A Baptist Ministeron Tour.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 11814, 7 January 1903, Page 7

A Baptist Ministeron Tour.

INTERVIEW JVITH THE MSV Vv

CJUFF

A UaiLiiig JJrt.'jt-iiit minister, ih-j He'/ WiUium Cuff, of tli' Short-ditch T;ibenuici?, Loiiuoii. and. an. ex-president of the Bapti*C Union who is making a pleasure trip through tlie Australasian colonies, arrived in Olivistdnu-ch from Dunedin, and in the> course of ;m interview1 with a "Truth" repuvti'i, explained that ..although lie av;>.>> a strenuous opponent of the English Education Rill, 119 was a decided and an earnest advocate of the Bible in schools, and was returned to (lie London School Board cm that ticket. In the London .Board schools, I\h' Cvit added, 1:0 difHcully .whatever was found in the working of the Actproviding for the Bible in schools. Out in the colonies, however, people, did not .understand the system, and did not appreciate accurately the operation of the conscience clause. "We' Nonconformists," Mr Cuff said, when touching on the English Education Bill, "say it is an outrage on conscience to have dogmatic principles introduced into the school curriculum. I do not wish my Baptist principles to be taught in a Statesupported school, and I would protest against, that, and all Nonconformists would do the same; but wo want the Bible in schools. There are now only a few schools in England where the education is of a secular character entirely. Mr Chamberlain in 1870 was a strong opponent of Mr Foster's Bill authorising Bible reading in schools, and now he supports strongly this iniquitous Education Bill. More so now do we wish for the Bibk if? schools than in 1870, because we have -proved that ib works* well, and the, effect on the children is very great and very [manifest." Mr Cuff was questioned regarding his work in the London slums, and he said that iJie spot where lie had been Arorking for thirty years past—Shoreditch—was one of the most crowded parts of the Metropolis, although it was within a quarter of an hour's walk of the Bank of England, "My tabernacle," Mr Cuff continued, "stands in Betlmal Green', and seats*3ooo people. Attached to it arc ten missions, so that wo come into very closs contact Avith the poorest of the poor and the great mass of the labouring people. We do a very large I benevolent work. ,Fpr instance, if I had been at Homo on Christmas Eve. instead of being in Invercargill. I should have cut up two tons of beef into little pieces, weighing1 from four to twelve pounds each. These we' distribute; to the very poor, with tread, groceries, etc., that they may have a, good solid Christmas' dinner in their owir pl&ccs. We never give a, public feed, because I feel strongly that that only pauperises and degrades the pool. We do all in our power to cultivate home life. The poor have not suffered through mv absence in the colonies, for mv eldest daughter and the deacons have; done what I should have done. In Bethnal Green there are large numbers of labourers, and thousands who like no sort of work. I personally would like to ship some of these ]>eople to New Zealand and Australia, where the Labour ' Party seem to rule things, and would know better what to do with them than we do. j All schemes have been tried to get these men U> take to work, but we can do nothing with them. "They live for v time as best they can. mainly by their wives' earnings, and ultiniatelv lliey go to the Union. This is one of the greatest problems of Metropolitan life, for during the last year there wan an increase of 82,000 paupers in England. The people are leaving the villages) and going lv the centres of population;* which are becoming move and nioro congested. In England wo badly need some system by which the people could get a direct inteiiesli in the land, just as the first settler.* did in Dunedin." Mr Cuff mentioned also the slate of indin'erence into which English, particularly London, people have fallen. The religious indifference be was certain had come about through the outrageous burlesques of religion tiiat. had been witnessed of kite years. Chinches had-organised bands of music and all sorts of dodges to get the people into the places of worship. The people noted thab the churches were adopting these methods instead of having absolute faith in- the Gospel, and became indifferent by losing their faith in the.churches. Speaking about. Sunday desecrtaion, Mr Cuff said that the observance of Sunday in England is becoming. worse and worse. ' '.'There is in London," he continued, "what is [called a Sunday League, that provides during the Avinter months le(j:jjres and musical entertainments on Sunday evenings. In the summer they pi-Qvide cheap Sunday excursions to ; all the seaside resorts, and thousands of the Avorking people go on these excursions every Sunday. The young men of the' city, on a Sunday morning, cycle out to all sorts of resorts1 around London, until all the leading: roads into lbs country are literally lined with, bicycles. Thp middlp .clast.es. and those bettor-to-do, go to the golf links near to and Car away from London, so much ho that special golf trains are run by nearly all the companies. During the summer thousands of boats are seen on the Tlmmes cv- Sunday, and many of the society -eople pass the Sabbath playing tennis. lam by no means a pessimist, and am altogether hopeful that there will bp a return to the old English habit*, and the love of the Sabbath will tome hack to the peoiiU'." ( ■ In conclusion, Mr Cuff said he had noticed with utter amazement the rapid fTiwth of the colonial cities, and the growth of colonial literature was as amazing- ; ,___^