Awake!, June 8, 1954

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HOW THE UNITED NATIONS IS ORGANIZED

Do you really know how it works? --

Hope for the Handicapped

Practical suggestions on what they can do -----------------

Psychology—Its Fields

Studying man’s marvelous mind!

Pioneering in Australia’s Outback

Missionary describes an amazing land

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THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

News bqufcw that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues ->f cur thnee 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 U 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 I” uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four comers 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 cover* age is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.

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

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CONTENTS

The Churches and Political Morale

Churches: Den of Sinners?

“My Greatest Discovery”

Hong Kong's Christmas Bonfire

How the United Nations Is Organized

Psychology—Its Fields

Security Council

Could There Be a Para/fei?

Hope for the Handicapped

“Your Word Is Truth”

On McCarthy

One Hope for Jew and Gentile

Jehovah's Witnesses and Religious Liberty

Jehovah's Witnesses Preach

Antenna on the Rooftop

in All the Earth—Indonesia

Canada’s Vacationlands

Do You Know?

Pioneering In the Australian Outback

Watching the World

The Churches and Political Morals

CAN the solution to the bad climate of today’s political morals be found within the churches? Some people think so. Yet in many lands many of the very politicians who have not always considered honesty the best policy are regular church members. This contradiction caused New York Post columnist Dorothy Schiff to ask in January: “Why have the institutions of religion so frequently failed to instill in their memberships the high moral standards they so patiently preach?”

Her question was prompted by a stirring and remarkably courageous speech given by U. S. politician James Farley, a speech that was ignored by a large percentage of newspapers that apparently thought it too controversial, best to steer clear of. Discussing “The Role of the Catholic in Politics,” Roman Catholic Farley said: “Unhappily, Catholics in power have been as prone to abuse their trust, if not more so than their non-Catholic brethren ... In recent scandals involving men in public life the identification of Catholics among the betrayers of trust came so often as to bring us a heavy sense of shame . . . We should be something less than honest if we did not recognize that many of the most notorious political machines in America have been built and operated by Catholics.”

Immediately let it be observed that politician Farley would also have been justified in attacking the political morals of those of other religious faiths. Agreeing with what Farley says, Miss Schiff also shows that others are involved, saying: “Protestants and Jews also too often check their morals at the door when they leave their churches and synagogues.” She refers to a psychiatrist to learn why religions do not produce higher morals and ethics.

But if there is an Authority on religion, would it not be best to go to it for a really accurate explanation? There is such an Authority. It is the Bible, which is the guidebook, road map or book of instructions regarding true religion. All will have to admit that it at least shows what Christianity was when good morals and zeal filled the lives of the early Christians, who would even die for right worship.

The Scriptures firmly state these principles of honesty. The Christian must follow them. How can one who does not follow them claim to be Christian? Following the same line of thought, and since it is the members that make up an organization, how can an organization claim to be really Christian when it provides the world with leaders who do not follow the Scriptural principles? Something is amiss. From where does the weakness come? Why do neither Catholics nor Protestants succeed in the duty they have taken upon themselves? If you cannot imagine the apostles’ being involved in political scandals, the

disciples’ developing power-hungry political machines, or the early Christian converts' betraying a trust that was put in them, then why should these things be evident among those who claim the name “Christian” today?

Perhaps it is because the‘patient preaching’ about which Miss Schiff speaks has been too patient, the example too weak. Today’s religious leaders are not really following the Authority, the guidebook for religion. Modern-day religion has broadened out to encompass almost everyone who will come and sit. While this is good for attendance, it is bad for principle and disastrous to those who are led to think that merely attending a church puts them in the right way.

True worship, as practiced in Jesus’ day, was not just a “come and sit” religion; it was a "get out and do” matter. This fact is made very pointedly in Jesus’ statement at Matthew 7:13, 14, 21-23, that the right way is a "narrow way,” and that it does not water down its principles just to take in everyone. True religion encourages others to raise their standards to God’s standards, but the churches have failed to instill in their memberships the high moral standards that the Bible sets for true Christians, because they have reversed this principle and lowered their standards toward the standards of today’s generally apathetic world. The individual who recognizes this need not despair, however. He has the right to reject this broad way of ‘patient preaching’ and to associate with those who zealously do the works of true Christianity.

Greatest Discovery”

Under the above title the New York Herald Tribune (January 3, 1954) carried the following condensation from the book Of Flight and Life, by Charles A. Lindbergh:

"To me in youth, science was more important than either man or God. I worshiped science, I was awed by its knowledge. Its advances had surpassed man’s wildest dreams. In its learning seemed to lie the key to all mysteries of life,

"It took many years for me to discover that science, with all its brilliance, lights only a middle chapter of creation. I saw the science I worshiped, and the aircraft I loved, destroying the civilization I expected them to serve, and which I thought as permanent as earth itself.

"Now I realize that to survive, one must look beyond the speed and power of aircraft —beyond the material strength of science. And, though God cannot be seen as tangibly as I had demanded as a child, His presence can be sensed in every sight and act and incident. Now I know that when man loses his sense, he misses the true quality of life—the beauty of earth, its seasons and its skies; the brotherhood of men; the joy of wife and children. He loses the infinite strength without which no people can survive—the element which war cannot defeat or peace corrupt,

"Now I understand that spiritual truth is more essential to a nation than the mortar in its cities’ walls. For when the actions of a people are unguided by these truths, it is only a matter of time before the walls themselves collapse,

"The most urgent mission of our time is to understand these truths, and to apply them to our Way of modern life. We must draw strength from the almost forgotten virtues of simplicity, humility, contemplation, prayer. It requires a dedication beyond science, beyond self—but the rewards are great and it is our only hope.”

