CAUSE OF PEACE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22583, 23 November 1936, Page 11

CAUSE OF PEACE

TOWN HALL MEETING CONFERENCE SUGGESTED FORMULATION OF POLICY A resolution suggesting that, in view of the threatening international situation, a widely-representative non-party conference should be held in Auckland at the earliest possible date with the object of formulating a policy for the preservation of peace, was adopted at a meeting convened by the World Peace League, which was held in the Town Hall last night. Professor W. A. Sewell presided over an attendance of about ]OOO people. The chairman said that at present, when the League of Nations was in disrepute, some effort should be made to get together those people who were anxious to preserve peace, and to organise the peaceful consciousness of the people so that constant pressure could be brought to bear on the Governments of the world, and the people of New Zealand could keep watch constantly on their Government to see that its foreign policy led to peace and not to war.

Shaking as a representative of the League of Nations Union, Mr. W. f. G. Airey said that the nations of the world were in exactly the same situation to-day as they were in the years before 1914, and were drifting toward war in exactly the same way. The support and strengthening of tho League of Nations was one of the central things to delay war and give the fundamental causes of peace a chance to operate. The Rev. W. W. Averill pointed out that it was necessary to realise that militaristic war was only the intensification of the economic war that had been raging for many years, and was raging to-day. If we were to have peace and a guarantee against war in its militaristic form we must find out and eradicate the cause of this economic dogfight which was in progress at the present time.

Other speakers were Mrs. S. P. Wynn, representing the Women's International, Mr. P. Talbot, representing returned soldiers, Mr. T. Stanley (trade unions), and Mr. W. Woods on behalf of youth.