Are You Reaching Out for Equality?

Overcoming the Problems of Insect Control

Which Way, UN?

Nature’s Rambling Pincushions

JANUARY 22, 1962

THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

Newt 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 ore on all 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 ond 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!'*

CONTENTS

Can You Acknowledge a Mistake?

Are You Reaching Out for Equality?

Nature Notes

Overcoming the Problems of

Insect Control

When Disaster Strikes

Teen-Agers Impressed by Witness Pals

Which Way, UN?

“Finance Counselors" Hastened Our Business Ruin

Witnessing by Christian Conduct

Nature’s Rambling Pincushions

“Your Word Is Truth”

Happiness for All in the New World

Watching the World

HAVE you never made a mistake? Have you always been correct with every decision you have made, every opinion given and every action taken? It is most unlikely that you would say Yes. Imperfect humans are certain to make mistakes, some more than others. The best they can do is to exercise great care so as to reduce the number they make. Edward J. Phelps, a United States jurist of the nineteenth century, observed: “The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.”              '

You may readily admit that you are not infallible, but when it comes to acknowledging an error do you strive to make people think you are? When confronted with a mistake do you stoutly argue that it is not an error, when in your heart you know that it is? Do you strive to twist the facts in order to justify what you have done rather than to admit humbly that you were wrong? Some persons are so stubborn in this respect that they never change their story. They will never admit an error.

Regarding them the poet Alexander Pope wrote:

“Some positive persisting fops we know, Who, If once wrong, will needs be always so;

But you with pleasure own your errors past, And make each day a critique on the last.” This is good advice. It is better to acknowledge ownership of your errors so you can dispose of them than to let pride make you stubbornly hold on to them. Such stubbornness is not showing respect for the truth.

God’s Word requires people to “speak truthfully with one another.” (Zech. 8:16) This must be done at all times. If out of pride one tries to hide the fact that he made an error by untruthfully denying it, he makes himself a liar. That is no way to win the approval of the God of truth, who says in his Word: “There will dwell inside my house no worker of trickiness. As for anyone speaking falsehoods, he will not be firmly established.” (Ps. 101:7) Jehovah’s approval comes upon those who are truthful in everything they do, not upon those who by tricky argument try to squirm out of responsibility for a mistake. Look what happened to King Saul when he tried to do that.

When Samuel brought Saul to task for failing to destroy all the cursed Amalek-ites and their possessions, Saul tried to argue his way out of responsibility for the error, “But I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah -. . . And the people went taking from the spoil sheep and cattle, the choicest of them as something devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Jehovah your God in Gilgal.” (1 Sam. 15:20, 21) Not until Samuel told him bluntly that Jehovah had rejected him did he finally admit that he had sinned. His selfjustification is in marked contrast to what King David did when he was accused of a grave mistake.

The prophet Nathan rebuked David for committing adultery with Bath-sheba and having her husband, Uriah, killed. Instead of denying his error and taking the proud position that as king his integrity should not be questioned, David acknowledged his grave sin and showed true repentance. In remorse he said to Nathan: ‘T have sinned against Jehovah.” (2 Sam. 12:13) David did not pretend to be right and innocent when he knew that he was not.

It is foolish for one to try to build up in the minds of other people the illusion that he is such a great intellect and so careful with what he does that he is never wrong. Anyone who has such an inflated opinion of himself needs to take a lesson from David in manifestirig humility. He needs to realize that he is not flawless. What may seem impossible to him can happen. He can make mistakes. How much better it is to face up to them instead of trying to pin them on someone else or trying to argue around them!

No one can maintain the respect of others if he always insists that he is right, even when confronted with an obvious mistake. This continual self-justification becomes repugnant to them. How can anyone have confidence in a person who they know from past experience will sacrifice the truth to put on an appearance of being right?

If anyone talks to others about the necessity of living according to God’s righteous principles, should he not live by them himself? When anyone becomes untruthful to avoid admitting a mistake, is he not showing disrespect for those principles? Is he not being like the scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus Christ rebuked for pretending to be righteous when they were not? He said: “You,are those who declare yourselves righteous before men, but God knows your hearts.” (Luke 16:15) Although a person may succeed ih deceiving others for a while by efforts at selfjustification, he does not deceive God. God knows the heart. It is best to be honest with oneself as well as with everyone else.

It is only proper to apologize for an error that inconveniences someone. It is adding insult to injury to deny one’s error. There are times when a person may honestly not recall giving misinformation to a person. Nevertheless, he can make acknowledgment that it is possible that he made a mistake and, if he did, he did not do it intentionally. An apology helps to preserve good relations with the other person.

As long as mankind is imperfect, mistakes will be part of the lives of all. It is important to recognize this fact and not pretend that we do not make them. The Bible writer James said: “We all stumble many times. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a perfect man, able to bridle also his whole body.” (Jas. 3:2) Since none of us are perfect and everyone knows it, we should all be big enough to acknowledge our errors. Never forsake truth and honesty to avoid admitting that you made a mistake.

MORROWS world will not belong to the upper-class naticns or the upper classes/’ wrote Saville R. Davis, managing editor of TM Chrvrtian Science Monitor, January 30, 1958. “Tomorrow's world will belong to the many. Only the past now belongs to a privileged few. This is a democratic, not a Communist revolution,” he declared. “It is a product of freedom. But its name is not Freedom. Its name is Equality.”

Years ago Peter A. Kropotkin, Russian geographer and revolutionist, spoke of a similar revolution. He said that he saw a new form of society germinating in the civilized nations, a society that “must take the place of the old one; A society of equals.”

The concept of equality has been a part of man’s thinking from very early times. The Holy Scriptures furnish a meaningful framework for the idea of equality. Both the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures steadfastly uphold the thought that all men have a common source in Adam and Eve, the parents of humankind. The common ancestry of man can be seen also in the Bible account of the Flood. Noah and his three sons were the only male suivivors. All men today are descendants cf them, hence related to one another' in the one man Noah. The words of Jesus Christ and their application to the conduct of life, his life given as a ransom and its availability to all men everywhere demonstrate man’s equality before God.

The proposition of equality, however, does not imply that all men are equal or ever will be equal to or.e another in every sense of the word, It is altogether too ob-vicus that they are not and never have been equEJ¹ in every way. The doctrine of “universal equality” is foreign to the Scripture?- The Bible does not support theories that argue for the equality of all things. In fact, it does not even teach the equality of Christ with God, which doctrine trirdtarians uphold aS true. Jesus Christ hirnself stated: “The Father is greater than I am.” Since the Father is greater, then the Son is not equal to Him. Jesus’ apostle Paul wrote the following concerning Christ: “Although he was existing In God’s form [that is, spirit, he] gave no consideration to a seizure, namely, that he should be equal to CJcd.” These inspired Scripture texts conclusively demolish all thoughts of there being an equality with God.--John 14:28; Phil. 2:6.

As for there being equality between men and angel?, the idea is as foreign as it is absurd. Tile psalmist pointedly states: God made man “a little less than godlike ones.” If less, then man is not equal to them. Therefore, the doctrine of “universal equality” is without basis in fact.—Fs. 8:4, 5.

But what about men? Are they not equal to one another? Does not the Bible say that God ‘'made cut of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth”? (Acts 17:26) Yes, this verse does say we a2i have a common origin, hut it does not say that we are equals in every way, and it is quite obvious that we are not. Men vary in strength, talents and abilities. If they were equals in the absolute sense of the word, it would be silly to have comjjetitive games, because they would all end up in tie scores. We would not have a good, better and best among men. All doctors, teachers and political candidates wbuld be considered of equal worth. But such is not the case. Even a cursory glance shows there to be a wide range of difference between men mentally, morally and physically. This is not objectionable, but pleasant. It is part of the beauty that we now enjoy in the grand variety we behold constantly before us.

The Equality Desired

Why, then, do men reach out for equality if variety is so desirable? What sort of equality do men seek? And is it attainable?

The idea of equality has its source in an Individual’s sense of his own worth. As a rule men feel confident that before God all men are equals, that there is no partiality with God, (Acts 10:34, 35) So the idea is born and persists that human relations should be nonpartial, that is, on an equal plane. When American journalist and humorist Finley P. Dunne declared: “One man is as good as another,” he was expressing this concept.

The premise upon which men argue for equality is reflected in the words of Rob Roy. “Before I go any further,” says Frank Osbaldistone in Rob Roy, “I must know who you are.” “I am a man,” is the answer, "and my purpose is friendly." “A man,” he replied; “that is a brief description.” “It will serve,” answered Rob Roy, “for one who has no other to give. He that is without name, without friends, without coin, without country, is still at least a man; and he that has all these is no more.” Yes, upon this basis man makes an appeal for equality with other men, the fact that man is man and no more, despite his status in life.

In his quest for equality, man desires, not equal physical strength and talents, but equal rights, freedoms and opportunities along with otners m ms community. He wants an equal opportunity to find employment, to work, to worship and to think. He desires an equal opportunity to speak without fear, hold opinions of his own, choose his own course, develop his talents, rear children, save and accumulate property honestly. He wants very much to be accepted by other men as an equal. But will this ever be on an earth-wide scale?

Demanding Equality

The question of race and equality is one of the biggest issues in Africa and Asia today. Managing editor Davis says: “The stigma attached by the West to these yellow and brown colored races of being inferior people has bumed deep into their thinking. They resent it with all their strength. They are determined to be treated with the respect due to human beings, and if this is not done willingly they will reach to any extremes to compel it.” That is precisely what is happening in the world today. These people are demanding equal rights with other people, and many of them are tasting the goodness of equality for the first time.

