Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, NOV. 9, 1926. THE EVOLUTION OF NATIONS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 17186, 9 November 1926, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, NOV. 9, 1926. THE EVOLUTION OF NATIONS.

The people of it district which, until recently, Ims been rather shut off frofcn tho older settlements of the North Island may be expected to take an exaggerated view of their local difficulties. The same cireumBtawee, which centre attention unduly upon themselves, also create an appearance of greater charm and value jto what is distant, than would be found to be the case upon a closer acquaintance. New Zealand, situate at the extremities of the earth, bears somewhat the same relation to Great Bvitfiin and the other portions of the 13m(Mm as, Poverty Bay, in the days of ita isolation, did to the rest of the North* Island. New Zealanders are incline*! to exaggerate their difficulties. ' On the other hand they see charm {told value in the quite imaginaiy coifcitions, abilities, industrial systems, 'mercantile facilities, habits, and all mfcumer and kinds of ideal economic vays and means leading on to fortune obtaining in other countries, none of which have any true existence, but are mere phantoms seer) through a distorted, perspective. Jf we except racial differ-

cnccs, an open world, international trade, travel, and accommodation to varying languages —in itself, almost amounting to the razing of the tower of Babel —men in all countries are reaching forward to, and approaching equality of conditions and standards;. which are rapidly, as they are brought nearer, ruling out pre-century differences, both in the circumstances, comforts, and habits of all peoples. At every farmers' conference, for some years past, we have been told by one or other of tho delegates how much better farming and farmers' finance is done and provided for in other countries, particularly iii Denmark. The Government sends out a commission with a prominent farmer upon it, and after touring the world, it cornea to this, we,are told that our new methods in Xew Zealand are not as good as they might be, but at least, are as good as have been seen in all tho countries visited. The position is not different when we send our Ministers Home. Whether it were Mr. Seddon, Mr. Massey, or Mr. Coatos, each went, followed by the anxiety of some of their friends that they would have a difficulty in holding their own with all the great magnates, with long letters to their names, and many titles, that they would have to meet and take counsel with. There need have been no anxiety. In actual contact superticial differences between men have no weight. Stability, breadth of vision, directness, generosity of temperament; in short, all those attributes which make for, and build up character, together with practical acquaintance with all classes of meu. give a standing in any company, however distinguished, which at once is admitted. Without these greater qualities of manhood, distinctive letters and titles go for nothing. Imperial conferences are invaluable, not so much for what is actually done at them, as for the truer light which the public men brought together from far-distant countries, obtain of things that matter. Equality of material conditions and a better average of comfort among persons of different nationalities will not add much to permanent world prosperity unless there is a proportionate levelling up in the standards of human and national character. Material conditions are approaching greater quality in spite of the handicaps some countries are under through adverse climatic, or other local conditions. This does not seem to make so much difference as might be expected. Hardness of conditions often stimulates, while ease of circumstance often enervates. Compensation operates in the mechanical world. Does it not to some extent operate in the case of difficulties in human progress, and may it not extend even to human suffering? Although there are now fewer distinctions in material conditions than the generally recognised world-marks would indicate, there are and must be differences and cohtrasts in national character. It would be reasonable to expect that national ascendency in the future would depend, not so much, as it has done in the past upon power, as upon character. Ascendency'by battle is coming to an end, because that way opens the door to national extermination. It is conceivable that the worship of power may cease when power has become so great in destructiveness as to be no longer capable of being used. Dean Inge in characteristic fashion has had something to say about the soul of England. The soul, he sees, takes its color from the murk and smoke of the city in winch he himself lives. H the Dean could have travelled with his Bishop and visited Xew Zealand we think his book on England would never have been written. It is the tragedy of the writer of books that his work is so strictly limited to the hoTizon which his mind can extend over, and that that stretch is again shortened by ■ his particular environment. Viscount Grey published his papers about the same time. The contrast of the two views is notable. The great cleric sees all the seething corruptions of a great city, which undoubtedly exist, to be characteristic of the people of England: his eyes appear to be shut to tM beauty of life as it to be seen in the lives of so many of his countrymen, and the stroug character of a people that could with such cool determination and grit stand and suffer through so much during the war, and even the shorter trial of the general strike; keeping their heads, without, thought .of revenge. On the other side the , great ex-statesman, who, according to the Morning Post, is "as much a war casualty as any ex-service man in hospital blue" can see in greatest prominence the joys of life and the natural beauties of the world around us, re-acting upon the keeping puce the springs of life. Lord Grey looks for a pleasure-finding age in place of a, pleasure-seeking one. As much as the Dean, he would deprecate all that rush and turmoil after forgetfulness, through pleasure, which is so prominent in society, but instead of meeting it with denunciation he would correct it by suggestion to observe that which is beautiful, that which is around everyone if they have open eyes, and which costs nothing. We con only give a sample of his view of the place of beauty in building up character and adding to the charm of life. "Of all the joys of life which may fairly came under the head of recreation there is nothing more great, more refreshing, more beneficial in the widest sense of the word than a real love of the beauty of the world. Somo people cannot feel it. To such people I can only say, as Turner once said to a lady who complained that she could not see sunsets as he painted them, 'Don't you wish you could, madam''" But character alone will not save a nation unless that character takes it place in action as well as in example, and at this point Dr. Ritson comes in. lie deprecates class rule; he sees that the class rule of the past has given way to the class rule of what ho calls "the proletariat." In the favor of this class the doctor thinks the upper and the middle classes of Great Britain have given way too readily. "They are not pulling their weight." Citizenship demands action.* Action is the only return it can make for what it has received. Character unapplied to national need is like a statue; it may be of the purest, marble, but it remains for ever stationary .in any weather, immobile. To have the gift of character, and not to apply it to the public need borders upon ingratitude, and may in time, through atrophy, cancel the gift itself. National character to be worthy of the name must also be applied internationally or run the risk of losing itself. It should not look for reward, I ut is certain to find it.