CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17327, 26 November 1919, Page 9

CHURCH GOVERNMENT.

DEBATE ON ENABLING BILL. LONDON. Nov. 7. In the Flrnwfl of Common; the Fnp.hlin* Bill to give the English Church greater freedom in the management of its internal affairs was read a second time by 301 votes to 16. The Bill establishes an ecclesiastical committer drawn from the Privv Council t<i consider Mich measures pasce'd bv the Church Wemblv as require Parliamentary sanction. The committee's report will then he presented to Parliament, but nn measure iv.i! take effect ii.'ecs both Houses present addresses to the Ki.ig. ; Sir Edward Beauchamp. "Cnnlitirm-Lth- : eral, in moving the second reading, pointed . out that many evils in the internal life .of the Church needed removal, and this could best be effected by giving the Church wider powers to deal' with questions of internal welfare. i Mr. T. T. Broad, Coalition-Unionist, moved the rejection of the BiH, contending that if the Church desired freedom a betI ter way was disestablishment. I Major Harry Barries, Coalition-Liberal, ; in seconding the rejection, described the , proposals as purely Bolshevik. i Lord Robert Cecil. Unionist, emphasised , that no right or privilege was taken from I anybody. ] Sir Donald Maclean, Leader of the. Inde--1 pendent Liberals, opposed the suggested method of electing church assemblies. " It , was a question for Parliament to decide. j Mr. Bonar Law said that disestablishment could not come for years; therefore the question was whether the Bill would Ihelp to make the Church a more useful weapon in fighting eviL a