The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1919 THE FRUITS OF PEACE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 8, Issue 488, 8 July 1919, Page 2

The Times. PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY AND FRIDAY AFTERNOONS.

TUESDAY, JULY 8, 1919 THE FRUITS OF PEACE.

''We nothing extenuate, nor let down auoht in malice. 1 '

There Is a tendency now the more than four years of terrific conflict is over, and life is moving along in much the same old way, to ask what benefits will accrue to us during peace, apart from the cessation of bloodshed, the safety of loved ones, the relief from suspense and mental anxiety, and the stopping of the outpouring of material treasure for mutually destructive purposes. Being of a general, diffusive nature, though steadily accumulating, the blessings of Peace may wrongly be accepted as endowments that would have materialized had the war-clouds not burst with all their thunder and fury upon the world. It is well, therefore, to get a mental picture of the probable future of humanity as affected by the war, and to be enjoyed during the glorious Peace which now sheds its refulgent rays across the hemispheres. To our sorrow, we know that many thousands of hopeful young lives were cut short on the threshold of promising careers, while bereaved ones mourn for losses that cannot be repaired on this side of the Vale. And among those lost legions of wealth-producers were men and women of brilliant attainments, builders of the delicate superstructure of civilization. They have gone for ever, but, inspired by their noble example, humanity may now continue with the great and ennobling task of completing the edifice, the building of which was rudely and wantonly interrupted. We send our children to primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities, in order that they may be the better equipped for the battle of iife, and to make the world a better, a grander place of liabitatation. Had the war not been fought, an " armed peace would still be the order of the day, and we would be subject to th,e very tangible fear that all this teaching, skill, enterprise, and ambition—to say nothing of the family and social ties -would be likely, at any moment, to be required as a sacrifice to Moloch, the god of war ! But now. thanks to the thrilling fact thai we have been true to our blood and the noble traditions and glorious heritage handed down to us by our great forbears, we can count on a generous measure of these attainments being utilised in the service of mankind. Passing through the Panama Canal, the material loss sustained by war is brought vividly to one's mind. That

monumental masterpiece of engineering skill could be built l M times over for the cost of the war ! To give another illustration, the money spent on tile war was .-.udicienl to pay for the con struction of two, railways, each of a length suflicieni to encircle the alone ' In these days, when States undertake works of great magnitude, there is no limit to the material advantages that may be conferred on the world during the next half century, relieved, as we shall be, of the excessive burden of armaments. Rising to the mental plane, one may say the war has taught us that the race is not won in these days by th* swift and the strong, in tin- original sense ot the terms, but b\ the highly trained and

educated ones. We shall see such developments in democratic education as the world never witnessed before. The time is coming when every child, rich and ponr alike, will have the opportunity and the means of acquiring the finest education to be obtained, from the primary sohools to the universities, that he or she is desirous of, or is capable of assimilating. This splendid achievement will, we may venture to assert, be greatly quickened as a direct result of the successful peace vouchsafed us.

Touching on patriotism, one may safely say that the travelling of so many of our young men in different lauds has had two markedly good results. In the first place, it has rid their minds of any narrow notions that they may have possessed about superior virtues and attainments, by teaching them that humanity is much the same the world over, possessing similar loves and hates, accomplishments and ambitions. Secondly, the exile from home has learned that love of one's country is not merely the vapourings of jingoists, but a worthy, all-oervading sentiment in any healthy-minded community. Poor old Tom Bracken's phrase, " God's Own Country," has been the butt of much callous ridicule, but many a returned soldier is not ashamed to say that absence from this Dominion has shewn him the genuine worth of the luminous love of one's own country, as epitomised in the poet's endearing tribute. We can now understand why the sweet songster of New Zealand wrote—

" 0. the mountains of New ZealandWild and rugged though they be ; The) are types of highest manhood : Landmarks of a nation free ! " Among the blessings of Peace, we may now count an appreciation of the sentiment that, to a true New Zealander, New Zealand Is indeed " God's Own Country." And the people of other parts of our far-flung Empire will doubtless have a similar feeling towards the respective countries of their birth. Reasoning on these lines, and inspired by worthy sentiments, we may rest assured that the Peace which has been bestowed upon us will witness splendid material, mental, moral, and spiritual develepiuents, giving more equitable conditions of living, and greatly increased happiness for all mankind.