THE ROUND TABLE

Southland Times, Issue 24113, 30 April 1940, Page 3

THE ROUND TABLE

PRECIS OF ARTICLES The second war number of Th® Round Table, published on March 1, is again concerned with the main problems of the war as it affects not 9my this country but the whole British Commonwealth. The first article. The Issue,” is based on the following theme. “It is not two peoples or two empires that face each other in the North. Sea and across the Maginot Line; two views of life are struggling for the control of the future.” The article analyses the manner in which the doctrines of Prussianism, intensified and brutalized by the Nazi leaders, have been applied in actual practice. Thus the principle of a German Herrenvolk results in unscrupulous faithlessness in the conduct of Germany’s relations with independent nations and in the ruthless subjection of nations or peoples in their power, like the Czechs and Poles. Among the Germans themselves, similarly, the single pursuit of power involves the rejection of all the ideals of western civilization —justice, mercy, liberty and truth. This indictment of the Nazi system is the more forcible because most of it is based on German statements. With this reversion to barbarism the ideals of the Allies are contrasted—ideals based on . certam spiritual values and on a certain political regime. “It is not too much to say, sa y^lj’ e writer of the second article, The Civilization of Finland” “that until a few months ago the average Englishman knew nothing (of Finland) except that Sibelius, the musician, and Nurmi, the runner, came from that part of the world.” . , “The Strategy of the War is the second instalment of the _ series of articles on this subject which will be continued in The Round Table for the duration of the war. The question of military operations leads naturally to the question as to how they are to be paid for. Sharing the Cost” restates simply and lucidly the extent of the financial effort that is needed and the alternative methods by which the burden can be equitably shared among all classes. „ The next article, “Inside Germany, describes the conditions now prevailing in Germany and their effect on the people’s morale. The American correspondent of ine Round Table describes in “America in Suspense” the deep impression made on public opinion by Stalin’s attack on Finland, and points out that it makes an emotional appeal comparable to that made by the invasion of Belgium m 1914. ‘ T , _x- n The chief interest of the Irish article “Ireland’s War Problems” lies in the account given of the remarkable I.R.A. raid on the magazine fort in Phoenic “The Political Dilemma in In .d ia ” gives a full account of the three-sided controversy between Congress, the minorities and the British Government. The' rest of the number consists of the contributions from The Round Table correspondents in Britain and in each of the Dominions.