SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETYCONWAY HALL, RED LION SQUARE, LONDON, W.C.I.

THE

MONTHLY RECORDJUNE, 1939

SUNDAY MORNINGS AT ELEVEN

May 28.—NoMeeting.

June 4.—W. B. CURRY, M.A., B.Sc.—Economic Aspects of the Refugee Problem.

Sonata in C for Viola and Pianoforte .. HandelAllegro -Adagio--- Allegro --Adagio

MISS REBECCA CLARKE AND MR. WILLIAM BUSCHHymns: No. 42 and 28 second tune

June 11.—S, K. RATCLIFFE—America and the World Crisis.Bass Solo : The Wanderer

MR. G. C. DOWMAN

Soprano Solo: Song of the Open HillsMISS IIEBE SIMPSON

Hymns: No. 41 and 81

-Shubert

La Forge

June 18.,--Dr. C. E. M. JOAD, M.A.—Plato comments on Communism and Fascism.

Bass Solo: Silent Noon .. Vaughan WilliamsMR. Ct. C. DO —WMAN

Soprano Solo: Rose Softly Blooming .. SpohrMISS HERE'SIMPSON

Hymns: No. 65 and 5

June 25.--MORITZ J. BONN. D.Sc.—Space for Living (Lebensraum).

Pianoforte Solos: (a) Romance in F sharp Schumann(b) Prelude in D flat .. Chopin

MR WILLIAM BUSCH

Hymns: No. 45 and 208

Society's Pianist: MR. WILLIAM BUSCH

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NATIONALISM, ECONOMIC AND POLITICALSPECIAL ARTICLE BY JOHN A. HOBSON, M.A.

After twenty years' experience it is evident that the League of Nationsis unable to fulfil its chief function: the establishment of world peace andsecurity. This failure is sometimes imputed •o the refusal of the UnitedStates to enter a League the existence of which was the contribution ofPresident Wilson to the Versailles Treaty, sometimes to the mistaken viewthat the League's members would be numerous and strong enough to counterby their voluntary action any future danger of aggressive outsiders. Nowthat the League contains only three of the great Powers, while several of thesmaller Powers have dropped out, it seems mere folly to look to the Leagueas a protection against the wars and menaces of war openly proclaimedby the aggressive States.

This is the virtual assumption underlying the present endeavour tocreate a defensive alliance of European States strong enough and reliableenough to deter further aggression of the totalitarian Powers. This allianceis in effect a substitute for thc League in that it commits its members toforcible co-operation without delay where any member is the subject ofaggression. Whereas the League left it to the sovereignty of each memberto decide for itself what action, if any, it should take against an admittedaggressor, the new alliance would commit each member to immediate forcibleaction. Though it seems to many that the world is reverting to rivalalliances for the balance of power, the real effort is to base pacific actionupon a non-sovereignty basis. So long as internationalism acknowledges thesovereignty of each nation, the peace and security of so-called international-ism are impossible. In other words, the post-war period has made it moreand more evident that the nationalism which feeds on the sentiment ofsovereignty is the enemy of world order and progress. This nationalismwhich has for many generations been the accepted principle of State policyhas been lifted on to a perilous height by the aftermath of events and passionswhich proceeded from the Great War and its Bad Peace. A psychologicalanalysis of this nationalism shows that it is an amalgam of the class-gainsfrom imperial exploitation, tariffs and other trade preferences, the power,place and prestige of politicians who represent the nation at home andabroad, and, finally, the collective egoism of races, character and colourwhich divides nations into superiors and inferiors. Curiously enough,royalty, though still a potent source of national sentiment in the few coun-tries where it survives, does not count much in the foreign policy wherenationalism figures as the strongest and most dangerous force.

The new peril of nationalism is chiefly due to the rapid developmentof scientific processes of production in industry, agriculture and transportwhich have enlarged the output of wealth without any correspondingenlargement of home consumption or foreign trade. Considering that themasses of the people in every country fail to raise their standard of con-sumption so as to keep pace with the actual or potential increase of output,it is evident that mal-distribution, as between classes in each nation and asbetween nations in the economic world, is the root cause of the perils ofeconomic nationalism. Thus the tarilT and other obstructions to the freeflow of trade, etc.. the finaneial troubles connected therewith, carry politicalsentiments of isolationism on the one hand, hostile imperialism on theother. Though the wastes and perils of this economic nationalism thusconflict with the growing unity of personal and cultural intercourse thatcomes with closer and wider communications, material and moral, thelarger crisis to which the world peace is subjected cannot be abolishedexcept by a formal internationalism which removes full sovereignty from

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each State and vests it in a union of Stales constituting a world government.In his remarkable book Union Now, written by the American journalistMr. Streit, it is proposed that the democracies, Great Britain, the Dominions,the United states, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland, the Scandinaviancountries and Finland, shall form not a league or alliance, but a federalunion with central powers of defence, finance, communications and othercommon services, leaving to the several members a national independencewhich shall preserve all the closer local bonds which rightly constituteNationalism. The advantages of such an international democracy are mani-fest. The question is how far they are attainable in a world where the seedsof dissension and potential war are so xtrongly sown. The critics andopponents of such an union may dismiss It as wholly impracticable or maypropose the reform of the League of Nations along lines which will limit thesovereignty of its members by giving reality to Ucague sanctions and suchsecurity, military, economic and financial, as will convert the League intoa democratic union strong enough to check aggression on the part oftotalitarian States. The difficulties attending a successful transformation ofthe League along these lines arc manifest, buLthey are less than they wouldhave been twenty years ago, for recent experience has madc some form ofUnion a necessity if civilisation is to survive. The question is what is thebest form of democratic union now attainable.

. SUMMARIES OF SUNDAY MORNING LECTURESDR. MARIE JAHODA on " AUSTRIA, 1918-1938."

April 16, 1939

Readings: (1) A few articles from the Treaty of Versailles and President Wilson's address to the Peace Conference in 1919.

(2) The post War description of the effect of the peace treaty onAustria in particular. Hampden Jackson.

In 1918 all Austrians fervently wished for union with Germany, but thiswas forbidden by the Allies, who created a small republic which, on accountof its economic structure, was doomed from the first. More than two mil-lion of its six-and-a-half million inhabitants lived in Vienna and the peoplethemselves did not realise for a time the difficulties of their economic future.About half the Austrian§ were engaged in industry, and half in farming andcatering for tourists. Farming was always difficult on account of themountainous nature of the country. From being the capital of an Empire,a centre for the training of administrators, Vienna became the only largetown in a small country, but it did not change. All these highly-trainedindividuals had no hope of being used for their proper purpose; they hadeither to stay in Vienna and be unemployed or try to get away, which wasdifficult. A gulf appeared between the town and the rest of the country,which had no share in and was resentful of the social experiments whichwere being carried on in Vienna, which in turn was so occupied, with theexperiments that she neglected the rest of the country until it was too late.