Nations are ambassadors to the world. They represent nations. When a delegate speaks, a nation is speaking. When delegates listen, nations are listening. I* ■ ■ ■ &| .■ The opinions expressed here

Un I tea Nations within the assembly of the Unit-

Is Organized

IN A thirty-nine story, glass-framed, marble skyscraper overlooking New York city’s East River, sixty nations regularly meet together to conduct their business and iron out their problems for the avowed purpose of promoting peace and security in the world. These are sovereign nations, independent nations meeting face to face on terms of equality. They are called “United Nations” principally because of their stated aim to bring harmony and peace in the world. Since this organization is dedicated to enhancing the general welfare of the people, it should be of genuine interest to all to know how it operates.

There are six main organs to the United Nations’ machinery. They are: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. Each unit of the Secretariat functions under the secretarygeneral’s direction and supervision, and at the head of each is an assistant secretarygeneral. These units are established to service all other organs, ensure co-operation between nations in the interest of maintaining international peace and security, increase education, promote human progress, guard the well-being of humanity, watch over matters of peoples who do not govern themselves, and take care of legal problems. Delegates to the United ed Nations can affect the lives and destiny of the majority of the world’s population.

The key figures, for the duration of the organization, 'are the president of the General Assembly, the president of the Security Council and the secretary-general. In case of an emergency any one of these three, either separately or jointly with the other two, may set the machine in motion. The organization went to work on the cold, drizzling afternoon of January 10, 1946, when the first General Assembly met in London. With three raps of the assembly president’s gavel, the world body came to order. The United Nations charter, a most complex constitutional machinery, became the blueprint of a living, working organization. Its avowed purpose is well represented in the preamble to the charter, which says:

“We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind ... and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women, and of nations large and small . . . and to promote social progress and better

standards of life in larger freedom *. * and for these ends ,.. to practice tolerance and live together In peace with one another as good neighbors.*. and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security . . . and to ensure that armed force shall not be used save in the common interest , , , and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish thete aims.” These are the high ideals that have fostered and inspired the United Nations.

General Assembly

'The charter provides for a General Assembly In which every world problem within the scope of the charter may be considered. This assembly is made up of the sixty member nations. Each sends five representatives and five alternates to sit with them, and as many advisers and experts as they need. Their salary is paid by the nation that sends them. Each member nation also contributes to the annual budget of the United Nations. The amount is decided by the General Assembly and depends on each country’s ability to pay* Each year the General Assembly elects its own president and seven vice-presidents, all from different countries.

The assembly meets annually, unless it should be called into special session. Every aspect of international legal, cultural, political, social and economic affairs may be covered in this assembly, This is the “town meeting of the world,*’ as John Foster Dulles so aptly termed it. The assembly merely discusses Issues. It recommends. It advises. It thinks up plans for settling problems, but settles none itself. It cannot make laws. It cannot tell the people what to do. Nor can it use force. After its discussion the assembly votes that certain things be done. Then its work is finished.

The other branches of the United Nations move to carry out the decisions.

Most of the work done by the General Assembly is done by a dozen or more committees. There is a committee for each important part of the United Nations. These committees argue out the details and make recommendations in writing to the General Assembly. The assembly considers the t'ecommendations and votes on the matter. Each nation has only one vote. There is no ‘‘veto?’ For almost all the important issues the assembly considers, a two-thirds majority vote is needed before any action is recommended.

Security Council

According to the United Nations Charter, the work of maintaining the peace and security of the world rests almost solely on the Security Council* Eleven members comprise this Council* There are five permanent members, whose names appear in the charter; they are China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, The remaining six are chosen by the General Assembly for a period of two years, after which they may not serve again immediately. For security reasons the Council is in continuous session* theoretically speaking. It investigates international disputes, and it can take action against aggressors if necessary.

The Council, however, cannot make any decision, except on question of procedure, if one of these five permanent mefnbers is against it; this is called the “veto” of the unanimity rule. The United Kingdom or any of the other permanent members can always veto the use of military force against itself. When the council is recommending measures for peacefully settling a dispute, a council member, if it is a party to this dispute, may not vote. Voting is done by a simple show of hands. Each council member has but one vote. The veto

cannot be used to stop discussion, nor can it be used when the council votes cn the election of judges for the InternationalCourt of Justice. It can prevent any nation from joining the United Nations or from being expelled or suspended because of bad behavior.

Economic and Social Council

The Genera I Assembly and Security Council might be called “the peace-keeping and peace-making agencies of the United Nations.’’ There are other agencies operating within the United Nations that also seek to promote peace, but in other ways. The Economic and Social Council tries to get the nations to work together to improve living standards and to extend observance of basic human rights.

The eighteen members that make up this council meet regularly at. least three times a year. All decisions are made by a simple majority vote. There is no veto in the council. The assignment is so great that the charter provides for commissions and specialized agencies. Some of the commissions working in conjunction with the Economic and Social Council are these: The Human Rights Commission, which is now at work drafting an “International Bill of Rights.” The Commission on the Status of Women endeavors to gain equal rights for women. The Social Commission works on prevention of crime, better public housing, old-age pensions, workmen’s compensation laws, etc. The Transport and Communications Commission works for better laws for ships, airplanes, bus lines and railroads. The Economic and Employment Commission studies how to get work for the willing and prevent depression. And there are the Fiscal Commission, the Statistical Commission, the Narcotic Drugs Commission and others. Each commission consists of a dozen or more experts. Besides the commissions the council has specialized agencies to assist it in its work. Briefly some of these agencies are:

“The. International Labor Organization (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary I'und, the World Health Organization (WHO),the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).” Hie council has to co-ordinate the work of all these commissions and agencies. It receives their reports and hears their representatives, then it votes as to what recommendations it will make. The council cannot make laws. It just recommends, and most of its recommendations are heeded. Its primary objective is “to make the world a safer, pleasanter, and more comfortable place for all to live in.”

