The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY. MAY 11, 1936. THE QUAKERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 110, 11 May 1936, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle MONDAY. MAY 11, 1936. THE QUAKERS

'T’HE world knows more about the jokes concerning the Quakers than it knows about their virtues. They believe in peace. They live for their ideal. They fight for it. "If you want a real stubborn fighter, get a Quaker,” once declared Sir T. A. Coglan, a Boman Catholic himself, and Agent-General for New South Wales in London in the war time. One of the best jokes at the expense of the Quakers is really a tribute to them. A ship was being attacked by pirates, and so the captain armed the crew and the passengers. .A Quaker on board refused to bear arms, but when the pirate captain boarded the vessel it was the Quaker who seized him, and dropped him overboard, saying, "Go back to thy vessel, friend, thou art not wanted here.” The point ot the story is that nobody ever thought of accusing a Quaker of cowardice. They may tremble before the Lord, but they certainly do so before nobody else. Their courage and sincerity is attested by history : for eighty years they lived unarmed and unhurt among the warring Five Indian Nations of New England, justifying their principles by an example which extended over three generations. But it is not because of their opinion on the question or bearing arms alone that their claims rest for public admiration and respect—they rest upon two important considerations. In the first place, anyone cannot attach himself to the Society of Eriends and give himself the title of Quaker. The society does not seek io expand its numbers by popular appeals: it eschews the Big Drum in religion: it tests out its people before they are accepted into fellowship, and a sufficient, tamest of their sincerity of belief, and the appropriateness of the objectives they have in mind when they ask io be accepted as friends, must be forthcoming. In consequence of this polity, what the Quakers lack in numbers they more than make up by their quality. As a community, it is perhaps the purest form of democracy. It is able to accomplish this in its government because of the quality of its members. They are educated, cultured and broadminded: a. wise toleration pervades the atmosphere in which they move, and consequently they are able to do much more—when numbers are taken into account—than perhaps any other religious body. The number of Quakers in England is 20,000. in the I'nited States 100,000. and in New Zealand it is >et down at about 300. and yet this society establishes an excellent hostel for women students at the Wellington Teachers’ Training College, and the Victoria University, 'Wellington, and i he fact that there is hardly a Quakeress resident in the building is regarded as of no importance. The Quakers realised that there was a need for such a hostel, and they went to the task with a thoroughness which was highly commendable. In the Lien, in Wellington, the hostel is an architectural delight, conveniently situated for the students, who are asked to contribute a very reasonable weekly sum towards their board. The institution does not pay—it is not intended that it should—the deficit is made up by the Quakers as part of their job in the community. The co-edueational school in Wanganui is another institution ..hieh merits high praise. This has been establisned partly for the purpose of having an institution whereat the children of members of the society can receive the education which their parents would naturally wish them io have; but this viewpoint ■. ould be regarded as quite inadequate from the Quaker standpoint. and so the school was established to accommodate children com those parents who are not members of the society. Tn Lngaitd Quake: schools are held in high esteem, and most of them cave waiting lists of non-Quaker children. Wanganui is very proud of the. fact that this institution has I.ten established adjacent to the city, and it is a pleasure to the citizens to know that there is in session at the school oil St. John's Hill a conference of the society, whereat Quakers from England as well as from all parts of the Dominion are present. Although Ibis conference is proceeding unostentatiously, it is ■ mmpliment that its venue should be in Wanganui.