NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23356, 26 May 1939, Page 12

NOTES AND COMMENTS

MEANS TO LARGER ENDS In each off the cases of Czechoslovakia and Albania the seizure of territory and people by the dictators means a step toward ulterior purposes, writes Mr. J. L. Garvin. Neither of these coups would • have occurred but for their direct bearing on further and greater objectives. Germany destroyed the political independence of the Czechs and Slovaks in the military interests of her intention to create a mighty dominion stretching from the North Sea to the Black Sea —and further. Similarly the Duee's swoop on Albania is only an initial move on the chessboard. It is unquestionably a bid on joint-account for the mastery of the Balkans. So much is certain. Until later we shall not know with equal certainty whether it is also the preface to a bid for the mastery of the world. CHURCH AS POWER-HOUSE The true work of the Church is and always has been to be the society in which .the spirit of Christ dwelt, and the Kingdom of God was made manifest among men, and God's will done on earth as it is in heaven. This and nothing else is the proper work of Christ's Church, asserts, Canon TI. Anson, Master of the Temple, London, writing in the Listener. 1 If this' work were being done, then each of its members would" be living tin? Christ ; life, and his work, whatever it might be. would be inspired by His spirit. Men would go about their daily work in the spirit of Christ, free from vanity or fear or despondency or self-seeking, or covetousness, , or jealousy. Tho Church would thus be a power-house in which the spirit which enables men to work energetically and fruitfully for the common welfare would be engendered. maintained and increased. To the Church men would come back | from their work each week-end to get recharged with that peace and strength and courage without which the best work cannot be accomplished. It would be a school of that divine wisdom without which the highest technical achievements must bo in vain. A NAVVY ON HIS JOB " Talking with navvies you would never believe they loved tho job," said Mr. Inman Race in a British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast talk. "They passed opinions about navvving in- vivid phrases. They said what they thought about the various jobs they had worked at in terms lurid and pungent. It puzzled mo because those self-samo navvies spoke with pride of the many jobs they'd finished and the huge concrete structures they'd helped to erect. They spoke of the hundreds of miles they'd covered going from job to job. Then I knew they loved the job—just as I was beginning to love it and for the same reason. As a navvy you do a man's job. The rain falls upon you. Snow settles down, your face feels the bite of frost, the wind buffets you. Frozen in winter, blistered in summer, you still go on. Like the others I get a terrific kick out of defying mother nature to do her darnedest, and I feel somewhat of a giant in the process. Your mates too are genuine and good fellows. Derided by comedians, libelled by film producers, termed uncivilised by persons who won't try to understand us, we go on with the job wo love." PSYCHOLOGICAL GAP With absolute candour we discussed every aspect of tho tragic collapse in Anglo-German relations, writes "Atticus" in the Sunday Times of a long conversation he had recently with Dr. FitzRandolph, of the German Embassy in London. Dr. Fitzßandolph did not try to hide his feeling of discouragement or the acuteness of his disappointment. "The thing is," he said, "that there is a psychological no-man's land between tho German race and the British. Wo go so far in understanding each other —but only so far. Then we come to the no-man's land which neither side can cross. You have had individual freedom for hundreds of years and value it above everything. We have not had it. We think of making our. place in the world by strength and sacrifice. You say: 'Let's talk about it. Let's talk about everything. There is nothing so serious that it cannot be talked about.' We say that there is nothing so small that it cannot bo settled by action. You despise uniforms, wo take pride in them. To you a uniform is an abdication of your rights as a citizen; to us it is a boast of our citizenship. All the trouble between us is psychological. You cannot understand us and wo cannot understand you. It is tragic, deplorable." PRESENT DISCONTENTS

Wo are to-day threatened by the terrible menace of immenso technical knowledge, used by people terribly deficient in spiritual power, which is like entrusting a revolver to an infant, or handing over a high-powered car to an imbecile, writes Canon H. Anson, 'Master of the Temple, London, in the Listener. Wo seem to possess all knowledge except the power to live happily ami peacefully. We know everything except how to live, and thus people, with more instruments for a civilised life at their disposal than any generation has ever possessed, arc in doubt as to whether life is worth living at all, and whether it would not be wiser to bring no moro children into so mad and cruel a world. It is manifest, surely, that what is lacking is just the spirit of Christ, not merely Christ's gentleness and kindness and humanity, but; His unequalled power of commanding the unclean spirits, so that they obey Him. For we aro to-day like the wretched man possessed by an evil spirit, walking through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none. In his despair, after casting out one spirit, ho sweeps and garnishes his house, he fills it with every modern amenity, only to find that seven other spirits, more evil than the first, have taken possession of his attractive, newly decorated modern residence. Yes, it is of iio use to redecorate a lunatic asylum and expect its inmates to be happy, just because it is fitted with the most modern and luxurious furniture. We are a profoundly unhappy and discontented generation surrounded by monstrously powerful machinery which we ourselves have built, and which we fear may turn upon us at any moment and grind us to powder s