USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Extracts from the minutes of the yearly meeting of Friends held in Philadelphia, 1922 > Part 7
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The work of the Book Committee in years past in the wide distribution of the writings of Friends has received
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interesting recognition in the recent statement of a much traveled English Friend visiting Philadelphia. He spoke of the remarkable effect a copy of "George Fox's Journal," which had been sent to Japan by this Committee, had had. The Chairman of the Japanese National House of Represen- tatives who received it was so much impressed with the power of silent waiting before God as a method of solving group differences of judgment that he often resorted to it in the Diet, calling for a period of silence when difficulties seemed insurmountable.
For the Committee,
WM. F. WICKERSHAM,
,
Third Month 15, 1922.
Clerk.
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REPORT
OF PEACE COMMITTEE.
To the Yearly Meeting:
One year ago we were laboring to turn men's thoughts toward the holding of an international disarmament con- ference, in the vague but earnest hope that some check might be put on the race in armaments. Today, we rejoice in the immediate prospect of reduced and limited navies and in a world whose leaders have settled some of the most serious sources of trouble by conference and who have committed themselves to the ideal of world peace. For the present, people who never did so before, are looking for a better way than war. A great opportunity has come to workers for Peace, a responsibility that is almost appalling.
The Washington Conference did not consider the question of total disarmament, but even those of us who were the most hopeful must admit that an agreement for the reduction of navies by nearly 2,000,000 tons of battleships, more than one-half the total tonnage, and for a ten-year naval building holiday was far beyond our expectations. The Conference made a beginning only but it was a great beginning, and the claims of the American delegation deserves serious con- sideration-that the accomplishments of the Conference as a whole make a combination of conditions in which peaceful security will take the place of competitive preparation for war; that the treaties rest on a new international state of mind which substitutes mutual faith for suspicion and apprehension; that the "treaty absolutely stops the race in competition in naval armament;" and that friendly confer- ence must take the place of war in settling controversies in the Pacific. Nothing better expresses the change in men's minds than President Harding's frank confession on the closing day of the Conference: "I once believed in
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armed preparedness, I advocated it. But I have come now to believe there is a better preparedness in a public mind and a world opinion made ready to grant justice precisely as it exacts it."
In addition to this, another great step in the direction of world organization has just been taken in the establish- ment of the World Court, the Permanent Court of Inter- national Justice created by the League of Nations, which has recently held its opening sessions at the Hague. This Court is expected not only to clear up such doubtful points of international law as may come before it but is also to create laws when their need is apparent.
We must not assume because world leaders, as well as multitudes of men and women of all nations, are longing for permanent peace, that peace is now assured, but when the economic pressure from war and the desire for peace . are fresh in men's minds is the time for lovers of peace to educate people everywhere to understand that war is a costly way of attempting to settle the differences between nations, that war can be avoided, that world conferences and world courts and world organization provide a better way, and that war is morally wrong.
The activities of the Peace Committee during the past year have been varied to meet the rapidly changing situation. Immediately after last Yearly Meeting the four peace mes- sages adopted by that body, urging (1) that our President call an international conference for disarmament and (2) that further military and naval appropriations be post- poned until such conference be held, were distributed widely.
One of these went to about 900 Monthly and Yearly Meetings of Friends; one, for our fellow Christians, to more than 800 religious newspapers of the country; one to some 28 Chambers of Commerce, and the one to men and women of the Labor movement, to more than 2,000 local unions.
Naturally, the emphasis of our work this past year has been placed on disarmament and the other problems before the Washington Conference, in the feeling that the practical efforts made by the leading nations to reduce the burdens
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and probabilities of war demanded our heartiest support. By speakers and by literature, however, we steadily endeav- ored to present the basis of our religious objections to war, at a time when the whole subject was so constantly before the people, and 10,000 copies of Elbert Russell's Quaker Challenge to a World of Force and 10,000 of a condensation of the above under the title of the Christian Substitute for Force have been circulated.
A specially organized Disarmament Committee which included Friends who were not members of the Peace Com- mittee has been particularly active, and special Disarma- ment secretaries have been at work about half of the year.
