George Lansbury

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 47, 17 May 1940, Page 12

George Lansbury

T is one of the minor tragedies of the war that the Rt. Hon. George Lansbury should have died in the middle of a struggle that he worked all his days to prevent. The nearest parallel to it, oddly enough, was the equally tragic end, early in the last war, of Lord Roberts-a patriot of violently different colour, but as passionately anxious to save the world by one method as Lansbury was to save it by another. Both, if we take a short view, died frustrated and ignored. But to Lansbury at least there were no short views. He was a Christian, wrestling with the powers of darkness, and as recently as Easter of this year, he expressed unshaken faith in a Resurrection-for himself, for his country, and for the world. "My faith as a Christian grows stronger," he wrote from his bed. " The children of men will one day rise supreme, and with confidence and faith build a civilisation worthy of the knowledge and understanding of those we think of as the children of one Father." . It is strange language for a statesman to use in 1940, but it was the only language he knew. All his life he trusted in the weapons of the spirit-against Mussolini, even against Hitler. What he said to them when he went personally to each two years ago to plead for continued peace, no one will ever know fully, but he would never agree that he has wasted his time. Perhaps he did worse than waste his time. Perhaps he strengthened the belief of both that the English would never fight. Some have said it; many have thought it; but no one has ever said or thought that where he failed someone else might have succeeded. And we must not forget that his international activities were merely an extension into a wider field of methods applied for a life-time at-home. Twice he went to gaol for his convictions. At the height of his career he gave up the leadership of his Party when it voted for sanctions against Italy. He could bow to facts but he could not compromise with truth as he saw it, and his life as a result ended in apparent frustration. But he had this advantage over Lord Roberts, that he had no sense of failure, and it would be rash to declare that he was hopelessly deluded. If there is any hope for the world at all it must have its roots in honesty, ard if Westminster has seen a more honest man than George Lansbury the world has not heard his name.