JAPAN AND NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22498, 15 August 1936, Page 17

JAPAN AND NEW ZEALAND

j Sir, —In your issue of August 12 an ! address given by Colonel L. M. Inglis in Christchurch is reported. It is in line with pronouncements lately made by responsible people from end to end of New Zealand and given prominence in the press. Colonel Inglis is reported to have said, among other things, "If Japanese came to-morrow, we might as well go down to the beach and fire pats of butter at them, as attempt to oppose them with the forces at present at our command." Then, in another place, " New Zealand was in real danger of attack from Japan, sooner or later. The Japanese were quite prepared to play a waiting game, but only if the need arose." At present the Japanese people are not our enemies, but there seems a determined effort within our borders to make us their enemies. This must be resisted. May I suggest another constructive bit of peace-making. 1 have a brother who is English master in a large Japanese Government commercial college. He is there with the ideal of making a definite liaison on true Christian principles between East and West. He tells of large masses of Japanese people living below the bread line, and many literally starving to death. Now we in Australia and New Zealand, with tiny populations and large territories, represent tho " haves." The Japanese peoplo represent the " have-npts." Australia and New Zealand are feverishly strengthening their defences at the cost of millions, ostensibly against Japan. Suppose we diverted those samo millions to one of Dr. Kagawa's sound schemes for permanently raising the standard of tho Japanese peasant, hundreds of whom literally die of starvation. If this were known to be, on our part, a definite attempt to work out the Christian ideal in international relations, J think we would not need armaments. Under such circumstances our coastline would bo safer than if we put back-breaking burdons on out people to provide large defensive forces, and wero continually fostering a spirit of fear and suspicion regarding our overseas neighbours. The retort conies, " Why spend money on helping Japan?" The reply is, "Yo # s, why spend money on making warlike gestures against Japan?" Without commenting on the ethics of the ltaloAbyssinian situation, a point may be remembered. Signor Mussolini told the world that Italy was "defending " herself against Abyssinian " aggression." If we pursue our present policy of pointing at Japan, fostering national misunderstanding and hatred, and piling up armaments, we have only ourselves to blame if sometime Japan takes us at our word, and feels compelled to " defend " herself against Australian and New Zealand " aggression." I am well aware that to speak internationally to-dav is the rankes.t heresy, now that a feverish and unreasoned nationalism has largely become man's religion. 1 believe, how ever, that this is only a temporary " fade-out " of the better things in man's march to the destiny God has for the race. 1 am aware that tho stern realists, the brusque men of blood and iron, will talk of my hopeless idealism, but there is nothing in the world so strong as a right ideal, and in the end the quiet Galilean will conquer. Hamilton. F. H. Hayman.