SOCIAL SERVICE.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume 27, Issue 5, 1 May 1937, Page 3

SOCIAL SERVICE.

"Your committee wish to express their satisfaction that since last General Synod considerable progress has been made m reference to certain matters which were commended by the 1934 Committee on Social Service ■to the careful attention of the Church and the Government — namely, the substitution of sustenance grants lor the methods of unemployment relief then m vogue, and the reduction of working hours, involving a new adjustment of the relations between . work and leisure," states the repor of the Sessional Committee on Social Service presented by Bishop WestWatson, of Christchurch, at the General Synod. "We have considered the report presented by the Central Council on Social Problems set up by Archbishop Averill m accordance witn the resolution passed by the 1934

General Synod. We feel that, whiie many excellent institutions are doing noble work m the various dioceses, yet our Church people are often lacking m appreciation of the duty not only of salvaging the wreckage of our present social system, but oi re-thinking and remaking that system m the light of the new factors which are constantly emerging m society, and which ought to be led captive to the law of Christ. We still hope that some kind of councils may be setmp m the various dioceses which, without attempting to assume, any control of institutions already established, may consider general questions of policy, openings for new work, and the response demanded from the Church to social needs and problems." Witness Against War. The committee had considered the resolutions of the Auckland Diocesan Synod m regard to war which had been laid before the General Synod, and cordially approved by them, the report adds. There was a danger lest the Church should be swayed from the consistency of its witness against war. The mere fact that organisation for peace had been for the time being submerged by the rising tide of re-armament did not change the essential contradiction which was offered by war to the teaching of Christ. It might be that it was a menace to peace for one country to remain under-armed when others were re-arming. "We caii only say that such re-armament may be the lesser of two evils. So far from viewing it with any sort of complacency, the Church must keep insistently before her people the fact that the path which the world is following to-day- is dictated by national exclusiveness, by fear and selfishness, and that such a path is not the high road to peace. Men do not gather figs of thistles." "We welcome the greater leisure and the advance m wages which have so increased the amenities of life for many of our people," says the report, "and we look forward to seeing these advantages used for the spiritual, intellectual and artistic enrichment of the nation. At the moment the nev leisure may be too often looked upon as only an extra opportunity for . sport and recreation, but we believe rthat such a view is the result of narrowness of outlook and ignorance of

the resources- and possibilities of life. We believe that m time the appreciation of the blessings of this leisure will more than counterbalance its dangers. It will be the function of the schools to develop a new educational policy to meet the new proportions of work and leisure; it wiil be the . function of the Church to centre all recreations, occupations and interests on the life that is life indeed. Poverty of Ideas. There was a considerable body of evidence which went to show that much of the increased earnings of to-day was being spent m unproductive ways, the report added. Here again it was believed that such spending was as much due to poverty of ideas as to poverty of character. The understanding of the possibilities of right spending needed to be developed, and there were inducements to wrong spending which needed to be restricted. "We think, for instance, that our people, and especially our young people, 'should be better protected from inducements to drink, and even to drink to excess. We should like to see the system of private profit extinguished. With a view to this we believe that a 'thorough investigation should be made m Great Britain and other countries of systems of liquor control by the State. We consider that m the conflict between continuance and prohibition this third alternative has never been fairly appreciated by our people. A dispassionate inquiry conducted by the Church might be of great use, and we recommend the subject to the notice of our Central Council for Social Problems. "We wish to express our admiration of the courage with which the commission on abortion has faced those facts which must be to all New Zealanders both shocking and humiliating. We understand that the Mothers' Union was able to be of service to the commission m its investigations. There is no doubt that the economic conditions and the restlessness of modern life are contributory causes to this evil, but behind all lies the fact that many of our young people are looking m the wrong direction for satisfaction and peace, and are m danger of spiritual bankruptcy if not rightly guided," adds the report.