COMMUNITY AND MORALITY

Otago Witness, Issue 3556, 9 May 1922, Page 62

COMMUNITY AND MORALITY

YOUNG CITIZEN’S LEAGUE AIOVEAIENT. AUCKLAND, Alay 3. A striking address in which attention was drawn to the dangerous level of the moral tone of the community was delivered by Air E. C. Cutten, S.M., before the Anglican General Synod this afternoon. Mr Cutten (as president of the Young Citizen’s League, and Air Horace Stabbing, as organising secretary, waited upon ,the Synod in order to acquaint, its members with the aims and objects of the movement. Those who were in touch with the civil and Criminal Courts of the country., said Air Cutten, knew that they were' being continually beseiged by cases of dishonesty, and eases showing impurity of life. The few cases that appeared in the newspapers were a mere symptom of the real state of affairs. The condition of the community showed a terrible state of inefficiently from a material point of view, and a very terrible state of affairs from the spiritual. The effect on the women shows it, said Mr Cutten. Wotnen had made a great, struggle for rights and freedom and culture, but these were material things, and not spiritual. The result was that they did the same as man, and entered upon a mad search for wealth and pleasure. As an illustration of the prevailing tone Air Cutten said that every time a moving picture, adopted from sex type, was shown in this city, there was a ready sale for the book at the bookshops, and he had been assured by one who was in a. position to know that 90 per cent, of the purchasers of such books were girls or women. He had been informed by a leading criminal lawyer in Auckland that the class of cases which were giving the legal profession most trouble were sex cases. “You will see.” sail Air Cutten, that this implies a more terrible state of affairs than was at first realised. I cannot impress it upon you too strongly. At the Magistrate s Court one day each week was reserved for the hearing of maintenance oases. It is called ( a.gcnv day ’ ” UTj Mr Cn,ten , ," an d it is agony. Last * riday two magistrates were doing the work all dav, and another for half a-day, and then they did not finish the work. Nowadays our women are so busy with work that they make for themselves, that they have riot got time to do the work which God gives them to -do in this world,” Mr Cutten continued. “The moral pi ogress of humanity depends on our women, everj? man is the outcome of woman's training, yet this seems sometimes to be overlooked. In most homes the training of children was thrown upon the school teacher, and later their religious instruction upon the Sunday school teacher, but it was between the ages of one and 10 when the real character of the child was founded, there was no place where they would get the influence that formed character best than in .the home, and such influence did not exist to-day. “I want to tell you ” continued Mr Cutten, “that the stability of the country is in danger. Stability depends upon the public opinion of the great majority, and do not imagine that the community is kept in order by standing army—we have not got one—or by the police, who prevent some members of the community interfering with other members of the community. The country depended for its solidarity on the large bulk of the people, but down below vliere was a large undesirable element. At the present time this element was increasing in size, and the majority of the people on chom the community depended was decreasing in size. Alqre serious still was the fact that there existed an intervening party of people who did not care for anything. This condition of the world meant forgetfulness of God. The Yo-ung Citizens’ League had come to the conclusion that great ends could not be attained by material means, nor could happiness depend upon material things in education. The spiritual was not being touched upon. Tile Boy Scout movement had become an organisation instead of a movement, and the same thing applied to religion. To many religion was a mere matter of form, but religion was a matter of the heart, and tne heart only. There -was only one way in which trouble could be met, and that was the proper education of the young.” /the speaker explained that th e constitution and objects of the Young Citizens’ League, and said that it was definitely a religious institution, because it endeavoured to teach reverence and Christian service. Tlie Primate (Bishop Julius) said that no subject gave the church more anxiety than the present condition of the dominion, and the means by which that condition might be improved. They were very thankful for any institution which recognised those conditions and tried to improve them. He was at one with the deputation in desiring to bring a better tone into social life through the manliness of the children, and wherever people were working for those ends they had the support of every member of the Synod.