[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]

Sta,—I am sorry the Bishop of Jarrow sees my attitude of mind as "the despair of those who take a realistic view of the work of the Church."

In reply, may I first clear up a minor point ? I did not intend to write, as he says, "contemptuously of doles, relief, occupational centres, &c." I recognise and support them as the least that can be done in the circumstances. Anything less would imperil the State.

Here I distinguish between the efforts and gifts of individuals, who, in face of a shameful situation, are doing what they can to help their fellows ; and the efforts of the State, so pusillanimous where the well-being of several million poor people is concerned, so comprehensively energetic when the governing classes feel their interests threatened. (Inci- dentally I do rank Occupational Centres as palliatives. The Bishop probably intended Community Centres, which do not necessarily relate to poverty or unemployment, and, if so, I warmly support his view.)

Youth today is vividly conscious of two things : the power that lies everywhere to hand—physical power, economic power, money power, power of knowledge ; and, by contrast, the poverty and insecurity which blight the lives of millions. Largely because of the Christian leaven in its education it feels this state of affairs as a sin against brotherhood, as a challenge from which it cannot honourably escape, the meeting of which is the mission of its generation.

It knows that the key to the o'ution of this intolerable paradox lies in State-wide State action at least, and that action by a lesser authority on a lesser scale today cannot succeed. In the endeavour to effect its mission it seeks guidance and leadership, knowing that individually it is helpless and must join a community of kindred spirits. The question is what community ? Is it to be the one based on national prestige ; the community that seeks an international classless society ; or the Church, working for the conception of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of man ? Today there are but these three, and thoughtful youth is watching, choosing its leaders.

The attraction of both Communism and Fascism is that they are clear, self-consistent, uncompromising, all demanding, and are led by resolute men with the courage of their con-. victions. In each case the State is supreme, and religion

must subserve the State or take the consequences.

In this country the choice of loyalties, going silently on r.11 the time, though at present less vivid than elsewhere, is no less real. Which, in the practical affairs of our generation, will win, Caesar or Christ ? I suggest the answer depends

upon the moral and intellectual quality of the leadership in the various camps. If Christianity is to win, it must present a conception of the Kingdom in terms of this age, and demand the absolute loyalty, not only of individuals, but also of the State, to the task of realising that conception. (Did Christians regard the Factory Acts and the Bill for the Abolition of Slavery as "short cuts," less according to Our Lord's will than quiet steady parish work among individual sweaters

and slave-owners ?) The Bishop asks, do I " seriously suggest . . . that the clergy and ministers, trained for other ends, are likely to be wise leaders in such a crusade ? "

I do suggest that youth, needing leadership, has a right to expect it from the clergy and ministers, as the only body of trained, full-time propagandists of the Kingdom ; and that if their training has given inadequate attention to the social, economic, and international implications of the Gospel, then in that vital respect their training is incomplete. Who, than the clergy, are more pledged to the realisation of the Kingdom ? Who, as a body, are more aware of the plight of the poor, and the way in which the injustice of our present economic arrange-

ments poisons society ? From whom, therefore, should we expect a livelier appreciation of the fundamental need for a just and efficient economic system as the basis of the Kingdom

for which they are working, and a greater head of moral energy in the demanding of it ?

"Move then with new desires,

For where we used to build and love Is no man's land, and only ghosts can live Between two fires."

Mr. Day Lewis also apparently does not regard Christianity, my third fire, as qualifying for inclusion in that category.

Only if the Church (led by the clergy) will uncompromisingly demand the reshaping by the State of the economic system, and a colonial and foreign policy in which the spirit of Christ is plainly visible, will it shake off its secular rivals, and recapture the confidence and loyalty of Youth.—Yours faithfully,

GORDON P. EVANS.

The International Club, Haymarket House, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 2.