OXFORD GROUP

Evening Star, Issue 23130, 2 December 1938, Page 16

OXFORD GROUP

EASTBOURNE HOUSE PARTY GOOD CONTROL IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT Members of the British Parliament, mayors and councillors, trades union leaders, and business directors were amongst the speakers at one of the most significant house parties of the Oxford Group ever held in Great Britain. In addition to men and women of all shades of political opinion, there were at the house party, which took place at Eastbourne, many other interesting {personalities, including Dr Loring T. hwaim, chief of the orthopedic division of the Robert Bent Brigham Hospital in 'Boston, Mass., M. Max Matter, a director of one of the largest shoe manufacturing firms in the world, Mr Gordon England, director of a large aircraft firm, one of the better-known English authors, and a deputv commissioner from the North-west frontier of India. From Sweden came two of Sweden’s most prominent Labour leaders, Hr Harry Blombcrg, the famous Swedish author and Social Democrat, and Hr Ernst Roos, a worker in a giant steel works.

A large contingent from East London was headed by two mayors, a deputymayor, and 14 councillors, and their wives, from the four great Labour boroughs which were pioneers of the Labour" movement in Britain at the end of the last century. In addition, there were present Mr George Light, formerly chairman of the Warwickshire Unemployed Association, Aiderman William Locke, first Labour lord mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1935-36, Mr Todd Sloan, formerly a revolutionary. Communist agitator, and Mr, Bill Rowell, who recently represented London’s 420,000 unemployed Trades Union Congress, and ■Several'workers from Clydeside. The house party was arranged largely through the initiative of 15 M.P.s in the House of Commons. In a special letter inviting their fellow members to the house party, they stated: “To any impartial person, prepared to consider evidence with an open mind, the results are 'sufficient to. show how the principles for which the Oxford Group stand have in actual practice provided an answer to many of the problems of personal and public life.” • This answer was amply demonstrated at ..Eastbourne, where these men and women of such different types and backgrounds Were united in the determination of bringing about in Britain a moral and spiritual awakening as an effective alternative to bombs and mustard gas. “The only sane people in an insane world,” said Dr, Buehman, “ are those guided by God. God-inspired planning alone can solve the tangle of human hate, fear, and jealousy.' Suppose the voice of God became the voice of the people—-the only hope for the world to-day is a moral and spiritual awakening that is so co-extensive with the world’s need. In this hour of crisis will - England he saved and be the saviour of other nations through the political philosophy of God-control?” Among the most significant features of the house party was the development of a spiritual Labour front,_ as one after another of the representatives of the East London boroughs declared their intention to have their town councils and local government controlled by God. Sneaking of the “ sense of fraternity ” that he noticed at the house party, the Mayor of Bethnal Green said that* he had never met it before though he had been in the Labour Party for 20 years. “ 1 am amazed,” he said, “ at the wonderful spirit which prevails in the Oxford Group, and I am certain myself that if we could only bring that feeling between the people of this country.and the people of the world, there would be some chance of true Socialism being brbught. about in our time. The deputy-mayor qf East Ham, Cr Fred Welch, said that in his council eight of them bad now-decided to carry out the four absolutes by the grace of God. The mayor had given , them a room to meet in to listen to God before the council meetings, and there was a notice to say that anyone could join them irrespective of party. “ What we are after is a God-con-trolled council,” said Cr Beacham, also of East Ham, which has a population of 170,000. “ There has been an amazing progress in East Ham these last weeks, and about a third of us are here. It is only the spirit of the Oxford Group which can make a whole of the Socialist Party; we need this team work. If we are prepared to carry out this ' team work we can revolutionise the whole town, and then the whole country.” What was sceptically forecast as “not’only a miracle but a blessing” by one of the Labour Whips and member for West Ham in the House of Commons actually took place at Eastbourne. This was the change in the life of a certain councillor who was so difficult to work with that not only had he been expelled from the Labour Party, but it had also been decided that no motion that he proposed would be seconded. Speaking at the house party, this councillor said that he had decided to bring the Oxford Group into his council, and already had the names of the most unlikely people that he had got to go and speak to. “ We are wanting nt this time some new movement to spring up to help in the management of local government,” he said. “ Never in the trade union movement and also the Trade Union Congress,' nor in the Labour Party do you get such wonderful smiling and happy faces as you see here. I can see great advances in local government and administration under God-control, and [ am going to do my best to bring it into operation in my council.”. Said an electrical worker from Clydeside: “ We have produced workers and now we need a new workers’ charter of God-control. I have found the real answer to separation from my wife and to jealousy with ray fellow-workers, and know ,that this is the only answer. I am out for the real nationalisation of industry, which is just individuals living on the four absolutes under God’s control.” '

Another miracle of the house party was the remark of the Mayor of Barking, after he had spent the afternoon walking along the front with the leader of the opposition party in his council. He said; “ I find myself at the moment in a very remarkable position. For the first time since I have known Cr Savage I am able to agree with almost every word he has said. I find to my surprise that I have very many points in common with him, very many of which can be used to advantage of the community in future.” Other striking remarks were made by some of the M.P.s attending the house party. Colonel Doland, M.P., for instance, declared: “ Although 1 am supposed to be a member of a party, I feel that we in the House should get together, and I regret that we do not gel together more. 1 hope that one day this Oxford Group movement mnv control the legislation of this great country of ours. It will bo when, we in the House, of Commons

can sec, as I can see, that there are different methods of governing this than those of party division.” And Sir Cooper Rawson, M.P., who was primarily responsible for tho arrangement of the house party, added: “Tho only hope for England is a spiritual revolution.” . From the other end of the social scale came some remarkable, stories of changes in the lives, of their workers and competitors, which in turn made for new conditions and a fear-free distribution of industry and employment. Take, for instance, the facts quoted bv Mr Charles Pearce, director of one of the world’s best-known leather factories.

Air Pearce came to a liouse party of the Oxford Group at Eastbourne. “The main difficulty,” he remarked with a smile, “ was to face up to the four standards. However, we now have quiet times each morning in the home. 1 am proud to say that I have two sons with me here to-day. There is an entirely new atmosphere in the home. I have found the answer to all my personal and business problems. My anxieties have all left me—and that’s saying a good deal, with modern business as it is. Our workpeople know something has happened, and they are much happier in their work. There is an entirely new spirit in the works; barriers are breaking down.” A certain department had been causing a considerable amount of trouble,” Mr Pearce continued. One day ho had guidance to tell them that he was unhappy about their relationship. He invited the whole department to a meal in his home, and afterwards they talked for two hours about the real cause of the problem. Air Pearce started by apologising for his part in not helping them more. The response was immediate, and the men felt they had a constructive part to play in the life of the community. At the end three of the men came up asking to hear more about the Oxford Group. “As the result of guidance, I have sent for my New York manager to come over, and 1 am personally paying his expenses—my part of a contribution towards a better understanding,” Air Pearce went on. He had also got into touch with bis chief competitors, and they had begun to .talk over their trade problems together,, and cutthroat competition had. as a result, been eliminated. “We have been able to solve a very difficult situation. We want now to give good service instead of considering only profits. Last Monday 1 was talking to one of the leading shoe manufacturers in Switzerland about the problems of industry, and one of the things he said was: ‘ England has lost her moral leadership. If England regains it. the whole world will follow.’ ”