PROFESSOR HUNTER AND ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 265, 29 July 1918, Page 6

PROFESSOR HUNTER AND ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION

,Sir—There are many vistas of hops opening as the progress of the world war is revealed to us year by year and day by day. That first an Austrian and then a German offensive should be held up, and rolled back upon themselves, may well be, as General Smuts thinks, "the beginning of the end." That the submarine losses for June, 1918, wero roughly but 50 per cent, of those for June, 1917, is cheerful reading.. That the Allied "Aery" is carrying its offensive over the actual frontiers of Germany is iu-y spiring. Indeed, were this an old-timo war the course of events might well seem to presage its close. A hundred years ago, even fifty vears ago, the smashing of an army or the sinking of a fleet was a harbinger of peace, the knock-out blow which was necessary before the re-estab-lishment of international ' harmony and good will could be brought ",hout. But more than (he fate of the combatant nations is' involved in the present struggle. Human society is in the melting pot, and the issues will be much move far-reaching than those which may results from mere victory, whether on land, on the sea, or in the air. The concise, and illuminating sketch of the Czechoslovak movement, as far as it has developed, in your issue to-day, affords att illustration of this. There have been called forth in Central Europe, by tho agency of (ho war. national aspirations which had been stifled for generations, if not. for centuries, by oppression and alien domination. This movement, if its objective ' be attained, will result in tiie rebirth of an ancient people. But that will bo only one, and but a comparatively trifling, outcome of Allied victory. Professor Hunter's lecture, as reported m the same issue, forecasts a . wider, deeper, and more important change than the. rebirth of many nations. It forecasts (ho rebirth of human society. Downtrodden under twenty centuries of the. individualistic regime, human society is such to-day in name alone. In reality it is a congeries of individuals huddled together by the necessities of existence, like a mass of maggots tn a lump of carrion. Or, if there exist in certain groups the elements of social organisation, it is that such groups may the b?tter set the battle in array against certain other groups. The Professor appeals for volunteers to man a sort of social forlorn hone, to form the nucleus of a party of social good will, to do their bit in the name of common sense to reestablish mankind as a community of brethrenrinstead of a pack of wolves.

After the war the workers .will _bo equipped with a wider franchise, wider education, and wider expectations than ever before. But there will also exist o stronger He of comradeship between man and man, brought about by the circumstances, by the mutual hardships and sacrifices,'and by the trials and the sufferings of war. It is upon this last that we, who. think with Professor Hunter, may and mnst build.

If, Sir, yon extend an invitation to any who try to fulfil "the duty of assisting in evolving an economic system that may prevent the dangerous inequalities of tho present system," to do <=o per medium of paper and ink. I shall hope, to take advantage of it in the near future as brieflv and concisely as possible.—T am, etc, • "H. M.. B. MARSHALL. Mangatainolvß, July 26.