Trusteeship Council

One of the principal organs of the United Nations and the last to begin its work is the Trusteeship Council. This council assists the General Assembly in looking after t rust t erri tones. Trust territories are lands that have been placed under the International Tnisteeship System. They are iands that do not govern themselves. The countries that govern them have placed them under the trusteeship system. The idea of the trusteeship system is to look after the welfare of the peoples of the territories and to help them to develop, that they may govern themselves. There are at present eleven such territories.

The Trusteeship Council is made up of slates administering trust territories, of the five permanent members of the Security Council, and of “as many other mem-

bers (elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly) as may be necessary to ensure that the membership is equally divided between administering and non-administering states/' The countries that administer trust territories must send annual reports to the United Nations stating the progress made in such territory toward self-government. The council has the right to send committees to all the trusteeship territories to look and to ask questions. The council then reviews the findings, studies the reports and writes its comments on them and passes them on to the General Assembly or to the Security Council, whichever is in charge of the trust territory.

International Court of Justice

Article 102 of the charter states that every member nation that makes a treaty with another nation must send copies of all its treaties to the Secretariat of the United Nations. These accepted treaties become international law. When a nation violates a treaty it can be tried before the International Court of Justice, which sits at The Hague in Holland.

The court is composed of fifteen Judges, each elected by the Security Council and the General Assembly. They serve for nine years and no one can remove them until that term is up. If a judge becomes too ill to do his work and will not resign, or if a judge becomes untrustworthy, the other judges can vote him out, if they all agree. But no one else can remove him.

Any member of the United Nations can bring a case to this court Nations that are not members can also bring their cases to this court, if their governments agree to abide by the decisions of the court. The court tries only nations, not individuals. It can call experts to answer questions. It can ask for papers, treaties or evidence it desires, but it has no power for seizing witnesses or evidence. The majority vote decides the case. In case of a tie, the judge who was appointed president of the court votes twice. The decision is put in writing, together with the reason for it. Each decision is read aloud in the courtroom. Then copies are printed. The court has completed its job. It cannot enforce its decision. Each nation that signs the charter of the United Nations agrees to abide by whatever the court rules. Neither the Security Council nor any other part of the United Nations has power to force a nation to accept a decision.

Secretariat

The Secretariat takes care of all the administrative matters of the United Nations. It does the office work of the organization. It works all year round, serving all parts of the organization and carrying out the programs and policies laid down by them. It is made up of about 4,500 international civil servants who serve under the head of the Secretariat, the secretary-general. These men and women are not allowed to take orders from any government, political party or church. “The Secretariat serves as the permanent liaison between the different branches of the United Nations and between the specialized agencies within the organization itself. It prepares every session of the Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council/'

While this review barely scratches the surface of the amount of agencies, work, problems and expense entailed in operating the world organization, yet it should be enough to show that the task is great. Is it too great for men to handle? Many think so. They question the United Nations’ workability* They are dubious of its future. What has the United Nations accomplished? they ask. Our next issue will give the answer*

HANDICAPPED

MIRACLES never seem to cease in the realm of the, handicapped. Mastering the seemingly “unbelievable” appears commonplace among the disabled. There are legless dancers, mountain climbers, swimmers; armless musicians, composers, typists; blind doctors, teachers, instructors; mute musicians and special agents. Virtually nothing appears too great for them to surmount. Therefore, it is not surprising that some of these cases should be classed as miracles. But despite their achievements, certain fact's show the difference between God’s miracles and these human accomplishments.

Take, for example, the case of Kenneth Porter. He received, spinal injuries while serving with the Marines in the Solomon Islands. Doctors left him with a choice to make: to remain in a standing position for the rest of his life or to remain in a sitting position. Porter chose to stand. His active mind soon taught him how to live without bending. He used crutches to walk, an elevated table to eat from and a raised bench to work at. But he did everything standing up. Despite his handicap, Porter leads a normal life. He is employed, is married, and has three children. As remarkable as this case may be it still could not be termed a miracle, because Porter remains wrapped in a rigid cast; he needs crutches to help him get around, and even though he may lead a normal life it is not a natural one. —Life, February 4, 1952.

Hope for Disabled

The restoring of the mentally and physically handicapped by Christ and his apos

tles should be a source of great comfort and joy to those who have been born handicapped or who have been

disabled through accident, KjSfl l

because these miraculous a cures pointed forward to // the new world now at hand, ff when Christ will restore $ all mankind to perfection.

Meanwhile, however, great advances are being made in a human way in the realm of the handicapped, though it is not easy for the disabled to overcome their difficulties. Simple things that a normal person might think anyone should be able to do without much thought become unbearable tasks for the paralytic. The truth is that most handicapped persons have to learn even simple things all over again. And if a patient has suffered a stroke, it might be necessary for him to learn an entirely new pattern of action, which might take weeks, even months, to accomplish.

To roll over in bed might not seem much for a normal, healthy body, but it becomes a tremendous task for a paralyzed one. Walking with crutches might appear easy for one who has never tried it, but many times a patient has banged his face on the floor while learning to use them. A simple daily routine, such as combing one’s hair, tying one’s tie, eating by oneself, calls for hours of practice, courage and patience on the part of both instructor and patient alike.