In the wake of the present drive for equality, dictators have fallen, old empires have been swept away, new governments have been born and the colonial yoke has been lifted off the necks of hundreds of millions of people. However, other hundreds of millions continue to live in abject slavery. But the fulfillment of the wish of those who won for themselves so-called equality has not been as joyful and rewarding as some had anticipated. In some cases it meant assuming greater responsibilities, the burden of which has led to controls, curtailment of freedom and deprivation.

Liberty and Equality

are words that go well together. Reformers in all ages have used them to arouse the enthusiasm of the enslaved masses However, equality and liberty do not come easily like a handout. If they did, it would not have been an unusual thing when, in 1776, a nation dedicated itself to liberty and equality. In fact, that dedication did not guarantee for ail Americans equality. That struggle is still being waged by some people. The truth is that the very signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, who declared so eloquently that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,’’ could hardly have meant what they said to be taken literally. Because most of those signers were aristocrats; many of them were slave holders; some of them defended human slavery. They, no doubt, were simply stating the theory of democratic government as it was understood in their time. They merely laid stress on the contrast between the natural status of man as God created him and the legal status, which other men had imposed upon him.

The fact remains that the desired equality of all mankind is something that has never been actually realized by men, either prior to or since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. A limited equality has been won, yes; and limited freedoms, yes; but by far not an equality for all peoples everywhere. Equality is possible only where there is an equal distribution of the good things of life. And since that is quite impossible under the present system of things, the striving after a materialistic equality now is nothing more than a dream.

Equality Christianity Offers

In his book Liberty versus Equality W. F. Russell stated that even if there were peace and plenty among men, there still would not be liberty or equality; because, he says, the mind of man is burdened with the idea of fatality. He asserts, however, that “Christianity had solved the problem of liberty and equality. There was a world where all men would be free; there was a world where all men would be brothers, and have equality. But it was not this world,—it was the Future Life,” he says.

Actually Russell’s statement concerning Christianity is true only in part. While Christianity does proclaim a righteous new world to come where relative freedoms and equal rights and opportunities will be for all, it does not teach that men would have to wait for the full establishment of the new world before they could enjoy the benefits of Christianity. However, Jesus did say: “They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” (John 17: 16) Christian rights and freedoms are not in the old system of things, they never were there and they are not there now. So to seek them there is not only foolish, but a terrible waste of time. Those rights and privileges are to be found only in a Christian society that is not of this world.

To establish that point we direct your attention to the Jews of the first century who were in bondage to the Mosaic law. Before they were made free of the Law, they had to leave their traditional systems and embrace Christianity. The apostle Paul, who was himself a Jew once bound to the Law, wrote: “Christ is the end of the Law.” “For such freedom Christ set us free.” In fact, God through Christ put an end not only to the Law, but also to the division between Jew and Gentile. In the Christian congregation they were treated equally. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman,... for you are all one person in union with Christ Jesus,” wrote Paul. What greater equality could there be?—Rom. 10:4; Gal. 5:1; 3: 26-28.

Christianity also has reached out to free those under sin's law. Peter declared: Christ “himself bore our sins in his own body upon the stake.’* This he did "in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” While the privilege to believe on Christ is open to all men everywhere, yet they must come to Christ to receive of his benefits. They cannot remain part of the world and be saved, for Christ is no part of the world.—1 Pet. 2:24; John 3:16; Rom. 7:21-25; Rev. 18:4, 5.

In this twentieth century it is as futile to look for enduring rights and freedoms outside the Christian congregation as it was in the first century. The only place where these can be found is in the Christian society that is not of this world, namely, the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses. The New World society has declared itself neutral toward all worldly systems. Its members take no part in the social, political, religious or military functions of the old world. As a society not of this world they have vowed to do God’s will. Within this society there are no class distinctions, no racial barriers, no national divisions. Here today one can experience a foretaste of rights and liberties that someday will be earth-wide. This old world is destined to give way to God’s kingdom at Armageddon, after which war “the earth will be filled with the knowing of the glory of Jehovah.” Then all men will enjoy equal opportunities and equal rights. —Hab. 2:14; Dan. 2:44.

If you are one reaching out for equality, the kind of equality that God gives, then you owe it to yourself and your family to investigate what Christianity has to offer through its grand body of worshipers in the New World society. Why delay? Enjoy equality now along with the unspeakable hope of living eternally.

C A report fn the Natural History magazine for December, 1959, says: “In a school, all the fish seem to behave alike and each school—whether mackerel, herring, tuna, or small shiners—resembles other schools in shape and form. Of , the many features schools have in common, the most surprising, perhaps, is the absence of a continual leader. A school may swerve to the right or to the left, fan out from the center, or change direction entirely. Each time, a different group of Ash heads the school. As these movements of the school as a whole are made, there is also constant movement within the school—as each Ash maintains its distance from the other Ashes. The precision of orientation that is shown by Ash as they swim in a school is rarely found anywhere else in the animal kingdom.”

C “The docile part of a lion's nature," reports the volume The Animal Kingdom, “is not uppermost all the time. In the breeding season this carnivore will even turn on its own kind. A lion must flght for a mate and it will engage its competitors in a Aerce battle. Sometimes the beast has to defeat three or four rivals before it can claim its favorite lioness. Once victory is won, the pair go off together on their honeymoon. They may travel for miles until they And a place that offers them suitable privacy. During the honeymoon, which may last two weeks or more, they do little hunting or eating. At this time the lion is really dangerous, and any man or beast that trespasses on its privacy is quickly annihilated."

hibernates, however, sixteen out of its seventeen years.

No question about the need to control insects in view of such numbers. They are, without doubt, man’s greatest competitor for the fruits of the ground. Their total cost to farmers in the United States alone is estimated at $4,000 million annually.

The problems of controlling insects have increased by reason of the increase in insects themselves as well as by reason of the modem trend in insect control. Thus in 1956 the United States used 250,000 tons of chemicals at the cost of $260 million to control insects. At present there are at least 12,500 brand-name insecticides and 200 basic control compounds. The large-

T3E problem of controlling insects is not a new one. Written formulas on how to do so have been found on papyrus manuscripts that go back as far as 1500 B.C. Especially harmful must have been'the ancient locust plagues, for when Moses, in 1513 B.C., warned of a locust plague, the Egyptians begged Pharaoh to capitulate. That locusts were a great plague is also implied by the fact that they are mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures under ten different names. The inspired Record also tells of other harmful pests in ancient times, such as the caterpillar, flea, gadfly, gnat and scorpion.—Ex. 10:7.

Insects are the most numerous of earth's sentient creatures or souls, both as to their total number, estimated at 12,000 to every human, and their varieties, more than 660,000 species having been catalogued by man. Fortunately for man, comparatively few insects live more than a year, many, in fact, only a few weeks or days. The seventeen-year “locust," actually the periodic cicada, is a striking exception. It scale spraying of millions of acres by thousands of airplanes has also brought with it its problem.

But most serious of all is the problem caused by the increased toxicity or deadliness of modern insecticides. For years those used were primarily white arsenic, arsenate of lead and Paris green. The harm these did to wildlife was negligible. In 1939 a Swiss scientist re-created DDT (it having first been produced sixty-five years before by a German scientist), and in 1942 it was pounced upon by the British and American governments to combat the disease-bearing insects afflicting their troops. Since World War II DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane) has become as popular with agriculture as penicillin has with medicine.

While the commercial producers of DDT assured the public that DDT was harmless to man and beast, gradually the facts emerged to prove otherwise. In some localities robins have been wiped out and other songbirds greatly reduced in number because of their eating worms that had fed on leaves sprayed with DDT. Considerable has been the harm done to fish because of the rain washing DDT into ponds and rivers. In fact, the oily film of DDT on water in a trough is toxic enough to kill a horse. The residues that reach human consumption, while less lethal, do harm by gradually building up in the human body. Once having entered, DDT never leaves an organism.

DDT, however, is mild compared with its modem progeny. Such chemicals as dieldrin and heptachlor are at least fifteen times as toxic as DDT. Recently a committee in the British Parliament condemned the indiscriminate use of such insecticides on farms and pastures and accused the Ministry of Agriculture of gross negligence in permitting the use of these before ascertaining how deadly they were to wild animals. The committee, in fact, called for the immediate prohibition of such chemicals as aldrin, dieldrin and heptachlor.

Destruction of Domestic and

Wild Animals

The modem large-scale use of such extremely toxic insecticides has caused many loud protests also to be heard in the United States. The newspapers, popular magazines and, in particular, such publications as Audubon, American Forests, Organic Gardening, Field and Stream and Outdoor Life have called attention to the harm being done. “The current widespread program poses the greatest threat that animal life in North America has ever faced—worse than illegal shooting, worse than drainage, drought, oil pollution; possibly worse than all these decimating factors combined,” is the way a leading zoologist expressed himself on the subject.

In particular was the fire-ant program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) condemned as “ill-conceived, unnecessary, poorly handled and extremely destructive to wildlife.” The imported fire ant had been around some twenty-five years when It suddenly was attacked as the greatest insect menace ip the land. Yet official investigators found the fire ant posing no threat to either plant or animal life, but only a nuisance because of its large mounds. In fact, fire ants were found to be doing much good by devouring the larvae of the cotton-boll weevil; and when scientists, in experiments, starved the fire ants they turned cannibals, devouring one another rather than other living creatures!

Still the USDA embarked on a multimillion-dollar program to wipe out the fire ant by means of dieldrin and heptachlor. As a result, countless numbers of both wild and domestic animals were destroyed, not to say anything of what harm man may eventually suffer from it. On one farm a hundred head of cattle died right after the spraying; on another, some hundred brood sows were made sterile. In one field fifty colonies of bees were destroyed—their value, $11,200. And in just one residential neighborhood hundreds of chickens, as well as many turkeys, cats and dogs, were killed.

