^hank Ged for My Good Bed!”

MARCH 8, 1959

THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awake!" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden on; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.

"Awake!” uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on ail continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on-the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal’s viewpoint is not narrow, but is international. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.

"Awake!" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of a righteous New World.

Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!”

mi । ■                 tn

Published Semimonthly by

WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, INC, 117 Adams Street                              Brooklyn 1, N.Y., U.S.A.

N. H. Knobs. President                           Grant Suitsu, tftftyrefary

Printing this Issue: 2,850,000

CONTENTS

A World That Will Work

Man’s Unique Need of a Divine Guide 5

Feline Monarch of Asia

Red China Regiments the Masses

"Thank God for My Good Bed!”

Central America Prepares for Invasion 17

*w Yorkers Discuss the Witnesses 20

The Australian Federal Elections

Panama's "Black Christ”

"Your Word Is Truth” Is Man More Just than God?

Jehovah's Witnesses Preach in All the Earth—Honduras

Watching the World

A WORLD that will work is a world that will operate effectively in satisfying all human needs. That this present world is not functioning the way a world should is only too evident by reading the newspapers. The rampant immorality, the mounting rate of crime and juvenile delinquency, the shattered marriages, the food shortages, the housing shortages, the creeping and galloping types of inflation, the hot and cold wars, the armaments race —these are symptoms of a world that is not working. These are symptoms of a world gone mad.

“For at least thirty years, and perhaps more,’’ psychologist Dr. Robert Lindner has said, “our civilization has been demonstrating behavior that, were the same to be discovered in the solitary human being, would cause the forces concerned with public order and safety speedily to remove him to an asylum for the mentally deranged. The world, in short, has run amuck. . . . We have failed to grasp the evidence that the sands of our civilization’s time are running out; that the plague of psychopathic behavior that sickens us is the chief symptom of our society’s expiring agony.. . . Our civilization appears to have entered its terminal phase.”

A world that is mentally deranged, that has run amuck and whose chief symptom indicates “expiring agony” is certainly a world that is not working. Faced with such a world, what is man to do?

A college professor recently commented on the problem. Dr. W, O. Ross, professor of English, Wayne University, Detroit, Michigan, not long ago addressed a graduating class in these words:

“Man now has no function or purpose in life which transcends himself, and I think he is simply made in such a fashion that he has to have such a function. ... I find that I am willing to hope that the cosmos in which we find ourselves is a cosmos which will work, and will yet turn out to satisfy human needs. It seems to me that the world as we now understand it is not a world which will work—which will work, that is, for the satisfaction of human needs and aspirations. Therefore I suspect . . . that we ought to look around for another world to live in.”—Vital Speeches of the Day, March 15,1954.

But in searching for a world that will work, where is man to look? Should he look to the scientists who propose trips to outer space and who eventually hope to reach other planets? No. Instead, he should look to the One who created this earth and who has declared: “This is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He The true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited."—Isa. 45:18.

Since God formed this earth to be inhabited, we can be certain that it is not his purpose for mankind to continue living in a system of things that is not working. In fact, we have God’s promise of a new world, a world that will work, satisfying all human needs. An apostle of Christ Jesus wrote: “There are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell."—2 Pet. 3:13.

So it is not to the politicians of this old world that men should look for another world to live in; rather they should look to Jehovah God. His promised new world will be absolutely righteous. The “new heavens" means the righteous, new spiritual governing powers that will rule God’s new world. The “new heavens" replaces “the ruler of this world," “the god of this system of things," “the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth.”—John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9.

The “new earth” that God promises is not a new planet but the new human society organized and operated according to the righteous will of God, under the rule of the spiritual governing “new heavens.” The present “heavens and the earth" are wicked. They must go, as God’s Word shows: “The heavens and the earth that are now are stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men.” God’s coming destruction of this old world means Armageddon. The removal of all wicked human and spirit creatures makes way for a world that will work. For no more will the mad god of this world, Satan the Devil, be allowed to mislead mankind, causing human society to run amuck.—2 Pet. 3:7.

God’s righteous new world will work. All human needs will be provided for. God promises: “Here I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be called to mind . . . And they will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. They will not build and someone else have occupancy; they will not plant and someone else do the eating. For like the days of a tree will the days of my people be; and the work of their own hands my chosen ones will use to the full.” Besides freedom from want there will be freedom from fear. No more crime; no more hot or cold wars! “They shall sit every man under his vine .and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid.”—Isa. 65:17-22; Mic. 4:4, AS.

Can it be said that a world is working when its inhabitants are plagued with sickness and death? No! But in God’s new world these things will not be. The Bible says: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away . . . And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be any more. The former things have passed away"—Rev. 21:1-4.

So you can indeed look for another world to live in. But turn to the right source. Go to God’s Word.

MAN is unique in his need of a revealed religion, a divine guide. The lower animals do not need one. Their uih. erring instincts guide them from birth until death. Typical is the niigratqry^Jhglji of birds. In recent years scientists have established that these jrettheir bearings from the sun and the stars. In their tiny bramiTThey' have, as it were, a built-in watch, compass, sextant and the skill to make use of them.¹ Man, however, cannot depend upon instinct to guide him to his desired haven.

Man is unique not only in his need of a divine guide but also in his ability to make use of one. The lower animals are dumb, not because they have a instead of a nose, but because, as Harvard anthropologist Hooten observes, “there is something about a brain that goes with the snout that makes speech impossible.”³ Tell a dog about yesterday or tomorrow. You cannot. Lower animals are not capable of conceptual and intellectual thinking. Says the Dutch psychologist Meerloo: “Time is a typical human concept. Other animals do not fight with time; they do not anticipate

and cannot hope.”* cause man has the ability to concern himself with time, past and future, he not only has need of a divine guide but uniquely is able to make use of one.

Further, man needs a divine guide because he has a logical mind; he uniquely is concerned with purpose. He asks, Where did I come from? Why am I here? What is my destiny? His capacity of logic requires of him that hisjifp makp canco Those who would deprive man’s existence taf purpose deserve the jibe: “Scientists animated with the purpose of proving they are purposeless constitute an interesting subject for study.”¹ None of the science^ can reveal man’s purpose, they know noth-speculate.

More important still, man finds he needs a guide because he uniquely is a free moral agent. He has al conscience^bility to distinguish between good' and bad, between right and wrong. And so he asks, Why are injustice and suffering permitted? What is their cause? What is the remedy? What can I or must I do about it? According to

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tween mafEa-selfish desireg and his hunger for riglrfeousriess^yes, marFalone recognizes the responsibility of the “ought to,” as it has been called, which he must recognize and give its due if he would live at peace with himself. Both to determine what he ought to do and to have wisdom and strength to do it man needs a divine guide.

And, finally, man uniquely needs a divine guide because he alone is endowed with thejvorshi^ingyj^^Man is like the sheep—he needs a shepherd to guide and protect him. By means of the right religion man keeps in touch with his Shepherd, his Creator. But left to himself man’s worship instinct leads him astray in paths not only vain but harmful and even degrading.

The facts of history as well as its internal evidence identify the divine guide to be none other than the Word of Jehovah God, the Bible. It is the Word of the One who created man and who therefore best knows how to guide man. Man can choose to ignore that guide if he so wishes, but only with harm to himself.

From Adam to Moses

Turning now to that divine Guide, we find that in the very beginning God revealed to man how he was created, the purpose of his existence and what he must and must not do, all of which served as a divine guide to him. Because of failing to heed that guide, man came to grief, bringing sin, suffering and death to himself and all his offspring.—Gen. 1:28; 2: 17; 3:19; Rom. 5:12.

Serving further to guide man was the prophecy God uttered in his hearing that the Seed of the woman would bruise the head of the Serpent, while the Serpent will bruise the Seed in his heel. (Gen. 3:15) Without doubt that prophecy served as a divine guide, as an anchor of hope, tn aHaL as well as to his family—it lik^j^tirat^tfiJ^aijdUli^-^lthej^gEe married^aFthetone Jjiey offfired^the-sae*. ^^^ff^n^TatGCTiesis 4^^

wofd^oFGo^proved to be an invaluable guide to Noah, which he heeded to the saving of not only his life but that of the human race. To Abraham God not only revealed his will to have all the families of the earth bless themselves in his seed but also what constitutes right conduct, for God said: “I have become acquainted with him in order that he may command his sons and his household after him so that they shall keep Jehovah’s way to do righteousness and judgment in order that Jehovah may certainly bring upon Abraham what he has spoken about him.” Because of heeding the divine guide Abraham received the honor of being termed “the father of all those having faith” and “Jehovah’s friend”; as well as being assured^ of everlasting life and a position as prince in God’s new world so nearatTwiar=G5ri? 18:19; Rom. 4:11; Jas. 2:23; Ps. 45:16.

Particularly blessed with a more expansive expression of the divine guide was the nation of Israel. So long as they lived by that divine Guide they prospered and their fame spread far and wide, even as Moses foretold: “See, I have taught you regulations and judicial decisions, just as Jehovah my God has commanded me, . . . And you must keep and do them, because this is wisdom on your part and understanding on your part before the eyes of the peoples who will hear of all these regulations, and they will certainly say, ‘This great nation is undoubtedly a wise and understanding people.’ ”—Deut, 4:5,6.

