Cylchgronau Cymru

At the Council meeting on February 19th it was decided, at the request of China, to refer the dis- pute to the Assembly in accordance with Article 15, paragraph 9 of the Covenant. "Consider- ing," ran the resolution almost in the words of the resolution of the Welsh League of Nations Union at Shrewsbury on the 15th of January, "that delegations from every member of the League are now present in Geneva in order to take part in the Conference for the Limitation and Reduction of Armaments, thereby enabling the Assembly to meet at short notice, the Council de- cides that a meeting of the Assembly shall be held on March 3rd." It will be the second time for the Assembly to meet in an Extra-ordinary session. The first special Assembly was that of March, 1926, when Germany applied to the League for admission only to be refused owing to the -insistence of Brazil in claiming a permanent seat on the Council as her price for consenting to Germany's claim to sit on the Council as a per- manent member. The very large number of churches in Wales and Monmouthshire that took part in the passing of a resolution for Disarmament on Armistice Sunday, will be gratified to know that the resolu- tion was duly presented to the President at a Ses- sion of the Disarmament Conference. Scores of memorials were presented during the morning. "Probably," wrote Mr. Donald Grant in the British Weekly, of the memorable session, "the most unique petition handed in to-day was that of the Churches in Wales and Monmouthshire. It is beautifully illuminated and printed by hand in the best Celtic fashion." In Germany 1932 is being recognized as the Goethe year. Goethe was born at Francfort-on- Main on August 28th, 1749. He died on March 22nd, 1832, at Weimar. It is natural that the city of Francfort should take the lead in the cen- tenary of her immortal son-"the head and body of the German nation," as Emerson called him. From March to October a series of celebrations will take place at Francfort, which include in the month of May, at the invitation of Mr. Thomas Mann, the annual meeting of the Commission of Arts and Letters of the League of Nations. On the 28th of August-Goethe's birthday-a fete will take place in which the government of the Reich and all the governments of the separate states will join. The German wireless stations are going to make much of the Goethe celebra- tions, and gatherings in honour of Goethe will be the feature of literary circles in France, in America and in many other countries. Will there be a Goethe celebration in Wales and, if so, what form is it likely to take? The University of Wales missed an opportunity of adding to the world tribute to Goethe by not offering in 1932 an honorary degree, say to Thomas Mann, Ger- many's Nobel prizeman for literature. Such a mark of esteem would have been appreciated in Germany and would have done honour to the University of Wales. Perhaps it is not too late to repair an omission from the University list for 1932 of honorary degrees. Preparations are going forward for the meeting ot the Welsh School of Social Service at Llandrin- dod Wells in the second week of August-the week after the National Eisteddfod. The general subject is "The Challenge to Community Ser- vice." It is a remarkable coincidence that the subject chosen last August for the 1932 School was the theme of the memorable appeal in January by the Prince of Wales. It has become our custom, for the sake of our kindred overseas, to give in the month of March the text of the Children's Message for the year. On May 18-for the eleventh year in succession the Welsh Children's Message will be broadcast by the principal broadcast stations throughout the world. Last year, it will be remembered, the Message was a tribute to Nansen, this year it is to call to mind our indebtedness to the pioneers of the telegraph, the telephone and the wireless -those great men who made of the world a neighbourhood. Of their number was a Welsh- man-David Hughes. The text of the 1932 Mes- sage in English is as follows "With all our hearts we, boys and girls of Wales, greet you, the boys and girls of every other country. The world is like a big village now that we have been brought within hearing distance of each other. "To-day, Goodwill Day, we think of the pion- eers of various nations who wrought so great a miracle, of those who first made it possible to send messages across plains, over mountains and beneath the seas, and of those who gave words wings to fly from continent to continent. These were the heroes of faith and vision who helped to make our world a neighbourhood. "Now the air carries music from many lands and voices in every language, and through our radio services nations may be closer friends. "Let us then, boys and girls, in thought, word anl deed. strive with all our might that the mes- sages sent from our own countries shall always be messages of friendliness and of goodwill." Information concerning the activities of the League of Nations and of the League of Nations Union may be obtained from the Secretary, Welsh League of Nations Union, 10, Museum Place, Cardiff.