The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1920. THE PARALYSIS OF GOOD-WILL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 222, 14 June 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1920. THE PARALYSIS OF GOOD-WILL

Even as it is briefly reported today, the speech delivered by Mn. Lloyd George at a meeting of the Union of Welsh Independents stands out as a masterly presentation of the evils now threatening civilisation, and the vital need of a changed outlook. His appeal to the Christian Church to create an atmosphere in which reform will be possible and the perpetuation of evil impossible is strikingly emphasised in the declaration that great confusion and conflict of purpose are paralysing good-will in every land, and there is vivid truth and a powerful note of warning in bis concluding words:

The German elections showed a distracted people eplit into hopeless contending tactions, without any clear purpose, and with no ascendant voice of note. So far we had avoided that catastrophe in Britain; but it was spreading throughout'the world, and the churches alone could save tho people from the disasters which would ensile if anarchy of will and aim continued to spread.

The "record of tho war is evidence that the qualities to which tho British nation owes its greatness have not perished, but it would be foolish to pretend that in the aftermath of war these qualities are being displayed in such strength as would make it possible'to look forward in confident hope and faith. The present-aspect of affairs in the Dominions as well as in the Mother Country justifies only too well the warning Sin. Lloyd Geouge has uttered with such downright .emphasis. Happily, in all that bears on peaceful progress and- reconstruction, it is possible to institute comparisons immensely favourable to the Empire between it and the wardistracted European countries of which Germany is the most conspicuous example. It has to be recognised, however, that the difference is one of degree, and that cvbd in British countries confusion and ■conflict of purpose are paralysing good-will and to a disastrous extent impeding constructive-effort in the interests of the moral and material welfare of the nation.

In our own Dominion examples are afforded from day to day of the perverted outlook which must he amended if tho community is to enjoy in full measure that moral and material welfare which it should look forward to. The unity of will and purpose which enabled the country to put forth a worthy war effort has given place to a petulant assertion of sectional interests and demands and an apparent readiness on the part of one section after another to set the rest of the eommunityiiat defiance. In any period of abnormal and disturbed economic conditions there must be many detail adjustments, _ but the spectacle npw afforded in this country is that of a senseless game of grab in which it is becoming more and more the fashion to rely on violent threats. The infection of methods is not confined to sections of organised Labour as that term is commonly understood. Last week, for instance, a mass meeting of Otago teachers affirmed in a resolution that failing satisfaction of their demands they are ready to support their institute "in any measures" ■ it may think necessary. As the Minister of; Education.has observed in a temperate protest, the throat, of "direct action," which is presumably implied, will not assist him in his endeavours to better the conditions of the teaching profession. Tho duo support of State education in this country very obviously depends upon the ability of

its people to take and maintain a' national outlook, and teachers, of all people, might have been expected to realise that violent threats in support of sectional claims—irrespective of the _ merits of these claims—serve their chief purpose in assisting to destroy. such an outlook. The action of l the Otago tcachera was, of course,_ that of a minority of the' profession, but it stands out h,s an instructive and disturbing sign of the times. As much Is to be said of the "strong indignation" expressed by the Post ana Telegraph Officers' Conference at the' Government proposal that concessions to their branch of the Public- Service should be based-on those_ made to railway servants; and its> "absolute astonishment" at the suggestion that salary claims should be met by a bonus. At an outside view it seems that nothing could be fairer than to base all concessions to public servants on a common standard, and the justification for granting a bonus instead of an ordinary salary increase of

course is that in the event of a pronounced fall in the cost of living reason may appear for withdrawing tho bonus. Like the belli-

cose declaration of tho Otago teachers, the attitude of the Post and

Telegraph Conference reflects a, spirit which threatens to take complete possession of this country and seriously clouds its future. The community is showing an increasing tendency to fall apart in warring sections, each one of them violently pressing demands which evidently cannot all be satisfied. Here and elsewhere there is urgent need of the great effort by the leaders of moral thought for which Mr. Lloyd George has appealed—an effort to create an atmosphere in which reforms calculated to uplift and benefit the whole community might proceed auace. Tt must be recognised, however, that the most" powerful promptings in this direction will not of themselves produce the desired result. In nnj country, and most of all in a demo-' cratic country, spontaneous goodwill and mutual forbearance between the various elements of tho community are essential to moral and material welfare. In our own case, this implies amongst other things a readiness to recognise that in such conditions as erist at present it is impossible that the full aspirations of any section of the communitysfould at once he completely satisfied unless at the ' expense of the rest. Nothing tends more than the intemperate j assertion of sectional claims to paralyse the good-will which is the solo key to sound national progress.