The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1920. REAL AND SHAM DEMOCRACY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 245, 10 July 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1920. REAL AND SHAM DEMOCRACY

• .. , ■■; -. -:. . ~ .- ■•• 1 Ar all" times in the life of-a dc- | mocracy there : .is need;/of' sincere 'j counsel ; by-'."th"ose : ;;whb,. standing | apart. from-, .'the '/hurly-burly . of , everyday affairs, are. able to take long-views and weigh the most critical issues ' of national life/ with. calmly dispassionate' ■ judgment. Counsel' from' this standpoint,".is. of . priceless value in times, of trouble i and unrest because it is/above all at'such times-that sham friends of democracy', seek an easy road to popularity' by inflaming discontent and trading upon conditions. they do not know how to-remedy or are not honestly ; intent on ■ remedying. I The past_ week' produced two_ utter'anccs which are noteworthy in this connection—one. of them'. an address by Bishop'Speott to the Anglican Diocesan Synod, and the | other- an appeal to the same body by : General Sir 'Andrew -Russell, in his capacity as. president of the National Defence League—an appeal largely madexpossible by the I fact, that ! the; problem of national i defence"is inseparable from that of good' citizenship. ._ "While he'was concerned primarily with, the influence, of the war upon religious faith and belief, Bishop Sprott dealt in arresting terms with the problems' of social life' and develop? mont. The great point he made was that the social, discords which the material- effects and emotional stress of the war have done so much to' 1 accentuate are 'due fundament- . ally to a false and limited concep-. tion' of human v life and [relation--ships. .No thinking-man or woman can doubt that the whole future of society in this-or- any other country depends upon the ability :;of.its'.'hiemhers to subordinate;selfregarding. s .instincts- arid motives and tb 'develop, a sound apprecia,tion of social, responsibilities. It surely ought to be apparent that ' if society is to endure, much less enjoy'the internal- unity which allows of'healthy growth, its _ members must, act with a recognition of far-reaching, mutual; responsibilities. Yet as affairs are 1 shaping in the Dominion this root -condition of national -welfare is /oh all.'sides being flouted, or ignored, and.no--where .more, obviously, than in. the passion-laden -atmosphere of. party politico : The campaign _ of the National Defenee League is evidently to be classed with the influences which make-for-the reversal; of what is at fault in the existing■-state and trend of popular feeling. Tho central aim of.' the League is to induce the citizens of the Dominion to -make that-.provision for dofence which is -essential to national ■; security. Very General Russell and those associated with him ■are... doing everything in ■ their power -to- inculcate sound principles of- citizenship and are; insisting/that education, in citizenship must'go hand in hand with defence training... They - are thus strengthening the- onlv foundation upon-which a stable.defence scheme can be erected, As a' matter of fact the outlook and qualities which . wilL enable, the citizens of the Do: minion, to make provision for the defence:of .their country are those which are needed in order that all the complex problems.of social organisation which now seem almost to defy solution may be solved. In his appeal for the development by education ;and in other ways of a spirit of enlightened self-interest' (as distinct . from' blind self-seeking) and for national service marked if need by an olement. of personal sacrifice-. Sir-Andrew Russell is avowedly and quite justly intent on the solution- : of'social" problems in general and not merely the _ specific problem of- defence. He is clearly right in assuming that the spirit which will safeguard' tho Doniihion against'external attack is precisely that which will enable its people ( to, grapple to the best . effect with domestic prob- ■ Icms 'of social organisation | and adjustment. So 'directed, the campaign of the ■ League promises, to contribute in. an effective degree, to. the .-, re-ostablrshment of sound'-conceptions of citizenship in the broadest sense of the term. Tt may he,.that the' assertion '"of ab-stract-truths, however vitally they . bear on social: welfare, is undertaken : at,:,a .considerable- disadvant- , age in competition with-the astute appeals to popular passion and prei i'udice that'are..how so common, but it is'.'so much the more' necessary' on- that;account -that the cara- ' paign of enlightenment and education- should be pressed with unfaltcring'eiithusiasin.' In the end'truth ' ,is bound,to/prevail. .Nothing will ever alter or- -modify- the fact that action based on a broad conception of citizenship and the obligations it entails is 'alone-effective, in remedying soci'rfl injustice and.promot- , ing healthy, _, national growth. On , the other hand the false doctrines . of popularity hunters and anti-na-r tional extremists wither and are • discredited as they reach the point 1-, of explicit exnrossiqn. Even a f K Aliis stage in what is perhaps des- '. tined.to.be a long,struggle in this country against sinister forces of disruption it is 'particularly obvious that the renresentatives of such, views, in Parliament and ; elw>.r' where are notably shy of explicitly ■j' stating their actual aims. They talk S. glibly .of their dc'siro to eliminate

this or that feature of the existing social order, but as a rule abstain carefully from saying in clear and intelligible terms what they would substitute if they had their way.