A SHATTERED WORLD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5291, 25 June 1928, Page 3

A SHATTERED WORLD.

“ THINK UNIVERSALLY.” AN INTERESTING ADDRESS. Tlia.t the world of to-day is in such a shattered condition that it really needs rebuilding was the opinion expressed by Dr. W. C. Poole, Ph.D., D.D., during the course of an address on “The Place of Christian Education in the Making of a New World,” which was delivered at Wellington on Saturday. Dr. Poole, who is the president of the World’s Sunday School Association, and a very fine orator said that the wh'te race could not hold the coloured race by the superiority of arms alone, but by the superiority of ideals, and it was the superiority of ideals and not of arms that would make for world peace. A yellow finger could pull the trigger of a gun just as well as a white finger could, and a Chinese with practice could: be equally us deadly with a machine-gun a's a white man. In the British, Empire six out of every seven had a coloured face. “You cannot blame them for their face,” went on the speaker, “for 'they did not ask to be fyi the Empire. A hint was thrown out, however, and they made a grateful response to it, and are here.” In the rebuilding of the world,' lie said, it was useless thinking only in local terms, but in terms universal. It was yno good; people thinking in terms only of Wellington, or Aucland, or Christchurch, or Dunedin, or any other pla,ce, but in terms of the Whole world. It might perhaps seem hard to do, but it could and should be doe. One of the benefits ‘of being so far away from the world tip New Zealand or Australia was that we did not know of the condition of the world as those who. were hearer to the centre of it knew. No matter what our personal opinion of Russia was, for instance, Russia, was such a big part of Europe that no stability could: be effected in Europe until there was stability in Russia. Thir did not mean condoning the theory of Russian, Government, but it meant that 163,000,000 human beings in Russia were capable of responsive appeal to the Gospel. Touching on China, Dr, Poole s.aid that its population was one-fourth of the human race. That being so, we would have to think about' China, although some would say that it did not matter. During the next twenty-five years the policy China, adopted would possibly ha.ve an untold effect on humanity for years to come. The world should live in the,, atmosphere of Christ, and would; have to do so if it were to be rebuilt. It was no good nations defying nations and depending bn their power, but they would have to give way to each other in understanding. The children would have to be taught the Spirit of Christ, and the Sunday-School teachers would have to try and instil that spirit in them. “We have had a way of teaching in the Sunday schools, for the last fifty years,” he said, but what has it resulted in ? I am not blaming the Sunday-school teachers for this, but the effect of the war and of other things , seems to have put us out of alignment.” Dr. Poole stated' that it was no good a man saying a thing on Sunday that he went against on Monday.