INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 633, 9 October 1909, Page 6

INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.

—— ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH TO LABOUR AND CAPITAL. STRIKING ADDEESS BY BISHOP NELIGAN. (By iTeltcrapb.—Special OorreflpondenU . ■ Auckland, October 8. .The moral witness of the Church, regarding industrial and social problems formed the main portion of the . animal charge delivered to his diocese yesterday :by the Anglican Bishop of Auckland (Dr, Neligan). The following is an outline of his remarks on this subject:— Social and industrial problems vary to an extraordinary. oxtenL Tho problems in England or, it may be, in America are not those of.Aew Zealand. Each country has its own problems, and had;to work them out in its own way._Tite.mofe attention ono gives to such considerations the . more one is conscious of the gravity of the questions at issue,; the more one is amazed at' the glib utterances, on one side

or the other, of politicians and reformers of a certain order;' tke more bhe' is'ahiious about national character when one hears, of or reads appeals, from one side or the other, which, no' matter, how attractively they may be expressed,' aire appeals to,"uhdilutod selfishness' and class, interest, at;bottbrn!'-:i ' '^The.f^ct,that.giich a; term be' l^ed .accufately ,to : connote' a condition of existence 'for: human beings unimapnable by those who have never seen it, is a discredit to our whole social fabric and a serious indictment, against our teaching of the blessed religion of |The Incarnation. But to use this term, with anything like similar meaning, to describe conditions of .industry in this, country, is an ex.agtera'tibh of'languagi"b.f"a blameworthy, char-; acter. . ... ■. . .',''. , ; ; ;;, „ Responsibility of tho Buyer.' ■ ! But, having said thus much,; the very allusion to sweating iu the Old Country suggests'a whole train of thought. concerning' our moral responsibility for. the. continuance there of the conditions broadly! described -by this malevolent word.- . I mean, in-this way:—Youjbuy in .a shop' an article manufactured ih New. Zealand, you may : grumble\at its apparent as compared with a similar ahd cheaper artiole from' Home; you may possibly think the Homemade article better made, but put against these possible growls . this entirely glad and thankworthy fact: ' that New. Zealand made' article was jmanufactured. under humane conditions of labour, "hot ?under, "conditions - that possibly ' mean, tho life-blood of a'. human - beings •Well,'all this',ib ,a\tHihg' 'to' rejoice this particular point of view. ' Now'"consider J the moral responsibility of tho purchaser; consider it as it,is'to-day owing, to the,.almost in-, extricable complexity of modern'industrial ahd commercial life. For one causo or other,'good' or. bad, you "buy':the cheap - article—the thing that is called "a marvel of cheapness." Where do yon; stand/,morally, jas.to the conditions. in 'England, America, or elsewhere, under which, that article has been produced? Has the purchaser, or has ,he not. any moral responsibility in the matter.at'all?:. If he has—as, personally, ■I ; sincerely i believe- I —.how ,'is he to dis-; charge' ; it?,.- There is, the real crux of, the whole,., thing: how aro we to know?, what .:can ' 'wd ': do even if we know? Here .in New Zealand "we are 13,000 miles away from ,■ the., centre, and. so the complication is increased; but 'tiat.is not an excuse for refusal of ■ effort'to discharge a moral re.sponsibiUty. . "The Christian man or. woman' can .bring 'pressure to bear .in such wise that, as a more . ..matter of business, the seller of articles, stained, with the life-blood: of the 6v;eated, will- find that'in -New Zealand there is no marked for .them. I am sure that the mcrU result of.asking questions, of,being inquisitive, when buying an article because of its cheapness, is qfute'good. Much of our New Zealand industrial legislation is simply admirable; but*::unless we think .of' morals as; well as legislation; whilo priding ourselves on ,'our advanragesi'we may quite'easily neglect the principles .'of"industrial slavery and physical sufiering upon men, women, and children of our own as well: as -other, races, ~ . •

1 TheDemocraticMovement. Eesolution 44 of the Lambeth Conference states: .'. ~ f'The 'conference: recognises the ideals of brotherhood whioh- underlie the democratic movement of this centuryand, remembering ' our Master's example . in proclaiming .: the inestimable value of every ;human being in the'sight of God, .calls -'upon.-.the":Church''.to show, sympathy with the -movement,.'in so -far as it strives to procure just treatment for all, and a real opportunity of living a true human, life; and by its sympathy to,cominend to' the movement the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ,: in whom- all '. the : hopes ofhuman society.' are °Has : or' lias not tlie Church seriously, endeavoured " to win the sympathy and regard of those' who ' seek ah ' ideal'.' go' largely in. accord with ; the Lord's own principles t And by. the term," the Church" I would, for the. present purpose, connote more, than the Anglican Communion; .by .this term "I: mean now,organised' Christianity.. On that wide basis I; believe that-it is true: to history to adopt the words of :the'committee and to assert that the new democracy is ."apt jo'leave organised: relipon whoUy on; one . side." ' _ i NOwj it is just hero;.whero I find it hard to, striko a balance. . ' As.T read .the , historical facts oh' ; one side of .action and 'in-: action; on . the pajt. of organised Christianity which appears: to. ;be' wholly blamoworthy'i on the other - side-: the same action or- inaction appears- to:. be. .wholly praiseworthy. My thoughts :o"ri' the position , are the outcome : of personal .touch with competition run ; riot in the' Old Country, and with Collectivism: beginning to run'riot in a hew- country. Whon' I lived in'the[ Old Country, I firmly, believed in legislation as. .th'e panacea for all industrial probloms.. : Thankful as I' am for much of our industrial 'legislation here, I am bound to confess'; that, having , spent the best ' part of seven years - in : -'close touch with lifo nere, I do not boliovo, ■ "as 'confidently as I did, in legislation alono producing either, more brotherly feeling, between Labour and Capital, or in Collectivism, ih its evolution up to to-day, reducing the output of selfishness. The separation botween organised Christianity and organised, Labour, evident to-day, is partly to he depldred, foi- it is the inevitable result. of lack .of • sympathy on, tho part of organised '.'Christianity; of : all' sorts, with the efforts of Dein6craby towards securing the op-, portunityi for-aU'-'mon of .living-a true human life. 1 Organised',: Christianity was not' alivo to its responsibilities in, the oarly days of tho democrtitip' movement; individuals were, tho 'organisation' was inot- This element in the Situation is to. be deplored. ' For its. neglect of .opportunities, organised Christianity .-'suffdw-'i to-diuj and, so fax as tha ijigiicaa fiupli is ]

