"NOT SUPER MEN"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22917, 21 December 1937, Page 15

"NOT SUPER MEN"

NEW ZEALAND PEOPLE OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES A GRIM TASK AHEAD "Let us not fool ourselves we ar» super men; there is a grim task ahead," said Mr. J. W. Shaw, of the Auckland Training College, speaking on "This New Zealand" at the Auckland Rotary Club's luncheon in the Milne and Choyce Reception Hall yesterday. After listing the characteristics of the various British peoples who had established the Dominion, which was slow in developing a national spirit, Mr. Shaw enumerated the qualities which will aid or detract from the country's future progress. There was no plaqe more desirable in the world to live in than New Zealand, but in these days, when the dominant rule was "He should keep who has the power, and he should take who can," its population should consider whether it alone knew that.

Standard ol Values "There is a grim task ahead, and if we have strength wo also have weaknesses," continued Mr. Shaw. "Some are part of the age, "such as the herd instinct —taking our thoughts from the crowd —but some are our own. Lack of enthusiasm —we are cold-blooded. There is also lack of strong convictions. It is difficult to determine what our standard of values will be; the things we consider most worth while; a lack of earnest consideration of things of supreme value for the maintenance of our land and race. "The old political sense is gone. Politics is not a matter for eager individual interest as in the days of the provincial governments. There is a sort of universal good natured tolerance, as if nothing matters very much. Tolerance is good, but not if it means that we have nothing we really believe in. The people must have something it i* willing to die for.

Growth of Vandalism "There is a lack of respect for property, and a growth of vandalism, giving the attitude to trees as something to destroy. A lack of reverence has itß good side, because we do not think a thing worthy of reverence before we respect it. '"Our sportsmanship)—we were always very proud of that, but events in the past year make us wonder. "The groundwork that made England great, self-reliance, independence, and love of freedom, is here, but our chief danger is that by our ultra tolerance, lack of convictions and spirit of laissez-faire we will lose that independence and self-reliance."