SOCIALISM AND THE CHURCHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2842, 2 September 1908, Page 17

SOCIALISM AND THE CHURCHES.

THE REV. W. BLADE'S ADDRESS.

SOCIALISTS . JN REPLY.

After taking the presidential chair for the coming year, at the annual meeting of the Council of Churches on the 24tb> the Eev. W. Slade. eaid tihat it had been .proposed to •make these meetings topical, and that only *bout a quarter of an hour be devoted to routine work. He had made the BUR«estion, lead on the old- Braconi|n principle had done so with f the baiter Totmd his neck." iße Ind been* re«jueeted ' to lead off, eund did bo with " Socialism and the Ohurch" — ■.^biflf Bubjwt foTone; ttddrese. When be came to look at "tES" question he had dieo'oTOred that it waa^a.: bip Question, and hi» Address mujt .thejrf#ore.».<:bG.se fragmenterjr one. The Sooialifinrbi tp-|ay was for the (betterment of t&e poor "toilers of mankind. The Old-T ~ ' — ~ttn tne'

~ie v. -■.. rraa swturacea Ttu ©ry'of the poor.*- HwtorjHtiad ptdir?fceml been written 6n sensible lines, MeJlinfc^»BtA the people instead of kings and the intrigues pLftourtiers. We got little glimm^f. her# ij«3 ttiere of UU%^&kj&* oi£|ndja during; the, famine, suffe.redi < -^i»ifl fiouuil moremenV was just on© £orm ©t. dtln& o||^£ thji .j^cjr. tSo' fast as ,jt -was th»ii|jft< xdnit oofidfaand we sympathy of ©vets GB^stiac man «nd every man whose beam fctttft for his fellows. There wae no manual . bipbciarlism, but national writers agreed on \ <*jjmnon things. The Socialism of ito-dlay jflif not that of 25 years ago; that wap tie Bjwirffltio * .SoiSialiem. The' advocates of fiomalism had oome to Bee that* the anarahjc method waa"not going to aooomriHeh their Ibjecfa. H. G. Welle, Webb, and Mr JBlatchford had certain general outlines pn (which they agreed. The speaker went on to lletadl the accepted propaganda of modern Socialism, showing that the comprehensive aim "boiled down" meant the elimination of private ownership. Mr H, G. Wells eaid: "Collective ownership is the necessary corolldry of collective responsibility. There ajne tt>- be no private landowners, no private > bankers or lenders I of motu&y* no private insurance oompaniea, i no private railway owners,, no private ship- i ; ,"pjng 'ownera, no mime ownena, no oil kanns or silver king*, coal or wheat forest&llers, an<f 'the like." ' In the transference the Soojalists made, a distinction between Trroductfve r «nd' consumable property, but •■ emferaeid JiJ all "' lftwJ, dwellings, money, - machinery, \ produce, newspapers, booke, arid works of art, leaving the xonsumable- property, t-& man's -clothes . (" We ahould be glad to Jtnow that") and the like foj; » nian,'s personal use. > After all, the Stale was but tKe collective individual, and the confiscation' tne^jry broke" down; for 1 who would vote/ away hie own property? Jh England mfei'Saw ■that to 'talk of confiscation J would 'be' a>'bat . to Socialism, bo they spoke of oompenaation; but then it became apparent tbat-tli* . State, couldh not buy out evej>j*hinfp-. »nd 'everybody. Now* jtbe, poci%U»tet.,weEe 4 ,attompiing to alter, "or .abolisji', fs»e right of - iahefiteince-^everythin*?, io jzo %<i fhe State. Thus Socialism was trying to .get in, between «< man and his heir. Thfe' wae f only confiscation under another name, or at best a graduated confiscation. This -'movement on the Continent was confronted- witbjanany difficulties on account sof* the wide diottib^u.iion of propertrsr, working' in^-the, opposite .■way to the prophecy of the first German (Socialist, who had declared that a few bijs capitalists would absorb everything. What did Socialism offer in return? The aboli* iion of monarchy, universal suffrage, direct parliamentary rule without intervention of i the Cabinet, reduction of the official class, j •veryone to be supplied with work or its equivalent, bread; the State to regulate <work and how man; men shall do *hat work. He a»ked them to see how this would work out. The State would enter . [both into their inner and outer life. How , .Srpuld Socialism affect religion? The Con- i "tinental Socialists were nearly all Free- ! thinkers. Where the Roman Catholio -jDhuToh was paramount this feeling was the j ftron»est. They h«d Mr Blatchford with |is blatant Clarion cry. *>U* woat,®M<b6h Bopalists were prepared not -to touch, rehKion. The position on the ComMatfttL »f« ifhat *li churohee would be disest*bli«hea| ; TeUfrion would be allowed, but in 4, oon- | temjJtuous fashion. Their aim waft to. make | jthk earth so comfortable that men would • &ye no ihought of heaven, and they looked . forward to the time when religion would ' nb ksiger influence the mind of man, and Voiltd disappear of itself. What amount t pf .liberty- would the individual enjoy in , |be Socialist state ; aqd supposing this *tat« •^arrived, what effect, would it ohar-' 1 #Ot«rf The question was here in Dunedin. , 'Be had heard men speaking earnestiv at' 1 jjhe |ou«ta.in, majcing, perhaps uncojisoious, ' sonverts; and what; was the attitude 1©!1 ©! Chei; chuj3?hei? They ifcnust preach raof^ insis-. : *fnWy $ban. ev^r that yod -is tbe creator rat the world ; on man's aval nature ; of the ' we to come.- Qne sign pf the tames was a, CaUing oil in energy and intensity. There