There were two political parties, the socialist workers and the conser-vative peasants, of about equal strength. The socialists undertook the res-ponsibility of relieving the starving people in 1918. They were in favourof an independent nation. By a bloodless revolution they achieved the idealsput forward by the middle-class revolutionaries of the nineteenth century,and their self-confidence was caused by their pride that they, the workingclasses, had won thc victory and made Austria. They thought they hadreformed the whole system of social life in the country. They introducedthe eight-hour working day, the secret ballot, laws for the protection of

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women and children in industry, etc. It took them a long time to realisethat they were not decisive in the country. The economic situation worsened

until eventually Austrian and then German currency crashed and shook theeconomic structure of Europe. Thosc who lived on savings lost practicallyall, Government employees and others could not depend on the purchasing

power of their salaries, which altered first from month to month and thenfrom day to day. Finally the workers in some factories were paid dailyto keep pace with the decreasing value of Austrian marks. The Allies had

pity, took away childrco and sent parcels of food. The League of Nations

sent a Commissioner and, with the help of foreign loans, the currencywas re-established.

In 1920 the Austrian socialists felt that they could not continue withthe other parties, so they left the government of the rest of the country in

the hands of Monsignore Seipel, a Roman Catholic priest, who was respon-

sible for a good deal of Austria's future development. Help had to be

obtained. Austria was surrounded hy the young States released from the

Austro-Hungarian monarchy and by Germany and Italy. She was for-

bidden to unite with Germany, so the only possible help came from Italy,which expected in the beginning to have a strategic position against Ger-

many, but this became one for Germany. Between 1920 and 1927 a

system of taxes was introduced in Vienna to guarantee the development ofsocial services and a better distribution of the available goods. Houses built

by the municipality became world famous. The gap between town andcountry deepened. The Heimwehr, built on the Italian Fascist model, was

created to please Mussolini. They tried to end the social experiments inVienna by removing the workers' advantages and restoring the privilegesof thc big industrialists. Young men were organised into gangs and thosenot willing to join were bribed and told that their task was to free Austriafrom the danger of Bolshevism. This was difficult with a secret ballot and astrong majority in favour of democracy, so in 1926 they started to interrupt

every meeting held by organisations corresponding to our Workers' Educa-tion Association, Co-operative and Trade Union organisations. There wassome rioting, the Palais de Justice was set on fire. Supported by a few big

industrialists and a few big landlords, but chiefly with the help of Italy, anew power had come to be the decisive force in Austria.

The economic world crisis between 1927 and 1934 was particularly feltin Austria in 1929. Unemployment and political disillusionment made it

difficult for the municipality of Vienna to carry on with their experiments.

They still built houses but not to the same extent. The opposition wasdetermined to put down the working-class movement and what they called

" inflation in social reform " in Vienna, and use the money of Vienna forother purposes in the country. Meetings were dissolved, newspapers cen-

sored, riots fermented, dissolution of left organisations was continuallydemanded. The frightful tension in the country was increased enormously

by the events of 1933 when Hitler came into power in Germany. ChancellorDollfuss, impressed by Hitler's way of dissolving Parliament and introducing

dictatorship, copied his methods and governed during 1933-4 with the helpof emergency decrees. The Austrian workers had been organised since 1918;

a number of them had arms and were determined to defend democracy with

their lives. On the 12th February 1934 the police raided the homes and clubs

of the workers. There was four days' civil war throughout the country. The

workers defended their beloved houses, but women and children were thereand they were faced by the heavy fire of the Government. The executive

power and the army defeated the Left movement. Consequently the Austrian

workers, who were willing to fight for their ideals in 1934, could not do so in

1938 when the successor of Dollfuss would have liked them to do something.

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Between 1934 and 1938 the authoritarian regime was faced with twostrong underground oppositions, the Left, and the growing movement towardsGerman Fascism aided by German money. The Government could not solveits economic problems, conciliate workers, or ease the fate of the farmers. Itmaintained its position because of the mutual hatred of the two oppositions.In 1933 those originally in favour of the Anschluss realised that it wouldmean sharing the fate of Germany under Hitler, but the peasants wanted itso that German tourists would come and spend money again. A few monthslater, the Nazis created trouble in Vienna, DoMuss was shot and Schuschniggbecame Chancellor. His policy led up to the events of 1938, although duringthe last few days he tried to turn round. He had alienated the workers andcould expect no help from them. Thousands of them had been imprisonedfor long terms. Nazis were imprisoned, too, but only for very short periodsand an agreement was made with Hitler in 1936 that the persecution wouldnot be strong and important Nazis would be left alone. Schuschnigg tried toget a plebiscite in 1938, which would have brought him a majority of 70 percent for independence, but Hitler preferred to avoid this defeat by a " freevote " with a 99 per cent majority.

The terror and horror of the last year is more than a Jewish problem.Fascism affects every class of the population except a few individuals, so thatlife is not worth while to many people. The cheers heard in Vienna at thetime of the Anschluss were not from the majority of the population, whichwas not.in the,streets, but weeping at home. Since the time when a numberof people were willing to give Hitler a chance, there has been growing opposi-tion and dissatisfaction even among the Austrian Nazis because Germanshave all the best jobs. Women organise demonstrations with empty baskets,crying: " We thank our Leader." In order to get rid of the nightmare ofFascism, Austrians are willing to take and give help in a decisive movement.They are not opposed to the Anschluss with Germany, but to the system.They realise that when the system is changed the economic problems will bethe same as in 1918 and that it would be better for them to remain in somegreat economic unit. Therefore their ideal is not the independence of Austria,but the ideal of freedom and liberty, not only for the six million Austrians,but for the seventy million Germans and Austrians, who are not responsiblefor what is happening and who want a chance to develop into a GreaterGermany which will be worthy to be loved and lived in. Let us hope thatthey will have their chance to show the world that they have learned theirlesson from their tragic history.

E. W.

RT. HON. LORD SNELL, P.C., C.B.E., on

" THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND WORLD PEACE."

Readings from: (1) The writings of Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler of NewYork.

(2) Two short poems (a) " Ilow weary is our heart,"from the writings of the late Sir William Watson:(h)" This England," by Canon Alexander, of St. Paul'sCathedral.

During a recent lecture tour in the Near East, tinder the auspices of theCouncil for the spread of British culture, Lord Snell said he found himselffaced with circumstances that both flattered and frightened him. He gatheredthat there were two sentiments prevalent amongst the people of suchcountries as Greece and Egypt, one of which was a perplexed depression6

owing to a belief that England bad lost her old touch in human affairs.This arose from the policy of recent years, and there was fear that if shefailed there was no one else to take her place, but under this .surfacedepression was still the hope that some time our country would again standfor the old ideals with which she had been associated.

