EMPIRE SERVICE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11827, 7 January 1933, Page 12

EMPIRE SERVICE

A LEAGUE THAT HAS FLOURISHED. PROMOTES PEACE, FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY. WAR. ON SELFISHNESS AND FEAR. "The Empire Service League haTing now fairly established itself as a Citizen Movement of national importance and the small number of its original members having grown to many thousands, it has been suggested by friends in New Zealand that it might appropriate if I, who started the movement some fifteen years ago, now recalled the reasons which impelled it" formation, and explained once more why the name by which it is known was selected for its title.— Thus Mr. Pcrcival Witherby. of the London "Times” staff in a special article to the "Gisborne Times.’’

The League was started during the Groat War, for the following reasons: In the first place, as certain fundamental principles of Life and, Progress were thrown into the limelight', and demonstrated in vivid fashion in the course of it, an unique opportunity presented itself for emphasising the truth of these. Allied Powers were, it will he recalled, composed not merely of peoples of different nationalities and sneaking different languages, but composed of oil different classes drawn from those different nationalities. There they were, poor and rich. Labour and Capital, white races, brown races. ypTlow races, black races—the world In miniature —all united bv a common cause, fighting to preserve—what? They were fighting to preserve our Freedom. The a* were giving their lives for it: thousands were dying for it. and thousands more were being maimed, dnilv. "for it! LESSONS OF THE GREAT WAR.

Now, these associated national forces demonstrated hr- their bitter experiences certain facts which have gnj-, to be recognised and observed in our individual, mu- nations* 1 and m+ornntiounl Lvos i 1 avo renllv desire ’o march forward and pot hack. r fhev disoo’-ered, for instance, that it there pet fish o.v nnwort.hr leadersbin on jl w vnr J . o? iit of ibem. it, affected thorn a]] ; that if there was a chert-ao-n of awnmnition ninon<r a section o" them thev at l ip-.-ra'afr- suffered : •J-Vjqf. TT-llfvn n pOV* lV.r> cvl r ‘E ,T ~ IPII- - arm»- nn off. dectroved or ral.-on ~vi=onev, a” infinitely bwnr no-tion had io vet root till reluforccp, r-onVl ho h-ovo-ht nr> to -a. establish an nni'e.' 1 front- that thn -i,-oat-»oac o c a cinrrle n-'Tt rnnls"Uat- *,. po,. :i„ioi a dam™., to the rrho’e. All II.OSO lhin~a ao.l .-.a..,- *"o™. a-.,, o-;...-i-,,1 d.-irb ii.at no par.-ihla do.-l.t O a .* OS ist ' av-t, ~o 11ia..., T>,. f tl-a-a * t? „.l Tpl U,, -R-a- - n-’-'t ri..a T-a* 11, ,4 n" 11. a pvmio- 1 ’o 1 o a,,"Oainrr forces, from their commanders to the lowest ranks, were deeply affected by the terrific force of public opinion—the concensus of individual thought on a huge scale, cotientratcd on a single purpose—which brought victory to one side and defeat to the other. Tile other was that a nation, or a combination of nations, cannot injure other nations without injuring itself: that the position indeed, of the victor is only a second host to the position of the vanquished. NEED TO AWAKEN PUBLIC AfTND. Since all these facts, the truth of which was so vividly demonstrated by the Great War, wore, and nlwavs will he, precisely those which most vitally affect the community at large in times of peace, the League wa” started for the purpose of awakening the public mind to their significance. Tfc tvas the spontaneous outcome of an address I gave to a small body of men and women in Hastings —ait address which, subsequently, was published under the title of "‘What Freedom Moans." There was nothing now or notable in the address itself: hut. it. happened to express what many people wore, at that time, either consciously or subconsciously, thinking and feeling, and its circulation, throughout New Zealand was conseqently somewhat remarkable. The League was named "Empire Service’’ because that title expressed in appropriate words its object, which was, and is, to create an ever-increasing association of people, irrespective of race, creed, profession, social position and politics, pledged to observe by their individual acts the principles which were set out in its proclaimed aims and thus, individually, to promote peace, freedom and responsibility in our social and business lives throughout the country. If those who hear, or read these remarks, will reflect for a moment on what the British Empire really is, they will perceive at once how fitting this title is. lor the Empire itself may be accurately described as a-system of government which promotes peace, individual and national liberty, and responsible g° v ~ eminent among all its peoples, throughout the world: indeed, as a matter of fact, it exists in order to discharge these three main functions. The word service” was used because it has been conclusively proved—the experience of life proves it—-that service, in some form or other, is m reality at once the basis arid the secret of influence, power, success, happiness, health and freedom and that iho greater our service to others (the community) the greater our freedom, health, happiness, success and influence must he. This appears to he an immutable law. lack OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE. But while this law is now widely recognised in business and trade of every kind and experience hns blear-