Just how many wild animals were destroyed no one could accurately tell, if for no other reason than that it is the nature of wild animals to hide when dying. But checks showed that in many areas the bird population was decreased by 80 to 97 percent. Large numbers of poisoned carcasses of rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, opossums and even young foxes were found. And especially vulnerable to insecticides, let it be noted, are the young and the reproductive powers of the mature creatures; this harm is not apparent at once.

A USDA spokesman claimed that no harm resulted where instructions were implicitly followed. But what about a margin for error and oversight? And how could wild animals follow the instructions, which, in part, were: “Leafy vegetables... should be covered just prior to application of insecticides and then washed before eating . . . Keep milk cows off treated pastures thirty days, and beef cattle off fifteen days; cover hives or move them away; . . . don’t let pets or poultry drink from puddles.” Surely these very instructions testify to the deadliness of that spraying program!

Damage to the “Ecosystem”

Ecology is “the biology of the mutual relations between organisms and their environment,” we are told. Nature everywhere has a balance between its various living things and their environment. This balance modem scientists have termed an “ecosystem.” Widespread use of highly toxic insecticides throws this ecosystem out of balance. Thus when one insect is wiped out, unless it is an import, its natural enemies will increase to form a new menace. Further, it is not possible to kill all apparently harmful insects without at the same time destroying harmless or beneficial ones. Destroy insects that pollinate your fruit crop and you may be destroying it! Then again, poison the insect population and you may destroy other useful wildlife, because of its feeding on poisoned insects or because of its not having any insects upon which to feed.

The fact that strong insecticides remain in the ground for years and weak ones accumulate to become strong poisons poses another problem. Such poisons play havoc with the valuable earthworm population. An acre of healthy grassland may have as many as a million or more earthworms in it, the weight of the worms below the grass equaling the weight of the sheep feeding upon it. These worms throw up casts from as much as ten feet below the surface, casts that are richer than any fertilizer. Worms also aerate the soil, breaking it up and sb helping heavy soils to drain. After an orchard is sprayed the ground may be covered with dead earthworms.

Still another problem in insect control is the immunity to insecticides gradually achieved by insects. Even after thirty generations of not being exposed certain insects still breed immune. Says one scientist: “Control of insect pests cannot be assured simply by inventing new and more powerful insecticides . . . They have , . . created problems of their own; witness the phenomenal increase of destructive mites that followed the slaughter of their insect enemies with DDT and other new insecticides, and the rise of new insects resistant to the poisons. Chemical control is at best but temporary. If we are to escape this ever-tightening spiral of more complex problems and ever-increasing costs of control, then we must integrate chemical control with natural factors influencing populations.”

Before noting these natural factors in insect control it may not be amiss at least to take note of two other aspects of the large-scale use of highly toxic insecticides: the effect upon humans and its legality. Certain leading physicians attribute the increase in cancer and blood diseases to the use of these new insecticides. And some legal minds hold that only extremely urgent demands of public health and safety justify a government agency’s covering one’s land with poison without one’s permission.

Better Ways of Overcoming

the Problems

Those waging the all-out war against insects by means of highly toxic chemicals point to the harm insects do in justification of their methods. However, man has a God-given dominion over the lower anl-mals that he may not abuse. When his research on the harm done by his new insecticides is ten years behind their ube, as has well been observed, then he is abusing his dominion. The way the USDA went at the fire-ant problem is a case in point. First it recommended two pounds of powerful insecticides per acre, then one and one fourth pounds and finally one fourth pound per acre, to be followed in six months by another quarter pound. Why, simply spreading insecticides closer to the ground would help conserve wildlife.

And what about trying to develop more insecticides that will kill only a certain pest? "From hydrazine,” we are told, “has been made a chemical to kill mites—the first such agent that is not toxic to birds that feed on the poisoned mites.”

Among the better ways of controlling insects must be mentioned the natural factors such as the living insecticides, the parasites, bacteria and viruses. The Colias caterpillar, one of California’s most destructive insect pests, is being successfully attacked along three fronts: by means of a tiny parasitic wasp, by means of a virus and by means of a bacteria. Such living insecticides are also being successfully used in bringing the Japanese beetle and the European spruce sawfly under control. And these continue to be effective, since insects do not build up immunity against their natural enemies the way they do against their artificial ones!

Even atomic power is being used in insect control. The fact that radiation causes sterility served as the key for dealing with the deadly screwworm fly. Sexually potent males were bred by the millions and then sterilized by radiation and scattered among the screwworm population. All females mating with the sterile males became barren. And since the females breed only once, whereas the males breed as often as five times, in a comparatively short time this insect had bred itself out of existence in the southeastern United States, where it had been a plague.

But what may well be the definitive, the final and complete method of overcoming the problems of insect control is that based on the principle that truly healthy plants are immune to insects. Known as organic gardening, it is gaining more and more recognition all the time. Thus Dr. William Albrecht, chairman of the Department of Soils at the Missouri University College of Agriculture, found that plants grown in truly fertile soil had 100-percent immunity to insects, whereas plants grown on adjacent lots of depleted soil had 100-percent attack. According to him the soaring increase in pest infection is a direct result of declining soil fertility. It is nature’s way of eliminating sick plants that should be returned to the soil instead of eaten. Says he: “It is not enough that we eat unhealthy plants and the flesh of unhealthy animals . . . but we compound the injury by bathing them with poisons; then we consume these deficient, poisoned foods.” However, it must be admitted that large-scale organic farming is not without its problems also.

No question about it, man is making progress in overcoming the problems of insect control, and there appears to be ever less and less reason for him to continue to use highly toxic insecticides. Whether he can completely solve these problems now is questionable, but one thing is certain: Just as the garden of Eden was a perfect place, free from destructive insect plagues, so God’s paradise new earth will not be plagued but will be productive, and man will enjoy the produce of his land.

DEATH often strikes without waming,^^ in British Hondura^'^ and in At-UO||^ Greece. A killer^lUf-ricane named Hattie, packing winds up to 200 miles an hour, smashed into the Central American colony, killing over three hundred people. About a week later in another part of the world a freak storm struck the ancient city of Athens at night, leaving behind thirty-nine dead. In their wake, however, these killers left not only heaps of rubble and dead bodies, but room for sober, serious reflection on what the United States’ chief representative to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, has called the paramount issue of the hour, namely, survival.

People everywhere are interested in survival, not only from a threatening nuclear holocaust, but also from all disasters small and great. But altogether too frequently people behave as though disaster were far removed from them, even at a time when it may be at their very doorstep. Therefore, it would be wise for us to refresh our minds with the timely counsel of an ancient king, who said: "Better is it to go to the house of mourning than to go to the banquet house, because that is the end of all mankind; and the one alive should take it to his heart. Better is vexation than laughter, for by the crossness of the face the heart becomes better," (Eccl. 7:2, 3) In keeping with this wise counsel it would be wisdom on our part to view these disaster locations, these places of mourning, for the purpose of alerting ourselves to an

By "AwaW" corr«ipond»nfw In British Honduras

Orooco

reate r gsHMMylljy pend-^EM«wgfore all that ^y^^^^ht be do some-survive it. sMBaiers usually Bak their prey at ight and strike

g? their deadly blow when their victims

least expect. So killer hurricane Hattie behaved. She struck her blow at 2 a.m. and was gone before 7 a.m. “But that was the longest five hours of my life," said an army sergeant stationed at Belize, the capital of British Honduras. “It was an eternity," he said. Hattie’s gusty winds sent fifteen-foot-high tides smashing into the sea-level city of Belize (population: 33,000) and pulverized 40 percent of its buildings. On two outlying islands, communities were all but wiped out.

This is the second time that Belize has been leveled by a hurricane. The first occasion was in 1931. Now it is hoped that the city will be moved to a new site on higher ground some forty-four miles inland.

No doubt, the casualty list (319 dead) would have been much higher were it not that hurricane Hattie moved along very swiftly, and, too, that many residents responded to warning signals. These were evacuated to higher ground, some to the airport seven miles outside of Belize, others to schools and the big Palotita convent; still others sought shelter in government buildings and in the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society’s new branch office and other solid structures that stood up well to the force of the storm.

Warning Signals Ignored

But why is it that some people insist on ignoring vital warnings? Had many of the people of Belize and some of the others in surrounding towns and villages paid closer attention to the warnings given, they, no doubt, would have survived the storm. Rather than paying heed to genuine warnings, many inhabitants became intrigued with hurricane Hattie’s dance in the Caribbean Sea and with the speculations about her movements. Some said Hattie was headed for the southern part of Mexico. Others maintained that, if she would strike British Honduras at all, it would be far to the north. But few believed that Belize was in danger. Even when disaster threatened, the diehards, the skeptics and the unbelievers kept on saying, “It won’t happen here.” It did, much to their chagrin.

In Stann Creek, the second-largest city in the country, which lies south of Belize, many were so sure that the hurricane would pass them by that they settled down to endure what they thought would be just a windy night. But night brought with it terror. Howling winds brought with them crashing waves that picked up houses and dashed them' to pieces. “The wreckage isn't even in pieces. It is pulverized,” said an eyewitness. Houses appeared as if they had gone through a gigantic meat grinder. The noise of the wind, the frightful sounds of breaking waves, the shrill screams of helpless victims filled the night with unforgettable terror.

As the night passed and the day broke, calm was restored. But cities and villages lay in total ruin. The people slowly emerged from their hiding places bewildered and dazed. Some climbed over the debris and waded through mud a foot deep in search for lost loved ones or food. Others just stood in one place mumbling prayers, unable to believe the sight before their eyes. Where a few hours ago stood lovely houses, now Is nothing, in many instances, not even a’foundation.

Why such tragedies? What can be learned from them ?

One lesson to be learned is that not all disasters are the same, neither can they all be anticipated, nor do they all provide the same way of escape.