Our speakers have addressed numerous meetings, some arranged especially for the purpose and others which desired to have the subjects of Disarmament and the Washington Conference presented as part of the program. Addresses have been made in Friends' and other schools, at meetings of Labor bodies and elsewhere, and the need for such work will long continue.
Literature in the form of leaflets and pamphlets has been distributed at many meetings, at County and other Fairs, to workmen coming from industrial plants; and a great deal of literature has been sent out by mail from the Peace Office. The best printed matter issued anywhere in the country has been collected and distributed widely. More than 100,000 leaflets, fliers and pamphlets have been cir- culated and about 900 copies of Will Irwin's book, "The Next War" have been sent to schools, libraries, to clergy- men and others. For several months leaflets were dis- tributed through more than thirty of the state branches of the W. C. T. U. and requests for peace and disarmament matter were filled from many parts of the country.
Special bulletins were issued in the summer as prepar- ation for the Conference and for more than six months large posters were exhibited in all the Philadelphia sub- way stations urging disarmament, and, later, the success of the Washington Conference. Through the year peace matter has constantly been sent to The Friend and published in its columns.
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In the smaller Yearly Meeting Schools, peace essay con- tests were held and more than one hundred boys and girls took part in them. The same general plan is being carried out again this year.
The Committee has contributed funds to the support of the Friends' Disarmament Council, the American Union Against Militarism, the New York Clearing House for the Limitation of Armament and to Gilbert Bowles' peace activities in Japan.
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The report of our Treasurer is as follows:
Peace Committee Treasurer's Report for fiscal year Third Month 14, 1921 to Second Month 28, 1922.
RECEIPTS
Balance (Treasurer's Acct. & Petty Cash Acct.)
Third Month 14, 1921. $8,615.60
Yearly Meeting Appropriation 1,500.00
Contributions 82,446.10
Interest 245.32
$92,807.02
EXPENDITURES
American Friends' Service Committee $69,806.89
Salaries, Rent, Postage, etc. 6,398.40
Other Expenses Forwarding the Committee's
Work 7,229.58
Contributions to Friends' Disarmament Council . 5,262.09
Balance Second Month 28, 1922 4,110.06
$92,807.02
Members of our Yearly Meeting also contributed $11,747.57 direct to the American Friends' Service Com- mittee making a total to the A. F. S. C. of $81,554.46.
AUDITOR'S REPORT.
We have examined the accounts of Henry W. Comfort, Treasurer of the Peace Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and have compared the vouchers with the payments and find them correct, there being a balance in his hands Second Month 28, 1922 of $4,076.53.
Jos. H. HAINES, BERTHA BALDERSTON, Auditing Committee.
Third Month 11, 1922.
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The Peace Committee asks that the Yearly Meeting appro- priate $1,500 toward the expenses of its work for the coming year.
From the above account it will be seen that our Yearly Meeting has during the year, contributed about $81,500 to the American Friends' Service Committee in whose work it is deeply interested and whose purpose is the "double one of carrying relief to persons suffering from the effects of war and of interpreting in terms of action and service the way of life to which Friends as followers of Christ are dedicated."
The sewing and knitting work for the relief of foreign war sufferers which the women in many of our Friendly communities have been doing for several years has con- tinued and many garments have been made and forwarded to the needy in Europe.
The subject of uniting all Friends in America in their work for Peace, as has been done so successfully in war relief and service work, was under consideration for some months by the local London Conference delegates. This resulted in the formation, last summer, of a Friends' Dis- armament Council, representing the Peace Committees of the Five Years' Meeting, of the General Conference (Race St.) Friends and of our Yearly Meeting. The object was to unify and make more effective, the work of all American Friends for Peace and Disarmament in the present emergency.
