COMING UTOPIA

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 251, 14 June 1932, Page 8

COMING UTOPIA

DENMARK'S CULTURAL AND MATERIAL PROGRESS DESCRIBED. TRIBUTE TO COUNTRY. Under the heading "Half-way to ! Utopia," a travelling correspondent of : the Christian Science Monitor pays this tribute to Denmark: Denmark seems to be a remnant, a residue. It appears to eonsist of what has been salvaged. But this would be a superficial impression, for Denmark right n'ow is. in its prime. Never has it been as truly great as at present. Never has its fame been so far-flung, its name esteemed in so many cireles, and its achievements so widely admired as to-day. Denmark has become an inspiration to millions of distant people who never heard of its ancient prowess. And that, because Denmark has uncovered secrets which multitudes of distraught human beings have long been seeking, and has solved problems which still trouble most nations. Among powerful factors in the advance of Denmark has been a revival of Danish history, of Danish song, Danish folk lore, the native Danish language. The valiant, gifted apostles who during the last century devoted all their energies to leading Denmark forward, as in a crusade, were burning patriots. But they expressed their love of country and their love for their nation in a long, self-sacrificing struggle to enable all the people to live better. Patriotism was a vital love for Danes, freed from enmity toward any other nation, and this warm love, wisely exercised, has wrought great improvements. Live on Land. The most remarkable of them is the manifold elevation of the peasant. About half the people in Denmark live on the land and a large number are engaged in industries which depend on the land. These people have learned to produce wealth, to live in peace and order, to rejoice in the beautiful. ■ Denmarks peasants are certainly - among the worlds most advanced and even cultured tillers of the soil. And that is not because they have a rich land. In fact, their country contains no mines, no great natural forests, or extensive • sourees of water power. It is flat and swampy, with thin soil; it is a cluster of islands and a peninsula just peeping up above the surface of the sea and often swept by waves of sterile sand. For centuries thousands of acres lay idle and one could walk for miles over dunes, through brush lands and across swamps without seeing a house or field. But by drainage, afforestation, scientific farming and co-operative toil, all this has been completely changed. And almost wholly by the peasants themselves. Intelligent Farmers. Denmark is now a fruitful, verdant, well-tilled, flower-covered land. Intelligent, experieneed farmers now control politics, market their own produce, even in distant ports; provide themselves with credit; supply themselves with whatever they need from abroad; work over into finished products their own milk, cream, vegetables and meat; and maintain scores of professional and purely cultural schools. Their chief aim is decidedly not to raise better hogs, but througli better hogs to live fuller, happier lives. They have established effective, farsighted democracy. They do not hesitate to undertake land-redeeming projects requiring thirty years for realisation. They are both tolerant and religious; progressive, yet with a deep regard for order and for the past; markedly practical, yet given to attending adult cultural schools which teach abstract subjects and issue no diplomas; are very jealous for peasant rights, yet live at peace with the cities.