ly shown that practice of it in... that sphere of life promotes harmony- and greater trade and business, yet strangely enough it is not so 'widely. recognised in a deeper and wider sense.We proclaim with our lips, for instance, that God is - the Author \ of Peaco and Lover of Con cor", in knowledge of Whom stands our eternal;, life" and Whose service" TS 1 perfect freedom, but as we, as often as not, pay little more than lip service to this indubitable fact, we - seldom get the spiritual knowledge which- springs thereform and consequently do. not understand it. Yet the thing is simple enough. We know that, as a general • rule, if we "dot” another fellow in the eye, the other fellow will retaliate in like fashion, a : fight will ensue, and -wp shall both more or less suffer: and, conversely, that if we treat the other fellow' as we ourselves would wish to be treated, he w'ill respond, to the ■ benefit °f both, with tb c result that when the material gain is' manifested to others, others discover that'for practical material reasons alone it is wiser to treat us as they desire to he treated also. Those things are. demonstrably true, whether in the social, business, or political sphere in every individual, communal, ot national life. They are accepted as true because’ people have, by practical experience, proved them so. The reason why their truth is not.realised to the same extent in matters appertaining to ligion is. that as their practice is, .as a rule, .confined to material aims, the knowledge that God is actually our eternal life is not, attained,, and the spirit—which is everything, since it is God —which impels ns to act, D not created within us. Yet this ’spir-, it is the basic cause from which all good springs. You may raise the standard ,of living, spend millions on education annually, make the poor richer and the rich poorer, go to cinemas and theatres every week, and generally have what is termed "a good time,” only to discover that progress, civilisation and democracy, without Gcd, are all akin to a poivcrfully propelled vessel with a maniac at the helm. IS IT TOO IDEALISTIC?

In 1917 the Empire Service League Avas inaugurated by me in a series of addresses throughout New Zealand. The purpose of them was to publicly emphasise the points now recalled, and to demonstrate, by illustration, that the laws of life and civilisation, which we apply, or try to apply, in. our private individual lives, are, since the State is nothing more than a collection of individuals, precisely those which apply also to the State, being greater, for good or ill, than that of the same law between two individuals, only because the number of people affected by it is infinite.? larger. To "get it out of the .Government” simply means getting L out of the people, for the people, in the first and last resort, are the Government and the actual Government they elect is nothing more or less than the reflection or that degree of knowledge and responsibility which the people have themselves attained. People are, consequently, goA-erned largely as they desorA*e to be. and their government is, in the main, the direct result or their own aims and characters and the active intelligence they manifest. The reception of this initial campaign varied according to the preconcivod ideas of those who heeded it To "Organised Labour” it appeared, 1 remember, rather as a "Capitalistic dodge” to promote peace and prevent industrial strikes, and was, consequently, received with a certain amount of suspicion. Other sections of the community regarded it as too idealistic to he practical, and held aloof. There was no trade depression in those days, and. since material prosperity does not stimulate serious thinking so well as adA-ersity, the ground lay uphill. The soil, however, Ai-ns turned, and, owing to the support given to the movement by the enurches. irrespective of denomination, and the most generous publicity accorded it bv the Press throughout the country, the seed wan cast over a Avide area.

