1941-02-22 — Page 12

10

Saturday,

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

Soup's On!

THAT AFRICAN ADVENTURE

IF I WERE THE

ARCHBISHOP

By the Rev. W. Rowland-Jones

Vicar of Denton, Manchester,

whose articles on the lack of spiritual leader- ship in the world to-day have caused wide interest. The accompanying article is his reply to the question: "What would YOU do if you were the leader of a Church to-day?”

T

HE Primate of All England has far greater personal power even than the Prime

Minister.

He is not Hkely to lose his appointment when another He is election comes round. therefore not compelled to keep one eye on public opinion.

He is subject to no Cabinet or House of Parliament. He is an autocrat in his own right.

He can act immediately without consultation. He is a religlotis Dictator.

The reas we hate dietatorahlps is because they are open to such terrible abise at the hands of bad men-but they offer tremendous opportunities for good men.

1 should Bke to be Archblahop of Canterbury.

Trousers For Me!

I should. I fear, get rather angry with myself. I should phone to the British

ited Cross und say, "I have two beautiful hospitals to offer you,"

I should then confer with myself about my sainry,

*Your Grace, I see you are about to receive £15,000 a year.

**May I reasƐnel you again of One who loaded with His hands and hnd to cate

ash before He could pay is Income *Tik?

"Do you honestly feel that ANY man in worth so much money? What are you going to do about it?"

*1715 what I should do about iL

I should set aside £500 for my per ential use; wondering, even then, if that Wits not rather too much.

I should turn the rest of my income

I would call

The Church's Into a fund I Fund for Spidtual Warfare."

I should then write to all my fellow- bishops and tell them what I had done, and should ask them very forcefully and very authoritatively to do the same.

I should who write to all those chap- lains who are receiving E450 a year froin the Army and have not resigned their livings, but are making an odd two or three hundred pounds a year out of them while curates do the work.

The Brst thing I should do would be to put on my apron and any gaiters. I Ahould then stond before 1 Full4ength mirror and talk to myself, thus:-

"Your Grace, you look rather ridicu- Jous! You are wearing out-of-date to my Fund for Spiritual Warfare, clothes. That garb is a remnant of the Archblahops rode nags days when around the country.

"Take them off and put on trousers! That will bring you up to date,

I should ask them to put that money

Christianity First

My fund would be used for un nailaimed propaganda-a' great revival-

Then, having donned my trousers, I ist campalim not for a single narrow should laka a stroll around the Palace Rect, but for Christianity," And the best itself. That would take me a long time, form of propaganda, I should remember. for Lambeth Palace has hundreds of roams and extensive grounds:

Returning. I should have another. chat with myself,

the succouring of the seedy. Having thus honestly tried to put myself right, and to press similar action on my brethren, I should write to nil

"Your Graco, you are the representa the deans of all the cathedrals of my tive of One who had nowhere to lay province and would say to them: 11 hend, whose birth-place was n Slable and wliose fiome was a work-

"Make ready for a great religious'

man's collage. What are you doing, gathering in your cathedral, I am

Your Graco, living in a Palace?

You have another palace, too-lite

Old Palace nt Canterbury, Can you

coming to address my people.

"Summon all the clergy."**

I should address three meetings a

honestly justify this, as a representative week, ench in a different cathedral, and

of the Jewish Carpenter?'

this is what I should say to my people!

"The state of the world lu- day, my people, is à Dogrant dental of all that religion stands for: Hate and destruction in place of love and co-operation, aggression and the lust for power in place of humility anxi self-sacrifice.

"The Lord of the Church came to give us life in abund- ance. The world on all hands is dealing out death.

"It is easy to say that all the faults are in one man and one nation, THAT IS NOT TRUE.

"It we RIC defending our social order, as Lord Halifax says, because it is the expres- sion of Christianity, then surely. the basis of that social order most be the Christian law, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

"Is that the root principle of eur en this country today?

My people. If we are to win this rondles between Nazism and Chritianity, our first job is to make it a struggle between these things.

"We must make our country Christian, and we must do it now!.