A striking fulfillment of those words of Moses some 3,500 years later is the testimony of W. F. Albright, a noted archaeologist, who, although not properly crediting the source of Israel’s divine Guide, does recognize its superiority: “Empirical logic achieved a signal triumph in the Old Testament . . . In fundamental ethical and spiritual matters we have not progressed at ail beyond . . . the Old Testament. ... In fact, a very large section of modem religion, literature and art actually represents a pronounced regression when compared with the Old Testament.” He also speaks of “the incomparable book of Proverbs, which has never been surpassed for practical wisdom.”⁵

Also Christianity’s Guide

Consistently, the divine Guide, the Bible, also furnishes the basis for Christianity. Its founder, Jesus Christ, fully appreciated that fact. Though perfect in mind and body and blessed with the memory of previous existence with his heavenly Father, he did not disparage the divine Guide but made himself fully familiar with it and used it with telling effect throughout his ministry. He testified to God: “Your word is truth.” Repeatedly his enemies had to acknowledge his superior knowledge and understanding of that Guide: “And nobody was able to say a word in reply to him, nor did anyone dare from that day on to question him any further.” He “let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.” Heeding that divine Guide enabled Jesus to fulfill the purposes for which he came to earth and to gain “the name that is above every other name.”—John 17:17; Matt. 22:46; Rom. 3:4; Phil. 2:9.

Jesus’ apostles were of the same mind. They recognized that "all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.” By reason of that divine Guide they, as well as all the other faithful early Christians, were able to make their minds and personalities over, resist the snares of the world and triumph over persecution; leaving an example for others to imitate even as they imitated Christ.—2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

And what about our day? Never before has the need of a divine guide been more apparent than at the present time. These are indeed the last days when “critical times hard to deal with will be here.” There is lawlessness, strife and confusion on every hand: between blocs of nations, between individual nations, within nations, between members of a family and even within the minds of men. Never before has it been so obvious that “to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—2 Tim. 3:1; Jer. 10:23.

Those who appreciate the truth of those words of the prophet present a striking contrast to the rest of the world. They are giving a world-wide example of the wisdom of heeding the divine Guide. Typical is their freeing tens of thousands of Africans from bondage to witchcraft, polygamy and tribal strife. They are successfully resisting the brainwashing techniques of the Communists and are overcoming the temptations of materialism and loose conduct. Although having high Christian standards to which they rigidly adhere, they are known as the world’s fastest-growing religious group. As one popular writer observed regarding them shortly after their 1958 Divine Will International Assembly: “It seems clear that these people—who otherwise probably would have been alienated from and outside any religious influence—have sought and found in the Jehovah’s witnesses a framework that provides them with both the purpose and strength for the kind of personal morality all religions seek to espouse.”⁰ And all this has been made possible because of their recognizing God’s Word, the Bible, as the divine Guide. Truly, man uniquely does need a divine guide and that guide is none other than the Bible.

REFERENCES

i Reader’s Digest, November, 1958.

a Up from the Ape, p. 162.

:■> The Psychiatric Quarterly, October, 1948, p. 588.

• 4 The /function of Reason, Alfred North Whitehead.

• 5 Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, W. F. Albright. pp. 33, 31.

ti The New York Times, August 10, 1958.

arch at least over the local feline population. Majestic as the lion appears when viewed fullface, he lacks the agile strength of his near relative, and the tiger is quicker and more graceful and has great cunning. Men who have hunted and trained both lions and tigers believe that' the tiger is entitled to the crown as champion in regard to feats of power and strength.

fl. The king tiger of Sumatra and Java is smaller than the famed Bengal tiger of India. The Bengal tiger may tip the scales at 500 pounds and may be ten feet long, including three feet for the tall.

fl Not all tigers slink through the dense underbrush of the tropics. In his snow-covered winter homeland, the Siberian tiger faces temperatures of seventy degrees below zero Fahrenheit. And what a cat this tiger is! Though the average male weighs some 500 pounds, a good-sized one may weigh more than 650 pounds and reach a length of over thirteen feet.

fl. Only those who have been confronted with a tiger or have seen him in action can appreciate him fully. Not a few hunters, when suddenly discovering themselves in the uncomfortable presence of the jungle cat, have sensed their action reflexes being frozen or distorted, while they helplessly watch their quarry, in a few swift smooth-gliding bounds, melt away into the surroundings.

fl The tiger is one of the few cats that can swim. An expert swimmer, the tiger has little hesitance about plunging into a stream. Should he spy prey on the other side, he will swim with considerable speed. This feline athlete is also an extraordinarily good jumper, being able to cover fifteen feet in a single bound. Contrary to common belief the tiger is not a good climber; usually it is the young that try to climb trees.

fl Owing to the bright coloring of his coat and graceful body proportions, many persons consider the tiger the most beautiful of the cats. Blending well with the grass and underbrush, the tiger is almost invisible when stalking prey. The tiger kills its prey by leaping and hugging the victim and then biting its throat. After shopping, he will carry or drag away his lunch to an isolated spot where he can dine undisturbed. He satisfies his appetite with about sixty pounds or more of fresh meat, whereupon he takes a long drink and a long nap.

<1. Acute hearing is the tiger’s speciality. “They hunt by ear,” says Ivan Sanderson, “having a bad sense of smell, and very poor vision, apparently being unable to differentiate game from the bush as long as the quarry stand still.” fl How aggressive are tigers? Zoologist Sanderson says: “The Romans used them in their arenas, but they soon discovered, as did Indian princes who pitted them against bulls and buffalo, that they invariably made every effort to keep out of their antagonist’s way. Even recognized man-eating tigers are usually timid, and all of them do everything they can to remain out of sight especially of man.”

<1 A noted biologist reports that a tiger usually will not attack man, but he and others emphasize this additional point—“as long as the man stands upright.” Usually only persons in a crouched or stooped position become objects of prey, such as laborers planting or weeding in the plantations. The tiger apparently mistakes them at a distance for some animal. Having experienced how easy this type of dinner is to obtain, the tiger may come back to the same vicinity looking for more of the same and eventually become a habitual man-eater. Also, old tigers that have lost the ability to stalk natural prey may, in their dire hunger, resort to attacking man.

fl Though tigers may be dangerous to man now, the time is coming when these beautiful cats will be permanently at peace with man. Jehovah Qod has promised that peace between the animal creation and mankind will prevail in the righteous' new world: "In that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the land, and will make them to lie down safely.”—Hos. 2:18, AS.

“LET China sleep,” once said Napoleon Bonaparte, “When she awakens the world will be sorry.” If not sorry, the world is at least apprehensive at an unusual awakening in Red China, Peiping calls it “the great leap forward.” Taking a look at Red China, Time magazine saw “a nation in the throes of an economic and social convulsion unparalleled in modern history,” Also seeing some kind of an awakening, British Socialist M. P. Richard Crossman, after a visit to Red China, wrote in London’s New Statesman that he was convinced "Chinese Communism is far the biggest and far the most formidable mass movement in human history.” Largely responsible for the world’s apprehension are the “people’s communes.”

What is this movement called "people’s communes”? It is a system for totally regimenting the masses. It is a system of forced collectivization of humans. It is a system of large militarized social units based on communal living and centralized local management. The communes have been called in grimly picturesque language “vast human poultry yards.”

Whatever the communes are called, Western observers view their inauguration as an operation similar in sweep and severity to the redistributing of land and the liquidating of the landlords in 1951 and 1952. Though inaugurated some time last April, incredible progress has already been made. About 98 percent of mainland China’s 500,000,000 peasants have already been herded into the communes.

The size of communes varies. Last year Peiping announced that some 112,000,000 families had been organized into about 25,000 communes. The average commune is said to contain about 5,000 to 8,000 families; some contain as high as 20,000 families. More than 100,000 persons may thus be mustered into one of these militarized communes, A commune usually absorbs the whole population of a county, including peasants, students and professional men. Limited to the rural areas at first, the communal system is spreading to the cities.

Joining a commune is relatively simple. After “volunteering,” a person turns over virtually all his possessions to the commune. Cooking utensils, animals, house and small plots of land, etc., all become the property of the commune. If, after joining, a person is dissatisfied with the communal system, it is just too bad—there is no provision for withdrawal!

Work and Provisions for Workers

The workers are assigned en masse to do whatever needs to be done. At harvesttime they work in the fields. At other times they build dams, run factories or build new ones, operate stores, construct highways, irrigation systems and electric power facilities.

Wages depend on several factors. Incomes are not the same for all workers. Productivity and political attitude determine the amount of pay. Thus a peasant who works slowly and who is dissatisfied with the communal system receives lower wages than the person whose work output is high and whose political attitude is right. Really enthusiastic members of the commune receive bonuses.

In the more advanced type of communes only a small amount of pocket money is given the workers. Almost everything is paid for by the commune: meals, clothing and even funerals. The goal is to wipe out the use of money.

Communal facilities relieve the adults of many duties. There are communal nurseries, schools, tailoring establishments, kitchens and mess halls. Sputnik Commune, for example, has 260 mess halls where the members are fed free rice. An article in the Jenmin Jihpao (Peiping People’s Daily) of November 10,1958, exhorted party officials to improve mess-hall conditions. The article pointed out that some mess halls serve only rice and no vegetables to go with it.

Under the communal system there are no housewives, as it were. The women, relieved of home duties by communal facilities, work full time in the fields, factories, mines and communal kitchens. Women work on an equal pay basis with men. Pregnant women get a month off from work with half pay.

Highly Militarized

If a communal worker feels he has been drafted into some kind of army, it is not at all surprising. Communal workers belong to units described as divisions, regiments, battalions and companies.

