Monday, October 17, 2011

Winston Treehugger Speaks

The awful ruin of Laman street, with all its vanished glories, and of large parts of Newcastle glares us in the eyes. When the designs of wicked men or the aggressive urge of mighty Newcastle council dissolve over large areas the frame of civilized society, humble folk are confronted with difficulties with which they cannot cope. For them is all distorted, all is broken, all is even ground to pulp.

From Darby Street to Dawson and in Civic Park an iron curtain has descended across the town. I have, however, felt bound to portray the shadow which, alike in the west and in the east, falls upon Newcastle. For that reason the old doctrine of a balance of power is unsound. We cannot afford, if we can help it, to work on narrow margins, offering temptations to a trial of strength. If the community stands together in strict adherence to the principles they will be immense and no one is likely to molest them. If however they become divided of falter in their duty and if these all-important trees are allowed to slip away then indeed catastrophe may overwhelm us all.

If we adhere faithfully to conservation and walk forward in sedate and sober strength seeking no one's land or treasure, seeking to lay no arbitrary control upon the thoughts of humankind; if all green moral and material forces and convictions are joined with your own in fraternal association, the highroads of the future will be clear, not only for our time, but for a century to come. (Apologies to Winston Churchill)



No comments:

Post a Comment