THE PROMOTION OF PEACE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 504, 11 May 1909, Page 3

THE PROMOTION OF PEACE.

A SOCIETY. OF FRIENDS MEETING. , A meeting in 'connection with the conference of the Society of Friends now being held here■took placo'at.the Y.M.O.A. Rooms last night,, when a . motion; in', fav.our .of international pwico'was"-ckrried; The- chair was occupied by Mr. J. L. Vaughan. v ' An"',apology for' unavoidable absence was '.received from Mr. J. G. W. Aitken, who was : to have presided.., - Th 6 explained .the, objects, of the meetipg.' : : They. ; hosaiclj deplored tho' effects of the', present' system, an,d'.'all desired ;a bettor, state'of alfiiirs... He was'certain that rofonri would take place;'but it would come gradually, not - suddenly, and, therefore, the seeds ot. chanjio ...must; bo , sown.. ■ . The effort to do away with war would eventually ;bo crowned uitii success. An encouraging ifeaturo was that Labour supported the aims 'of the meeting. i. . ' : lliss S. J. Lury was tho first speaker. Sho quoted tho'casoofPciinslyvania, which, when governed by;.a.'man of peace,, was pot.disturbed' by ftlie civil: wars like its 'neighbours whilo this 'policy' was' maintained. : The Rev. J. Dawson said ho had no, sympathy with war, and'he wished that tho last battlo had bum 'fought..; Ho., desired earnestly a condition of peace between nations, but in tho present state of national, antipathy and greed ho thought armament might lead to the iprevention' of' war • rather 'than 'the reverse. Tho aims ' of pcaco would bo served by due preparation for , v.'ar until the nations of the world saw. things differently. ; When he had seen the. great good that had been done by arbitration in labour and commercial, conditions ho thought thero was.no reason why tho principle should not bo extended. He. referred South African war, and denounced the "greed of a few" that.caused it. He sincerely hoped ; such • a . war would never recur. : The Rev. J. J. North said that universal peace was a dream, but:ho-hoped it would'be realised.- Ho did not see the wisdom of two nations pummelling at one another for some--tiling 'that should, bo.dceided by. an appeal to reason, and not by gunpowder or the length of ono nation's purse! Still, ,ho . thought some wars, were justifiable,, and he had Jailed to' find; anything, that; would stop Napoleon except strong battalions. War 111 defenoe, in his opinion, Was'also, justifiable.; He,took it' that a man could not conceive an invasion by an alien horde without a thrill of horror, and war, : had to be "resorted -to. On . tho other hand, the vast majority of wars ought not to have been fought. England would be paying for generations for wars that were huge, mistakes, and for which thoro was no excuse. ' / ■ - i... .Mr.'AlGoldsbury then moved:— That we view with grave concern tho outburst of what wo deem an unreasoning • warlike spirit in our midst. We cannot fail to sympathise in the affectionate , ;goodwill,'which : promi>t« the, Australian ' States to rally round the Motherland in ' ' a time of imagined danger, yet we cannot './.but regard the present, cause of,.its ex- :, hibition : with 'serious misgivings;' sinco.it" .evinces unworthy distrust of another na- ,- tion, to which, by ties of. blood, of revligion, and of common interest, and of traditional friendship, wo are closely allied. v Mr. J. Rigg and Mr. J. Holdsworth said they could not soo how Christ could intend a weapon to bq raised against a brother even in self-defence. Dr. Hodgkin deeply sympathised with the British Ministry at the present timo. He thought it an agony to them to have to. propose such heavy armaments for such a mad race of power. Sir. North said that Mr.'Rigg was a business man in this city, and ho knew that if lie carried out a Scriptural injunction not to turn' away from those who wished to borrow he would soon have empty-pockets. Mr. J. Teekover supported the motion. He objected strongly to the acition'arising from "silly scares." Tho motion was carried unanimously.-