Evening Post. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1934.

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 20, 24 July 1934, Page 8

Evening Post. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1934.

IS IT ..WORTH DEFENDING ?

That the Imperialism of which lids country was once so proud, is now something to-be ashamed of, that patriotism is an extinct virtue, that common sense has ceased to apply to matters of defence, and that lor the Empire and the Dominion alike the cause of unily, of safety, and of honour' is best served by the tactics of the ostrich —these are some of the propositions which seem lo underlie a good deal of the-current agitation on the subject. .' For the overwhelming majority of our people who, though grievously disabled by the depression, have not yet allowed it to crush all sense of proportion out of ihcm, it is easy-to dismiss with silent contempt the ignorance of history which this philosophy reveals, this ignorance of human nature,- its blindness to some of the simplest and most fundamental facts of national and international life, and ihe chaos and the anarchy which are its logical and inevitable, though unintended, outcome. But one of the surest lessons of democracy is that "eternal -vigilance is the price of liberty," that even the'most widelyaccepted opinion must be prepared from time to lime to meet any challenge by the same process which procured ils acceptance,' and that a majority which refuses to satisfy this test may at any time have to make way for a minority .which lakes it.=elf more seriously. The idea that New Zealand and the Empire can afford to scrap their respective defence systems, and that they and the rest 6t the world would ■be the richer, safer, and happier for the change is so fantastic that it may well seem to be no morb deserving of serious argument than a sick man's dream. But only let' it be treated with silent contempt long enough, and it will be found-to influence policy. : The Navy League has' a more excellent way. It has a positive faith which'is based upon the .facts of history, and recognises that it was seapower which made the Empire winch added New Zealand to the Empire, and which for nearly a century has enabled her id enjoy all ' the blessings of freedom with, substantially none of the heavy responsibilities or .ihe pare dangers of independence . The Navy League also nehrves lhat life same power which enabled the Empire to come into existence, with New Zealand as a part of it, is equally neressary for the maintenance of the whole and the part. To the ordinary mind this inference is axiomatic in its certainty, and we have seen no attempt to dispute its accuracy -on the part of those who object lo New Zealand's taking, not her fair share—for such a thing has never been proposed— but something slightly better than her present grossly inadequate share, of the cost of the common defence. Neither on this nor on any other phase of ihe defence problem has ihe Navy League in this country ever conducted any raging, tearing propaganda. The calm, historical exposition of the origin of the Empire, including New Zealand, has been its chief public activity, and those who dislike the natural inference have not attempted lo impugn ils facts. The annual meeting .of , the Wellington branch of the Navy League last night' provided an opportunity for a general survey of the League's activities and of those of some of its critics., The idea lhat the League is concerned with the glorification of war and, the fomenting of international haired, and that it considers the schools an especially suitable platform for this purpose, is a gr.oss absurdity which does credit only to the imagination of ils critics. The Mayor of Wellington, who spoke from experience of the lectures actually delivered by the secretary of the Wellington branch, Was satisfied that the critics could not have had this advantage;- . They evidently thought, snicl Air. Ilislop, that Mr. Darroch went into the schools as a fir.ebrand .to teach the children, to grow ,up with an -, utter hatred of every nation but thoiT "own. But Mr. Darroeh went into the schools and simply told the story of the development of our overseas Empire and the part the Navy had played in it. When wo come to the stage when wo are afraid to tell our children of the achievements of tho past, of the efforts under which the British nation has been built-up, then it is time we had nothing to livo for at all and no prosperity. It is indeed one of the riiosl glorious parts of British history, and one which in-these drab and troubled times our children should know. And the pacifist should be' glad to recognise that, though a story of seapower, there was relatively little fighting in it. It was a triumph for a British Navy that was mostly silent, and for the peaceful activities of explorers, seamen, merchants, and settlers that took no holidays. Mr. J. B. Callan, K.C., dealt very clearly,, but in a tolerant and generous spirit, with the vague but violent protest 'of some. student bodies against "the war preparations of the New Zealand Government^" which was reported pn Wednesday last. The general argument against silence to which we have already referred was given by Mr. Callan a specially neat and sharp point in its application tb youthful critics. When the youth of today say impatiently- that we have made such a mess of things that they propose to take the conduct of affairs out of our hands,

it is surely better to reason than to retire into a silenco which may be coiihtruoil as an inability lo answer. It may be that the outbursts of our students have sometimes received more attention than was good for them, and lhat silence may serve as a useful non-conductor against the displays of bravado and bad manners. But where, as in ihe present case, ihe good intentions are obvious and the sincerity, as Mr. Callan says, is intense, his plea for a.fair reply is unanswerable. The most comprehensive and fundamental of Mr. Callan's arguments was in opposition to the contention that war of every kind is un-Chris-lian. It has always seemed to'mo, ho said, that the fallacy hero is to assume that each contestant mast necessarily be guilty of un-Christi:»i conduct It is entirely consistent, with my conception oi Christianity to resist by force when unjustly attacked. What would be the right and duty of New Zealanders if some entirely foreign people not of our .race, possibly not of our colour, proposed forcibly to overrun this county/ I, have not heard anyone seriously maintain that it would be wrong for us to resist, or wrong for us,to call upon Britain and the British Navy to.protect us. i We should be surprised if .some of those who affirmed their opposition to the; war preparations of the Government are not ready to go to the full length that Mr. Callan believes lo be impossible for any rational man. Jf a similar meeting were to start with his question as ihe subject for-discussion, it would-render some of .its members the invaluable service of clearing away the fog in which their convictions on the ultimate issues are probably iiwolved.