CONTRAST IN CULTURE

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 May 1942, Page 2

CONTRAST IN CULTURE

GERMANY AND OTHERS.

“Of the belligerents in this war, Germany, it is no secret that her universities and her schools have been sadly weakened by the proscriptions of Jews and liberals, and that as a result of her political persecution, her standard of culture is lower to-day than it was before the war,” says a “Manchester Guardian” leader writer. “China and Russia both present a contrast to this picture, for China has been able to develop her university education, even under the strain of a long and exhausting war on her own soil, doubling her university students and spreading such enthusiasm for education that one university migrated on foot across China in order to continue its active life.

“Russia, again, has repaired the losses df her civil war by her bold constructive policy on education and health, and her development of her material resources, and the bitter treatment suffered by opponents and critics of the regime has not prevented a general rally of Russians to the defence of the nation.

“It is safe to say that the proportion of Germans who are hostile to the Nazi cause is much larger than the proportion of Russians who refuse to defend Soviet Russia. “The Nazi method of strengthening the hold of the party at the expense of culture must tell on the future power of Germany, and it is probable that both Russia and China will be found to have used to better effect the strength that revolution brings a people. And if the war goes on long enough, the effects of Germany’s methods may 7 ' be visible in her armies before it is over.”