THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 257, 29 July 1942, Page 4

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

Comments—Reflections

A tyrant’s crimes and infamies recoil as a penalty on himself. Profoundly true,,was the saying of the greatest teacher of wisdom (Socrates), that, could the minds of tyrants be laid bare, we should see there gashes and wounds; for, just as the tody is torn by scourging, so is the spirit by brutality, malice and evil thoughts.—Tacitus: ’’Annals.”

"Laval’s plans, however cunningly laid, will fail if the mass of the French people and of the French forces decline to be tricked into Hitler’s service. And we can hardly doubt that they will decline if they realize what is afoot. The surest way to counter Laval’s schemings is to expose them, to warn all Frenchmen how and to what vile end he is seeking to delude them. France —the real France —can defeat Laval. But France needs our help in a political struggle that is as important as a military campaign. Let there be no hesitation, no delay, no half-heart-edness in our actions.” —‘‘Daily Herald,” London.

‘‘What this war is really about is the nature and destiny of man. If man is no more than an episode in the stream of biological evolution, and if each individual is, as it were, a bubble on that, stream, or again if the individual is only a cell in the social organism, then the nation and the State, as acting for ir, is entitled to claim his entire and absolute allegiance. From that view of man totalitarianism follows as an indivisible consequence. But if man is a child of God, destined for eternal fellowship with Him, and therein with all men who also are children in God’s family, then he has a status independent of any earthly community and any human authority, and the function of the State is to serve his welfare, not merely to claim his contribution to its rower.” —Dr. Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury.

“What is the value of a man?” is one of the questions answered by Dorsha Hayes in “The American Primer.” “A man’s share of work cannot determine his value,” the author goes on to say, “With continually increasing la-bour-saving inventions, a man’s work is reduced to an insignificant routine act. By machine reproduction an unskilled hand can turn out in quantity what once- only a skilled hand could make. The ability of men is not needed as it once was. Has man’s value, then, diminished? We cannot measure men by machine standards; we must think of men as men. A man’s whole value cannot be determined by his value to the machine. He must be considered as a man, as a bearer of the spirit, and all his human needs must be taken into account. The value of a man is that ho is a man, with all man’s capacity for suffering and for development.”

“Constant undernourishment of the population in France, as well as of the prisoners 'in Germany, endangers France's survival as a major European l ower. Even before the war the birth rate was falling steadily. In 1936 there were 41,000,000 Frenchmen. Statisticians reckoned that by 1980 France would have a population of only 29,000,000. Since the invasion by the Germans the biith rate has fallen by another 20 per cent., while the death rate has risen by about 25 per cent. During World War 1 experts maintained, France lost approximately ■10,000,000 persons. Today’s living conditions in France, and the fact that 1,500,000 Frenchmen are kept as war prisoners in Germany, will have a similar effect on the French nation. This is the real political issue raised by the food crisis. Any person familiar with Nazi literature knows fhat one of the objects of Germany’s European policy is to effect a considerable decrease in the French population. The disappearance of the French will afford the German ‘master race' new living space. By confiscation or purchase of foodstuffs in the occupied territories the Nazis not only make certain that the population is constantly at their mercy; by constant blackmail they not only exert new concessions, but they also pursue a systematic policy of annihilation toward all the nations in conquered Europe. They are thus preparing for the Grossrauin, where 100,000,000 to. 150,000,000 Germans shall live and prosper.—Egon Kaskeline, a French journalist, writing in the “Christian Science Monitor.”

“Japan began the war at the height ot her curve of power—Great Britain cud the United States, specially the latter, at the lowest point in that same curve. Japan could throw into action everything she had —aud this is as much as she ever will have. While it is true •hat Japan has been wearing herself out in China, she has not been using up those accoutrements of war that are effective for the kind of war she has been making against us. Sha had not had to use ships and planes and heavy artillery against the Chinese. The stores of the Heaviest arms and munitions she had been accumulating at least since 1939 were at her disposal. Be it remembered also that they were the accumulation of a long period, and that their replenishment will take not only au equally long, but a still longer jx-riod. Japan may have been winning In these last three months rich sources of raw materials, but to get the benefit cf them she must have a surplus of mechanical equipment and ot trained industrial manpower. Both of these she lacks, specially the latter. At the beginning time was in Japan s favour, but only at the beginning. Time soon became her most potent enemy. Japan may still lie able to dig In, but before long she will be in a state of siege. She will be besieged not In a single, concentrated, prepared position, but stretched out along thousands of miles. Then her enemies can choose the point of attack and concentrate at that point. Then Japan will have to scurry from all sides to meet attack, weakening herself everywhere to defend herself at the point of attack —as we have had to do in the last three months.” —Nathaniel Peffer, in “New York Times Magazine.” * # # The Minesweepers. Above the rocks, the lighthouse lamp of Freedom Still guides ihe trawler-sweepers of the sea. Who through tne weird notes of the rising tempest ’ Can hear the Morse beats of their “victory.” When heroes’ hearts are tuned to such a rhythm Lord Nelson's flagship seems to sail again. “England expects ...” still shines in living letters. For little boats where mines detile the Main. —Patricia Forster. Toronto, Canada.