TOCH CONFERENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 58, 6 September 1937, Page 7

TOCH CONFERENCE

I. . • NEW GROUPS FORMED ACTIVITIES DISCUSSED The half-yearly meeting and conference of the Dominipn executiva ("Domex") of Toe' H was held during the weekend at the Frederick Wallis House, Lower Hutt. In the absence in Adelaide of Dr; F.T. Bowerbank, the Dominion chairman, the chair was taken by Dr. G. H. Robertson, of Wanganui. Mr. L. Lefeaux, the lion. Dominion treasurer, who. had recently returned from London, was present for part of the conference, and there were representatives from the regions of Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago. .■■■■■,;'. The executive formally sanctioned groups of Toe H which have been started during the last six months at Stratford, Falmerston North. Methven, Temuka, North-east Valley (Dunedin), and Caversham-(Dunedin), and agreed to the promotion of branch' status ot groups at Timaru, Christchurch North, and Wellington South. ■ '. The chairman welcomed Mr. Gordon Turvey, recently arrived from England, as the hon. administrator's deputy in New Zealand in succession to Mr. Alec Churcher, who is returning home after two years' appreciated work. Sunday afternoon was devoted to a discussion led by Dr. G. H.,Robertson on the service which Toe H can render to the problem of leisure. Opinions from small towns and country districts indicated that many of those who, owing to the limitation of working hours, had more time on their hands, were using it in a sensible and beneficial way. In the towns and cities a noticeably large number of people filled the streets on Saturday's, having apparently no interesting spare-time occupation or hobby. Any efforts to promote beneficial leisure activities in the community and within the Toe H branches and groups were to be encouraged. The right use of • leisure depended partly on the facilities . provided, but also on the desire to make the best use of spare time. The world today' was full of mass suggestion, ranging from the poster advertisement to the rigid alignment of political thought found in some countries. It was important to have a balanced sense of values, and Toe H must, therefore, cultivate fair-mindedness and. an understanding of . opposite points of view. The conference was representative of all political parties and of many denominations. The conference concluded with a short service, attended by all the delegates, conducted by the Rev. O. W. Williams,' of Christ's College, the: honorary Dominion padre.