The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1944. Sixth Christmas Of War

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23083, 23 December 1944, Page 4

The Timaru Herald SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1944. Sixth Christmas Of War

WESTERN civilisation is based upon Christianity, ardently or pallidly observed in the various countries according to national taste. Bearing this fact in mind, it is not encouraging to see how the fundamental principles of Christianity have been applied by Western peoples during the past five years. The dismal toll of material ruination and bloodshed cannot yet be assessed in full. Since the first war Christmas of 1939 millions of men have been killed in battle on land, at sea and in the air. Thousands of women and children and aged people have been blasted to death in the bombed cities, and it seems, according to the necessarily rough estimates available, that another million or so at least have been slaughtered in the Nazi massacres in Poland and other occupied countries. Never before in human history has such a widespread volume of destruction and suffering been loosed upon the world in the relatively short span of five years. It is terrible to think upon what has already happened, but the end is not yet come, and even when the main war is finished it is too much to hope that the world will settle readily to ways of peaceful living again. This is the melancholy background against which the sixth Christmas of the Second World War is being celebrated; men are certainly experiencing difficulty in applying the principles of Christianity to their affairs; cynics would argue that on this account Christianity can no longer be a sustaining philosophy for mankind, that its principles are beyond practical application to the general business of nations. An answer to such cynical defeatism is to be found in the fact that Christmas is still being celebrated. Perhaps for many the origin of the festival is overlooked, but there are others to whom Christmas is rather more than a hedonistic parenthesis in the routine of daily life. Whatever the attitude of individuals to Christmas as a religious festival, the season stands apart from the rest of the year as a time when people make a special effort to keep their friendships in repair, when differences are overwhelmed in a tide of cordiality, and when there is an irresistible urge towards family unity. That people are affected in this way by Christmas proves that there is a deep desire in the human heart to absorb the proper spirit of the season, and it is upon the further development of this kindly gregarious spirit that the future of mankind depends. Christmas and Christianity may be at odds with world events throughout the past five years, but if the repetition of these tragic tribulations is to be prevented in the future, it will only be through mankind’s acceptance of the blessed principles upon which Christmas and Christianity are founded.

In spite of all that has happened and is still to happen in a world at war, it cannot be said that the outlook is altogether unpromising. The adversity of'conflict has in itself created a brotherhood among the United Nations which proves that peace and goodwill have not been altogether banished from the world. The bonds linking the United Nations are closer than those w'fiich bound the Allies in the last war, but it may be that this unity in the common struggle is taken rather too lightly and without proper recognition of what it may mean in future happiness for the world. This friendship among great peoples bodes well, but it will need to be guarded by all people as one of the precious possessions and as an insurance for future security. Even in war, with one common and dominating danger to compel unity, there are many strains and tensions, petty jealousies and half-silenced criticisms which justify serious misgivings about what the relationships may be when danger is past and each nation free to follow whatever course may seem to favour its own objectives and ambitions best. Within recent weeks there have been glimpses of some of the problems which are likely to be posed for settlement when the war against Germany and Japan ends. That there is apparent conflict in the policies to be adopted should serve only to intensify the desire of the leaders and peoples of the United Nations to come closer together that an era of new hope may open for the world. If it were possible for nations in their dealings with each other to feel occasionally the tolerance and geniality which sweeps into the hearts of individuals at the Christmas .season the outlook would be more hopeful. To accomplish this would involve something of a revolution, but a revolution with a benevolent end is worth striving for when the alternative to it is disaster. There is a limit to the number of times men may take themselves to the edge of the abyss.

Discussing plans for the future of the British shipping industry recently the New Statesman and Nation made the following comment:—“Occasionally British capitalists let us know what they mean by ‘control’; it is not that the State should exercise control in the public Interest, but that Big Business should make use of a State controlled by industrialists in the interest of private profit. A remarkable instance of such candour is the policy statement issued by the Shipowners’ General Council. Peace, they say, will find the British shipping industry saddled with many vessels built for war purposes and economically inefficient for many trades. Further, there will be plenty of tonnage in the world and thus freights and passage rates may be reduced by competition, domestic or international, to unprofitable levels. State intervention is therefore involved: the taxpayer must provide a fund to buy up and ‘sterilise’ uneconomic or redundant tonnage; the Government must ‘ensure compliance’ with rates fixed on cartel lines in each branch of the trade. Indeed, it is actually ’proposed that international rigging of rates should form part of the Peace Settlement. But are shipping services to be subject to regulation or profits to be limited? The Council has nothing of this sort in mind: this is not the function of the State as conceived by Big Business.

‘Private enterprise’ is to ba the basis for the post-war organisation of British shipping—private enterprise operating behind the shelter of rates so ‘controlled’ as to provide maximum exploitation of the consumer. The Üboats drowned the wrong men.”