The Hawera Star WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1924, A WORLD' OF CHANGE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 December 1924, Page 4

The Hawera Star

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1924, A WORLD' OF CHANGE.

Delivered every evening by 3 o'clock m Hawera Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, _ Eltlrnm, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awaturu, 'Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley,. Mokoia, Whakamara, Ohangai, Meremere, Fraser Road, and ' Ararata.

, That “all things change, and that we ourselves change along with them/’ is clear to everyone who thinks, hut we doubt if during the history of mankind there have ever before been so many and such extensive changes as have been experienced in the world during the last ten years. If one look® back over the decade one cannot fail to note changes of enormous importance to the world, some of them being decidedly revolutionary and others better described, perhaps, as evolutionary. Nature has a law that nothing remains permanent and everything is in a state of constant motion and change. It may be so slow and gradual that the human eye fails to note that a change is taking place; or it may be sudden and noticeable to everyone. Even stones and rocks undergo a ©low, but nope the less definite, change, as shown by reports on some of the fine old cathedrals in the Old World. Materials wear out and have to be renewed from time to time; man himself conies into the world a tiny infant, passes through his various stages of growth and activity, and at length returns to the earth—the mother of us all. It is therefore not surprising that the governments 1 , institutions, laws, and ail the complex organisations which man has set up and which are constantly occupying his attention are subject to changes from year to year, and in some cases from day to day. The normal human being desires to progress and to reach higher standards of life and conduct, and wherever it is thought that changes will assist that • progress it is right and proper that they should he made. To leave conditions as they were for an indefinite period would often lead to stagnation, and stagnation means death. Where changes take place slowly step hy step by means of what are termed evolutionary processes,, there are few danger® of serious trouble being met with, but where violent disturbances a-e brought about, as in 1914 when Germany forced the world into war, and as in 191/ when the Bolsheviks forced their tyrannous system upon Russia, disaster is inevitable. Onefinds that progress and evolutionary change are natural partners, but that change should not he made without oareful thought and certainty that progress will result. If one 'follows tire cable news from Europe one may note many changes taking place in the attitude of one nation, towards another, and one of the most important of these is the new policy of France towards Germany which has recently come into prominence. When M. Poincare was Premier there wa,s a strong spirit of Nationalism abroad in France, and the unreasonable attitude towards reparations and the Ruhr policv was such that Britain and France came perilouslv near breaking the cordial relationships which had existed for so long and had been of the utmost

value to both countries. In May last, M. Poincare was defeated, and for a time there was a confusion of ideas and tendencies, but this state of affairs lias given place to a new tendency, indicating that the Poincare period has been left behind. There has appeared a new spirit which gives hope for the future. Germany has definitely shown that she is not willing to permit, a return of the Kaisers and the war-lords, and probably the people of France realise that their former fears need no longer exist. Whatever be the reason, a remarkable change has occurred in France and, when that fact is given its proper place in the position of international affairs in Eh rope, one feels that the prospects are becoming brighter and the Continent seems to be reaching the stage when definite progress may become possible. The great eruption, of 1914 and the innumerable changes which followed shook the world to its foundations, and it has been exceedingly difficult for the various nations to settle down again. Let us hope that the time is near at hand when definite and longsustained progress will be experienced, and that changes in the future will be of an evolutionary and not a revolutionary nature.