Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 13 April 1916, Page 17

Current Topics

A Protestant Alliance Discovery

i- Sooner or later someone was bound to find it .out; and the \ leather medal : for the discovery has how to be awarded to the framer of the report of the :Grand Executive Council of the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society of Australasia, which : has just been holding its annual meeting-at ; Oamaru. : We ought, perhaps, to mention at the outset that this : body is not nearly so representative or influential as its rather high-sounding name would suggest, and that so far as New Zealand is concerned it is an entirely insignificant .and negligible quantity. The New Zealand membership of the society is less than 1000—955 to be. exactand even this little band is chided by the Grand' Executive Council with want of enthusiasm. Unfortunately,' says the council's report, 'the numerical position of the society in this Dominion still remains practically in a stagnant condition—in fact, we have to record a reduction this year—and if it were not for one or two energetic lodges we would have had to announce a more serious decrease in ; this department of our work. The larger kindred societies are blaming the Government National Provident Fund for their slackness of recruits, which may or may not be so in their'case, but with us our members generally ' have never shown any enthusiasm to bring our-, membership up to what it ought to be. If you think your executive officers are to blame, it's time a change;was;made; but remember, in your wisdom, or otherwise, the membership of your Grand Executive was so drastically reduced that it takes all they can do to satisfactorily conduct ... tine general business of the society.' ;- A society whose attenuated membership, so far as New Zealand is concerned, is ' in a stagnant condition,' and the ranks of whose executive have been fined down almost to the vanishing point, naturally cuts no ice in this country, and neither attracts nor deserves any very serious attention.

The ' discovery 4 of the Grand Executive Council' is of a nature to suggest that the brain cells of some of its members are also in a stagnant condition.' Still it has the. merit of originality, and the new Columbus is. entitled to at least passing fame and notice. The Protestant Alliance Friendly Society man's discovery is to the effect that the ever-scheming Catholic Church, in the person of its 'heads,' is the real cause and instigator of the war. 'ln August of 1914,' says the Grand Executive Council's report, through the ambition of the rulers of Germany and Austria—and evidence is not lacking to associate heads of the ever-scheming Roman Church with their plots—the world has been thrown into the most gigantic war ever known.' Evidence is. not lacking We. do not know, of course, how far the things which have been hidden from the wise and prudent of this world have been revealed unto ; the babes and sucklings" of the Protestant Alliance, but as amongst those who have read at least an - average share of literature relating to the war we emphatically declare that evidence , is lacking, and we - confidently challenge the Protestant Alliance Friendly 'Society; or its Grand Executive Council to produce it. In the meantime we direct attention to a few outstanding facts which fair-minded and intelligent men who know anything about the subject will recognise as incontrovertible. (1) The Catholic Church and all'other Churches : stand to lose % heavily by the ; war; y and '- the 'heads of 'the Roman Church or* of any other Church who could be ; shown to have;, schemed to bring \ it rabout-; would .stand convicted ; of sheer - lunacy. (2) The diplomatic /.negotiation's;. correspondence, pourparlers, '■',_ etc., which, preceded \ the outbreak of the • war have ■ been published . in the blue, yellow, and L: other official .-<books of * the various Powers, and in not one of these is there the faintest suggestion .of the influence, much less of the participation, of the ' heads of the Roman Church in the events or 'conversations' which led up" to the crisis. ""(S) Though Austria, by her severe and violent

ultimatum, was certainly responsible'"'for; the "rupture with Servia, it is admitted by. all the Powers concerned, without exception, that ; she .was entirely willing :to have the area of hostilities localised, and was perfectly ready to agree to the holding of a conference to that end. -r Germany blames Russia, with "England as-her abettor, as being the cause of the conflagration; Englandrightly, as we holdthrows the sole blame on Germany. These are 1 the only Powers that, in any responsible quarter, are named .as being responsible for the world -War; and not one of the three is a Catholic, or has the, slightest sympathy with Catholicism, or is in the least degree likely Ito be associated, in any shape or form, with the 'heads of the Roman Church.'. These'' are the indisputable facts of the situation. If the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society has any further evidence on the subject, once again we invite it to produce it. But really we are taking the Grand Executive. Council and its report too seriously. A bray is not, it must be admitted, a pleasant noise; but after all it is only a bray, and sensible people should not allow it to disturb their equanimity: . r

Is it the Last War ?

