ORGANISING

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 75, 26 September 1917, Page 3

ORGANISING

PROTESTANTS IN POLITICS

BIG MEETING IN TOWN HALL

OBJECTIVE OF ASSOCIATION,

The meeting held in the Town Hall last night for the inauguration of the Protestant Political Association in Wellington was orderly and enthusiastic. Admission was by ticket only. Almost every seat in the hall was occupied, and except for the applause there was no interruption of the speeches. There were at most only two hostile interjections, and the first interjector was very promptly removed. Before the speeches commenced selections were played on the organ by Mr. H. Godier. The Hon. W. Earnshaw, who presided, explained the purpose of the meeting, and proceeded to refer to the attitude of Roman Catholics to education. Education, lie said, should be compulsory for Protestant and Catholic alike. Catholics should have no right to keep their children away from the State schools. "They do not give them as good an education as we give ours. Again and again we have had to reduce the standard of our public examinations to meet them." There was an interjection at this stage, but the interjector was soon suppressed. Mr. Earnshaw continued tiiafc the Catholic clergy firmly believed that their persistence would break aown opposition. Their campaign threatened the disintegration of the national system of education, for how did the Catholics propose to deal with the children of the backblocks, where there were few ■children and no money? Conjointly with this attack on the education system was a systematical attack on the public services—the Post arid Telegraph, the Railways, and Public Works. How long could this figrH go on? The Catholics isolated themselves and • were led apart from the rest of the community. The dangers of this attack could not be averted unless the Protestant people themselves supported the men who fought their battle. For the. consequences of tie warfare the Catholics themselves were to blame for they had fought underground and above ground for 35 year*. (Applause.) NOT FANATICAL ORANGEMEN. "Disabuse your minds," said the Rev. G. Knowles Smith, "that we are fanatical Orangemen out for the blood of every Catholic we can lay our hands on." One of the principles of British citizenship was a man's right to choose his religion. They wondered that the Catholics kept to their religion a-s education increased, but they did not deny their right to do so. For the individual Roman Catholic they had nothing but praise, for he had borne, and was bearing, his part, side by side with the Protestant in the war, and the Catholic padres had done good work 1 in their department side by side with the other padres. Another British principle was the right of any body of people to organise to secure their ends. Becaus* the Catholics were one-seventh of the population was no reason why they should not organise, but they could not deny the same right to the six-sevenths of Protestants. "The chairman has said that we must be careful what we say. So far as I am. concerned, frankly and honestly, I don't care 'that' for the Solicitor-General." One of the finest testimonies to the Protestants was made in Parliament the other day, when a Minister, replying to a question as to why The Tablet was not censored, said there would be a howl from one end of the country to the other. But they knew that the Protestant majority were loyal people, and if it became necessary to deal drastically with any matter they circulated they would agree. Yet why should some of the very nearly seditious matter on the other side be untouched? EXEMPTION OF MARIST BROTHERS. Proceeding to deal with the exemption from military service of the Marist Brothers, Mr. Smith- said that exemption was refused the Society of Friends in Jhe first instance because the Government said every man was required. But now a new Order had arisen, known as Marist ' Brothers. What were they? Were they priests in Holy Orders, or day school teachers? If they were teachers, they should receive no different treatment from other teachers. (Applause.) If they had taken part of their vows, they were the same as Methodist probationary ministers, almost every one of whom was already at the front. (Applause.) The aim of the country was to win the war. (Loud applause.) They must say to the politicians "Hands off, you must go on with the principle that you started with." The farthest compromise that they could make was to regard it as impossible that the Marist Brothers should be exempted as priests, but that they should be regarded as educationalists. Then they could say that no more Protestant teachers should be taken until an equal percentage of Marist Brothers had gone. He moved : "That this meeting of the citizens of Wellington, under the auspices ,of the Protestant Political Association, protests against the injustice which has been done to the public schools of the country by the total exemption till now of Marist Brother* from military service, while the State schools have been required to render, and have rendered, up to 33 per cent, of their male staff. The meeting calls on the Government to end this vicious differentiation in favour of sectarian schools by at once placing a 33 per cent, requirement against the staff of the Roman Catholic schools. The meeting further believes that the mere exemption from now on of all school teachers, as has. been suggested in Parliament, will not meet the situation- unless a sacrifice proportionate to that already made by the public schools be first required.from private schools." This was seconded by the Rev. C. C. Stewart, and carried on a show of hands, with three or four dissentients. NEED FOR ORGANISATION. The. Rev. Howard Elliott, who was received with prolonged applause, said that there appeared to be a desire to perpetuate to posterity all his utterances. The Solicitor-General apparently wished to have some more of his remarks on which to give an opinion. "There is a danger that military necessity may be exalted into a tyranny, and under the plea that we are at war some of the inherent and valuable rights of men may be curtailed at the expense of the Protestants." He heard that there was a petition in circulation to have him suppressed. " You would think I went about the country lighting matches and throwing them into haystacks; butsome others lit the match, and they are tho haystack. . . . We did not want to organise at this time, but we would be defiling our noble heritage if we did not do so." The Catholics had organised politically, and none had denied their right nor accused them of stirring up strife. Some of the newspapers were getting a very sane light on this question. Protestants would rather have organised at any other time, but as they had been forced to choose this time they would not rest until they had organised fi-11 th* Pwtsrtfcftnis o( Naw ZMlaml into one body, tud had forced the poiitkiini 1

