THE PINCH OF WAR.

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 233, 4 November 1940, Page 4

THE PINCH OF WAR.

PROSPERITY, green luxuriant farm lands, sleek dairy herds luscious erops, brilliant sunshine and laughing seas. The surroundings of New Zealanders certainly not tend to emphasise the war spirit or to incalcate that feeling of depression which people in less fortunate circumstances must feel in the face of destructive brutality. We in these islands certainly have much to be grateful for, and in return should thank the benificent fates that gave us the security of our isolation and the bright cheerfulness of our surroundings. But what we cannot escape is the part we must play in this, the greatest struggle for freedom in the world's history, as part of the Empire championing the. cause of the weak. It is surely a time for more sober thought, for sympathy, for denial, yet how many of us have taken the war seriously to heart. (Race meetings show record figures in betting, thousands of fashionably dressed women attending in the latest model cars and spending lavishly in the process. The pleasure streak is strong in our race,, and in some respects is a very desirable antidote to the depression of war-mind-edness, but surely when we hear daily of the suffering of others, pure pleasure seeking should give way to more humanitarian thoughts and the money expended on mere selfish indulgence diverted towards the relief of suffering and poverty.