TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19648, 7 August 1935, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

National Congestion “If we recognise, as wo must, that Japan has no course but to seek relief from pressure at home by expansion abroad, we cannot censure the present method of expansion unless we can show that there is a practical alternative. That alternative is economic, access to foreign markets; and if we cannot offer such access we inevitably clamp down the pressure in Japan, which will find its outlet with increasing force in the direction of China. The tension in Japanese life is like a taut bowstring which speeds the arrow of military policy to its mark in the body of China. But militarism neither creates the problem nor supplies the driving force. It only exploits a condition favourable to itself. Therefore no policy has any chance of success which does not construct itself round the economic needs of the two countries. And since we may as well admit that foreign action can do little to deal with the immediate crisis in North China, the only sound course is to devise a policy of long range to meet the fundamental causes of the whole Far Eastern problem. Failing that we shall one day find that the force whioh we cannot use to-day will have to bo used without stint to defend the vital interests of the British Commonwealth.” —The Economist.

Corporal Punishment Corporal punishment in schools was touched upon by Dr. H. Crichton-Miller in a recent address to the Scottish Association for Mental Welfare.

“ It is sometimes supposed,” he said, “ that great injury is done to the emotional development of pupils by corporal punishment. It is even claimed that no sort of punishment should be required in a well-conducted school. Many, if not all, of the protests about school punishment and the harm it does come from prejudiced sources. “ On the one hand we have the sentimental humanitarians, who arc impelled by their own unresolved masochism to champion the cause of all physical sufferers without any sense of proportion. On the other hand, there are the Freudians, who are obliged to make all punishment conform to the pattern of the sadistic schoolmaster. This obligation results from their creed which allows no divergence from a rigid causality..

“ Furthermore, I should like to point out that as far as my professional experience goes, much more harm is done by mental cruelty than by physical punishment. The adult who describes to you the anguish of his school life is more likely to tell you of a sneering mistress or a sarcastic master, than of the taws and the cane. Boys are more sensitive to ridicule and less sensitive to physical pain than is generally supposed.” •

For the League 1 We are told that the League has failed in the most important questions committed to it. This reproach has two answers: the first is that no responsibility can be accepted by the League so long as it is not, in fact, universal.

While the United States of America remain outside of the evolution which points toward world institutions for the government of the world, the duality of peace agencies and the misunderstandings arising out of an insufficiently close and methodical co-operation, are bound to lead to mediocre results. The League is an excellent machine with one of its most important pieces loose and unscrewed. The League has not failed, because it has not been tried.

The second argument lies in the very nature of the evolution wo are going through. The League is good, but the nations are . . . not so good. They act in and through the League as well as they can, for they are deliberately wicked, but there are so many ties with the past, so many difficulties, traditions, local influences, prejudices, ambitions, compromises and side dealings that we cannot expect progress to take place along the very axis of our ideal road.

Wc should be content to observe that amongst all those forces which act on international life, that of right and justice, of commonsensc and peace, ns represented by .the Covenant, is, on the whole, pulling its weight and gaining ground. . , . —Senor Modafiagn, in “ The Price of Peace.”

Dominant Leadership In discussing different kinds of leadership in an article in the Listener, Mr Henry A. Mess speaks of the form which has recently re-emerged in Europe and which he designates as personal dominance. Sir Martin Conway, Mr Mess notes, wrote of Crowd Compellcrs and Crowd Exponents. The Crowd Compellcrs arc men of dominant personality —the Caesars, Napoleons, Lenins, Mussolinis, and their like —who have a gift of authority; they beckon and others follow, they frown and others hasten to obey. Many big business men, many politicians, many trade union leaders, arc.of this type. The dominant leader needs lo be self-assertive, swift in decision, ready to shoulder responsibility, and not afraid of making mistakes. Intellectual .ability may help; but an ambitious temper matters far more than intellect; and a critical disposition is decidedly ft handicap.

The dominant leader is not usually a man with.a. gift for seeing both sides of a question. Dominant leadership is a blend of coercion and persuasion. If it were only coercion, it would not be leadership, but mere tyranny. A Caesar, a Napoleon, a Lenin, is ruthless enough with his opponents, but lie owes his power as much or even more to his ability to inspire confidence and devotion in his followers. Dominant leadership, Mr Mess says, finds its' greatest opportunity in troubled times, when the weaknesses of institutional leadership are most felt, and when men's fears make them ready to accept a lead from someone who sneaks boldly and unhesitatingly.