Frederick J. Libby, who felt a strong call to work of this kind, was appointed the Executive Secretary. The Friends' Disarmament Council, decided that for the time being it could best promote peace and disarmament by con- tributing the services of Frederick J. Libby to the National Council on Limitation of Armaments, a national committee which he was largely instrumental in forming in Washing- ton, composed of more than thirty national bodies, farmers', women's, educational and other organizations (covering upward of four million people) which were all opposed to war though by no means all entirely pacifist.
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The purpose of this National Council on Limitation of Armaments was "to unite and make articulate through the member organizations, the overwhelming sentiment of the people of the United States in favor of reduction of armaments." So effective was this Council in develop- ing, educating and expressing the sentiment of the people in this country in the matter of reduction of armament that Will Irwin, author of the widely read book, "The Next War," recently wrote, "The most useful agency in stirring up the people and keeping them at the proper pitch of interest, too, has been the National Council for Limitation of Armaments." Since the close of the Washing- ton Conference, this organization has become the "National Council for Reduction of Armaments" and, with its declared ultimate object of the "substitution of law for war in the settlement of international differences," it has settled down to a steady campaign to put an end to war. Friends may feel thankful that the opportunity came to them during the Washington Conference to assist in this work on a national scale and that the leadership of this work in the future is in the hands of one who so thoroughly embodies their ideals.
The work that faces us in the immediate future seems to be to join whole heartedly with people who are striving for world peace from economic, political, humanitarian or religious motives and to urge in all promising fields our Quaker conviction that war is morally wrong, that it con- tradicts the whole spirit of Christ's example and teaching, and that Christ's way of justice and good will is practicable and makes for true progress as no other way can.
More specifically, let us present our conviction to our fellow Christians as effectually as we can; let us also work for the ratification of the Washington Conference treaties by the Senate, and let us particularly emphasize the fact that, when the agreements of the Washington Conference are accepted by the nations involved, the security of our coun- try will not dpend upon its army and navy but upon inter- national agreements and the international court, and still more upon dealing so justly and generously with other nations, that the conscience of the world will support its actions.
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The Washington Conference has practically guaranteed us ten years of peace. Ours is the problem of extending this term indefinitely, of abolishing war; ours the opportunity that has come to no former generation.
For the Committee, M. ALBERT LINTON, Chairman. WM. F. WICKERSHAM, Secretary.
Third Month, 1922.
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REPORT
OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE EXTENSION OF CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALS.
To the Yearly Meeting:
In our Yearly Meeting held in 1920 there was an under current of concern in regard to the duty of our Society in the awakening of religious life in our several communities.
One year ago this had developed into a definite spiritual outreach not only of our own membership but also of very many of our fellow citizens.
The sixteen Friends who were appointed by the Yearly Meeting to co-operate with the Book Committee organized promptly and have held meetings at intervals of three or four weeks throughout the year. After careful consideration the name adopted was Yearly Meeting Committee on the Extension of Christian Fundamentals, known more briefly as "Extension Committee." Seven sub-committees were appointed.
1. On Conferences.
2. On Religious Training of Children.
3. On Approach to the Public.
4. On Survey.
5. On Securing Literature for the Various Groups.
6. On Finances.
7. Composed of Ministers and Elders of the Committee.
The sub-committee on Conferences proceeded promptly to aid local Friends in the holding of religious conferences.
The topics chosen for presentation and discussion at the local .conferences, twenty-six in number to date, have been religious in tone and well adapted to the needs of the com- munities. Attendance varied from twenty to two hundred,
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many of whom were not members of our Society. Several Friends not members of the Extension Committee con- tributed to the successful issue of these conferences as speakers.
The Quarterly and Monthly Meetings committees appointed to co-operate with us have entered heartily into the work of furthering the concern of our Yearly Meeting, and their cordial co-operation has been gratifying and strengthening.
It is felt that to a considerable extent we have been able to fill a definite need in the communities in which the meet- ings have been held, and we believe there may be further openings for this line of service.
Through our Survey Committee we have made some study of the geographical features of the Yearly Meeting with special reference to non-resident members and to lines of travel.
Is it not practicable for members belonging to large Quarterly Meetings, living within easy access of a Quarter of small membership to be transferred to the latter?
