Address by Sir Robert Stout.

At an Empire Dav service held in the Unitarian Free Church last night an address, entitled "A Vision of the Future," was delivered by Sir Robert Stout (Chief Justice). Sir Robert said:—

"One of the oldest and most interesting of books of Hebrew literature is the book or the prophet Joel. He graphically details a great plague of locusts that afflicted his country, and he utilises it for the moral and religious instruction of his people. In stating what is to happen when the people direct their minds from their terrible trouble he says: I will follow Ewald's translation, 'Your old men will dream dreams, and your youths see visions." Is this to happen to us after our war troubles cease? It has been said without visions the people perish. On every occasion our old men should dream dreams and our youths see visions. What does the Phrase mean but keeping the ideal ever before us? Emerson says 'Hitch your wagon to a star.' Keep your ideals high. Let your outlook be vast and your views broad as the universe.

"We are surrounded by mysteries. Our lives are however, cast in pleasant places, wherever we dwell. We are [unclear: girt] round with the good, the beautiful and the true. What beautiful surroundings we have. The earth teems with beautiful obiects; there is ever the changing page 4 sea, the glorious sky with its orbs of light, the sun, the moon, the stars in all their loveliness. No one who has seen some star clusters through a telescope has ever seen anything more beautiful or glorious. To see Saturn hanging in its ring, what more beautiful? Then the trees, the flowers, the animals. All are, if we only have eyes to see, most beautiful Nevertheless all we can see on earth and sea and sky pale before the dreams and visions we may have. The poet sees often a light that never was seen on sea or land. And if we have the poet's imagination we may create a city ot beauty for exceeding the Golden City pictured in the book called the Revelation of St. John.

The Brotherhood of Man.

"What are some of our dreams and visions? There is one that has captivated the great men of the earth. It is the brotherhood of man. Kindness everywhere peace reigning war unknown, all struggling and working for all, and to tribe vexing another, and no man looking with unkindly eye on his neighbour. What a glorious vision! Is it any wonder that prophets nave foretold and poets pictured this gllorious vision? Do we realise its beauty or its grlory? I read the other day in a Wellington paper the report of a meeting called by the Church of England Men's Society to discuss: The present crisis and Christ's message of peace.' I wished to see what dreams or visions our fellow-citizens of the Anglican persuasion had, and this is what I read in the words of the only bishon or overseer who seems to have spoken: 'Bishop Sadlier proceeded to urge that the Church must become closer and more compact. It must be a body of spiritual mind. We shall never be strong as a church until we are smaller in number. The census figures alleged that a great mass of people belonged to the Church of England. The majority of those people appeared in page 5 actual fact to belong to no church until they were dead, when their relatives asked that a church burial service should be read over them. The Church of England was not benefited or helped by mere census members. He would like to see a clear cut line between the Church aud non-Christians. He would like to see the Church made a compact organised body containing only real members. When that was realised the Church could establish its own schools for its own children.' This does Lot look much like a vision of brotherhood. The goats and the sheep are to be divided and church schools are to be the mainstay of the vision.

"What church schools have meant to England I will call upon a former English president of the Board of Education—the Hon. Mr Pease—to state. I believe he is an orthorox Christian, He said: 'The defects of our so-called national system of education are in the main two. The first is that it is not national: the second is that it is not a system. On the one side we find our educational activities hampered by considerations some of them sectarian and some of them social—difficulties with denominations and difficulties of class feeling which have or have nothing to do with education at all. On the other side we find, at point after point, gaps and deficiencies which prevent us getting the full value of the education which does exist: there is in fact a back of co-ordination and of completenets in our educational system which I am convinced must be taken in hand if we are to avoid stagnation and reaction, and if we are to meet on fair terms our better educated foreign competitors,' It is surely very peculiar that the denominational system which has failed in England is to be introduced here. Will sectarian schools train our children to love one another? As to the value of theo-logical instruction in our primary schools we know what has happened in Ger- page 6 many The Government of Germany insisted on theological instruction being given to German boys and girls compul-sorily up to. I think, six hours a week, and the records of this war do not show the progress of love and brotherhood amongst the German people nor do they indicate that honesty or honour is revered. Further we may take the opinion of Hugh Miller as to the effect of theological education in Scottish Parochial Schools, He said;—"Though I now hear a good deal said, chiefly with a controversial bearing, about the excellent religious influence of our parochial seminaries. I never knew any one who owed other than the merest smattering of theological knowledge to these institutions, and not a single individual who had ever derived from them any tincture, even the slightest of religious feeling."

