This column first appeared in the Victoria Daily Times on Sept. 21, 1940.
Germany has demonstrated beyond a doubt that people can be turned back to savagery by rigid discipline; they can be stripped bare of every decent human emotion and turned into machines as ruthless as the sawing-machine, which at this moment is biting its way through a pile of slabs at Lantern Lane. It is the grim way that this great blade whangs through the wood that started me thinking.
There is another side to this matter of discipline. Our hearts are thrilled to hear about the children on their way to Canada, who behaved like “guardsmen on parade” when their ship was torpedoed; this also shows what can be done by training. In these cases, so widely differing, there is one common condition. A motive has to be supplied.
The German people are told that there is only one consideration in life, and that is the German race. Other races must be enslaved. They must be made to feel the “triumphant sword of the overlord.” Their whole plan of life is an appeal to every selfish instinct, but it works.
The British children are told that all humanity is threatened by an evil power, and their only hope is in their own invincible spirit. They must be strong and brave, not only for their own good, but for the ultimate liberation of humanity. And that works, works admirably. It gives to all who accept it an elation of soul and a steadfastness of purpose.
But what about Canada? Are we still eating and drinking and going our own prodigal ways, cutting the crusts off our sandwiches, throwing away bottles, cartons, cans, tubes and enough food to feed all the people on relief, spending more money on cigarettes and liquor that we do on education and social services?
I once asked an Australian woman, who visited here just before the war, what Canadian characteristic was to her the most striking. Without hesitation she said: “Your wasteful ways, especially in the matter of food. When I see people crumbling white bread on a tablecloth, and leaving squares of butter on their plate, I could cry.”
Now some will say in reply to this that we have great surpluses of food in Canada, and if we begin to save, our surpluses will be greater. Yes, we have surpluses of food, wheat, bacon and fruit, but we also have undernourished people. We have not yet contrived sensible plans for the distribution of our stores.
The war has driven us to solve some of our problems, but there are still many that can only be solved by individual discipline. We need less talk and more action.
I get letters from my readers, many of which are helpful and thoughtful, but the great majority of them reek with abstractions. I still get letters from people who blame all our troubles on armament makers and war profiteers, the evils of party politics, lack of leaders in the church, the extravagance of women. When people take in as much territory as this, I know it would be very irritating to tell them to look around them and begin the work of redemption in their own hearts and their own homes.
We will get on faster with this business of setting our house in order when we stop reciting other people’s sins. But I know that I am cutting off a pleasant zone of conversation when I say this.
We have just started the second year of the war and the end is not in sight. Canada grows in importance every day as a nation, and we, as individuals must put away childish things if we are to become worthy of our great destiny.
I would like to suggest a simple exercise in this matter of discipline. Let us set a guard on our lips, remembering that the tongue is an unruly member. Let us stop wise-cracking about our American neighbours.
I do not believe we really feel any antipathy toward the Americans, but we are like the people who live in the little house, near a larger and much grander house. We try to bridge the inequality by saying slighting things about the rich neighbours. Most of it is done just to make conversation, but that does not prevent heart-burnings.
I have had an American-born friend with me for some time, and naturally she is sensitive on these matters, just as I was sensitive when I went to England, and resented the tones of superiority when the people spoke about the colonies. We seldom go out to a public meeting or any gathering that she does not receive a thrust regarding her native land. And in such unexpected places and from such innocuous people.
A sweet-faced old grandmother rebuked her grandson when he used the word “lousy” describing the literature of his grade. “Oh Arthur,” she cried in distress. “Where to you get this low American slang?”
If we must talk about the people who live in the Big House, let us tell about the numbers of their young men who came across the border to enlist in our army. Let us speak with gratitude of our good fortune in having people of our own way of life living beside us. Let us mention the fact that they have made recently provisions for a huge sum of money to help us market our surplus grain products in an orderly fashion.
Speaking of the wheat crop in Canada and the difficulties presented, I have an interesting clipping from one of the weekly newspapers of Saskatchewan, which throws some light on how one community is helping to solve this problem. The paper is called the Comet and is published at Radisson, Sask.
On Sunday afternoons, these people got together and talked over the problems of the district and as a result of these meetings have published a statement in the local paper. A sort of declaration of faith, which reads as follows:
1. We can be honest about the acreage we have in wheat. We can refuse to try to wangle anything for ourselves. Every time we cheat, our neighbours and our country suffer.
2. We can help each other with the storage of wheat on our farms.
3. We can protect our grain from livestock.
4. We can accept cheerfully the necessary restrictions. Cheerfulness is just as contagious as grumbling!
We the undersigned pledge ourselves to this program as part of our contribution to the unity and strength of Canada.
A member of the Bracken Wheat Committee made the remark when he read this statement that if such a spirit prevailed in every district, the problems of western Canada could easily be solved.
The discipline these people have accepted is self-imposed. There is no spy-eye at the keyhole. Their driving force comes from their own souls. In spite of many crop failures, these are happy people who sing at their work, for their life has a plan. They know that they are part of the new spirit, which alone can bring peace and satisfaction to this harassed and troubled world.
