A FALSE PHILOSOPHY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 614, 19 August 1933, Page 4

A FALSE PHILOSOPHY

Sir Herbert Samuel, speaking at the convention of the In- i stitute of Pacihc Relations emphasised a great world truth when he said: "The world is learning that the philosophy of war and conflict is wrong; that each country prospers best in a ! prosperous world; that civilisa- j tion is too materialistic and that i the eeonomic side of life tends j to dominate the whole." In a world groaning under j burdens which wars and con- j flicts have imposed upon it, it might be thought that the truth ! would not require emphasis. But | the impulse to conflict is very j deeply implanted in human na- j ture and there are disquieting indications on every hand that the lesson of the grim years between 1914 and 1918 has not yet been learned. The Disarmament Conference, with the World Eeonomic Conference, has lapsed into futility and already there is talk of a renewal of-the arma- I ments race on land, air and water. It has become the fashion to decry the idealists and to bow the knee to the practical men who have so long directed world affairs. That is a sign of the materialistic world and it is one of the reasons why the world is materialistic. But these blunt practical men have not, when all is said and done, met with any conspicuous* measure of ; success. What few advances have been made have been made on the leadership of men who have had the idealism to be a little more far-seeing than their fellows. It is only by the leadershipc.of enlightened men, of men who have sufficient idealism to temper the practical, that the world can ever emerge from the fog of doubt and bewilderment in which it is labouring. Mere lip-service is not sufficient but personal example and sincerity of purpose among the world's leaders must inevitably in the end, counteract this false philosophy of war and conflict.