AFTER HONGKONG
THE story of Hongkong has been told. The first feel- ing of all who heard it was horror. Hard on the heels of the horror came anger-a surge of anger against the brutes who lift bloodstained hands in sanctimonious gestures and prate about chivalry.
The horror was instinctive. The anger was inevitable, and it will last. But we shall do our- selves little service if our only answer to the savageries of Hongkong is a spate of furious words. A more realistic voice speaks in the resolution sent to Mr. Churchill by the Midland group of M.P.s, in which they call for a campaign of awaken- ing. They say:
"In the opinion of this group of members the majority of the people of this country do not yet realise that the atrocities
by the perpetrated
Axis Powers may be the fate of the citizens of all parts of the British Commonwealth, unless the undivided thought and energy of all classes is concen- trated on the war effort."
That is the true lesson, the stark warning, of those murdered soldiers and ravished women.
FOR too long, in these quiet
months, we have been sunk in a sort of fatalistic torpor. We have looked on the Far East as a distant panorama of dim disas- ters. Even Russia has seemed remote. The cries of the suf- ferers in Hongkong should open our eyes at last to the need for the utmost unity, the utmost labours, the utmost use of all the fighting strength we have.
The peoples of the Empire must stand together. It is now or never. The Malayans stood aside from the battle and are inow Japanese slaves.
What of India?
The threat is very near to those
who countless millions have lived in peace for genera- tions without fear of any man. Will they come together before it is too late? Will they, under the shadow of a great evil, put aside their differences and fight for the freedom that alone has allowed them to differ? They can hope for no mercy, as fellow Asiatics, from the marauders over the border. The Chinese and Indian prisoners in Hong- kong were fellow Asiatics, un- armed and helpless-and their fate was torture and death.
WITHOUT unity, all the free
peoples, of all creeds and all races, will go down before the wild beasts at large in the world. Without sacrifices sterner than any we have yet made, we shall not get the arms we need.
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Those things must come first. The cry for vengeance on the butchers of Hongkong is natural cry, but it must not dis- tract us from looking the facts in the face. Vengeance, full ven- geance, is not yet within our power.
The time for vengeance will come. The British people have long endurance, and, when neces- sary, they also have long memo- ries. But the brutes of Berlin and Tokio have to be beaten before they can be arraigned before the bar of justice; and in the meantime, as Mr. Donald Nelson said to the people of! America last night, "We have got to get tough with ourselves fore we tru t tough with
Evening News
1 1 MAR 1947
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