In considering that depression we must remember that for many yearsthere has been a persistent campaign of calumny by the totalitarian States.He found, however, that there was anxiety •to learn more about our ways ofthought, and living, and how we looked at the present troubled affairs of theworld. People of all classes came in great numbers to hear him. In two orthree places where a British Institute of Culture has been started there wereas many as 5,000 students on the waiting list. This puts on us a special re-sponsibility. People appeared to expect more from England than from otherEuropean nations, hence their criticism when we fail to come up to theirhopes.

That voice comes from many quarters in the Near East and nearer home.Mr. Cordell Hull of U.S.A. has spoken of the special responsibility of theEnglish-speaking people, and ,Mr. Lyons, late Prime Minister of Australia,said much the same thing. Lord Baldwin declared that the British Empirehas a solemn duty of spiritual leadership. Free institutions are its life blood,peace and security among its objects. We have shown the world that it isbased on these conceptions. May we not hope to persuade other nations thatthe method of co-operation would be serviceable on a still wider scale?

In our country one school believes it is right to shut ourselves in behindtariff walls and let the world go to the devil in its own way, another holds itbetter to drift along and make ourselves as comfortable in the world as wefind it in the hope that Providence or No. 10 Downing Street will see usthrough. But there are those who say that if civilisation is not to go bydefault we must take constructive action, we must secure our own freedomand well-being, and apply our organising capacity to help the forces of good-will existing in the world. We have a moral obligation to prepare for thattask because of the Empire's present strength, and of our settled life andexperience in nation building.

If we are to do this we need a new technique. We cannot govern thetwentieth century with the limitations and prejudices of the eighteenth. Ourforefathers lived in a very different world from ours. The smallness ofEngland has been a great factor in its development. It was never too big forthe least gifted of our ancient kings to comprehend. In time of crisis the unityof the nation could be mobilised within twenty-four hours. The ForeignPolicy of those periods was simple. We had to defend our shores and, whenwe began to trade, to keep open our trade routes. After the time ofNapoleon, England had no serious rivals in the world and she could markether goods almost without competition. The Englishman learnt to think veryhighly of himself and to believe intensely in the status quo.

We can only live now in the keenest competition with nations as wellequipped and as ambitious as we are. Education, the press, radio and thecinema have spread over Asia and primitive lands with incredible speed andhave altered the psychology of men. The world is now one market and willtend to become more and more one in mind and outlook if only the clues tounity are given to it.

England is comparatively weaker than in our fathers' time, and thatdoes not seem a good start for the role of leadership. A balancing factor isthe new importance of the British Commonwealth. There has been anIncreased strength at the periphery which more than balances symptoms ofdecay at the centre.

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It is more difficult to run the British Empire than it was. We have to

consult the Dominions and we can take them with us only when our interests

coincide. The machinery of democracy is slower than of despotism, but when

decision is reached it is broad-based and everyone in agreement.

The British Empire has many faults, but it maintains its old tradition of

freedom. There are no refugees from the British Empire. The modern

Empire began in 1931 with the Statutc of Westminster, and our problem is

to find whether it can lead the world towards peace. The common business

of the new Empire is settled at occasional conferences where we all meet

under conditions of complete equality. In spite of many difficulties, the

Empire held in the crisis of last September. The Dominions may have

thought our Munich policy vague, but so was their own. They have no

common thought about Eastern Europe. They claim the right to their own

foreign policy, but they must have some attitude of their own towards

European affairs or they must take ours. Isolation is only possible for those

strong enough to be unassailable and those •who live under the shelter of a

more powerful State. Few come under the first and the Dominions would

resent the role of a client State. The difficulties of the Dominions arise from

anxiety for their national safety, which is something new in their experience.

They could always rely until recently on the United Kingdom. After the war

the League of Nations set out to do for the whole world what the Navy had

previously 'done fof the Empire. But the sense of collective security broke

'down, and there is a new danger from the air. We must build a new

collective 'security.

There are compensating factors. If, for example, Japan is stronger and

Great Britain relatively weaker in the Eastern seas, that is offset by a strong

United States and by the inspiring leadership of her President.

The Commonwealth needs a great cause. It must have a mission in the

world. In England we avoid civil war generation after generation because

something stronger •than our differences unites us. This is the tradition of

freedom, the fact that you can be a free man and not an echo of someone else.

The negative avoidance of war is not sufficient as a link to Empire. No

nation can find an adequate inspiration in its own life from within itself. That

is why the Totalitarian States are bound in the long run to fail in their

endeavours.The Commonwealth must become the nucleus of a centre of world

government and cultural increase. We must work for the transcending of

national barriers in favour of a conception of the United States of Europe.

What can the !Empire do for world peace? We must set a good example.

We do. There can be no war among ourselves or with the United States of

America. There can be negotiations with other nations promoting alliances

that will lead to security. An adverse feature is that we have a population

which is unresponsive to.the call of service. For generations they have been

taught that self-interest is the mainspring of righteousness, as well as progress.

The same note is in religion as in commerce. Get into heaven, never mind

who is left out, get in. People have been taught distrust of the State.

Idealism has been derided, and they are less responsive when the call to

service is made.We are liable to fall back on precedents. We grumble at everything.

John Bull is the most punctual, yet most reluctant paymaster in the

world. But our financial position is good, we have a most orderly population,

our gifts of improvisation include centuries of ordered development. Demo-

cracy has deep roots in the land. Our geographical situation is superb, and

in spite of all we are still guarded by the curtain of the sea.

There have been more cultured and refined people than ourselves, but

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there has been no race with a greater instinct for practical affairs. We areslow to accept new ideas, but we are tenacious. This dear, free England ofours grows under our hand from day to day, and if the order of yesterdayproves to be the barrier of to-day, we can abolish it to-morrow at our ownwill. Can we lead? We have titles manifold for that purpose. Peace withinthe Empire by conference and co-operation with other nations over a farwider area. The leadership we can offer •must be moral leadership. We allhope more than anything in the world for close relations with the Americanpeople. Both of us have gone far to establish the belief that it can be madepermanent. For a long time now the three thousand miles of frontierseparating Canada from the United States have been unfortified, and yet itis the safest frontier in the world. Its sanctity rests upon the honour of twogreat freedom-loving peoples. That is the brazen serpent which England andAmerica hold aloft for other nations to see, in the belief that if they will butobserve, it will bring them peace and healing.

F. G. G.

Dr. KARL MANNHEIM, on " THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO

THE UNDERSTANDING OF MAN," April 30, 1939.Readings from: (1) "Culture and Anarchy," by Matthew Arnold.

(2) " Essays in the Politics of Education," by Fred Clarke.

In periods of sluggish development we tend to take things for granted.Conversely, dynamic periods lead sooner or later to a revision of our theories.The troubled period since the war has seen revolutionary changes in all fieldsof thought, not least in psychology and sociology. New conceptions of thenatures and purposes of these two sciences have arisen, and new links betweenthem have been discovered. I propose to discuss certain new developmentsin the application of psychology to sociological problems.

