THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3315, 26 September 1917, Page 50

THE WEEK.

The war seemed brought very close to us last week, when a vessel was blown up almost within sight of our own shores. We have read of similar things happening in the Atlantic or somewhere—worse affairs than this, perhaps, because accompanied by loss of life; —but they have seemed far away and unreal compared with this happening in our own waters. That there was no loss of life is no credit to the originators of the outrage. Even if some faint spark of humanity arranged that the explosion should take place comparatively near to land, there was always the risk of someone being killed by it, or of bad weather preventing the launching of the boats. It is almost impossible to imagine a state of mind which could place fellow-beings at the mercy of the sea in such a fashion. We are going only by circumstantial evidence, of course, as the inquiry is still in taking it for granted that it was -'a deliberatelyplanned explosion; but that evidence is very strong: Fortunately, wo have to lament only the loss of ship and cargo, but that is bad enough in these times; and it is sad to think of all those gifts, packed with such loving care by Australian women for their men at the front, gone to the bottom of the ocean. It is a disheartening job to have work to do all over again.

But even the Port Kembla had to give place in the public interest to the proceedings in Parliament at the end of the week. Quite a dramatic scene in the House, wasn't it? The supporters of 6 o'clock closing never •in their wildest dreams imagined such a signal victory. It shows that members have at last realised what a strong public feeling there is on the subject throughout the country. Six o'clock closing will not win the war—not by a long way; but it is a step in the right direction. As you know, I try as a. rule to avoid all controversial questions in this, column, and I therefore made no reference to the matter while it was so freely discussed elsewherej in public and in private; but still it is impossible to avoid touching on it in what is supposed to be a chat on the events of the day.

Nor it is possible to avoid discussion of controversial sribjects altogether; and the following letter from "Faith," which I received lately, brings up a matter on which there is wide divergence of opinion :

Dear Elizabeth, —Don't you think that it seems as if we were losing all fear of God to* even dare to think of knitting on the Sabbath Day, let alone. in God's house. A few months back we read in ''Alien's Letter" that tho people in England .were straining every nerve to get as much gardening done as passible, and even the ministers were digging, etc., on the Sunday and advising tho people to do the. same, and were promising them absolution for so doing. What was tho result? We read in last week's Witness (September 12) that when everything was looking its very best, a delight to the eye and giving great hope and promise, a northeast wind camo which was almost a gale, and blasted and blackened in a few days many a garden over which months of labour had been spent. In tho eighty-first Psalm we read how God helped His people, and in verses 13 and 14 we read: —"Oh that My people had hearkened unto Me and Israel had walked in My ways. I should soon have subdued their enemies and turned My hand against their adversaries." Faith. Now, I am sorry, because I know "Faith" is always very much in earnest in what she writes; but I cannot agree with her in what she thinks. Have English ci'ops haver been ruined before, without Sunday labour being expended on them? The English climate is proverbially uncertain, and the continual bombardments going on across the Channel must make atmospheric conditions still more unsettled. It was more likely to be the' "artillery duel on the west front," of which we hear so much, that spoiled the crops than anything else. Besides, I think it is difficult for us-out here, in this land of plenty, to realise how vital _the question of the home-grown food supply is to the people of Britain just now. An adequate food supply is an essential factor in the carrying on of the war, for a nation cannot fight unless it is fed. The army does not cease its work on Sunday nor the navy relax its careful watch and ward. Why, then, should those at home rest idle? And they fling off their coats and dig away at their allotments, feeling that every drive of the spade into the ground is a blow in a holy cause. Can one blame them? As to knitting—well, I must confess that I do most of my knitting on' Sundays. I find it a most soothing and restful occupation, and a change from the reading which is so much a part of my daily work; more than that, the very fact of working at something to be afterwards worn by one of our fighting men sends one's thoughts and prayers flying off to the boys at the front, and establishes a spiritual link which must have a value of its own. I would not take my knitting to church, because I know- so many people do not like the idea, and I would not for worlds disturb their peace of mind at such a time. I think that should be the great test of what is suitable for Sunday or not. If ever there was a divinely-inspired idea, this of setting apart one day in seven for rest and the remembrance of higher thing 3 certainly is one, and therefore we should look to it that we do nothing to disturb the quiet of that day for others, if we can help it; but, since "the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for .the Sabbath," we have a right to use it as we please, subject to this condition. Neglect of the Sabbath brings its own penalty. When new munition factories sprang up all over England in answer to the country's need, it was at first thought necessary for the workers to go straight on for seven days a week without the' Sunday break, but it was soon found that that was impossible. Women and girls, however willing they might be, were turning out bad work through over-fatigue, often, indeed, falling asleep over it, and other arrangements had to be made. The same is found, sooner or later, by all those who try to carry on their work without a break, day in and day out, while those who spend the day of rest in recreation alone, caring nothing for holier things, are missing something that they also will regret, sooner or later. If they do not realise that fact in this life, they may in another. The Sabbath is one of God's gifts to man, and if man misuses it the loss is his. ELIZABETH.