PUBLIC OPINION

Hokitika Guardian, 1 July 1926, Page 4

PUBLIC OPINION

THE LIMITATIONS OF COMPETITION. “Tlie main flaw in the nationalisation of industry lies in human nature itself; take, away the essential necessity to struggle far a livelihood in competition with others, and man degenerates at once, having none of the primeval inceptive to work. But if our present system of private enterprise is to justify its continuance,' it is surely the greatest mistake to go to the very opposite extreme, and leave a man with no other incentive at all to work except the essential necessity to struggle for his livelihood. Yet; that is what it amounts to if the. individual worker is not given some sort of stake in the. enteiqiri.se in which he is assisting.”— Lord Invernairn in “Unity.”

THE DANG El! OF ARMAMENTS. “So long as the! States of the world arm with a view t,o war. pursue policies which can only he fulfilled by war, make alliances in expectation of war, conduct their relations in secret because of war, for so long war will co'.r.e, until war shall end mankind, and for so long will every object, which gave a reason wily Stales should exist, the prosperity of the mass of the people, the pursuit of knowledge, tlie practice of art, the cult of human relations, lie sacrificed to that Moloch, who offers in return nothing hut the prospect ol sacrificing again.”—G. I .owes Dickinson, in “Tlie International Anarchy.”

THE TASK OF ITALY. “Nv system which lives by purging tie nation of its most enlightened and moderate-minded citizens, and which makes tlie Press and trade union—indeed, every individual and collective expression of free citizenship—the slave of a ruthless regime, with a romantic and vain-glorious military dictator at its head, can justify itself in Hie mind of a nation founded, like ours, on personal liberty arid representative institutions. .Mussolini created that system with more direct responsibility than Lenin founded the Soviet system. 3 he fact that he may lip personally brave, hr dramatically light-hearted, under the dingers he invites, is no excuse for hero worship. We 'must leave the Italian nation to work- out its own salvation.”—“Westminster Gazette.”

SPEED—THE DEITY. “Man, presumably, lias a soul; suid from time immemorial flic wise hare agreedythat the soul of liiari needs the benign dews of quiet contemplation. If they are right, then the automobile age is likely to ho a. sterile one in things of the spirit. We are too much iij the modern swim to pass judgment in so fundamental a debate; but some Gibbon of the future no doubt will be able to see reactions between speed and religioh, speed >nnd art, speed and polities, to which we are at present blinded. Possibly he will speak of this century ns one in which small men bowed down before great inventions and ponderous statistics drew more praise than The light that never was, on sea or land : The consecration, and the Poet s dream.”—“The Independent.”

THE DEMOCRACY OF EFFICIENCY “You can he Efficient at home as well as in business ; it pays as well as in work. Efficiency knows no class. It thrives in corduroys as well as in silks. Efficiency draws no distinction between cottage and palace, between the workshop and the millionaire’s office. All it needs is to ho encouraged with the waters of effort, concentration. ’industry, and honesty of purpose. The plodder in his way can be as Efficient as the speeder-up; sometimes even more so. Efficiency studies conscientiously, profits from the mistakes of the past, utilises every hour for the betterment of the next, and drives Discourgaement to the wall. The Efficient man or woman looks the world in the face with confidence and hope, and without knowing it puts the world under obligations.”—The “Daily Express.”

A CRTTIC OF BRITISH COAL METHODS. “Coal is mined under such mediaeval conditions that the addition of more machinery to our national workshop would benefit the entire community. It would he difficult to imagine a greater outcry than that produced by the introduction of mechanical cotton spin iling. hut can it be denied that it has improved the conditions under which this industry operates? Nothing can he expected from progress while wo pick little pieces of coal out of the ground, double its price, carry it in trucks, double its price again, and tlieii add more charges before we finally burn it in a most watseful manner and spend hours cleaning up after the mess we have made.”—Professor A. M. Low in tbe “Evening Standard.”

CIVILISATION ANT) WAR. “So long as nations are rated .as Powers, and engaged in securing for sections of tbeir peoples trade, terri-

tory, 'anil dominion, without regard to tlio rights, wishes and interests of j other Powers and peoples, by diplo- | matic add other pressures Ultimately resting upon force, there bail he no security for civilisation. Tlio scale upon which force can lie exerted in modern war is a new ail'd terrible fact in history, for it presents no limit to the area of devastation. Few people have learned the lesson of the Great War, because they have from prejudice or mental sluggishness, refused to learn the vital truths about its origin. It is no question of shifting the limelight of guilt on to this or that group of statesmen or militarists, or of finding Some single local source of trouble. Proximate causes are almost negligible for tlieir number. Agadir, Sarajevo, and the: other ‘crises’ wore but symptoms of a disease which was gathering force so fast that it must find 'an early cutlet.”—“J.A.ll.” in the “.Manchester Guardian” review of “The International Anarchy” (G. Lowes Dickinson).

Til 10 WORLD OF TO-MORROW. “Those who are vet in their twenties or under will witness in the next few decades the full transformation that those starting the forces to bring it ■about cannot themselves hope to see. It is certain that the smokeless civilisation is coming. It is probable for many reasons that the moral atmosphere will become clearer like the physical. 'Die pressure of common necessity ns it makes for international peace is making in another way for a saner and more stable adjustment of social relations. Every competent thinker knows that tlio resources of modern science and the modern facilities for better organisation give us the power to double the total wealth of the country and the average prosperity of the people.”—J. L. Garvin, in the “Observer.”

THE CROSS IX THE PULI’IT. “It is to be feared that modern preaching fails to give that primacy to tlio Cross which it has in the New Testament and has had in every time of revival in Christendom. The Christian teacher to-day has become too self-((tiiscious or too much occupied with presenting his message in terms which will placate men’s prejudices or comply with their theories. This is not the Apostolic method. The Cross must bo hold up before all men. It inns bo set up that all may see it. The vigour e.f Christianity depends on its bold presentation to the world.”—A correspondent of the London “Times.”

LTVE AND FAITH. “We are called to live well, and we live well if we sfii-ve others good and leave them a better chance ol godliness; hut they are not necessarily bellied l y the fortunes we bequeath to them. Life could not possibly continue without sacrifices, and even religion is not possible without them. Learn to keep your secrets. If you share them you lose them. Don’t talk much about your religion to your dear aiid close relatives. They know just where you are in that matter. Worry—which is more than, carefulness—disturbs, distracts, disorganises, disqualifies, liecause it affects the evenness of the temper, and is always unbecoming for Christians. No man need lose his soul, and happily a man may make the best of this world and the world to come”. —From “Tonies for the Times,” hv Mr William Aaron.