Most psychologists suffer from two limitations: one, they study onlyindividual psychology; two, they see society as a mere multiplication of theindividual. Recent experiments show that the interactions of the individualand his social environment are far more important than had hithertobeen thought.

Experiments have been made to determine the relative values of solitaryand group work. Individuals were studied working alone and as membersof a co-operative group. It was found, on the whole, that better results wereproduced by collective working. The individual, however, sometimes losthis skill after spending some time in a group. The nature of the task wasan important factor; some forms of work were done better singly thancollectively. In the past. when judging workers, we have tended to under-value the importance of environment. A bad worker in one setting may begood when transferred to another.

An American psychologist has made experiments on gang behaviour.A boy—a member of a gang—is wholly shaped by the gang and by hisfunction in it. The small group acts on him so intensively that he can nolonger fit into wider social units. It was found that boys could not bereformed individually. but must be treated as members of the gang: thewhole gang had to be turned to some useful purpose, then the individual,as a member, would be changed too. This discovery leads to the conceptionof social as opposed to individual education.

A third set of experiments concerned the conflicts brought about bymembership of more than one group. Mental conflict is not purely aproduct of the individual mind; it is produced very largely by conflicts inenvironment. A small boy, hitherto confined to the family circle, visits a

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playground and afterwards behaves rowdily at home. The resulting conflictarises not from his own psychology but from the fact that he is living undertwo different and irreconcilable moral codes. He has three possible solutionsto his problem: one, to dissociate one life from the other; two, to behave" badly " at home but not to admit guilt; three, to rationalise his behaviour,admitting guilt but finding satisfying excuses for it.

What 1 want to convey by this last example is that ethical principleshave no existence in the abstract but are functions of the particular groupto which they apply. Like the nature of groups, they are subject to change;failure to change as the group changes leads to conflict. Many present-daymental stresses are due to the pace at which industrialisation has taken place—a pace far in excess of the adaptive capacity of the human mind.

There are other causes of mental conflict in society to-day. Childrenare taught brotherly love and humility, only to find that the world callsfor competitiveness and self-assertion: advertisements and shop windowsarouse possessive desires, satisfaction of which the unequal distribution ofwealth makes impossible: the theoretical freedom of the individual is non-existent in actual practice. The resulting neurotic symptoms are products ofsociety, not of individual minds. Society is the psychologist's patient; aneurotic symptom is often the reaction of a healthy organism to unhealthyconditions.

The more knowledge we have of the changing nature of groups and ofthe effects of mental and moral climates, the greater chance we have of

• influencing individual human behaviour by modifications of environment.Instead of direct pressure on individuals, we shall manipulate social surround-ings—first immediate and then wider surroundings--and so modifybehaviour. If this is to be done, sociology and psychology must be usedin co-operation far more than is done at present.

F. A. S.

PROFESSOR F. AVELING, D.Sc., on

" BEHAVIOUR, INTROSPECTION AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD,"May 7, 1939.

Readings from: "The Metaphysics of Nature," hy Professor Carreth Read.

In this lecture Prof. Aveling attempted to show how the psychologistby the employment of two methods; (1) the observation of behaviour; and(2) the introspection of mental processes is adopting a scientific approachto his subject.

Before doing this, two questions must be answered: (I) What isbehaviour? and (2) What is mental process? The simplest way to determinewhat is meant by behaviour is to contrast the movements characteristic ofliving organisms with those of inanimate bodies. The actions of inanimatebeings are determined kom without, by external forces that act upon them.The behaviour of living organisms appears to be determined from withinthemselves. There is a variability in their behaviour which adapts itself tocircumstances. Whereas a machine or machine-like system continues tooperate in exactly the same way, save for the wear and tear of usage, solong as it is supplied with the necessary energy, the living creature " behaves "by varying its mode of activity according to the changing necessities of thesituation. Here Prof. Aveling gave various examples from the lowliest formsof life to illustrate his point. Among these was the case of the huntingwasp. After digging the nest the wasp went after its prey which she stungaccurately in its nerve centres so as to paralyse, but not kill it. Next, shedragged her captive to the nest leaving it outside while she entered the burrowand inspected it. She then placed the provision within, laid her egg upon it

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and sealed the nest. Thus, the larva about to be hatched was provided withfresh food and protection. But the wasp did not always sting the prey withanatomical precision. Sometimes it was killed. When the experiment wastried of removing the prey when the wasp left it outside, her routine behaviourwas changed. She provisioned the nest, laid the egg and covered it over withoutfurther ado. The supposedly machine-like behaviour of the creature is thusdisproved. In the behaviour of living organisms one can always perceivean end that is sought whether wittingly or not by the creature itself. Inachieving that end, the organism acts as a whole and its intermediate be-haviour is adaptable. Another mark of behaviour is persistence. Theorganism will not rest till the goal is achieved. Fresh water salmon fighttheir way up to their breeding ground, despite the buffeting of angry watersand barriers of rocks and stones. Behaviour then, forms a large part of thesubject-matter of psychology: and because of the characteristics it displays,we are right in rejectine its machine-like explanation and in seeking for itsmental implications.

But, since no one of us has access to a mind other than his own wemust accordingly turn to introspection to find the mental processes in thelight of which we may be able to explain behaviour whether animal orhuman. We are continually making use of introspection in our everydaylives. If I say " I am pleased, or angry, or thinking, or trying to put mythoughts in order, or expecting a letter, Or making up my mind how to act,"I am stating in words the results of my introspections.

We may observe behaviour on the part of men or other animals thatleads us to credit them with motives for various actions: and we may lookupon this behaviour as something that is actually occurring in a frameworkof space and time. But we cannot observe the motive and must supply itfzom the results of our own introspection, in the shape of impulse desire,resolution or intention.

With the exception of introspection, psychology makes use of the ordinarymethods of scientific investigation. The analytic and synthetic procedure ofscience is of two kinds. It may be an actual separation of elements out of

imixtures and compounds, as happens n the chemical analysis of water intohydrogen and oxygen, or, it may be purely abstractive, in which casethe elements are not physically separated, but only considered apart fromone another. Abstractive analysis does not distort the whole to which it isapplied. It is of particular use in psychology, for it enables us to discovercommon structures or patterns of activity within the most amazing diversityof detail. Thus, though the executive organs of different forms of animallife are extremely varied (flagellte, flippers, fins, wings, arms and legs\seeking and avoiding movements are to be found throughout the animalworld. Besides structural abstraction there is also functional abstraction,that helps us to discover the part played in a dynamic process by a givenelement or group of elements. In thinking, for example, mental imagesoccur: that is a matter of fact. Whether. they are necessary for thought can-not be inferred from the mere fact of their occurrence. To solve this problemwe must find out what happens to our thought when imagery is not present.It has been found that different individuals who report the absence ofimagery think no less accurately than those who assert its presence. It hasbeen found, too, that the same persons. both when mental images are presentand when they are not, give evidence of the same ability when thinking. Wetherefore conclude that such imagery is not indispensable to thinking.