"It is not in the past the men who have wanted watertight compartments in our social life, a clear-cut line between a church party and a non-church party, that have won the lovo and admiration of the best of our race. Let me take two names, one a native of Palestine and one of India. Jesus Christ took his meals with publicans and sinners. He did not desire a clear-cut line between his apostles; and those who were not his followers. The High Priests of those days were shocked at his conduct, just as much shocked as Bishop Sadlier is at Church of England men fraternising with men not under the rule of his Church. There was, Buddha, who was careless of caste and who associated with all kinds and classes of his fellow people of India. Both of these great men went about preaching love and kindness, and they are revered to-day throughout the word. Mahomet, it is true, wished to have nothing Jo do with infidels—is his religion to be the dominant religion of the world?

"No your vision of things that are to be must be of a brotherhood of men, when all creeds and no creeds have equality in the eye of the law, and when page 7 no one separates from his neighbour and joins a close corporation or trade union because he does not see eye to eye in the mysteries of life. Let me quote the view of a French philosopher, a follower of Auguste Comte, M. Buisson, as to what freedom means. He said in 1902—(I translate it into English)—"Free thought is not a school, a church, a sect or a chapel. Free thought is open to all, it is open to all opinions, it is open to all countries, it is open to faith and to disbelief. If it had a lav pope he would be the most odious of all popes if that were possible. In the name of free thought let us demand that no opinion is suspected or privileged, that one can be an athiest without being treated as a scoundrel, and be a believer in God without being treated as a fool." That is the attitude of the man who has a vision of the brotherhood of men.

The L.W.W. and Brotherhood.

"The coming of the brotherhood will bring about not only peace between different faiths religious and non-religious; it will give us peace in our social life. We will realise that no man can live for himself alone, but that he must so live and so act as to raise the ideals of life and so promote brotherhood. How is this vision to be accomplished? Can we help to bring about its realisation? The first step is that we should strive to have brotherhood among ourselves before we seek to promote brotherhood throughout the world. 'Civilise the heathen at home' was a message once delivered at a meeting to promote foreign missions, and it is very useful for us not to forget the duties we have to those who live near us. We must therefore raise the banner of brotherhood amongst ourselves. We have no doubt observed that some people who wish international understandings, who proclaim themselves desirous of peace, do not show many signs of brotherhood. For example, we have been told that in Australia there is an association. Called page 8 the I.W.W. This association is violently opposed to war. It denounces conscription, and it has not aided in voluntry enlistment. And yet it seeks to enforce its will on the people of Australia by force, by what is in fact civil war, sabotage, threats to assassinate, even in some cases by grave assaults. This conduct makes neither for peace nor for brotherhood. Even amongst ourselves have we not seen a few of our fellow-citizens who proclaim themselves lovers of peace resorting to strikes and to threats of civil war, to force their employers to give them the terms they ask. It may be that in some countries strikes are the only weapon that labourers have to force employers to give them their due. That is not our position. We have a judicial tribunal to determine labour disputes, and no honest man who is a lover of peace, and who proclaims himself an auti-conscription-ist and a conscientious objector to defend his country by fighting, can resort to strikes or other means that organised labour has sometimes adopted when there is a tribunal to settle disputes between employer and employed. If we love peace, if we are in favour of the brotherhood of men,. let us live in peace, and love as brothers our fellow-citizens. It is not honest to say we are for peace and brotherhood and to engnge in un-brotherly contests.

Class Feeling.