Athens Shaken

In Athens, Greece, for example, typhoons, windstorms and flood disasters are almost unheard of. But on the night of November 5,1961, a violent typhoon struck the city with all its destructive fury. It caught the Athenians completely by surprise. Why so?

Because autumn is usually the best season of the year for Athens. Generally speaking, the weather is mild, the sky is clear and blue, with plenty of pleasant sunshine. Just such weather prevailed on this day when, shortly after midnight, threatening clouds appeared. And just that suddenly there were flashes of lightning and frightful sounds of clashing thunder, rain and hail. This kept up for six hours.

At the break of day, the storm ceased. Searchers came out to comb the stricken areas in search of family and friends. It was a tragic sight to see thirty-nine dead, 800 homes demolished and 4,500 people without a place to stay.

Th|s was not the first time the country had seen a violent storm. In 1935 Greece was visited with a cyclone. But in the passing twenty-seven years many people had forgotten all about it. But the crumbled houses, the wind and torrential rain brought back hidden memories of that previous tragedy.

What Lesson for Us?

People have a habit of forgetting tragedies. Perhaps it is well that they do, especially if they cannot learn from them.

So many of the populace keep repeating the old familiar tune, “It will never happen again. It won’t happen here,” So they go on building and rebuilding in 1heir usual way, often on the same foundations and with the same materials. In British Honduras a man built himself a house near his grove of coconut trees. A year ago, hurricane Abby blew it down. He rebuilt his house on the very same spot with no noticeable changes to fortify it against similar storms. In July, 1961, hurricane Anna leveled it to the ground. Back to work he went rebuilding on those very same foundations and in the same way. Three months later hurricane Hattie struck. This time there is nothing left, for even the pieces of lumber floated out to sea. It would be ludicrous, if it were not so tragic. Our sympathies go out to these people, but what can be done to help them face an even greater disaster sure to come in this generation?

These happenings may appear pathetic and may even cause some to wag their heads, yet is this not the way of the whole world? For years Jehovah’s witnesses have been warning the people of the approach of God’s Armageddon, “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” but how many have paid any heed? “Armageddon? It won’t come in my time,” the people say. “It won’t happen here,”

In the meantime nations build their hopes on the same flimsy, sandlike foundations that they always have, namely, on men, on military might and on treaties. There was the League of Nations, then the Kellogg Peace Pact; now it is the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and others. The people continue to put trust in their political and religious leaders who lead them in large processions through the streets begging “Our Lady of Guadeloupe” to protect them through hurricane seasons, as Boman Catholic leaders did in British Honduras just two months before the hurricane Hattie disaster. The people seem to be willing to do anything but what God requires of therp for survival.—Ps. 146:3-5.

Armageddon’s approach is sure, as sure as hurricane Hattie and the typhoon that ripped through Athens. Yet are nations prepared to survive it? Are you? The only way to survive God’s Armageddon is outlined for us at Zephaniah 2:3, which says: “Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger.” The putting of trust in men, armaments, nations, peace pacts or the UN is just the sowing of so much wind. “It is wind that they keep sowing,” declared the prophet Hosea, “and a stormwind is what they will reap." There is no hope of survival in such makeshift plans.—Hos, 8:7; Rev. 16:14, 16.

In the stormwmd of Armageddon all who are in opposition to Jehovah’s reigning King and kingdom will be destroyed. There will be no escaping Jehovah by hiding out in reinforced-concrete bomb shelters or in orbiting satellites or in super atomic submarines. The prophet Amos says God will seek them out, because “all the wicked ones he will annihilate,”—Ps. 145:20; Amos 9:1-3; Dan, 2:44.

Therefore, let present disasters be a warning to you of the greatest of all disasters to come upon the earth—Armageddon—and it will come “as a thief in the night” upon this unsuspecting generation. Destruction will be sudden and complete. Only those who walk in Jehovah’s light of truth have the promise of survival. Will you survive when that disaster strikes? You know God’s requirements for survival. The choice now is yours to make.—1 Thess. 5:2-9; Matt.,24:14, 21, 34.

g^-ANY, In fact, most teen-agers, are i ashamed to manifest any interest in God \ and in the Bible. But not so the teen-. agers of the New World society of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In witnessing to their school acquaintances they at times elicit some striking as well as fruitful reactions, as the following experiences show.

Lucy found one of her chums appreciative of the things she told her. Just how much of an impression she made on this chum she learned one day when told of a school essay her chum had written about her. Entitled "Youth—A Time of Discovery,” it read as follows:

“Many young people, and esped ally those of my own age, have not clearly determined their goals or their philosophy. I feel I am too enthusiastic about living and gaining knowledge to think about death.

“The quote fay Robert Frost inspired me to contemplate the question: *Why does man exist?’ I am not able to answer this question, and therefore cannot honestly say that I am willing to die for any particular cause. I have ideals and convictions of my own—but I do not feel deeply enough to express willingness to die for them.

“I think my reaction is probably typical of most young people. However, I feel that I am fortunate to have acquired as a friend a person who does not fit the usual pattern.

“Lucy’s education and experience have given her a different viewpoint. She has very strong convictions and sentiments—which I would like to reflect on in this short essay.

“Lucy was brought up as a Jehovah’s witness, which is a religious sect. She has devoted her life to this religion and consequently passes almost all of her free time absorbed in. it She attends assemblies twice a week, reads booklets and supplements about her religion, solicits locally in placing Witness magazines, and has regular Bible studies with her minister;

“By being acquainted with Lucy I have come to realize that she possesses innate qualities by relating all incidents which occur in her life to her religion. Her social behavior is measured by her religious beliefs and therefore she conscientiously lives up to these beliefs.

“In this particular sect one must be completely orthodox and must adhere entirely to the regulations stated by Jehovah in the Bible. Lucy's acceptance of this has only made her convictions about her religion stronger.

“Lucy's ambition is to be a missionary. She therefore intends to go to the college of her religion, where she will accumulate the knowledge that is required for missionary work.

“Lucy has told me that she is willing to die for her religion if this is necessary. I cannot go into all the tenets of this religious sect. However, perhaps it is easier to accept this concept in view of the idea of a resurrection. Lucy is striving toward her goal because of the belief that all Jehovah’s chosen people will be resurrected in the New World for eternal life.

“Although I cannot share Lucy’s convictions, I respect her and admire the fact that she knows the goal which she hopes to achieve in life. I feel her faithful devotion and sincerity are a great comfort to her. I consider my life enriched because of her friendship.”

And then there is Nora, whose parents are special pioneer ministers, which requires them frequently to move from one city to another. As a result Nora, although still quite young, has attended five different schools. One of the advantages. of her parents’ profession has been, however, that Nora has engaged in preaching the good news since she was old enough to walk and talk.

In talking to her school chums about Jehovah she was able to atart a Bible study with one of them, with the result that her parents were able to start a study with her chum’s parents. When the entire family visited the Watchtower headquarters at Brooklyn not long ago, they were delighted with all they saw. One by one they began to attend the meetings of the Witnesses and to share in the field ministry, and now the whole family is doing so.

What blessings these two young girls would have missed had they been ashamed to acknowledge Jehovah God before their schoolmates!

ON June 24, 1950, when the Republic of Korea was invaded by the Communist armed forces of North Korea and the United Nations became involved in a “police action” there, some observers wondered if the UN would survive the crisis. It did. Other crises followed. There against the late UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold in 1960. Khrushchev with his shoe-banging exhibitions left the glass house on New York’s East River quaking. But the world organization survived these storms.

Then on September 18, 1961, the UN was struck with its most recent and “gravest crisis.” Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, while traveling on a peace mission to the Congo, was killed in a plane crash. Just that suddenly the UN found itself without a head at a time when its troops were being hard pressed in the Congo and when the Berlin issue threatened world peace.

It must be remembered that the Soviet Union opposed the office of the secretarygeneral and demanded a liquidation of the office and the substitution of a three-man directorate. Now was their chance to get their way or wreck the UN, if they so desired. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, J. F. Kennedy, president of the United States, scurried over to the UN to intervene personally in the constitutional crisis created by the death of Hammarskjold. Addressing the UN General Assembly on September 22, President Kennedy reassured the delegates of the UN and the Secretariat that the United States supports the UN and that it is determined to do everything possible to maintain the executive authority of the office of the secretary-general.

Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko, who flew in from Moscow to head the Soviet delegation at the UN, expressed a different view. He said: “The moment is right for a structural change of the United Nations. A radical change is absolutely necessary. The sooner it is made, the better.” The “radical change” that Gromyko desired, of course, was Khrushchev’s proposed troika—a triumvirate of Communist, Western and neutral secretaries-general, each with veto powers.

The Western powers have repeatedly stated that such a plan was undesirable, unworkable, in fact, unthinkable; that such a scheme would render the world organization useless and ineffective, and many smaller nations agreed. In any case, Article 100 of the UN Charter specifies that “the Secretary General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any government or from any other authority.” The Russian proposal, therefore, would require an amendment to the Charter. The UN was not ready for that. The only remaining solution was to elect a new secretary-general.

"Unmitigated Crisis?’

Adlai Stevenson, the United States ambassador to the UN, described the problem of electing a temporary successor to the late Dag Hammarskjold as "the gravest crisis the institution has faced." If the wrong decision is made, h4 said, it may be "the first step on the slippery path downhill" to a UN without operational responsibilities and without effective meaning. Dr. G. P. Malalasekera of Ceylon called this period an “unmitigated crisis.”

