THE VICTORIAN ELECTIONS

New Zealand Tablet, 7 December 1911, Page 2470

THE VICTORIAN ELECTIONS

MAJORITY AGAINST THE SCRIPTURE REFERENDUM?, In the course of his reply to the toast of * the Archbishop and Clergy” at the Communion breakfast of the Catholic Young Men’s Society on Sunday morning, November 19, the Very Rev. Dean Phelan, V.G., said he was pleased to notice that one remark made by Mr. O’Connell before proposing the health of the Archbishop and clergy was loudly cheered by them —namely, the assurance that, notwithstanding the effortshonest and dishonestmade prior to the election by those in favor of Scripture instruction in State schools, an absolute majority was returned to Parliament in direct opposition' to the Scripture Campaign Council, and ready to vote against any proposal to inflict any further penalty on the Catholic body. They would be also pleased to hear that he had further information, which , led him to believe that, not only had they an absolute majority in their favor, but, as a result of the recent election, that majority would be materially increased. He had said that the efforts made had been both honest and dishonest, and that fact was brought out by the two morning papers prior to the election. It was said during the campaign that it was not a question of religious teaching in the schools; that it was only to get the Bible into the schools, and that the Bible was excluded from the schools. These two statements were not founded on fact. If the Bible were excluded from the State schools, it was the fault of those whose efforts would be better spent in teaching the children than in going about campaigning against the Catholics. The other false statement was that it was not religious instruction they required, but simply the Bible. The two morning papers, be it said to their credit, had pointed out very clearly the injustice of such a proposal, and he (the Dean), on their behalf, desired to acknowledge the services they had rendered in the honest statements put before the public. A pastoral was issued by several Protestant bishops and representatives of the leading Protestant denominations, in which it was -falsely asserted that religious instruction meant simply Bible reading. The Dean, continuing, read extracts from articles in the Age and Argus, in which it was pointed out that a referendum on such a question was an encroachment upon the principle of religious freedom. Official versus Unofficial Polls. Taking the returns from the various constituencies, and comparing them with the private polls taken in regard to the question of a referendum, and the results then obtained, they would admit, without doubt, that he (the Dean) was justified in saying that the efforts against them had been both honest and dishonest. In the electorate of Dundas, where, according to Mr. Nicholson, there was a 5 to 1 vote in favor of the referendum, the man who carried Mr. Nicholson’s flag polled 900 votes, while his opponent won the seat with 2500. They had also heard a lot about the wonderful returns from Geelong in favor of the referendum, but the man who carried that flag was defeated by 1500 votes. At Bendigo East, before the death of Mr. Glass, who was always a strong friend of justice in the matter, a private poll was taken, and it was said that there was a 10 to 1 majority in favor of the Bible in State schools. When Mr. Glass died, they were in a position ' to test the truth of the statement, but what was the result? Mr. Hampson stood in opposition, and the man who was defeated did not succeed in getting anything like the 3000 votes he was supposed to get. It was said, in extenuation, that, when the general election came round, and the women had the vote, the result would be different. But what was the result? Mr. Hampson was again returned, and the man next to him, who was also opposed to the referendum, carried 90 per cent, of the polled votes. There was a Referendum also taken in Fitzroy; with the usual 10 to 1 result in its favor. During the election campaign Mr. Billson, who took an active part in opposition to the proposal, read a letter

he had received from the Scripture Campaigners, in which he was threatened with annihilation if he persisted in opposing the measure. But Mr. Billson, who had remained true to his principles, had increased his majority from 52 to 1900. Another man on their side, for which the Campaign Council would give a great deal for his life was Mr. Geo. Elmslie, of Albert Park. He was the whip of his own party in the House, but the supporters of Scripture instruction desired to make him their whip. A short time ago a private poll was taken in his constituency, and, to give an air of genuineness to the matter, the Town Clerk of South Melbourne was asked to declare that the poll, which showed the usual 10 to 1 majority, was honestly carried out. Mr. Elmsiie, who would not support the referendum, was also threatened with extinction, a strong candidate being put up against him, but the result showed that he had nothing to fear, for his majority (300) at the last election was increased to 2000. Continuing, the Dean said the result of the election showed the Scripture Campaign Council was incapable of unseating or returning any member, and that the time when a political bogey man could frighten candidates was past and gone. Not only were the majorities increased in the electorates he had indicated, but one constituency (that in which he had voted) had changed its member solely on account of his vote on the referendum. He regretted it, because the late member for East Melbourne was a personal friend of his, as well as a friend of several on the platform. He had everything in his favor, was popular, and was always true to the political principles he advocated ; but, unfortunately for himself, when the question of the Bible in State schools was before the House he went with the wowsers and so was defeated. As he said before, he sincerely regretted it, but when it was a question of religious intolerance, if his own brother were standing as the nominee of the Campaign Council, and Mr. Snowball was an opponent of the measure, he would, on principle, vote for Mr. Snowball. That those figures should be put forward by the Campaign Council seemed very strange, in view of the actual results. It was to be deplored that the heads of the various denominations should have put their names to a circular which was untrue in what it stated, and misleading in what it left unstated. The statement that the Catholic Church was opposed to the Bible was also most untrue. An Unjust Proposal. The originators of the pastoral and the members of the Scripture Campaign Council fully deserved the ashes of humiliation in which they had fallen.. As the morning papers had pointed out, the minority had a right to its religious convictions, and to ask anyone to pay for the religious instruction of the majority was just as tyrannical as the Act passed in Ireland making the Catholic people pay tithes for the Protestant ministers' stipends. It was stated a short time ago by the Bishop of Ossory that, when the Catholic majority got into power, they would take steps to regain the churches and religious buildings of which they had been plundered. He (the Dean) had no such fear, for he had too much respect for his Catholic fellow-countrymen to imagine such a thing. They had built churches and religious institutions, and were satisfied with them ; but, supposing, when Home Rule was established, that a referendum were put to the electors of Ireland as to whether they would take back the Church property, and that the Catholic electors, numbering 83 per cent, of the population, answered in the affirmative, what a cry would be raised throughout England, Scotland, and the North of Ireland. Certainly it would not be done, but, supposing it were, it would not be nearly as tyrannical as the proposal to compel Catholics to pay for religious instruction of the State school children. In a pamphlet which had been widely distributed, Mr. Benj. Hoare had pointed out that £600,000 a year was paid to State school teachers, who numbered 5200. As Catholics contributed their fair share towards the payment of the State school teachers’ salaries, it would not be fair to ask them to pay for the teaching of a • definite form of Protestant religion. The injustice to Catholic children by withholding from them the scholar -

ships given by the State had been recently removed, what he might call the point of the bayonet, and whatever they gained in the future would be by the use of the same instrument.