CHANGING EUROPE,

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19459, 26 December 1934, Page 9

CHANGING EUROPE,

A NEW CIVILISATION. i i I SEEN BY FRENCHMAN. j I I — i i VISITOR TO NEW ZEALAND. j | i "There is an old French proverb which says- one docs not become a monk by putting on a monk’s habit. , similany, one does not acquire virtue merely by taking off one’s clothes. When asked in an interview at Wellington to discuss the new morality in Europe, Dr. Jacques C. Demarquette, of Paris, Doctor of Philosophy, who i arrived in the Makura from San Fran- | cisco, made the foregoing comment on ■ nudism as a phase, lie is well-known on the Continent as a social reformer, | pacifist and founder of Le Trait j d'Union, a "life society,” in France. In | the movement which he originated Dv. Demarquette has propounded a new | rule of life for the generation rising in Europe. In it ho teaches the value of. the simple life, the outdoors and of clean living. Nudism, therefore, comes within the swing toward the primeval. u "Europe," said Dr. Demarquette, is in the throes of the birth of a new civilisation, and the nudist cult is one manifestation or the change. Personally 1 think its advantages are very greatly exaggerated by its devotees, who claim that it will eradicate Lhe evil thinking that they say the wear- ! ing of clothes has brought about. I consider it is a very elementary way of looking at it. It would be 100 easy tc acquire virtue by removing one s clothes. I* think it is a reaction against extreme prudery. When the new civilisation lias settled down there will be neither nudists nor prudes, but natural people. As lo the claims of the nudists that absence of dress is a natural thing, one must reply that very few savage tribes exist that do not have some sort of covering.” Signs Promising Hope. Dr. Demarquette said Europe was undergoing great changes, and the people of to-morrow would be very different from, their fathers. Europeans were beginning lo be. as much out of doors enthusiasts as those of Australia and New Zealand. Quite apart from politics, there was evolving an entirely new outlook on life and a philosophy of living embracing more simple things. Signs that Europe was beginnings to see a new era of civilisation were abundant —signs that promised hope among so many disastrous affairs. In a booklet which he handed to his interviewers, Dr. Demarquette was described tints: —“lie is well-known in France and throughout' Europe for his work for and interest In social advancement. lie is generally referred to among the younger generation of Socialists, pacifists and vegetarians as ’frere Jacques.’ He was born in Paris in 1888 and his grandfather was also horn in France but was a British subject. ' He served" 37 month's at the Front and was interned nine months in a German prison camp. He has given some hundreds of lectures in English, French and German on pacifism. In 1923 he organised a youth peace movement in France on the ideals of Tolstoi, lie has published several books on social and humanitarian topics.” Fifty Years a Wanderer. Dr. Demarquette is being introduced to New Zealand.by his friend Count C. Micard, who has been globe-trotting for the last 50 years, and who has visited the remotest parts of the earth! He was in the Dominion 12 years ago and was so charmed with this country that he has returned with his friend. They will spend some weeks here before going on to Australia. Their ultimate objective is Thibet through Afghanistan. “I am a great friend and admirer of England," said Dr. Demarquette. ‘T trust my 'country and England will stay on friendly terms because I think l it is essential for the peace of the world.” Dr. Demarquette mentioned that he was a distant relative of the late Sir Joseph Ward, the connection coming through a great-grandfather of the, doctor who went out to Australia in the ’seventies'. While on active service Dr. Demarquette met many New Zealand soldiers in Belgium. He said they were “much appreciated” by the French and were very well behaved and were liked very much,