Prof. Aveling went on to give other illustrations of functional analysisand concluded this part of the lecture with the description of an experimentwhich showed that the manner of our perceiving certain groups of objects

II

depended upon the direction of the will (or volition). The last scientificmethod mentioned by Prof. Aveling was the well known one of concomitantvariations.

What conclusions can we draw from this seemingly academic analysis?Surely this is one of them: that, whereas in the case of animals the goals areset by nature herself, and the animal has no choice in the matter other thanto pursue its biological ends: we, on the other hand, learn from introspectionthat many of our goals are selected by us with full purpose and intention.

Introspection teaches us too, that some of these goals may be idealsto hold before our eyes and strive to realise. It is because of this that humanconduct may be something more than animal behaviour. Psychology cannottell us at what goals we should aim, but deep down in the hearts of manyof us lies the conviction that our burning human problems might be on theroad to a solution if we could only translate the golden rule into thelanguage of our daily actions, and realise that all men are brothers

J. L. G.

NOTESWe make no apology for publishing a rather more detailed report than

usual of the speeches at the R.P.A. Annual Dinner and Reunion on May 13.We were impressed by their quality or we should not have gone to thetrouble of writing them out. Some of them read better than they sounded.The interval between a good dinner and a prospective dance is apt not to

• be the best occasion for listening to serious words. Some of the speakersmay'not have been heard too well at the distant ends of the room. With oneexception, and he a former member of our General Committee, all whoaddressed the gathering have delivered lectures from our own platform, andwe confidently commend to our readers a perusal of the summaries which wehave pleasure in presenting to them.

A word of congratulation is due to our Secretary in respect of ourAnnual Report which as usual was sent to members eight clear days beforethe day of the Annual General Meeting. This is in accordance with Rule 19,but it is probably not realised how much concentrated work is involved incomplying with the regulation. The information contained in the Reporthas to be obtained from many sources. It has to be edited and arrangedfor approval by the General Committee; and then seen through the Press.A copy of the revised Rules of the Society was enclosed in each copy ofthe Report.

Acting on a suggestion made by one of our members the GeneralCommittee has sanctioned the use of accommodation at Conway Hall forentertaining refugees. It is too early to say exactly what form the entertain-ment is to take. At the moment the proposal is to invite some thirty suitablepersons to a social gathering in the Library from 3 to 6 p.m. one day a week.Our information is that there are many refugees from the German Reichscattered about in Central London who are in need of an opportunity ofassembling under congenial conditions in order to meet each other, and alsosympathetic English people such as may be found among the members ofour Society.

A Hospitality Committee of South Place members has been formed,and a small preliminary financial grant has been made by the GeneralCommittee. Further particulars will be given to our readers in due course.In the meantime members who are interested in the scheme may communi-cate with the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. D. Battersby, 2 Tryon House. MallordStreet. Chelsea, S.W.3.

12

It will be seen from the notice on page 19 that there is a movement onfoot to form a Dramatic Group. For a large number of years there hasbeen a Play Reading Circle but latterly interest in this has waned, and itscontinuance as a separate body can no longer be justified. In the meantimethere has grown up among several members to whom reading alone doesnot appeal a desire to concentrate on the acting of plays with a view totheir production at social functions of the Society.

It was thought at first that the Play Reading Circle could convenientlycombine with the Literary Circle as a Literary and Dramatic Group with aview also to play production, but the balance of opinion is in favour of thecomplete separation of Play Acting from other forms of literary activity.

If this Dramatic Group is started it will not of course prevent theoccasional reading of Plays at meetings of the Literary Circle. These meetingsmay indeed very well be made more attractive by such a variation of theprogramme, while those members who prefer to specialise on dramaticproduction will find in the proposed Group a more suitable means ofdeveloping their histrionic ability.

The Annual Meeting of members of the Literary and Study Circle tookplace on May 18. There was a discussion on the subject of combining withthe Play Reading Circle. and of the Circle's relation to the proposed DramaticGroup.

There followed a social gathering attended by many visitors. Theprincipal item of the programme was the performance by members of theF.P.S.I. Dramatic Group of a play in two acts by Noel Coward entitled" Fumed Oak." The subject is a sordid domestic tragedy in a suburbanhome. The characters are unpleasant, but the acting was commendable.

On Saturday, May 20, there was a reunion of members of the partywho spent a very enjoyable Easter Co-operative Holiday at Seaton, Devon-shire. Many other members of past holidays were also present.

There was a brilliant little programme of light dramatic and musicalsketches which showed signs of careful rehearsal. If the talent displayed onthis occasion will be available for further and more ambitious productionsthe Society can look forward to some excellent entertainment. It is difficultto discriminate among so many good things, but the hit of the evening waswithout doubt the remarkable Maori dance in character performed byMessrs Jack Green. Alan Watson and Howard Norman. Others whocontributed to the varied programme were Mr. Sidney Green and MissPreedy, Mr. & Mrs. Hubbard and their daughter Joan, Mrs. Eileen Barralet,Mr. E. J. Fairhall, Mr. John Brice, Miss Eileen Brooks and Mr. & Mrs.Washhrook. Mrs. Green was pianist while Mr. Colin Barralet played thepart of facetious announcer.

After refreshments there was a spell of dancing.

ETHICS IN MODERN ARTIn the Conway memorial lecture this year Miss Marjorie Bowen has

approached the old problem of the moral significance of Art, a problemwhich has interested most of us, who are interested in Art at all, ever since wefirst debated it in the sixth form at school.

In the first place, Miss Bowen suggested that whereas artists of the pasthad to work in accordance with the equations of moral formulee, they were

13

now completely free from such hindrances: and therefore a new moralsignificance is attached to the artist's work. Here she goes on to make thegeneralisation that until quite recently practically all Art was dominated bythe " heavy hand " of the Church.

I do not think she says enough to substantiate this. The only concreteexample she gives from literature is that of Milton. In freer times, she said,he would have chosen a nobler theme than Paradise Lost. But Chaucer,Rabelais, Shakespeare, the Elizabethan lyrists, the great English Romantics—these were of the past, but they were hardly hampered by the moral dictatesof the Church or Society. " Lew," says Miss Bowen, " had the courage to beheretics or rebels: those who were one or the other were alarmed andfascinated by their own daring." I should like this theme enlarged. Achallenging statement like this surely loses force if it is not substantiated byadequate examples.

Miss Bowen cites the French Romantics as having discarded God andGoodness, while retaining Satan and Sin. This is partially true of the ratherprecious self-pitying French Romantics, but 1 do not think it is true of theGerman or English Romantics. My point in cavilling here is to suggest thereis no warrant for stating without very careful illustration that only recentlyhas Art cast loose its moral and religious shackles. It might be argued, but itwould need a lecture by itself to do this.

