MR. T. E. TAYLOR AND CHURCH INFLUENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 893, 12 August 1910, Page 6

MR. T. E. TAYLOR AND CHURCH INFLUENCE.

Sir,—Amongst the wise sayings of tho ancient Hebrews occurs the following:— "Seest thou a man hasty in his words; there is more hope of a fool than of him."

I am afraid, if this be true, there is little hope of Mr. T. E. Taylor. With a little trouble ho might have attained correct information, but that little trouble he has disdained to take. If he be correctly reported in your issue of this morning, he affirmed in Parliament that a very powerful deputation consisting of prominent men in connection with tho Presbyterian Church waited on the Government, aml_ pressed the Government not to dismiss Mr. Dinnie. Now I happened to be one of the speakers on the deputation referred to, and, as far as I am aware, I was the only Presbyterian speaker out of four. The majority of the members of the deputation were strangers to me, and I am unacquainted with their religions leanings, but I can vouch for it that I can identify only four of those present besides 'myself as being connected with tho Presbyterian Church. The fact was that Church influence had nothing whatever to do with the composition of tho deputation. Tho gentlemen who took part were there as citizens of New Zealand, exercising a right which belongs to every citizen in the land. .

Again, what tho deputation did was done with the most transparent openness. We wero asked' if we desired reporters to be present, and we answered "Yes." Next day tho account of our representations was in all the papers. ■ Again, and most important of all, what we asked for was not that tho Government should not dismiss Mr. Dinuie, but that the Government should give Mr. Dinnie fair play. We never questioned the right of tho Government to.dismiss any public servant proved to bo unfit for his duties. We simply asked that Mr. Dinnio's reply to the accusations made against him by the Royal Commisfiouer should be given fair consideration. And what we asked for on behalf of Atr. Dinnie, Mr. Dinnie did not receive. When was Mr. Dinnie's rejoinder to tho R-oyal Commissioner's report discussed in Parliament? In a printed pamphlet, lilear, concise, and logical, Mr. Dinnie made out a strong prima facie case, warranting his readers to conclude that' the report of the-Royal .Commissioner was, in many important respects, not justified by the evidence. But the controversy between Mr. Dinnio and the Royal Commissioner was never adjudicated on by Parliament. When occasion serves, the divinity which doth hedgo a king is nothing to tho divinity that doth hedgo a Royal Commissioner. Mr. T. E. Taylor apparently accepts Mr. Bishop's report as final. He bows down beforo it himself, and evidently expects everyone else to do the same. ; And yet Mr. Taylor can dcscribo the report of tho Timber Commission as consisting of "hundreds of pages of piffle." I have pleasure in assuring Mr; Taylor, through you, sir, that there is one citizen in this country whose contempt for the recent Polieo Commission report exceeds Mr. Taylor's contempt for the Timber Commission report as much as the light of the 'sun excoeds that of tho moon.

I have yet to learn that because I happen, to be a Presbyterian I am debarred from the exercise of the ordinary rights of a citizen of the country, and I trust that Mr. Taylor will mako his apology for his unwarranted statements as public and as explicit qs the unwarranted statements themselves—l am, etc., J. GIBSON SMITH. Wellington, August 11, 1910.