PEACE ARMY PROPOSED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21118, 27 February 1932, Page 11

PEACE ARMY PROPOSED.

religious leaders.

WISH TO PREVENT WAR.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS. UNARMED INTERVENTION. By Telegraph— Association—Copyright. (Received February 2t'>, 5.55 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 25. Miss Maude Royden, the well-known preacher, Dr. H. 11. Sheppard, Dean of Canterbury, and Dr. Herbert Gray, a Presbyterian minister, in a letter to the press, say : "We can no longer believe that the cold wisdom of the world is equal to the task of making peace, but our religion compels us to view war as wrong. So we, have come to the conclusion that the only effective thing to do is for men and women who believe it their duty to volunteer to place" themselves unarmed between combatants.

"Wo have written to the League of Nations offering ourselves for service in a peace army. - We know many people in other countries arc also willing."

The three writers appeal for volunteers, whose names will be transmitted to the Secretary-General of the League, Sir Eric Drummond, at Geneva.

WOEK AT GENEVA.

BASIS FOR DISCUSSIONS.

SUB-COMMITTEES SET UP. (Rereiverl February '26. 6.5 p.m.) British Wireless. RUGBY; Feb. 25. Tho Disarmament Conference at Geneva this afternoon unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by Sir John Simon, British Foreign Secretary, as follows: " That tho general commission resolves to carry on its discussion within the framework of tho draft disarmament convention, full liberty being reserved to all tho delegations to develop their own proposals in tho subsequent debate, and to move their amendments in the form of modifications, additions or omissions at tho appropriate point."

After three hours' discussion sub committees were set up to deal with land, sea and air armaments, war budgets and political questions. Each sub committee will be composed of one delegate from each country, assisted by experts and secretaries.

TOTAL DISARMAMENT.

ADVOCACY BY RUSSIA. PLAN REJECTED AT GENEVA. GENEVA, Feb. 25. The Russian delegate to the Disarmament Conference, Mr. Litvinoff, to-dav urged total universal disarmament. He said that while the Council of the League of Nations was sending appeals to the Far Eastern States and while the delegates to the Disarmament Conference were expressing sorrow at the bloodshed there, shipload after shipload of military supplies for the continuation of that bloodshed were being freely and openly sent to the belligerent States from other countries with the consent of their Governments. Civilisation and the world would not suffer much if the Far Eastern combatants were only fighting with their bare fists instead of with bombs and shells, involving the loss of thousands of lives and incalculable loss of property. The proposal was rejected, only the Russian and Turkish delegates supporting it.