However, if Miss Bowen wishes to imply that the mass of people are. intellectually freer than they were, and that in consequence there will be more

unconventional artists and a bigger public to enjoy them, I do not thinkanyone will quarrel with her.

Let me now consider Miss Bowen's next point. She is prepared to ignorein her consideration of Ethics in modern Art, all propaganda. " 1 wouldthen ignore all those people who use art forms for propaganda and allartists when they turn their talent deliberately to this end."

Most propaganda Art is suspect it is true, largely because in the past mostpropagandists have been bad artists. But this need not be so. Consider" The Ascent of F 6." Surely in emotional power and creative beauty oneof the best plays of the last few years. Yet it is propaganda or, at any rate,satire. But here we are on no better ground with Miss Bowen. " Satire," shesays, " is but a poor weapon." 1, for one, believe satire to be a durable formof Art for two reasons first, in as much as it tends to strip away the tawdrygarb of cant and hypocrisy from people and institutions, it reveals the truthand therefore comes near to what Dr. Read states in his introduction, andMiss Bowen herself suggests later on: that truth is one of the supremeethical contents of art; and secondly, because by its very nature it tends toeconomy of expression and therefore obeys one of the formal necessitiesof Art.

M iss Bowen next Rroceeds to attack those critics who think modern Artdisgusting and shocking. She says, and I think truly, that the average man isinfluenced by the immediate past. There is a time lag in his appreciation.While Queen Victoria was sitting heavily enthroned in England. Monet andCezanne were painting in France. The spiritual offspring of Victorianism arethe readers of the Daily Express; they still regard the great French paintingsof the last century as flapdoodle. At least, that is the word used not so longago in that journal. But a growing public now enjoys the French im-pressionists, and I think Miss Bowen takes too seriously the attitude of " thatintolerable bully, the little man."

Here she reaches the crux of her theme. " No matter whose feelings theartist hurts, or what hubbub he raises, he must see life freshly for himself,with his own vision." In this way he will enlarge our own spiritual horizons,14

renew our vitality and " break up our stale conventions and wearymonotonies." This is the Ethical content of Art, for mental sloth andlethargy are surely among the demoralising influences in any community.Among the positive influences in modern Art is the rise of the womannovelist. There is no doubt that of the greater novelists of to-day a largeproportion are women. Here we have that new angle of approach to.manyproblems which is so invigorating and stimulating. Miss Bowen cites VirginiaWoolf, Elizabeth Bowen, Rosamond Lehmann, Storm Jameson as amongthose who with delicate precision, tenderness and reality reveal the woman'smind. And I could add to those names Katherine Mansfield, WinifredHoltby, Phyllis Bentley, Rebecca West and many others.

All this part of the lecture was expressed with charm and beauty. I amonly sorry that there was not more concrete illustration. The lecture, as awhole, suffered, I think, by a certain vagueness and a tendency to verbiage. 1feel that the man in the street, entering the Hall with an open mind, but whofelt rather bewildered by many aspects of modern Art, would have receivedlittle help or clarification; and, apropos, if the " average man says when aquestion of :esthetics arises " that he knows what he likes and all the rest maygo hang," it is neither detestable nor alarming, as Miss Bowen suggests; it isvery natural. Those who believe in higher standards of taste must train andeducate by all possible means so that a man's attitude and approach aredifferent.

I must pay a tribute, before closing, to the yen/ real beauty of much ofMiss Bowen's prose. And she ends on a very inspiring note. " Art," shesays, " will truly give us beauty for ashes and the joy of the morning for thespirit of heaviness." What more can be said of the real ethical value of allArt, traditional or modern?

J. L. G.

THE R.P.A. DINNERWell over two hundred ladies and gentlemen, including a large number

of members of South Place Ethical Society, assembled on May 13 at the"Trocadero " from 6.15 p.m. until midnight for this important annualreunion.

THE R r. HON. LORD SNELL OF PLUMSTEAD presided. In his introductoryspeech after dinner he referred to the much regretted absence of Mr. J. P.Gilmour (Chairman of the Board of Directors) and of Mr. C. A. Watts, theVice-Chairman. He also made complimentary references to the presenceof two octogenarians—Sir Buckston Browne who has placed the home ofCharles Darwin at the service of the public, and Dr. Stanton Coil.

Lord Snell noted with pleasure •that the membership of the Associationwas practically maintained, and that their books have a steady circulation.An increase was wanted. Hilaire Belloc wrote " When we are dead, may itbe said, their sins were scarlet, but their books were read."

After fifty years of the advocacy of rationalism it is a pleasure to lookback on the way we have travelled. There are some things to regret, muchleft undone. At the present time in the absence of that reason we exist topromote we are wandering between two worlds, one dead, the other power-less to be born. However, the universe is not so superstition ridden as whenwe began our work. Men realise more and more our course is directedby ourselves, and so in the education of children and in many other wayswe have reason to rejoice that progress has been made. It is almost im-possible to believe thc duties our grandfathers imposed on the Almighty.They expected him to do what he was expecting them to do for themselves.The Duke of Rutland wrote to The Tunes suggesting that the nation should

15

pray for rain, and a great controversy ensued. Some one contributed

the following lines:The Duke of Rutland asked The Times to pray for rain.The rain came down the following day.The pious marvelled, sceptics murmured " fluke,"And farmers late with hay said, " Damn that Duke!"

Now we apply an increasing amount of reason and many theological

assurances have gone. Preachers have had to part with miraculous events,

and thousands of sermons are preached in vague terms because of mistrust

of the old doctrines. Others hold on much as people hold on to stock

which is seen to be decreasing in value but which they wish they had sold.

Wc have few recantations to make. We have never claimed to have the

final truth, or persecuted those who may have differed from us. Science

itself has never claimed to be more than a provisional explanation of

phenomena. Reason is much needed still. A great responsibility rests on

us for the future. We should intensify our propaganda and reaffirm our

belief in reason. We should feel our way towards a widened interpretation

of the cause for which we stand. To the younger people he would point

out that superstition should be combated everywhere, in the schoolroom,

the Law Courts, the doctor's surgery, and it must be part of our outlook

to apply our principles to all problems. The R.P.A. must be thought of in

that sense, otherwise it may become the sepulchre of an old idea rather than

the cradle of a prOgressive life. We may have satisfaction in our work yet,

and,he comMended it to their interest and favour.LoRb PONSONBY OF SHULBREDE proposed the toast of prosperity to the

Rationalist Press Association. He said it was a great honour for him to have

been invited to the gathering, and he was glad to find that rationalists are

not ascetics. Whatever may be said with regard to numerical strength. their

influence extends far, and it has helped to produce a saner view throughout

the population. He was quite sure that tolerance has increased. In a

village near his home they had members of the Church of England (perhaps

slightly intolerant between themselves), Baptists, Wesleyans, Roman

Catholics, Groupists, Spiritualists and a peculiar Sussex sect with tenets

of their own, very industrious, great co-operators, with rather hazy

views about marriage, and a liability on certain occasions to lean out of

window and shout "Hallelujah." All these bodies live together in amity,

and tolerate each others 'views. Perhaps they were a little shy of himself

because he did not seem to join in any of the manifestations of these

branches of religion.Reading through the history of the R.P.A. he met the names of many

with whom he had had personal relations. He instanced Sir H. S. Leon,

William Archer and Sir George Greenwood. The last completely converted

him to the rejection of a superstition that the Stratford actor wrote the

greatest plays and poems in the English language. He had derived

enormous encouragement and inspiration from Felbt Adler whom he con-

sidered to be a pioneer in the movement, a completely consistent thinker

who saw better than anyone that the construction of your own side rather

than attack on the other was the proper method. That is a difficult question.