Hammarskjold was an international servant, not a political, national one. He was frank in private conversations, but dignified and friendly to all. To find another Hammarskjold for the top post was most desirable and hoped for, but could one be found? Several names were suggested. Among them were Frederick Boland of Ireland and Mongi Slim of Tunisia. Three other favorites were B. K. Nehru, India’s able ambassador to Washington; Argentina’s Raul Prebisch, the UN’s economic chief for Latin America; and Burma’s UN delegate, U Thant

But could Mongi Slim of Tunisia, a mild and capable man, reflect an amiable spirit when his government will not speak to the Israelis? Could U Thant restore confidence when Burmese friendship with Israel displeases the Arab states? These were big questions in the minds of those who were ibout to select a new secretary-general.

After six weeks of bickering between East and West the UN emerged with a rare agreement indeed arid thereby sur-zived another crisis. It elected by a 103-0 vote, with none against and no abstentions, the 52-year-old high-school English teacher from Burma, U Thant, to the high office of Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations. He was chosen to fill out Ham-marskjbld’s term, which expires April 10, 1963.

Now the questions are: Is U Thant another HammarskjiJld? Is he pro-East or pro-West? What is Indicated by his appointment? Perhaps his background or his views may give us an inkling of what to expect.

The New Acting Secretary-General

U Thant was born near Rangoon, Burma, and educated at Rangoon University. He had hoped to become a journalist, but he took up teaching instead and in 1947 entered politics. Ten years later he became his country’s chief representative at the United Nations.

Thant is a Buddhist, with that religion's tradition of pacifism. He has a reputation for quiet firmness. Of him Dr. Malalasekera said: “In an age when strength is often equated with the booming voice and the bouncing fist, U Thant displays the strength of quiet dignity.”

Thant considers himself a neutralist rather than neutral Commenting on the distinction, the New York Times stated: “If neutral implies a middle-of-the-road position leaning politically westward, neutralist implies a middle-of-the-road position leaning politically eastward. Neither Burma nor Thant is ppo-Russian. But they are less inherently pro-American than Hammarskjold or Sweden.” On this point Thant himself said: “My belief is countries can be neutral, but it will be very difficult for an individual to be neutral on the burning questions of the day.” He said that he would be "impartial but not necessarily neutral.”

Since 1957, as Burma’s representative to the UN, Thant has denounced the Soviet Union for its outrages in Hungary, spoken out against the French policy in Algeria and criticized the United States for its conduct toward Cuba. Thant’s election is certainly not an American or a Russian victory. Still he comes to his high post with the backing of these two great powers and the neutral bloc. What does this indicate?

Meaning Behind the Appointment

Perhaps the most outstanding indication by the appointment of Thant is that the East and the West agree that the UN is still too important to be scrapped. How so ? Because any one of the three factions, Communist, Western or neutral blocs, could have prevented indefinitely the appointment of an acting secretary-general.

The selection of U Thant may also very well represent a shift in world thinking. This may be a notable moment of transition from the Western thinking to Eastern thinking. The first two UN secretaries-general were Scandinavians. Trygve Lie, a Norwegian, was politically pro-West Hammarskjold, a Swede, was a neutral, but at heart a democrat, as the word is understood in the West, He was also by culture and sympathy a man of the Western world. Thant, on the other hand, is not the West’s in any way. Thant is an Asian and a Buddhist. He is a neutralist. All this may be very significant. UN correspondent Moshe Rivlin says: “The election of U Thant is . . . nothing short of a revolution which may mark a very important turning point in history. For the first time in modern history world hegemony has been removed from the Western Hemisphere and shifted to Asia. This revolution is not only geographic and to a certain extent ethnic, but also religious. Whether planned or not, world leadership has always been in the hands of Christians. Now for the first time it has been entrusted to a Buddhist.” How significant this is in view of the belief by some that the UN might be a political expression of the kingdom of God that would bring about fulfillment of the Christian hope!

Thant’s appointment may have still other implications, especially to the West. It' is an indication that political power is shifting eastward. The West can no longer even pretend to have the same control in the UN’s democratic procedures that it once had. Western power has obviously been slipping, while Russian power seemingly has remained much the same. But it is the neutral nations that have gained perceptibly in strength in the last decade at the UN.

Fourteen years ago the Western bloc in the UN numbered about forty-five members on key Issues in a United Nations of fifty-seven members. Today the West would do well if it could count on the same number in a United Nations of 103 members. The neutralist nations now number about twenty-five, and the Soviets have some thirteen in their camp. These figures can mean only one thing—the neutralists are beginning to hold the balance of power. And if they are inclined to lean politically eastward, it may mean that the West might never again be able to rely on the UN, as it once did. In fact, the West may come to regret its effort to maintain a powerful UN executive. C. L. Sulzberger of the New York Times summed it up In these words: “The philosophy as well as the control of U.N, may not be slipping eastward; but it is drifting from the West. A decade hence it could be Washington, not Moscow, that demands a troika to protect its interests against a hostile majority in the world parliament.”

As for Thant’s view of the future, addressing the General Assembly’s Administrative and Budgetary Committee, he said: “I have no panaceas to offer, no simple ready-made solutions to propose.” As a man trained in the best Buddhist tradition to seek a certain detachment by means of concentration and meditation, Thant will need all the emotional equilibrium he can nossiblv muster for the work ahead.

"FINANCE COUNSELORS"

IF YOURS was a small undercapitalized business struggling to get off the financial rocks and someone offered to find you a long-term capital loan of $10,000 for a “service fee” of $300, how long would you hesitate to grab it?

This opportunity fell right out of the mailbox into our lap. I merely had to sign and return a self-addressed postcard assuring the senders we would indeed appreciate having a reputable investment counselor drop in and look over our general contracting business with a view to getting us the money we needed to survive.

Unknown to us, a myriad of small, lastditch businesses like ours were being visited by smooth “counselors” bent on fraud. General contractors, hardware dealers, grocery stores, trailer courts, farm-machinery dealers, service stations, truckers, feed and seed mills, motels, restaurants, lumberyards, meat-processing plants, laundries, poultry farms, florists—almost an endless list of tottering enterprises were meat for these vultures glutting themselves on the misfortune,’ inexperience and misery of their fellow men. In just one year they had bilked businessmen out of an estimated $50,000,000. How. many businesses they have hastened to their financial grave may never be known. And that postcard was bringing one of them to see us.

The Stranger

When the man arrived late on a September afternoon, we three partners threw down our masonry trowels and paid close attention. Maybe all the heartbreak and disappointment we had endured for the past two years were about to end. The stranger seemed to think so after an hour’s investigation of our operation. “You boys have been losing money, sure; but that’s because you’ve been building up your organization, training key men and getting yourselves established. Trouble is, you didn’t have enough capital to start with. That’s where I come in.”

Currently, he pointed out to us, we were purchasing about $5,000 worth of materials a month and were able to discount very few of our invoices. With the $10,000 loan, which he thought his Los Angeles “lenders service” could arrange for us, we could pay our bills within ten days and take our 2-percent discounts. The discounts would get back, within a short time, the $300 “counselor’s fee” that the service house would charge. We checked our bank balance. It showed $839,19. Of course, the stranger would have to pick up the fee in advance—that very evening. But we figured it was the best three hundred we had ever invested.

At the time we actually had operating credit—short-term bank credit at least. None of our suppliers or subcontractors so far had sued us or slapped liens on our jobs. The nightmare was our current note payments to banks. The load of more than a thousand dollars a month was breaking our backs.

You have to be a small business operator, never more than a few inches from bankruptcy, to appreciate what it is like.

Any hope to stay alive financially until your ship comes in is hardly too fantastic to grasp. You borrow from one bank to pay the other. You borrow from relatives, friends, acquaintances. We had had an opportunity to build two motels and lost both. We were offered a building material franchise that guaranteed us a net earning of $33,000. This opportunity slipped through our fingers as hope dwindled that the stranger would ever arrange the desperately needed loan.

Tfte Long Wait

Days and weeks dragged for us while things went from bad to worse. We finally inquired of the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau about our lenders service. “We challenge that this operator ever accomplished a loan from a bank or an insurance company,” the report came back. Not only would the loan never come, but we had lost $300 when we could least afford it. Our worsening plight did not put us on guard; it made us all the more willing to believe offers of help.

Exactly one month after the stranger had fleeced us, another “loan counselor” arrived in town—I must have sent two cards. “Counselor” Number Two presented his credentials from a “finance service” in Washington, D.C. “It would be worth it just to get your credit established with a second financing agency,” he suggested. In desperation we believed.

He had hardly rolled out of sight with our last $300 in his fist before we sent an urgent message to his head office requesting speed, as we were ready to sign a contract to build a $110,000 motel and needed, not ten thousand, but a hundred thousand dollars. A letter came back from a high official saying the idea was “excellent,” but—and here we learned that the sharks grade their fees to the size of the loan you want: “Our fee for the new amount desired is $900.” This $900 was in addition to the original $300.

Again the long wait.

Early one morning one of my partners telephoned. “Did you see in last night‘s paper about our friends?” He referred to a story datelined Washington, D.C. It could have been written in our own office: “Smooth talking confidence men have started a racket to fleece small businessmen who have been unsuccessful in borrowing money from their banks. Believing that the con man can get them a loan, businessmen agree to pay him a large fee for his services. By the time victims realize the deal is a phony, the swindler has pocketed their money and left town.” The report said the Federal Trade Commission had lodged complaints against two “loan arranging” firms. Seven officers of two other companies have been arrested and charged with using the mails to defraud. Our “counselors” represented two of these fraudulent firms.

These “loan” salesmen were the spawn of a previous racket, an advance-fee swindle in which people had been gulled into paying money in advance to have their business or property sold. State and Federal agencies, in squelching that pestiferous outbreak, had succeeded in plugging up only a few of the more notorious ratholes. Balked at collecting further fees to “sell” businesses that nobody would buy, the masterminds wiggled out from under a hedge of injunctions and emerged into free green pastures where they started collecting “fees” to “find” loans for businesses that nobody would finance.

