CAUSE OF THE WAR

Franklin Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 17, 14 February 1940, Page 3

CAUSE OF THE WAR

TELLING THE YOUNG PEOPLE in his book. "Why We Mad lo tin lo War.” Mr Arthur Mee, editor of Ihe Children's Newspaper, explains to the elder boys and girls at school why Great Britain is at war with Germany. “We do nol wish," he says, "lo be masters of the world: We do not seek lo be the masters of our Empire. In i our own time we have spread wide | Ihe bounds of freedom and surren- j uerod authority and power over (hose j whose liberties we have built up with > . i our lives and treasure. Our oversea . i Dominions, so gallantly responding lo J our need, do it of their own free will. J They are as free to look on as lee- 1 * ; > land is while the Motherland is at ; ► grips with a foul and arrogant foe. j >

"Not because we are the masters of i i the world do we rise against the tyrant who would pul it. in chains: bul because we are the-heirs and possessors of the keys of Liberty and share it with mankind. As for (lie English, said Swedenborg, they have in (heir inner being an intellectual light. "If we have, as Emerson said, a secret vigour and a pulse like a cannon, il is because there is deep down in us a power pul there by God Himself. II is because in this'land of freedom a man feels that lie is a spark thrown off from the anvil of Cod lo illumine the dark places of tin- earth. M is because each one of us lias Ids share in the proud fame of our country.

"Not our Drakes and Beleighs only, i-ol our Shakespeares and Miltons and Cromwells, nol only those whose names shine like the stars in our history—not Ihese alone have made us wlmt we are. hut that vast multitude whose hearts are set immovably in the noose or what is right. “It is the fair play of the English spirit that has ruled our land for centuries in freedom. It is the thing tnat impels every lad on a cricket pilch, every scout in his camp. Ihe merchant in our market place, the statesman in high rank. It is the sj iril that has made our laws the envy of all lands, and has made every man and woman in the street ashamed lo he a bully or a brute. “So it is that in dark days like these our strength is in ourselves. It is our patience, our forbearance, our fortitude that will see us through. We tight for right and peace as well, for peace not through strength but through justice. The peace we wish for all the world we cherish in our hearts. It was one of our lighting statesmen who said that though our hands are active our conscience is at rest.

•’it is (rue. We have clone what could he done Lor peace, hut against us have been rained such evil things as falsehood, injustice, brutishness, oppression and the most cynical acts of faithlessness evern known in history. •'Twice in our century Europe lias marched lo the battlefields because a German ruler broke his word. There is no civilisation 'if men and nations are not faithful to each other, for life is not worth living if men break their word. If we cannot believe a man we can have no dealings with him, either buying or selling. "We buy a thing in a shop believ-

ing it to lie what it is said to be; we Lake the shopman’s word, and if he speaks the truth we buy from him again. If lie sells us brass and tells us ii is gold we buy from him no j more, and his trade is ruined. Man j cannot prosper on a broken word. • j “We could have no home to live in j 1 if men did not keep their word. We ! ti ns I our neighbours. They declare ■ themselves friendly and we believe them. We live side by side with hundreds of people who could rob us or poison us. bid they live at peace with us instead: they have given their word, and we believe him. We go to bed at night, we leave our homes by day, because we believe that men will keep their word. “We could not travel if men did not keep their word. We go into a strange country and trust our lives and our money to people we have never seen before, perhaps to people : whose language we do not under- i stand. But here also runs the lion- ; ourable understanding of men who keep their word. A strange man lakes our bag. another takes our money, another carries an important ■ letter. We go on our way because wo trust them all. We take their word. “There is neither work nor wages • for us if we break our word. We , work for a week or a month on a pro- • mise that our wages will be paid. Men j give us their labour, and we give j : them ours, because we pledge our word. We put our money into the , bank, we leave our watch at the watchmaker’s, we trust a man with j an important piece of information, we risk our lives, on the promise of a word.

“We must be free or die; and we v-ho speak the tongue that Shakespeare spoke must keep our word.”