W.E.A. GATHERING

Evening Star, Issue 20988, 30 December 1931, Page 2

W.E.A. GATHERING

120 ATTEHB SUMMER SCHOOL

The twelfth W.E.A, Summer School opened its session at the Waitaki High School on Saturday last. Students arc present from both islands, the biggest proportion coming from Canterbury and Otago. The school has been well organised by Mr G. Manning, general secretary W.E.A., and with the large number of 120 students present this school promises to be one of the most successful of the whole series. The lecturers arc:—Messrs F. Milner, M.A. (rector of 1 'aitaki Boys’ High School), Lloyd Ross, L. F. deßerry, G. Manning, W. J. Scott, T. Campbell. ■ Miss W. Haward and Miss Gwen Rankin, will be in charge of the folk dancing. On Saturday afternoon the students mot to make arrangements for the session. Mr Milner was present, and extended a welcome to the Waitaki High School, stating that it gave great pleasure to the Board of Governors and to himself to be able to offer the facilities and amenities of the school to such an organisation as tho W.E.A. In the evening the Mayor of Oamnru mot the members of tho school in the Hall of Memories, and officially welcomed them on behalf of the citizens of Oamaru. He wished the school every success, and paid a tribute to the splendid work which had been done by the W.E.A. at the Oamaru classes. Mr Lloyd Ross, director of tho Otago and Southland W.E.A., replied on behalf of the students.

During the evening a concert programme was rendered in the gymnasium by members of tho school, one of the main items being a play, which was staged by tho Dunedin W.E.A. Drama Club. On Sunday a largo party motored to Waimate and picnicked at Kcley’s Bush. POST-WAR DRAMA. Mr W. J. Scott delivered the first address of tho session, taking for his subject ‘ Modern Tendencies in Drama.’ Th l lecturer divided his lecture into three divisions —stage equipment and technique, subject matter of tho plays, and control of the theatres. The Festival Theatre of Cambridge, with its apron stage projecting into the auditorium, was typical, he said, of the effort that was being made to get tho actors into closer personal touch with their audience., The scenery was severely simple, and the school of impressionism had come to the front, as it was claimed that modern life was so complex that different methods were necessary to give a true interpretation. The post-war period had witnessed the remarkable re-emergouce of G. B. Shaw with his indictment of democracy. International problems had found a place in this period, while.tho exploitation of sex had provoked the epigram “ Nothing succeeds like excess.’’ Spiritual and fantasy plays had come forth as a. reaction against the vogue of materialism and naturalism. Spiritualism was first introduced into drama in 1920, The drama of crime was represented in the plays of Edgar Wallace. IfOadcr plays found a place, too, as was to bo seen in Driakwater’s plays of 1 Abraham Lincoln ’ and ‘ Oliver Cromwell.’ War ns a subject embraced ‘ Journey’s End ’ and •* The Silver Tassel ’ as representative dramas. There had been a phenomenal growth of amatm • dramatics. Proof of this was to be seen in the enormous entry of 447 amateur dramatic teams which had en--tered in the competition far the Howard D 6 Walden Cup, Another prominent development had been the growth of the small theatre, and there were many repertory theatres. The latter had been responsible for producing many of the greatest of modern dramas, some of which would never have been produced by tho commercial theatres. The repertory and amateur movement inado for tho production of plays which were cultural and added to thj richness of life as against the mechanisation of life in a machine age. Tho screen plays wore vapid and empty, and were a plight from reality; The motto of the screen was 1 Art for Money’s Sake ’; tho motto of the repertory movement, ‘ Art for Life’s Sake.’ Tho present period had produced nothing comparable with the pre-war play. There had been thirty revivals of prewar plays during the season just closed in England. INTF.’ 1 T ' ALTON AL- CO-OPERATION. A large audience assembled in the Hall of Memories to hear an address on ‘ International Co-operation ’ by Mr F. Milner. The speaker, in prefacing his address, stated that his recent trip round the world had caused him to change his mind in regard to world affairs. His meeting with men of many nations had shown him that there was a keen desire on the part of the best minds to come close together and to bring about co-operation among the peoples of tho world. Tho fate of the world depended upon the great Disarmament Conference at Geneva in February. Education of the peoples of the world for a more tolerant attitude towards their fellow-men was an imperative necessity. It was here that teachers and the Press had a great responsibility in the creation of public opinion. , H. G. Wells had said that it was a case of education racing catastrophe. The speal t deplored the general attitude of New Zealanders towards America. While there was more than enough of the seamy side of American life to be seen in our papers, we heard little or nothing of the splendid idealism of the United States or of the many great men and institutions which lr I done and were now doing so much good in the world. His experience at the Honolulu conference and his treatment by Americans had changed his preconceived views on many points. Tho need for an education in a better understanding of other peoples was clamant. The feeling against war in Britain was tremendously strong, and a tangible evidence of this was tho membership of 800,000 people in Britain belonging to tho League of Nations Union. It was indeed significant when a man like Fieldmarshal Robertson was found to sum up war as being no good to anybody but the profiteer. Of every £1 of taxation in Britain 14s Gd went for war purposes (past or future), Is Cd for education, ar only nno-oighth a farthing for peace propaganda. The

