaps of heredity, would parry the thrusts and arrows of outrageous environment, and: would insist on our being clear-headed, friendly, and joyous. . Health is next to godliness, but its ideal must be pitched high, including obviously healtny-mindedlness, for the organism is one. Our most vital need, 1 repeat, is better health.

VOODOOISM.

Voodooism, magic medicines, and innumerable kinds of charms have been discovered as flourishing in the negro belt of New York, which has so increased in population since the war as to make New York the .largest negro city in the world. The negroes have their own district in the northern part of the city, known as Harlem—once a residence of whites somewhat similar to London Kensington, but now increasingly given over to the black race. Before the war the negro population of Harlem was about 60,000. Today it exceeds 200,000. Before the war not 10 negroes owned real property. Today 75 per cent, of the houses occupied by negroes in Harlem are owned by negroes. Their material progress, writes a New York' correspondent, has been extraordinary. They have their millionaires, even, and are .establishing their own financial institutions to combat the reluctance of New York’s banks to take the negro at his outward appearance value and lend him money on terms such as the whites command. The bankers of New York are not convinced that the Harlem negroes have developed a sense of responsibility, although they have been earned to comparative wealth by the prosperity of the city. The extent of magiftil rites performed" in Harlem is one of the reasons why cautions hankers are reluctant to finance negro enterprises. Nobody quite knows what the negroes will do next, for the magic of the jungle still exerts its influence on the Harlem blacks. Mu mho Jumbo, deity of the African tropics, has his worshippers in New York, if not in outward form, at least, in inward attitude. The laws against charalatans compel negro workers of magic in Harlem to camouflage their offerings somewhat, hut this fact does not interrupt sales. A recently discovered catalogue of offerings in eluded the following Adam and Eve Root.” (Valued for its magic qualities in bringing bock and holding the love of a husband, wife, or sweetheart. Sold by us at six shillings a box, for its medical value in kidney troubles). “John, the CShqueror Root.” (To this has been attributed more wonderful and phenomenal properties than any other root or herb we’ve ever heard of. It is believed by certain voodooists and high priests that a person carrying a piece of this root in his pocket will never be without money and can obtain anything he desires. He will always feel strong and powerful, and have much luck. Price, two shillings). “Queen Elizabeth Root.” (This fragrant and aromatic root is held in high esteem by the coloured folks of our southern States. It is claimed to answer all questions put to it. Ask it a question, and if the answer is ‘Yes,’ it will move to the left; otherwise to the right. We can furnish these roots £2 full form, £1 half form.) Many other magical compounds are advertised in the negro belt, some of them not for human ailments. Thus, “Smellage Root attracts wild animals to hunters, and “Lovcsage Seed,” used by fishermen, results in large catches. The voodoo men who offer such enticements to the Harlem blacks, so that there shall be no misunderstanding with officers of the lavy, plainly give notice that their purpose is innocent. One notice attached to a price list of magic mixture says: “The writer wishes it understood that these articles are merely described and sold for their medicinal value, and as curiosities, and are not recommended for their evidently impossible magic properties.” But the negroes regard this as a voodoo form to hoodwink the whites, and so the game goes on.