TOPICS OF THE DAY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20950, 1 November 1939, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Only Language Understood “While to most people it appears inevitable that we who are the custodians of the weak and helpless must be prepared to meet force by superior force, there are those among us who would renounce the appeal to armaments, and trust to the ultimate triumph of spiritual weapons alone. For myself, I do not see how we can surrender the protection of human treasures without an appeal to the only language which aggressors understand. In resisting force by force, it does not mean that we have lost our faith in the ultimate triumph of justice and righteousness, or that we have renounced our readiness to take counsel with other nations. But no headway can be made unless there is this readiness on both sides, with the assurance that truth will be respected and treaties remain inviolate. It may be our duty from the first to consider wherein as a nation we have fallen short, and where, and to what extent, reparations are due. React; cannot be won while each disputant is only prepared to consider his own virtues and the moral failures of those with whom he differs.”—The Rev. R. Pyke, president of the English Methodist Conference.