" THE CLOUDS OF WAR."

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18116, 14 June 1922, Page 8

" THE CLOUDS OF WAR."

MM. MASStY'S STATfcMCNT, EXCEPTION BY PRESBYTERY. LEAD TO PEACE URGED. Exception was taken by the Auckland Presbytery last evening to the opinion ex- i pressed by the Prime Minister as to the i war clouds on the horizon. J The Rev. J. Lamb Harvey quoted from • a report of the Prime Minister's address : at West Eyreton last week, in which Mr. Massoy said: "I do not say when the < next war will come. I do not know. It I may be in 10 years' time, 20 or 50 years' < time, but war clouds are on the horizon, i and it is for us to see'that when it does i come the manhood of the nation will • stand up to it in the fame spirit as they ( stood up in 1914." Mr. Harvey said this ( utterance was one of a type, that was becoming too numerous. "It seems," he ' continued, " that if we as Christian i people let such statements pass without • protest we shall be false to the ideals of , peace we are supposed to* uphold, and , false to the Kingdom of God. The Prime • Minister is entitled to believe there may j . bo a next war, but we object to his talking as if there was no' other means of settling international disputes. As one > of the signatories to the Covenant of the , League of Nations, one would have ex- ; pected Mr. Massey to be an ardent champion of the league, spreading its principles on every hand, instead of which he is going about talking of the next war with | not a word as to its horrors or the ; methods of avoiding it. If he believes there will be another war he ought to be i rousing the nation to its danger and de- ; nouncing the league as lulling the people ,i to a false security. Instead, Mr. Massey and his colleagues are cutting down military and naval expenditure to a minimum, which is declared by some authorities to be almost inadequate. It is not practical statesmanship j it is more like practical folly." " Political Atmosphere" Deprecated. The Rev. George Patterson noTedjhM; Mr. Lamb Harvcv continue no further with the matter and submit his reeoluUon to the meeting forthwith. We are get-, ting more of a political atmosphere in the. bouse and skating on thin ice, he said. | " You cannot keep .politics out of a question like this," replied Mr. Lamb Harvey. The acting-moderator, the Rev. j rat, ( tison, suggested that the speaker should avoid personality and confine hiß remarks to general policy. It was-a question of whether the-Presbytery could restrict the liberty of a member. Mr. A. J. Entncan said he did not think any member of the Presbytery would lfke to see the speaker's, remarks , curtailed. The Presbytery had already. touched on politics in other questions that evening and was touching the robject every day. He thought the subject should | certainly be considered. Mr.. Patterson thereupon withdrew nis motion. Resolution Canted - TJiiuumeualy. Mr Harvey continued: "It is n °tl who introduced personal matters, it is tbe prime Minister." ur:««The Rev. Patterson: The Prune Minister is not of the Gospel as we : understand it, and the matter should be; left to our private voting. ! Mr. Harvey i It is up to ufl to correct, Mr. Harvey then proposed the I motion, which was seconded by Mr. Bntri. can and carried unanimously without discussion:— _, ~ . ~ . •• That this Presbytery affirms its belief in the League of» Nations and the method of international conference as a »eanr of preserving the world's peace; recalls that New Zealand, through its Prime Minister, is one of the signatories to the Covenant of the League; and urges statesmen, instead of predicting further war, to take the lead in seeking to make the League an efficient instrument of peace."