The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, August 31, 1948. WAR OF IDEAS

Grey River Argus, 31 August 1948, Page 4

The Grey River Argus TUESDAY, August 31, 1948. WAR OF IDEAS

though it extends, the .conflict of ideas underlying the continued world crisis only attracts general public attention ■when a concrete critical event results from some totalitarian or other materialistic form of government. The conflict itself is one of ideas, which affect all particular issues. Though agreementat Moscow is feared still to be uncertain, there are conferences in Europe which put forward peace proposals, such as that of the World Congress of Churches and that of the so-called Warsaw Congress of Intellectuals. Hopes also are reported in the effort to form a union of Western European nations. It is obvious that mere politics and economics are inadequate either for such a union or for perpetuating peace. For even a union, nations must modify their idea of national autonomy, but a greater sacrifice is essential for peoples and individuals if the world crisis is to be eliminated. Europe was built up as a Christian civilisation, and •it is only by the same principles that the world can be restored to true peace and happiness. Berlin is meantime described as . a glorified cabbage patch as the inhabitants seek to maintain themselves against the effect of the blockade, whilst there is a split in the Communist camp as the Yugoslav dictator runs somehow counter to the Moscow dictator. There is a deep division regarding the use of the Danube River, while political strife is manifest in Greece and France. Certain East European countries chafe in the Communist harness, and there is still division in Italy. . The churches could become a unifying force, and insofar as they rely on moral suasion the intellectuals at Warsaw might exert some influence, but they appear to be as much at loggerheads intellectually and morally as their respective countries are politically.

It is now clear that war may result from more factors than trade. The conflict is now between faiths, the one Christian and the other materialistic, rather than philosophies. At Warsaw and at the World Churches conference alike it has been emphasised that the materialistic gospeTis a reaction from economic oppression, and in that sense has in its favour a religious fervour. It is not going to be countered by sentimentality nor competitive alternatives of an economic or political character. The answer is both distributive justice and a recognition of the soul of the individual. Where a materialistic system must inevitably fail is in alloting to the individual only the place of a mere cog in an economic machine. Western democracy must itself begin to live up to its claim that it gives genuine liberty to the individual, and to that exten. t must squelch the spirit of capitalism which would subvert every other consideration to that of the unlimited acquisition of wealth by mere individuals or groups. One of the new developments is the expectation that the monarchy and a liberal regime may return in Spain. It is inevitable that the country shall come into line with democracy, although the fact is plain that it has fared meantime far better economically than most other European countries since its civil war ended. American sentiment is for a democratic change, and after previously attempting to foster a party of a liberalistic type without success, the Americans now judge that an economic opening may occur so that supplies of finance or materials may induce the desired change. Dictation from outside has in this case had the opposite effect of that sought. Nor is the spectacle of France, with a crisis alike■ in politics and economics, one calculated to persuade people across the border. It is a worthy aim to seek the Union of Western Europe, hot for any aggression, but for regeneration, the example of which would exert an effect all over the Continent. It means

sacrifice. It also means faith. No people are to be written' off as inimical. What must be followed are the proven principles which guided Europe to its past leadership, the loss of which it risks in the measure that it loses faith, and ’compromises - with creeds which are materialistic, and which have been progressivelydisintegrating civilisation.