WORLD UNITY VERY DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE

Wanganui Chronicle, 7 September 1950, Page 4

WORLD UNITY VERY DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE

NEW Zealand’s Minister of External Affairs. Mr. Doidge, has surveyed the world situation and the problems and conflicts of nations as existing today, and has laid emphasis on the difficulties facing those who would govern in the cause of peace. Underlying his review is the development of a clearer picture of a world struggling for unity, each faction endeavouring to preserve for itself that which it has won in the cause of progress, or to widen its sphere of influence in the cause of conquest. It is that clash between preservation of human standards, on the one hand, and the cause of conquest on the other, that stirs the world to a growing sense of danger. Conquest, versus -conciliation—that is a more or less apt way in which to describe the conflict the world is facing. Mr. Doidge will go to London, and there, within the conclave of the British Commonwealth, he will speak on behalf of New Zealand and strive to grapple with the basic causes of unrest. There is no doubt that hunger and lack of clothing and warmth cause most of Ihe unrest within the world. -It is one thing to conquer a nation, another to feed and clothe it. and regain for a trampled people faith in themselves and in mankind in general. -"What, misery of outlook must face a nation like China, wracked with war for almost a quarter of a century. In such a country the age-old law of the survival of the fittest, prevails, and under that law the strong go on and the weak perish by the wayside, if not at the hands of the strong or in the jaws of the jackals that glide with stealth and pounce on unsuspecting prey. All that is happening in this co-called world of enlightened man. and two camps face each other across the table of the United Nations—the camp of conciliation (not to be confused, as it was of old, with appeasement) on the one side, and the camp of conquest and regimentation on the other. Those at the table look for a formula whereby they can come together and make the world a better place to live in, whereby all people ean share the fruits of the earth. Their main hope of salvation lies in world government. Underlying the whole of Mr. Doidge’s speech could be sensed a need for federating the great nations of the world in the cause of peace. By interjection, the former Minister of Finance (Mr. Nash), during Mr. Doidge’s speech, inferred that Russia could gain all she wanted if she had the will and the heart to support the United Nations. Until Russia comes to the United Nations prepared to lift the Iron Curtain, the world will never be free of tension, but if Russia ever does humble herself in that direction, then mankind will be nearer world government. Whether that will satisfy him is another matter. That law of the survival of the fittest dies hard, because, never mind the veneer of civilisation, man belongs to the animal kingdom, in which greed. Inst, and revenge all influence the emotions. To govern a nation is no easy task, to govern a world is harder still, hut man, whether he likes it or not. will one day either be governed in a world sense, or be trampled down by those whose strength is tempered not in the direction of wise government, but for the enslavement of the people to the will of a conqueror.