ARTS OF WAR & PEACE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 March 1939, Page 10

ARTS OF WAR & PEACE

ROLE OF METALLURGISTS. “During the recent crisis many people said it to me that if there is a war I suppose you will be busy. When asked why, the reply was: ‘Making cartridges and shell cases, I suppose,’ ” said Mr A: L. Molyneux, president of the Birmingham Metallurgical Society, in a recent speech. “This gives utterance to a commonly held belief that the chief concern of the metallurgist is the manufacture of implements of war. That, as all who are metallurgists know full well, is entirely erroneous. The metallurgist is essentially a man of peace. The knives, forks and spoons with which you have been enjoying your dinners, the lamp fittings which are lighting us, the wires that carry the electric, current to the lamps, the wires in the lamps themselves and the door handle are but a few of the more obvious examples of the metallurgist’s art. In. the execution of that art he contributes much to’the happiness and well-being of a community whom I feel and know has no other desire than to live at peace and charity with all men. From my knowledge of my fellow metallurgists, I know them to be men of peace. We are proud to be metallurgists and men of peace, and would rather utilise our art and craftsmanship in the making of things of beauty and permanence, which are a joy to the beholder and an inspiration to future generations, than in helping to manufacture implements of warfare and destruction. It is for us to pave the road toward a goal well worthy of our utmost and highest, namely, the manufacture and fabrication of metals in such wise that by their usefulness, permanence and beauty they may, attain true value, and bear witness in time yet far hence to the faith that is m us all that the works of peace alone shall endure.” ,