greatest teachers’ organisation in England. the N.U.T., had set down the teaching of the principles and purposes of the League of Nations as of paramount importance, likewise by the N.E.A., the most important teachers’ organisation in the United States of America. Social science, a broader outlook, and the dangers of excessive nationalisation were stressed. While the speaker’s belief in the British Empire as a miniature League of Nations and a groat promoter of progress had not diminished, the necessity of the moment was that we should have a broader outlook. RATIONALISATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT, Mr Lloyd lloss took the first of a series of four lectures on * Rationalisation and Unemployment.’ In seeking a definition of rationalisation he took tentatively the dictum of Lord Melchett, that it was simply the rational control of industry so that you do not produce more than the market will absorb. It might be said that at present there wore two types of rationalisation —(1) capitalistic rationalisation, which operated in isolated units as in, say, one industry; (2) the rationalisation of Soviet Russia, which was comprehensive and universal. The speaker gave / as an instance of what rationalisation , meant in Russia the Ford motor car i works at Nijui Novgorod. Worked out 1 in isolated industries as had been done - in England, it had some drastic rej suits, as witness a whole village having j been abandoned owing to a chemical I company having changed its location as ; a result of applying this process to its manufacturing branches. Rationalisa- ' tion had some deadly effects in America, where the groat manufacturing city_ of Detroit was nearly bankrupt iu trying to cope with the poor relief, caused by the reorganisation of industry in that city. Private relief had broken down in America, and soon it was said that America would have to adopt measures of social control extending past anything of that nature attempted in most of' the countries of Europe. Frank Hodges, one of the greatest authorities in England, had said th&t tho necessities of the moment were making for more and more social control, and this would go on increasing with the orderly development of industry. 'The great economist J. M. Keynos had said recently that the matter of social control was past discussion. It was just a matter of what the State would control and what it would not control. Other phases touched upon in the address were the relief of unemployment, restriction of pi - Hiction, and a discussion was held upon what forces were at work. Other phases will bo dealt with in the remaining addresses. THE WORLD SITUATIION. In opening his second address upon the world situation Mr F. Milner pointed out that it was necessary that the minds of tho children should be given a proper perspective. There was now a tremendous need to teach children their kinship with all mankind. The Britisli Empire had so many worldwide contracts that there was every reason for developing a world perspective. His visit to Europe had been most depressing on account of the state of the Continent of Europe, which was an armed camp. It was paradoxical to_ think that the most secure countries in Europe were those that were practically unarmed—Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The opening of the Great War had seen twenty-five nationalities in Europe; now there were thirty-six. Such disastrous results had tho 'treaty of Versailles achieved. We were now facing the most awful crisis iu history, and much depends upon that assembly of the representatives of tho world’s nations which would meet shortly at Geneva.’ France was the most heavily-armed country in the world. Generally speaking, the attitude of her leaders was cynical with a contempt for the League of Nations. Should tho Disarmament Conference fail then Europe would inevitably hive off into two armed camps with the inevitable result. Germany was determined that the Treaty of Versailles shall be revised, as they saw that the other parties (or many of them) wore not carrying out their obligations. ■ It was inconceivable that a great people such as the Germans would consent to remain in what amounted to perpetual bondage. There was no doubt that a divergence had taken place between England and France. In Germany he had found the people of Southern Ger-

many speaking of the British in the most friendly terms. They felt that Britain did’ not want to see their country crushed. Probably the most wonderful thing he had seen on his travels was the youth movement in Germany, where as many as 4,000,000 young people were out walking through the country and thus obtaining health and coming more closely in touch with Nature. Yet he had found people in France who looked upon even this as only camouflaged militarism. He had found Italy prosperous from a material point of view,' but a very aggressive spirit was universal, and the arming and drilling of great numbers

of young people was significant. Th® brightest spot on the horizon as lar as Italy was concerned was the recent announcement of Mussolini that he would welcome a halt or a reduction in armaments. Towards the Balkan Peninsula the newly-formed countries wert ringed round with fortresses, and despite the fact tha* they could not balance their Budgets armaments were the chief expenditure. Truly a depressing picture, and one which brought vividly before the mind the awful consequences of .a failure of the Disarmament Conference. There were signs that this would open in a favourable atmosphere, and in this lay a great hope.