SHARKS—AND U BOATS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 229, 24 November 1916, Page 6 (Supplement)

SHARKS—AND U BOATS.

THE HELLISH USE MAN MAKEn OF HIS KNOWLEDGE. By THE REV. R. J. CAMPBELL. Mark Twain was once sitting having a cup of coffee with a friend, a minister of religion. Coffee is much more appreciated in the United States than it is in England, perhaps because people know better how to make "Ah," said Mark's companion after r ■deep draught, "I have thoroughly enjoyed that; what would the human race be without coffee?" "God knows," growled the humori*t in response. " Look at the hellish race it is with coffee." Mark was a pessimist in regard to human nature, as is well known, and js humorists in general are often said ta be. His opinion of his kind was not complimentary at any time, and other distinguished persons have shared r t "The more I know of humanity," said a certain philosopher, "the more I respect my dog." To csrll a man a dog is supposed to be an insult —still moiv to call him an ass or a pig. But, as a matter of fact, a dog possesses noble qualities not too common in human beings, such as magnanimity and faithfulness. An ass is really a sagacious animal, more so than most horses. And, so far from being filthy and abominable, a pig is naturally cleanly if we give him a chance. If any pig-awner disbelieves this 'et him put it to the test. He will find that his pig appreciates being washed and given clean straw and a sweetsmelling aibode quite as much as we enjoy the refinements of life, perhaps more. And lie will grow a bigger pig, too, if lie lias these advantages. But to stick to Mark Twain for the moment, I should say that the present condition of civilised society lends much justification of this indictment. What a hellish race indeed we seem to be! Never before has war been waged on such a scale of destructivcness. Within the last generation we have extended our power over nature immeasurably. Science has succeeded M working miracles that would make our forefathers gasp with amazement. WHY THIS WAR IS THE WORST OF ALL. Nothing ever recorded in the wonder tales of old is more wondierful than what is now familiar fact. What woudl Homer say to guns that f-ould throw a missile twenty miles? Did anything in the siege of Troy equal that? What would Jason and his Argonauts think of supor-dreadnoughts Knd submarines? Did Hermes, the (ringed messenger of the gods, ever flash his tidings so fast and far as trne telegraph without wires which has Vouglit thrilling stories to our breakfast tables? Did Zeus, the.King c'i the Immortals, ever hurl a thunderbolt from his throne on Olympus half as deadly as a Zeppelin bom'b? Truly the old fables ore outdone by present day actualities. With all these marvels and a thou* and more we have had it in our power to make the world an abode of delight, to get rid of al poverty and misery and nearly all physical suffering. What are we doing instead? We are using these same forces to destroy each other with and fill the world with woe. The very reason why this war is so much worse than any previous war, so much mora prolific Iv. wounds and death, is simply that civilised man has gained so much move materially than he has morally. There has been no moral advance at all commensurate with our material progress.

A distinguished member of the British Association lias sadd that to account for- man's superiority in the struggle for existence over ail other animals it is necessary to remember that no living creature had ever been able to vie with him in destructivenes«.

Man was the most murderous of nil beasts. Everything else had had to give way before him because of this. The fearful monsters of pre-historic times were not in it with him for sheer lust cf blood, sheer joy of killing. The shark and the man-eating tiger •are poor imitators to-day. What can a shark do compared with a U-boat? Where is a tiger when it comes to poison gas or machine-guns? Really, on tlft 1 face of things Mark Twain is right . We are a hellish race and no mistake. We have all the means to happiness, lint apparently the wMI to list? them for devilry. ANGEL OR FIEND? An old question then, which is being forced upon us anew by the war, is this: Which is fundamental to human nature, good or bad? Which is the true man. the god or the brute, angel or fiend? Taken on the whole, is the stuff of which our souls a.ro made good in tendency'or is it evil? Well, in spite of everything, T still adhere to the belief that it is good. Things have got jangled somehow, but the basis of our nature is not evil. Perhaps it would be truer to say that the stuff of which we are made is neither good nor bad in the ordinary meaning of the terms. It becomes good or bad according to what we do with it. Evil is not a thing in itself; it is a misdirected good. There is 110 human faculty or propensity that is necessarily evil in itself. It is only evil if it finds hamful expression. EVILS OF SEX PASSION. Take vex passion, for example. It has caused as much mischief as tha war. and is doing it all the time. It :s constantly blasting homes and lives. And yet—here is the thing I set out to say —this very passion is the root of nearly everything great and nob'o in family and socinl relations. If it could be eliminated you would at the same t'ime destroy pretty well all the brightness and beauty of life. Tt is the root of most of the poetry, art. and much of the religion and etlii.s .>f our time and all time. Our noblest virtues iire built 011 it. Our sweetest joys derive from it or assume it. T1 10 mightiest- passion of our com(i'ex human nature, it is ;it the same time the greatest in its spiritual possibilities. It (an lift us no to heaven. f| ■ ail dash down to hell. R. -1. CAMPBELL. THOUGHTFUL OF TIIM. He (desperately! : "Tell me the truth. I- it not my poverty that stands Jii'hveen us o '' She (sadly) : "Y-e-s." He (with a ray of hope): "T .•idmi f ihat- 1 'iiii poor, and -o, unfortunately, is my father: but I have nil n"od unvT'* who is verv rich, and a bachelor. H< is au invalid 'ind cannot long survive.'' Sfie (delighted): "IT'>w kind nn.T thoughtful von ;iro! W.dl you introduce me to him?''