CORRESPONDENCE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19379, 31 December 1932, Page 22

CORRESPONDENCE

THE ATTITUDE OF GERMANY. To the Editor of “ The Timaru Herald.” Sir—l find it hard to recognise a reincarnated Hasdrubal, minus his bar of soap, bearing the legend "in Deutchland germacht.’ Samson wrought havoc with the jaw bone of an ass; a youthful stripling named David, bowled over a giant with a small stone; but our “Touchstone’s” weapon appears to be of the “soft” variety—good for suds—the suds of a patriotism which made, as I heard Manchester men declare, people in England -weep when peace came; no tears of joy. "No peace was ever won from Fate by subterfuge or agreement; no peace is ever in store for any of us, but that which we shall win by victory over shame or sin—victory over the sin that oppresses; as w r ell as over that which corrupts. . . . For many a year to come, the sword of every righteous nation must be whetted to save or to subdue; nor will it be by patience of others’ suffering, but by the offering of your own, that you will ever draw nearer to the time when the great change shall pass upon the iron of the earth—when men shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears imo pruning-hooks; neither shall they learn war any more.” On a previous occasion you permitted me to ask where are the altars? Will you permit the question, where are the righteous nations? “Unto him that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance.” Dear old Uncle Sam! Every star in the banner proclaiming, “I will hold fast to mine integrity; hold fast to yours and pay up in dollars, while I dish out beer!” Gold and beer, beer and gold, right good emblems of righteousness, but not of the sort Henry Ward Beecher would approve. “ ‘Listen in’ and hear the German chuckle.” An echo of a chuckle surely, for across the years I hear the chuckle of righteous John Bull, when the first dreadnought made the K?il Canal a strategic ditch; an echo of a chuckle when Sir John French, in 1910, inspected the frontier fortifications. Tn sharp contrast, one reads the German Weiss Buch, the warnings of the Kaiser to the Czar, but no chuckle is in evidence. I challenge “Touchstone” to produce one—one solitary chuckle, in that batch of telegrams between Berlin and St. Petersburgh, but for the love of mike, no soft soap suds.— I am, etc., T. POWELL. Otaio, December 29. BAPTISTS IN U.S.A. To the Editor oi " The Timaru Herald.” Sir—ln “News and Notes” of your to-day’s issue, there is a brief article on the denomination attachment cf the various presidents of the United States of America. The auricle, taken, I presume, from the American “Church News,” states: “There have been six Presbyterian Presidents, four Methodist Episcopal, four Unitarians, one Baptist, Congregational, Quaker (Mr Hoover), three of the small sects.” The Baptist Church, of which the late President Hughes, was a member, may, to the writer of that article, have appeared of small consequence. In actual fact, however, the Baptist Church, with over 8.000.000 members in the United States of America, was the largest Protestant body in that country at the close of 1931, and, with approximately 13,000,000 members, with a community strength of 40,000,000, was the largest Protestant body In the world.—l am, etc., C. W. DUNCUMB.

The Manse, Timaru. December 30. [Obviously our correspondent has misread the statement he discusses.— Editor of “The Timaru Herald.”]

GERMANY AND WORLD PEACE. To the Editor of " The Timaru Herald.” Sir,—When your correspondent “Touchstone,” characterises an appeal to him to avoid personalities as “merely stupid,” and devotes his whole reply to “left-handed compliments,” he leaves my arguments unanswered. My personal loyalty is questioned, but I am in a position to give him, if ns wants, proofs of loyal service to the British crown by my family for several generations. To clear the issue, I shall, with your permission set out the points in which my views differ from those of your correspondent: 1. That world peace is in no greater danger from Germany than from any other European power. 2. That the Treaty of Versailles contained provisions which are being more and more regarded as dangerous to world peace. 3. That the pre-war idea of nationality is incongruous with modern conditions and that the only sure way to world peace is that embodied in the Covenant of the League of Nations. Regarding the first point, I have shown that Germany is by no means in a state to attack any nation, and that, far from being an aggressive military machine, her people are living in conditions of the greatest distress. It is in regard to the Treaty of Versailles, that your correspondent appears most befogged. Nothing on earth will prevent the Peace of Versailles from being modified. In fact, even militaristic France has already agreed to the modification embodied in the Locarno Pact. The sorest point in this Treaty, to the Central Europeans, and the clause to which educational propaganda is directed in some central European states, is that fixing the war guilt solely on Germany. Let me qu r te an eminent journalist. Sir Norman Angell, on this point. “No one out of a lunatic asylum supposes that the

diplomatic behaviour of Czarist Russia, \ was always wise and blameless, nor that militarism was something exijt- I ing only in Prussia. Still less do w? 1 now believe that the particular m 1lions living within the boundaries of the German Empire were endowed by Providence with an extra of original sin. We knew now that sucn ideas partake of the moonsh ns of wartime and are incompatible with intellectual sincerity and honesty.”

In his letter of the 28th inst. your correspondent would have us belie\ e that his motives in pursu ng his voluminous correspondence are purely for the good of humanity. lam afraid his explanation of this point does not ring true. Keep the Germans down! Crush them utterly! If their children show any signs of hope, crush them too! Even if we did matce a mistake at Versailles, might is right, and their children and children’s children must pay for it to the last farthing! That, I take it, is your correspondent’s road to peace and ; goodwill among men. This creed, he | impudently claims, has Divine san;- | tion. I suggest that there are few j Christian African negroes whose understanding of Christianity is so faulty as that shown by a person adopting such an attitude. Regarding the third point, “Touch - stone’s” adherence to a narrow nationalism, I would draw his attention to the implications of a certain cable regarding Christmas radio broadcasts in Europe. I quote this merely as typical of the spirit of the age. A few centuries ago (a very short period in the whole span of human development), people of “Touchstone’s” type ridiculed the idea of such a thing occurring in 1932. At that time also, the separate states now forming the German nation were as fiercely antagonistic to one another as your correspondent is to facts relating to the development of an international spirit. Yet the facts are plain enough. “The old forces of state and nation are in j part obsolete. Many aspects of modern j life transcend all national boundaries; I the motor car, ships, railways, the whole mechanical world, medicine, industry, the world of intellect, are all t international in character. On a basis of mutual protection divers interests in different countries are tending more and more to combine; it is business, and not the ideal of internationalism which is bringing about the first approach to world unity. Englishmen buy up German gramophone factories coal mines and chemical works are controlled by joint boards of Germans and Frenchmen; tens of thousands of American cars glide over French asphalt; Europe is dotted everywhere with red and yellow petrol pumps with English and American capital behind them.” I would also refer your correspondent to an article in your issue Qf December 27 in which Lord Riddell sets out “the most notable changes in modern life.” Thirteen factors are given, every one being a force tending towards the coming internationalism. The introduction of wireless, the aeroplane, the development of bacteriology, the development of the telegraph and cable systems of the world, are a few of the great forces which are making a narrow parochial nationalism absolutely impossible. If your correspondent has any hopes for it, he is living in the past.—l am, etc., AZOTE. Timaru, December 30.