The Club has pursued a somewhat chequered career since its last notes appeared, but as these words are written discussion still proceeds actively. For a month or more last term it was absolutely impossible to get any speaker to start any sort of argument whatsoever, a regrettable absence of dissension which nearly reduced a harassed secretary to tears. This term, however, a fresh batch of world—problems have presented themselves for solution and are being solved accordingly.

On July 9th, Mr. Steele laid down the fundamentals of the Colour Question, which he dealt with mainly from an enlightened Christian standpoint, as embodied in a recent book of J. H. Oldham's, as opposed to the Western dogmatism of McDougall and Lothrop Stoddart. Emigration, said Mr. Steele, was no way to deal with over-population, and instanced the problems arising therefrom in Africa, particularly Kenya, Again, there was no superiority or inferiority of "race" involved—the page 56 crux of the question were the differences of "strains" in the races of the world. The issue was not an economic one, statements that it was were merely bluff, specious excuses put forward by ignorant prejudice. The future, declared Mr. Steele, lay in the elevated potentialities of Christian missions, whose work he instanced in India, China and America. Most of the following speakers were somewhat sceptical as to the ultimate value of Christian missions, or indeed as to any solution of the problem being possible at all. The differences of social systems were made much of, together with the innate barriers between races, and the extreme improbability of the New Zealand Government benevolently throwing open God's Own Country to the unobstructed immigration of the heathen. On the other side was brought forward the argument of the peaceful settling together of Maori and Pakeha and their mutual amicability.

On September 10 Mr. Takayuki Namae, an extremely benevolent professor from Tokio, gave an address on the Social and Religious outlook for Japan. He was not, he explained, an ordinary professor, burdened with a profundity of odd knowledge, and bursting with the desire to impart it to unwilling victims, but a Government social worker whose labours took him all over the country (and incidentally the world) lecturing to the people and gathering hints wherewith to make Japan great. He gave a lucid outline of the problems confronting Japan—growing over-population, a low standard of life, smallness of earnings and dearness of food. Agrarian strife (over 50% of the people being farmers, but only 14% of the land being level), the influx of the new post-war ideas from Europe, education, the very satisfactory relations between parents and children (relieving the Government entirely of the onerous obligations of old-age pensions and homes for the aged needy, and hence, one assumes, for a large part of the benevolent work of a Social Service Club), the possibility of growing poverty for the country as a whole, and its present religious state—a revival of Buddhism, together with a very small and somewhat somnolent Christianity. A glowing tribute was also paid to the friendliness of New Zealand in general and of Professor Hunter in particular, which was very satisfactory to all concerned. Several questions were asked, mainly on the religious and moral development of the country, and as to how it had been affected by the Christian faith. Christianity, said Mr. Namae, had possibly affected mortality advantageously to some extent, and he called himself a Christian. It was, however, extremely hard for educated young men and women to believe in the Trinity, and he. himself, had lost his faith in that singular projection of the religious consciousness.

On September 17th Mr. E. H. Dowsett outlined the fundamentals of the Quaker faith, or rather, as he remarked, the way of life of the Society of Friends. The Quakers really formed a creedless Church,, and, he showed, by illuminating quotations from various authoritative writers, were not exclusively devoted to the production of breakfast foods and conscientious objectors. Their central conviction was a refusal to accept a State Ecclesiastical authority and a preference for a way of life founded on a mythical reliance on an Inner Light. Resulting from this at the present day were various practical experiments in an enlightened sociality, which might be summed up in the phrase "Following conscience in a social way." In spite of this, in Mr. Dowsett's opinion, Quakerism, as a distinct sect, was to-day a dying force, as its practical spirit more and more suffused the other Christian bodies. It was not in essence Evangelical.

A long and interesting discussion followed. Mr. C. G. R. James wanted to know exactly what was meant by the Inner Light, about which there seemed to him to be a lot of mere talk and ambiguity. Mr. Fortune re-marked that there seemed to be some very fine things in Quakerism, and especially in its refusal to have the Bible written by anyone so reputable as the Creator. With regard to mysticism, it seemed extremely unlikely that anyone should have a direct acquaintance with God; and, frankly, he didn't believe it. It was on a par with Conan Doyle's fairies, in whom, on a first reading of that author's arguments, Mr. Fortune was staggered for half an hour into believing (truly a staggering admission!) Mr. For-tune concluded with an account of McDougall's theory of the conscience, a serious statement that he never thought about religion, and a remark that the things peculiar to Quakerism were very peculiar indeed. Both Mr. Campbell and Dr. Sutherland wished to know how far the doctrine of non-resistance went in practice, and how far in this respect the New Testament was to be taken literally and accorded with the Inner Light; in answer to which Mr. Dowsett repeated his answer to Military Service Boards dur page 57 ing the war—that it was impossible to answer hypothetical questions; but, that some answer could be given from past individual instances of the history, e.g., of Pennsylvania—positive goodwill was the surest defence. Mr. Steele defended the memory of Calvin from aspersions cast upon it by unbelievers; Mr. Wilson remarked on the similarity between some of the ideas of Quakerism and Mr. Wells' Invisible King, and the need for some such faith at the present time; while the rest of the argument devolved into a wrangle between several controversialists on the really fundamental nature of evolution.

The last discussion of the year, on the Outlook for Religion, as seen by the penetrating eye of Dr. Sutherland, will have been held by the time this "Spike" appears.

One of the most important steps the Club has taken was the decision by the Committee (subsequently approved by the Club at large) to send a letter to the Royal Commission on University Education, pointing out the need for freedom of thought and speech in the University, This document we append, together with the answer received, in the confident hope that it will stand out in the history of the world, together with Magna Charta, the Communist manifesto, and the Constitution of the U.S.S.R., as one of the chief milestones in the moral progress of mankind. Gazing with the eye of faith, we certainly see its effect in more than one place in the excellent report of the Commission.

Victoria University College,

30th July, 1925.