Darlings and Danegeld

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 27, 16 February 1937, Page 7

Darlings and Danegeld

AtrUK.

(To tho Editor) Sir, — Probably most of us in jbhia country feef that Nazi Germany is a good piaoe to live out of,_ and. mothers of only sons will be spepially thankful New Zeaiand is their home, and »o,t the land of Her Hitler, whep they read in Priday's Herald-Tribune Qf tlie fate that overfook a fifteen-year-old lad "brought up by a mother, grandrnother and aunt.'1 And yet thoge of us who have had th© misfortune to coihe in contact .with such ' 'mothers,darlmg81, — usuaily an ohly son brought up jn 9 family of daughters and now grovrn into an insufferable boumler— cannot help feeling that it would not be an altogether bad thing if such unfortu* nates could be removed in good time from such effeminate and enerv&ting surroundings that have such unpleasant consequences on their characters. Personally, the writer has long been of the opinion that boys over seven years of age, should never be taught by women, and if he were a didtator he wpuld issue a decree to that bffect ; and another one, prohibiting maiden aunts from choosing books for their nophovvs— the outoome of bittet memoriea of ' 'Sandiord and Merton," and similar atrobitiea beloyfed of such relatious But to turn to more serious miatters. We are told, of a suggestbd. loan of many millions to Germany in order to dfvert "the Nazi Governmeht from the path of war, ahd jn saving Getmany from threateued starvation." If jt be true that Getmany i« threateued with starvation, that is entirely due to her mad and unjustihable expendttute on armameuts instead of provisiong aud means of production^ As for ihe hope of "diverting the Nazi Government from the path of war," it will bp found in the long run, that this loan will have had about as mqch effect in bringing about tbis'ren sult, as did the paying of Danegeld to the Yikings of the 9th and 10th centuries prevent their raids. Have we l'eally gone to the methods of the weakling Ethelred, and are preparing to buy off an aggressor, rather ' than buckle on our armour and resist him? Have we not yet learnt that yielding to tbreats can never bring permanent peace to passP Italy's aggression in Abyssinia was brought t° a successful issue by that country, simply and solely because of the dread of ' wh'at might happen if she .were activdly thwarted in her designs. Has that pussillanimity on the part of those who ought to have reslsted her brought peace to the world p We are told on the highest authority that the "fear ef man. briugeth a snare".. Not till we have learnt that the fear of a. nation alsq ^briugeth 0 snare" and resolve to do our duty ajid to let it be known- that we will use every possible meanB to ptoteot the backward races committed to our charge, rather than hand them aver to a Power that would exploit., drill and dragoon them for its own selfish interests and will ueither part with a yard of territory, nor lend money that might b© used in the furtherance of that country 's nefarious designs, ean there be any hope of a lasting peace. But iet us remember that only "the strong man armed" can keep his goods and so remembering let Us arm.—Yourg, etc..

Waipawa, Eebruary 12, 1937, .