NEW ZEALAND LEGION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21578, 24 August 1933, Page 11

NEW ZEALAND LEGION

PRESIDENT IN AUCKLAND PROGRESS OF MOVEMENT MANY CENTRES ESTABLISHED The president of the New Zealand Legion, Dr. Campbell Begg, of Wellington, arrived in Auckland yesterday on his first official visit. Ho will address a public meeting in the Town Hall tomorrow evening, and next week ho will speak at Whangarei, Dargaville, Tauranga, Morrinsville and Cambridge. Dr. Begg said the New Zealand Legion had now been in existence for some six months and the progress made was eminently satisfactory. The membership was all that could be expected and it was particularly gratifying to find that so many of those who had made a special study of economic and political science were interesting themselves to formulate proposals. The idea of tho legion was that it was essential to establish sound principles of the philosophy of government as the basis of any economic reconstruction. It was not widely enough known how closely economic, social and political progress wore linked. Considerable progress was made at tho last council meeting of the league, and the 700 centres established throughout New Zealand were now studying details within tho main skeleton principles which had then been laid down. Unfortunately, there was a large body of people in New Zealand who were anxious to have their economic and political thought provided for them without the fatigue of having to think for themselves, and they were ready to accept any partial solution that would seem to olfer a way out of the depression. To these people the legion would make little appeal unless it could induce them to see that democracy could function only by educating the individual to active thought and high motive along social lines. Dr. Begg said the progress of the movement was such that he now felt he could leave the organisation to stand on its own feet.