UNIVERSAL MORALITY GERMAN AGREEMENT FIRST AMBULANCE TRAINS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 256, 30 October 1939, Page 7

UNIVERSAL MORALITY

GERMAN AGREEMENT

FIRST AMBULANCE TRAINS

THE WORLD’S NEED ENCYCLICAL BY POPE EVIL OF STATE AUTONOMY (By Telegraph Press Association —Copyright] VATICAN CITY, Oct. 27. “The profound and ultimate root of present evils is the refusal to accept a standard of universal morality for the life of the individual, for social life and international relations," declared His Holiness the Pope in a 10,000-word Encyclical. | “In other words, the present evils can be traced to a disregard and forgetfulness of natural law whose foundation is God. After a denial of God comes a denial of law. The result is religious and moral agnosticism, from which spring two pernicious errors—firstly, a forgetfulness of human solidarity and charity; ■ econdly, the error of pretending to absolve civil authority from dependence on God, thus establishing the State as the final end in life. This State autonomy is contrary to natural reason and Christian conscience, since it reduces everything to the level of utilitarian morality, but the rights of the conscience are sacred and inviolable." Referring to the dictatorships, the Pope said: “To consider the State as something ultimate and subordinating everything to it cannot fail to harm the true and lasting prosperity of rations.” War alone would not lead to a decisive change in conditions without peace treaties animated by justice and equity to all. The Pope appealed for peace treaties to end the present war and avoid sacricfies and suffering which hitherto had failed to bring lasting peace. International law could not be torn from the anchor of Divine law without abandoning tt to the caprice of private interests and collective egoism, thus opening the door to the domination of force, giving legal standing to accomplished facts inconsistent with treaties, and destroying confidence among the nations. These conceptions brought the world to the present horrible abyss. Since human expedients had miserably failed, salvation could only come from the Church. The Pope expressed sorrow for Poland and promised to do all ii) his power to hasten the restoration of peace.

VIEW OF UNJUST TREATIES. Received Oct. 29, 6.35 p.m. LONDON, Oct. 27. A message from Berlin states that Germany is in full agreement with the view that unjust treaties should be altered by negotiation. This tits the Versailles Treaty exactly. The Pope's sympathy with the Poles is not surpi?i;<ng as they are Catholics, but lie should have thought of the thousands of Germans whom the Poles slaughtered.

ARRIVAL AT LONDON STATION Received. Oct. 29, 7.30 p.m. LONDON, Oct. 29. What may be the first of many ambulance trains arrived at a station near London bearing sickness and accident cases. Fifty or 60 stretchers placed on the platform carried the patients to waiting coaches, which conveyed them to hospital. Then a second train soon followed. There were a few onlookers present.