WAR-TIME MORALS

By CANON H. C. ROBINS

T HAVE been asked to write a balanced article on the subject of 1 war-time morals. Obviously, however, it is not only a war- time problem. It was there before ; the war only adds special com-

plications and aggravations.

Moralists are apt to be pessimists, and, indeed, it is not easy to

be optimistic on this subject. Still, it is worth while seeing what can be said on the credit side. Perhaps we can best put this in the words of that shrewd observer of contemporary life, Sir Richard Livingstone. In Education for a World Adrift, page 23, he notes that "We are less narrow, less. prejudiced, more tolerant and humane than the weaker Victorians. . . . We have less cant, hypocrisy and vulgarity, though these spirits usually manage, unobserved, to find new reincarnations in each age. . . Finally we have a large fund of inherited virtues. There is an enormous amount of goodness and goodwill and right feeling and action in the modem world. Take, as a single example, a virtue so common in this country that we hardly notice it, the unselfish public spirit which shows itself in unpaid public service and in money given or bequeathed for public purposes. When a real storm comes and we know ourselves in danger, we still have the ancient virtues of England at call: witness heroism by land, sea and air; in bombed cities, courage and cheerfulness and endurance, self-help and help of others; the traditional kindliness and decency of the ordinary English folk. These are great assets, not to be forgotten."

This estimate is borne out by my personal observation, as I was in a bombed city during the blitz period, and by conversations with people who know war-time conditions. Another item on the credit side is the decrease in convictions for drunkenness, though there is increased drinking among women, especially among young women. It would be absurd to be unduly alpessimistic when one remembers the selfless courage of the few to whom is owed so much in the Air Force. And no one could walk round the air raid shelters during an air raid without being quite sure that there is much to be • admired in the present temper of Britain.

Admiration, however, for the undoubted good qualities of our race cannot prevent a sensible observer from being realistic, and one who keeps his eyes open cannot be blind to the breakdown in morals, noticeable before the war, and accentuated by the war. Take sexual morality. Here there are grim facts: the increase in divorce, the declining birth-rate, the spread of venereal disease, and the number of young couples who, as always in war-time, wed in haste without any intention of fulfilling the primary purposes of marriage. This is partly due to the inevitable influence of war-time conditions, and partly to the flaunting sale of contraceptives. Life is so uncertain that young people are apt at the same time to snatch at the immediate satisfaction of sex, and also to be unduly cautious as to taking any risks in life. The throwing together of men and women in close proximity in war work has created a whole host of new problems. Of course, it is good that men and women should work together ; it lessens the absurd sex tension, and marriage is more likely to work out well when people have met in their working hours. But, on the other hand, long periods of enforced idleness in some of the Defence services, when the sexes are thrown together with nothing to do, have it is feared led to a lowered moral standard. This waiting in idleness is probably inevitable, though I should have thought more steps could have been taken to mitigate

it, but its results are bad. It is to be feared that promiscuous sexual intercourse is on the increase. Here the alarming factor is the growth. of amateur prostitution, especially among younger girls. If anyone doubts the serious moral conditions of the country, he would - be wise to read the documented letter of Canon Peter Green to the Manchester Guardian of June 21st. Canon Green is a tried parish priest of great sagacity.

As to general morality, the most disturbing factor seems by general agreement to be dishonesty. One observer in a Government depart- ment tells me that petty pilfering is greater by roo per cent. Local papers orb full of it. Government property seems to be regarded as fair game, and the only sin seems to be that of being found out.

The waste of time and bad workmanship in the repair of bombed houses cannot escape the notice of those who live in a bombed district. This has been accentuated by the method of repair em- ployed. No estimates were given, but the contractors were paid on a percentage basis. This may have been inevitable, but it was simply asking for trouble. Add to this the suspicious number of people who claim to have lost their clothing coupons, the people who say they can get what they want because they know the way to get it, the prevalence of the Black Market, and it is hard to contend that honesty is conspicuous in war-time morality. But to be fair, one has to quote the experience of some workers in a factory em- ploying men and women, who say that they have detected no decline in morals in their factory since the war. They assert that the standard of honesty is very good ; the workers are conscientious ; and it is felt to be a great disgrace for any of their number to fall into sexual disorder. They all have to work hard.

Another point to be noted is the decay of home life, and the almost complete absence of parental control. There seems to be little or no discipline, and children are a law unto themselves. One

is tempted to wonder whether they know at all the distinction between meum and tuum, or have ever heard of the Ten Command-

ments. And time after time when children are taken into court their parents pathetically say that they cannot control them. The real reason, of course, is that they have not used the right discipline when the children were young, and are then surprised to find them, out of hand later on in life.

What is the outcome? One or two things seem to be clear. (t) As the Archbishop of Canterbury said (cf., The Times of

July 13th), "People are not conscious of injuring the war effort by dishonesty or by sexual indulgence, and as the war effort is the one regulating factor in their lives, this part of their lives remains unregulated. It can only be cured by a return to first principles.'

(2) A time of crisis like a war has a curious effect: the spineless sink lower, and the better are vitalised into more selfless effort.

This is clear in China, a gallant ally which has been longest in the war ; there the majority of the people seem to have been stimu- lated into a real devotion to the community. (3) The root failure

is the absence of a definite standard. This has been called by Sir Richard Livingstone, The Age of No Standards. On the one hand, people seem to have lost the sense of community solidarity and

the standards which that used to give ; it is now a question of each for himself, and individuals claim the right to experiment with their own lives and create their own standards. Much of this is a sincere effort for personal integrity, but its social effect is bad.

On the other hand, the root of morality in Christianity seems • to have been severed ; people are either agnostic about the basis of their morals, or entirely ignorant of it. Cdfnparatively few people

are actively and consciously setting out to do wrong ; many more want to be good, but have only half-baked ideas of what goodness is. What in my judgement is wanted is not a new standard of morals—that, to me, must always be the standard of Christ—but a new and more dynamic presentation of moral ideals which will appeal to the whole community. A community cannot live indefi- nitely on cut roots and a rapidly diminishing capital, if I may mix my metaphors! The real cure of the present situation is a return to a living faith in Christ as the basis of all morality, whether in war or in peace.