to take notice of them. They had tin block Catholic vote, and they would have a block Protestant vote. Within a year, he ventured to say, they would be in a position to see that no man waß returned to Parliament who was not straight on Protestant issues. " REPUBLICANISM." Mr. Elliott proceeded to say that there were people who were seizing this time of war to endeavour to secure advantages at the expense of the rest of the community. In New Zealand there had been a most vicious attack upon the education system. In England the uprising of High Church Anglicanism in its worst form and the attitude of the Catholic Church had forced the organisation of Protestant Associations. In Canada Protestants had been compelled to organise so that conscription might be carried, as Catholics were not doing their part. Australia was in a terrible condition, and Protestants had been obliged to organise to oust these politicians who had brought about the blot of the anti-conscription vote. Conscription would yet be carried there. In South Africa Protestants had to resist a republican movement. All over the Empire there were movements for republicanism and the disintegration of the Empire. From the same office that printed The Tablet there was issued a paper devoted to republicanism. Protestante were fighting not only for their own rights, but for the integrity of the Empire. The Catholic organisation was a challenge which Protestants must head. He referred to the vote on 6 o'clock closing, " when the whole hill slipped away." That vote was the greatest defeat the liquor trade had sustained, and it was not only a defeat for the liquor traffic, but the greatest loss the Catholic Church had yet sustained. CONTROL OF LABOUR. The Protestant Association was not Reform, Liberal, or Labour, it had no views on the Bible-in-schools, and no official view of prohibition. It stood for clean politics and no favour. In the Labour movement with the ideals of which many had great sympathy, an attempt was being • made to secure Catholic domination as it was secured in Australia. In other parts of the Dominion there wa» a preponderance of Catholics on th« union and oentral executives. It was not good that this control should be obtained so that Bom* might send to Parliament her own representatives—not necessarily Catholics. "The best representative that Rove can have in Parliament is a weak-kneed Protestant. It was not a Roman Catholic who introduced the measure in Parliament for the exemption of Marist Brothers. Ido not question Mr. Isitt's sincerity in supporting that measure, but I say that he has to give his reasons for doing so to the 60,000 electors who here, and in other centres, have voted against such exemption." In the public services of the Dominion Catholics had more than their proportion so far as they knew the figures. In the railway service there was discontent because men obtained unfair preferment. There was no other organisation which, could meet this position, except the Protestant Political Association. They hoped to nominate a candidate for each seat at the next election, and return to Parliament a body of vigorous young men who would stand for Protestant rights. (Applause.) On the conclusion of the address, hearty votes of thanks were accorded ths Rev. Howard Elliott and the chairman.