Most of us have tried. to reconcile ourselves to the horrors and sacrifices of the present murderous world, conflict by reflecting that it will possibly, and even probably, bring us surcease of war, and put an end to the, whole savage business. We have looked upon it as a figurative if not a literal Armageddonafter which the swords were to be beaten into ploughshares and the* spears . into pruning hooks. In the early stages of the struggle this view was widely held, and found - expression in such books as The War That Will End War, The Peace of the World, etc., but now, after nearly two years of the butchery and bloodshed without the faintest indication of a change of heart on the part of the aggressors, thoughtful people are not so ; sure. The average intelligent citizen if . asked his opinion as to whether this would be the last great war would probably reply that this would depend on the precise issue of the present struggle. Now there are, roughly, three, principal ways in which the present war may end: (1) In a victory for the Central Powers; (2) in a victory for the Allies; or (3) in a draw or inconclusive peace. As German pre-war publicists—as Treitschke and-Bernhardi-have made no secret of Germany's aims for world power and of the fact that they consider -war as in itself a-good thing for a nation, it-may be taken for granted that : in the case of the first eventuality there wili be a certain renewal of further and even more horrible war at a by. no means wildly distant date. A victory for the Allies would afford a sure guarantee for at least a hundred years' freedom from anything like a world war provided that the victory were absolute and 'complete. We are firmly convinced that the Allies Will win, and in such wise that all" existing wrongs will be righted and that the enemy will have to submit to serious losses and sacrifices, but it is hot easy to visualize a victory so total and entire as to leave the Allies in: a position unreservedly to impose terms and to compel the practical disarmament of Germanyand : that - <. is, -■ in effect, the V. only , kind of 1 .v victory v " that y will bring - * absolute ' assurance of . permanent i peace. In regard -.' to, ; the .- contingency ■■■■ of an "y inconclusive. peace, there is practically a consensus of opinion amongst representative thinkers and writersmilitary and civilian-—that in such a ~ case , Germany will set quietly to work to prepare and organise afresh, and that at such time as she deems ; herself ..' ready , the whole horrible drama will have to be enacted again. •; Strangely enough, so acute a thinker as Mr. H. G.' Wells takes an exactly opposite view, \ and holds that : an inconclusive peace is our : one hope of : salvation. He considers that -in such a case the menace to the present Allies and to other' countries, will-be so .urgent, and so grave that the nations will be driven to form a huge confederation ; against"? the Central Powers, strong enough- to "command and to secure the peace of the world, After pur experience with Greece, Bulgaria,

America, and other countries, we a would not care to build much on such "an" anticipation. Taking, therefore, a cursory view of ;; what* we might call the surface features of the problem, we are forced vto the reluctant conclusion that this will be the last great war—until the next one. * ' <••• - .-<.-*-..-• • .-•: ~>.m -. ■■, ■•

