Moral Changes Needed Before New Order Can Be Established

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1942, Page 4

Moral Changes Needed Before New Order Can Be Established

Mr. Hamilton says there are no short cuts. Wellington, Aug. 31. Moral and spiritual changes which were essential before there could be a happier and better world were discussed by the Associate Minister of Supply and Munitions, the Hon. A. Hamilton, in an address last night. The new order, he said, must first of all be a moral order, in which truth, honour and duty w.ould be universally prized and practised. No new economies, no new ideolologies, would alone suffice to create one. There were no short cuts to it. "In the coming week we shall enter on the fourth year of the war," said Mr. Hamilton. "In accordance with the wish of His Majesty the King, we are being called as a nation, on Thursday next, to a service of prayer. We are, therefore, especially conscious of the solemnity of the time and the gravity of the enterprise to which we are committed. "In these three years of war, despite great sacrifice, our arms have not prospered as we hoped. Many peace-loving and friendly nations have been struck down, their territories overrun and their people forced into the service of the aggressors. Cause Has Not Yet Prevailed. "The valour of our fighting men, and those of our Allies, have indeed won for us moments of victory, but these moments have passed, and still our cause has not prevailed. Our enemies have made notable headway. Their gains are extensive and unmistakable. If the war were to end to-night, we should have lost it. "But the war is not going to end tonight. The, United Nations are in no mood for a ^peace that would mean their ruin. They are in a mood to make war, and to go on making it till the enemy's power has been broken. "Three years ago we started under great disadvantage, with few trained fighting men, and toO little equipment. For three years we have been defending. But the getting of these three years has been a gain of precious time. For a period we stood alone against the aggressor. Now we have great allies. No longer can it be said that we are unprepared: To-day the Allied nations have vast, well-trained forces at their command, well equipped with modern weapons of war— on land, on the sea, and in the air. Valuable Lessons Learned. "We all realise the significance to each one of us. whatever his calling or his means. of the great struggle in which we are engaged. We are determined, under Providence, to win that struggle, and to regain power, which we too little valued and let slip from our hands. For, in the past three years, we have learned in the hard way, some valuable lessons. "We have learned that in the world as

it is, and is likely to remain for a long time to come, national well-being is impossible wtihout power to defend it. We have learned also. that power cannot he improvised, and that past achievements | are neither a substitute for it, nor a guarantee of it. "In proceeding to recover power, we are actuated by no selfish spirit. The Atlantic Charter is proof of that. We have no imperialistic designs. We do not seek to appropriate the earth's riches to our own exclusive use. We do not strive toward a peace of plenty for ourselves but scarcity for others. No nation, or group of nations, has any right to do that,.

Force Sustaining Pcacc. "Our conception of power is one of force sustaining a condition of peace that will equally benefit all peoples. We will use it to re-establish fair play between nation and nation; to restrain aggression and cruelty; and to restore reason to its rightful place in the affairs of men. Only so can we build the new world on which we have set our hopes. But before we can build that better world, we must undergo a profound moral change, for the good society can exist only where good men are." Mr. Hamilton quoted the following extract, from a letter written by the late Colonel E. T. W. Love to his mother just before his promotion to the command of the Maori Battalion, at the head of which he fell in action: "God give me strength to carry on, wisdom t make good judgments, justice in all my dealings." Mr. Hamilton said that there they had the spirit that made a people great and estabiished society on a sure foundation. Till that spirit became widespread among men and women there could be no new order worth the name. Must Not Grow Slack. "No man can say how long this war will last." said Mr. Hamilton. "The end may come sooner than we dare to hope; but prudence instructs us to act as if the war were just beginning. as, indeed, in a sense, it is. During the past three years we have been paying the price of past mistakes, no doubt. We shall possiblv make more. But some we will not make; we will not under rate our enemies; we will not expect miracles, and we will not expect others to do for us what we ought to do — and can do -ior ourselves. We go forward into the fourth year of war with the resolve that, however long the struggle, we will not grow slack. We dare not. "Our experience of the three years that have passed teaches us to expect setbacks as well as successes. We will continue to meet them with an unconquerable faith in ultimate victory. T ut that faith shall not delude us into imagining tlv»t we cannot lose and can therefore safelv do less than the utmost. W" know that we can lose, if we let our devotion dwindle or fade. We know that to win. we must be resolute, dogge unshakable. "Every branch of our war effort must be keyed up to battle pitch, whatever hardship or sacrifice it may entail. We must so continue till the last battle is won. We are trust ees of a great inheritance of freedom."