Even the workday begins in military fashion. At 5 a.m. comes reveille. A roll call follows. Then the workers promptly march off to work. There is time out for breakfast at 8 a.m. and for lunch at 1 p.m. Lunch time means an hour-and-a-half rest period. The workday is supposed to end at 6 p.m. but many are called on to work eighteen hours a day. Every second week the workers get a day off.

While Red China’s leaders effuse in glowing terms about their pressing ahead toward full communism, the rest of the Communist world does not seem exultant. Some Eastern European Communists outside the Soviet Union seem apprehensive at Red China’s forging ahead toward the full collective ownership of society envisaged by Marx and Lenin. Writing in the New York Times of October 21, 1958, A. M. Rosenthal reports: “The commune system in China seems to be more in the way of discipline and conformity than Eastern European Communist intellectuals had bargained for—at least in their lifetime. Even some of the most rigid of them are appalled at the idea of an entire nation waking up to reveille, marching off to work in formation and supplanting ancestor worship with rifle worship. They are not arguing with China, but they are looking at each other with consternation.

“There is a joke going around Warsaw’s coffee houses and clubs that sums up how some of the Communist intellectuals feel about things Chinese these days. It goes: ‘Thank God for the Soviet Union. We are lucky to have a buffer state between us and the Chinese.’ ”

This same writer also tells about the Red Chinese military training program under the communal system: “Every person under 30 gets firearm training and there are two hours of drill and military exercise a day for all able-bodied persons.”

Why the Communes?

The “people’s communes” solve many problems for the Peiping regime. It is better enabled to feed mainland China’s 653,000,000 hungry mouths. Peasants now cannot evade forced deliveries of crops to the government. All farmers are forced into using new methods, such as the heavy use of natural fertilizer. Another benefit for Peiping is obvious: a totally regimented society is easier to control politically than a less regimented society.

For Peiping the big advantage of the communes is what they will accomplish industrially. As the New York Times of November 2, 1958, put it: “Communist China is in a desperate hurry to become a first-rank industrial and military power, capable, in particular, of challenging the United States, the hated nation that has refused recognition and is the chief obstacle to Peiping’s manifold international aims and aspirations. Through the communes the Communist leaders must surely intend to have an enormously more effective control of their vast militarized labor force and to be able to shift men and women about at will to whatever tasks are most pressing or important at any given time.”

Red China has already made tremendous advances. One report, for instance, says that under the communal system eight provinces in north and northeast China plan to double last year’s record harvests in 1959.

Describing gains already made, Gerald Clark, a reporter for the Montreal Star, wrote the following after a five-week visit to Red China in 1958: “Nine years ago Communist China could not produce an aspirin; today it makes all the penicillin and antibiotics its hospitals need. Last year China did not manufacture a single farm tractor; this year it turned out 20,000. And the goal for next year is 200,000. . . . So feverish has been ‘the great leap forward' this year that the Chinese themselves cannot keep even future estimates apace with actual production. The Chinese say they have doubled their grain output (to 350,000,000 tons). They say that China now is the world’s biggest cotton producer. This year it is producing 10,700,000 tons of steel—the same quantity as France. Next year, the Chinese vow, they will double this and match Britain’s capacity.”

Chinese Communist leaders are optimistic about reaching their goal. General Chu Teh, deputy chief of state, told a youth conference in Peiping recently that “the Communist society that Communists have striven to achieve for more than a hundred years” would be realized in this generation. Achievement of their goal may well depend on the success of the communes. “If human beings can be reduced to mindless production-line cogs,” commented Time magazine, “Red China may one day achieve the stature for which its rulers yearn.”

Effect on the People

The communal system has some benefits for the peasants. It probably gives many a feeling of security. It assures them of some food regularly. It relieves them of family chores and distractions. But what use is made of the time thus saved? More work to make Peiping great, more time for Communist indoctrination, more time for rifle training! Is this such a blessing?

If anything marks the Communist communal system as malignant and abominable it is the disintegration of family life. Peiping is already well on its way toward the ultimate in totalitarianism and human degradation, as envisioned by British author George Orwell in his novel 1984: “In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy—everything. Already ... no one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends. Children will be taken from their mothers at birth as one takes eggs from a hen. . . . There will be no loyalty, except loyalty to the party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother,”

That description is hardly fanciful when applied to present-day Red China. Parents hardly see their children now. The children are at nurseries and schools; the parents are in the fields all day and may work in the evening at other jobs. Under the communal system family life in Red China seems to have come to an end. How can parents train their children? They do not. The Party trains them now. While mother works, the Party trains the children, steeping them in communistic propaganda from their youth.

When one understands the principles of God’s Word, the Bible, such as the parents’ duty to “train up a boy according to the way for him,” to “go on bringing them up in the discipline and authoritative advice of Jehovah,” the evil in the Communist communal system is obvious. (Prov. 22: 6; Eph. 6:4) Whenever God’s laws and principles are broken, the result is disastrous. It will be so with Red China.

How sad the effects on children alone! What kind of morality will children have who have been brought up by an atheistic state? Indoctrinated with the ungodly dogmas of communism, they are brought up completely ignorant of God’s will for man. And now the Communist leaders of China would rob the people of China of any opportunity to learn the truth of God’s purposes, to learn about God’s kingdom and how this heavenly kingdom will make possible a righteous new world.

A report appearing in the Hong Kong, South China, Morning Post of October 17, 1958, says: “China has banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious movement following the arrest of two British missionaries, Peking Radio announced to-day.” The two missionaries, Stanley Ernest Jones and Harold George King, were arrested in Shanghai. Graduates of the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, the two Britons had been in China since 1947, two years before the Communists took Shanghai. The two missionaries and. three Chinese witnesses of Jehovah were charged with carrying on counterrevolutionary activities by “preaching from house to house.” And what was it that these witnesses of Jehovah preached from house to house? Was it politics? No! What they preached was the good news of God’s kingdom. This is the message Jehovah’s witnesses preach world-wide, and it is a message completely divorced from all political activity.

In banning the Kingdom preaching of Jehovah’s witnesses the Communist leaders of China are fighting against God. Red China is following the course of Soviet Russia, which has long banned the preaching of God’s kingdom. The Communists’ belligerence toward God and his kingdom means disaster for world communism. God’s Word specifically shows that antiGod world communism will come to its end, not at the hands of men, but at the hands of the God they speak against— Jehovah Most High. Writing prophetically of world communism, the last “king of the north” at the world’s time of the end, the prophet Daniel said:

“And the king will do according to his pleasure; and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and against the God of gods will he speak incredible things, and he will prosper till the indignation be at an end; for that which is determined will be accomplished. And to the gods of his fathers will he pay no regard; and to the desire of women, or to any god whatever will he not pay any regard; for above all will he magnify himself. But in his place will he pay honor to the god of the fortresses ... he will come to his end, without one to help him.”—Dan. 11:36-38, 45, Le.

So let Red China and other Communist nations oppose “the God of gods”; let them honor the “god of the fortresses” by building up mammoth military machines. Yet their end is certain, for God’s sure Word of prophecy will be fulfilled soon now at Armageddon, “at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels in a flaming fire, as he brings due punishment upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus. These very ones will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction.”—2 Thess. 1:7-9.

GOOD BED!"

deep sigh of contentment and gratitude and soon the soft wood-sawing purr tells us that a busy man is lost in refreshing sleep. The missionary in a faraway land returns from a home Bible study. Happy and weary after a day of physical and mental activity, she slips between those sheets. “Ahhh! Thank God for my good bed!” Haven’t you said it, too, many times?

Yes, what a great gift to man, to birds and animals alike, refreshing, recuperating sleep, and the instinct and wherewithal to provide a place of shelter and repose! Of this, Jesus said: “Foxes have dens and birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay down his head.” Not that he never slept in a bed, for surely Zacchaeus was overjoyed to give him a comfortable resting place as guest in his house. But, strangely enough, while man in general is born on a bed and spends about a third of his life on it, often to die there, the greatest man who walked this earth was born in a stable, and a manger was his first resting place.—Matt. 8:20.

A place to sleep is one of the most primitive requirements of man and is basic in hospitality, so that Lot, on seeing strangers entering the city as night drew on, felt urged to invite them to his house. Lack of shelter bespeaks destitution and stirs compassion in our hearts; to refuse this primitive need inspires abhorrence. The thousands of refugees fleeing from the cannons of war, from oppressive dictators, or from floods and natural disasters present a picture of utter desolation, giving life to the various human-aid organizations.

The need of “a bed for the night” called into being the inn and lodginghouse early in the history of man. We remember there was no room in the “lodging-room” for Mary. It was customary to have a guestchamber always in readiness. On this need the hotel industry is built, and it has become one of the leading sources of income in Switzerland and other lands, providing modern comforts and luxuries to suit the most fastidious guest. During 1957, 25,400,000 sleeping accommodations were provided in hotels and pensions in Switzerland alone.

But perhaps the greatest phenomenon of our time in this respect is the efficient streamlined organization with its great crowd of willing and untiring voluntary workers who provided over 125,000 accommodations for visitors attending the Assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in New York city during the summer of 1958, appealing to the spirit of hospitality in that great community. Similar organizations function in every land and city around the globe where such conventions are held, to the mutual blessing of both giver and receiver.