concerned, its suffering is remedial because of ira true penitence. But, admitting to the full and with shame, all this; yet I do not personally wholly deplore the present day separ-, ation between organised .Christianity and organised Capital on the one side, or organised •Labour on the other. ' A Healthy Sign. It is a healthy evidence of vigorous religion when, in its organised form, it dares to stand alone and proclaim tho truth of Tho Incarnai° n if .'ne grand blessed principle of life applicable aliko_ to men of Capital and of Labour. That is what—to limit tho view-the • § tl £i n .S" u '. 011 " doing to-day. Next, organlsed. Christianity at the bidding or under tho domination of either organised Capital or organise! Labour may, for a time, retain its Christianity' " cer4a ' n * y ' ' t its Hideous Materialism." , t - The real anxiety for organised Christianity If" . not much, if at all, that organised Camtal may capture it and use it for its own 6 nZL 1 i 5! l low best and most effectively to stem the hideous materialism, the direct product'of luxury and wealth, which is eating; into tho heart of national life,in

' English-speaking world, sapping the foundations of character, worshipping Mammon, rejecting God. revealed in Christ. The main cause for the aloofness .of organised. Labour from ojrgunised/.Christianity is far less ; .subtle and dangerous*than that producing.the;aloof-' ness,. where ;it obtains, ot organised Capital. Organised Capital, in certain parts.-6f r ',thb. world to-day,. is not troubled over .the,'credibility ot the Christian Kevelation; it: has taught itself to believe that religion is unnecessary. The pit whence such a frame •of mind H digged is bottomless. Organised La-' bour may, and sometimes does, assert that religion is incredible. That is a far less dangerous mental attitudo than, that of: Religion is - unnecessary.. The 1 ' dominant., organisation, Capital or Labour, that lives its'life on'such•a belief- must, sooner or later, absolutely ruin 1 ' the country-in which it is supreme/ Organised Capital.provides the illustration on-the' most dramatic t'o-dajr. Organised. Labour is not wholly, freo-i of-infection from the same deadly . disease. Materialism, as a practice, ia not confined: to the customs of life of the capThe. practice- finds other forms • of. exhibition in-tW customs of. life of the democrat. The creed of Materialism is: Ecligion i 3 unnecessary. I 1 . - • • Labour and Religion. The separation between organised Christianity and, organised labour does not mean, that the labour, movement (as for convenience :we shall .now call it) is in itself eithei. atheist, 'tio, _ anti-Christian,. or unaffectedby-.Chris-, tianity. -The'lifting power of the labour movement, in. the^,direction of national. righteous-, noss, derives its force not from politics, but. from Christianity.. The strength is-that issuing from religious '.men. I hold it simply to be .untrue ;to . assert that the artisan, : me-, chanio, workman of • various trades, is, as such,' alienated from or antagonistic ■to the Christian Revolation. Apart from any other, form of' organised Christianity, ray own experience, both as a parish priest in different parts of England and as a bishop in New Zealand, has -been " such as to establish quits firmly in my. own ' mind the, conviction that some of our best, most loyal-hearted and humble-minded churchmen arc to be found' among men . who, in true meaning, belong to the ranks of Labour.

Now, the other side: The labour movement at times makes an appeal, not to our Lord, but,'to utter selfishness and absolute class-in-terest. When such an appeal is made, organised Christianity can have nothing to do with it as,.an, organisation. The labour movement at times;'-in its preaching 'of the' gospel of environment as tho only gospel, runs so counter to the teaching of' our- Lord about character that organised Christianity is bound to stand aloof from it and to oppose tho ex-, aggerated teaching as being alike religiously and philosophically fal6e. '

■ Christianity and P4rty Politics. ' The' labour movement at times must be a political movement: only through legislation can certain things it deems necessary be accomplished. An alliance between organised Christianity - and a political party may, conceivably, benefit the political party; but it will destroy the spiritual effectiveness of the Christian. organisation which, as a church, enters into such ' an 1 alliance. . The modes of operation of a church and a political party are whether for weal or. woe, essentially different,.; .. .. .

_ There.are,elements in onr,New,Zealand in-, dustnar, legislation for which any Christian man cannot fail to be thankful to God.: There are, at thfe_ same time, features and tendencies in our legislation and our public life which must make any Christian man fearful, of■ the national-'consequences, unless we: get back and right down to the heart of all life: God re-Y«aled-'/to : man in "Christ. . legislation, by . it-* self may,, and often does,;.produce' humaneness of condition of .labour; but,', however admirable, it cannot secure humanity as between, man and man, it does not. neoessarily promote brotherly'.love and kindlv sympathy. \ National righteousness can only be the. expression of individual' righteousness. The fount, origin, source,' strength of •' individual righteousness is belief, .hope, trust,' life in onr Lord - Jesus Christ as the .Only' Son of God and the Saviour of the world. The Moral Witness of 'the Church w to ; proclaim that truth...