PUBLIC PROBLEMS.

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18879, 24 February 1933, Page 3

PUBLIC PROBLEMS.

THE WORLD’S NEED. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH’S VIEW. PRESENT DAY QUESTIONS. (Speoial to Times). WANGANUI, Thursday. The report of the Public Questions Committee .presented to the Pre'sbyterian Assembly meeting at present In Wanganui, dealt with a variety of matters. In regard to the general world situation, the report stated that old ways of doing things had brought the world to the present pass and that old methods of solution appeared powerless to point the way out; everything pointed to the fact that the world was being brought to the end of an age and to the beginning of a new one. The world needed to know what way into the new age God would have to take, but that knowledge could not come to the world unless in spirit and purpose, in repentance and amendment, it returned to God. To proclaim the necessity of that return and to lead the way back to God was the church’s primary function.

Films and Posters. The report stated that In many ways the modern Talkie was an evil In- ' fluence in the community. Some films were good, but there were too many in which the sex' appeal, the lauding of drinking and gambling, and the presentation of artificial standards of living had a degrading and cynical effect upon Impressionable minds. There wa‘s grave need for a stricter censorship, for the right of appeal by memorial to the Minister on the part of the public and for the revocation of a license on appeal. The principle of a permanent censor was not a good one and needed adjustment. Further action was required in regard to film posters, the highly coloured exposures and suggestive .postures of many of which were a distinct evil. The report recommended drastic action in regard to the censorship of both Aims and posters. Gambling Denounoed. The report recognised and commended the checks being placed on the granting of art union permits by the Government, but while appreciating them expressed grave disappointment that the granting of such permits continued. Art unions were an insidious and pernicious encouragement of the spirit of gambling, which was in direct antagonism to the spirit which needed to animate the community if it Avere effectively to negotiate the stress and strain of these days. The report made an earnest appeal to all members of the church to abstain with rigid strictness from all forms of gambling. Such abstinence was necessary to create a public opinion strong enough to combat the evils of gambling. Sunday Observance. The report deplored the fact that every opportunity was being exploited by interested parties to use Sunday for recreational and amusement purposes. The secular arm seemed to lack the will to consider the vital realities enshrined in a religious observance of Sunday. Too many members of the Church had also drifted into laxity. The report urged that the first thing to be done was vigorously to summon members of the church to be loyal to the _ call of public worship and to refrain from any activity on Sunday which interfered with that primary duty.

Disarmament and Peace. The report sets forth the danger of a collapse of the League of Nations owing to the Sino-.Tapane.se imbroglio and the comparative failure of the Disarmament Conference. It urges the churches to press and continue pressing upon the Government the supreme need of standing emphatically for peace and making representations to the British Government to this effect. The report, asks the Assembly to instruct Presbyteries, sessions, and congregations to make dtie representation of their desires in this matter lo the Dominion Cabinet by deputation or by letter; and further instructs its Public Questions Commit,tee to seek Hie co-operation of other churches to the same effect. Peace through disarmament will, in Hie cornmil lees opinion, prove a far more thorough-going .solution of Iho depression than all Hie short-sighted schemes now being tried out.