" But after all this is quite a superficial consideration of the subject, and our • intelligent citizen did not go to the root of the matter when he suggested that the answer to the question depended on the actual issue of the struggle. The vitally decisive factor in determining whether or not we are to be rid forever of the hideous nightmare of war will be the moral outlook of the people and the religious quality of the national life. ', If the people, like Jerusalem of old, do not know the hour of their, visitation, if the nations, as heretofore, are to make power and material aggrandisement the objects of their ambition, then the future holds little promise of better things to come. So far, except to the most irrepressible optimist, there is little evidence "or indication of any general regenerative effect of the war. On this point the letter of a Company Officer written from * Somewhere in France ' after six months' continuous experience at the front gives father striking testimony. ' I have seen six months now,' he says, of continuous trench warfare and latterly of heavy fighting. , : It has not upset my nerves or my health it has chiefly disgusted me, apart from its interest as a game of skill. What I have felt chiefly about the war is its vileness and its out-of-dateness. It has seemed to me so ludicrously out of place in these civilised days" that at the worst moments the incongruity has almost made me laugh.' And then he continues : ' As far as this war is concerned I think myself that in the circumstances that had arisen it was unavoidable. But those circumstances should never have arisen. I hope and pray that the world may wake up from its madness, as from a bad dream, and that this may be the last war, but I haven't much faith in any such happy prospect. Those who have fought and survived will come home slightly brutalised, but otherwise just as they were, and they and people in general will soon forget the waste and black murder aspect of this foul thing, whereas the newspapers and literary glorification which always accompanies a war will have sounded a note which will go on ringing for generations.' That is, < perhaps, an unduly hopeless view to take, but* at least the writer knows whereof he affirms and-testifies of what he has seen. The one hope of the world is a return to practical . Christianity; and to accomplish k such a revolution—for it will -be nothing less—-will require the Church's mightiest effort.

Germany and Peace

Two things seem tolerably clear in the present European situation, and they are both of especial interest and significance. The first is that Germany—both official and civilianhas had enough of war, and will be as thankful as the rest of the world when peace is declared. And the second is that as far as possible in all future military operations Britain is to be the principal German objective. Taking the last first, the view now crystallizing in German circles has been clear and tersely expressed by a high military official in- the Fatherland. The utterance is vouched by Gustav Schweppendick, ; managing editor of The Deutsches Journal, and a Writer with such a name must surely be some authority. Germany,' says this military official, ' could take Paris. It would only be a question" of how many men we were willing to sacrifice. But that wouldn't bring England to terms, and, therefore, wouldn't end the war. We could' take, Petrograd. But suppose we drove the Czar out of his capital, England wouldn't care. We could drive the Italian army into the sea. It would make no difference to England. The more territory' \ we occupy,. the thinner our lines; the greater our difficulties in supplying them. Going ahead oh such lines would ; help England more than us.-I No less a personage than ■> Imperial Chancellor von Beth-, man-Hollweg has expressed practically the" same View.

'lt is my impression,' said the Chancellor, in a recent conference with party leaders in the Reichstag, ' that there will not be extensive field operations for the present. Even if we occupied more of the enemy's territory, it wouldn't alter the situation as far as England is concerned. We may straighten out our lines, take a port in Russia, improve our position in the West, but generally speaking no more great field battles are probable.' Here the Chancellor paused, and added, ' unless a campaign be embarked upon that will strike a vital blow at England.' These hints have been verified by recent happenings. The air raids are increasing in frequency and intensity, and there is every manifestation of the German determination to strafe ' England. . 5

The willingness and even the desire of official Germany to consider the question of peaceon terms, however, which could not honorably be entertained by the Allies sufficiently indicated in the guarded but unmistakable references to the subject in Dr. von Beth-mann-Hollweg's latest Reichstag speech as reported in last week's cables, and in his definite statement that ' he had expressed Germany's readiness for peace negotiations on September 9, but the enemy had declined the offer.' As a matter of fact the peace movement went further than a mere expression of ' Germany's readiness for peace negotiations.' Although there were no official peace overtures or negotiations,, definite unofficial conversations took place by persons who were representative but without official responsibility. The conferees were, for the most part, financiers of high international position, and the conversations took place in Switzerland and Sweden. It is an open secret that former Chancellor von Bulow participated in the conversations which were held in Switzerland. The peace sentiment amongst the masses of the people is, as might be expected, even still more .strongly marked. ' A party of Germans on the street,' says the German authority already quoted, ' will meet several young men who have lost a leg or an arm or are otherwise maimed. There are hundreds of thousands of such men. "What