Indicted for Fraud

On April 29, 1960, a Federal Grand Jury at Atlanta, Georgia, returned an indictment consisting of forty-three counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to violate the mail-fraud statute against one of the companies that had hastened our business ruin. The indictment, named seven officers and fourteen salesmen, including our own “counselor." Trial was set for January, 1961, then postponed because of legal problems. Meanwhile the swindlers altered the name of their organization and were soon indicted for mail fraud in North Dakota. The indictment returned at Atlanta, Georgia, against one of the companies that cheated us has been attacked by the defendants and some of the counts have been dismissed by the Federal District Judge. The United States has appealed the decision.

Why Businesses Fail

Had our company survived until 1961, prospects would not have grown brighter. In the first nine months of 1961, 13,016 commercial and industrial firms had failed in the United States, going under at the rate of forty-eight a day. The experts say that if you go into business for yourself now the odds that you will survive are the least favorable since the depth of the depression in the 1930’s.

“The fundamental reason," says a Washington report, “is that our economy has entered the toughest, roughest phase of competition in modem times—and in this era the businessman who doesn’t recognize what he is facing or know how to fight competition successfully is going under. He can’t bail himself out by price hikes as he could in the first postwar years and through most of the ’50’s. He can’t get by with shoddy merchandise, shabby service, sloppy salesmanship. We are into a real buyer’s market—and the seller who can’t sell simply won’t survive.”

Other factors are poor location, heavy operating expenses, unwise expansion, un-derflnancing, abrupt cancellation of a crucial contract, and so on. But according to Dun & Bradstreet, the real underlying causes in the overwhelming number of business failures can be attributed to either inexperience or incompetence—or both. In this age of merciless competition the probability that small businesses will get into serious trouble is greater than at any time in this entire generation. It is said that almost six of every ten businesses in America fail in five years or less. This grim fact is welcomed by fraudulent “finance counselors” who still circulate those self-addressed postcards. Remember, confidence men never give up.

You can protect yourself, however, by remembering one simple rule: Investigate first. No matter how desperate you are, how good a stranger’s credentials look or how logical his appeal sounds, investigate. Ask him to name some local people he has helped and who will verify his claim. Literature alleging that his company has helped all kinds of out-of-town businesses is no protection to you unless you can check to be sure. If he has no local references, ask for time to make up your mind. Then contact the Better Business Bureau where his home office is located. Anyone offering legitimate services will not object to giving you references or waiting until you check his credentials.

Better yet, if at all possible, wait until promised services are actually rendered to your satisfaction; then pay for them just as you would a telephone bill. Do not let inexperience and smooth-talking confidence men hasten your business ruin as , they did ours.

Witnessing by Christian Conduct

RECOMMENDATION

At the Houston, Texas; United Worshipers District Assembly a young witness of Jehovah told this experience: ‘‘My.teacher did not like Jehovah’s witnesses because he did not know who they were. However, he began to like me and gave me more consideration than other students. At times he invited me to come and visit him at his home; he wanted to know why I was not like the other boys. He said that he would like to have his son be like me, if he ever had one. He asked me what religion I belonged to. To his surprise I told him that I was one of Jehovah’s witnesses. He responded: ‘If all Jehovah's witnesses are like you, I just don’t see why I didn’t talk to them when they came to my door.’ ”

PATIENCE REWARDED .

Upon arriving in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the district assembly, some Witnesses went to a local restaurant for dinner. The waitress took their order, but they .waited for a half hour for the meal. During the interval the waitress twice apologized for the delay. On noting their patience, the proprietor brought them some freshly baked bread. A little later he sat at the next table to the Witnesses for his own dinner. A discussion ensued during which he mentioned that he observed how courteous, kind and patient Jehovah’s witnesses were during a previous assembly in Milwaukee. He mentioned that his waitresses felt it a pleasure to serve such kind people. Because of the courtesy and patience the Witnesses had shown, he said that he would like to show his appreciation. Thereupon he presented the Witnesses with twenty tickets for free full-course chicken dinners. These were turned over to the convention for whoever might need them.

OUTSIDERS ATTRACTED

During and after the Paris, France, assembly, the wholesalers who supplied food for the convention cafeteria praised the convention organization and the spirit of the volunteer workers. One meat supplier had the Society's representative speak to his entire staff about the work and beliefs of Jehovah’s witnesses and requested to have a Bible study himself. A supplier of fruit and vegetables told the Society’s representative that his delivery men vied with one another for the pleasure of delivering supplies to the convention. The manager’s nephew drove a truck filled with vegetables to the convention grounds himself to see If what they said was true. He was amazed. The manager and his wife have also requested a Bible study.

“A CHANGE IN YOU"

In El Salvador a young man who had been studying a few months with Jehovah’s witnesses was on a bus when a woman sat down beside him. Knowing him, she said, “I have noticed a change in you." The man told her that he was studying with Jehovah's witnesses and said, “I am trying to be a Christian.’' The lady got off at the next stop; the young man noticed she had dropped her credential card with money in it. After much difficulty he located her and returned the money and card. She was so glad she asked: “What can I do for you?” He said: “What you can really do is thank Jehovah, and I will send you a Bible book by someone.” The Bible-study aid From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained was. placed with this lady and arrangements were made to start a home Bible study,

"WATCHING YOU PEOPLE”

When the food receiving servant at the Milwaukee assembly telephoned for a statement for merchandise received from a certain company, the firm’s president stated: “In a conversation with a policeman the officer said it would be nice if ail conventions had people like the Jehovah’s witnesses, and Milwaukee could easily handle more. In fact, they could send some of their policemen on vacation as far as these people are concerned.” Toward the end of this same assembly the convention’s News Service Department received a telephone call from the city desk of the Milwaukee Journal, The substance of the message was: 'We have been watching you people for several days. There have been a lot of conventions held in this area, but this is the largest yet. Newspapermen are as a lot pretty blas£ and unimpressed, but to a man all of them here expressed the opinion that they have never seen a more courteous, kindly and well-mannered group of people and so well organized as your group. We just wanted you to know how we feel up here, so we called.’

PINS, needles, spines or quills—whatever you call them, the porcupine has them! “Pig with spines” is what^the animal’s name means, and what spines! About 30,000 of them! Porky’s antics in defending himself may seem amusing for humans; but for this pincushionlike member of the rodent family, using quills is serious business. Indeed so, for the porcupine quill is virtually a bomb with an automatic time fuse that explodes seconds after entering the victim.

Not that Mr. Porcupine is aggressive or out looking for trouble; all he wants is seclusion and the freedom to ramble where he will. If some tidbit-minded beast disturbs the quietude of this rambling pincushion, then action must be taken. Porky then arches his back; automatically the sharp quills that cover his body from head to tail stand out from his body like pins in a pincushion, but with the pointed ends out.

Now to face the enemy, or more precisely, to face away from the enemy; for the ideal porcupine defense is to turn its tall to the foe. With one slap the wellarmed tail can drive as many as 150 to 200 quills deep into the anatomy of any trespasser. A would-be attacker circles around this bundle of needles, looking for some place to catch hold of its prey; but porky shuffles around too, keeping his tail pointed to the intruder. If an attacker is foolish enough to lunge, this animated pincushion delivers a powerful upward blow with his

tail, driving quills into the attacker’s mouth and throat, at the same time guiding the attacker’s face into the thicket of quills on his back. Too bad for the assailant!

Pmn for Some, Death for Others

Too bad because, once inserted into another animal’s skin, the quills can seldom be extracted except by a man. How so? Because in a sense the quills explode a few seconds after entering the victim. The explosion is minute, but it raises the microscopic barbs on the tip of the quill; and now the quill cannot be extracted without tearing out flesh with it. The barbed quills on some porcupines are as much as five inches long. It takes a man with pliers to pull one out. Many a dog never seems to learn its lesson, and comes home to its master after the painful encounter looking like a pincushion itself.

For the dog there is human help, but too bad for those wild animals who have no human master to extract the quills! Because of muscular action the quills work in deeper and deeper. Sometimes they penetrate a vital organ, and many a porcupine thereby avenges its own death. Big cats and other beasts sometimes hunt porcupines rather than go hungry, though it is often a sorry choice for them. In one case a tiger with its liver and lungs perforated in many places was found dead only a few yards from its victim. E. C. Morris of Mysore described how he “once came on the remains of a panther that had met its death through attacking a porcupine; the decomposed head was run through and through with no less than seventeen quills, two of which had penetrated the eyes into the brain.”

Despite their pincushionlike protection, porcupines sometimes end up on the menu of some hungry beast that succeeds in turning the porcupine on its back to get at its vulnerable underbeHy. Wolves, foxes and bears sometimes have porcupine chops. The black bear often gets its dinner without injury. He starts by flipping earth at the porcupine until the irritated animal stands still and puts up its quills. Deftly the bear slips a paw under it and, with a quick flip, hurls it against the nearest tree. The result is porcupineburger, a tasty treat for hungry bears.

When defending themselves porcupines do not really shoot their quills or roll up into a ball. Quills are constantly growing. Older quills are quite loose, and it sometimes happens that a porcupine will flip up its tail and loose quills will fly off. The porcupine arches its back but does not roll into a ball. The hedgehog, another animal that resembles the porcupine, really does roll itself into a ball. When surprised, the hedgehog draws its head and feet together at the inside, the result being a sphere of bristling spines that defies attack.

