STATE OF THE WORLD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20077, 25 October 1939, Page 11

STATE OF THE WORLD

! “DRIFTING TO ANARCHY?" | HIGH SCHOOL DEBATERS ! PRAISE BY ROTARIANS j “Is the World Drifting Towards ! Anarchy?” was the subject of a dej bate prepared by students of the Gisborne High School and heard to-day at the weekly luncheon of the Gis- : borne Rotary Club. The chairman j was Rotarian J. Peach, and during I the debate his place was taken by I the debate chairman, Arthur Torrie. j The debaters were:—Affirmative. —F. I Bacon leader. Misses Gwen Cham-

i berlain and Merle Simpson. Negative, j —J. Robb, lea ler, D. Nelson, and Miss | Jovce Marshall.

A high tribute to the work of the i young debaters was paid by Rotarian JF. R. Ball, in according a vote of i thanks to them on behalf of his fcl- ; low-Rotarian:-. Careful preparation was shown, ~nd each speaker deliver- ■ ed the subject clearly ana logically.

! “While we have such young women I and men growing up to guide the j destinies of New Zealand we need | have no fear of the Dominion drifting ; towards a state of anarchy,” he conj eluded. Affirmative Side

Points that were iraised by the i affirmative side were that nations had ! lost sight of the state of peace and j that war had become inherent in the I relations between them. There was an | absolute denial of the brotherhood of j man in the number of treaties broken ) and promises forgotten. No security j could be guaranteed to the smaller I states because international law had j been swept aside. i An outline was given of the number j of treaties that had been broken since I 1931, and it was said that the list had : been greatly increased by the actions iof Germany. A new system of interI national organisation stronger than j the League of Nations was required. I Anarchy meant a complete disre- | gard for law and honour, and ever j since Herr Hitler came into power he i had shown a disregard for all those ; obligations. Out of the Great War arose want, hunger, dissatisfaction, i debt, and revolutions and those effects | would be felt even more severely after- | this war. Spain, Albania and China i were examples of what happened I when international law was forgotten. Negative Side i Speakers for the negative side of I the debate claimed that the world had i moved out of a state of anarchy, one ! that existed in primitive days, and | would not revert back. It was agreed ! that the Great War was a retrograde | step, but that conditions again imj proved with the formation of the i League of Nations. All mans luxuiies | were the result of peace and good 1 government and man would not throw ! away that which has taken, him years ' to build up.

! To dictators and outsiders such as ! Herr Hitler Great Britain seemed to i be much divided, but war had linked all the colonies together to light with the Motherland. In normal times the Empire seemed to be breaking up, disputes with England being carried i on in varying degrees by New Zea- ! land, Australia, South Africa, Canada, i and India. In tiine of trouble they i had not been long in offering all their ! support, showing that beneath all they I were firmly united and not diifting j towards anarchy. Where there was a I law-breaker there was a law, and ; when Germany violated the law of ! international justice the action of the ! other countries in striving to assist ! Poland and uphold justice did not I savour of anarchy.

At this stage the leaders of the teams gave a careful summing up of the arguments and concluded the debate.