THE LEAGUE OF. NATIONS AND THE • UNEMPLOYED
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—A group Of unemployed men (of whom there are two thousand in York) conceived the idea of forming a club in which definite instruction, regularly given, on the- work and aims of the League of Nations should be the corner-stone. This -aim,'they suggested, should be embodied in the constitu- tion of the club. Acting on this suggestion, a group of pro- minent citizens, including the Lord Mayor and Sheriff of York, the President of the York Rotary Club and the eminent industrialist, Mr. Seebohm Rowntree, issued a local appeal for support of this pioneer enterprise. A central room near to the Labour Exchange has been obtained from one of the city churches, and the local Rotary Club in pursuance of their Sixth Aim (International) is helping the venture financially.
Assisted by the men on a contribution scheme (twopence per week) the promoters intend to run the experiment on the simplest poisible lines and with the utmost economy. It is intended that the club be Self-governing, with a committee elected from the men themselves in conjunction with the League of Nations Union Committee (York branch).
With the economic issues of the unemployment problem the. enterprise can in no sense concern itself. " Britain's devastated territory," as the unemployed have been termed, must in the long run be reconstructed internationally, but the more closely one associates with the unemployed at the moment the more one realizes that the crying need in the majority of cases is for a means of occupation and self- expression in enforced leisure, so that the otherwise inevitable deterioration may be arrested.
This enforced idleness should not be scrapped as so much waste product, but should be used constructively for the ultimate good of the whole community.
It is, - of course, open to various social service agencies in their respective districts to avail themselves of the unique educational opportunity offered . by this vast untilled field, but in York the local branch of the League of Nations Union was the first to -stake its claim. In that city membership of the club entails membership of the League of Nations Union.
In this pioneer venture one sees a dual purpose : first, to consolidate League opinion in the very ranks where it is most needed, and where the leisure• to digest it is greatest. As Sir Eric Drummond, Secretary-General of the League of Nations, stated in your issue of November 3rd : "The man in the street is not yet fully awakened to the vast importance of International questions as affecting his country, his family; and himself. In most countries he knows little of the League beyond the mere fact of its -existence." Second, by Occupying and educating these Men, to restore hope and self-respect, and to give them once more a definite sense that they are Still responsible and useful citizens of the Empire.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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