THE CHURCH AND LABOUR

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 261, 28 July 1908, Page 6

THE CHURCH AND LABOUR

WHAT LABOUR EXPECTS OF THE CHURCH. CANDID CRITICISM BY MR, D. M'LAREN. Not long ago the Rev. J. J. North, as a delegate from the Council of Evangelical Churches, visited tho Trades Hall, and addressed the representatives of Labour. Last evening tho Labour party returned tho visit, and its representative, Sir. D. M'Laren, delivered a striking address on "What Labour expects frosn tho Church" in tho Y.M.G.A. rooms, boforo a largo- and attentive audience. The Rev. W. J. Williams, President of tha Council of Churches, occupied the chair, and several Nonconformist ministers were also • present. Mr. M'Larcn , was introduced to tho meeting by the chairman, and prefaced his address by'referring to a prevailing misconception as to tho attitudo of tho Labour party towards religion; it's members had. been stigmatised as being frivolous, but he would tell them that there were in the ranks of the party men who wero as earnest, sincere, and spiritually-minded as many of those within tho churches. The recent Trades and Labour Conference had_ included within tho list of topics for consideration certain aspects of gambling—gambling in land, on tho exchange, on production, oil lifo itself. These were not questions torching upon their immediate purpose as a'Cuervo ce, out they had faced them. Tho Cn.iieli, he had been glad to note, had, in similar fashion, recently shown a tendency to investigate questions other than theology. It had evidently realised that to move the people it must study and understand tho life of the people.. Ho would refer them to that period in England's industrial history when child labour in the mines and in the factories was rife. When children six and seven years of ago were tp be seen chained to coal-trucks in tho mines, or worked in shifts in tho factories, where bods wore provided for the alternate shifts to sleep in. That was wheu Capital was free. Tho vital political question of that time had been, as Carlyle had said, tho "Bread and Butter Question." The Labour party considered the Church as a whole, not as an aggregation of various creeds: in tho ranks at the workers were included all creeds, but those ranks 'were 0110' united whole. What did Labour expect from tho Church? There was a feeling among tho masses that nothing could be expected from the Church, and that all that Labour had to say to Her was, "Wo ask nothing of you— will you kindly get out of our way." This attitudo of mind could only havo one mean- .- ing. It meant - that Labour had ' something, and* had been disappointed. LABOUR.EXPECTS FAIR PLAY. Firstly, said the speaker, Labour. wanted! fair play from the Church; some of those who were associated with tho ■ Church were so far from grunting fair play to the workers ■ that they wero actually unfair. -,A certain clergyman had once been asked, during a strike of tho workers, to conduct a servico on behalf of their women and children. Tho preacher held tho service, and, taking for his texb some passage, about "a certain man having waxed fat and kicked," delivered a sermon the gist of which was that tho workers wero naughty boys, • meriting duo punishment. But the workers reserved to themselves the right to withhold their labour, and so had incurred the displeasure of tho Press. THE RIGHT TO STRIKE. The right to strike was their only weapon. What would be thought of a statesman who, in advocating international arbitration, laid aside his weapons? He would bo called a fool. Tho right to strike was their ultimate defence—their only defence. Labour, con- . tinued the speaker, expected the Church ■ to protect the weak against the. strong, no ■ -matter whether tho weak;wero in the. right ! or in tho wrong. Th&t was ono of tho principles of Christianity. y.Wh'y should tho i weak bo judged as to the Tights or wrongs . of their cause? Who, he asked passionately, ■ made ■ them . judges and rulers .'.over their . fellows? He did not suggest, chat the Church, -should tako sides with, tho weak' in , doing ' wrong, ■ .but what ho" did expect 'was' that' tho' weak—the workers—should bo protected from the rapacity and greed of ! the capitalists. Was tho Church free from tho -bondage of such men? That could only be if the Church, as a body, was prepared to attack any great institution which was guilty of demoralising practices. THE TEST OF CHRISTIANITY. It was a fact, said Mr. M'Lareu, that tho worker preferred, to remain outside 'tho Churches. There was a reason for this. Ho stood aloof because he saw men admitted to church membership who wero not fit to-as-sociate with him. There were men in tha churches 'whoso lives wero an insult to hu- ' manity, and a menace to pure womanhood, i Labour expected the Church to do something to remove this stumbling-block to moral progress. The Standard Oil King—John D. Rqckfeller—was a member of tho Christian Church, a Sunday School Superintendent, in close communion with I religion all through; ho (tho speaker) would toll them that this man had taken tho simple gospel of Jesus Christ, mid turned it into the. language of the Stock Exchange—tho tiling was blasphemous. (Hear, hear.) Tho Church should take this man and show him tho door. (Hear, hear.) SIX DAYS SHALT THOU LABOUR. Tho Church preached a six-day working week, with tho seventh as a day of rest. So did the Labour party. But as a representative." of Labour, ho would tell them that, here, in Now Zealand, many men wero compelled to work seven days per week". Labour looked to the Church for support in this question. CHRISTIANITY AND ECONOMICS. Science was not opposed to Christianity. Tho two wero related. Tho science of economics, , for example, was an influence in Christianity. Could a man be a Christian on £1 per week? (A Voice: No I) Tliero was an aspect of economics tho Church might well investigate. A certain religious body—tho Christian Social Onion—had so far gone into tho science of social economics as to have evolved revolutionary ideas —as revolutionary as any Socialist in New. Zealand. This:was because'they had been brought face to face with tho truth. V DOWN TO BED ROCK.. What they wanted then, concluded tho speaker, was that tho Church should como down from tho clouds of theological abstraction and .learn the language of everyday life. This was-the twentiethi'pentury, not tho first. Then, and not till theirs would there exist a closer relationship betweeli tho Church and Labour. (Applause.)' QUESTIONS ANSWERED. Tho Chairman (Rev. W. J. Williams) then invited somo members of the Council of Churches to reply to Mr. M'Laren, and complimented the speaker on his courteous, kindly, and effective address. The Rov. A. Thomson, of l'qtone, in a brief address, urged the workers' to rise to the'level of tho Church. Tho Church could not como down from her high ideals. It was for tho workers to enter the churches, become members, office-bearers, and take a real and-per- | sonal interest in Christian work. Mr. Jl'Laren had referred to the hours of labour. But what did a worker who had risen to bo a small contractor frequently do? ■ Did ho' content himself with an eight hours' day?. No, ho often put in sixteen hours a day. Why? Becauso ho was greedy. What they'had to do was to elevate economics to a spiritual atmosphere. (Laughter and applause.) At this stage, tho Rev. J. J. North suggested that questions bo submitted to Mr. M'Larcn. - There was 110 timo for speeches. 111 reply to a question from tho Rev. Mr. Porter as to whether thero was any real enthusiasm among the workers for spiritual ideals, Mr. M'Laren said that there was a good deal of confusion as to what exactly spirituality meant. Tho jrapular idea of spirituality was nothing more than cheap sentimentality, and this, rightly or wrongly, had been expressed by the workers as being the Gospel of the Church. was some- - thing higher than that. It implied the . brotherhood of mail, tho universal application of tho words: "Love thy neighbour, which was 'equal in meaning to the 'scientific doctrine that man was tho product of his species.