AUCKLAND ROTARY CLUB.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 139, 14 June 1926, Page 9

AUCKLAND ROTARY CLUB.

TO-DAY'S MEETING. ADDRESS ON CHINA. - ; >, There was the usiwl full attendance at to-day's lunch meeting of the Auckland Rotary Club, th*president, Mr, W Coltman, in the chair. Amongst yis&bra' were: Messrs. D. F. Norand (j3ydneyi)> Alan Reay (Suva), .P. (Hawera), H. H. Miller (Wellington),.R. W. Wallace (Napier). The president made feeling reference £o the recent deaths of Messrs. David Goldie and F. C. Cleave, and members stood in silence, for few .noments as a mark of respect. The chairman stated that the next gathering would be held in tho Unity Hall, after which a vote would be taken as to the futur locality of the Club's meetings. Mr. WilMam Gemmell, with Mr. Barry Coney as accompanist, sang •'The Harlequin," and "William's Courtship." The speaker of the day was the Rev. Trevor Gilfillan, who addressed members on "Revolutionary China." He emphasised the rapidity with which changes had taken place in recent years in China. Referring to the difficulty of transforming the government of China from a despotic to a republican form, the speaker stated that thirty years ago no Chinese public meeting had been heard of. They had no idea of democracy. It was a remarkable tribute to the solidarity of China that despite the drawback of internal warfare the life and trade of the nation not only continued, but actually made, progress. The future of China, the speaker continued, lay in the spiritual side. The teachings of Confucious, notably in regard to the family system, had been for 2000 years the binding force in Chinese history. He suggested that the reverence to ancestors and past traditions, instead of looking to the future, was responsible for China's stagnation over a • long period. The swing of the pendulum, was bringing a change. Summarising the position. tho speaker expressed the belief: that as the result of the assimilation of Western ideas the younger members of the Chinese community, or rather that section of.them which could read and write, were engaged in a movement which would ultimately lead to the de j velopment of a new China. ' l