THE CATHOLIC FEDERATION AND POLITICS

New Zealand Tablet, 3 February 1916, Page 11

THE CATHOLIC FEDERATION AND POLITICS

The following paper by Mrs. M. C. Goulter was read at the meeting of the Wellington Diocesan Council of the Catholic Federation:

Among all the rocks and shoals which' threaten the safety of the barque of the Catholic Federation, none loom so large or so threateningly on her course as her relation to New Zealand politics. It is a threefold danger, consisting of the nervousness of many Catholics on this point, and their consequent aloofness from the Federation which they would otherwise support ; the hostility excited in the public mind" by any suggestion of our entry into the political arena as a corporate body of Catholics; and the real difficulty experienced by the governing body of the Federation in steering a true course between rashness and overdiscretion in political action. Already there has been so much talk about the Federation and politics, that the main - point has got thoroughly obscured. There has been so much stress laid on the necessary freedom of the Catholic conscience from coercion in political matters, the disastrous results of the interference of the clergy in politics, and the sacred barrier between politics and religion, that we are all apt to forget the real point at issue, which, nevertheless, is insisted upon in the first page of the constitution of the Federation. The point is this: That nobody is more anxious than the Catholic Church to keep the Catholiic conscience free in political matters, and to maintain an impenetrable barrier between religious matters and politics; but when that same Catholic conscience is in danger of being tyrannised over, and when that barrier is broken down by legal encroachment, the secular legislation trenches on the province of religion, then political action must be taken to remedy this state of affairs, or, if that is impossible, at least to protest against it. It would manifestly be of no avail in twentieth-century New Zealand, for the Church merely to denounce and forbid evils of this kind, her authority is not recognised outside her own fold. The obvious reply to any complaints of injustice is: You are citizens of a democratic country, and you have the remedy of citizenspolitical actions. The possibility of successful political action hinges, of course, on the willingness of individual Catholics to place the interests of religion first in a case where they are seriously threatened; but it will ieasily be recognised that the machinery of the Federation, embracing as it does, or should do, every parish in the Dominion, provides an unrivalled means of pointing out to Catholics any danger that threatens them, and urging them to combat it. That the Federation is far from being a political machine is guaranteed in the constitution, where we read the following plain and definite statement: —'The Federation is an organisation for the purpose of advancing the religious, civil, and social interests of Catholics throughout New Zealand. It is not a political party organisation, and does not seek to touch politics \ except where politics

touch religion, or where the civil rights and liberties of Catholics are affected.' In other words, the Federation, Ijke any other reasonable being or organisation, reserves to itself the righti' of entering the field ,of politics to safeguard or to advance its own interests.' The fact /is"; that for reasonable beings .' politics' as a distinct science, simply- does not exist; and this we are too prone to forget when we dogmatise about the Federation's relations with 'politics.' There are, indeed, men so infected with the political microbe that they delight in the feverish excitement of party politics purely for its own sake. But such men are the exception, not the rule. Most of us look on the whole machinery of politics, the party system included, as a means to an, end; and that end is the obtaining of what we want for our own safety, welfare, and progress. Even if we are party politicians to the extent of voting for candidates not on their individual merits, but simply as the representatives of a particular party, we do so not from unreasoning affection for that party, but simply "because we think it likely to carry out certain measures of which we approve. It is all a means to an end, and the desired end is that as many as possible of our views may be put in practice, our wishes carried out, and our interests looked after. And, if the views, the wishes, and the interests we liave most at heart be not merely individual, but those of our associates and our class, who blames us for this, or looks upon us as political slaves? Nothing is regarded as more natural or more praiseworthy than that a man should stand shoulder to shoulder with those of his own class, or of his own profession or trade; so it is evidently not to be regarded as intrinsically wrong and degrading for a citizen to use his vote as a means of advancing the interests of a body of which he is a member. Why, then, should the harm and the degradation first make its appearance, when the principles defended and the interests upheld are those of a body, which Catholics firmly believe to be supernatural in its Founder and its origin, and divinely guided and upheld in its attitude on questions of ethical right and wrong ? The whole question is surely one of a conflict of interests. A voter is indeed peculiarly fortunate should he discover in one of the candidates for his constituency a man so in harmony with all his principles and ideas as to be an echo of them in every particular. To expect this would be the height of absurdity; and in almost every case a candidate is voted for because his views, or those of the party he belongs to, tally in one or more important points with those of the constituent. Now, the Catholic Federation fully recognises this conflict of interest and principles at the ballot-box; and, unless a religious principle or one of .i the , hardly-won civil , rights of Catholics is in jeopardy, a Federationist is perfectly free to safeguard his individual welfare in whatever way lie thinks best, or to study the good of any organisation or class to which he may belong. There will inevitably be at every election a conflict of interest in his mind party prejudices will battle with personal predilections; class, trade, or professional interest will overthrow individual preferences, or be overthrown by them. All that the Federation asks of any Catholic is that when Catholic interests come before the public as an issue, the Catholic voter shall put them first, and serve God and His Church before he serves himself, his friends, his party, or his class.

