A WORLD IDEAL

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 234, 29 June 1922, Page 4

A WORLD IDEAL

“A SPIRITUAL LEAGUE OF NATIONS” LINKING UP RELIGIOUS EFFORT ON A SUNDAY SCHOOL FOUNDATION Mr. W. C. Pearce, associate general secretary of the World’s Sunday School Association, reached Wellington yesterday, and was heartily welcomed by the religious leaders of Wellington lit a luncheon given in the Y.M.C.A. at I.2C' p.m. Mr. H. D. Grocott, president of the Wellington Sunday Schools’ Union, who presided, extended a most hearty • welcome to the visitor, whom he noticed was strongly supported by a phalanx of Auckland stalwartsrin the good work. He hoped that they would all benefit by Mr. Pearce’s vast experience and knowledge, and that the world movement he had at heart would come to pass.’ Mr. F. Meadowcroft (ex-president) said that in the’ light of the bodyguard who had accompanied Mr. Pearce from Auckland, they had evidently been satisfied with him up there; they expected good things here, and would, he felt sure, not be disappointed. He trusted that the visitor’s mission would be successful, and that he would have an enjoyable time whilst in the Dominion. Mr.' Cutten, S.M., also extended the visitor a welcome, more esjoecially because the main purpose of his visit was to promote the better education of the young spiritually, a matter in which he was, as head of the Young Citizens’ League, ‘’particularly interested. Here Mr. Cutten digressed to say that there was complete community of spirit between the Sunday School movement and the Young Citizens’ 'League, which organisations had precisely the same aim and object—the cultivation! of the spirit of the moral in young people. The Visitor’s Mission.

Mir. W. C. Pearce lost rio time in getting to the heart of his fnission. Usually the first hour was spent by people in analysing the visitor, so he was glad the ice had been broken by thq Auckland contingent. As he said in Melbourne, he was .glad to receive such a warm welcome in such a frosty atmosphere. It- was good, to be here in this Dominion. He had felt, that when the*' Auckland contingent had taken him along to the Rotary Club and introduced him to the gentlemen who showed such marked interest in bis mission. The main object of his visit was to interest theni in the establishment of a national council which would be a centre for all those interested' in religious education in all the nations of the world—something that would be a clearing-house for all religious workers, no matter where they were. He had no time to address them at length, but would remind them of two fundamental facts. One was the efficacy of money and man power. What were they going to do? How much may they accomplish in the evangelisation of the world? What any of them could do was not so much. Anything—strength of mind, time, money —was necessarily limited. Money may be put into this or that, and go up in “not air,” or it may go into something safe and grow larger with the years. It. was the latter object they' had in view, and that being so they had to face the things of this era and compare them with the past.

Democracy and Education. Viscount Bryce had said that during the Tsist century a hundred nations had beconie democracies —that was one _a year! A democracy was a nation in which tho government rested upon the shoulders of the people—it could not act v’ithout taking cognisance of how the people were thinking. Every democracy had its educational PU > “ griirn’me. In soni© it compelled tno children to go to school —he did not know whether that was so in Now Zea- ’ land--fo become literate—to read and write so that they could understand and think. But, unfortunately, all democracies did not provide a dual programme —it trained them intellectually blit not religiously. IV was not antireligious or irreligious, but no school which took in all sorts—the Jew, the gentile, the Roman Catholic, and all othpr creeds and castes—could possibly teach religion adequately. (Applause.) That had to be done by the Church, and it was only by her doing so could i they produce a balanced citizenship anything approaching tho Christian ideal. ; , „ The> speaker quoted pre-war Germany as a fine example of intellectual efficiency. Her people were literate, and her manufacturing plants of the highest order of efficiency. He never went into a German station one minute late. The same could not be said of England or any other country. But Germany did not have the dual programme in which the spiritual ' va! j cultivated. It poured the gospel of Nietzske into the children, that might was right, aiming at what it called “kultur,” so that when it broke down it was because it had no spiritual strength. It was led by her War Lord. It lacked the moral strength of spiritual training. (Applause.) The writer told how that in America they had scattered throughout the country their little red schools; —one room schools —to teach the children primary education, but religion could not be adequately taught there,' so they had their little white Sunday schools, which were helping to give tho required spiritual education to the children. Sunday schools were always largest where democracies had been introduced. International contacts were changing the whole of the world. The economic break-down in Europe had affected the price of wool and butter in New Zealand, and wheat and cotton in America. If we did not know, he could not,tell those round him from the men of Omaha Nebraska. Bolshevik Sunday Schools.

“You look'Uke them; you dress like them; you cut your hair like them,” said Mr. Pearce, “and some of you have no hair like them. So it is in Australia, Canada, South Africa. The world is growing alike. . . . We have the Bolsheviks in America. You have not had them yet, but you’ll get them in tiniCj for sure. There are twenty Bolshevik Sunday schools, with splendid organisations behind them; with money at the back of them, teaching boys and girls directly against all the truths, ana faiths we hold most dear. In a free country like ours, you cannot go out and arrest or throttle them —you must fight tho dread forces of darkness with the light of truth. Russia falls over, ' and other countries suffer.” Mr. Pearce said that no sooner did America carry prohibition than tho liquor trade in the farthermost countries get dreadfully frightened as to what was going to happen there, another evidence of the potency of international contact. Was it not time, then, that teachers of religion were linked up in a great world movement? Why. should people here make’ the mistakes other countries had made? They had a world’s Sunday . School Association, with a council of 120 members, which was going to be a general clear-ing-house for ideas and laeais h. religious teaching, leadership, and “tno

lessened cost of building” for Christ and humanity. He wished to bring about a New Zealand Council, which would have all the force and power of nn independent body, yet which would function through tho one channel. He hoped to meet them all at tho conference in Christchurch, when ho would have much pleasure in going into full details concerning the movement he loved to call “the Spiritual League of Nations.” The chairman thanked the speaker for his stimulating address, informing him that he would no doubt be delighted to learn that a Sunday school movement had been prbmulgated at the last conference in Palmerston North at Easter, which was in lino with the visitor’s ideal. Such a world body would be distinctly valuable in enabling them to statistically ascertain the strength of the Sunday school movement and its weaknesses.