Beds Through the Centuries

The poor and travelers often slept on the ground in early Bible times, just as in warmer zones today, using their upper garment as a covering. For that reason the provision in Exodus 22:26 of not retaining a neighbor’s garment as a pledge after the sun had gone down was incorporated into the Law. And we immediately think of Jacob and his hard bed under the stars with a stone for a pillow. A bed might also be no more than a rug or mat or pallet, which would be easily rolled up and carried away, as indicated in Matthew 9:6, when Jesus said to the paralytic whom he had healed: “Pick up your bed, and go to your home.” Today in the Near East the Bedouins and other nomadic tribes sleep on woven hair or cotton mats, just as their ancestors did centuries ago.

Beds raised from the ground were used very early in the history of man, with bedsteads of wood and other materials. You remember the huge iron bedstead of giant King Og of Bashan nine cubits (thirteen and a half feet) long, and how Elijah told King Ahaziah that he would ‘not come down from that bed on which he had gone up,’ whereas Amos speaks of beds of ivory with silken cushions. Beds and the couches at banquet tables were often luxurious, as described in Esther 1:6: “Couches of gold and silver upon a pavement of porphyry and marble and pearl and black marble,” with rich coverings of tapestry and fine linen.—Deut. 3:11; 2 Ki. 1:4, 6; Amos 6: 4; 3:12, RS.

So through the centuries bedsteads have changed in form and fashion from the simple flat bronze or raised wooden bench to the richly hung four-poster, the German Himmelbettj or canopied bed. From land to land customs and tastes have changed, usually governed by the necessities of climate, until today we have come down from the high wooden bedstead to the low divan —and what a back-breaking job it is to make a row of them! The sailor speaks of his bunk; the ship’s passenger reserves a berth; the modem bed-sitting-room is furnished with a low divan or convertible couch, but a point of discussion with every passing decade still continues: Single or double beds?—that is the question!

In German Switzerland you will seldom find a double bed such as is used in France, England or America. They specialize in twin beds, which, although they may be placed together, are made up separately. This they consider more hygienic; it ensures both partners better sleep and is far preferable in cases of sickness. They are very emphatic about this, but the gentle little Frenchman, with a twinkle in his eye and stroking his beard meditatively, concluded the discussion one day by saying: “Well, you can’t keep up a domestic quarrel long sharing the same bed, now can you?” and for him that was conclusive!

Babies in Switzerland are laid in a crib containing a chaff sack, and pillows for children are preferably filled with millet chaff until their head is fully formed. Cot mattresses are often made of sea grass. Poor people in the mountain villages gather the freshly fallen dry leaves and press them into a sack to make a mattress that can be replenished or changed each fall. Arid, of course, the straw sack is well known. The farther east you go in Europe and the Balkan States the more general its usage.

Modern Beds

The older generation today swears by the horsehair mattresses, but youth is looking at inner-spring mattresses, those with layers of foam rubber, or the vulcanized latex mattresses. There are many makes with glamorous names that are being advertised on television, over the radio or on the cinema screen. To read the advertising material is to be almost convinced. Odorless; hygienic; no moths or parasites or bacteria can find a home there; comfortable, no sagging or lumps; practical, and so on. The salesman suggests a hard foundation for this mattress. The first foam-rubber beds were too soft, but this has been corrected to some extent.

But perhaps the saddler’s view and verdict are more interesting to housewives than the well-chosen words of the salesman. For the most part the saddler looks askance at these substitutes; he is not convinced. He says they are too warm in hot weather and give a chilly feeling in winter, which must be remedied by a good pad over the mattress. He advocates keeping to what nature herself provides for the ideal texture, warmth and healthiness, and by this he means horsehair with wool and cotton. For health of spine and muscles the bed must be firm and springy. A soft or sagging bed is not conducive to rest or the feeling of rejuvenation. Hospital beds are specially well sewn and firm, to prevent sagging, which only adds to friction and bed soreness. It is significant that first-class hotels have not introduced these synthetic materials, but abide consistently by the horsehair mattress. For the camper they may be ideal, however, being light and flexible and easy to transport.

Care Ensures Good Service

However, there are a few rules for the care of your bed, especially of your horsehair or inner-spring mattress. Turn often from side to side or from top to toe to ensure even usage. Inner-spring mattresses do not need to be turned as often. Do not beat it, or the inner layer of wool will become matted in the hair or damaged on the springs. Rather, vacuum or brush at intervals (the rules say monthly) instead of waiting till spring cleaning, so that dust and dirt do not get worked into the filling. Do not bend from end to end, thus straining the tick and bursting the tufting. Do not stand up on end or lay over the garden fence, or lay in the direct hot rays of the sun when putting out to air. After a good airing and sunning in early summer your bed will be all bulgy and springy again.

In Europe it is the custom to have the mattresses opened, cleaned and replenished by the saddler every ten or twelve years or even sooner, according to quality. This is done today by a machine with built-in vacuum and apparatus for loosening up the matted hair. All hotels in Switzerland stand under the control of the Commission of Hygiene and are required to have their mattresses renewed in this way periodically. First-class hotels, which are equipped with only good horsehair mattresses, by common agreement have them done after two years’ use or every third year.

In the Near East the cotton-filled mattresses, which get matted and lumpy quickly, are fluffed up and made over more often. It is a work of art then to lie comfortably around the bulges and get the mattress flattened to your own particular shape again. Being the creatures of custom that we are, our individuality is even expressed in this respect, for how often do we not hear the remark: "I just can’t sleep in a strange bed!” It starts early in life. A child playing happily in unfamiliar surroundings by day wants his Own little bed at night, where he feels safe and snug. Yes, just this freedom from fear and a sense of security are essential to sound relaxing sleep.

In temperate zones under-warmth too is essential to good sleep. Haven’t you said at some time or other: “I didn’t sleep well; I just couldn’t get warm’’? Cover your mattress with a good under-blanket. This also protects the mattress from perspiration and soiling. Never offer or sleep in an unaired or damp bed; this can have disastrous results. Today the electric pad has come to replace the old hot brick or hot water bottle in many places, but here in the country they still like their old-fashioned cherry-stone sack. Clean cherry stones are put into a linen bag and warmed during the day in the great porcelain oven. It’s fun to tuck your toes in it at night and there is certainly no danger attached to it

One thing that catches the eye of English and American visitors to Switzerland is the sheets and blankets hanging out of the windows each morning. They smile and ask: “Do you put your beds out of the window too?” and think it is rather a stretch of hygiene. This is done from spring to late fall and even on a dry-cold sunny day with the snow sparkling on meadow and roof. It is a part of the landscape to see the white sheets fluttering from the brown chalets in the mountain villages. This is becoming less frequent in the towns as more and more married women are absorbed into industry in this boom decade. But the domesticated Swiss housewife hangs the bedclothes out each day to air with pillow and duvet (a warm feather bed used on top taking the place of the English eider down), turns the mattress and makes up the bed again. Perhaps on Sundays she will say with a little guilty conscience: “Come, let’s make English beds today.” So you see, that little joke works both ways.

It is customary for the Swiss bride to provide the linen on setting up house. It is her pride to have twelve of everything from bed linen to kitchen towels, all beautifully embroidered with her initials (maiden name). True enough, fashions are changing, gay colors are taking over with nylon and cellular materials, but some girls here in the country still weave the fine linen sheets for the trousseau from the beaten threads of flax grown on the native goil. This is hard wearing, healthy and very beautiful.

The rising generation of housekeepers will probably do things differently. But when the housewife goes about her daily chore of making all those beds—for as long as a machine is not invented to do this it will surely remain her special privilege—she can be happy in the knowledge of what an essential part she has to play in the comfort, health and happiness of her family, and will feel fully compensated when she hears that deep contented sigh: “Thank God for my good bed!”

There is a very true saying here that “a good conscience is the best pillow.” This reminds us of Paul’s injunction to keep the marriage bed without defilement, serving God with a good conscience. Thus whatever material our bed may be in whatever climate, clean in heart and body we can lay ourselves down to rest, certain of Jehovah’s protection and blessing through the night watches, to awaken refreshed for further duties on the morrow. And while the wicked may devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds, men of loving-kindness, like David of old, will cry out joyfully on their beds, knowing that the time is coming when both man and beast will lie down in safety and none shall make them afraid.

L3 Americans will be learning those words as they travel over the InterAmerican Highway. Yes, instead of the call to “fill ’er up” they will need that Spanish equivalent as they buy their gas along the highway that will stretch from Laredo, Texas, to the Panama Canal. This is part of the Pan American Highway that is to reach from one end of the Americas to the other. Who dreamed up such a highway, and who is paying for it? Will it really serve a good purpose?

It was not conceived as a highway at all, but as a railroad. A railroad linking the Americas was proposed in the United States Congress in 1884 and five years later was discussed at the first Conference of American States held in Washington, D. C., in December of 1889. Then in 1923 the Fifth Conference of American States in Santiago, Chile, recommended that an Automobile Road Conference be held,

Industrial leaders and the Pan American Union took an interest in the road, and en-were invited to the United States to study the national and state highway programs.

In 1929, in Rio de Janeiro, a general plan for the road was made and that same year in October there was a conference of representatives from Mexico and Central America in Panama. In 1930 the United States Congress appropriated $50,000 to look into

the possibilities of a highway connecting the Americas, and this reconnaissance survey was completed in 1933. The survey was made by the Bureau of Public Roads in co-operation with the Central American republics. A report was published on this in 1934, giving the name “Inter-American Highway” to the portion from Laredo, Texas, to the Panama Canal. Through 1957 the United States has appropriated $128,703,000 for the building of the highway. It is along this road that Latin America expects an invasion, not of revolutionists firing their arms, but of cameraclicking tourists, shooting pictures from all angles and leaving in their wake a solid wave of material prosperity.

