NEWS from one hundred years ago: THE SCOURGE OF WAR

‘War is the one remaining relic of barbarism in modern society which is regarded with any approval or is explained away by any excuse,’ editorialises the conservative newspaper Otago Daily Times. ‘The modern practice of war is in dark contrast with the progress of the world — on the one hand everything in life is becoming more and more humanised, while in war alone the most devilish and destructive devices are employed foi the annihilation of mankind.’ The editorial has been written in response to a resolution passed by the New Zealand Presbyterian Assembly. James Gibb, the leading minister who brought the resolution before the assembly, is typical of many interwar clergy. He strongly backed the British Empire in the early days of the First World War. As the war went on, his support started flagging and he has now become an active opponent of militarism. God today calls on the faithful, he tells the assembly, ‘to do all in their power to repress the spirit of militarism.’ The Otago Daily Times speaks in favour and also lends its support to a scheme some people are now proposing for ‘a federation of the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic peoples, free and enlightened and hating war, as a necessity for the very existence of civilisation and free Christianity.’
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Otago Daily Times, 25 November 1920