NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22010, 17 January 1935, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

TOPICAL SERMONS In discussing the content of modern sermons, the Times recently remarked that " it is only too likely that churchgoers will have heard too little of what used to be termed ' Gospel preaching ' and too much about ' the League of Nations, social and economic problems, and various current events.' The parsons, mostly in the towns, who preach almost exclusively on such themes do so, no doubt, with admirable intentions. They aro anxious to show how thoroughly in touch they aro with everyday affairs, and imagine that the ' topical ' sermon is the most likely to interest and influence their hearers. In every way that view is probably mistaken. The average citizen, if he goes to church 011 Sunday, hopes to get free for an hour from the thoughts and interests which, as he admits, engross him through most of his time. Ho comes with some real spiritual hunger, but ' the hungry sheep look up and aro not fod ' when from the pulpit their pastor offers them his not very wellinformed reflections about India, disarmament, and housing. The members of his flock do not in the least want to know what he can tell them about Geneva. But they want very much to know anything 110 can tell them about God. Certainly, when temporal affairs are more than usually difficult and unstable, the best work which the pulpit can do is quietly and persistently to emphasise those truths of religion which do not change. BOiMBS ON BATTLESHIPS In the considered opinion of the highest officers of the Fleet Air Arm, states the naval correspondent of the Morning Post, all the battleships of the British Navy which have been fitted with extra deck armour during the last few years—as most of them have —are virtually impervious to air bombing attacks. The deck armour fitted to the majority of our capital ships can be penetrated only by the 20001b. bomb. This bomb is practically discounted as a naval weapon, since it cannot bo carried by aircraft operating from aircraft carriers. It could, of course, be used against the fleet by shore based aircraft if the fleet were within striking distance of a shore aerodrome. This, however, is not regarded as a very serious danger owing to the limited radius of action of machines carrying such heavy bombs, particularly when one considers that the aircraft must find the fleet before dropping its bomb. Moreover, machines can carry only one such bomb, and the chances of hitting with the first bomb are not considered by experts to be materially greater than the chances of hitting with the first shot of a long range bombardment. "Diving bombing" from a height of a few hundred feet increases accuracy of aim, but much reduces the destructiveness of a bomb in the event of a hit. Torpedocarrying aeroplanes must fly low to drop their torpedoes, and thus are vulnerable to anti-aircraft gunfire. The under-water protection of battleships, moreover, is now very effective. CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S DEFENCE Although at least the most pacific of the Central European countries, C'zecho-Slovakia is being forced by circumstances to undertake a comprehensive defence programme. Strategically, the country lies in a most precarious position. Although its western part, Bohemia, has natural frontiers—mountains —the whole country, as long as Great Britain and much narrower, is entirely surrounded by stormy and even hostile neighbours. It is above all the keystone of a dam against German expansion eastward and incidentally tTie last bulwark of democratic parliamentary system in Eastern Europe. According to the Prague correspondent of the Morning Post, this year's programme of the War Office includes in particular the following points:—On various exposed points of the frontier, field fortifications, trenches and artillery stands will be built. The present east and west arterial communications are too near the frontiers; new transversal railways and roads in a central position will gradually be built. Adequate reserves of technical material, particularly for the Air Force, will be established. Mobility of the Army is to be increased by gradual replacement of horses by motors, especially in artillery. The extension of the term of service to two years will ensure the same strength for the whole year, at least one half consisting of trained men—an important consideration in case of sudden attark. These proposals are unpopular, but their urgency is generally admitted, and there will be no • serious opposition in Parliament. BRITISH CITIZENSHIP Mr. de Valera's views on British citizenship were challenged recently by Mr. J. H. Thomas in a speech at a British Legion dinner. Commenting on his lately-introduced Citizenship Bill, Mr. de Valera said: " No one in the Irish Free .State will be a British subject when the present Irish Free State Citizenship Bill becomes law. When the Bill is passed, if there is any substance at all in the principles that have been agreed upon at some of the Imperial Conferences," it would be an impertinence if the British were to claim as citizens of their country persons who are obviously citizens of another country." " What is the status of a British subject?" asked Mr. Thomas. " With a few exceptions, any person born within His Majesty's Dominions is a British subject. It is a status which is based on allegiance to the Crown, and is a much wider conception than the citizenship of any particular part of the British Commonwealth of Nations. No one has questioned the right of the Irish Free Stato to define Free State citizens. Indeed, the right is expressly provided for in the Irish Tree State Constitution. But to define Irish Free State citizenship is something quite different from taking away the status of British subject from anyone who possesses it. When I use the term ' British subject,' I do not use those words as applying only to persons who have a special connection with the United Kingdom, or indeed with any particular part of the Empire. I use them as applying to all persons who owe allegiance to the Throne, with whatever part of the British Commonwealth they may be specially connected. Mr. de Valera has surely forgotten that the Imperial Conference of 1930, in which the Irish Free State took part, affirmed that the ' members of the British Commonwealth are united by a common allegiance to the Crown,' and that ' this allegiance is the basis of the common status possessed by all subjects of His Majesty.' "