THE WILL TO PEACE

Evening Star, Issue 22577, 19 February 1937, Page 15

THE WILL TO PEACE

EASY OPTIMISM DEPRECATED CHURCHMAN ON WORLD AFFAIRS “ To have passed through the international crises and alarms or recent months, avoiding a general clash, is matter for thankfulness, and gives hope that the ( will to peiicc will u - timately prevail against the unreason which would plunge mankind once again into fratricidal strife, stated the Rev. F. Copeland (newly-elected president of the Methodist Church of New Zealand), in his inaugural address at the opening of the annual conference of the church in Auckland. “ Yet the situation challenges any easy optimism,” the speaker continued. " With the resurgence of fierce and narrow nationalisms, with the widespread promulgation of antagonistic ideals. _of statesmanship frankly accepting the use of force, not reason, to attain national ends, with as great a number of men under arms in 1937 as in 1914, and with ‘ olive branches springing from bayonets ’ (to use Mussolini's phrase), many, eyen the most pacific-minded, including our New Zealand Government, have accepted the necessity of rearmament on a scale that a couple of years ago would have seemed incredible. And it would appear that the end is not yet. What all this implies for the Christian Church we have yet fully to explore. That we must continue to do with courage and with patience. FRIENDS OF PEACE ANXIOUS. The happenings of the past year, said Mr Copeland, had been such as to fill with anxiety the minds of all men and women of goodwill and earnest purpose. Yet it might well be that these only formed part of what Lessing called God’s education of ■ in© human race.” When the League of Nations came to birth it looked, so many people thought, as if men at long last had learned the utter futility and wickedness of war as a means of settling international difficulties, or of promoting the ascent of the race. Here was, in the words of General Smuts, “ a concrete expression of the moral and spiritual unity of mankind.” Alas for their hopes! An instrument of peace had indeed been forged, but it . would seem as if some deeper change was needed in the heart of man before that instrument could be effective The events of the past year had sadly discredited the League as an effective means of collective security—witness the battered, poisoned body of Abyssinia, so treated by a follow-mem-her of the League I Doubtless this peace weapon needed to he reforged; God grant that its reforging might not require the fierce furnace of another world conflagration I » A BOLT FROM THE BLUE. In a brief reference to the recent British constitutional crisis, which he said came like a bolt from the blue upon the Empire, the president observed that it at least discovered the heart of the Empire, when laid bare, to be morally sound. With amazing unanimity the nation was prepared to lose a beloved monarch rather than corm promise on an issue which was felt to affect so vitally the very foundations of Christian moral standards, and the sanctity of treasured home and family life. > Touching upon economic conditions, the speaker said these revealed worldwide improvement, though some would be found ready to suggest that this was due almost entirely to the present feverish expenditure on the implements of war, and not to the application of those basic principals that made for the permanent solution of the problems causing such acute distress during the present decade. In any event, there was evident to-day a more widespread insistence than ever before in human history that society, whatever its form might be, must he organised on a more genuinely Christian basis than hitherto. HOPES OF SOCIAL LEGISLATION. Helped by world conditions, our New Zealand Government was putting into operation a programme of social and industrial legislation which all, whatever their political colour, must surely hope would be of permanent benefit to our whole citizenship. One of the elementary functions of any government was the provision of some measure of social security for its people. In our modern world, with its wealth of natural resources readily available, coupled with man’s highly developed scientific and technical skill, any social and economic order failing to meet the fundamental needs of men, women, and children for food, shelter, and clothing, must stand self-con-demned before the conscience of mankind. Old things were passing away, and _ they were witnessing a growing application _of social idealism that was surely inspired by the spirit of Christ, the Saviour and Friend of the downtrodden and disinherited. NO SUBSTITUTE FOR INITIATIVE. It must be recognised, however, that in a dynamic world, as even in a reasonably static one, there were limits to the degree of social security that was good for any normal, able-bodied citizen. Men who were unwilling to adapt themselves to a changing world would probably of necessity go down to_ defeat. In such days as these, despite all the provisions of governments and private benefactors, nothing would take the place of the spirit of daring and initiative in the hearts of the individual components of society. While there must be no stinting of public and private effort to meet the needs of the times, let it also be frankly recognised that there were definite limits to the degree of social security conducive to the growth of strong and virile character. “ Security may be the source of an abundant life of gratefid service,” said Mr Copeland in concluding this portion of his address; “ it may also he_ a source of moral and spiritual disintegration. We must never lose sight of the need of adventure and courage in the face of the unknown, and we New Zealanders must learn to live as lived the pioneers of this country—strenuously and daringly.”