That some of this seed took root, and that the Empire Service League has, ns a result, grown to its present size was due, in the first instance, not so much to my addresses as to those newspapers, in practically every important town throughout New Zealand, which spontaneously published reports of them, and by leading articles and other comments, drew attention to the movementamong a public which it- would otherwise have been impossible to reach. For it- was through a newspaper article that the lady who, since those earlv davs, has devoted her life to it was, first attracted to it. Mrs. Hotchkiu, of Amberley—now the hon. general secretary of the League was, from the outset, one of the few who understood the underlying purpose of it, and, inspired by the spirit of that understanding, she has dedicated herself to it- ever since. This is neither the time nor the place to enlarge on the difficulties and trials she has faced and overcomeThose whose occupation, like her own, is farming, can imagine, these days, some of them: others who have had some experience of organising, can visualise more. The simple truth is that impelled by faith and sustained by knowledge, she has persevered for 15 years, and has succeeded in increasing the membership of the League from a few hundreds to over 60.000, or nearly one-twentieth of the whole population of New Zealand. This is a remarkable achievement an a vivid practical demonstration of what a single individual con do, once she, or he, is moved by spirit to net. TO THINK RIGHT IS TO ACT RIGHT. 'The essential eralr-v of the Empire Service League is that, like anation which has attained responsible government and is responsible for its ou r n acts and development, it stands or falls, succeeds .or fails,- through its own efforts, or the lack of them. Its members are New Zealanders, it

is managed H New;Zealan4drs,j?an« its future, is ,in .the hands/..0f. .New Zealanders. ;Having,' 'been' asked > to' recall the - cause fof its - formation-bl have • most; gladly 1 done. so,. but,v being an I ought, , perhaps, strictly,, to say nothing more. . But may I, as its founder/, conclude ; the 3» remarks by suggesting to:, thoset who perceive the . individual and-national worth of this movement andl are-pre-pared by tbeir individual acts to promote its aims, to join. 1 the-. League? Public;-opinion• isan enormous; powef.But, I repeat, it is nothing'more or less; than. a. concensus of; individual thought on a /big scale. . •To think right is to; act-.right. The; inind/is everything. If, .for-, selfish, reasons <s.pr for purely-material gain,- we do;only what we like, not only will' the tilde surely, come when we find no happiness or benefit in what we do, hut others will act selfishly towards > us. But if we, treat others weell, whether in .trade -or -business-or -in our social lives, try-to treat them in all things as we ourselves would like to :h« treated, .they, will .. respond. If, therefore, ;we are selfishly minded: wo shallpromote selfish ri ess—and '-go i uhjdpr. . Bui -if‘ we become .'spiritually minded ,we . shall/survive,: and ’-know what life-and. freedom-'really' iniean. This ids a, plain, ' simple '.fact'- wfaifeh anybody l can,’if /they/wish,',, test for 'themselves'.; - It/:is the' truth./ It•>is the. only- ways in- .and -..the ionly-.way ,outr-rof the. difficulties which selfishness and fear have created." * It. is ;the,.only; sure, road rtp. break 'down -barriers,draw., people • - together i-ah closer: unity,--lower .tariffs and 'stimulate: business/ - on>' a- i comparatively small scale .as, say/ within the -British Empire;-and the only'way 'to do . these, things and‘to subdue fear/ reduce armaments and promote peace on earth, .on-a-larger scale/If, for/n----stance the Pas ‘Britannia cannot* be .maintained,' what hope is' there' for the-Pax M-undi? But-once ! get'back to fundamentals, and' we see' t&a . whole road'clearly ; illuminated; with God’s light gleaming, at the end of it! Demonstrate the truth, so than others may see it,* and' follow your example. Demonstrate it; indivldually and watch-the result 1