CONSTRUCTION V. DESTRUCTION.

Taihape Daily Times, 21 August 1919, Page 4

CONSTRUCTION V. DESTRUCTION.

(To the Editor.) ’ —Could thou and I with fate conspire» To seize this sorry Scheme of things entire, How would we shatter it to bits and. then Remould it nearer to the heart.’s desire» ' —-OMAR.

Yes! and the first part: is so very easy of accomplishment Why the veriest simpleton could place his Watch on a, blacksmith’s anvil and with one blow of the sledge “shatter it to bits.,” But the second part, the re-construc-tion, demands qualities and a disposition of quite a different nature. Let‘, me give an illustration:—Russia had‘ a Watch——a poli_tica-llflwatch 1 mean;— it..was, not a good one, as we all know, but it yvasvlone. _Sl_le bad managed to put anew nlain—spring intoit —the Duma—and things were “just be--ginningito move a little_ A littlleeoili here, to lessen the friction, regulation, balance and easement of otherparts, with loving management and tender care it might possibly have developed into a political instrument by which‘ the Russians could have regulated? their affairs and developed the re» ’sources of their vast and richly en--dowed country; have cultivated the:arts of peace and have reared theirehildren amidst peace and plenty in; lscicnce, art and industry, for their ’country, if organised with constructivelability is capable of supporting nit-.uy' itimes its present population. But thegßolsheviki came along at a critical. lmoment, and “smashed it to bits," and: Incw they have Lenin and Trotski, an~ archy, chaos, confusion and horror-s’ unspeakable through the. length and breadth of the_land. The_ conclusion I Wish to draw is that, in the :S".Et3CT.iofl‘ of men to occupy amongst us positions of trust and responsibility, we should seek, above all things, men with constructive ability; not mere strikers and smashers, but men with 3'." capacity for building up; men who will so organise and direct the energies of our people that they may establish" and maintain in this country a nation of clean-living mef and women and happy children; living under such con-~ ditions of life and labour that they may be able to make the most and" best of life and be an honour to themselves and the country in which they live. In every department of social and political life we want above all things a constructive policy.——l am, etc., \ JAMES SMITH-