In a sense, indeed, Catholic interests are always before the public, and the aims of the Federation are always in need of political support. For the Federa-' tion stands for ' the Christian life of the nation; for the 'Christian education of youth; for the repression of intemperance; for the sanctity ■ and indissolubility of Christian marriage; for the safeguarding of the Christian home. ... It asserts the necessity of Chris-- ; tian principles in social and public life in the State. ftp; . It seeks" to expose falsehoods and injustice.' "for these objects every ; true citizen, as well ' as every loyal Catholic, lis bound to labor at all times, each in the way that seems best to him, but it is only in xexy

definite find serious emergencies that the governing body of the Federation will urge any concerted political Action upon its members, or throw the weight of its influence upon the side of any particular candidate or party. Even then, the Federationist, who dissents from the decision arrived at* can always withdraw from the organisation. There can be no compulsion placed upon him to record his vote in a manner distasteful to him or contrary to his judgment. The Federation, is not a tyrannical organisation, instituted to crush the political liberties of Catholics. It is a free association of Catholic men and women, who, believing in the supreme importance of their religion to themselves and to the world at large, have banded themselves together to advance its interests by every means in their power, not excluding political action, when that right of modern democracy happens to be the proper tool to employ. Of course, if a Catholic can seriously uphold the contention that religious interests should give way to political party or class considerations, and that therefore he must run no risks of being asked at a critical time to prefer the former to the latter, all that can be said is that he is probably perfectly right in considering himself better out of the Federation ranks.

There is, it must be freely admitted, a distinct element of danger in the fact of the Federation having any contact whatever, however cautious and infrequent, with politics. The fact that it is, or will be, generally known throughout New Zealand that, in certain cases, the Catholic Federation may conceivably give its support to a particular candidate or party, will be certain to suggest to unscrupulous politicians the possibility of using it as a tool. \ Non-Catholic politicians will seek its support by affecting a sympathy with the. Catholic cause which they do not feel, and which they have no intention of carrying any further than empty words. Catholic aspirants to parliamentary honors will endeavor to enlist the official aid of . the Federation simply on the ground of their religious beliefj. though they have not the slightest intention of following that belief to its logical sequence by advocating Catholic principles in the political arena. Zealous but unwise Federationists will push the principles of the Catholic block vote, a practice only to be employed in extreme necessity, to immoderate lengths, and will denounce as lukewarm those who counsel prudence and moderation in the use of this edged tool. Even amongst the wisest, there will be difference of opinion as to whether the particular case under discussion is of a sufficiently grave nature to demand united Catholic action. But can it be proposed that, on account of these too probable complications and difficulties, we Catholics should deliberately disfranchise ourselves as regards the question which should lie nearest our hearts—the interests of religion? It would, indeed, be a strange sigh* if in these days an organisation should arise, pledging its members to work for the advancement of its objects by every means in their power, save and except the natural and recognised method of influencing the competition and the idea of our assembly of legislators. Yet this is what many New Zealand Catholics would have us do;

Difficulties were made to be overcome, and the Federation, if it is to do any good work at all, will constantly have to solve problems fully as difficult, and evolve lines of action fully as delicate as any question which can arise out. of its relations with politics. Therefore, so much the greater is the pressing need of enlisting and retaining in the service of the Federation the most acute and steady brains of our Catholic community. In every parish committee there should be men and women whose presence there will be a guarantee for the prudence as well as for the - alertness of their committee. ' t Once secure this happy state of things, and it is a foregone conclusion that the Diocesan and 1 Dominion , Councils, elected from the parish / committees, will consist of the best, possible materials. To those who are nervous about the future

actions of the Federation, this advice may be given: Use every effort to have suitable men and women elected on your own parish committee, and the governing body of the Federation will take care of itself. But if those whose talents and whose leisure qualify them to take a prominent and useful part in Federation activities stand out and confine themselves to barren criticism, upon them will undoubtedly rest the responsibility of the ruin of a most promising enterprise. The Federation possesses, like a human personality, possibilities for harm in an equal ratio with its almost boundless capabilities for good. This infant born into the world not three years ago will become what the Catholics of New Zealand make it. Its destiny lies in their hands— destiny fraught with immense power for good in the future of our country, but capable also of becoming a by-word and a reproach among outsiders, and a sad record of the ruin of high and noble designs through the apathy of those who might have brought them to fruition.