THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Saturday, January 6, 1945. THE WORLD OF TO-MORROW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25736, 6 January 1945, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Saturday, January 6, 1945. THE WORLD OF TO-MORROW

“As we grow older,” writes John Buchan, in “ Memory Hold-the-Door,” “ we escape from the tyranny of matter and recognise that the true centre of gravity is in the mind. Religion is born when we accept the ultimate frustration of mere human effort, and at the same time realise the strength which comes from union with superhuman reality.” Sir Stafford Cripps, addressing the Baptist Union this week on “A Time for Greatness in International Relationships,” made a plea for Christian idealism in the world of tomorrow. He spoke of the post-war treatment of Germany and future peace work, and urged that we should treat the German people as brothers, in the human family, capable of returning to the community of nations. Life is a blend of idealism and realism. “We look before and after and sigh for what is not.” Remembering our follies and our failures in the world of yesterday, in what spirit can we look ahead to the world of to-morrow? Is there any reason to believe that the downfall of Hitler will be any surer pledge of the future peace and security of the world than was the deposition of the Kaiser? One reason why the nineteenth century was one of progress was the absence of world-shaking universal .wars between the end of the Napoleonic conflicts and the outbreak of the first World War. In this present century we have witnessed the outbreak of two major wars within the span of a generation. Dare we look ahead? We remember all too clearly the phrases that we coined in the first World War. It was to b,e a war to end war; it was to make the world safe for democracy; it was to create a better world; it was to make a world fit 'for heroes to live in; right and justice would prevail. We all want to believe that 'ihe world of to-morrow will be a better, kinder, and happier world for our children. But as a recent American writer, William Henry Chamberlin, has pointed out: “ The peace treaty which follows this present war will be written by men who have seen their families blown to pieces in air raids. And this will al§o be- true of the leaders of the inevitable movements for social and economic change .which will come in the wake of the war.” Is it reasonable to expect that the peace treaties of the future will contain more element’s of justice, mercy, and enlightened self-interest than that of Versailles, or that the new social patterns will be more humane than those of Communism and Fascism? After the first World War we all shared the hope, voiced by President Wilson, of a League of Nations. It was a noble ideal, but doomed to complete frustration. When hostilities began, in 1939, no one‘ troubled to ask what the League thought about it. Such is realism. But in spite of ten thousand failures we still believe in the possibility of a community of nations and in the human family and in the brotherhood of man, in the world of to-morrow. We still pin our faith, like Sir Stafford Cripps, to Christian idealism and believe that “ the best is yet to be.” What do we want? What in point of actual fact are the desires and aspirations of our generation? For what we aspire to and desire to-day will be realised tomorrow. We have certain grounds for encouragement that the lives laid down to defend our liberties have not been sacrificed in vain. There are, for example, the eight points of the Atlantic Charter on which hopes for a better future for the world are based. There are the four freedoms —freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom of expression, and freedom to worship according to the dictates of our conscience—which we aspire to enjoy. If the dreams we entertain about the world of to-mor-row are to come true, we must do everything possible Jo heal the discords of the three great Allied Powets. We must promote international co-operation, and do all in our power to “ promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” The thought of the future is linked up with the memories and experiences of the past. As we grow older, the mystery of time more and more dominates the mind. Every day we live less in the present and less in the future. The abiding things lie in the past. “Consider,” writes Marcus Aurelius, “ the infiniteness of the time already past, and the immense vastness l of that which is to come, wherein all things are to be resolved and annihilated. . . . Let thy chief fort and place of defence be a mind free from passions. A stronger place and better fortified than this hath no man:” The world of to-morrow is the world of * “Humanity, with all its fears, With all the hopes of future years." With the blessing of Providence all will be well.