NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23619, 1 April 1940, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS

BRANDS FROM THE BURNING r These present days of crisis may produce something beside ill if, out of '■them, springs for ns too a faith that shows our own ways of , life to be affirmative and very far from effete, writes Professor George Cntlin in his book, ' "The Anglo-Saxon Tradition." Sncli a discovery and faitli is indeed not to be .produced over-night. ]t will find its background in the history of the' people. In searching for it we can possess our souls in peace, knowing that, whether in peace or war, either way it will be required; and, if in war, it will be equally'required in victory or defeat. There is, let us be sure, such a reality as civilisation —and this is a pattern of values descried through the ages, which is a witness against the upstarts of each generation and an enduring measure of tho stature of great men. That should give us confidence, even in the black hours as wo labour. UNITED STATES OF EUROPE We must end tho war by force, but we cannot make peace in the terms of force. It can only be made by consent, writes Mr. A. G. Gardiner. This truth is sinking into the hearts of men everywhere, and explains why the idea of federalism has seized the mind of the world. It is seen to be the only alternative to tho Hitler idea of tho universal empire of a race. We have reached a stage in which world unity of some sort must be achieved, and Hitlerism and Federalism are the only visible solutions. And it is because the AngloFrench agreement is a step in the direction of Federalism that it is the most momentous thing that has happened in the war. Into such a system all States which accept these principles would be welcomed, without regard to the past—a regenerated Germany, clothed, and in its right mind, with the rest. Such a group would exercise a material.and moral power that would be decisive, and would bring the goal of a United States of Europe within practical achievement. MODERN CHURCHMEN • The Modernist is an evolutionist, not n revolutionist, writes Dr. H. D. A. Major, of tho Modern Churchmen's Union, in a letter to the Manchester Guardian. He values continuity of Christian life, Christian worship, Christian thought. Christian practice. Ho is 'no ruthless iconoclast, his ideals arc construction, not destruction; adaptation, not abandonment. Ho would desire to be like the Kcribe instructed unto the Kingdom of God: "One who brings out of His treasures tilings new and old." But he is convinced that the authority of the present is greater than the authority of tho past; and, while convinced of the necessity of the conservation of Christian values, lie. cannot permit that conservation to, oppose itself to the augmentation of those values which is vouchsafed to the Christian Church in humble obedience to the Spirit's guidance. There is nothing in Modernism which is in any way hostile to the Christian Church. The Modernist is critical, but he is not sectarian. He believes in the necessity of the Christian Church and in working within its fellowship. ' >• ,',-V ■* UNEXPLAINED BRUTAL STRAIN We all know how gentle, charming and human can be an individual German. We all know that in the present instance the German population is subjected to an oppression in effect as inhuman as that applied to the nonGerman victims. But there is something not explained, reflects Dr. George Glasgow, writing in the Contemporary Review of German brutalities in Bohemia and Poland. Is there something distinctive in German human nature? Are the German people, not in the sense of Horr Hitler s boast, but in an even more unfortunate sense, different from the people of every other country in the world. No nation can claim sanctity. The British record is besmirched enough: and as lately as 1919 in India it was further besmirched. But the inescapable thing is the fact that twice in the present century Germany as an entity under different leaders lias outraged the feelings of the vast majority of the civilised countries of the world. Can it be that "the people" of Germany have twice allowed themselves, at no matter what disadvantage. to be misled, exploited and perverted by their rulers? and arc not their rulers Gorman? Fair-minded students of history do concede that German atrocities are different, and worse, than, say, British or French. Yet there cannot be a special mould of human nature reserved particularly for the German race. There must bo some other explanation which historical and humanitarian research has not yet discovered. It is probable that though we are all expert in our «k now ledge of present results we have not explored the true original causes that would explain them. •

FORCE TO RESIST EVIL Wo who are appointed to live our lives now have been launched into a world which is in tho throes of one of the greatest crises in history, writes the Bean of St. Paul's, Dr. yW. ItMatthews. Destructive forces of incalculable power are at work, and no man can foresee the cud. flow shall we dea.l with them? Among the penalties of our condition is that it is, in many ways, more difficult to follow Christ than when peaceful work and progress are the common experience. It is. more difficult ,to discover what Christ would have us do. A state of war is evidently in flat contradiction with the spirit of Christ. It is a resort to violence rather than persuasion, and its conduct involves deeds which are repugnant to the man who has caught any glimpse of the Christian law of love and fellowship. We may easily understand that some Christians should conclude that every war, even the most just, is incompatible with the Christian profession. To most of us this view seems impossible. Wo believe that wo cannot separate ourselves from tho civilisation and the nation of which we are a part. Wo have shared , the benefits—and the sins—of our natjon, we dare not refuse our aid when it is in danger of destruction. We believe, too, that the evil will may gather such power that only by. resistance, by tho expression of a stronger will for good, can it be checked and prevented from ruining all that is valuable in human life; we believe •that this state of things is present with us now,