MR. LIONEL CURTIS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2847, 11 August 1916, Page 3

MR. LIONEL CURTIS

entertained at pioneer clou,

in its existence of some six or seven i'ears tutj moneyr Uuu has 'euicu-aiu-(Su 1 soma noted and interesting visitors to New Zealand, anu ,) tpL uiiouior has to be added to its iisu since last evening lUr. Lionel Curtis, ono oi in'o founders oi tuo "itouua I'aDie," was its guest. Tnere was a largo attendance or memoert, and sincu uioy were at liberty u> nruig their nusuamis with them, oi'OlUci's, etc., scie.at aoiii.ii.meu fi'ere accordingly present. . Airs." A.' it. Atkinson, me club president,, .welcomed iui'. ouius in an interesting iiouo speech, and said liutt very glad inoy an were xo meet one ,\vuo nau been working so keenly. ana *o untiringly lor wm unuiciuiuh oi tne Jiihipu'e. 'io bring aoouo'sucn an end as mat, those inm planned lor it aim worKed for it looKtd not, to tho ponucian lor guidance and help, but .to the thiiiKing man and woman oi ordinary everyday life. In his speech to t-n'eui. tnat evening Mr. Uurtis would on ,what lineii ne tnougnt tu.b jjiuai/ uiiihcation. could be urougnt aoout. ..

in tiio courso of a most interesting auuress, oi which' necessarily omy a * brier bo given, Mr. uu'tia delved uacß.iiiio history, and traced ■ tne gradual development of tho tribal system niio mo coiumonwealcii : or today. In tlie Old Testament the tribal •. tybwrn was tneio exoarly ueliiiea. ouico mau'iras liaturuiiy-.a moral being lie loftked for guidance outside himself, xiwi.so.wo-touiia.imu investing a cnotsen man with x/ivmo authority—he., was the mouthpiece of God, aud as such ■ gradually uecame absolute in his auiiionty overs the ]>eople. In this respect the Gcrmanic'bolief dilfcred very -. lictjo from tho Asiatic creed. " Such a ij? r '} ln ' lon however, was static. , ihflre w'as no growth, no progress, and ■ 80 COI ? ,ID g to the time or tho great . Athenians, it .was found that men were beginning to look within themselves and to nnd their own authority and powers there. The growth of the State, tho recognition of the citizen that the fatato camo first and foremost, c nd that his powers as a citizen wero to be used intelligently for the 1 ; good of-that . btate, was next 'traced.-,, The Greek •' commonwealth that; was built up, how- - over, 'was too, slight a thing, was not ; Unit upon a strong enough or an equit- :' able enough foundation. It vanished, - and a thousand years or eo later we had upon the sceno tno great common- . ealtli of. Britain, which is now at the tm-mug-.pomt eitiier'of rising to tho greatest opportunity that the world , has offered, or of again making a mess of. tilings,." as she-has done with Ireland;; and as she has done with America. -Mr. Curtis outlined the causes that led to the' American revo- • lution, and the unification of the thir- ■ teen States of America-into the United States, and of the formation of the ■ Dominion of Canada. Reasons had been-advariced against the provincial government possessed by each State in America, but he argued that were there to be only one Government and ! no pro-'' vincial Governments at all, the one Legislature would never' be able to cope with the work that lay,before it., That was what was happening at Home. No one Cabinet and Parliament could cope - what the English Government had_ to do, what with its Home and its foreign affairs. He believed provincial governments had their special work to do. ' ■/ . The whole world, 3 n'., Curtis thought!

would becomo olid great commonwealth, its laws amenable to the intelligent wish of its people. Wo woro now at the parting of tho ways, and what he hoped «nd earnestly suggested was that groups of ' people should get together and study .for themselves tho problems that lay boforo us, and what they believed .was tho courso to take, and why' they thought it that. He was not one of those who belioved that we had reached the highest point of development in to tho existing .States into which "lie world was at present divided; wo had still further to go, and to his mind this great worldcommonwealth' was the goal.

At the closo of his address Mr. Curtis was asked questions, and a hearty vote of tliauks was passed to him.

During the evening some musical items wero given, and later supper was sorved in tho adjoining room. Among those who Were present, in addition to Mrs. Atkinson and the committee, were Lady Stout, Mr. Justice' Chapman' and Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Hanan, Mr. and Mrs. Atkins, Mr. and Mrs. U. 11. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. S. Harciourt, Mr. and Mrs. L. Tripp, Mr. and Mrs. Darling, Miss H. Maclean, Mr. and Sirs. J. Myers, Professor Sommerville, Mrs. Salmond, Mrs. Ranking Brown, Mrs. A. Gray, Misa Phoebe Myers, Miss Helydr, the Misses Field (2), and many others.