LOYALTY AND WAR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9917, 4 August 1910, Page 1

LOYALTY AND WAR.

ADDRESS BY MR R. M. LAING. In the St "Luke's Mission Hall yesterday Mr Robert M. Laing delivered the first of a series of four addresses on "Ideals of Loyalty and Peace in. their Relation to Wav and Imperialism/' to the Girls' Social Science Club. Miss Martin presided in the absence of Mrs Cuimingtou, and there was a large attendance. Mr Laing said that conduct was actuated by two motives, love of self and love of others. These motives were controlled by ideals, and amongst the most important of these ideals was that of loyalty. One of the greatest of living philosophers, Professor Royce, of Harvard, had recently published a work analysing the idea of loyalty. Ho had defined loyalty as '' the willing and thorough-going devotion of a per- ! son to a cause." Any closer definition was impossible. The analysis of loyalty showed further that it was possible to be loyal in a good or evil cause. The pirate might be loyal to the death in pursuit of his piracy, and on the other J land the martyr war; loyal to his religion. "Other characteristics of loyalty are its altruistic and voluntary nature," he said, "loyalty, like, mercy, is not' strained; and loyalty is of necessity social in its nature. Hence it appeals to the love of others more than to the love of self. National loyalty, or patriotism, loads to the love of one's native land, and the problem for the lover of peace is to harmonise international loyalties, that they shall be subservient to a common loyalty. This work_ has already commenced in peace societies, courts of arbitration, international law. and is loading to the- ennobling of the much misused term ' patriot.' " Unfortunately, however, the warspirit is still abroad. This is partly due to ignorance of what war really means. Illustrations from the RussoJapanese and other wars show that in spite of our growing humanity it i« almost impossible to exaggerate tho hideous horrors of the modern battlefield. In. certain cases in the RussoJapanese War there wore larger numbers of men torn to shreds in circumscribed spaces than in any previous war, and in modern warfare it is becoming more and more difficult to attend to tho wounded. After Gravelotte ten thousand lay on the battlefield for four days without attention. Yot many now epedk as if war had been humanised. The opinions of modern admirals and generals show that this idea is absurd. The essence of war is violence. They tell us: ' Hit first, hit hard, hit anywhere.' " The practice of such counsel, he continued, could not fail to have an evil effeot on the character. of the soldier. Hence the professional soldier had much to answer for. and often lost a proper feelingfor tlie value and dignity of life. Ho gave recent examples to> illustrate the statement. Lord Wolseley and others had said that the maxim' that honesrty was the best policy might do for the child, but was absurd when applied to tho soldier. Actual war must and would always be inspired by anti-Ghristian ideals. Yet many still uphold war for its own sake. War, it was said, encouraged the primitive virtues. Tna-t was tine; but the same argument might be used in defence of any bad odd custom, sufh as idolatry or slavery. New duties mad© the old ones uncouth. War was to a "ittuCU" greater "extent a-school "for <mh' passions than for virtue. Peace. required heroism as well as war. Other arguments had been ilsed m defence of war. Buskin's curious fallacy that art was inspired by war could readily be shown to bo false from hie own writings. It was probably not too much to say tha'b a nation was financially, physically, morally and socially tho worse for every war it engaged in. After a successful war the nobler works of patriotism were neglected, and it was narrowed from the broad, smooth, shining river of progress into the brawling, twbid moimtiyii stream or militarism. War had been known for hundreds of years as an enemy to social reform.

"But w© are told." said Mr Laing in conclusion, "that war is inevitable. War is only inevitable as long; as we think it so. Our responsibility increases with our knowledge of good, and evil, as that of Adam did. Distrust of the future has always been a characteristic of the conservative; but many oxamples can be brought fr6m history of cases in which it has been ill-found-ed. Already wars are becoming fewer, and hatred of foreign races is becoming less pronounced. This hate is duo to the conflict of loyalties; to the fact that we do not love our neighbour as ourselves. This maxim of the Great Teacher may be taken as the ideal to be aimed at. The appeal to force is as obviously irrational as it is likely to result in injustice. The honour of a nation is more likely to be' justified by an appeal to an international tribunal than to the arbitrament of war. War only breeds war or a sullen peace. The tremendous advances of modern civilisation lead to a, hopeful outlook for the future. International peace, however, can only be realised through the development of international alliances and friendships."

At the conclusion of his address Mr Laing was warmly thanked.