REAL DEMOCRACY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24101, 21 October 1941, Page 9

REAL DEMOCRACY

"A LIVING IDEAL" "There is not a school in this country where the meaning of democracy is properly taught, and we cannot hope to match Hitler with an ideal which is only half understood," said Mr. R. M. Algie, in an address at the weekly luncheon of the Auckland Rotary Club yesterday. Mr. Algie's subject was "What is the Real Meaning of Democracy?" A guest at the luncheon was Sergeant A. C. Hulme, V.C., who received an enthusiastic welcome. "The youth of Germany have been given a principle which they hold as a religion," said Mr. Algie. "You and I may think it blasphemous, but to them it has the passionate demand of a deep religious faith. They have been taught tlint whatever redounds to the advantage of Germany is right. Germany is their God, Hitler has claimed to be their Christ, and their Bible is 'Mein Kampf.'

"Hitler has created the God he needed for his people by teaching. If he can destroy a nation by such a method, cannot we build something finer than he ever attempted or dreamed of?

"After 6000 years of struggling, man reached bis greatest heights For a brief period after the Great War. Now, 20 years later, there is not a corner in the world which is safe for democracy. Our grandfathers gave us a system based on an ideal, but they forgot to hand on the ideal. We use the terms democracy and civilisation rather freely, but do we know what they mean? "Democracy is a way of living, an ideal, and the rights of man is its basis. It recognises the human personality. Democracy is not just voting and sending people to Parliament, it is living. If we believe in humanity, democracy is inevitable. If you believe that man is the child of God, you are putting your shirt on a system whose success is inevitable."