Strong Meetings like Germantown, Moorestown and Haverford we have felt could increase their influence and life by setting off new meetings in their vicinities. If families would settle, with this concern, in Hatboro, where Abington Quarterly Meeting already has work under way, or in Merchantville, where a very adequate Meeting House already exists, or at Burlington, where this Yearly Meeting held its early sessions, or at Llanerch, Ardmore or Berwyn, where groups of Friends already reside, strong meetings could, under Divine guidance, be built up, to the benefit both of the parent meeting and the new community. We realize that some efforts have been made toward such dis- tribution.
In localities such as Pottstown, Maiden Creek, Pennsdale, Elklands, Greenwood, etc., there are today faithful little bands of Friends who lack the strength and fellowship of the central group around Philadelphia; they greatly need once again the pioneering spirit that will drive the mem-
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bership of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting beyond the nar- rowing and comfortable circle of suburban meetings, out along the lines of travel.
We would therefore appeal to our youth for a fulfillment of this vision and to our local meetings for a study of their situations and memberships, that the good of the whole may take precedence of local or individual preferences and that each individually may see and assume his or her place in the vision that opens up.
In approaching the Public we have considered diligently the possibilities of presenting Friends' interpretation of the Christian message to the world. The task is an enormous one; our resources of money and talent are limited. Our efforts so far have been directed chiefly to the preparation and distribution of the Pennsbury leaflets of envelope size, embracing broad principles of Christian living as well as some distinctly Friendly subjects. Those involving doc- trinal points have been examined and approved by a sub- committee of the Representative Meeting. To date, over 250,000 of the following fourteen leaflets of the series have been issued and mostly distributed.
1. An Invitation to Friends' Meetings.
2. Some Aspects of the Quaker Faith.
3. Enthusiasm for Jesus.
4. A Religion of Power.
5. The More Excellent Way.
6. Quick Gains and Far Values.
7. The Reality of God's Presence.
8. Books of Service in Bible Reading and Bible Study.
9. Bible Stories for Children.
10. The Sacrificial Service of Jesus.
11. The Universe and My Brother.
12. Christian Weapons.
13. Christian Foundations.
14. Preparation for life's greatest business.
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We have also distributed 2,000 copies of "What is the Christian Faith?" by Wm. E. Wilson, an English pamphlet, which we now have permission to print as one of our series.
Other essays have been offered and are under considera- tion.
A set of three, selected from the above list has been sent to approximately eight hundred and fifty Religious periodi- cals, twenty-three hundred other publications, and as first class mail, to about fifteen thousand Protestant Ministers in twelve states and to about nine hundred school teachers.
As one result of the literature sent to ministers, nearly five hundred have received on request over 110,000 copies of the leaflets, which includes those first sent them as well as others of the series; the additional copies were in many cases requested for the purpose of enclosure in periodic letters to Parishioners.
Of the very many kind responses received, the following four may be cited as fairly representative :
WILKES-BARRE, PA.
"The three pamphlets which you sent me are of excellent quality and would be of great value in a very definite way. The Religion of Power' for converts or prospects; "The Reality of God's Presence' for making the spiritual life a potent force; and 'Enthusiasm for Jesus' as a summary of the spiritual meaning of the gospel."
ALBANY, N. Y.
"I wish to thank you for the three Essays you sent me recently. They had the tonic effect on me of a drink of cold water to a very thirsty man."
SANDUSKY, N. Y.
"I have received and read with absorbed interest the three leaflets you so kindly mailed me. They ring true, and I will be quoting from them in my next sermons. What the Churches need today is that genuine 'experimental' knowl- edge of God's power."
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LONDON, ENGLAND.
"I should be grateful to you for 500 assorted Pennsbury leaflets for free distribution, etc., etc. Pray on, Carry on."
One Protestant Minister who received these Pennsbury leaflets is known to have stood up in a ministers' meeting and to have referred to them as having given him a new vision of the Christian message and a fresh inspiration to proclaim it.
Another sent out the leaflet entitled "The Reality of God's Presence," bound in with his Lenten announcement.
