Hawke's Bay Herald TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1886.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7528, 31 August 1886, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald TUESDAY, AUGUST 31, 1886.

THE PROCESSIONS BYE-LAW. If the misguidoil peoplo who call themselves the Salvation Army ijesjre, to alienate all sympathy they could not,' adopt more certain means than tlieir conduct after the Resident Magistrate gave his decision jn tl>e cases heard before him yesterday. Witliout importing into the present aspect of tho question any referenco to the quality of the bye-law, it is evident, unless all principles of local government and of ordor are to be swept aside at the kidding of a small hut fanatical and noisy mob, that the bye-law should hp obeyed while it is in existence. Tlio 'Council, rightly or wrongly (wo think rightly, hut that may bo eliminated from the controversy), passed a bye-law, the Court of Appeal decided that the byelaw was legally made, and the peculiar organisation before referred to resolved to ignore the bye-law and tlio Court of Appeal hoth. That is a brief but correct .statement of the case. The contest is between the properly constituted •authorities "of the town, and an

irresponsible body of people who claim to be acting at the dictation of the Authorof 1 the universe. Now it is. very evident that t the Council have' notliing. to do with the. , theological aspect of the.case. The bulk- 1 of the people of ,Napier ; imay be going ' headlong to destruction,' and the Army | and their' marchings may be the only j means by which those in danger of perish- f ing eternally may be saved, hut it is beyond the province of the Conncil tomeddle > with that. As a body representing tlie ratepayers they are endowed with certain ' powers, and in the exercise of those powers '-■ they seek to. control the streets.-. If. they, t are wrong, or even if right and yet acting c distastefully to a majority of tlie rate- Jj payers, it is certain that they must shape ' their actions so that they accord with . the • j opinions of the citizens. At present there 1 is no evidence that the great mass of .the' ratepayers *do not agree with, tlve ntoces- I sums bye-law. It therefore exists, and "i whileitexistsmustbeobeyed. Those who hold a different opinion are really in favor ■ of anarchy, forif bye-laws can be set aside j by those who dislike them, without refer- f ence to the governing powers of the town, s it must be clear to the most dense that ' license and disorder would at once set in.. ■ The duty, of lavy-abiding persons is to obey all laws in existence, even if they^are ] considered* bad ones, exertins; the right possessed by all of agitating in favor of j the repeal of any obnoxious law. {The j Salvationists do tlie reverse of this, iand* ;1 with what would be considered insolence 1 in others, but which is claimed byjthe < Army to be piety,' flout their disorderly ! .conduct in the teeth of the ■ authorities, j Now, the contest being between Ithe Council, and a mob, the latter should learn 1 to be obedient beforo they ask for portcessions, and' the Council, if for.no higher \ motive than to preserve its own dignity, must demand and enforce that obedience before the ideaof concession is entertained. This is the only reasonable view 'oc the case, and although a few unreasonable persons may ref use to admit this, and may utter much fustian to prove themselves unreasonable, there is room for congratulation in the fact that the wiser sort are in the majority. Suppose, for instance, that a majority of the Councillors were in favor of rescinding the bye-law,, it would be their bounden duty before acting to first enforce the law and cause those who break it to cease doing so. Otherwise it is not the Council rescinding a. law.' they think' but of 'place, but it is a few fanatics usurping governing functions by refusing, to obey properly constituted authority, and setting it at defiance in order that they may render it inoperative, . The Salvationists must be taught that the Municipal Council is the governing body | of the town,' and' he made to show that theyhave learned the lesson by rendering obedience. -Then, and not till tl.en,i unless anarchy is to prevail, can thej Salvationists rightly expect concessions,'' or the Council rightly grant them. A few, people who' should, and' probably do, know better, may clamor and rant, but it may be hoped that all sensible people will hold aloof. Turning to the contention that, the byelaw infringes upon the liberty .of the subject, it may be observed that Mr Justice Richmond recently spoke on that question .when delivering the judgment qf the Appeal Court. • What he said was so pertinent, so full of common sense, and so well expressed that every person feeling an interest in the discussion" should read it. But there was one aspect of the case that he only- barely touched upon, aud tbat is worthy of a little remark. The Salvationists, apparently full of their own self importance, and of tho delusion which leads them. .to consider themselves "called" to teach mankind, show hy their actions that they have hot the faintest idea of real liberty.' They think — or at •all events, they say — that liberty is endangered if they are not allowed to dp as they like in the matter of noisy processions. Now, apart froni the liconse they claim and the things they do being so repulsive to the feelings of a majority of the citizens that they are annoyed, there are more direct means by which tbe Salvationists make themselves a really dreadful nuisance. . A. short tiriie ago a wellknown citizen died after lying ill a few days. His residence was in Hastings- • street, and . every night while he lay * dying did * the Salvationists march past , the house, making all kinds 'of hideous noises. .Probably the fanatics who did' this may he* so infatuated with the desire to do as they think proper, that they would retort that they were not informed of the illness, and were not requested to cease making their usual din.. But surely things have come to a pretty pass if quietude for the sick or dying can only be obtained by permission bf a few foolish. men and women who delight in ' great noise's! There are many persons always lying sick in Napier, as is proved by the fact that sevep medical men in the town have each a large practice, without counting many poor folk who obtain medical treatment from the hospital. Now if facts can.be deduced from facts, it may" be conceded even by the most rabid Salvationist, that thore are always many persons to whom quietness is as necessary as food and medicine. Must these persons or their friends apply to tlie Army for a permit to be sick ? Or must the quietness so necessary bo at the mercy of a few people who think it tlieir duty to wear funny uniforms, blow trumpets and trombones, and beat drums in order that men may be saved from hell ? This view of thp subject,, that other people have rights and feelings as well as the Salvationists, will probably not trouble the latter much. They have their notions of their own importance, and of the still greater (if possible) ' importance of the noises they, make, and probably nothiug . in the shape of reasoning will affect them. But although " Everybody do as I like " may be a good Salvationist motto, and also one considered worthy of adoption by a few stupid persons who abet the Army because of extremist views on religious questions, the reasonable among the residents of the town, are fortunately on the side of order dnd justice.