PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21248, 19 October 1940, Page 9

PUBLIC OPINION

As expressed by correspondents whose letters are welcome, but for whoso views we have no responsibility. Correspondents are requested to write in ink. It is essential that anonymous writers enclose their proper names as a guarantee of good faith. Unless this rule is complied with, their letters will not appear. CRIME AND CRIMINALS (To the Editor.) Sir,—The expressed opinion of Mr F. A. de la Mare on questions of vital importance always commands respect. The following, then, is by no means a reply to Mr de la Mare’s letter in the Waikato Times, of Saturday, October 12, but rather a request for further information regarding the subject matter under discussion. The authors Maurice De Fleury, E. Ferri, A. B. Jerre, August Drahms, H. Ellis, Jerome Mishall and C. Merceer, on their respective works dealing with crime and criminals unquestionably endorse the theory that heredity seems to operate on the “ excessive A development of some single primitive instinct. It appears to me that the murderer has a one-track mind, while with a healthy, strong, well-bal-anced normal person the one image., the desire to destroy, is never on the stage of consciousness. Others present themselves to struggle with and conquer the image of destruction. Or in other words, with a rational individual the thought form to kill and to violate never reflects reality. Many maintain that transmitted qualities which descend from progenitors to descendant are reproduced in the latter as the blended qualities of the former and account for differences peculiar to mankind. —I am, etc.. HARRY WOODRUFFE. Auckland, October 17.

FRENCH BANK ADVANCES

(To the Editor.) ■ Sir, —In your issue of October 16 Mr John Smythe makes reference to the 50,000.000.000 francs advanced by the Bank of France to the Vichy GovI ernment. Your correspondent then ■ goes on to say, “We may be sure ' that Herr Hitler would not accept . figures in a book; rather he would want something more tangible.” The writer and others have been ’ pointing out for years that money is : an intangible thing, merely the : shadow of real wealth. The jad- / vance which was made to the Vichy . Government by the Bank of France, by the arduous process of writing figures in certain accounts, will be honoured by the French people in their ability to supply the requirements of the army of occupation. If France were a desert “ the advance ” would obviously be valueless. As it is now, the real wealth or social credit of France has been monetised ' by a private institution as a debt to ! itself, carrying interest for ever and , dragging down the living standards I of the industrious French people. This French monetary transaction should reveal the international nature of present monetary control and • its immunity from the disasters ’ which occur to other people in war i time. Five-sixths of France is occupied, yet there is no doubt raised . about the ability of the Bank of : France to manufacture the sum required by Herr Hitler to maintain his | forces. It is obviously manufac- . tured; as foreign money is useless, and as stated at the outset, the tangible backing lor the vast emission of bank credit under discussion is the ability of the French people to supply goods and services to their - “ foreign guests.”—l am, etc., R. G. Young. Gordonton, October 17. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT (To the Editor.) Sir, —There has appeared in your columns correspondence for and against capital punishment, but only from the human, worldly standpoint. Permit me then to present the case from God’s point of view. In Genesis ix:4, 5,6, we have the fact stated that the blood is the life of all God’s creation. In verse 6 it is said: “ Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made He man.” God then committed magisterial authority to men, instead of retaining it in His own hands (as in the case of Cain); and that has never been retracted neither by the Law nor the Gospel. There is a vast difference between the exercise of Christian kindness and forgiveness, among Christians themselves, and between Christians and others as individuals, and the exercise of governmental authority (even by a Christian judge) in a community which is composed I mostly of non-Christians; and the law of capital punishment still holds good. Romans xiv, and I. Peter ii, shed light upon this subject. They deal I with the position of a Christian living in the world, which is recognised as a ; non-Christian world, as it is in fact, 1 ruled over mostly by non-Christians, I i and capital punishment is necessary. ! : The Jews were brought under the | ; Mosaic law (for instance, concern- | [ ing meat), but the Church today is ! ; not so, and I. Timothy iv, 1-4 is a ! passage which shows a return to j Genesis ix, where every creature j without exception is permitted for ' man’s food. ; It is somewhat significant that the J three provisos of Genesis ix are be- ! ing repudiated today to some exj tent, but quite differently. “Be 1 fruitful and multiply.” Birth con--1 trol denies this. “ Eat flesh.” Vege- ; tarianism in religious cults repudii ates this. “Capital punishment.” • This is being set aside. The next i thing will be Genesis xi. ’’Babel''; j i and the Divine response, “ Let Us go i down,” and Christ will come. Thus I ■ we see that the urge and tendency j ; are to get away from the Law of j j God and its beneficial results to the ; i laws of sinful, carnal man with their ' i attendant awful, wicked and unsafe • results.—l am, etc., EVANGELIST C. E. KNIGHT. Auckland, October 17.