Mexico has been able to build its part of the highway without aid from the United States, and one can now travel from border to border on Mexico’s part of the highway, practically all of it paved. The arrangements with the Central American governments is that they pay approximately one third of the cost and the United States pays two thirds. In July of 1955, when the construction program was speeded up, 569 miles of highway were paved between Guatemala and the Panama Canal, leaving 1,004 miles yet to be paved. Since that time many more miles have been paved.

Riding over Mexican highways is no longer a novelty for many North American tourists but, undoubtedly, many, many more will want to do it when the word gets out that they can drive to Panama. Give an American tourist a car and a road and he will drive anywhere. The type of welcome he will get along the Inter-American Highway will depend greatly on his own behavior. Some will try to take advantage of him, as they do along any highway in the world, but many more will be friendly and try to help him through any difficulties. If he can speak a little Spanish he will get along much better, but sign language still serves very well. Through Mexico motels are common enough and they are springing up in Central America also. But in all towns there is a pension or small hotel with sleeping accommodations. However, they are not likely to compare with the air-conditioned, TV-equipped motels of the United States. Mr. Tourist would do well to learn the rate of exchange before leaving home so that he will know how much he is spending in each country. And, above all, all documents required to drive his car through each country should be complete. This information can be obtained from a consular office or by writing the. national tourist agency in each country.

A Visit to Mexico

Now for a quick run down to the Panama Canal, or, at least, as far as we can get. From Laredo, Texas, to Monterrey, Mexico, the highway takes the traveler over fairly level, desertlike terrain. Cactus and burros are plentiful; in fact, the burros create a traffic hazard as they wander onto the highway. To those unfamiliar with the Spanish language the pronunciation of the towns will present some difficulty. The local people might not even recognize the Anglicized pronunciation of their own home town. But one place should give the tourist no difficulty. As he stops to eat and buy gasoline he may hear more experienced travelers talking about Thomas ’n Charlie and wonder just who they are, but it is a reference to a picturesque Mexican town in the mountains north of Mexico City, Tamazunchale, roughly pronounced like the names of the two fellows above. One of the finest views of the trip to Mexico City is the descent into Zimapan. The highway curves back and forth across the face of the mountain and a vehicle appears and disappears several times as it winds its way to the valley below.

Mexico City has many attractions to offer the tourist if he has time to tarry. About three hundred miles south of Mexico City is Oaxaca, with some famous ruins and also famed for its cheese and palmleaf hats. About one hundred miles south of Oaxaca the highway begins a sudden descent to sea level and to Tehuantepec, near the Pacific coast. The tourist will make good use of his camera as he snaps pictures of the local women in their long, flowing dresses that are peculiar to this region. Now our traveler is preparing for the final lap of the Mexican highway before entering Central America, in Guatemala.

Mexico has a highway to the Guatemala border and Guatemala has a highway to the Mexican border, but unfortunately, the two roads are not even acquainted, since they lack about fifty miles or more of meeting. So about 120 miles south of Tehuantepec you will have to turn off the Inter-American Highway, go down to Arriaga and put your¹ automobile on a railroad flatcar for the trip to Tapachula. From there you can drive into Guatemala and continue on through Central America by the highway. Guatemala is working on the unfinished section of the road, and officials estimate that within a year or less it will be possible to drive through without using the railroad. They say that soon the road will be passable, but they do not recommend it for general travel. A few intrepid souls have gone through already, but most travelers are not so venturesome.

Welcome to Guatemala and Nicaragua

Guatemala offers some of the outstanding scenery of the Americas. The Mayan Indians have retained their ancient customs and dress as in no other part of Central America. They still speak their native dialects, more than ten being in use today. Guatemala is rushing road construction, and in the last few years many miles of paved highways have been completed. Especially interesting for tourists are the towns of Quezaltenango, Huehuetenango, Lake Atitlan, and Chichicastenango.

A comfortable day’s drive from Guatemala City is San Salvador, capital city of El Salvador. Here the traveler finds paved roads throughout the country. A few side trips from San Salvador are interesting, including the lava field between Santa Ana and San Salvador. Traveling two hundred and ten miles southeast brings the traveler to the Honduras border. Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, is not on the InterAmerican Highway, but an all-weather road, a small portion of it paved, covers the 120-mile trip. Most motorists prefer to make an overnight stop rather than try to drive to Managua, Nicaragua, in one day. Nicaragua is lower and hotter than the other Central American countries, but much of the highway is paved and there is no difficulty in driving any time of the year. Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua are interesting sights, with volcanoes rising out of the water. The oft-discussed new canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific would pass through Lake Nicaragua.

The Land of Oxcarts

A long day’s drive from Managua is San Jose, Costa Rica. But even now plans are being made for the construction of a luxury hotel near the border in Costa Rica. As the traveler ascends toward San Rarndn in Costa Rica he gets out of the lowlands and into the cool, comfortable climate of Costa Rica’s central plateau. San Jose, the capital city, can well boast of its climate, which is never hot and never cold. A three-hour ride from San Jose over a paved road leads directly into the crater of a now extinct volcano and is well worth the trip. Brightly painted oxcarts are the symbol of Costa Rica, but they do not serve just for a tourist attraction. The farmers use them to haul coffee, wood, bananas, or anything else that needs to be transported. Going south from San Jose, the InterAmerican Highway reaches its highest point at Cerro de laMuerte (Hill of Death), approximately 11,000 feet above sea level. A cold, penetrating wind blows constantly, but the view is worth any discomfort it may cause. From here the highway drops down to San Isidro del General and the end of the Inter-American Highway. But it will not be the end for long. Bulldozers, graders, earth-movers, other machinery and hundreds of men are working to connect Costa Rica with Panama. Engineers estimate that within two years or less it will be possible to drive on through to Panama and they talk confidently of having practically all of it paved within three years.

For those who do not demand the very latest in traveling accommodations and comforts, many enjoyable experiences await them along this highway. The people they will meet are just like people everywhere else; there are honest people, there are crooks, there are friendly people, there are hostile. The area tapped by this highway is merging from centuries of backwardness, having been held back by dictators and priests. Along with its highways it is building schools to educate its children and hospitals to care for its sick. Modern cities and primitive villages are only a few miles apart. But material progress is surely finding its way throughout these countries.

Spiritual progress has not lagged behind. In fact, in recent years many thousands have studied and learned the truth of God’s Word and are now serving as his witnesses. So when you call, “llenelo,” one of Jehovah’s witnesses might fill your tank, or he might serve you at one of the many shops, hotels or restaurants where you stop. He will be glad to see you as you travel along the InterAmerican Highway. He will be even happier if you choose to travel with him along another highway, that mentioned at Isaiah 35:8, in the Bible: “And there will certainly come to be a highway there, even a way; and the Way of Holiness it will be called. The unclean one will not pass over it. And it will be for the one walking on the way, and the foolish themselves will not wander about in it." Instead of leading to the Panama Canal, that highway leads to life, life without end in the new world the Creator has promised, when this earth will be a Paradise. The time set for the completion of that highway is very near, and its Great Constructor will see that it is finished exactly on time. Hundreds of thousands are now joyfully traveling along that way, and yet there is ample room for all who wish to follow it to its glorious end, a new world of righteousness.

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After the close of the Divine Will International Assembly two delegates who were doing some sight-seeing encountered a crowd gathered around a "soapbox orator” on Broadway in New York city. He was heatedly denouncing the witnesses and their assembly until a little woman with a lot of determination stepped up. She said that she was not a witness, but since attending part of the assembly she was going to study the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. And she boldly told them what she had already learned about the nearness of the end of the old world.

As the "soapbox orator” tried to resume his vilification of the witnesses a husky American Negro stepped up and told him to be-

• ■ quiet. Although he was not a witness, he had f attended the assembly and he told the others present that they would have been far better

• • off if they had done the same. About that time f a policeman thought it best to disperse the j crowd.

■ 'm As they left, a gentle-looking lad followed < the woman who had spoken favorably about j the witnesses and asked if she could give him ' more information. All she had was the booklet \ God’s Kingdom Rules—Is the World’s End f Near? which she had received that afternoon * at the assembly, so she handed it to him to f read. That part of their tour warmed the / hearts of those two sight-seeing delegates ⁷ more than anything else that evening.

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endowment, double the maternity allowance, free dental treatment for all children under 16, personal unsecured loans from the Commonwealth Bank, marriage loans at low prices, employees’ fares to and from work as a taxable deduction, reduction of sales tax, an increase in age and invalid pensions.” These were some of the inducements offered to the Australian public by Dr. Evatt in his policy speech for the Australian Labour party in their bid for the public vote at the federal elections held throughout Australia on November 22, 1958. It was nine years since the Labour party had held office in the federal government and the campaign for power promised to be interesting.

What was to be the answer by the Liberal party to these attractive offers made by their opponents? Were they going to outbid Labour by additional attractive offers, or were they going to rest on their record of the past nine years and let the public judge for themselves? The answer to these questions was given a fortnight later, on October 29, by Menzies in his policy speech for the Liberal party. Menzies made it clear that his government

wished to be judged on its record during the past nine years. ‘‘The success of our policies is clear,” Menzies said; “yet our opponents say Australia is on the verge of ruin. All I can say is that if it were, the Evatt policy would push it over.” He undertook to restrain inflation, maintain employment, encourage investment of foreign capital, but made no promise of tax relief. He added, “We do not change our political principles at election time. Our slogan is Australia Unlimited.”

