SPEECH BY A BISHOP.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 351, 20 March 1922, Page 7

SPEECH BY A BISHOP.

PIioTL'ST \',Y MAYOR OJ-' Al'( KI.ANI)

(Per Press Association.)

AI'CKLANI), March 19,

In a. speech al St. Patrick's concert on I'Yutay i'\oiling, the liighi i!cv. Dr. Liston, Coadjuliiloi' Komaii Lathohe Bishop, binu his parents were driven from the country m which they were bom. and in whicn me\ would have been eoniein lo live, be cause their "loreign masters" del nol want lien men and women peopling their own laud, bul Wished lo us ■ it .;.- a catl.e ranch for snobs of the Kmpire. lie was a native ol New Zeaiano. and loved his country. 'I tie} counl nol sa\ ihai Ireland Intd gut all she asued lor and all that her sons had died lor; mil she had got I lie hi'st llislalliionl of her freedom, and was determined lo have the whole of if. (.Appliiu.se.) 'lhe omnipotent liaud ol Cod nad mad.' Ireland a nation, and while grass grew and water Unwed, Ihere would In; many to fight, and even lo die, it, ortioi lliiit Cod's desires might be realised Ii seemed to Inm providential Unit a man who hail laced difhculties anil carried them so tar was there to see that the rulers of lieinud were not duped by luigland. lie reierred to Ihe men and woman wlio, m the "glorious [Caster ol 1916," were proud to die for iiicir couniry, murdered bj "foreign troops." 'I he\ could not lorgei these men and women, but in order that their dream aboul Ireland might come trite, lh"v ■ ciuitl loi'give. I'll:- Mayor.' M, .]. u. Ciiiihon, has issued the following: -" Ihe speech of llishop Liston calls tor immeiliatu net ion on my part. As Mayor, on behaJi ol the cili/.eiiship. 1 wrote lo the Bishop on Saturday morning, asking him to advise me whether he had been correctly reported. I hough my long experience of the press in Micklaud gives me no cause lo doubt the accuracy of the report. The special, as reported, is a.vowedij and openly disloyal lo King and country, and is an nfi'roul to our citizenship. 1; is seditious, and designedly calculated lo cause a disintegration of all thai Britishers hold dear. It i- a studied in-nll lo the citizenship ,)t ihe I'.mpii'" to which New Zealand is proud in belong. The repudiation ol Knglaiid, the sneering reference lo her as 'a foreign nation,' and the entire disassuciation, with disdain, of the speaker and ihose lor whom he said he spoke, as 'a right' from all that pertains lo the Kmpire, challenge all loyal citizens to raise their voice.-, in protest. The reference to British soldier.- i- 'foreign murderers' is olleusive and unwarrantable. I take this lir.st public opportunity ol saying, with all the emphasis possible, that ihe citizens of Auckland will not tolerate for one minute such a studied and deliberate acl of disloy:dl\ and of iltsull lo Brilisll nipnhood and womanhood. And in milking this intimation. I wish to say thai such a sedition- and ruinous speech will nol be allowed in ihe Auckland 1 own I lull, or in any place which the ciiy administration controls or licenses. The idshop, .and others holding vi"',. ; such as reported .are not lit to longer enjoy the privileges and rights ol our British Commonwealth, and the protection of the British Hag. This speech will be brought under ihe notice ol the At-lorney-Ce'ieral, and n will be my duty lo ad\i-e :hi! City Council lo lake other appropriate action. In ihe meantime, on behalf of the citizens of Auckland, i enter mi emphatic protest in the foregoing let ins."