OUR BROTHERS’ KEEPERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 168, 20 July 1935, Page 8

OUR BROTHERS’ KEEPERS

(By •• Silent Peter. ' 'j Dear People,— Sweet arc tne uses of adversity, for they arc bringing science, Church and State together in a widening ot tire sense ot human compassion, interde* peudence and co-operation, culminating in the resolute determination that social and economical problems shall no longer be slurred over as though they du not exist. The desire is sincere ou |, tne part of the churchman, the poliu- | cal economist and the scientist to atone lor past neglect of brotherly duty; a neglect which has included the need—new abundantly fulfilled —of public condemnation, of wastage of natural products and national resources; a neglect which in past days has excusably been interpreted by the submerged’tenth as a deliberate conspiracy of silence on the part of the comfortably clothed, housed and fed. Hundreds of thousands of newcomers to the field of economic inquiry, led thither by the inspiring proclamations of their churches, and whose only guide in the maelstrom of events is the Divine love imbuing their hearts, are appalled at the outset by the multiplicity ot schemes springing to growth day ,by day, each of them guaianteed (by their particular partisans) to transform chaos into order. Standing with reluctant feet, with social plans and conscience meet, recent entrants into the field of economic endeavour gaze in discouragement down apparently unending aisles paved with red hot question marks and leading —who knows where/ In such extremity, many men are now I turning to that ‘ ‘cool spirit of science” whose ultimate aims coincide so closely as to be practically identical with those of the. finest of our churchmen and statesman and whose history has proved beyond doubt that organised research is capable of solving apparent impossibilities. The Scientist to the Rescue. A well known writer in London facetiously remarks that the prestige gained by science in the fields of natural phenomena tends to make her utterances appear worthy pf attention ;md examination even when—or per haps because —the reader entertains no hope of understanding them. Be that as it may, the prestige of the scientist varies from that enjoyed by the economist or the metaphysician per se, for the reason that the work and the hopes of the mass of mankind are bound up with the great practical benefits flowing in one continuous stream from scientific laboratories. There is no gainsaying the fact that the majority of workers continue to plate their longest reliance in the things that ian be seen and handled. It is therefore only in natural sequence that the; pronouncements of >< ience should never tail to carry weight with all cias»c> of workers. Having entered once and to r all that field of life described by the Bishop of Carlisle as “the arena where men strive and groan t" tree themselves from perils which arc not natural but perversions of the authentic human spiiit.” the scientist has pro reeded direct to essentials and has made an iniensivv study of the many and worthv schemes which have been evolved for the benefit of struggling mankind. These various schemes the Briti.-h Science Guild has reduced to some twenty-four main types of plan; ami such valuable residua they have again been able to divide under three principal heading-: (a) monetary reform; (b) industrial planning; and (u) a combination of industrial planning and monetary reform. Plebiscite. lii the opinion of many scientists, the present deficiency of purchasing power in a world well stocked with everything that, man <an need is not necessarily a. permanent state of affair*. The immediate remedy proposed bj

those who hold this view is the establishment of large-scale public works, financed by government loans. Other leading wu-rld-economists agree as to the existing insufficiency of purchasing power, but suggest that the solution lies in the speeding up of the velocity of the circulation of the money already in existence rather than by increasing its amount. Were the opinion of the workless of the world tu be solicitcd on this point, there would be but one voice heard in reply, and that voice would encircle the globe: “Only increase and stabilise the amount that icaches us from week to week, and the velocity of circulation may safely ire | left to take care of itself!” Naturally, this is nut a scientific nor a technical expression of opinion. It is merely the tragic cry of the men auu women who are doing the suffering while I host in higher places are doing the debating; it is the view that reaches the great warm heart of the Church in her ministrations daily io the food less, the fireless, the hopeless, it is the view that must colour and hasten all preliminary steps lor tne permanent umeliciation of social conditions. Spiritual Evolution. The evolution of a strung and helpful science of living, m which tne needs oi the soul, ot the mind and ol th© body will be fully represent ed, is the ideal towards which the endeavours of science Church and •State arc hyrmoiiiuuslv uniting. Frum a studv ui the law® of the material universe, the scientist turns to an examination oi in laws of the spiritual and intellectual evolution of mankind. History, as the record of social and spiritual change, has a definite value in determining present decisions regarding the healing ot lire broken heart and the binding up ui tile broken spirit and lhe broken faith. Cast centurio present faithfully to man’s vision, if be will but regard th'' les-oji, a sorry tale of social cxpei i ment and social failure that should 1 serve at least as a guide tu what ought to be avoided. History is but lhe ui: lolled >clull of prophecy, says Garfield. What do they know of lhe twentieth • century who only the twentieth century Know.’ Jt is for the leaders of man kind in science Church and Stale now • to predict and outline the next higher level of social, intellectual and t>pirj- ' tual progress of the race; ami the Jaw.- ' that have governed man'.-, history m lhe pa>t will be found tu be a sale exemplar in man's conscious striving v toward- hi- predestined higher levels ui 1 I hough I a n dad i(;D. fl (lo bv Continued. J