Watching a paralytic try to get up from a chair for the first time is like watching a man trying to lift something ten times his own weight, but with a little help over a period of time, sometimes weeks, he will do it. After each apparent success there is a glow that shines through the sweat* covered face. Not a miracle, but hard work. Once the “routine activities” of daily living are mastered by the handicapped, all the other activities, regardless of how great or small, fall into place less strenuously.

Size and Shape of Problem

Over the centuries there has been an aversion toward hiring the handicapped. However, in the last few years much progress has been made toward giving the disabled both opportunity and self-sufficiency. This progress is mainly due to a better understanding of the handicap problem by employers and the advances made in vocational rehabilitation centers. During the fiscal year ending June, 1952, the United States Office of Vocational Rehabilitation reported that some 67,000 disabled persons were rehabilitated through the federal-state vocational rehabilitation programs. One out of every five was placed into successful employment. More than 10,000 went into skilled trades and essential occupations. But these figures scarcely reveal the true problem.

A recent United States Public Health Service survey estimated that there were some 28,000,000 persons suffering from some kind of disability, if one would include everything from a minor heart condition to a broken toe. In the period between the attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan’s surrender there were some 1,250,000 civilians reported physically disabled, to compare with 260,000 of the armed forces. For every disabled soldier there were five disabled civilians. During World War II the American armed forces had 2,500 paraplegics, but in the same period of time there were 15,000 in civilian life. There were 19,000 war amputees; 120,000 in civilian life. Some 350,000 persons are permanently disabled every year in automobile and industrial accidents. Eveiy year an estimated 48,000 hands or arms are lost by American civilians. This number is several times more than were lost by soldiers and sailors during the last war. There are about 350,000 children with cerebral palsy. A Yale survey disclosed that 121 out of every 1,000 population studied were suffering from chronic illness, and that forty of these, or four in each 100 population, were totally disabled. Governmental authorities believe at least a million of these could become employable if they received proper care and training.

During the definite man-power shortage the disabled were selected to fill the gap. One employer, Albert Hubschman, president of the Roller-Smith Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, stated; “We hire people for their minds, not their muscles. We call them handicapped persons. The truth is, they are handicapped by the fact that American industry makes virtually no effort to use their talents." An instructor at the Paraplegic Manufacturing Company remarked that “there’s nothing the fellows here couldn’t do around the average factory, except get up the steps into it.” .

However, not all handicaps are rehabili-table to physical employment. Nevertheless, their thinking and their lives can be greatly improved by a positive, forwardlooking program. Those closely confined should read every day, or have someone read to them. The reading should be selective, something positive, constructive, uplifting. Spiritual strength and encouragement are required. The mind must be fortified with the right kind of thoughts. There can be no better thoughts than those found in the Bible. Put it at the top of your list of reading material. It gives comfort and

hope and shows the way to health and life.

The apostle Paul advised: “Whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things. The things which you learned as well as accepted and heard and saw in connection with me, practice these; and the God of peace will be with you?1—Philippians 4:8, 9, New World Trans.

Focus your attention not on what is gone but on what is left. Ask yourself: What can I do? Can I walk? Use my hands? Write? Can I make things? Can I design, mend or sew? Make a list of things you can do, and then do them with all the cheerfulness you can possibly muster. To bring happiness to others is to bring happiness to yourself. Most of all, do not let your disability prevent you from serving God. You can talk of his goodnesses. Many ministers of Jehovah's witnesses who, because of their handicap, are confined to wheel chairs do street work or prfeach in the business sections of their community. Those confined to beds write letters or use the telephone, and in this way make known the glorious hope of the Kingdom. It is first in their minds; their disability, second.

Whatever the handicap, the mind can be trained to think upward and outward, but never train the mind inward or on oneself. Because one is disabled does not mean that he is helpless or that he cannot enjoy life. Franklin D. Roosevelt, despite being paralyzed from his abdomen down, becartie the president of the United States. Major Alexander P. de Seversky lost a leg in an air battle during World War I, yet went on to become one of the world's foremost aeronautical authorities. Harold Russell lost both hands during World War II, then became an expert with artificial limbs. Hollywood chose him to play the leading role in “Best Years of Our Lives,” For his memorable performance he won the Oscar award. Helen Keller, one of the most outstanding women leaders of the century, has neither seen nor heard since she was a child. Dr. Arthur Abramson, paraplegic veteran, became a top-flight specialist in orthopedic medicine.

These examples show that persons with handicaps can do much. But those who do the most are the ones whose handicaps do not prevent them from properly serving their God, either as part-time or even as full-time ministers. And in the ranks of Jehovah's servants today there are many such ones. Their lives are a real service, spent in helping others to see the truth of God’s Word and to receive his blessings. Their eyes are forward, toward Jehovah’s established kingdom and the true miracles it will bring to this earth. He will cure all handicaps, and men will live everlastingly on earth, without illness or disease or death. Yet, even now there is no obstacle that cannot be surmounted by such servants of God, for they face their obstacles, not through the might or power of men, “but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts.” —Zechariah 4:6, Am. Stan. Ver.

on McCarthy

“Whose responsibility is this irresponsible bore?” —Life, March 22, 1954.

