The Dominion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1919. PESSIMISTS AND THE FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 114, 7 February 1919, Page 4

The Dominion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1919. PESSIMISTS AND THE FUTURE

The difficulty which the Peace Conference is experiencing in arriving at a, just and stable settlement, the alarming prevalence of anarchy in Eastern Europe, and the industrial unrest in , Britain and elsewhere are making many people pessimistic regarding the world's future. , While the war was in progress there was a general feeling that the overthrow of German militarism was. all that was needed to ensure the peace, prosperity, and contentment of the human race. Victory was then regarded as the one great thing required, and when the armistice was announced it was felt that the world's troubles were practically over. It is not surprising that people who took this optimistic view are disappointed with the existing situation. Their irrational optimism has been followed; by an. equally irrational pessimism. Those who know more about the ways of men and of nations never imagined that the task of reconstruction was going to be an easy one. There has been a lot of glib talk about the fora League of Nations to maintain the peace of the world, but students of history know how many and great are the obstacles which block progress along that road, No good purpose can be served by shuttingour eyes to adverse facts. The making of new world conditions requires patience, perseverance, time, and far-seeing statesmanship. Any structure that is not built on the rock of sound knowledge and impartial justice will topple over when the next storm comes. The Conference will fail if it attempts to Qdevise an ideal settlement for An ideal world. It should endeavour to make the best possible settlement in the circumstances for the world as it actually is.

■The existing situation and outlook admittedly afford ground for anxiety, but not for pessimism. A year ago the pessimists were telling us that it was vain to expect to overthrow our enemies; a drawn war was, the best they could hope for. During the course of the war fainthearted folk almost lost faith in the moral government of the universe. But the moral law has now been vindicated with irresistible power and dramatic iinpressiveness.. The world has been made to feel that good is more powerful and more stable than evil, and that nations as well as individuals have sooner or later to pay_ the penalty of wrongdoing. It is, however, foolish .to expect that because .Germany has been beaten the world is going to jump right into the millennium. Human evolution is usually a slow process, but it has its critical points ,when the pace becomes quickened and great advances are made with unusual rapidity. The occasional leaps and*T)oiin_ds in ovolution are called by scientists "discontinuous variations," or "mutations." The world is now witnessing one of these brusque changes in human history. The social structure is passing i "with seeming abruptness from one position of equilibrium to another." The war has closed one era and opened another, and the character of the' new era depends largely upon tho decisions of the Peace Conference and the manner in which the nations of the world meet the universal demand for improved social conditions. The next few weeks will show whether the Conference will\ gather the fruits of victory or scatter them. During the war the peoples of the free nations surmounted almost insuperable obstacles in order to save civilisation. It is unimaginable that they will now destroy what they sacrificed so much blood and treasure to preserve.