THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22270, 8 December 1937, Page 3

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

NEW ZEALAND CLERGYMAN GREATLY IMPRESSED

REV. A. H. M’C. ACHESON RETURNS

“Personalities of the League of Nations show marked sincerity,” said the Rev. A. H. McC. Acheson, of Waimate, who returned to Christchurch yesterday after a year’s tour overseas. “I heard an address by Dr. Wellington Koo, Chinese Ambassador in Paris, who stood out in his appeal for China. It was one of the most moving addresses I have ever heard. People listened carefully to it, and undoubtedly were impressed by the speeches of M. Maxim Litvinov, the Russian delegate, whose leonine head was always conspicuous. Mr Anthony Eden, too, is a very popular delegate, and is the friend, it seems, of everybody—he is so popular. Then Mr W. J. Jordan, who unfortunately at the time was somewhat indisposed, still maintained the high reputation New Zealand enjoys in League circles.” The technical side of the League’s work impressed him most forcibly, said Mr Acheson. The League was keenly interested in nutrition, which came to the front in the mixed committee’s report before the assembly. This report dealt with unemployment, food supplies, payment to the worker, and health. The document was of the greatest value. General discussion showed that there were definite signs of an approach to the solving of the social, economic, unemployment. and health problems, and provided a new slant on these questions. League Poorly Used “Altogether the League impressed me as a very fine instrument, but one that is not used as well as it might be by the nations,” said Mr Acheson. “The international situation to-day is so involved and difficult to sift out that it is hard to give an opinion of any value." Church work both in England and Ireland was full of enthusiasm, he said. Large numbers of persons in London attended the regular lunchhour addresses on the application of Christianity to the important subjects of the day. Well-known laymen, such as Viscount Cecil and Sir Norman Angell, whom he heard, attracted huge audiences, and even the church porches were packed. Strikingly, the greater proportion of the listeners was made up of city office men and women. The Church of Ireland was going through a difficult period, but it P9Ssessed a spirit of optimism and faith in the future which was encouraging. Candidates for ordination, in fact, exceeded the number that could be absorbed. In Paris Asked for some of the “highlights” of his trip, Mr Acheson mentioned the Paris Exhibition, where the German and Russian Courts demonstrated fine architecture, and, inside, magnificent examples of arts and crafts. In London, however, he was most impressed with the extraordinary number of persons going into St. Paul’s for a quiet half-hour in the middle of the day. In fact, the famous building was hardly ever empty. As well as “looking in” on the League of Nations at Geneva, Mr Acheson took the opportunity of attending several ecclesiastical functions of importance. After three months visiting friends and relatives in the north and the south of Ireland, he became associate delegate to the Oxford Conference on the Church, the Community, and the State. He accepted, also, an invitation to attend the annual conference of the World Alliance for International Fellowship through the Churches, held at Hayward’s Heath. Then, last September, he was temporary collaborator to the League of Nations.