WORK FOR DEMOCRACY

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 302, 17 September 1936, Page 10

WORK FOR DEMOCRACY

English-Speaking Union’s Ideals BRIDGE-BUILDING NEEDED Some real bridge-building was necessary between the English and their English-speaking cousins and it should not be taken for granted that because some Americans had come from England the two peoples were necessarily friendly, said the Bishop of Wellington, Rt. Rev. H. St. B. Holland, who with Mrs. Holland was the guest of honour at a luncheon given yesterday by the English-Speaking Union. The Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., presided. Other guests were Bishop and Mrs. Sprott, Rabbi and Mrs. Katz, Rev. Dr. Walshe, and Mr. and Mrs. Boulton Smith. In his address Bishop Holland confessed he had been rather ignorant of the work of the English-Speaking Union. Nevertheless he knew something of the work of Sir Evelyn Wrench, who was responsible for the venture, and considered him to be in the forefront of those who placed spiritual values first in their efforts for 'the betterment of international relations. New Zealand was almost unique in its relationship with the country from which it was farthest away. He had set himself to find out whether New Zealand-born people naturally spoke of Great Britain as Home, and had found it was so. This was a great factor for world peace. Looking at the world, people saw democracy trembling In the balance, even in the United States. The future of democracy lay In the stability with which the countries of the British Commonwealth maintained its ideals. The leaders of Britain were conscious of the fact that the present was a crucial test for the survival of democracy. New. Zealand, in his opinion, was doing a great deal in maintaining democratic government without revolution. The English-Speaking Union was there to see that true democracy did not founder, and that the religions of Fascism. Nazism and the rest were not allowed to undermine all that was best in human life. Their thought and prayer should go out to the leaders who were bearing such heavy burdens in international affairs. He would regard it a privilege, concluded Bishop Holland, to be counted as ofie who was working for the aims which the union cherished. Mr. A. Leigh Hunt, chairman of the Wellington executive, conveyed the union’s appreciation of the presence of the guest#. No one looking back over the wreckage of the past, he said, could deny that the world's future depended on the adoption of Christian principles. He looked forward to the day when men in councils would have the courage to oppose a motion with the words "It does not measure up to the Christian ethic.”