What were the voters to think of all this? How was this to affect them and their families? The Australian workingman was sensing changing conditions, that things were not so good and easy as they had been ten or even five years ago, that competition in every field was keen, and that unemployment, though not high, was rising fairly steadily.

The general feeling was that a false move now could adversely affect the economy of the nation, which no one desired. On the other hand, the Labour party was dangling an attractive bait, had a fine record when in power in times gone by, and the matter was one for deep consideration. Many were the discussions, some heated, in factories and offices, in hotels and on the streets, and in the homes of the people.

What is the true story about Australia? What has been the progress since the war years, and what are the prospects for the future? The facts show Australia is prosperous, in the sense that nearly everyone has a job, good money is being earned, and production and consumer buying are high. The growth of the economy in nine years of Liberal government has been great. And yet an American or, more pointedly, an Englishman or German from previously war-torn Europe looking at Australian roads and railways, or at Sydney’s buses and trams, might think we were a rather poor and backward people. Development has been patchy. Much more important, the rate of growth (which is the important thing to watch) has slowed down badly. And this is a real danger signal.

Furthermore, farm incomes were down by a third in 1957, and the 1958 wool prices were down again. Because of high internal costs, it becomes increasingly hard to export, and the total of these things could mean much tighter import restrictions, bringing further unemployment. The Menzies government expressed no undue concern when these matters were brought to their notice, but Dr. Evatt, on the other hand, said that the Australian economy badly needs “a shot in the arm,” and there is no doubt that his proposals would pep up the sluggish economy. But in the citizen’s mind comes the question, “Who is going to pay for it all?”

To further complicate the issue for the elector is the entry of the church into politics. Speaking at a meeting of the men’s society of the Methodist Church, the president-general of the Methodist Church of Australasia said: “A church could not support a political party, but Christian spokesmen should point out the Christian principles which should determine how to vote.” Opposing the Communist party and the Australian Labour party, and openly supporting the Democratic Labour party (a breakaway from the Australian Labour party) the Roman Catholic archbishop of Melbourne, Dr. Mannix, said: “Every Communist and every Communist sympathiser in Australia wants a victory for the Evatt party.” Referring to a recent pastoral letter to Australian Catholics from their Cardinal Gilroy, Dr. Mannix added: “The Democratic Labour Party has stood for the principles espoused in that pastoral letter. Can the same be said of the others?”

Such was the dilemma facing the 5,421,000 electors as they listened, read or had put before them on television the various viewpoints of the leading politicians and commentators. Often the term politician is used “more or less disparagingly as applying to a person primarily interested in political offices and their profits.” As defined by Webster’s dictionary, a politician should be “experienced in the science of government,” but one brings to mind that an earlier meaning of the word was “a schemer, an intriguer.”

The Australian Governmental System

Australia is a federation of six states: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. However, the power to govern is divided between seven independent parliaments, those of the six states sitting locally and the federal parliament sitting at Canberra. At the end of the nineteenth century Australia consisted of six British colonies, the above-named states each wholly and separately controlled by its own parliament and constitution.

Under the stress of external danger and for certain internal domestic reasons, the six colonies combined or federated in 1901. A constitution was drawn up creating a central authority, but the powers given to the new federal parliament were limited.

The state parliaments retained their general legislative powers, but yielded a specified list of powers to the federal parliament particularly relating to foreign and interstate trade, taxation, custom duties, immigration, defense and foreign affairs. There have been few clashes between federal and state laws and where contradiction does occur appeal is made to a judiciary authority, the High Court.

In spite of constitutional restrictions, the federal government has steadily increased in power since 1901. When called upon to interpret the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act of 1&01 in the light of modern-day pressures, the High Court has favored increase of federal power. The expansion of the power of the federal government is mainly due to its strong financial position: it has a virtual monopoly of customs and excise duties, income tax, payroll tax and sales tax. The states may impose taxes, but the High Court granted the federal government priority in collection over states. This has enabled the federal authorities to force the states out of the field of taxation. The federal government collects all income tax and then reimburses the states, on the condition that they impose no state income tax. Control of the nation’s purse strings puts the federal authority in a powerful position, particularly since Australia is leaning toward the welfare state, increasing for the private citizen the provision of social services and public utilities. In fact, the major political struggles take place fiver promises of reduced taxes and increased social services. So the reason for the eagerness on the part of a politician to obtain a seat in¹ the federal parliament and, in turn, the importance to a particular party of holding the reins of office in Australia can be seen.

Today the elector’s choice is between three main parties, Liberal party, mainly supported by the middle class and whitecollar workers, the Country party, supported by the farmers, and the Labour party, which is rooted in the trade unions and mainly supported by the wage earners. In 1955 the Labour party split over the issue of communism within the party, causing the formation of a minor group, the Democratic Labour party. In the federal field the Liberal and Country parties join to form a united front against Labour and have held office for about a decade under the leadership of Prime Minister Menzies. However, there are people from all classes who, for various reasons, can be influenced and represent the swinging vote. They may be attracted by the promises of one party or may be discontented with the performance of another or feel that fresh faces are needed on the political scene.

How It Has Decided

The poll of November 22 resulted in a return to power of the Menzies government, as it retained its former large majority in the House of Representatives and gained control over the Senate. The Catholic-backed Democratic Labour party failed to win one seat in the House of Representatives, its function being to split the Labour vote by allocating its second preferences to the Liberal party.

Curiously, this planet earth is the only place in creation where democratic government functions. According to the Bible, the rest of the universe is governed theocratically, that is, it is “God ruled.” This present generation of earth dwellers will see a changeover to the theocratic arrangement, bringing the wayward earth into line with Jehovah’s purposes. In fact, many people on earth already admit that “Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Statute-giver, Jehovah is our King,” and by their life and actions give proof of the happiness and unity of His New World society.—Isa. 33:22.

belo, Panama, to celebrate the religious festival of the “Black Christ.”

This observance has been going on for three hundred years, since 1658, when, according to legend, the “Black Christ” appeared at Porto-belo. Each October 21 the townspeople set aside their commercial pursuits to celebrate the possession of the statue, which, according to some, has miraculous healing powers. -

But why is this a “black" Christ when it is generally believed that Christ was a white man? Simply because the image is made out of dark-brown wood. The image is the size of a full-grown man. The church that houses the image has acquired many treasures and jewels, which attract many tourists. It is a custom to promise the idol that if it will cure a certain organ of the body, then a duplicate of that organ will be made of gold or silver, or whatever the promise may be, and this will be given to the idol as soon as the organ is cured.

There are several legends about the origin of the wooden statue. Says the Panama American, October 18, 1(958: “One historian relates that at a time when a great epidemic of cholera raged on the Isthmus [of Panama], a strange box was seen floating on the water near the beach. A group of fishermen went out for it in their cayucos and succeeded in bringing it ashore. They were astonished when they found that the box contained an image of ‘Cristo Cruciftcado.’ The statue was taken to the church and the legend states that from that day the pestilence began to die down and within a few days had completely disappeared from

Portobelo, although it still raged in other parts of the Isthmus. . . . they immediately proclaimed the Black Christ patron saint of the city.”

There are other legends in regard to the finding of the "Black Christ.” One says that the statue was a gift from Catholics in Spain to a church in Cartagena. The boat carrying the statue docked at Portobelo for fresh supplies and provisions. When returning to sea it ran into a tremendous tropical storm, | which forced the captain to order the vessel back to Portobelo, Five times he tried to sail tout, but five times he was thwarted by the •great storm. Finally the ship’s crew decided " that the statue was to blame for their delays and tossed it overboard. The townsfolk were shocked at this lack of respect and housed the statue.

Worshipers of this statue do not quibble over the validity of these legends. The main thing, they say, is that the image does perform miracles. One such cure was supposedly performed on a young woman. She promised the statue two golden lungs if it would heal her of tuberculosis. During the year she was being treated by a doctor. She showed signs of improvement and later was pronounced cured. Who was to receive the credit for the cure, the statue or the doctor? Credit was given to the statue, and the two golden lungs were paid in gratitude. In Panama most devout Catholics say: “If God does not will, the saint can do nothing." Still if there is any resemblance of a cure, the credit always goes to the statue and not to God.

Image worship is condemned in God's Word, the Bible. The second of the Ten Commandments declares: “You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion.” Paul commands: “My beloved ones, flee from idolatry.”—Ex. 20:4, 5; 1 Cor. 10:14.

However, year after year these commands go unheeded. Church bells toll in Portobelo. There are religious ceremonies and a procession with the image through the winding dirt streets. At midnight the statue is taken back to the church to remain there for another year. The crowds dance and play games until the wee hours of the morning. But there are a growing number of persons who see the danger of such idolatry and are turning their praise to the true and living God, Jehovah.

THE New York Times, November 19, 1958, told of a father’s being “committed to Bellevue Hospital for mental observation” by a city magistrate for “having applied burning papers to the feet and calves of his son.” The son was taken to a hospital and was reported to be “in fair condition with first and second degree burns.” How horrible! we exclaim when we read of such a thing, and yet how many accuse God, our heavenly Father, of far worse things! Since the laws of the land prohibit cruel and unusual punishment, is it reasonable to hold that God, who is the very essence of justice, mercy and love, would inflict such? Does God need a psychiatrist? Let us reason on the facts as revealed in the Scriptures.

