Yesterday—and To-day! .

Maoriland Worker, Volume 12, Issue 294, 18 October 1922, Page 12

Yesterday—and To-day! .

'■"When a war is in contemplation, j or when it has begun, what are the endeavours of its pi-oniotors? They animate us by every artifice of excitement, to hatred and animosity. Pamphlets, placards newspapers, circulars —every agent is in requisition to irritate us into malignity. Nay, dreadful as it is, the pulpit has too often resotinded with declamations to ektmulate our to o sluggish resentment, fijxd to invite us to slaughter." * # # * Tills might very well have been written during ths last fortnight, J*nof nearly forty wears ago. :jWe have had the newspaper fjsiunts," the recruiting- placards, the fcfiricatures, and at least one parson, "declaiming" a Holy War J I/War '.thoughts must have an atmosphere to grow in, so these various people have all been "doing their bit" in creating the iappropr-ate atmosphere. ■ The funny thing is that they haven't .even enougix brains to be original! y,Touching caricatures —Eariy .in the war years, a leading illustrated weekly pictiir.ed a group—John Bull iand liis Allies, all loolc'ing shockingly fierce, with bayon.&ts pointed at the throat —of a German! week they showed the same old group, led t>y Big John, bayonets and all, biit this time, the figure was ttyat of a Turk, ProJjaibiy is was a over" from the last war, easily brought up-to-date by smudging out the German and substituting the .Turk I A picture like that must bo. a Ul9.XL&in.sc nffifie "FVQQ,"'

"Next Time," when the Kaleidoscope is shaken, and the bits fall into a different position, perhaps the Frenchman will occupy the ce&tre of the "picture"! - *> « * * Isn't it really time we all grew up and refused to be fooled, with these silly conjuring tiicks? Time that we realised that we can't DO anything to end war! The only thing y/e-ve got to flo, is NOT TO DO! War is a positive thing. P-ifi.ce is a negative thing. Why. pin our faith to a League of Nations tha.t was never meant to ACT? Why not begin to think of an International LEAGUE OF PEOPLES—o£ \ men who will not fight—of women i who will not work (in the cause of war). This seems to bo the only plain, commonsense plan.