1932 Convention Report

              A L B E R T A WOMEN'S INSTITUTES
The Hon. Agnes McPhail addressed audiences from coast to coast on the
importance of sending peace- minded delegates to the Conference. The Hon.
Irene Parlby. out of her experiences as a Canadian delegate to the Assembly
in 1930. urged people not to expect too much of t'he Disarmament Confer­ence,
and said, " Education is the great need in fighting war."
We were glad to have Miss Winnifred Kydd, president of the W. I. L . ,
as a representative of the peace- loving women of Canada, at this conference,
which met last February and is still in session.
You have read reports of the Conference, You know that the same
arguments that were presented before the Twelfth Assembly of the League
regarding Disarmament were brought forward again and that various plans
of disarmament, based on the Draft Convention, were introduced, but that no
agreement has been reached.
For several weeks the Disarmament Conference had to mark time in
order that the League of Nations might deal with the situation in the Far
East. On March 3rd. a special session of the Assembly was summoned to
adjudicate China's case against Japan, the Council having failed to stop Jap­anese
agression of Shanghai, On March 4th, the Assembly passed a resolu­tion
demanding immediate cessation of hostilities at Shanghai and removal
of the Japanese troops. The Japanese were thus forced to make the best
of a bad matter and evacuate Shanghai.
The Assembly by its prompt action, purged the League from charges of
cowardice and hypocrisy, and restored its prestige.
We hear that the Disarmament Conference has been a failure. What the
Disarmament Conference has tried to do is to carry out Article VIII. of the
Covenant. To limit the air, land and naval forces of 54 States, most of which
still remember the last war, is a stupendous task. One could hardly expect
that this could be accomplished in one session of an Arms Conference.
Since I began this report, it has been announced by the press that Pre­mier
MacDonald of Great Britain, now in attendance at the Lausanne Con­ference
on war debts and reparations, will prapose an armaments truce to
last at least ten years. If this can be agreed upon by the nations, it will
afford a breathing space during which peace- loving people may redouble
their efforts to educate public opinion, for it has been clearly demonstrated
that governments and representatives can go no further than . public opinion
permits.
The women of the Disarmament Conference who represented the organ­ized
women of the world, not only presented peace petitions signed by millions
of women, but they have issued an international Peace Policy. In issuing
this policy, the women have laid down proposals of a technical character,
but more important than that, they have drawn attention to the fact that
practical disarmament and moral disarmament must go hand in hand.
The Women's Institutes of Alberta should be a vital force in shaping
and maintaining in Alberta a sound public opinion in sympathy with the
League of Nations and its splendid endeavors. We of this generation should
exert ourselves to teach the youth of our land the awful tragedy of war and
the beneficent results of peace,
Every thinking person must face the question today— who are responsible
for the world's future peace? Who, if not you and I?
Therefore let us support the League of Nations in our homes and in our
Institutes; let us strive to educate our youth along lines of World Peace,
laj- ing the foundation and rearing the structure on the principles enunciated
by Him at whose birth the angels sang, " Peace on earth; good will among
men."