The Bible gives us a simple account of God’s creating the earth, preparing it for man’s habitation and then creating the first human pair. Man was commanded to have offspring, fill the earth, subdue it or make it all a paradise, and to have dominion over the lower animals. (Gen. 1:28) Of course, man had done nothing to merit all these blessings. But God did provide a test of obedience, commanding man not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree. The first man, Adam, upon being presented with a wife, Eve, informed her of this command. —Gen. 2:16,17.

The account next tells us that Eve transgressed by eating of the forbidden fruit. True, she was deceived, but only because she lacked appreciation. She chose the word of a stranger in preference to that of her God only because she was willing to risk losing everything in the hope of getting still more than she already had. In modem phrase, she gambled and lost. Adam was not deceived; he did not gamble; he foolhardily spumed everything else for the sake of being with his wife.—Gen. 3: 1-6.

God’s Word tells us that at the end of 930 years Adam died. What happened to him upon his death? Did he go to heaven? Then he profited by disobeying, and that although he started all mankind on the road to death. No, he did not go to heaven, for Jesus when on earth plainly said, “No man has ascended into heaven.”—John 3: 13.

Then did Adam go to a burning hell? Would he go to a burning hell for a single act of disobedience? Then certainly God should have warned him of that penalty. Even the laws of man do not permit a change in punishment after the crime has been committed. No, neither heavenly bliss nor a burning hell awaited Adam at death, but extinction, in keeping with God’s sentence: “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” Where was Adam before he was created? There was no Adam. Where was he after he died and returned to the dust? Again, there was no Adam.—Gen. 3:19.

For God to have sentenced Adam to an eternity of torture because of a disobedient act would indicate that God acted out of spite, rage and chagrin at man’s course. God does not take man that seriously. To do so would put God in the class of the passion-driven lover who killed the girl he claimed to have loved because she refused to marry him. That lover was not thinking of her happiness; he did not love the girl; he loved only himself. Men condemn such a crime but teach that God does similar things. No, God does not act like such a selfish frustrated lover. He merely states to those toward whom he shows love, ‘If you do not appreciate my gifts, you will not receive them indefinitely.’ At death they will end.

That makes sense. “God is love,” we are told. (1 John 4:8) Unselfishness prompted him to create Adam and Eve, and all his creatures for that matter, in the first place. For their own well-being and happiness it was necessary that they acknowledge the supremacy of their Creator and express appreciation to their Benefactor. This they were to do by being obedient. When they showed themselves undeserving of God’s goodness, God did not feel such hurt pride and rage that he sentenced them to an eternity of torture. He merely decreed that they lose the blessings he had bestowed upon them. That, not torment, but “dust ... to dust” was the penalty other Scriptures fully corroborate.

“His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground, in that day his thoughts do perish.” “For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all.” “There is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol [gravedom], the place to which you are going.” “The wages sin pays is death.” And comparing man to the beasts, God's Word further states: “They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.”—Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5,10; Rom. 6:23; Eccl.3:20.

And only thus do the teachings of the rest of the Scriptures make sense; in their many references to man’s sleeping in death and in their telling of his being awakened by a resurrection. Roman Catholic priest Msgr. Harry J. Wolff may claim that at the moment of death We meet God, but if that is so, why a resurrection? Only because man sleeps in death, is unconscious, may the dead be spoken of as being still in the memorial tombs, as Jesus said: “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.” In passing, note that the Scriptures show that this judgment day will be a thousand years long.—John 5:28, 29; 2 Pet. 3:8.

Then what about the texts frequently quoted to support the eternal torment teaching, that speak of “everlasting fire” and of “the fire that cannot be put out”? First of all, let us note that since the Bible is God’s Word it cannot contradict itself; it therefore follows that there must be an explanation, and there is. The Bible uses both figurative and literal expressions, even as we do in our everyday conversations. An examination of the context of such expressions always reveals that figurative language is being used: in one instance Jesus speaks of sheep and goats, in the other of cutting off our hand or plucking out an eye. And so also fire is used figuratively, as a symbol of destruction, annihilation. Thus we read that “all the wicked ones [God] will annihilate,” which end is also termed “the second death, the lake of fire.”—Matt. 25:41; Mark 9:43; Ps. 145:20; Rev. 20:14.

Thus the Scriptures clearly indicate what justice and reason would expect: Man Is not more just than God. God does not torture his creatures. God does not require a psychiatrist!

het God be found true, though every man be found a liar.—Rom, 3:4.

preach in AH the riV                                            --- ------

Honduras

THE republic of Honduras is located in the mountainous region of Central America. It is one of the largest of the Central American countries, but small in population, with only 1,700,000 people scattered throughout the land.

Honduras is a country of many contrasts and extremes. Here are the rich with their big mansions and the poorer people with their little mud huts and dirt floors. In this land you will find dark-skinned Indians, lighter-faced Spanish, Negroes from the islands off the coast of Honduras, a few Europeans and some Americans who have charge of the fruit companies on the north coast. So from the mountainous parts of Honduras to its flat coastal plains, from the country’s modern capital Tegucigalpa to primitive Indian villages, from the modern car to the commonly seen burro and oxen, Honduras is a country of contrasts and variety.

Even in the missionaries a contrast can be seen in their different methods of preaching and teaching the people. Here Jehovah’s witnesses stand out in contrast to the missionaries of Christendom. Their method, although primitive, in that it has been in use since the days of Jesus and the apostles, is still very effective because of the modern means used for carrying it out through the use of printed literature with oral instruction.

When the ministry work of Jehovah’s witnesses first began in Honduras about 1930, it was centered mainly in the larger cities on the coast, the only inland point of activity being at the capital, Tegucigalpa, where the Watch Tower Society maintains a Branch office. In a period of a few years the preaching work took root. It was not until 1946, however, that the Watch Tower Society sent trained missionaries to work and to organize congregations. The work mushroomed. The number of ministers has increased from nineteen in 1946 to over 480 today. The preaching work is carried on in thirty different towns.

The majority of the people are humble, peace-loving folk that have a sincere desire to know God and his Kingdom promises. So the missionaries of Jehovah’s witnesses find it a pleasure to work among them. Often people will say, “You must have the truth to do what you are doing here. You are doing a wonderful work trying to help our people.” Or. as one woman said, “I’ve tried all kinds of religions, but after reading some of your literature I know you people have the truth. Will you study the Bible with me?” She is now attending the meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses.

Spending a day with Jehovah’s witnesses gives a real glimpse of the people, their lives and the land they live in, whether it may be in the hill country or traveling through the jungle parts or in the banana camps on the northern coast. To give you an idea of how this ministerial work is being done, here are comments from a letter from one of the missionaries in the capital.

He says, “I have a territory that is truly international. I witness to Indians, pure Spanish, Germans, Italians, Americans, men of all professions, such as lawyers, government men, doctors, even ambassadors from other countries. One night I study by candlelight with a family in a little hut, and the next night I am Ln the spacious living room of an embassy where the ambassador is interested in our work. As the ambassador put it, ‘You people are doing a good work for the people of Central and South America. They are sadly in need of education, and the most important education is concerning the Bible, for it gives the people hope and peace of mind and heart. The people need this because they have seen nothing but wars and bloodshed. They need your help.’ ”

At first the work was centered in the larger towns of the country, but with the use of more missionaries and also local full-time ministers, smaller towns have been opened up and thus many more people have come to hear of Jehovah’s purpose of a new world of righteousness. With this it can be said that almost all the country’s territory is now being covered regularly with the Kingdom message.

The biggest problem for missionaries in Honduras is transportation. On the Caribbean side it is mostly by train that they travel, but on the mountainous south side it is by truck, car, or bus that their trips must be made. The roads are mainly dirt and they are dusty. The government is centering its attention on improving the nation’s highways in the next few years.

Taking a trip with the witnesses to their assembly city can be an experience in itself. A journey to a remote place may necessitate crossing mountains, streams and rivers. Often groups of witnesses will travel in small buses or German cars, as they are called. Once when making a trip of this kind the driver came to a river and there was no bridge. There was a little ferry present that transported one car or one truck at a time across the river. The ferry was literally pulled across by two men. The assembly site was a large unfinished building without a lighting system as yet. The witnesses moved in, set up their own lights and sound equipment and eyen installed a kitchen. After a few hours of hard work the large building was converted into an attractive assembly site, and the people of that section of Honduras got to hear about God’s kingdom and the new world blessings at hand.

---------?C3EE

i • Why it is that, no matter what man does, j this world will not work? P. 4, fl3,

/   • What Bible book archaeologist W. F. Al

' bright said "has never been surpassed for r practical wisdom”? P. 6, fl6.

/   • Why it is that today, more than ever be

fore, man needs a divine guide? P. 7^ fl2.

• What cat can swim? P. 8, flS.

j • What has recently been described as ‘‘a

• • nation in the throes of an economic and f social convulsion unparalleled in modern his-j tory”? P. 9, fll.

  
  
  

  OU KNOW?

  
  

• • How family life fares in China’s “com- / munes”? P. 12, fl.

• • What the Swiss mean by ‘making English > beds'? P. 16, fl2.

• • Which Central American country is called f the land of oxcarts? P. 19. flj.

• • In which country the power to govern is divided between seven independent parlia-

ments? P. 22, flS.

*

• • Why Panamanians speak of the “black”

Christ? P. 24, fl3.

• • Why it is impossible for man to be af- i flicted in hell-fire when be dies? ?. 26, fl 2.

