TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20231, 28 June 1937, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Madness of War “ A former commander of a German submarine, Baron von Spiegel, spoke on ‘ The Madness of War ’ to an audience in Edinburgh which was comprised mainly of British Legion men,” reports the Scotsman. Speaking of Herr Hitler, he said: * Let us hope by mutual understanding, which is the greatest aim of our present leader in Germany, that the terrible of 1914 will never be repeated. He has been a private soldier, you know, and an ordinary workman. . . . He is a stubborn fellow. He knows his own mind, and he doesn’t go away from it. He is trying to give Germany her position back, and back only without wars. We are all calm in Germany, knowing that the man who leads us won’t let us go into “ ‘lt is up to all “ old fighting men ” to impress the younger generation. There are ways of making them listen to you,’ declared the baron. ‘ Never tell them stories of the big war which are nice. Give them the real horrors you had to go through, and give them the terrible sides of it. Tell them how you felt in the mud of the trenches. Tell them what you saw, and how you felt, when you saw your best friends and comrades suffer and die. Tell them that wars have never been caused by people but only by politics. Exterminate the poison which is still corroding tho hearts of many people, and remember that hate which is instigated by nations is artificial, and that it always breaks down like a pack of cards, when man meets man.’ ” Plain Man “ Man is both good and bad. Love, restraint, altruism, noble ambition, resignation and unselfishness, as well as evil qualities, are inherent in human nature. Francis of Assisi and John Bunyan were just os human after their change of heart and life as before. The old Latin tag, Humana est enure, is only one side of the truth. It is as natural to light against error as to yield to it. Rousseau and others stressed the intrinsic goodness of man. Theologians, for many centuries, dwelt on his depravity. No one can strike an exact balance between these extremes. We are born with both good and evil tendencies, not only varying in degree in different persons, but in the same person at different times. The power to weigh and consider, and then to choose and to will, is essential to humanity. We are mere animals or robots if we yield to unworthy thoughts and suggestions, excusing ourself with the fatalistic idea that our human nature, which is mainly evil, does not change. And this idea tends to discourage all efforts for betterment. Faith in the possibility of progress loads to the will to progress, and gives us courage to persevere. And faith with courage spells victory.”—“From World v urce Lo World Fellowship.”