FOR PEACE

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9096, 15 July 1915, Page 3

FOR PEACE

PRINCIPLES LAID DOWN PRONOUNCEMENT BY THE SOCIETY OP FRIENDS. As the result of careful consideration of the problem presented by tho international conflict, the Society of Friends for Now Zealand, whose general meeting concluded yesterday, has issued the following pronouncement:— “In these dark and terrible days, ■when the faith of so many in thetineas of the Christian religion has been shaken, and when we have all been driven to face anew the vital problems of applying the doctrines which we profees to the situations that have arisen in our national as well as in our individual life, wo feel called upon to declare afresh our unaltered and firm adherence Vo the word of Him, whom we call God—'One is your master, evea Christ, and all ye are brethren’; and our full acceptance of His claim—‘Neither knoweth any man tho Father save the Son. and ho to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. Ho has revealed God to us as a Father who loves all His children, even the wayward and the "wicked; and we believe that this revelation is the only true and complete conception of .God. ail other preceding conceptions of Him, such as are given by writers in the Old Testament, being but partial leading up to the full revelation in Christ. We accordingly believe that if our individual concerns and our national concerns are alike to be directed to the promotion of the kingdom of the God that He'has revealed, the principles that guide our actions must be those laid down by the Master Himself, and not such as may be deduced from the .utterances of prophets and psalmists under the old dispensations. ‘'Since He has said 'hove your enemies, do good to them that hate you.* ‘My kingdom is not of this world, else woum My servants fight,” and since the whole tenor of His teaching is that loving kindness, and mercy, and a generosity that has little- regard for hellish interests should be the main-spring ,of our i actions, we cannot but believe that war, which involves the wilful infliction or sorrow and suffering upon our fellows, is the very negation of His spirit; and not only war, but all that causes or Lends to cause feelings of distrust .and bitterness between man and man. Adherence to the teachings of Christ should raise His followers to a piano where the boundaries of nationality do not exist, but where all who profess His name, to whatever nation they may belong, have only one interest to serve—the promotion of the building of tho City of God. With that supreme claim to our loyalty the claim of no" lesser loyalty can conflict —neither loyalty to fatally. nor friends nor state. As Roman Holland has raid in his appeal to the youth of the belligerent nations; ‘For the finer spirits of Europe there are two dwelling places: our earthly Fatherland and that other City of God. Of the one we are the guests, of the other the builders. To the one let us give our lives and our faithful hearts; but / neither family, friends, nor Fatherland, nor aught that we love has power over the spirit, which is the light. It is our duty to build higher and stronger, dominating the injustice, and hatred of nations, the walls of that city wherein the souls of tho whole - world may assemble.’, "By living ‘in that spirit which takes away the occasion for all wars’ wo shall serve best the true interests of our beloved country. While such is the path wc believe the followers of Christ are called to tread, we cannot but recognise that the ethical standards of nations of to-day axe such that wars will yet remain in the near future at any rate, as a dread possibility, and that it is our duty to devote oux energies and our means to the furtherance of all efforts Chat may be directed to remove the causes of wars. We'would in this connection call tho attention of our members and those who feel with us to the , work of the Union of Democratic Control, and «n particular in the following directions: “1. To promote united action by all nations towards the limitation of armaments and of, military preparations, and, by the nationalisation of armament manufacture, to render it impossible that private profits should be made out of what involves untold national suffering and loss. "2. To secure that in the settlement of disputed territories in Europe the voice of the peoples concerned shall be heard, and due respect paid to their wishes. Wc would add that, in the case of territories, whether in Africa, in the Pacific, or elsewhere, inhabited by undeveloped native races, a strict regard should be paid to their just rights and to the dictates of a generous, liberal policy; so that in future years no cause for bitterness or resentment may remain. "3. To secure that all future International Councils shall bo representative of the peoples concerned, and not, as has usually been the case at the Hague Conferences, representative of the governing classes only. ‘‘ Wo rejoice in a firm stand on the side of peace that, in the face of extreme provocation, President Wilson and his advisers have maintained. We trust that his hands will be strengthened, and that he, and tho great nation of which he is the head, will continue this noble work of’ succouring the distressed, and that they will not allow themselves to be drawn into the awful conflict in which we are engaged, so that immediately the way opens he may be in a position to intervene ns a' mediator between the nations at war.” CONGREGATIONALISTS APPROACHED. The manifesto was placed by a deputation before the distinct conference of the Congregational Union yesterday afternoon. Fraternal greetings were conveyed, and tlie statement read by Mr E. J. P. King. Mr Molesworth, of Havelock, another member of the deputation, expressed the principle actuating the Friends by tho words, “We are the bond servants of the Prince of Peace, and ow© an allegiance to Him before we owe allegiance to any power on earth.” He added that he idesiredl to ask these ministers who had influence over great numbers of people to direct them to peace rather to war. The chairman of the conference (Rev. A. B. Hunt), in response, said that members sincerely shared with the Friends their desire to attain the uplift of humanity and hasten the coming of the day when "the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of God and of His Christ. ’’ As to the manifesto, it was recognised that it was on a debatable subject, and he was not authorised to make any official statement thereon- But, while there might be considerable differences of opinion as to details members shared with the Friends their desire to do all they could in the interests of international peace. How that could be attained was debatable but he hailed the coming day when peace should reign and men the wide world over should recognise a common brotherhood and community ot interest. '