The central branch of the Y. M. C. A. of Philadelphia has taken twenty thousand of our leaflets and desired more. One of their officers has written us as follows :-
"They form one of the most interesting collection of short Christian articles that I have ever seen and you and your associates are certainly to be congratulated on such a valuable contribution to the world's uplift."
The Book Committee sent a considerable amount of litera- ture to Germany before the time of our appointment. The whole subject was laid before Francis R. Bacon prior to his departure last Spring to take charge of the work of the American Friends' Service Committee in Germany. Advice from him and from Gertrude Giles, secretary of the Friends Message Committee, and from German Friends and from our own members recently returned from work abroad, shows clearly a great opening for Friends' influence and literature in Germany.
Friends are placed in a position of great advantage toward the Germans of today and this not of their own choosing. We believe that the Almighty's Hand has led us thus far in the work we have helped to do in physical relief, by way of the spoken word and by the printed page, and that He is now opening up yet greater opportunities for us. Are there not those among us who are called by His Power to travel up and down Germany in the service of our Lord? This may be the plain call of only a few, but akin to it there is a service for all of us and the time seems ripe.
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The task will call for consecrated judgment, willing sur- render of time and labor and a generous financial support. While we recognize all this, we also feel that it is no more than our Yearly Meeting is willing and able to give. The call of spiritual hunger from these people who seem to feel a warm personal regard for Friends may be a repetition of that call which was sounded in Paul's ears on the shores of the Aegean, "Come over and help us."
The clerical work of our Committee has been performed at the minimum of expense to us and in close co-operation with the Book Committee and by utilizing the means at its disposal. The efficient and untiring services of our Yearly Meeting Secretary have contributed greatly in attaining the results accomplished.
To obtain funds for the use of the Extension Committee the Yearly Meeting minute of appointment clearly suggested that Friends should divert their contributions from relief work abroad, then thought to be closing. Because of the great Russian famine we have felt it best to proceed with the first year's work without making a general appeal. Grants totalling $2,500 from the Representative Meeting, and the Book Committee, together with about $500 con- tributed by members of the Extension Committee have financed the printing of the Pennsbury leaflets and our incidental expenses. These grants we understand will not be available next year except to a small extent.
The opportunities for enlarging the circulation of Chris- tian literature are very great. Protestant Ministers in the principal denominations in only twelve of our forty-eight states have been reached. We have been obliged materially to curtail our publicity work for lack of funds. Only $200 has been allocated to Germany. Other avenues of service remain unentered.
If the work.is to be carried on by this Committee a finan- cial canvass must be made in order to meet the situation adequately; in this we ask in advance, the liberal support of Friends of the Yearly Meeting.
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Regarding the religious education of children we have endeavored to find the needs felt by parents. To help sup- ply them, a book list has been prepared and distributed.
By answers to a set of questions, sent out to parents and teachers, we are convinced that there is an active concern for the spiritual welfare of our children, and for the preservation of family worship in life and power.
A Conference held at 12th Street Meeting House in Eleventh Month, last, was helpful in its frank discussion of the thoughts presented; and we hope that other such gather- ings may be held in which we may together consider our responsibilities to the coming generation, and seek Grace to fulfill them, building on that "one sure Foundation"- Jesus Christ.
A concern for the Ministry was expressed in one of our Committee meetings. The Ministers and Elders of the Extension Committee were designated as a sub-committee to consider if there were any right means to encourage a growth of true Ministry among us. In due time they embodied their deliberations in an extended minute, which was carried to each of the Quarterly Meetings of Ministers and Elders, in the Eighth and Ninth Months last, and read there with some verbal supplement, in the desire that we all together might be stirred up to this vital matter. As an outgrowth of the concern, there was held at the Arch Street Meeting House on First Month 14th last, a Conference of Ministers, Elders and Overseers of the Yearly Meeting and members of the Extension Committee; it was felt that the occasion was one of helpfulness, and that there might be a further service in holding regional conferences in outlying centers to which all those concerned for our Ministry might be invited.
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