Page 7 Advertisements Column 4

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 23, 13 December 1919, Page 7

mimm i (Published by Arrangement), nrafiHM EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL, SPECIAL PRIVILEGES TO NOME. The Platform of the P.P. A. published below has been Stratford. PROTESTANTS are asked to NOTE that the questions are NOT Religious but very important National questions and are of vital interest to the Protestant Community: 1. Are you in favour of maintaining the National System of free, compulsory and undenominational education wiihuut endowment, concession or privilege in any form to any sectarian or private school? The National System is being undermined by concessions and privileges to denominational schools. Rival systems which compete unfairly, are being thereby built up to the detriment of the State System and to the grave hurt ot the national unity. The Roman Catholic Schools, which are antinational, do not observe the National holidays, e.g., Empire Day and the King's Birthday; have their children carried free on the railways, at a cost to the Education Department (in 1917) of £1540. The practise is extending to other sectarian schools, and results in grave injustice to teachers in many of the country schools through carrying children away from such schools, whose attendance would enable the schools, in many instances, to secure a second teacher and ruieo the grading of the school, thus increasing the salary of the teacher. The Roman Catholics claim to have school properties valued at £774,000, the whole of which is untaxed and non-rateable, an exemption which amounts to a grant ot (approximately), £30,000 per annum. No other church enjoys this exemption from rating on school properties. IJie Presbyterian, Anglican and Methodist Churches have to pay rates.' Roman Catholic nuns who teach in school, are carried five on railway from the town in which they reside to the town in which "the school is situated. State school teachers are denied a like concession. Junior and Senior Scholarships diverted to sectarian schools is .a matter which demands the attention of legislators and friends of the National System. Every Scholarship so diverted weakens our own secondary . schools, and tends to break down the completeness of the system. , „ „ ~~ , , The Educational Institute, the Conference of School Committee's Associations, and various, other organisations connected with Education, have, by resolution, demanded that concessions and privileges now oueratiiig should be with* drawn and not renewed in any form. 2. Will you support legisiati3n tc m?.ke it a penal offence for any person to question or impugn, either pub.'ioly or privately, the validtv or sanctity of a legal marriage? Under the "Ne Temere" decree of the Church of Rome Hie ecclesiastical authorities of that church in ISew Zealand denounce as invalid, improper and concubinage, any mar- . riage celebrated between a Roman Catholic and a Protestant, except under conditions laid down by the Pope. We have record of homes that have been broken no by priests because the Protestant party to the marriage refused to recognise the alleged invalidity of their marriage by a Irotestant minister or registrar, or to be remarried by a priest on terms imposed by a foreign authority We know of one case in which two marriage certificates were issued for the same couple and both were registered. This decree is an attempt by the Roman Catholic church to override the law of. the Dominion by a law of that church, and is an implied assertion of the authority of the Pope to overrule tiie laws ot j --the Empire and this country, which cannot be tolerated. It :. questions directly the right of a duly authorised Protestant minister, to officiate, as by implication it asserts_ the invalidity of every marriage not celebrated by a priest ot Rome, and the consequent illegitimacy of the children born of sucli support legislati m to prevent the formation or opiflf ani' imm v nil vtb ttv 'll f rfi ' nrrr interests of any section cf the people? . The Meat Trust, if not already operating in New Zealand, awaits opportunity to enter. The opinion is general that such a trust's operaatioas could only; be fraught with calamitous results. The formation recently of the Alliance of La hour, by which widely diverse industrial unions were combined upon I.W.W. principles, for joint action, is an example ot the pernicious organisation which is bem- - l^""^"1 '■ tain men, with a view to establishing <" bv a limited and extreme section of J -„,._■.. . , sil character is being closely watched otv **!§"* in many countries. New Zealand cannot afford to allow either 'the commercial or the industrial combine or trust to gain a footing. V ..' .:• ■:•!• _,_..„„„ +* e «n..K« a just and equitable distribution of patronage, employment and promotion in the Public Service, and full civil and political rights for civil service was reported to be 20 per cent. To-day the percentage approaches 40 per cent., whilst the proportion o Romanists to Se wnole population is'l4 per cent It is a settled policy ot that church to secure appointments for its members. m the mvil service, thereby securing obvious advantages to the church. through the demand, she makes upon every one of its members that tliey shall first serve the interests of the church. Ihe regulations which forbid civil servants taking part, in political movements, and restrict their liberty as citizens, operates to the detriment of the Protestant and loyal section or the service, but is evaded by other sections and should be abolished. It is apparent that a citizen should not sufter deprivation of civil rights through becoming a member of the Public Service. 5. Will vou support legislation to provide for th« Government inspection of all educational., religious and charitable institutions? There are a large number of institutions in New Zealand, as in other countries, in which women are secluded, and where the law of a foreign organisation reigns Most ot these women are, by reason of their isolation, without the protection rt the civil law, so far as their freedom and individual rights ar.concerned. There should be no place or institution in the land wherein persons may be detained against their will, pr admittance denied to friends or relatives, but the evidence is to hand that this is being done. Every person under the Union Jack Ims . the right to appeal' for the protection of the law of the land This is not possible to inmates of these institutions, ex-pi through a Government insp jction, when any person may appeal to the representative of the Government. In Italy, Prance, Mexico, etc., the whole system has been abolished by law; whilst in the U.S.A. the Legislature of Arkansas has passed, and is operating, an inspection law. Cases recently exposed bv members of the Victorian Legislature are proof ot the urgent need for such legislation. No legitimate rights ot the Church of Rome would be infringed by such an inspection, but the right of every woman to the protection ot the law will be asserted and secured with very great advantage, and, maybe, to the relief of great misery. 6. Will you endeavor to secure, if returned to Parliament, the Impartial administration of tne laws? The administration of the law provides many anomalies which perpetrate great injustices, e.g., the exemption of Roman Caholic properties from rating, the exemption of the Marist Brothers' Income taxation. It is desired that the laws should be framed and administered in the spirit of the great motto, "Equal rights for all, special privileges to none. A COPY OF A WIRE SENT TO THE P.P.A. HEAD OFFICE BY MR. MASTERS, AND THE REPLY IS OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO ELECTORS. Bilby) Stratford, 8-12-19. Organising Secretory Protestant Political (Association, Wellington. As candidate for Stratford seat, I absolutely dissociate myself from your association, and will publicly refuse acceptance if nominated bv you. Your pamphlets jare reprehensible, unscrupulous and untrue. I decline to answer the questions submitted except off the public platform. ROBERT MASTERS. (COPY OF OUR REPLY) 9-12-19. Robert Masters, Liberal Labour Candidate, Stratford, In reply to your telegram, we challenge you to prove our official pamphlets to be unscrupulous, scurrilous *nd untrue. We have no desire or intention of recommending yoti to the Protestant electors. We prefer a man whose loyalty has been proved not only to the electors of Stratford, but .ulwi on the field of battle in defence of Home, King and Empire. | SYDNEY BILBY, -. • ; Dominion Secretary Protestant Political Association,