JEHOVAHS WITNESSES AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

Th* following art Inftrotting cxctrptv from th* NAIRO (Notional Association Intergroup Rotations Officials) “1953 Commission Roporis/’ Volume 1.

the late Justice Murphy

EN years ago,

stated* that "Jehovah's Witnesses are liv-mg proof of the fact that even m this nation, conceived as it was in the ideals of freedom, the right to practice religion m unconventional ways is still far from secure. Theirs is a militant and unpopular faith, pursued with a fanatical zeal. They have suffered brutal beatings; their property has been destroyed; they have been harassed at every turn by the resurrection and enforcement of little used ordinances and statutes/*

U. In 1940, in a period of but one week, hundreds of attacks upon Jehovah’s witnesses were reported to the United States Department of Justice. Investigation by the FBI revealed many incidents of serious violence. At Kennebunk, Maine, the Kingdom Hall was burned. At Rockville, Maryland, the local police assisted a mob in dispersing a Bible meeting. At Litchfield, Illinois, practically the entire town mobbed a company of some sixty Witnesses and it was necessary to call on the state troopers to protect them. At Connersville, Indiana, several Witnesses and their attorney were beaten and driven out of town as they appeared in court to answer a charge of riotous conspiracy. At Richmond, West Virginia, the chief of police and deputy sheriff forced a group of Jehovah's witnesses to drink large doses of castor oil and paraded them through the streets tied together with a Police Department rope.

I<£ This is a picture of the situation as it existed during the war years. It may be assumed that there has been a substantial improvement since then. The newspaper reports and comments on the recent world conference held by the Witnesses at Yankee Stadium In New York indicate that the sect is beginning to acquire a degree of respectability and ac* ceptance by the community. But the extent of the improvement is uncertain. The Witnesses still remain the principal victim of substantial impairment of religious liberty in the United States.

<£ This conclusion is substantiated by the fact that, in both of the decisions on religious liberty decided by the United States Supreme Court during the past term, the constitutional rights of Jehovah’s witnesses had been infringed. Undoubtedly, there are many other instances of infringements of the Witnesses’ constitutional rights that never reach the Supreme Court or indeed any court.

Religious liberty is meaningful only if It gives the same protection to the respected and revered and to the despised and obnoxious. The Witnesses are an unpopular sect, with few sympathizers and fewer friends. The extent to which they are protected in their rights has been and will probably be for sometime a measure of the strength of our constitutional guarantee of freedom of conscience.

SNOBBERY

Ask an American youngster to draw a house, and in addition to the traditional walls, roof, chimney and windows, the chances are that he will now top it with a TV antenna. Ninety per cent of the families in Philadelphia, 92 per cent in Toledo, Ohio, 93 per cent in Milwaukee, 97 per cent in Cleveland and 99 per cent In Erie, Pennsylvania, own television sets, TV antennas are apparently considered by some to be a necessity. For example, one postal officer in Wales, in checking to see if set owners had paid their annual £2 license fees, discovered that in his area 25 per cent of the houses that had aerials for them had no TV sets. He termed this installing of TV aerials just because their neighbors had them "An expensive form of snobbery indulged in by social climbers.'*

By "Awake!" correspondent in Canada

THE discovery of Great Divide and exmineral hot tending into Jasper springs, bubbling from Park, is the vast Co

the slopes of Sulphur Mountain, by engineers exploring the route for Canada’s first transcontinental railway, led to the establishment of Canada’s first national park. From this small area of ten square miles at Banff, Alberta, set apart in 1885, the parks system has been extended until it embraces twentyeight separate areas totaling more than 29,000 square miles, an area almost as large as Ireland. Established primarily for the preservation of the unspoiled natural landscape and for the protection of the native wildlife, they are to be “maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations,” according to an act of parliament.

Banff and Jasper Parks

Among the great scenic attractions of the world is Banff National Park in Alberta, the oldest of Canada’s national parks, and the best known. It is visited annually by thousands of travelers from all parts of the world, who come by air, train and car. Included within its boundaries are the main ranges of the Canadian Rockies east of the continental divide for a distance of 125 miles. The Rocky Mountains form the great watershed of the North American continent and rank third among the great mountain ranges of the world. In the northern section of the park, straddling the

lumbia ice field—more than 100 square miles in extent—a remnant of the Ice Age. This ice field is the source of three mighty rivers: The Athabasca, which empties via the Mackenzie River into the Arctic Ocean, the Saskatchewan flowing into Hudson Bay, and the Columbia, which cascades its way through scenic gorges, into the Pacific Ocean. The park also contains the two world-famous resorts of Banff and Lake Louise. On the slopes of Mount Norquay the visitor can rise through a vertical distance of more than 1,300 feet on a spectacular chair lift to the 7,000-foot level. The beauty of the surrounding panorama is breath-taking: snowcapped peaks glistening against a blue sky, lacy mountain streams dropping into tiny lakes, and colorful forest-clad mountain slopes where Bighorn sheep, Rocky Mountain goats, moose and deer are frequently observed.

Banff and Jasper National Parks, encompassing more than 6,700 square miles in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, offer the greatest variety of natural phenomena. Both have hot mineral springs, glittering glaciers, deep canyons, roaring cataracts and a vast assortment of majestic mountain peaks. One of the most exciting motor trips in the world is over the Banff-Jasper highway, an interpark mbtor road built along the trench immediately east of the main chain of the Rockies. The road follows, in turn, the Bow, Mistaya, North Saskatchewan, Sunwapta and Athabasca Rivers, and, for its entire length of 185 miles, it commands some of the most breath-taking and majestic scenery in the Canadian Rockies, which places it among the great “high-roads” of earth.

