"TOC H."

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 155, 4 July 1927, Page 5

"TOC H."

REV. '-PAT" LEONARD ARRIVEsj GOSPEL OF "LOVE LN ACTION." QUE.ST OF ROTARY CLUB TO-DAY. \\ itli a message of cheer to the members of th'! "Toe IL"' movement in New Zealand there arrived by the Aoraugi from Sydney tliis morning the Rev. i". 'j. Leonard, D.5.0., who, for a year, is serving as Federal "Toe ll'' Padre in Australia. The vi-itor is not new to the Dominion. He came a little over two years ago with the founder cf the movement, the Rev. p. B. Clayton. M.C., better known ,in the fraternity a» "lubby"' Clayton. It was then that branches were established in Auckland ■ and other centres in Xew Zealand. "At the close of our tour in said Mr. Leonard to a "Star"' interviewer, '"we both felt that our happiest time had been in Xew Zealand, anil being anain in Australia for a year, I could not resist the opportunity of coming here. - ' Greetings from "Tubby" Clayton. The visitor, who is familiarly known as 'Tat'' Leonard, brings news of his companion of the first tour. His friends ■will be interested to know that besides giving energetic expression to the ideals of ''Toe II,"' "Tubby"' Llayton is now serving as vicar of the historic church of All Hallow-, hard l>v the Tower of London. lie charged his colleague to bring his brotherly lo\e to all old friends in New Zealand. "The primary purpose

of my \i»it." added .Mr. Leonard, "is to brinu' '.rreetings from the re-t of the family in Australia and at Home, and to help in any way I can to s pro ad the j ircspel of love in action." While in j Auckland the visitor will address a numhor of moorings. He will leavp on Sunday nii:ht for Palmerston North. New Plymouth and Wellington, and | tht-noe will proceed to the South I-iand :>ef«>re returning to Au-tralia. Comradeship and Service. The "Toe II"' movement owes its origin to a very line work which was carried on for three years in a little old building known as Talbot House. liehind the lines in Poperinnhe. There was witnessed a wonderful example of comradeship. in which colonels, as well as privates, eladlv joined. The m-»mrrios of tiiat conirade-hip continued to burn i brightly in Knirland after the war. and < so it can;'. 1 about that reunions were frequently held of men whi- had come to j know one anotiier in Talbot House. ! These, in turn. led to the establishment of hostels and pi.o-es where help was I [riven to men -eeKimr to tind r'.'.-'h* v.-.-a- ---| tions fi■ r the further battle of life. To | avoid clashing with another movement i the title "Toe H" was adopted. By | the year P>_!~> the movement hail ex- ! tended to Canada, and on their way to I New Zealand Messrs ( la\ton and | Leonard t--Id the -Tory of "Toe II" in j several parts of the I" 11 it e. 1 States. There ! are now houses in Washington. Philadelphia. and New York, as well as half a dozen groups or branches elsewhere. Four branches have been established in South Ameriea. and others are likely to be formed. A counting of members has never been made, but Mr. Leonard believes that there are probably 12.'Vt<> in different parts of the Kn<rl'"sh--peaking world. To Remove Antagonisms. In reply to a question. Mr. Leonard said that '"Toe II"' is not an Anglican movement —mo-t emphatically not. "its purpose,"' he added," is to conquer hate, to remove the antagonisms that exist between bodies of people. It seeks to remove the antagonisms that may exist ►'tween Christian people. That can only be done by getting representatives of "Toe H"' from all the churches."' "Are yon doing that':"' the pressman asked. '"Yes."' was the reply. "In Melbourne thfc padres are a Baptist and i a Methodist. In most places where we have Anglican padres we go out of our , way to ask Free Church padres or Roman Catholic padres to serve. In Winnipeg there are five padres; one is a Presby- . terian, another a Roman Catholic, and a third a Consrep-ationalist. and so on. Yes, the movement is becoming interdenominational." "What is the chief encouragement you see in the work to-day ?" the interviewer , asked. "It is." Mr. Leonard said, "that - the Boy Scout movement from being a j game in an English village has become j the possession of the world. What it has done for the boys of the world I Relieve 'Toe ll' will do for young men in the world between the ages of 20 and 30. By helping to remove misunderstandings "Too H' is buildins up a jrreat spirit of croodwill which. T believe, in time, will extend throughout ; the world."'

With the Rotarians. As the guest of honour at the Rotary Club to-day, ilr. Leonard gave an. interesting talk on "Too H." He told of its origin and said that it stood for I three ideals. The first was to encourage in the hearts of the rising generation a new spirit of living as between man and man. The second was to provide a common meeting ground for tnen of varying parties and sects so that by coming to know one another they would build a fellowship that would overleap all barriers of class. The third ideal was to encourage service as the only real basis for fellowship. Men had tried to make religion the basis for world brotherhood, said the speaker, but religion was disrupted. Other men had tried to build it> on class interests, as for example the claims of Labour before the war that by uniting throughout the world they would make a world war impossible. But the war proved them wrong, and it was clear that fellowship could not be built on class interests. The slogan of "Toe H" was "Service is the rent we pay for our room on earth."' In the words of their patron, the Prince of Wales. "Toe H maintained that youth should not be served, but must serve. To this end every member was using his spare tune in some unselfish activity for the communitv, doing his job under the direction and control of the "job master." Lastly, the speaker said, the symbol was the lamp, representing the torch that had been thrown to them from the falling hands of elder brothers. This ideal was represented by the flame of love fed continually by the oil of service and of sacrifice. Mr. Leonard appealed to Rotarian, to stand behind them because he believed that Rotary stood for the same high ideal._ A warmly-expressed vote of thanks was accorded the spaker.