The MANAWATU DAILY Times MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1936. Upholding British Freedom

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 289, 7 December 1936, Page 6

The MANAWATU DAILY Times MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1936. Upholding British Freedom

The supreme lesson of the years that have followed the Great War is that the world can be safe for democracy only so long as democracy is strong enough to hold its own, asserts the London Observer. Every organism is doomed that cannot command the defence appropriate to its environment. The environment in this ease is a circle of nations that value the creed of individual liberty far less than the interests of corporate security and aggrandisement..

The cause of self-government and free speech enjoys no moral ascendency when it confronts them. On the contrary, it rests under the imputation of being “soft”—as indeed it would be if many of its noisiest exponents had their way. The political philosophy dominant in Europe to-day regards those A\ho hav e wealth and no arms as the natural prey of those who have arms and little wealth.

The whole outlook for the moral government of mankind turns upon Britain, as the fortress of freedom, becoming impregnable to attack. If Britain were to fall, the history of the last two centuries would be obliterated, and an epoch of scientific barbarism would open in which there -would be no place for the sanctities of individual life or for the humane standards with which the name of Britain is identified.

The main incentive behind the “dark forces” is the belief that self-government as Britain has developed it is inherently weak both in spirit and mechanism—that its defence commands neither the needful readiness for sacrifice nor the capacity for applying means to ends. If that conviction is not refuted, we can ‘ * roll up the map of Europe. ’ ’ If we British prove that freedom in this country is coupled with the readiness to pay our debt to it in full, we shall again save ourselves by our exertions and the soul and destiny of humankind by our example.

Training For Defence

“British young men of to-day love their country, and are prepared to defend it, but many of them do not realise how urgent is the necessity for training,” said Mr. Duff Cooper, Secretary of State for War, in an address to Suffolk .artillerymen. Speaking of the urgent necessity for training, Mr. Duff Cooper said the young men of to-day salved their consciences by thinking, in all sincerity, that if emergency came they would be ready as their fathers were to give their lives for their country.

“But it is not their lives we want,” he Said. “It is their skill, training, and knowledge; and those are the things they can acquire in these days of peace.. We are living in times when fearful dangers hang over every civilised community of the world, and when, therefore, the question of self-defence is the duty of every member of the community.” Britain and the Empire stood for peace and meant to pursue it, Mr. Duff Cooper continued.

Every man who joined the Army, regular or territorial, was contributing his mite toward bringing conviction into the minds of those who might be prepared for war that Great Britain was strong, that her will must prevail, and that disturbers of the peace, if any existed, would be punished. The stronger Great Britain was, the greater the hope for peace.