"We must do what we can to destroy class feeling. Unfortunately class feelings are found in all communities: in countries under despotic government, and also in countries under democratic rule. As the form of government, or the men composing the rulers of the Governments, change, so is one or other class-rule witnessed. We know what happened in the French Revolution, and we know a little of what is happening in Russia, Those in power often have no regard to the rights or freedom of those opposed to them. Such conduct page 9 indefinitely postpones the coming of brotherhood. In the conflict of Labour and Capital there is great need of lovo and brotherhood. I shall not attempt to apportion the blames. In my opinion both capitalists and Labourists are to blame. I believe that as yet the one way to end this much to be regretted conflict is to have the disputes between the two settled by judicial tribunals. We have attempted to do so, and it is much to be deplored that we have not as yet succeeded. But if we cun promote a growth of love and brotherhood, then the success of our Labour tribunals will be assured. No other possible fair remedy has been proposed. Another duty that lies on us is to be righteous and truthful. What will be the use of peace or brotherhood if honesty is not found in our midst and if no one can rely on our word or on our agreements or contracts? People who treat agreements as mere scraps of Paper, or who condemn agreements to Hades have not mastered the first duty of social life. They are barbarians and are not fit for human brotherhood, If a man agrees to work for another and does not do his work as well as he can, or if an employer thinks and acts as if only his own interest was involved, then the one who so acts has not realised what brotherhood means.

Self-Sacrifice Wanted.

"The next step in trying to get the vision of peace and brotherhood realised is to show self-sacrifice for our fellows and to engage in the service of men. We may do this in many ways. Let me give one or two examples. We know-that the supply of food in our Mother Country is short and that it may be short here. Commonsense and justice not to mention love and brotherhood require that there shall be no waste of food. Do we all husband our food products? We know that in order to obtain alcohol much food has to be wasted; barley, rice, sugar and other page 10 foods are used in its manufacture. The waste of food and labour is very great In this Dominion alone between three and four millions of pounds is spent in one year on alcohol. What would not that money do to help the poor and the sick? What would it not accomplish in making our social life more joyous and on a higher plane And if we remember that this is not only mere waste but that the use of alcohol degrades man-kind, that hundreds of our people are every year injured by its use and that its victims are found in our gaols, in our hospitals, both mental and general, and in our benevolent asylums, can we in permitting this waste to continue be said to be inspired with brotherhood? We cannot at times walk through our streets without seeing many of our valiant soldiers under the influence of drink. It is true that, by prohibiting 'shouting' this evil has been lessened, but it is not yet ended. Owen Seaman has written some verses that should appeal to us on this point:

He came obedient to the call;
He might have shirked like half his mates
Who, while their comrades fight and fall,
Still go to swell the football gates.

And you a natriot in your prime.
You waved a flag above his head.
And hoped he'd have a high old time.
And slapped him on the back and said;

"You'll show em what we British are!
Give us your hand, old pal to shake":
And took him round from bar to bar.
And made him drunk—for England's sake.

That's how you helped him, Yesterday.
Clear-eyed and earnest, keen and hard.
He held himself the soldier's way—
And now they've got him under guard.

page 11

That doesn't hurt you; you're all right:
Your easy conscience takes no blame:
But he, poor boy, with morning's light,
He eats his heart out, sick with shame.

What's that to von? You understand
Nothing of-all his bitter pain :
You have no regiment to brand:
You have no uniform to stain;

No vow of service to abuse.
No pledge to King and country due;
But he had something dear to lose,
And he has lost it—thanks to you.

If we have a vision of the brotherhood of man let us begin to make a brotherhood in New Zealand possible, and if we are influenced and inspired by love of our country and its people alcohol must go.

"We must not confine our outlook to ourselves, We must think of humanity. How can we hope to see peace in the world? If we can show a community in which peace dwells, where all our disputes are settled by judicial tribunals, where revolt or warfare of any kind is unknown, that will be of advantage to the world. It would prove the possibility of peace. But we must go further. We must show kindness to those not of our own family, of our own hapu or tribe or nation. Love cannot be confined to even race or nationality. We have in the past helped those we were in distress though they were not of our nationality. We sent gifts to the Italians when many were sorely injured through earthquakes, and we have aided Chinese when floods devastated part of their country. And have not some of your sons and daughters gone forth to civilise the world? We remember the touching story told in Palestine nearly 2000 years ago, how a certain man who started on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among thieves, how the heretical and unpopular Samaritan bound up his wounds and acted towards him as a page 12 brother when the priest and the Levite passed on the other side and gave him no assistance, and we know what one Jesus christ thought of the one who acted the part of the brother. We have often remembered his injunction, 'Go thou and do likewise." We have helped the ruthlessly treated Belgians, the Serbians, the Roumanians and the Poles. But some of our people stop at such nelp. An American in a very interesting speech I lately read has asked whether it is not our first duty to rid the road from Jerusalem to Jericho of the thieves. Now that is the international problem that faces us in dealing with the brotherhood of man : Have we a duty to make the road between Jerusalem and Jericho safe? How can that be brought about? That goes to the root of the question, and so many people calling themselves pacifists decline to face it.