did cot seem to be the glow in young 1 preachers that there used to be: no passion ; only calm intellectuality. The Church sometimes seemed to waste time over email matters! For instance, the solemn conclave of bishops on a certain occasion. 'What had it' been for ? Not for a great burning question, but whether incense be swung during the sermon, or how should the sacrament be administered. Thousands who moved out- ' eide that building had never heard, the j Creator's name except in blasphemy. i " Nero is fiddling and Borne is burning." While men were wandering away from God, that was the business of the Church. But-- th© c , churches must not rush, past- such questions afe Socialism as being outside tneir . province. They had . , a housing problem here in Dunedin. -They had little slums, in one part of the -oky where boys aq4. girls could not be brought up and re'iain^^ihfiir modesty.' They must not- be me*ly-nk>uthed. Like the Athenians, they hadv been "too religious." There were mhhSJjO" rt<to*-qf the Puritan movement that he^amch regretted. The Church of God Juhgtuft touch the great activities and so xlear with the great mass of men. He ! wcJuld .have the churches take - over the (tjfeattj^vind 1 music halls, and bring them .«Up -bo the right leveL , There was all the |fal*«oi* l^Eosmg the . publiohouses. Was ts]skft?i&tysl Should not, rather,, -the fraffffiafa »6pen the hotels dn*€ther. lines? T|lJB> v 6huiolles Bhould come otrtr^of their sanctuaries with their faces ashine, and *bri»gf $b*t glow into darkened lives in eveijj^wayj they could. — (Prolonged applauegJ ' ' TQb: %.- &. A»Jams jeaid the chairman had said some weighty tfiings, but he had not been - entirely- unable' to follow him. He (the speaker) was" possessed with a growing sympathy for those of the underworld, and he thought the Church should endeavour to bring about a new ordei* with a view of easing the burdens of suffering humanity. Th* difficulties in the way were Jegion, and he was convinced that the only cure was to be found in the living Gospel of the risen Christ. This, however, did not Bhift the responsibility, and they had the example of their Master, Who gave Himself for those He loved. That some order might be evolved out of chaos should be the hope of every man; but how it was. to be evolved. God only knew. During the last generation or co great strides had been made towards the amelioration of the conditions of those wh<>m life's burdens pressed heavily, 'ana in future generations this evolution might go on. Mr Blade had been eminently right in impressing upon then; the necessity for instilling into man's heart things spiritual, as well as things temporal. Air Slade had laid them under a idebt df obligation by his address. Mr W. Tyson maintained that a man might be a (Socialist and embrace what religion, he pleased. A Socialist had a .right to preach, to argue, and to discuss ■whatever hg really believed in. Where did ,thei? individuality come in to-day? ' "individual was the man who had •"got;"' and he had his ioot on the man -wno-SaS not. When a man was sure of ♦'•iday-s work, and a day's pay, he would feave'timeHK) think of higher thinprs. As ■ifr stbod; ' all this had been knocked out <"pf him, 1 U3am± was why they did not- find juimi-in their churches, where they eanp, ..'.'•We, axe not divided,, all one body we." What nonsense I What nonsense ! Mr. W. Sivertsea said he was,, from conviction, an Individualist straight out, but he was a Christian Socialist. The whole system as they had it now could not be said to be completely evil or completely good. No Christian man could say that our commercial system was • bfameless. Everyone studied hi 6 own interests. A man who studied others' interests alone would 6oon have none of his own to mind—(Laughter.) If they wished to give more work to the worker they must make things as cheap as possible. " Money was not wealth, and it was only fair that everyone should be remunerated in proportion to the services rendered by him to the community; but everyone wanted to get as big, an income as possible, as easily as .possible,, jond. if possible, without working it- *Q-— *(J»aughter.) No reform could be instituted until a moral reform had done its work. That must come from the Christian Church. The minister as a rule had 116 knoweldge of economics. He was usually toe last man. in the community whom they could get. such information from. Th«re ,was really no wonder why the workers should look with diffidence on ihe Church. As to this question of applyipg Christianity to cqmjherce, the economic law supported Christianity to a wonderful extent. Haeckel had .sajd that man tid two sets of morals — one to himself and another for his fellows. This was 'foreign to Christianity, which elmmiated Self.' The economic law provided that before a man got anything he must first do something for someojie else. Tie economic law forbade that a man should nave one moral nature for himself and

liiother for Jb*isr#s#s ; «pw3u6. bori but Christ's teaching. Chri^tiaSHty mUsfc , eventually be the only meani-^ bringing: about social reform. ' "f- •£? 4fcvote of -thanks waijpassed- tolpc Slade for%is addre^ o t > -t^v*