The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1919. AN EXAMPLE FROM GERMANY.

Taihape Daily Times, 26 August 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1919. AN EXAMPLE FROM GERMANY.

With which 1'33 incorporated “The Taihaye Post; and Waimarino News.”

It is particularly noteworthy thatl =-all British and American press corres- i pondents now in Germany are greatly impressed with the forwardness of! industrial reconstruction in that coun- | ‘try. They state that in no Allied country is recovery from a state of! war so rapid, and none are so far on the way to normal production as the ‘German people are. Our erstwhile enemies have fully realised and accepted the situation in which the fortunes of war have placed them; they have huge debts to pay .in money and in cemmodities—particularly coal - and their promptness in cultivation of‘ their lands, reconstruction of factories‘ and rehabilitation of machinery in so short a time is a matter for COYIQ." ipondents to marvel at and admire. The Peace Conference, still busy with ‘the difficult Turkish situation, and the 'A|'ustro-Hungarian Bolshevik rc—l volution, reports that Germany is‘ calm, industrious, and far ahead with‘ its reconstruction There is there? fore no doub; about the German peo—, ple soon again becoming an industrial and commercial 'power to be dealt with. .That the Teuton race is at the ‘zenith of it_s virility there Seems little ‘doubt; it is said, truly, that Germany ,led or dragooned its,"Allies into the ‘war. Those partners in the great icrinie, however, ‘have demonstrated their unfitness to hold a__place on an equality with the Germans. lt'_is no ‘longer in war solclythat superiority ’isevident, for it extends to _ r:ee.v:_vthing, very nearly, whereby peoples glive and prosper. While Austria, Hunlgary, Bulgaria and 'i'url:ey are riff; {with revolution, political and indus‘trial chaos reigning, Germany is far ahead of even Britain with her recon'struction. While it is questionable whether some of the Central Alliance will ever again recover full national status, Germans are at «'-'..'rk and have paid some millions of their war debt and have delivered a million tons of coal to France; and, whether it be ‘true or false that there is proceeding ‘a re-building of the army part of the zold militarism, we have it forced upon ‘the world that it is neither wise or ‘possible to endeavour to crush out ‘nationality from such a people. Amid lall the scenes of Bolshevism and_ national ‘unrest in Germany there is rebuilding of factories and reconstruction of industriesuprocceding at a pace ;that constitutes a little world-wonder. lßritish coal mines have received no war damage, yet British industries llanguish for want of coal while Germans not only have coal for their re[constructed industries, but in the short time since peace was signed they have delivered a million ~.tons to France as part payment of a war debt. This is what is taking place in Gerimany while the British have barely imadc a resolute effort at industrial ireconstruction. Had not the Teutonic 'l>ooDles fallen victims to a military fetishism, had they followed the peaceful principles taught by the Odinie emblem what heights of national greatguess would have been impossible to them? Odin, the great chief of Ten.ton mythology, is described as perlforming his feats of valour with his ,hallllllel‘. Odin’s hammer is said to ‘have produced earthquakes; and how can labour be so well symbolised as !by the hammer. The man with the hammer is the nearest ideal to civilisa‘tion, and despite the ravages of war,the -hammer of Odin is at work in 'Germany, not in destruction, but in construction, in building up _ind'ustries sacrificed to the moloch of militarism, Germans are busy ’with_ the hammer, it is ‘better than the sword, the resounding of its blows will forge and shape the most effective bolts for the destruction of tyranny_ If man is taught to use the hammer he will never be a slave, and we have no better evidence of that truth than that which is now coming from Germany. Is it possible that such a people will €\‘er again forsake the hammer for the sword? Will that defeated and torn nation ever again insanely grip the SW<.Jl'd and raise the banner of militarism? The lessons of the war should bi‘-Dish the sword from around royalty and in natiollal functions, it is the emblem of cut—throatism. Religion of the sword has dragged‘ a great nauon down mommy as Well as industl'i‘?ll:"; and it is already seen that the Odln‘lc.hammer, used legitimately is Nbulfidlng the moral as well as the in-

dustrial structure of Teuton-yism. Inl searching for cause of this wonderful’ power of recuperation it is discovered H underlying education, education in its fullest and widest Sense. While Bri- I tain lacks skilled men for machine shops, factories and laboratories Ger-i many has more than can yet be cm-; ployed. British education is not much i more than a name when compared with German methods and systems. In this young. latent bud of Britain our il‘dllS'Cl‘i€S languish for want of skilled men. We are not educating youth to take the place of skilled labour that i‘! D3-Ssing away, everything requiring! an exercise of intelligence is too much l trouble, and foolish parents allow their children to drift along the life line of least «resistance. Leaders are losing sight of the real road to national greatness, and are advocating the institution and upkeep of a militarism that can lead only to national down—} fall and decay. Instead of -herding the whole of the young manhood of . this little land into military camps, would it not ‘be preferable to render attendance at technical colleges,‘ science classes, and agricultural SChools compulsory? The great need of New Zealand at this moment is men who know how to do things -scienti-fic-ally and skillfully. We want the civilisation of the hammer not the destruction of the sword, and until this is recognised as the essential of greatness this country can never he-' come really great. The youth of Germany is educated and fitted to take the highest place in any workshop of the world; in New Zealand we have youth With‘ constitution and resourcefulness sec-| ond to no othe-r people, what use are ,we making of them? We are permit-W jting them to drift along 9 road of lmediocrity and ineflicicncy in all that' [contributes to national success. So long as we are dazzled by the merely‘ 'sensuouss exterior in life we shall go‘ on drifting to the lowest ebb in civ-‘ lilisation. ilt is said that government 'is what the people are who elected it; I and is that not true in our own case I Government fails to legislate for greater efliciency and skill in peaceful arts and occupations» while advocating the herding together for one-third of the whole year the _total young. manhood of the country, The only com-I pulsory education Government thinks, worth while is a compulsory military! education, .an -education that scion-i tists, pathological and otherwise, cone! demn as the greatest. destroyer‘ of‘ {thought and stifler of intellect. Ger--many is indeed a valuable object les-I son for New Zealand, .and the whole; world. The Herculean task of recon‘. struction in Gernianymis incaleulablyf greater than in any Allied country, yet 1 Germans have advanced in rehabilita.tion of society and‘. recoiistruction of lirdustry and trade to‘ an extent that live seem powerless to emulate. Is it not a fact, generally ‘recognised, that it is not the ’nlilitary-'camp and barracks that are going to‘ perpetuate the -name of “Godjs Own" Country,” not gthc training of the'drill"sergeant, but the training that “i's"obtainable only -in our schools and colleges.’ Make the {attainment of’ skill in mechanical con'struction, in agriculture, in the labor{atory of science, compulsory, for then, only then, can New Zealand hope to be amongst the foremost great and [civilised peoples of the earth.