Y.M.C.A. CONFERENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17427, 23 September 1918, Page 8

Y.M.C.A. CONFERENCE

SATURDAY'S SESSION. -The Rev. A. C. Randerson conducted the devotional services. The Chairman (Mr H. Wilkinson) opened the business session with a taw inspiring remarks: " .Business- is service, and he "who serves most prolits most." Alter dwelling on .the blessings of service, ho suggested a slogan for the Y.M.C.A.: "As Clirist.anity 16 m rVICO ' vv ' lo serves most lives best." Mr W. T. Drew read a paper showing the need of association centres in the different country towns of Otago, tho principal reasons boinjj the imminent return of a,. =° nuru ')er of man from the front, who would be unsettled by their experivvollW feel the pull of city life, i. .M.C.A. hutments would help to make country life attractive. He then briefly iurveyed the dirt'erent towns of importance ln , . r ; a A 0 ' showing that there was room for a \.i\LO.A. in all of them xt N. Patorson read a paper on "Our i>w 10-icy: Country Association Work.'' rip told of his experience in country districts; how ho had seen groups of boys witfl n° plaoo of meeting save the railway station and the public-house. He suggested, to meet the nerd of thes2 men. tho tinkling of hutments in tho various towns, with a secretary in charge. Tho succcss ot Sl V coun^r y work would largely depend on the. hutments being attractive, not necessarily -n appc&rance, but by reason of someone being on tile epofc to give the boys a welcome. Ihe discussion was opened by Mr E. F. ■King, of Hastings. lie advocated tho threefold plan for tho Y.M.C.A.—(I) War work, (2) returned soldiers' work, (3) ordiV ork - s ?id country work is not so difficult now as it was before the war, as the men who were returning would have faith in the Y.M.C.A. J. J ; M'Eldowney spoke of the anxiety to eliminate waste and utilise by-products; yet our greatest work was among the boyhood of to-day. Surely this was deserving of some consideration. Mr It. Milligan (Oamaru) said h.3 waa thero for the purpose of learning. He stressed the point of how Oamaru would be a good place to commence such a movement as that spoken of, on account of the \v aitaki High School bsing situated in that town Denominational movements, in his estimation, should bo discouraged. He would not advocate denominational schools, as boys should be taught brotherliness from the start. Mr E. C. Brownell spoke of the great work tho Y.M.C.A. could do in the country with services in the homes, illustrated lectures, both educational and entertaining. The greatest work the Dunedin Association could do was outside its walls. Very successful industrial work had been carried on at Lake Coleridge and Matangia works. Tile Hon. George Fowlds spoke of tho flexibility and adaptability Qf the Y.M.C.A. to meet all needs. The association work was a service rather than an institution. Mr E. J. F. King, of Hastings, spoke of the work that had been • done among 1100 men who built JFeatherston camp. The Rev. W. Saunders said no work to which, the Y.M.C.A. could address itself was more important. Tho following motion by the Hon. G. Fowlds was carried That this . conference expresses the opinion that a wide field of service is open to the association in connection with the industries of the dominion; that the association is capable of rendering valuable service in this field, and commends the work to the enthusiastic support of the National Committee." Mr W. P. Lascelles spoke of the Y.M.C.A. work in India. At the 1 afternoon session Captain Simdstrum conducted the devotional exercises, and Mr J. M'Eldowney occupied the chair. Tho first subject dealt with was religious work. A somewhat lengthy discussion followed, and the following resolution was passed:—"This conference requests the "forthcoming National Convention to introduce for discussion the question of' a closer co-operation between tho Christian workers in the churches and the Y.M.C.A. leaders, for the purpose of organising and leading the Bible classes and religious work in tho association; and that the National Committee be asked to consider the question. of appointing a religious director for the whole dominion." It was also resolved that—"The Otago District Conference recommend to the National Convention the following slogan for the New Zealand Y.M.C.A.: ' Christianity is service; he who serves most lives best.' " Mr Lascelles emphasised tho necessity of sex training and advocated the distribution of suitable literature on this question The following resolution was passed:— "That the National Committee be requested to consider the advisability of setting up a commission or the appointment of a committee to study the question of per sonal purity, especially in the institutions of learning, and to present findings and recommendations to the committee for the promotion of personal purity campaigns." Mr E. J. F. King spoke on the problems of boys' work, and of the parents' duty _to the boys. Every endeavour should be made to induco bovs to continue in study. Mr Y. T. Drerw spoke on what the asso- , ciation could do for the boy, and what it was trying to do, leadership being an important factor. Mr H. Webb spoke on tho work from a long experience among boys. Mr P. R. Sargood spoke on "Our Responsibility to the Returned Soldier." He said they did not desire molly-coddling, all they wanted was a fair and reasonable chance to get quickly out of uniform and back to civil life. He spoko of the obligations to the maimed and unfit men. Many of these men would sorely resent our sympathy, as is the case of strong men striken in the prime of their manhood. Wo must bear with all, have unlimited patience, and be prepared to give service. In speaking on "A Substitute for tho Hotel," the Hon. G. M. Thomson said there was no doubt that the hotels did serve a distinct want in the community. What would the men who frequented these places do when they wore cloeed? Ho advocated the establishment of places of amusement and recreation where men could spend their time, as in Edinburgh, where there were large branch libraries, half of ■which are for reading and the remaining h.ilf f or recreation. The Hon. G. Fowlds, speaking on the question of returned men, said: "In our attempt to 'be kind we must be wise. He was opposed to the law which prohibited an invalid soldier on pay from earning money in some employment. In other countries it was encouraged. Ho also advocated that more use bo made of our country school buildings." Mr King spoke of what was being done m the Hawke's Bay district. Mr Drew told of what had bean done in Dunedin through the graerosity of Mr Sargood, and how each returning man received a letter of •wolcomo and a freo membership in tho club. He spoke of tho good work of the Ladies' Committee, and how Mr P. R. Chapman had been appointed to look after the needs of the men. "In the building thero were 18 residential rooms and theso were constantly full. ' 13ie Chairman summed up. This concluded the business of tho afternoon. In the even in 2 Mr E C. Brownell national general secretary, gave a lecture on "America's Work for Men," Mr H K Wilkinson presiding. The lecture, which was delivered in Burns Hall, was illustrated some 120 beautifully-coloured slides. Ilie Chairman, in introducing the lecturer, said that Mr Brownell had had a wJdo experience in Y.M.C.A. work in North America. He believed that as a result of the lecture in Timaru thero would rL a ijfr; formed there,at no very distant date He bebeved there had been some(misunderstanding of the objects of the Y.M.C.A., but the war had created an opportunity to remove these misunderstandings as nothing else could have done Mr Brownell, in opening his said that many people were labouring under a misapprehension as to tho foundation of the Y.M.C.A. The association, h e explained, was established by Geo. Williams on Juno 6, 1844, m London, and was carried to America in 1851 by an Irish sea captain. The lecturer then went on to trace the development of the organisation down to the present time, and showed slides illustrating the work in North America, India Great Britain, and China. He also exhibited a number of slides illustrative of the work m the military camps. He cfcitrx-1 that a modern Y.M.C.A. building i„ America cost from £200,000 to £250 000 In one building m North America the membership was over 9000, and over one million men and boys entered it last year The various training centres for training employed officers were well illustrated In North America £20,000,000 was now invested m buildings, and the membership reached nearly one million. A number of industrial views and others dealing with the ru'-al side of life in North America were particularly good.. The lantern was manipulated by Mr D Simpson. SUNDAY SESSION. The session opened at 10 a.m. with a fellowship meeting led by Messrs Kinoand M Eldownev. At 3 p.m. a men's meetZ™ v t r in r.- Picture Theatre, Mr H. Iv. Wilkinson presiding The speaker was Mr M. W. P. Lascelles'. who took as his subject "Things That Count" At 4 pjn. a boys' meeting was

