MASS ENTHUSIASM

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 May 1934, Page 8

MASS ENTHUSIASM

WHY NOT A DRAMATIC PEACE?

“While every man and woman would decry war individually, the public is careless and casual when it comes to getting any definite response to an organised interest in peace. There’s logical reason. We haven’t captured its imagination. We haven’t made peace as dramatic as war. “What are the methods used the world over as an anodyne for that terrible moment when a community’s menfolk march down the streets to war? Bands that set the feet tapping and the pulses racing. Waving flags. The rhythmic marching of men. Uniforms. Cheering. Mob enthusiasm. “Let’s bring some of that pageantry into our war for peace. Speeches are not enough. Pamphlets alone won’t do the trick. The average person is too lazy to read them carefully. Wellmeaning dissertations do not reach the masses. And without them the whole, structure is built upon the sands.

“We need more colour and drama. Let’s get the parades 'going. Let’s have a little cheering and enthusiasm for peace workers. Let's have a national anniversary, with plenty of publicity in the Press that will bring out the children and young people, the parents and the older generation to parade instead of ex-servicemen only. Let’s have the flags of the world to wave, not our alone. Let’s have marching music—music from the peoples of

the world. Let’s do everything possible to bring pageantry and life and col-j our into our peace work. “Why not a ‘two-minute’ prayer for peace at every church service, every Sunday, everywhere? Imagine the dramatic force of that definite time for prayer upon the millions who attend church, or listen to the services on the radio. One Sunday a year is not enough. We all need the insistent, reiterated call. [ “For the coming years will bring about either a world order or a world chaos, in the main the deciding factor will be an organised public opinion.! That is where you come in.” —Byrne Hope Saunders in “(’lmtelaine.”