A League for Peace.

"Well, it has been faced and the only adequate and seemingly possible solution is to unite the nations in a league to enforce peace. Just as behind our peacable, judicial tribunals there stand the policeman, and if necessary the military to enforce peace, there must stand armed force at first to enforce the League of Peace, The time may come when the calling in of armed force will be as rare as the calling in of armed force to carry out the decrees of our local tribunals. The proposals are as follows:—First: All justiciable Questions arising between the signatory powers, not settled by negotiation shall, subject to the limitations of treaties, be submitted to a judicial tribunal for hearing and judgment, both upon the merits and upon any issue as to its jurisdiction of the question, second : All other questions arising between the signatories and not settled by negotiation, shall be submitted to a council of conciliation for hearing, consideration and recommendation. Third : The page 13 signatory powers shall jointly use forth with both their economic and military forces against any one of their number that goes to war, or commits acts of hostility against another of the signatories before any question arising shall be submitted as provided in the foregoing. The following interpretation of Article Three has been authorised by the Executive Committee : The signatory powers shall jointly use, forth with, their economic forces against any of their number that refuses to submit any question which arises to an international judicial tribunal or council of conciliation before issuing an ultimatum or threatening war. They shall follow this by the joint use of their military forces against that nation if it actually proceeds to make war or invades another's territory, Fourth : Conferences between the signatory powers shall be held from time to time to formulate and codify rules of international law, which, unless some signatory shall signify its dissent within a stated period, shall thereafter govern in the decision of the Judicial Tribunal mentioned in Article One.

Here then is a move forward towards peace, and just as armed men in the past have been necessary to uphold freedom and righteousness, which could never have been upheld by men who talk peace and do nothing to enforce it, so this League of Nations may be able to bring nearer to us that vision of brotherhood and peace for which the world has longed and has waited. That it is necessary to have some sanction such as armed force behind any league, or treaty, or agreement between nations so that peace may be maintained is now recognised by statesmen and political philosophers all over the world. We have as I have pointed out the policeman or military behind our courts that maintain the peace in nations and civilised communities. In a speech made some time ago. M. Briand, the eminent French Socialist and Statesman, has pointed out how peace may, nay must page 14 come. He said;—"Peace will come out of the victories of the Allies. It can only come out of our victories, peace must not be an empty formula: it must be based upon international rights guaranteed by 'sanctions' against which no nation can take a stand. Such peace will shed a radiance upon humanity; it will bring security for those who work, and will be evolved according to their own genius: our hands will never again be stained with blood. It is this ideal which makes the grandeur of our task. It is in the name of this ideal that our soldiers fight, and give themselves so valiantly to death; it is in the name of this ideal that mothers, wives, daughters, sisters—mourning—force back their tears knowing that a sacrifice of a son or husband, father, or brother, will not have been in vain for the country and for humanity. This is the only peace towards which we must work. It is by this peace that our nation will grow in nobility and beauty,"

True Brotherhood.

"If we do, then we will be inspired to go forward scattering seeds of knowledge, and seeds of kindness by the way, and working all we can in the service of man to hasten the day when, as Thomas Paine pictured, we should see countries in the world of which it could be said: 'My poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive: the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness.' When that day arrives true Brotherhood will be seen in operation; for Love will have conquered Hate, and Kindness will huve banished Force. The vision will have been realised. The millennium has come for 'all men's good.' has become 'each man's rule, and Universal Peace

"Lies like a shaft of light across the land,
"And like a lane of beams athwart the sea."