Rambling, Unhurried Life

Mr. Porcupine is seldom in a hurry; he rambles about leisurely. As he unhurriedly rambles about he looks for suitable vegetative tidbits, his diet being entirely vegetarian. Most of his rambling, about 95 percent of it, is done at night

Fond as porcupines are of greenery, the finest treat the Canadian porcupine can receive Is salt, which means as much to it as sweets do to children. Anything that human hands have repeatedly touched is likely to be impregnated with slight amounts of salt from perspiration. With his tremendous gnawing teeth, porky will gnaw almost any object with human perspiration, such as strips of leather, saddles, boat oars, ax handles and other tool handles left in the open. One zoologist has a photograph of a large, thick glass bottle gnawed right through by a porcupine. Sometimes these animals prowl around cabins and chisel through doors and floor to reach an article with the desired flavor. Owners of seldom-used cabins sometimes appease porky with conveniently located blocks of salt.

In the winter porcupines do not hibernate but ramble about the woods. During a severe cold spell, however, porky may spend a day or two at home, perhaps in a hollow log or burrow in the rocks. Equipped with remarkable wood chisels in his stout incisor teeth, he chips off the outer bark of trees and feeds on the inner bark. With the melting of winter snows, porky abandons bark for the more appetizing flowers and new green leaves of such trees as the willow, maple and cottonwood.

Many porcupines, especially those of North and South America, are great climbers. They ramble all over a tree, feeding and relaxing. The yellow-haired porcupine uses a “rest tree” instead of a den in which to pass daylight hours. Among trees with high, broad lateral limbs, porky sprawls out and enjoys a delightful snooze, often with all four of his feet dangling overside. The Canadian porcupine spends most of its time in trees, and a Brazilian porcupine spends all its time in trees, sleeping during the day and waking up at sunset to feed on the foliage and bark. The South American porcupine is more streamlined than its North American cousin, having a long tail with a naked tip; and bo it is quite capable of hanging by its tail.

Biggest Porcupines on Earth

No tree-dwelling for the crested porcupines, found thibughout much of Asia, Africa and Europe; they are just rambling pincushions and the largest ones at that They are called crested because a mass of needle-pointed spines extends from the nape of their neck and down their back. They ramble about mostly at night, and, though not skilled in climbing, they are experts at digging and hiking. These rambling pincushions may travel as far as ten miles in search of food, and they put on plenty of weight. Some may weigh fifty or sixty pounds and are over thirty inches long, including an eight-inch tail, covered with long spines that porky rattles in rattlesnake fashion at the suspicious approach of anything from a locust to a lion.

Clearly, the crested porcupine prefers solitude and desolation, habitually concealing itself in dark and lonely places. It lives in almost any kind of area, so long as it is undisturbed and there is suitable rock or brush cover. Not strange, then, that the porcupine is mentioned in the Bible in prophecies concerning places that were to become desolate and uninhabited.

Through his prophet Zephaniah, Jehovah God foretold that the great city Nineveh would become “a place for the wild animals to lie stretched out.” When Nineveh was still a bustling metropolis, Zephaniah prophesied: “He will make Nineveh a desolate waste, a waterless region like the wilderness. And in the midst of her, droves will certainly lie stretched out, all the wild animals of a nation. Both pelican and porcupine will spend the night right among her pillar capitals.” And Isaiah foretold the fall and desolation of Babylon, declaring Jehovah's determination to bring that great city to an uninhabited waste: “I will make her a possession of porcupines.”—Zeph. 2:13-15; Isa. 14:23.

Babylon and Nineveh have long been desolate ruins, “a possession of porcupines.” One explorer of the ruins of ancient Babylon reported: “I found quantities of porcupine quills.” (Imperial Bible Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 227) But tourists to these ruins are not likely to see the porcupines, since zoologist Ivan Sanderson says of the crested porcupines that inhabit the region where are found the ruins of Nineveh:

“They are nocturnal animals which sleep by day in caves, in holes of other animals, between rocks, or in burrows of their own making. . . . Throughout the Near East from the Caucasus and upper Iraq . . ., another large species with a pronounced white collar is to be found in rocky areas, though it is seldom seen since it is strictly nocturnal and very wary and rather silent.”—Living Mammals of the World.

So today, in fulfillment of Bible prophecy, those rambling pincushions, the porcupines, spend busy nights right among the ruins of pillar capitals that once were the glory of ancient Nineveh. God has made both Babylon and Nineveh a possession of porcupines. Each porcupine enjoys its possession and wanders about at night, at times grunting and rattling its quills as if in warning to any would-be disturber: "Beware! I am a dangerous character!” Before this sword rattler suddenly charges backward in rodential rage with his rapierlike quills bristling—it is high time to make one’s exit.

Happiness for All in the New World

AMONG the things of which we can be absolutely certain are the love, kindness and goodness of our Creator, Jehovah God. What abundant evidence he has given us of this in the very material creation itself! What endless variety it contains in things for us to enjoy with our five basic senses! More than that, God has endowed us with the four cardinal attributes of love, justice, wisdom and power. He has given us minds with which we can reason and think, and has informed us of his purpose for the earth, which makes sense to us as intelligent persons. What enlightenment his Word sheds upon our pathway!

As we contemplate these things we are struck with the fact that our Creator, on the one hand, wisely and lovingly endowed us with abilities and capacities, with hungers and thirsts, and, on the other hand, made generous provision for us to employ these and to satisfy them, of whatever nature they may be, physical, mental or spiritual. Truly he has abundantly provided for our maximum happiness.

Without doubt, prominent among the blessings that humankind has enjoyed upon this earth have been those associated with the marital relationship. How precious are the affection and tenderness shared, the privileges of begetting and rearing children!

Since the procreation mandate given our first parents, “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have In subjection” the lower animals, was not carried out in righteousness, we may be certain that it will yet be, because God’s purposes never fail. At the present time, therefore, the hope is held out for those of the “great crowd” of “other sheep” that survive the coming destructive battle of Armageddon to share in this fulfillment, rearing children under righteous conditions in God’s new world.—Gen. 1:28; Rev. 7:9; John 10:16.

Such a privilege will indeed be a source of great happiness. But what about those living then who will not have marriage mates? Quite likely not all Armageddon survivors will, at least not at once, enjoy these blessings, because of the disparity in the number of men and women in the New World society. Then again, among Armageddon survivors there will be some without their mates because of having lost them in death. And what about all those in the memorial tombs? Upon their resurrection they will not have the blessings of the marital union, for, as Jesus said: “In the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage.”—Matt 22:30.

Will all these be happy? Surely they will! God’s new world will be a happy world, for it has a happy God. Besides, are we not assured that then there will be no pain? That includes the heart pains of longing or loneliness.—1 Tim. 1:11; Rev. 21:4.

The Scriptures give us a proper perspective in this matter. Was an injustice done to Jephthah’s daughter in her father’s pledging her to a life of virginity? Did Jehovah wrong Jeremiah in requiring him to remain single? Was Jesus unhappy because he did not choose the blessings of connubial bliss during his brief stay upon the earth? And what about the apostle Paul, who also pursued the ministry without a wife? What blessings and happiness all these found in their service to God, and thatiwithout marriage mates!

“It is not good for the man to continue by himself," said Jehovah of Adam. But in Adam’s case that was especially so because there was not another human creature upon earth with whom he could commune, He had no companion as a complement of him. Humans need close companions, but such companionship even between those of the same sex can surpass the love between a man and a woman, as was true of the tie between David and Jonathan. .—Gen. 2:18; 1 Sam. 20:17; 2 Sam. 1:26.

Consider this:, Today does loss of happiness face a person when he takes his stand for Jehovah God and his kingdom? So it seems to many, for which cause they fail to take such a stand although knowing it is the right thing to do. One taking his stand gives up the association of worldly-friends, worldly ambitions for wealth and fame, petty vices such as smoking and gambling, if not also the pleasures of sin. In exchange he associates with a despised people, trudges from house to house preaching instead of using that time to lie in bed reading the newspaper or watching television, and even curbs his amusements and hobbies for the sake of personal Bible study, congregational association and Christian field ministry. Does all this make him unhappy? Far from it! Ask any of Jehovah’s witnesses and they will tell you that they never knew what true happiness was until they took their stand for Jehovah and began associating with the New World society.

And so as regards the superior joys of the new world. With Satan and his demons together with all his earthly organization out of the way, with mankind steadily progressing toward mental, moral and physical perfection, what fellowship and companionship, what love and affection each will show toward the other, as well as toward Jehovah, and He toward all his earthly creatures! With all cultivating the fruits of the spirit, what happiness they will be able to bring to one another!

Nor would we overlook the joys associated with the activities of the new world. How much there will be to learn and to do in the fields of art, science and pure religion! The literature and forms of entertainment then will be wholesome, upbuilding and thoroughly enjoyable.

May we not also draw on an analogy furnished by happily married couples today? As they get along in years sex plays an ever-diminishing role in their lives even though their love for each other continues, in fact, grows stronger and finer with the years. Yes, in the new world the lives of all will be so full and rich that they will no more bemoan the loss of things once enjoyed than do God’s people bemoan the loss of the things of the old world. They will no more fail to be happy than does an adult because he has left his childhood; he finds new joys, new happiness, new experiences that make his life full. Such will be the experience of the inhabitants of the new world as they continue to advance in knowledge and experience and appreciation for the many things that Jehovah provides for his faithful servants.

So let Christians today exercise full faith in the love, kindness and goodness of their heavenly Father, Jehovah God. Let them not be ensnared by a mistaken notion that connubial bliss is the summum 'bonum, the supreme or highest good, as were certain sons of God in Noah’s day. Myriads of faithful angels, without marriage mates, have enjoyed the greatest felicity throughout the countless aeons of their existence and continue to do so. So will the faithful ones in the resurrection, for they will be “as angels in heaven.” —Matt. 22:30,

Soviet Superbombs

<§ On December 9 Premier Khrushchev told some 1,500 trade union delegates from more than ninety countries assembled in Moscow that the Soviet Union was prepared to use bombs of more than 100-megaton power against any aggressor. He warned the West against endeavoring to match Soviet military strength. He said: "Here is the strength which will be opposed to your strength. Here it is. You do not have fifty- and 100-megaton bombs and we have them already and even more.”

