The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1921. THE PUBLIC SPIRIT.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 December 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1921. THE PUBLIC SPIRIT.

It frequently happens that mention is made of the term ‘‘pujjlie spirit,” yet it may be questioned whether the full significance of its meaning is generally understood. It has been said that man is arrogant in proportion to his ignorance, man’s tendency being naturally towards egotism. If that be true, then it may be presumed that man’s spmpathy is the outcome of wisdom gained by experience and fostered by the sense of the common welfare of mankind which arises from a knowledge of the reality of a permanent world apart fropi ourselves. While the conduct of the individual can affect but a small circle beyond himself, the permanent good—or evil —that he works to others lies rather in the sentiments he can diffuse, and it is, therefore, because all our virtues are the result of diffused sentiments of morality and altruism that the abstract tgrm “public spirit” has become a live force where it has been fostered on the right lines; or has shrivelled up where the baser and more selfish traits of humanity have cut off the supplies of nutrition and stimulation. There can be no community or national improvement without public spirit. If all the knowledge the earth contains were spread equally over all mankind to-day, there would be some men on the morrow wiser than the rest, hence a nation and its constituent people must, if they are to be worthy of a place in the sun, be animated by the desire to be of mutual help in promoting their well-being and for bettering the conditions of humanity, as well as assisting in the attainment of high ideals and aspirations. Speaking recently at ■Christchurch, Mr, W. E. Leadley, when referring to this subject of public spirit, said: “We have had help from every class of the community. As soon as the need (for helping the unemployed) was made known, donations came in from all quarters. . . . The

only people who were not prepared to help us, and who did not do anything to assist, were the very people who are going about teaching class hatred and class warfare.” Here are to be found the two opposing factors of good and evil. The people imbued with the true public spirit of helpfulness, and those obsessed with the destructive tenets of equalify—the users of the sledge hammer for battering down instead of the craftsman’s implements for building up. No greater falsehood can exist than universal equality, which is the root cause of most of the class bitterness and upheavals of the present day. “Throughout all creation,” proclaimed a wellknown writer, “from the archangel to the worm, from Olympus to the pebble, from the radiant and completed planet to the nebula that hardens through ages of mist and slime into the habitable world, the first law of nature is inequality.” It is for this very cogent reason that the development of the true public spirit is so essential to improvement and progress. The preachers of class hatred and class warfare may rant and rave, but at most they can only be a destructive' force, while the demonstrators of public spirit are those who have made the Empire what it is, and will ever continue their beneficent work. Whatever signs of decadence this spirit may have displayed before the war, that ter- j rible calamity made all but those who are rotten to the cere realise

their interdependence on one another, with the result that the brotherhood of man became a reality, while public spirit took on a new meaning, or rather regained its true definition, and opened up avenues of usefulness as well as co-operative effort. Whether it succeeds in the near future in throttling - petty jealousies and party shibboleths will depend on the steps taken to develop and vivify the flame. ■ Life is the one pervading principle' of mundane organisation. The inhabitants of this earth are differently constituted, some being of surpassing wisdom, some of horrible malignity, some ..hostile as fiends to men, while others are gentle as messengers from the higher to the lower world. Public spirit is not a mere abstract expression. It is a beneficent force that starts from the individual and radiates to the community. During war time it received an impetus such as could not have been obtained by any other means, and inasmuch as its need is greater now,than ever previously, it is to be hoped that it will be fostered and nourished so that it may triumph over the malign and hostile influence of those who are striving to stir up class hatred, and are heading for chaos.