Other Western Parks

The environment of dense green forests, blue lakes and glistening sand beaches is far from the popular conception of a park in the prairie provinces, but in Manitoba and Saskatchewan there are two national parksof outstanding beauty: Riding Mountain and Prince Albert National Parks. Riding Mountain National Park is situated on the fringe of the Great Plains region that extends northward from the Mississippi Valley into Central Canada and occupies the vast plateau of Riding Mountain, which rises to a height of 2,200 feet above sea level. On the east and northeast the park presents a steep escarpment, towering nearly 1,100 feet above the surrounding country and affording magnificent views of the fertile plains below. Sweeping westward for nearly 70 miles, the park contains an area of 1,148 square miles, heavily forested and set with numerous crystal lakes, some of which are several miles long. The park is the natural home for species of big game native to the region, including deer, elk, moose and bear. Wild fowl are numerous, songbirds and birds of brilliant plumage enliven the forests, beavers live along the streams, and a herd of buffalo, descendants of the great herds that once roamed the western plains, feeds on the rich meadows near Lake Audy.

Northwesterly from Riding Mountain National Park, and almost in the geographical center of the province of Saskatchewan, is located Prince Albert National Park. Set in a vast region of rocks, woods and water, still rich with the memories of fur trader and trapper, of nomadic Indian and explorer, the park lies just thirty-six miles north of the city of Prince Albert. It contains an area of 1,496 square miles, and, extending far beyond the haunts of man into the unspoiled wilderness, is typical of the lake country bordering the northern park of the great plains of western Canada. Surrounding the lakes of the park are heavy growths of jack pine, white and black spruce, white birch, trembling aspen or white poplar, and black poplar. Wild animals and birds are numerous. Big game most often seen by visitors are moose, elk, white-tailed or Virginia deer, mule deer and black bear, while woodland caribou, beaver, muskrat, mink, fox, wolves and coyotes are plentiful.

One hundred years ago over the great interior plains of the continent and through the open areas of the adjoining forest regions roamed the mighty bison. Its numbers are believed to have reached millions; in fact, some of the great herds are recorded as extending twenty-five miles in width and fifty miles in depth. However, the white man and Indians slew them by the thousands and by the turn of the twentieth century there was reason to believe that not a single buffalo remained on the plains of Canada in a wild state. Today under careful supervision more than 1,000, among the most magnificent specimens of their kind existing in North America, live in the 75-square-mile fenced area forming Elk Island National Park in central Alberta. Buffalo, however, is not the only big game in the park, for elk, deer and moose also flourish there under sanctuary conditions. Elk Island National Park is also one of the most important bird sanctuaries in western Canada. In early , summer the lakes are literally alive with waterfowl, many of which breed along the reedy shores. More than 200 species of birds, including common residents and migrants, have been identified.

Parks in Eastern Canada

While western Canada has its parks on the prairies and high up in the mountains, there are many parks in eastern Canada that are worthy of our consideration. Among the outstanding scenic regions in Canada, the Island of Cape Breton presents attractions that are unique in North America. In the soft roll of hill and vale the scenery is reminiscent of the highlands of Scotland and, mounted against the everchanging background of the ocean, it has a solitary grandeur peculiar to itself. Except for the high interior barrens, which support only shrubs and moss, the landscape is clothed with mixed forest, and when the foliage takes on its autumnal colors the diffused shades of green, gold, crimson and russet combine to provide a magnificent spectacle. Three hundred and ninety square miles of this beautiful island have been set aside to form Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This park stretches across the northern part of the island from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Along the western shores steep hills rise almost precipitously from the gulf to a height of 1,500 feet, The island is rich in historic interest and is linked with the earliest days of exploration in the Western world. Perpetuating the memory of the Cabots, who made their first landfall on the North American continent along the shores of Cape Breton Island, is the famous Cabot Trail encircling the park.

Those who are accustomed to thinking of Canada in terms of the far north are surprised to learn that Point Pelee National Park in the province of Ontaria is almost in the same latitude as the northern boundary of the state of California. The park forms the most southerly extension of the mainland in Canada. Located within an hour’s drive of such industrial centers as Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, it is a source of pleasure to thousands of city dwellers who love its thirteen miles of broad, silvery beaches. In its boundaries students of natural history have identified plant life which is usually to be found only in more southern areas, among which is prickly pear, a cactus rare in Canada, which grows in open fields in the park. Because of lying within one of the main routes followed by waterfowl and other birds on their northern and southern migrations, it is one of the most interesting bird sanctuaries in eastern Canada.

In a story of this length it is not possible to describe all the national parks in Canada, but some of those mentioned are among the most outstanding and well known to Canadians and visitors from other lands. Other famous parks in Canada are: Yoho, Glacier, Mount Revelstoke, Kootenay, Waterton Lakes, Fundy and Prince Edward Island. A comparative statement of visitors to the national parks during the period April 1 to October 31, 1953, reveals that almost 3,000,000 persons visited the parks and registered at the park registration sites. If numbers can be considered as proof of popularity, then Banff Park outranks all others, for 584,702 enjoyed its superb scenery during the seven months. Glacier Park, in the heart of the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, was the least visited of all, only 479 registering.

To Jehovah God, the Creator and Maker of all things, are glory and honor due for the parklands of Canada and other countries. “For Jehovah is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land.”—Psalm 95:3-6, Am. Stan. Ver.

HAVE you never seen a flightless bird run swifter than a race horse? Animals as large as man that stand erect? Nor covered your ears from the raucous screeching of a wheeling, dipping cloud of birds? Then you surely have not seen the emu or the kangaroo, nor heard the gray, pink-breasted galah of the Australian outback. Would you like to see this vast land of seemingly limitless horizons? Then come with us. We shall be pleased to take you.

