THE SPIRIT OF PEACE

Evening Star, Issue 19745, 21 December 1927, Page 10

THE SPIRIT OF PEACE

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE OF WELFARE In the closing days of 1927, entering as we are on the season of Christmas festivities, lot us think not merely of cu: personal pleasures but also of what the joyous greeting “A Merry Christmas ” should mean to all of us. it is the note of fellowship and the gospel of human welfare so vividly set forth by diaries Dickens in his wonderful ‘ Christmas Carol ’ and the simple prayer of Tiny Tim, “ God bless all of us.” The Christian message of love and hope must hold the hearts and minds of the human race in the bondage which yet maketh men free if the world is to make progress in enlightenment and true enrichment. Have the people made advancement during the year that is closing? Have the nations, and particularly the Empire to which we arc proud to belong as free citizens, reached at all closer to the high ideal of “ peace on earth, goodwill towards men”? in our opinion these questions can l)o answered in the affirmative. [Hie gicat nations have no/ only exercised their fullest judgment in seeking better understandings with each other and been successful in settling questions of differences which might have resulted iu open conflict, but they iiave been instrumental iu assisting sonic of the smaller Powers to avoid the conflict of arms in favor of the rapprochements of reason. In this great work the League of Nations has been of immense value, and the British Empire lias, through its leading statesmen, been most active and untiring in its efforts to maintain the peace of the world. The disturbed state of China, and the East has forced Great Britain to adopt defensive_ measures, yet these have been so wisely undertaken as to have secured a greater measure of peace and security than would have obtained had the firmness displayed not been exercised. It is good to observe the general attitude of amity and_ mutual understanding displayed this year between the nations of Franco, Italy, Germany, Austria, America, and our own worldwide Empire. To those who think of Imperial Britain as a marauding and tyrannic Power, subjecting other States and peoples to its dominant will, the clemency and liberality of its guidance and rule everywhere arc a sufficient answer. Britain lias avoided all useless talk of immediate and total disarmament, such as was indulged in by Litvinoff, the Soviet Russian representative, at Geneva, but she has practised on the line of peace by reducing her forces which could be used for war to the very limit of what is required for mere safety. “Peace has her victories no less renowned than war.” It is the victories of peace we are seeking as a people to secure. Advance in science, art, philosophy, and the application of the most liberal thought to the Government of the greatest Empire, because the most free, that the world has known, is what wo are aspiring to. In the last Imperial Conference we set the seal on our liberal policy iu according the high status of nationhood to Canada, Australia, South Africa, the Free State of Ireland, and New Zealand. All in tlic spirit of penoe ami goodwill have the very difficult problems of Ireland and South Africa been kindly dealt with by the great Imperial Mother. Conflicts we havo experienced tins year even amongst our own people, and not the least of these had to do with the economic relations connected with our industries. There are those who believe in class war and industrial conflict. _ . , However, it is pleasing to note that this year has seen the’ inception of a widely representative movement in Britain for industrial peace The British Seamen’s Union, led by its able president (Air J. Havelock Wilson), was early in the field for this purpose, and since then many leading Labor advocates, large employers, _ and politicians, have joined heartily in the movement.

New Zealand has been very free Irom industrial strife, for which all must he grateful. It is characteristic of our people that whatever difference we have still we retain the common sense which recognises that war and destruction, whether national or industrial, are inimical to our human welfare. Peace in industry, pence in our national and international affairs, the spirit of goocLvill towards all men, and then, whatever onr troubles, we shall be able to face them manfully. The greeting, “A Alerry Christmas,” will bo more than a formality, expressive as it is of the spirit of Christian fellowship on which all human welfare rests. —Contributed by tho New Zealand "Welfare League.