Lord Ponsonby was always in favour of constructing good rather than

wasting time over evil, but the type of mind which adheres to old traditions

and enters into rhapsodies over the incomprehensible is a trouble. There

is a great reluctance to use our minds. It is easier not to do so than to

choose a path for yourself. It was his experience that people who had

abandoned the varying superstitions seemed to be leading the best lives.

The difficulty which faced him is that while building is good he wondered

sometimes whether we have not got to make an attack. There are some

16

mischievous forms of superstition which ought to be shown up, for they aregaining ground. He had a friend who is in close touch with a great Germancomposer who lived in the 17th century, and who tells him how he shouldplay his Fugues. Argument is useless, but he felt that there is a certainsadness when people are carried away in that direction, because he believedit is the beginning of insanity and he felt inclined to make a direct attackwhatever letters may bc written to him by The Psychic News. He was quitesure that anything in the nature of persecution or dogmatism is ineffective,and arouses opposition and the revival of the movement we wish to suppress.

There are countries in which direct suppression is being taught. Thisis not the British method. He believed intensely in the Marble Arch, in asafety valve for any views that people feel inclined to express. The MarbleArch is the wonder and admiration of foreign countries.

When he heard he was to be under his political leader, Lord Snell,whom he did not always follow, he felt nervous. He thought he was nowbeginning to feel for the hammer and so he would only say, with LadyGodiva, towards the end of her famous ride: " I am now coming to myclo'es." He had great pleasure in proposing the toast of prosperity to theR.RA. and in wishing a future in which their part will be more and moreeffective in getting through the slough of the present irrational, stupid,vicious, truly degraded mind which seems to be spreading itself over theworld and to find themselves in a brighter future in which their efforts havehelped to bring humanity fo its senses.

MISS MARJORIE BOWEN supporting, said it was an article of faith withher to say a few words for the R.RA. and all it means. She had a deepconviction that rationalists had done more than most realise. The in-tellectual freedom we enjoy proceeds from the work of a few men andwomen many of whose names you see on the roll of the R.P.A. It is tooeasy to praise those pioneers who were often martyrs. How hard to realisethe bitter struggle to secure for human beings the right of mental freedom.Superstition and ignorance have always been bound up in the roots ofsociety and hide behind primitive emotions.

From history she learned that down the centuries civilisation has hadto contend with overwhelming forces of greed, lust and cruelty, bred ofignorance and superstition. Church after church, sect after sect persecutedeach. other, progress was stifled, poets and men of science checked andkilled. This was done in the name of the God of Love. It was true shehad read of great. men in the sects and churches, but their virtues wereindependent of their theologies. Although they were saints and mystics theywere dangerous guides.. She knew of the delights of mysticism, but thereis great peril to humanity in denying the supremacy of reason, and in theclaim that one is responsible to God alone. Wesley said to Whitfield: " Godrevealed Hmself to me." " No," said Whitfield, " he revealed himself to me."This illustrates the recurrent quarrels of church leaders. That is the con-fusion you get when men claim to be the mouthpieces of some unseen

ipower. Another saint, real or false, s always arising, and while theycontend mankind is trampled under foot. We speak of the Reformation,but that brought no freedom of thought. It only added excuses for super-stition, and it was not until the end of the 18th century that ethics werepreached in place of theology, and some confusion was cleared. Only theapplication of reason will heal our miseries. She desired to pay deephomage to all the great men who founded, and have led the R.P.A.

MR. FRED WAtrs (Managing Director) in his reply thanked LordPonsonby and Miss Marjorie Bowen for their words of appreciation. After

17

reviewing the earlier history of the R.P.A. he referred to its first success

with the cheap sixpenny reprints which. broke the boycott on advanced

literature by publishers and booksellers. lf, to-day, booksellers freely

display heterodox books the R.P.A. can claim a large share in this beneficent

revolution, but it has brought some embarrassment. We are not now the

only source of liberal publications. We continue to publish more

unorthodox books than other at a cheaper rate, but our membership has not

increased in recent years although we know we are making rationalists every

day who are content to buy their books at a shop without feeling an urge

to join us. The very freedom of opinion, speech and publication which the

R.P.A. has done so much to win has made the situation more difficult.

The present generation enjoys what the last had to fight for. Economics

and politics appear to the majority more important than the church. In

these days of unrest people are worried with their business, and by A.R.P.

services. Leisure is spent on wireless, the cinema and sport. This forecasts

a crisis for rationalism and we must find a method of linking ourselves up

to those masses of indifferent people. Churches also suffer in the same

way in spite of their efforts and advantages. It is almost miraculous that

the still small voice of the R.P.A. can still be heard. It is not popular to

ask people to sacrifice their dearest beliefs on the altar of reason, and to tell

them they must be content with the patient gathering of facts. It is to a

hard intellectual discipline that we are calling them and the question is how

we can influence the masses in this direction. Must we be content to

appeal to the more thoughtful minority? No, the time has come for making

a more strenuous effort to bring our movement to the notice of every

thinking man and woman.

MR. E. THURTLE, M.P. (General Secretary R.P.A.1. said it was inevitable

that in •the course of forty years changed conditions have made it rather

more difficult to carry on our work, and now, in addition, we have this

terrific unsettlement. What is happening now has a special significance for

our organisation. There were great freethought organisations in Germany

and in Italy. Both have been utterly crushed. Only eight months ago we

were welcoming in Conway Hall delegates representing freethought move-

ments in Czechoslovakia and Spain. Both have practically ceased to exist,

and many of their members are in gaol or have become refugees. These

are grim facts. We have not yet suffered, but the fact that such things can

happen makes us realise that there is no finality about •the triumph of

freedom. The lesson for us is that we have got to be on our guard and

ready to fight for that freedom some would like to take away from us.

