NOTES AND COMMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23970, 21 May 1941, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS

ENGLISH PHLEGM An English girl of twelve, hospitably taken in by a Boston family, and sent by them to one of the most select schools in that select city, was required, in common with the rest of her class, to produce an essay on the most exciting thing that had happened to the writer in 1940, relates ".I an us'' in the Spectator. At" the end of the period her paper was still blank. Explanation: nothing exciting had happened to her. But. it was pointed out, she had left England after the bombing started, and had crossed the Atlantic in the midst of the submarine war. But it was no good. No. there was nothing to write; nothing had happened; the sea had been calm all the way, and the British Navy was there. So there could he no essay. MAKING OLD IDEALS NEW "I do not believe the churches can really answer the spiritual needs of this crucial hour without first studying those needs. When they have done this, it may be that they will he confronted by the necessity for making certain changes in their theologies, and I am not sure that the churches at present are prepared to make those changes," said Dr. Eric W. Barnes, of Russell Sage College, New York, in a recent address. "However, actually 1 think the question is less one of making changes in existing theologies than in finding new emphases on old doctrines of having the courage, above all, to make those emphases. If we are to find the spiritual strength to defeat our enemies we must he reimpressed with the idea that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, and that salvation is an actual process toward a goal which we should not be afraid to contemplate because it represents perfection. The fulfilment of the democratic ideal is. ol course, perfection because if depends oil the realisation of individual worth in its highest: significance. What is important is that the ideal, the picture of man as a complete and significant entity, should be kept undimnied. This is the task which the churches must undertake." CLYDESIDE REACTION ■'When the heavy raids on Clydeside occurred in the middle of March, there was a strike of apprentices that threatened to spread," related Mr. George .Blake in a recent broadcast talk. "The apprentices seem to have had a pretty strong case, although whether they ought to have chosen this way of pressing it. 1 would rather not undertake to say. At all events, when they did go on strike, the British Ministry of Labour very promptly announced that it was setting up a court of inquiry under the chairmanship of one of our most distinguished lawyers. Sir John Watson, K.C. This Court met early on in the week of the 'blitz.' It heard a statement by the boys' leader, and the apprentices heard a very eloquent suggestion by Sir John that they should go back to work, pending investigation of their case. It was finally decided that they would all j

meet again on the Saturday to hear the apprentices' decision. And in between times the Luftwart'e arrived _ in large numbers over Clydeside. The firstreact ion of the apprentices was to send a deputation to the Lord I'rovost of Glasgow, offering to help in any way they could; to which the Lord Provost replied that the best help they could give was to return to work. Then came the second night of 'blitz'; and on the Saturday the apprentices again met the court of inquiry and intimated that, given a promise that their case would be promptly examined, they would go back on the job. They have since done so. and a revised scale of wages has already been produced; and I do dare to suggest that what might have been a prolonged stoppage of allimportant work was curtailed by a sudden and tragic realisation of the sort of enemy we are up against."