Danger of Armaments

<$ On November 27 Sweden appealed to the United Nations to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to more countries, which might upset the “balance of mutual fear” and result in war. Rolf Edberg of Sweden told the Political Committee that “the spreading of nuclear weapons to more and more states would add considerably to the risk of accident.” He said that "a warning system, however perfect, always leaves a margin of technical miscalculation and human error. The consequences of false alarm could be fatal. The risks of mistakes and. miscalculations inherent in the balance of retaliation are, in fact, the most powerful argument in favor of general and complete disarmament.”

Expense for Defense

On December 6 Vasily F. Garbuzov, Soviet Minister of Finance, announced in his annual budget speech that the Soviet Government planned to spend one sixth of next year's budget on defense. However, United States Defense Department officials estimated that in actuality Soviet arms spending would be about half of their budget, since many military expenditures are concealed in nonmilitary categories. In the fiscal year ending this June 30 the total spending of the United States Government is estimated to reach $89,000,000,000, of which $47,000,000,000 will go for defense. Next year’s defense figure is expected to exceed $50,000,000,000, well over half of the total government spending. Just think of the benefits to society that would be realized if such expenditures would be directed toward peaceful pursuits!

UN Financial Crisis

On December 11 the United Nations' Acting SecretaryGeneral U Thant told the General Assembly’s Budgetary Committee that by the end of 1961 the organization’s deficit would reach $107,500,000. He warned: “The steadily increas

ing financial difficulties which have confronted the United Nations during the past several years have become so serious as now to threaten the ability of the organization to carry out its primary responsibilities and approved programs.”                    '

World Church Conference

On November 19 the third assembly of the World Council of Churches convened in New Delhi, India. The assembly lasted eighteen days and was attended by over a thousand church leaders from throughout Christendom. The first day saw the merging of the International Missionary Council with the World Council of Churches. The following day the Russian Orthodox Church was admitted to membership. The World Council, which was formed in 1948, now has in its membership 198 Protestant and Eastern Orthodox bodies in sixty countries. The previous assemblies of the World Council were at its founding in Amsterdam thirteen years ago and hi Evanston, Illinois, in 1954.

Christmas Carols In School

•$> Frederick E. Lucas, superintendent of eight schools in a northern California elementary school district, a few weeks before Christmas reportedly ruled that no religious Christmas carols were to be sung in school, out of “respect for everyone’s religion and respect for our own American be- ■ liefs.” He said that "we believe that in forbidding the singing of sectarian Christmas songs we are showing our respect for everyone's religion and respect for our own American beliefs. All children are made to feel at ease.” Lucas said that he conferred with local ministers before reaching his decision. After some criticism of the decision, he declared that there had been no actual ban, but

the teachers were ilrged not to stress the hymns in a denominational setting.

Catholic View on Gambling

♦ On December 5, in a speech at the annual Boston Police . Ball at Boston Garden, Catholic Cardinal Richard Cushing expressed the Catholic view on gambling., He said: "In my theology, gambling itself is not a sin any more than to take a glass of beer or of hard liquor is a sin. It’s the abuse that makes gambling evil or drinking intoxicating liquors an evil."

Birthday Greetings

Premier Khrushchev extended Pope John congratulations on reaching his eightieth birthday last November 25. The pope, in turn, sent Khrushchev a message of thanks in which he expressed hopes for world peace. It was the first time since the Bolshevist revolution In 1917 that the top of-fid al in the Kremlin had sent a personal message to the pope.

Gladiator Gym Found

<$> Less than a hundred yards from the famous Roman Coliseum excavators unearthed the rulna of Ludus Magnus, the most important of four gymnasiums in which gladiators trained for their fights in the arena. It was connected to the Coliseum by underground passages. The Ludua Magnus, which excavators described as perhaps only a little less sumptuous than portrayed in recent Hollywood films about ancient Rome, was built by Domitian, who was emperor' from 81 to 96 (A.D.). It was restored a few years later by Emperor Trajan and continued in use until gladiatorial fights were abolished in the fifth century.

U.S. Population

<$> According to the “census clock” in the Commerce Department, the United States

the last two years there had been twenty-eight mistakes where the wrong patient had been operated on, or the operation had been performed on the right person but the wrong part of the body. Illegible writing abbreviations on patients' ease papers, mix-up in records and changeover in staff personnel on the day bf operations were listed'as main causes for the mistakes. Although not all mistakes were serious, it was observed that “the same lack of scrupulous care that leads to a minor mistake can equally cause one that will be a haunting reproach to the surgeon and a disaster to the patient."

Bible Translating

<$> The work of Eugene Nida, executive secretary for translations for the American Bible Society, is the translation of the Bible into new languages. He has worked in 150 or more primitive languages, from Navaho in Arizona to Shilluk on the Nile. “I guess you could call me a technical linguist,” he said. “I go to help missionaries who are working on some language somewhere in the world, and are having difficulty with it” The Bible, in all or in part, is available in at least 1,167 of the some 2,796 known languages and dialects in the world. The number is ever increasing as the American Bible Society has linguists and translators at work on translations in scores of new languages.

Burned Alive .

At a village near Jaipur, India, some 7,000 persons watched as a woman allowed herself to be burned alive on her husband’s funeral pyre. This Hindu practice, called suttee, is officially banned, but occasional cases are still reported. It is still the belief of some Hindus that a virtuous wife should commit suttee

when her husband dies, for it is believed this will bring peace to th£ souls of both of them.

‘Oall-a-Balnt’

<$> The Redemptorlst Fathers of the Holy Ghost Church In Houston, Texas, have arranged so that anyone can dial a number and hear a message associated with a saint whose day it is. One sample: “Too many of us have never learned the love of solitude in today's busy world. Our hero for today, St Bruno, rebukes our ceaseless activity in the midst of people.” This is followed by a commercial to remind one that this is presented by George H. Lewis & Sons, funeral directors.

Ancient Ceremonies Today

<$> On December 11 in New York city there was a celebration of the raising of the steel structure of the new thirtystory Bankers Trust Building to its highest point Toppingout ceremonies in vogue 3,000 years ago, when it was believed buildings were Inhabited by spirits, were followed. Among items hauled to the top of the structure were a basket of eggs, a flag, three handkerchiefs, a small flr tree, sheaves of corn and other vegetables, ribbons, garlands of flowers, a pair of handcuffs and a jar of chicken blood. On such occasions the ancient Romans and Aztecs offered human sacrifices, thinking that they thereby appeased the spirits. The Bankers Trust, however, followed the Chinese custom of offering chicken blood.

Religion’s Attractive Force

-$■ What is it that attracts today’s churchgoer? The U.S. Department of Commerce in its monthly review of the building industry, observed: “The construction cost for many churches today approaches the $500,000 mark. Some larger churches include kitchens, snack bars, craft and game rooms, libraries and rendezvous rooms. Some rendezvous rooms are even equipped with hi-fl, television sets, and radios. Church classrooms may include sewing machines and power saws. Modern lighting, heating and ventilating equipment also contribute to rising costs.” Churches of late have also been installing bowling alleys, basketball courts, pingpong rooms, and so forth. Clergymen argue such devices attract the people to church, where, in the course of time, they may be led to the worship of God. It is noted, however, that people were attracted to Jesus because he taught the pure word of God found in the Scriptures.

When you read your Bible

... do you get the understanding?

You can if you read it with The Watchtower. This magazine is devoted exclusively to Bible instruction and is read by more persons than any other religious journal in the world. Receive your copy regularly from the 3,850,000 published each issue in sixty-two languages.

The Watchtower

One year, 7/- (for Australia, 8/-; for South Africa, 70c).

THE RIDGEWAY      LONDON N.W. 7

I am enclosing 7/- (for Australia, 8/-; for South Africa, 70c). Please send me The Watchtower for one year. For mailing the coupon I am to receive free the three booklets God’s Way 7s Love. God's Kingdom Rules—7s the World’s End Near! and "Look! 7 Am Making All Things New.''

Street and Number Name ...................................................................................... or Route and Box ......................

Post                                                   Postal

Town .........   District No........... County..........

Where do you go to get your Bible questions answered?

Why not draw on the wealth of material published during the past year in your copies of the Awake! magazine? The Watch Tower Publications Index for 1961 contains a complete subject and scripture index to all twenty-four issues, and covers as well the year's issues of The Watchtower, the book “Let Your Name Be Sanctified” the booklets Blood, Medicine and the Law of God and When AU Nations Unite Under God’s Kingdom, the Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses for both 1961 and 1962, and appendix material in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1961 edition. Get your copy at once. It is only 8d (for Australia, lOd; for South Africa, 7c).

Watch Tower Publications Index for 1961

!llllll|i|;|J||!llll1lllllll!|l|l!l|[|T|iri)iniroil|l|llll'llllll1ll!l1lltl!llllinillltllllllTlirill|[|!ll[|]llll!llllllll]||||fM

WATCH TOWER       THE RIDGEWAY       LONDON N.W. 7

Please send me the Watch Tower Publications Index for 1961. I am enclosing 8d (for Australia. lOd; for South Africa, Tc).

Street end Number Name........................................................................................ or Route and Box .............................................................

Post                                                Postal

Town.........................................  District No.............County...............................................

In: AUSTRALIA address 11 Beresford Rd., Strathfield, N.S.W. CANADA: 160 Brldpelund Ave., Toronto 19, Ont SOUTH AFRICA: private Bag, Elandafontein, Transvaal, UNITED STATES: 117 Adams St., Brooklyn 1, N.Y.

32                                                        AW* r-n '