WAR AND NATIONALITY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2417, 24 March 1915, Page 6

WAR AND NATIONALITY

ADDRESS BY BISHOP SPROTT. At Monday night's meeting of the Wellington branch of the Social Democratic Party, in ( the Espeianto Hall, Lambton Quay, Bishop Swott delivered an address on "War and Nationality." The Bishop spoke for half an hour, after which there was a general discussion, terminated by the Bishop replying to various points raised by those who participated.

The Bishop said that he did not deal with the question from the standpoint of a politician nor a political economist. Nationality was something more than the mere grouping together of people within certain boundaries for the purpose of government. It could not be stamped out. Each nation must find expression for the peculiar genius given to it by the Creator. Only thus could God's ultimate scheme of the brotherhood of man be worked out. The his> tory of all tho great Empires of antiquity showed that they had failed to grasp this fact, and had endeavoured to build up their own greatness_ by crushing the nationality of the different countries they conquered. They had attempted an impossible task, and each one of them, Rome, Greece, Egypt, Assyria, had perished. Rightly understood, nationalism did not mean antagonism to other nations. If the success of any one nation meant the injuring of other nations, whether in the matter of trade and commerce, or otherwise, then there would be no abolition of war. But that was not . so. TTiey were nil members of the one human family, v with interests interdependent. Very "few wars in the whole history of the world had been fought for a noble purpose. But in the present war there could be no doubt that the violation of Belgium was a- crime against the smaller nations. Unless the spirit of Christ animated the nations all schemes to abolish war by arbitration were of no avail. Nations mustbe considered to be as, responsible as individuals for their actions. Indeed, the.v could not escape the consequences of their actions. He thought that even now Britain was to some extent paying for its mistake in bolste;ing up Turkey in the nast. The Bishop was cordially thanked for his address.