THE COUNCIL OF CHURCHES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12604, 6 March 1903, Page 6

THE COUNCIL OF CHURCHES.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In my last I wrote "protest too much," not "pretend." No matter: "pretend " is good. The Rev. James Gibb may intend all as bluster and pretension. I would now place a, matter of history before liira and liis co-agitatpw tliat tliey might seo that others have more bravely acted according to their conscience. It came to pa as that the injustice of indirect taxation iras put a?ide by the Now Zealand Government, and each department, whether drainage, defence, or education, had, by direct taxation, to support itself. The Roman Catholics, who had in former times built schools of their own and provided teachcrs out of their own pockets, refused to pay the rate. The Government, which was largely controlled by local preachers of' the different Nonconformist bodies, insisted that the Roman Catholics should pay, and used the strong arm of tlio laiv to compel them. The Roman Catholics pleaded that " as lo»;f C 3 the Education Department drew' its requirements from the consolidated revenue we by our action saved the State .thousands of pounds, though by our conauiajitioa, of dutiable goods i&iough our

large families wo largely contributed to the revenue of the country." The State authorities replied, "Our schools are secular, so aro as fair for tho one as the other." The answer came, "But tho teaching in your schools is permeated with materialism', foT even candidates for Parliament have said that the largo majority of the tcaehcrs aTO unfit to give Biblical' instruction. We are taught by our religion that our young must be rooted and grounded in tho faith. This cannot bo where the best of their time ia given to secular study with the implied teaching that religion is apart from daily life." Tho local preachera urged tho Government- on to enforce the rates, saying, "that the Roman Catholics would be content were it not for the priests." Noiv, yoti good people, who imagine that all martyrdom has been performed by Nonconformists, cam you bring yourselves to imagine that the foregoing may be a true quotation from future history, and is it possible that you aro now demanding what you would not concede to others? Is not tho greater part 1 of tho opposition to religious education the outcome of the jealousy and suspicion of tho local preacher or presbyter or parson? Tho Rev. James Gibb oared not for your analogy of those who would not obey prohibition. Will lie see anything in the Roman Catholic position? Wero he willing to open his mind, ho might be drawn to confess that theirs is tho nobler position. To winningly givo out of their pockets for their faith and conscience is surely a higher kind of martyrdom than to refuse to pay legal rates that your people may havo the privilege of inculcating nihilism. But when the reverend gentleman can descend to talk of A Mr Ncild, it is not likely that my opinions would 1m noticed. Nevertheless, the facta aro as I have stated. In an article published elsewhere I attempted to shoiv how the religious difficulty might bo overcomo in Now Zealand. I placed my opinions before tho lato Dr Stuart in the year 1887. Ho wrote to me in September of that yeai": "I like your via media; there is justice in it." I therefore know that there was one presbvtor who was willing to grant the Boman Catholics somo concession that his own might not be starved.—l am, etc., A. Mourns Babnett. Waitahuna Gully, February 28.