TO-DAY’S FREEDOM

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6565, 13 September 1948, Page 5

TO-DAY’S FREEDOM

WON BY YEARS OF SACRIFICE LESSON FOR YOUTH “Probably 99 per cent, of the people in New Zealand believe that the thing we call Communism is an evil thing; and many say that the 1 per cent who believe otherwise should be outlawed and deported, so that we may be free from the evil; but it would not work out that way,” said Mr J. H. Luxford, S.M., addressing the Auckland Rotary Club recently, when 36 head and senior prefects from 18 post primary schools were guests of honour a't the club luncheon. The great lesson for youth to learn, he said, was that the freedom we enjoyed to-day was won after many years of sacrifice and toil by men who believed in the dignity of men. It was not a state or condition that continued of its own volition, but could be preserved only if we remained vigilant and fought relentlessly the inexorable forces that forever were trying to destroy it. “Our real defence lies in the hearts and minds of the people— not in coercive oppression, for history shows that movements thrive under coercion. It may be the greatest paradox in human history, but the proof is overwhelming,” he said. If we had a way of life capable of promoting human happiness, as he thought we had, then we had to dedicate ourselves to eradicating every evil that hindered our social system from achieving its purpose. The seeds of Communism germinated only in social soil that had become foul as a result of political neglect or political ineptitude. Our social soil was something tangible which we knew and understood. We should keep it pure and cleanThe seeds, oCommunism, couldn’t be intercepted, buf they were harmless until they found a host on which they could settle and thrive. “We must not provide that host,” he said.