PACIFISTS IN MINORITY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 36, 26 February 1937, Page 6

PACIFISTS IN MINORITY

Preas Associatiou.l

Methodist Church Attitude to War - | C0NSCRIPTI0N OPPOSED

TeleKranh—

AUCKLAND,' Last Night. Wide divergence of opinion on defence and other .aspects of war and peace was reflecled in discussions at the session of the New Zealand Methodist conference yesterday. In tbe ultimate issue, which arose out of a report by the public questions committee, the views . of what was described as an extreme Christian Pacifist section were revealed as being helfl bya minority only. The conferenco adopted, with a few dissentients, a proposal by the committee requesting the Government to repeal immediately the compulsory elauses of tbe Defence Act. but declined to pass a motion proposed by a lay member condemning participation in war under any circumstances. An amendment upholding the use of force if necessary for the preservation of peace was carried by 109 votes to 47. Motions submitted by the public questions committee were adopted stafcing that the conferenoe, having ali'eady emphatically declared that war is meompatible with the spirit of religion and inconsistent with the teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ, feels that a way mu3t be found to bring under an impartial survey the economic grievanees and other inequalities out of which anxieties and fears of the nations grow and to aceount in a large measure for the fearful race in arxnaments.' • The conference urged that the League of Nations, acting in conjuuction with those States not included in its membership, should convene at the earliest practicable ' date a world conference on thes6 subjects open to all States. The conference expressed its grave concern at the universal movement towards rearmament, believing that such rearmament is provocative ot war. - :