s*a pity that fine young men must sacrifice their limbs!" one will comment. "What are we fighting for? We went into this to defend our Fatherland. We have kept the enemy out and nave even occupied his territory. The best thing now would be an honorable peace to stop this sacrifice." 'I heard such comment everywhere,' continues -the managing editor. 'Everywhere the all-important question is, How long is the war to last The spirit seems different from the early days. There is no ostentation of grief, no despair, no abatement of patriotism. I should say that the humane side, submerged in the first days of the war, has again come to the surface. The people are appalled. No one expected that the war would last so long. But the casualties have passed all expectations. This is as true of France and the other allied countries as of Germany. You see no more surging of crowds when the soldiers leave for the frontno more joyful singing. The Germans are undaunted, but they have settled down to a realisation of what war really means.' ~ That has . been a long time in coming, but it has evidently come at last; and it is a significant , and withal a hopeful sign.

Germany and the Pope

There has been an attempt in certain journalistic circlesand it has been more or less successful, we are afraid create the impression that the official and ruling circles in Germany are specially friendly to the Holy See. Such a notion is not,in the least borne out by facts. . It is true that the German Chancellor in a speech delivered in the Reichstag on : August 19 pub- k licly thanked the Pope for his humanitarian efforts' to \ ameliorate the lot of the prisoners of i war and to facilitate their exchange; but- this was merely an act of common politeness and diplomatic finesse which cost nothing and signified nothing. But when it comes to the deeds that count,: Germany shows gust as -little good will and is just as ready to flout the Holy Father as are any of the other Powers. Everyone remembers

the hullabaloo' raised in Germany upon the promulgation of the Ne Temere decree, and most of .our readers will recall, also, what happened in Germany a few years ago when Pius Xi; in his Encyclical on St. Charles Borromeo, contrasted the character and works of" the German reformer of the 16th century with those of that great saint. But there are more recent incidents, not less significant. Last November the Holy Father delivered an important address in which he denounced the unscrupulous and infamous campaign carried on by one of the sects to rob the Romans of their faith. Some English newspapers waxed very indignant over this, but at least the British Government did not trouble about the matter. 'ln Saxony,' says Rome, 'the Government became gravely concerned, diplomats were set to work to ask the Holy Father what he meant by attacking the Lutheran faith, and when the very obvious explanation was given that. the Bishop of Rome had merely defended his flock from the Methodist wolf, the Saxon Minister of Public Worship in Parliament proceeded to lecture his Holiness, and to say that "for the future it was to be desired that the Pope express himself in such a way as to avoid false interpretation." ' A later incident shows still more clearly how the wind is blowing in Central Europe. A short time ago there was much press talkobviously inspired and for a political purpose— the restoration of the Temporal Power; and it was freely bruited about that after the war Germany, of course, being victorious— would restore the Papal Statesor their equivalent in Palestine the Holy See. It was a gross and palpable, not to say clumsy, bid for Papal support. No intelligent Catholic took any serious notice of the matter, but the rumor was deemed of sufficient importance to be cabled to New Zealand and to the uttermost parts of the earth. Now, however, that important organ of German opinion, the Kolnische Zeitung, has discovered suddenly that this would be worse than unwise—nay, that even the Law of Guarantees must be left severely alone. This Power was in the past and would again become a source of wars arid scandals far more serious than the small discomforts of the present situation. As for the internationalisation of the Law of Guarantees, it would be difficult. The Papacy in its traditions, its personages, its location, is an institution infinitely more Italian than universal, and the Italian Government has acquired the habit of considering its relations with the Vatican as. an internal affair. It must be recognised that thanks to Italian elasticity this affair generally arranges itself very well.' 'A surprising change of front?' comments Rome. . 'Not at all. Official Germany believes that the Pope is already excluded from the (Peace) Congress, it recognises that the Pope cannot be moved from his neutrality and impartiality by promises any more than by threats, it wishes to conciliate —and the Pope is thrown promptly overboard.' So much for the figment of German friendship for the Vatican.