NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21554, 27 July 1933, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

WORK AND ENJOYMENT " When a man is nn nrtist, then his work is a joy to him. Anel that, and nothing elso, or moro recondite, is what it means to bo an artist. When a man finds creative joy in his work, ho is an artist," writes Mr. Middleton Murry in the Millgate Monthly. " And joy in ono's work is, I believe profoundly, natural to man. If ho is cheated of this, ho is cheated of his birthright; and somehow, obscurely, ho knows that ho has boen cheated. He resents the deprivation that has been inflicted upon him. Now this robbing of men of their natural right to the creative joy of work is to me the deepest and most disastrous ethical conscqucnco of . tho machine ago. It is much more profound than any other; it ife a direct dimination of human dignity. . . . Tho symptoms aro innumerable. The most significant is that vicious separation of work from enjoyment which is taken for granted in all our modern social thinking. Not that we can help making the separation in our minds; the first obligation on our thinking is that it shall correspond with the facts; and the fact is that for tho majority of men to-day, their work (if they can get any) is a drudgery, which they want to escape and seek to forget. Hence the modern craze for distraction. But wo cannot go back. Tho imaginative man who accepts that obvious and inescapable fact may pass through a period of doubt and hesitation. But it will end. Ho will see that we have only to form within ourselves tho resolute determination to go forward, and the machine, which appears to bo the great curse of mankind, may be revealed as its greatest blessing. Hitherto, its actual effect has been to make men slaves; but its potential effect is to make them free with a new kind of freedom."

COMMUNISM AND CHRISTIANITY At the York Diocesan Conference, the Archbishop of York, Dr. Temple, described Communism as the most serious menace that had threatened the Christian Church for years. They were not going to be able to resist it, terrible ns it was, if they were only content to justify the present order of society over against it. They must become critics of their own social order in the light of the principles they had inherited. Communism as such had not been established in Russia, but only the preliminary stage—namely, the dictatorship of the proletariat—had been reached. What was hoped was that when iv now generation, or perhaps two or three generations, had been born and grown up under the system, their whole minds would be so detached from selfish interests that a Communistic state or order of society could come into being. That was a condition or state of affairs in which tho State as they understood it would have been . abolished and life would bo conducted by a number of co-opera ting groups all rendering their own appropriate service in a delightful harmony free from every kind of class distinction. He believed that that rested upon tho most shockingly false psychology, because one could never teach people tho'lessons of freedom by tho methods of servitude. Such methods were bound to frustrate tho object. The root of tho whole problem was the denial of God. Tho political faults in Communism were necessarily results of its religious negation. The justification of private property was that it was tho most natural expression of personality. The ideal was that every man should have his share of tho property which made up tho common wealth. He did not think it was desirable that it should bo the same, but their aim should bo to seo that there should be no proletariat, or anybody with nothing. .What was going to settle the question in tho long run was whether our citizens and the citizens of tho world, which had, broadly speaking, been a Christian world, believed in the conception of God and man. PROCESS OF RECOVERY In "Wo Have Recovered Before," Mr. Walter W. Price says: "Business is stagnant, discouragement is extreme, speculation is at its lowest ebb, men are over-cautious, and nowhere is there any incentive for enterprise. Prices are low and there is no demand for money, luterest rates are at a minimum. Purchasing power is severely curtailed. Retail prices arc still declining, having lagged throughout tho long depression. Although hardly perceptible, there suddenly occurs a change in public psychology. Human nature is never static and presently pessimism begins to subside, if for no other reason than from sheer exhaustion. Miserly tendencies, that have gripped vast sums in hoarding, begin to relax slightly. Tho new low retail prices begin to look tempting in tho light of the old price level, which is still regarded as normal by the retail purchaser. Tn addition, years of strict economy and frugality have practically depleted or worn out (ho everyday necessities of people. Or it may be a sudden change in tho weather, or a change in customs or styles that stimulates a little retail buying. Retailers themselves nrc practically bare. Caution and the difficulty of obtaining credit have prompted retailors to keep their inventories as small as possible. Even a moderate increase in retail buying, therefore, soon finds retailers short of goods. A demand develops for new stocks, which is rapidly transmitted to manufacturers who. also hare of supplies, expand their activities a little and replenish their stock of raw materials. Kmployincnt improves and the new job holders, who have been devoid of purchasing power for a long time, quickly enter the market for sorely needed consumable goods. Presently it is apparent that the ball is rolling again. I'rices rise nll <;1 this in turn encourages more buying on a somewhat broader scale. Haw material prices improve as surpluses are reduced. The purchasing power of producers, long absent, impartially restored, and this again creates more buying. . . . Suddenly a multitude of people, who had'regarded the revival with suspicion, fear, that they have 'missed the boat.' This is the turning point."