W.E.A.

Franklin Times, Volume XVII, Issue 73, 29 June 1927, Page 4

W.E.A.

LECTURE BY REV. MR. MONCKTON.

WORK OF LEAGUE OF NATIONS. On Monday evening the Rev. W. G. Monckton. M.A., of Takapuna, addressed the local class of the W.E.A. on “The Humanitarian Work of the League of Nations.” Mr.' S. P'. Day presided. . Atr. Monckton said that the activities of the League, apart from its political work, were very little realised in New Zealand, where the effects of war had not been felt, in. that no enemy gun had been heard nor hostile ship seen in our waters'. In Europe the tangled aftermath had been so terrible that the League’s first activities had been largely directed at re-establishing a state of order and prosperity. Hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war were scattered over Europe and Asia without money or clothes other than what they wore, and with no means of returning to or communicating with their relatives. The League obtained the services of Dr. Nansen, the Arctic explorer, and he organised searching expeditions and information services, with the astounding result that 487,000 lost men were returned to Their homes all over the world at a cost of only 18/- per head. An organisation for the protection and care of women and children travelling to foreign countries has been perfected, and the exploitation of children in factories has been largely curtailed. The international traffic in opium, cocaine, heroin, and other devitalising drugs, has been thoroughly investigated and agreements brought into being to confine this trade within the bounds of the amount actually required for medicinal and scientific uses. Refugees from devastated countries —Armenia, Roumania, etc. — have settled in other countries, and, having no means of support, have become a burden on the country in which they have found respite: A loan of seven million pounds was to Greece to enable the Government to supply their quota of Armenians with a means of earning their livelihood, with the result that in a very short time not only has the interest been paid, but part of the principal as well, and Greece is now the better for over a million satisfied and prosperous settlers. Another service rendered, by the League is that it has arranged an international loan available to any member in time of national disaster, and it has made the money available at once. The last two words mean most of the importance of-this point, as a disaster may be largely alleviated if it is taken in hand promptly. The final point, and most revolutionary in its magnitude, is covered by the “Declaration of Geneva,” which the Assembly carried recently, the text of which is that “The child deserves the best that mankind can give, irrespective of race, creed, or colour.” Mr. Nixon thanked Mr. Monckton for his lucid and interesting, lecture, and expressed the hope that Mr. Monckton would return at a later date and lecture on some other aspect of the League’s activities, to which Mr. Monckton agreed.