Before we leave the coast here is a small fishing village. Shall we stop and tell of God’s promises concerning this earth? We visit a small shack. No one home? Turning to go we notice a tall, barefoot young fisherman limping from the water with his day’s catch. He listens quietly, invites us inside, looks over the Bible aids we show him and selects five books. “You must be very much interested in the Bible, sir,” we venture. “I am.” “For how long?” “Two months now.” We are puzzled. “But why since then?” “Well, two months ago my wife and I moved into this shack and when cleaning out some rubbish we found these books.” And from a table he hands us two tattered, salt-stained Bible aids, Government and Life. Earnestly he continues: “They have the truth and I want to learn more about it. These books you have contain the same information.” He had studied those two old books through while out in his boat fishing. Readily he accepts our suggestion that we help him that night to learn how to study, and it is then a real joy to see by lamplight his and his wife’s expressions as they learn of the waters of truth.

We are moving inland now and as we travel we shall tell you a little about this “outback” country. The word is really a colloquial term describing the area some distance from the more populated parts that are concentrated in a fairly narrow belt around parts of the coast line. Inland the population decreases as the rainfall figures drop, so that the main reason for the outback’s being that way is lack of water.

Now you see your first emu. You will not catch him though, for the name of his family in Greek is Dromaius, “swift footed,” and that he is. However, he is very curious and we may be able to play on that to attract him so you can get a closer look. We shall get out of the car slowly, get down on our haunches and whistle softly while bobbing up and down. Several more birds appear, run up a little, then away and, finally, run right up close so you can see their beady eyes and hear their bellies rumbling. Now, on our feet, clap our hands, watch those birds run!

That movement of gray in the bushes, watch it! There it goes! A startled kangaroo is hopping along the roadside and we can pace it quite easily, for there is a fence between it and the open country.

Our speedometer registers 30 miles per hour; we can almost touch it as we pace together. Then, over the fence, high in the air, it bounds away. These animals have been known to jump timber ten and a half feet high. You have seen only one, but later you will see them and their young by the hundreds.

Entering Dingo Country

Our driver has stopped the car. Another gate. This one you notice is higher and stronger than most These are dog fences, erected to keep back the marauding dingo (native wild dog), a despised killer of sheep, with a bounty on his head. His eerie howling may make you shudder with fright.

“By the way," you ask, “what is the attitude of people generally toward religion out here?” Weil, the lady at our next call succinctly answers that question for you. She is overjoyed to receive something practical to help her train her children and wistfully says concerning the religion with which she has been associated so long, "You know our church is so spiritual, so lovely, but oh so very unsatisfactory.” Why this attitude? It appears to be caused by the religious leaders themselves. Let us call on this mission house. Kindly they invite us for lunch. Happily we begin to speak to them about the Bible. You are astounded when they say, “Look, you are welcome to our hospitality, but please don’t talk about these things.” Is it any wonder, then, that the people in this dry land are thirsty for Bible truth?

I see you are noticing the change in vegetation now. .That stunted bush is known as saltbush. It and other droughtresistant herbage are edible to stock and produce the greatest quantity of merino wool per sheep in the world. Sheep bred in the outback areas are keenly sought after because of robust constitution, and they come to the more fertile and closely settled areas in hundreds of thousands. But you are. indeed privileged to be here now, for the outback has had a rare fall of good rain and you can see the “desert blossom.” As far aS your eye can see in this clear atmosphere is a sea of flowers; the snowlike everlastings, the yellow of the billy-buttons—not shy blooms these, but hundreds of miles of color. Reds, yellows, pinks —colors run riot on what, In a few months, will be sandy, waterless wastes. But what is that patch of blood red? We pick some of these glorious blooms, and think that had Isaiah been in Australia he probably would have written, “and the desert shall blossom as the pea," for this is the Sturt desert pea. When the desert blossoms this pea is one of its first products. Its handsome, glaucous, feathery foliage covers large areas of ground with great rapidity, and within a few weeks the noble blossoms, three to four inches in length, deep red with an almost black patch at the base of the keel, appear. These do not "waste their fragrance on the desert air,” for they are a joy to us and, no doubt, a pleasure to Jehovah as he contemplates the whole earth soon to blossom forth like this.

A colorful hill covered with the dull-red wild hops catches our eye on the right, but just at present we must concentrate on getting our car through this cane grass. Higher than we are tall, it hinders our view for a while, but soon we are through. Our camp and evening meal excite your curiosity and soon the paldte-tempting aroma of grilling meat brings you to the fire. Your hand falters as you reach for the meat. “Kangaroo steak? Weil, I’ll try it.” The tail, when next day made into soup, takes your vote too for the nicest soup you have ever tasted.

Civilization Creeps In

Mark the ways the outback has of overcoming its isolation. Single telephone wires

string occasionally from tree to tree; in more remote places the pedal wireless is used. Some properties own private planes, small towns have aerial taxis, even the doctor comes by plane here. Mechanization has pushed the horse into the background, jeeps and motors being used on rapidly modernizing properties. Ingenuity is displayed in obtaining and conserving that all-important water. Large shallow V-shaped galvanized-iron structures close to the ground catch for underground tanks what little rain there is, and the brackish artesian water is familiar.