The R.P.A. cannot play a leading spectacular part but we have a very

special part to play. Aggression and intolerance move hand in hand almost

invariably with religious reaction, and our special job is to fight religious

reaction. It is not popular work. All sorts of important social influences

frown on us, and it is ,true to say that but for our Association and the

National Secular Society there has been no organised body carrying on this

particular aspect of the fight. We have accomplished a good deal in our

own field. You cannot easily measure the effect of our work, but there is

no doubt that in the course of its existence the R.P.A. has had a considerable

effect on the mental outlook of this country. It is the number of our

publications and not the size of our membership which matters. They have

gone all over the world and have had a great influence. The causes which

make for the liberation of the human mind are varied, but our books have

played a large part in that change. The office staff get much direct evidence

of it. We are concerned that progress should be made and if we find the cause

of liberating the human intellect is making progress we shall not quarrelas to our own share. It is impossible to say in these uncertain days what

18

the future has in store for us. We must hope for peace with freedombecause it is only in time of peace that reason really flourishes. We hopewar wont come, but whether it comes or not we are dealing with thingsof permanent value, the widening of the bounds of knowledge, toleration,freedom of thought, everything which increases the dignity of the humanmind. These things are still necessary and it is for each one of us to dohis part to promote them.

MR. W. B. CURRY proposed the toast of the Chairman who, he said, hasrisen to a position of commanding eminence in London and in the country.It is important to say that in honouring him we are honouring the greatcauses with which he has been identified throughout his life. Thinking ofhis career he was reminded of a schoolmate who was sharply rebuked forhaving forgotten something. The master said, You have a mind like asieve. " Yes," was the reply, "it keeps back the big things and lets throughthe little ones." Lord Snell was like that. Many of his achievements werein the realms of controversial politics, but we are concerned with hiscontribution to the cause of rationalism which has never been more neededin the world. Surely ninety per cent of what now passes for political beliefin Europe is sheer superstition. "The proud march of soldiers" said bySpengler " to be in tune with the cosmic beat " is the kind of rot which mustbe challenged. Our business is not merely to advocate but to applyrationalism. We must point out in what respects superstition and irration-ality are now prevailing, as for example, in education. The world whichdrifted into war in 1914 continues to practice much the same sort of wrongeducation as it did then. The chief fault is this idea of nationalism with itsclaim to do what is likes. It is an irrational idea and one of our mainactivities is to find out a more rational method of organising the peopleof this earth.

LORD SNELL, in his reply, thanked those who had spoken.F. G. G.

THE SOCIETY'S ACTIVITIESMatter for insertion in the July issue should reach the Editor early in the

month, and in any case not later than SATURDAY.June 17.

BOOKSTALL.—A variety of books and pamphlets are displayed for saleon Sunday Mornings at the Bookstall. Any book not displayed will beobtained. Orders should be left at the Bookstall or addressed to itsSecretary at Conway Hall.

COUNTRY DANCE GROUP.—Practices are held in the Library everyMonday at 7 p.m. The charge is 6d..per evening. The English FolkDance Society has arranged for dancing in Victoria Park on June 6and 8 from 8.30 to 9 p.m., in Willesden Park on June 7 and 9 from8.30 to 9 p.m., and in Clissold Park on July 15 and 22 from 8.30 p.m.

Further particulars may be had from the Hon. Secretaries, MissH. Shott. 31 Horsham Avenue, N.I2, and Miss P. Snelling, 8 AmberleyRoad, E.10.

DRAMATIC CIRCLE (proposed).—A group of members sponsored byMr. Colin Barralet and Mr. Jack Green are very desirous of forming aDramatic Circle. They are therefore calling a meeting in the ClubRoom at 7 p.m. on Monday. June 5, which all interested members areinvited to attend.

19

LIBRARY.—Open Sunday mornings before and after the Meeting. on Mon-

days during the Country Dance Class. Free to Members and Associates.

A slip must be filled in for each book borrowed. When books are re-

turned they must be handed to the Librarian or left with the hall-keeper,

and not be replaced on the shelves.Librarian: Mrs. T. LINDSAY, 33 Dawlish Ave.. Greenford, Middx.

RAMBLES.—Whit-Sunday, May 78.—A walk in Kent. Train 10.44 a.m.

Victoria to Meopham. CD.R. 3s, od. Return from Kemsing (no excess

fare). Leader: Miss NI. Ellis.

Sunday, June 4.--No Ramble.

Sunday, June 11.--A walk in Bucks, Chenies and ChippertieId.

Train I p.m. Marylebone to Chorley Wood. C.D.R. 2s. Od. Leader:

Miss D. Winter.

Sunday, June 18.-- Shoreham and Lullingstone. Train 1.4 p.m.

Charing Cross to Knockholt. C.D.R. 2s. 6d. Leader : C. Rankin.

Sunday. June 25.—Caterham, View Point and Godstone. Train

1.23 p.m. Charing Cross to Caterham. C.D.R. 2s. 3d. Leader F. H.

Washbrook.

Sunday, July 2. —Epsom Downs, Headley and Mickleham. Train

1.18 Victoria to Epsom Downs. C.D.R. Is. 9d. Leader: Miss W. George.

Hon. Secretary: Mrs. M. ORRE I I, 4 Cairn Avenue. W.5.

SOUTH PLACE SUNDAY CONCERT SOCIETYTHE FIFTY-FOURTH SEASON of the South Place Sunday Concerts

will begin on Sunday. October 1, 1939, with the 1,319th Concert. Further

particulars, with Report of 53rd Season, will be issued in September.

Members Tickets 3s. each, admitting to Reserved Seats every Sunday for

First Half Season, from October to December, will be ready in September,

and may he obtained from the Hon. Treasurer of the Concerts, Andrew E.

Watson, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square. W.C.I, by sending Remittance

and Stamped Addressed Envelope.

Hon. Treas.: ANDREW E. WAISON, Conway Hall, Red Lion Sq., W.C.I.

Hon. Secretary: Mrs. D. M. CLEMEN TS, 8 Finchley Way, N.3.

lion. Assistant Secretary: GEORGE HUTCHINSON, Conway Hall, Red

Lion Square, W.C.I.

New Members

Mr. J. E. Hon,, 33 Priory Gardens. N.6.

Mrs. I. K ERH,WRIT/iHT, 17 Sherriff Road. N.W.6

Changes of Address

Mrs. NI. L. SEA ON-TIEDEMAN, Divorce Law Reform Union, 12 Palmer

Street. S.W.I.

Mr. F. A. SOWAN. 31 St. Paul's Road, N.1.

Miss A. J. WArls, The Pleasaunce. King's Wood. Ulcombe, Maidstone,

Kent.

Miss L. H. WITT). 10 Queen's Avenue. NAO.

Mr., Mrs. and Miss CLAPPE, 3 Elmers Drive, Teddington, Middlesex.

Printed at the Farleigh Press (T.U. 4)1 depts.), 17-29 Cayton Street. London, E.C.I.