Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-11-19

voices dTe dud4o PIO1AA-AAAAAo
that the Pacific has become the CEN
ter of the worlds problems and the
place of political perils and deci-
sions. Personally, 1 cannot see 1t
SO. That turbulent stretch of terri
tory around the head of the Medi-
terranean-never more ominously
disturbed than today-which we
call bible Lands" is still the cross
roads of earth, the place where the
great settlements or unsettlements
of history have been and still are
being determined. Despite the as
sumptions which underlie the
epochal Washington conference,
now in session, the central point OF
interest for mankind is that upon
Yhich the eyes of the SUNDAY
schools of the world a. liked To-Day
as they consider the Apostle Paul,
caught in a mesh of polotlco-eccles-
iastical intrigue.
1t would be enlightening to con-
slider what may be called place
providences, or the geography OF
power. as our thoughts are divided
between Paul, the f~ar-traveled, at
Palestine, and present-day world
leaders at Washington. Is 1t prop
able that the land where Christ hrst
turned the world upside down" is
permanently the decisive point in
earth's affairs? If so, we need to
look sharply into the issues of Is
lam, Zionism, nationalism, racial
unrest and European imperialism
which converge there. Washington
will never supplant Jerusalem
A Man and a Crisis
AS Lord Bryce points out in con-
nection with the paucity of the
highest type of craftsmanship dur
ing the war. it is not true that a
great occasion always produces a
great man: and it still remains to
be seen whether an adequate figure
will emerge at the armament con-
ference. But our lesson reveals. rls-
ing above the pomp and trapplnss
of state and kings and other poten-
tates, the sublime figure of a man
who dominated his surroundings
and alone made them
Paul looms large in a scene where
he was officially rated only as a
prisoner.
This oldest of all lessons. the
sheer greatness and supremacy OF
personality. is written on the very
surface of our theme. Smaller men
about him, puffed up with a sense
of official importance, played petty
politics with a great issue; PAU
clave close to the essential thing.
This spectacle of the prosecuted
apostle, in all the loneliness OF real
greatness, towering high above the
officially important ones at whose
feet he was supposed TO stand, mas
countless parallels.
One such occurred recently at the
meeting of the League of Nations,
when Dr.. Nansen, the explorer
rleaded in vain with the nations 70
forego their fears and their sordld
politics. and extend a bread hlIeu
hand to the millions of Russian
peasants who are starving. NrIllhs
strongly upon the incident, The
Manchester Guardian says, The
deaths il has been decided not 70
avert are likely to be about three
times as numerous as the total
deaths of soldiers in all the armies
on both sides during the Great
War" 1t describes DR.. Nansen as
Standing out, "a detached figure OF
honor. courage and simplicity, RS
ing white and columnar out OF the
ranks of the ordinary diplomatlsts
and politicians" Again, "Dr. Nan
sen strove with them till the going
down of the sun to avert this coli
lapse and qualification of so much
honorable pride and so much real
sacrifices. But the powers were not
70 be moved 8 Every detail of
Plates attitude was theirs too, n
the new Russian Calvary will nave
everything traditional and regular
about it,"
"Rising white and columnar," a
great man amid mean men'-such
was Paul at Caesarea, the hero IN
manacies.
Here we have an eternally con-
contrast between the
Paul type and the Felix-Festus-
Aerippa. type. One was mot dis
obedient 10 heavenly vision" The
others had left their visions ana
noble ideals. if ever they had any,
somewhere among the discarded in
~terests of their early careers. They
had succumbed To the commences
temptation of the politician or
there have been numerous
books and articles devoted TO an
of the characters and ca
reers of public men: it is a signfh-
cant and hopeful sign hat so many
OF these, as in Mirrors of Downing
Street" point u and lament the
decline of moral convictions n
courage as the real secret of the
failures of the men studied. That
ancient drama in Caesarea is
strongly kin to momentous modern
meetings.
A Dangerous" Man
A certain jurist known to me,
who is truer t his corrupt political
organization than TO his judicial OBJ
legations, remarked concerning a
plain-speaking reformer. THAT is
the most dangerous man in this
The besmirched judge
really mean. that the man RAJ dan
gerous to the political tranquility
Of the dominant party, just as sun
light is DANGEROUS to disease. and as
the Ten Commandments and the /
law are dangerous TO trans
gressors. BY hat definition. the