In a small settlement where we have stopped to tell the people about the time when this land will be plentifully supplied with water, one of our party comes out of a house to say: “You’d better come in and see this fellow, he is very interested in the Bible.” “Are you Jehovah’s witnesses?” he asks. “I thought so, look.” And he shows us many familiar old Bible aids, studied and marked. We are glad to meet him and when we study together he is pleased to learn that he too can help in dispensing the water of truth. This man was educated in a convent and it seems that he lived next door to one of Jehovah’s witnesses who practiced his public speaking in the bam. The only audience he could get was the small boy next door, but that small boy grew and remembered what he had been told. Today, he rejoices in his knowledge of the truth.

Truly, we have been fortunate in seeing this land at its best, beautified by that essential to life, water. Once in the memory of living man a total transformation has taken place in the "dead heart” of Australia, with great salt pans converted into an inland sea, surging with waves whipped by the wind. Today these waters are evaporating and the myriads of birds, the swarms of ducks and swans, are diminishing. High overhead the carrion-eating birds, soaring on outstretched wings in their ceaseless spirals, bear mute testimony to the work they perform.

When we see the beauty brought to this land by chance water, we reflect on what Jehovah’s promise of ‘rain in due season will mean. (Ezekiel 34:26) But it also makes us deeply thankful that, even now, the waters of truth bid the seeds of life to germinate in the hearts of men. By seashore, by lakeside, in desert and by campfire, joyful faces shine as honest-hearted ones have the opportunity to learn of Jehovah’s new world. Flowers of rarer beauty than even those of the desert are these “trees of righteousness,” who bear fruit that Jehovah may be glorified. Their eyes light up when we assure them that this “glowing sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water." —Isaiah 61:3; 35:7, Am. Stan. Ver.

It is a grand privilege to work among these people. See the lazy spiral of smoke betokening another human habitation? They are waiting for us. Coming?

CHURCHES: DEN OF SINNERS?

<[ An hour before her execution December 18 for the kidnaping and murder of a small child, Bonnie Brown Heady told religious leaders who called at her Missouri State Prison death cell: “I used to go to church.” Why did she quit? Because in church were married men “who’d had a date with a blond the night before.” "Hypocrites,” she called them. The Associated Press’ report of the minister’s reply shid: “Hypocrites? asked her minister. Why—church is the place where sinners belong. Christ came to redeem all sinners.”

C, But are not the churches supposed to change them?

(IpHiong Kong's r Christmas Bonfire

By u Awoke I” correipondant in Hong Kong

BRITAIN’S colonial outpost, Hong Kong, had its worst fire ever on December 25, 1953. The evening festive program was getting well under way when searing flames swirled around the bowl of a great and ugly squatter area, reducing it to ashes in a few hectic hours.

Before the wall of flame a tide of 60,000 people fled. Streets were choked for blocks around, as this huge army shifted camp: every family elbowing the other to peg a claim on some sidewalk whereon to dump its gear, and, leaving younger members on guard, fighting their way back through the living stream to retrieve belongings not yet gobbled by the fire.

The area that went up in smoke was roughly heart-shaped, and, except for one side, ringed around by steep, bare hills. There were only about four outlets on the open side. All converged on to a main arterial road, and through these bolt holes swarmed a double stream of struggling humans. The uncanny sound that arose from this mob and mingled with the tearing, hissing surge of the fire registered a unique and unpleasant memory.

Squatter areas are like ulcers. On the mainland peninsula of Kowloon, where this fire took place, illegal structures, mainly composed of light timbers and tar paper, had dotted the open spaces in valleys adjacent to built-up sections. They had eaten their way over the surface levels, bit by bit encroaching on the hillsides, climbing tier on tier up the slopes till there was not an opening left. Here were no roads, only narrow, winding passages; no running water, just unsanitary wells. For drains, filthy ditches stagnated around the squalid structures. On seeing such a sight one wonders why the fires and epidemics are not even more prevalent.

Hong Kong’s squatter problem is a product of this “age of the refugee.” When the red terror of communism sent in a floodtide of refugees, any kind of old house assumed an amazing new value. Hong Kong’s families tightened up in their quarters and made room for an incredible number of others. But the poor and unfortunate just spilled over into squatter areas, creating a prize headache for an area that had already had its town-planning and waterconservation schemes snarled by Japan’s bid for Eastern domination. With 2,221 persons to the square mile Hong Kong became the most densely populated country in the world.

Calamitous fires were inevitable. Five major ones struck during 1953, the first four destroying 3,011 huts and rendering 12,589 people homeless. But their total was to be completely eclipsed by a tremendous conflagration that came at the year’s end.

While the small "Christian” minority were busy singing of the blessings of Christmas day, and while the so-called “pagans” were burning their fragrant incense to the gods that guard their doors, a small kerosene lamp fell from its nail, setting afire a rubber solvent, inflaming the bedding and destroying the hut. Alarm was raised, but the fire leaped from hut to hut along the northern slope, and the day long feared was here! The long expectation almost robbed the event of its appalling seriousness.

The flaring mass created for itself what has been termed a “fire storm,” a swirling vortex of flame that was due to encompass the whole circle of adjacent villages.

Unable to cope with the blaze in the jungle of huts, the fire fighters concentrated on saving the nearby city buildings, but, when the swing of the wind blinded the neighborhood with heat and smoke, even this was no small feat. Sometimes the dense curtain would lift and send the scorching radiant heat clear through the back windows of the Watch Tower Society’s Kowloon missionary home, on the main road adjoining the area; but when there was only one line of houses between us and the flame, the fire storm moved around in the basin. The intervening line of homes had to be abandoned, but except for blistered paint and melted putty they suffered little, being of concrete construction. It was the wood and tar of the huts that seemed to draw the fire, and being mere frame structures they did not last long.

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