JAPAN TO-DAY

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11686, 26 November 1923, Page 3

JAPAN TO-DAY

“WAVE OF MATERIALISM” “AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CHURCH OF CHRIST.” ARCHDEACON’S APPEAL. An appeal was recently made throughout the Wellington diocese in aid of the victims ot the Japanese disaster. The statement was made by the Ven. Archdeacon Johnson, when preaching at St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral last evening, that the Wellington appeal had raised as much as the dioceses of Auckland and Christchurch together. He noted this fact with satisfaction, as it showed a general interest on the part of Christian people here in the mission work of the church in Japan. The Archdeacon said he would make reference to mission work in that country, as St. Andrew’s-tide was always a time in this diocese when such matters came forward for consideration. Referring to social and moral conditions in Japan, the speaker said he was convinced that, despite present difficulties, a great opportunity had been vouchsafed the church in that land. He inclined to the view that Japan was threatened, with the condition Germany was in before 1914. The country was in the throes of a great wave of materialism. “There is the great possibility,” said Archdeacon Johnson, “unless something is done to avert it, that this might result in one of the deadliest wars ever known, right here in the Pacific.” Until, recont_ yeara practically, the Japanese had "been a peace-loving people. Until the great conflagration of 1906, there had been no intense desire for war. We had to thank certain European and American interests for this wave of materialism. WOMEN IN THE MINES. “This fact might perhaps astound you, but it is nevertheless true. At the present time there are some 150,006 Japanese women working in mines. These women are from 16 to 20 years of age. They are. working among the mountains in certain places, and are away from the Tillages. The moral conditions are bad. . . . They are reduced to the state of animals. . . . The numbers of stillborn children born in these mines is appalling. . . . What is troche done when women work under such conditions?” The Archdeacon declared that the Japanese were not naturally materialists. Before all, the Japanese was a lover of beauty. They were probably the most receptive people in the world, and certainly not essentially materialists. They even worshipped beauty rather than law and order. The fruit-trees were not planted merely for their fruits, but for their blossoms and colourful beauty. The Japanese planted irises along his path. Their individual life was sunk in that of their families. If a proper spirit were inculcated among these people they might bring a new light into the Church of Christ. OWN PEOPLE DISTRUSTED. But, at the same time, the preacher pointed out, Japan was using people of other races in her places of trust. “The Japanese people employ clerks of other nationalities,” remarked Archdeacon Johnson, who asked why this was so? “It is because they do not trust their own people. . The people themselves cannot trust their own gods; they cannot trust their own religion. ... Is this not an opportunity for the Church of Christ?”