  ^WATCHINGf

  
  
  
  
  

Castro versus War Criminals

<^> About I,COO war criminals connected with the regime of ousted Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista would be brought to trial, said reports issued on January 19 by Fidel Castro’s new government. Qn January 22 the first of planned summary courts-martial of "war criminals” took place before a crowd of 18,000 persons in Havana’s Sports City Stadium, The first of three officers of the Batista regime to be brought before the public was Major Jesus Sosa Blanco, who was convicted of such crimes as murder, arson and theft and was sentenced to be executed. Major Blanco appealed his case to the Superior War Council and it was scheduled for consideration on January 27. The stadium trials were called off on January 26 as the second of the Batista officers, . Captain Pedro More]bn, was ' summoned before a tribunal at a military camp in Havana. Cuban-U.S. relations became somewhat strained on January 10 with the resignation of U.S. Ambassador to Cuba Earl E. T. Smith, who was later replaced by Philip Bonsai.

Berlin and German Issues

& The Soviet Union, in notes to twenty-seven countries on January 10, proposed that a twenty-eight-nation parley be held within two months for the negotiation ot a pea^e treaty between East and W^t Germany. Such a proposal w'^as certain to be unacceptable t° the West, Which has desired that free elections be held ^so as to bring about the reunification of Germany. U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles reportedly stated cm January 13 that free elections were not necessarily the od'y means for reunifying Germany. Mr. Dulles’ commer^lts alarmed West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, P^ut on the following day the U-^s-Secrotary of State clarified hi^s statement by adding that ^he knew of no alternative. U-S. President Eisenhower also indicated that there had been no change in U.S. policy regarding Germany. In Mosco^w, following a two-week visit the U.S., Soviet Deputy premier Anastas L Mikoyan suggested that there could be a possible extension of t*¹⁶ Russian-proposed May 27 deadline for Soviet withdrawal from East Berlin. The Krein-lin was quick to declare ^orl January 25, however, that such an extension should not b^e viewed as a Soviet compromise on German issues or an abandonment of Russian demand⁸ that Western forces evacuate West Berlin.

Clemency, but Clashes Continue The government of French President Charles de Gaulle decreed on January 13 that Algerian rebels would be granted considerable clemency. Certain rebel leaders held by the French would apparently be given greater freedom, the death sentences of other insurgents would be commuted to life imprisonment and prison terms of still others would be reduced, according to the Paris statement. On January 15 the French made an offer of safe conduct for leaders of the Algerian rebels who would agree to come to Paris for cease-fire talks. The following day, by a vote of 453 to 56, the National Assembly upheld Premier Michel DebiA in his policy maintaining that France exercises unquestioned sovereignty over Algeria. Despite the wide clemency afforded the rebels, a new wave of unrest spread over Algeria on January 21. Within fowc days the French army experienced more than 38 casualties as the Algerian insurgents pushed their new drive against French forces employing ‘‘pure guerrilla strategy.”

Iraq: Arif Convicted

Abdel Salem Arif, once a close associate of Iraqi premier Abdul Karim el-Kassem, was convicted on January 24 of plotting against the present Baghdad government. Arif had figured prominently in the overthrow of the pro-Western monarchy of King Faisal on July 14. Shortly thereafter he became deputy premier and interior minister in the new government. A few months later, however, Arif lost these posts and was appointed, in October, as Iraq’s ambassador to West Germany. On November 4 Arif was arrested by Iraqi authorities and charged with "plotting against the country's interests.” The formal wj.p. leader was tried and convicted of treason during a secret session of a people's court, part of a series of trials

of alleged "enemies of the people.”

Mexltaii-t>uatemalan Rift

+ Mexico’s President Adolfo L6pez Mateos announced on January 23 that his country had broken off diplomatic relations with Guatemala. The severing of ties followed three unsuccessful attempts toward resolving a fishing dispute between the two nations. On De-cember 31 Guatemalan air force planes strafed Mexican fishing vessels within Guatemalan territorial waters. Three Mexican fishermen were killed, fourteen were injured and eleven others were arrested by Guatemalan authorities. Guatemala holds that its territorial limits extend twelve miles from its shore. On January 24 Guatemalan President Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes declared that Mexico had massed military forces on "our maritime and land borders” prior to the severing of ties. He further stated that the Guatemalans considered the strafing the same as “the capture and punishment of delinquents within its own territory.”

Italy’s Cabinet Crisis

<$> Italian Premier Amin tore Fanfani presented his resignation and that of his cabinet to President Giovanni Gronchi on January 26. Signor Fanfani’s coalition government of Christian Democrats and Democratic Socialists had been installed on July 2, 1958. A lack of support by even his own Christian Democratic party precipitated the cabinet collapse and Si-g n o r Fanfani’s resignation. President Gronchi requested that Fanfani and his supporters continue to function as a caretaker government until a new government could be set up. Consultations regarding the formation of another government, which customarily requires several days, began on January 27.

Congo Unrest

Two Congolese district mayors in the Negro section of Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo were arrested on January 12. They were charged with having forced seven district mayors in that city to sign a manifesto demanding the release of Mayor Kasavu-bu, who had been arrested because of suspected connection with pro-independence riots that had taken place in Leopoldville about a week earlier. The Abako party, which had been headed by Mayor Kasa-vubu, came under governmental ban on the same date. On the following day, January 13, Brussels announced as their aim in the Congo the establishment eventually of a democracy "capable of exercising sovereignty and making decisions about its independence.” On January 25 about a thousand African rioters stormed government buildings in Matadi, the chief port of the Belgian Congo. Attacked also was the Lady of Fatima Mission and Church in Mata-di’s Negro quarter. Several persons were injured before police restored order.

Pope Flans Parley

>$> Pope John XXIII an-nounced on January 25 that he would call an ecumenical council. Its objectives would include the laying of groundwork for eventual unity of the Roman Catholic Church and other religions of Christendom. Of primary concern and as its initial objective, the council would seek the reuniting of Eastern Orthodoxy with Roman Catholicism. Roman Catholic churchmen of various ranks numbering about 1,800 may, according to canon law, participate in the prospective ecumenical council. The pope also plans a revision of church legislation, including the Code of Canon Law of 1917, during the parley. The split between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches became filial in the eleventh century, and each community views the other as schismatic,

Finland.* Cabinet and a Talk

A new cabinet was formed in Helsinki on January 13 by Vieno Johannes Sukselainen, Finnish parliamentary speaker. A five-party coalition government under Karl August Fagerholm had resigned on December 4. The newly installed fifteen-member cabinet had been chosen from the country’s Agrarian party, with the exception of Foreign Minister Ralf Torngren, who is of the Swedish People’s party, but who is serving in the Finnish government as a private individual. Some days thereafter, on January 22, Finnish President Ur ho K. Kekkonen met with Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev In Leningrad, Their discussions were reportedly held for the purpose of improving relations between Russia and Finland.

Argentine Strike

-$> Peronist labor unions in Argentina called a national strike on January 17. Quick action by federal police and army units quelled the strikers to some extent. Within two days, however, more than 1,500,000 workers were off their jobs. Attempts were made to achieve accord through secret talks between government representatives and labor union leaders. By January 22 the general strike had been successfully brought under control. Earlier, however, on January 18, Argentine President Arturo Frond izi turned over governmental affairs to Vice-President Jose Maria Guido and departed for a twelve-day visit to the U.S. The strike had been called apparently because of the unpopularity of Frondizl's new economic measures. While in Washington, Frondizi sought to encourage the investment of U.S. capital in Argentina,

Moscow Envoy Molotov

$> In July, 1957, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav M. Molotov was appointed as Moscow’s ambassador to Outer Mongolia and was apparently sent to virtual oblivion. Some sources held that the reason for Molotov’s d owngrading was that he had desired to follow a harsher antiWestern line than did Nikita S. Khrushchev, now Russia’s premier. It was reported on January 10 that Moscow had requested and been granted permission to appoint 68-year-old Molotov as the Soviet ambassador to the Netherlands. When queried on the possible appointment of Molotov, the Dutch Foreign Ministry commented, “We know nothing about it.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Underground

•$> On January 13 Soviet Culture, the publication of the Soviet Ministry of Culture, declared that Jehovah’s witnesses were operating underground in Russia. From time to time, according to the Soviet organ, literature published by the Brooklyn headquarters of Jehovah’s witnesses has filtered into the Soviet Union. “Recently,” it was stated, “an entire stock of such literature was discovered in a building on the outskirts of the city of Lvov, with typewriters and mimeographing machines. A similar stock was found in the city of Borislav, where one of the mother organizations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses underground is located.” Thus, despite Communist opposition, Jehovah’s witnesses are found to be carrying on their work behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union.

Betrothal Formalized

The betrothal of Japan’s Crown Prince Akihito to Miss Michiko Shoda,, a commoner, the daughter of a Japanese industrialist, was formalized on January 14 in simplified ceremonies in Tokyo. One of the departures from custom was the presentation of gifts to Miss Shoda’s parents by a representative of the bridegroom instead of an envoy of the Emperor. An informal announcement of the engagement was made on November 27, following an approval by Japan’s Imperial Council. Akihito met Miss Shoda on a tennis court in August of 1957. It was said that of nineteen Shinto rites usually connected with the marriage of a Crown Prince, only three or four would be observed at the time of Akihita’s wedding scheduled for April. The ancient rites, according to some sources, no longer seem apropos under Japan's present democratic form of government, and especially so in view of the renunciation of divinity by Emperor Hirohito on January 1, 1946.

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