Timely Topics

Northern Advocate, 30 November 1939, Page 4

Timely Topics

“I would remind you (says the Bishop of Birmingham) that physical forced, armed might, though its im-

THE QUIET FORCE.

mediate success may seem overwhelming, does not achieve lasting triumphs. It is

the spirit of a nation shown in its unity and in its moral strength, that ultimately prevails. "Hisc:->ry again and again has emphasised this fact. When the Spaniards held the Netherlands, it seemed es if Dutch hopes of freedom were mere foolishness. Yet, though Alva's r.june remains a byword, the Netherlands have maintained their "freedom for three and a half centuries. "When Louis XIV ruled France, it seemed as if his centralised despotism were destined to be an everlasting tyranny. The French Revolution swept away all but its memory. Napoleon with his armies, so long invincible, was but an episode. France remains a free democracy. "I will not adduce other illustrations. It suffices to say that the spirit of a united People resolute to be free I is, in the long run. indomitable. As a rule that spirit succeeds, not by 'spectacular military victories, hut by | persistent determination. Tyrants !tire of their tyranny. As Inge has ' well said: ' The ruling race rules itself [out; nothing fails like success. We itend to forget the power of the spirit iof man because it works quietly and | slowly."

"It is essential (writes Sir Herbert Gepp in "Democracy's Danger") that the remaining few democracies of this world get close together; confer more often and more thoroughly in order to determine, slowly, the basis upon which free people can govern themselves in spite of ever-growing perplexities, which make life more difficult.

DEMOCRACY'S DANGER.

"We spend perhaps 50 years studyr ing problems associated with the successful development of the aeroplane engine, and recognise in this case the inevitability of gradualness. We have so far recognised that much more intensive study continuously applied is necessary if we are to find solutions to the problem of how all sections of democracy can live together—ever striving, ever disputing, but with mutual confidence and respect. . . .

“We are the victims of an evergrowing mass of impressions of uncorrelated news, of ideas, of happenings, the impact of which stuns us because we have not adjusted ourselves to the effects of this flood of impressions. We have not acquired the necessary balance and ability to sort out the vital from the immaterial.

“We try in a dull mechanical way to absorb all' these impacts. We fancy that we are better educated thereby. Probably we are less balanced than our forefathers, because this bombardment of our minds leaves us no time to think and to differentiate between truth and propaganda. “We are not individually, and' as units of what should be a progressive democracy, making each our joint and several contributions 'to the study and solution of the problems of how to maintain a sound continuing democratic form of government.”