held in the Y.M.C.A. buildings, Mr H. P. Desmoulins presiding. The speaker was Mr E. J. F. King, his subject being "Plaving tiie Game." At 4.15 J.m. a women's meeting was held in the Y.W.C.A. Hall, the speaker, the Rev. R. Raine, giving an address on "Women's Work." A strangers' tea was held at 5 p.m. After the evening church services a farewell service was held in the Y.M.C.A. buildings, Mr E. C. Brownell presiding. After devotional exercises conducted by Mr Y. T. Drew, and tho singing of two hymns, Mr King moved resolutions endorsing the findings and resolutions of the conference. In doing so he referred to tho Kocd work done at the conference. He statrd that there was great need for Associations in all our towns. He narrated ■vr-u a came to be formed at JMiiton, and how such stalwarts in tho association as Messrs Hay and Hislop -had graduated there. He also moved votes of thanks to all those identified with tho conference. The motion was carried. The Hon. G. Fowlds, who was the principal speaker, gave an address on "Servicegiving. He said it was a service-giving Government and a service-giving nation that was most to be admired, and get tho most out of life. The British nation won„. into the struggle to render help to weaker nations, and our kinsmen across tho Atlantic entered the struggle not for sel.-aggrandisement, but for service-giving. He considered that the future success of the association lay in attracting the energies of boys into service-giving. All this called for new methods and fre»h energy. He thought it had to be admitted that large numbers of- young men, more particularly m New Zealand and Australia t "P outside the influence ot the Christian churches, and it was tho duty of the association to attract theso young men In connection with the war v-> j cl , llElfs b T n formed between the v.M.C.A and the men at the front, and it was the duty of those controlling the affairs of the association to see that that bond was not broken when the men returned to civil life. In doing this they would not be entering into competition with the churches; but, on tho contrary, would be assisting . them. He firm.lv believed there was a n : che they could 'fill Mr M'Eldowney referred to his own connection with the Y.M.C.A. since he was a lad of 15 yars in Londonderry. He stated how on revisiting his native' town some 13 years ago he had disoovered that all his contemporaries who were tipplers were now el™!-] Trifh one exception. ?| r W'lkinson was th" other speaker. Ho said there was no doubt but what tho association was suffering from the loss of its. senior members. Over 200 had left tho building to go to the war. What they wanted was young men to come into the association with the desire to serve and render sorvce. He thought the conferenec had done good. After the sinirinfr of a hymn and the pronouncing of tho benediction th(* meeting closed and the conference terminated A frood number of the delegates to the oomerence occumod the pulpits in the city ana suburban churches yesterday.