THOUGHTS OF LEADERS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 2, 2 July 1926, Page 7

THOUGHTS OF LEADERS

SPEAKERS AND WRITERS

INf LUENCE OF A HAPPY HOME

(From Oar Own Correspondent.)

LONDON,' 4th May.

■' Mr. Eamsay Mac Donald, at the International Building Trades Exhibition:.

"Men and women want houses, not merely as shelters, but as homes which, by their walls, their aspects, and their designs, speak to the human mind in,' words that are soothing and uplifting, and supply that subtle, psychological influence which makes al lthe difference between a happy and an unhappy home. The fireside doea not consist only of a hearth and a couple of chairs;, there must be a presence —an indefin-* able presence—that appeals to the hearts of men and women, and which comes within the category of that . which is holy. Those engaged in the building of houses must be able to get hold of something of the spirit of our great cathedral builders, who are not merely masons in tho sense of laying one stone on top of another, but who were architects, artists, and re-; ligioua wiiW^ppers in the sense that as the walls rose over their heads they felt that they were contributing sonic- : thing of permanent beauty and moral i value. I detest utilitarianism in house building. Utilitarianism is death ' of. the soul of man. When we do things in a mininmum sort of way; when there is no imperative demand in our hearts for something more than tho merely useful, then we are no longer men, but mere machines. In these days of impecuniousness and penury wo should be running a great risk i* we built houses on the mass production principle—just as a great deal of our furniture is made —by machinery a million at a time. If such a time should come, it will mean that there is not much of the grace of God left in us. "Recently, on the outskirts of London, I came across a new building estate being developed. I am not a man •who swears, but on this occasion I ,wa3 so deeply moved as I went through; that. estate, with its abominable straight walls —although straight walls are not necessarily abominable—its' proportions, its flatness, and its lack of the affectionate touch —a plain adver-! tisement that the heart was not put into the work —that I thought it an outrageous thing in the midst of such. beautiful country, and I fell back on' a little-used vocabulary—l said words, in my sleeve fit only for myself to; hear, but quite fitting to use for my boul's relief."

LONDON AND RELIGION.

The Bishop of London, reviewing the twentyjfive years of his bishopric:

"To answer tho question whether; London has improved is very difficult.; In some' ways I think it has improved,but not in others. Where I think Lon-> doit has gone tack is among the more: welMo-do and leisured classes. Fond: as I am of games of all kinds, I think; it is a great pity that the fathers who' used to come to church witK their boys and girls on Sunday have so large-; ly given it up for golf. And since the war there certajnly, has been, at any, rate for a' time, an apparent indiffer-' ence to the claims of God. However,.! am always an optimist, and I must' say my recent missions, thjaough Central, London last year and through North London this Lent, have been attended by large and reverent congregations.' I believe that people are thinking over things quietly, and are much more interested in religion than would appear on the surface. I believe the na-; ture of man ia essentially religious.l; Man, as has been said, is a prayinganimal, and therefore differs from all. other animals. He is born to pray, and he will never find final satisfaction, except in communion with God. Tho; s^ate of the streets in London has1 distinctly improved, although wo still' have to be ceaselessly at work watc.h-, ing the open spaces, reporting bid: .houses to the borough councils and the, police, and watching plays which we think are demoralising. "Another improvement is to be seen. in the Bobriety of London. This is due largely to the hours during which pub;-, •lie houses are allowed to be open being diminished from nineteen and a" half, as they were twenty-five years'. ago, to n'ae hours to-day; but effort's are still being made every year to' extend the hours at night from 10 till 11. Such an extension would be fatal to our poorer 'districts." . ."■■'„■ ■ FORGING CHAINS OF' FEIEND- ' SHIP. : Prince Chichibu, at the Knights of the Round Table Club:— "The purpose of this club is to keep', alive the memory of your English hero, King Arthur, in tho story of whose' deeds you find all that is best in the' spirit and ideals of England. Wo inJapan have legends which resemble in' many ways your tales of the deeds of the Knights of the Bound Table, and' we still cherish and remember the les-' • sons of courage and generosity which, they may teach us. (Cheers.) Between our two countries, cL.^cd though they are by half tho circuii:-?rence of' the globe, there stretch ch::ins of friendship which have been hardened in '• the forges both of.peaco and of war.' (Cheers.) I do not believe they wUi: ever be.broken, but it is the work' of societies such as this which will make' them strong, so. --hat in tho long years of peace ahead of us, we may be drawn' still more closely together." * ' PUBLIC TASTE. .A X- °'° O!mor > M.P., president! of^ the British Board of Film Censors- ... The censorship of the cinema in this country is of- a higher order than' the censorship of any other art. I amsorry to say that, after a -very lon'o' experience I have come to the conclusion that the standard of public taste in tho: matter of entertainment is rather low.And this standard is not improved by those newspapers which devote space to long reports of divorce eases aud; the like; newspapers whose circulations are not in proportion to their tle--licacy. But we all have to realise that: the theatre and tho cinema cannot be; like a Sunday school union; if they are' made so pure and so free from those foibles or human nature which the pub-: lie do like to see represented occasionally, the theatres and cinemas would' have to close down. "As to tho competition between American and British films, the position' is a very humiliating and unpleasant; one for us, but wo have to face fac^s,! and realise that as America has apopulation so much larger than ours,: and so many more cinemas, it is per-, haps inevitable that they should take; the lead in film production." WIRELESS AT JUTLAND. • • Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Jacks.on, a former Sea Lord of the Admiralty:— .;_ . "If I had known about directional: wireless as much as I do to-day,.',i; would have hesitated about sending' the Fleet out. It was a very risky job,' but it came off." Professor W. H. Eecles (ex-president, of tho Badio Society) said that it was: owing to the interest that Sir Heilry; had taken in wireless all his life that the Fleet waa sent out as soon as it: was. "A day or two before," lib recalled, "all^he directional-finding sta-; tions noticed very active signalling go-' ing on at the mouth of tho Elbe. The; next day.it was noticed that the signalling was about seven miles nearer; than on the day before. If wo had not had a First Lord who understood wireless and could trust it, the Fleet would never have gone out then. He had the courage to act." ' ':;.'.'