NEW ZEALAND LEGION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18179, 29 August 1933, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND LEGION

PROGRESS OP MOVEMENT MANY CENTRES ESTABLISHED Tlie president of the New Zealand Legion, Dv. Campbell Begg, Wellington, arrived at Auckland on Wednesday on his first ofiiciai visit. He will address a public meeting, and next week he will speak at Whangarei, Dargaville, Tauranga, Morrinsviile and Cambridge. Dr. Begg said the New Zealand Legion had now been in existence for some six months and the progress made was eminently satisfactory.* The membership was all that could be expected and it was particularly gratifying to find that so many of those who had made a special study of economic and political science were interesting themselves to formulate proposals. The idea of the Legion was that it was essential to establish sound principles of the* philosophy of government as the basis of any economic reconstruction. It was not widely enough known how closely economic, ' social and political progress were linked. Considerable progress was made at the last council meeting, and the 700 centres established throughout New Zealand were- now studying details within the main skeleton principles which had then been laid down.

Unfortunately, there was a large body of people in New Zealand who were anxious to have their economic and political thought provided for them without the fatigue of having to think for themselves, and they were ready to accept any partial solution that would seem to offer a way out of the depression. To those people the Legion would make little appeal unless it could induce them to see that democracy could _ function only by educating the individual to active 'thought, and high motive along social lines.

Dr. Begg said the progress of the movement was such that lie now felt he could leave the organisation to stand on its own feet.