"It can never be done by plus churchgoing. It must mean a change of heart, and that change of heart must result in a change In our economic system.

"That will mean,much more than grudgingly or ever gladly playing a 1tle more.

"It means a complete abandon. inent of our old ways of life, and It means building up anew on a Christina and co-operative basis." We should have no plous prayers nor sentimental hymn singing AL those cathedral meetings.

I should nek the people to put their questions to me, and if I could not answer tholr questions I should honestly say so.

Bo' I would move, In the first three months of my Primney among my people, proclaiming tant the Kingdom of God was at hand I should tell them that it was not a distance of time, but tile density of their unbelief which-heid back ila coming.

And I think-I am sure-that the common people, hearing thai message, would respond, would riso up, and would ACT.

AN AMERICAN

SPEAKS OUT:

Meeting the Totalitarian

Threat

By James B. Conant President of Harvard University In an address before the Cambridge' (Mass.), Chamber of Commerce

Every citizen of the United States must ta-dny make up his mind about its foreign policy. The question needing decision is how should, the country set, in the present critical world situn- tion. It is a peculiarly difficult question to decide... The penalty will be disastrous for the country if the majority decision le wrong.

If those who belong to the completely non- interventionist or compromise-peace group are correct in their views, then the penalty. which the nation will pay, if it follows the advice of the group to which I belong, may be the wastage of life and re- sources in an unnecessary war. There can perhaps be no more serious course which an indivi- dunl citizen can take than to support a line of action which may lead to war, except, to my mind, one, other, namely, to urge a course which may lead to the wiping out of the free way of life which has been de- veloped on this continent during the last 300 years.

This way of life has as its underlying principle the re- cognition of the dignity and freedom of the individual citi-:

responsibility on zen. The every one of us to-day is heavy; but it is part of this American way of life that ench citizen must assume his share. If he is unwilling to do so, if he is un- willing to speak out his views on crucial issues, then it seems to me that democracy in any such form as we have known it has small chance to continue.

D

I should say that public opinion in the United States re- garding foreign policy may now be divided roughly into three main classifications. First, there is a group who believe it essential to the maintenance of our way of life that in the pre- sent struggle in Europe, Africa, Asia, and on the high sens, the Axis Powers be defeated. This group, to which I belong, be- lieves that the United States should pledge itself to this end without_reservation, recognising the possibility that this may in the future involve belligerent action by ourselves. .

The second group has as its main tenet the encouragement of a compromise-pence between Great Britain and the Axis Powers. To them anything is better than a continuation of war, or the possibility of this country's being involved in war. This group wants to withdraw or limit aid to England, believ- ing, probably correctly, that, without our aid, England has no recourse except to make the best peace she can. Many of this group feel that it makes little difference to ourselves whether the Axis or Great Britain are, in effect, vietorious since we can do business with either side. Others, who feel it preferable in our interests that England win, silli con- sider cessation of fighting the most Important issue before the world.

Then there is the third group, who consider it preferable in our interests to see the Axis Powers beaten, who agree with the polley of "aid to Eng- land short of war." But the mem- bers of this group underline the phrase "short of war." This group seems to say in effect: It is impor- tant to have the Axis Powers lose, but not sufficiently important for the United States to throw every weight Into the scales, Including, it neces-i sary, is ormed forces, to guarantee this defeat."

When you ask the members of this third group how they expect demo- cracy 16 survive in a world in which Hitler is plumphant-and they do! not deny his ruthless purposes and his methods they seem to say, "We will take o chance on the future rather

than

become belligerents now." They may be right and the to which I belong may be R.oup wrong, but it seems to me they are, gambling the future of the country against long odds, odds that I for one do not consider justified.

In a sense, we are like a man with a gun against his chest, held by a ruthless individual with his finger on tho trigger. Is the gun loaded or is It not loaded? Will the man who holds it pull the trigger or will he not? We must estimate not only the probability but remember always the price of being wrong. To me, the future of this country if the Axla Powers are not defeated la so bleak that I would risk all that may be necessary to insure the defeat of the totalitarian States.

February 22, 1941.

"This is all wrong!

H.B.

But- H.B.'s all right!"

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