CHURCH AND LABOUR

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1288, 17 November 1911, Page 2

CHURCH AND LABOUR

I'l./MN Sl'i;,\KlMi I!V l>1!. filllll. .\ (li:ii',i(l/-ri-lic «in-i'cli «< in.'jdi: i.ii .Mnii'liiy l.v Hie i;-v. Dr. Hilib lit Iliv. I'ro-liv'l-fi-iiiii liener.il A:.- 'iiilily, whirl, i, irnv :i/liltir ■'! l)iip:-rlin. in ni;;,l,J l>, Hie iilhlmlr. ~| tin- Mini.li {.<> Uio I.iiljnin|.ailv. ■•UV nole." he s-ud, "ivhat li.is !,(ej, mlmkil I ):.■ luillll I- nl Hie I lium], i'. meet Ihe n< <•()-. nl tin- people. ... I Milllt l.:i -.:iy tll.lt «e iire 111 dailßer Of Itwi.iini' I hut in this i-jiiiilr,v-ivhnl<;ver I may In- true, r,| oilier hud, -the U of Hie crejil iniiuljer til' is jll s-1 us liltlu happy as th<; lot of the urea; iiiimIkt of iniiilnvii's. The employer may be laliMled'H,;.. Tat i,' by pn'.pl,. of 'a (eiiiiin mil, bill. I.lkrr- i» n-A tmirli a<lipise. en him. Our Cliunh <lar« i-01, ~t.: iM( l for one eliisi; . . . f,,r v.< ; Mund for all el.is.-r-. Morrover, you won''! μ-el. holi] nf l.nlKiiir ami work' I linn inl/i I he lilirr of (hi.-, (.'lunch by ron-onlini; to their pros-r.inimn. Ysm will get ;is little Kralitiidc i.s I hat of Die man who, vlirii rvscHisl from Sydney Harbour, tiiruid to his resiMirr and s.i'id: 'Did you rcM-nn me? Well. wliM have you <I<jii« with my hat? Von will , net no'ijratitu'le from l-:ibuur by to llitir aims end becoming an ior (heir purii'.'s? iiulo-s you inaki! them I'w] that you stand for Homethiiur more than bread and bulter-fur the lii(>li thiiißs of (Soil. . . . I'liero arc phn.=(.s of the Labour niovemoiil which swm to me to call for eondrmi::itioii. I think it. is rii;lit thai men should (,'ul Ihe highest wiije mi industry i.'ji Kivc them. Hill J hove n,i :vni|.-lhy with (hi! tendency cc|iially manilr-t lu-dny --Hint a man should do.less work th.-.'n before, nnd for more, money. ... I ,im reminded of llxt unemployed man wlin was put on relief works, an<l when found lyliiß on tho prouurl Hie second day of his employment, and nsked wliat ho was (loins, he replied: 'Hack to Ihe land!' J here is a poo<l deal of Iho 'back to Ihe laud policy in (:In> present state of nffairs. . . . V,,i, v.ill only brim? Labour into the Church by .showing fidelity i/j the Church's holy mission ami the' (iofpel ot Christ."

Tha Rev. .T. K. Ward (Maori and home missionary) said that ho was nroud of the. working man, in whose ranks were, found many of the noblest VA ;,\ most Ohri-thu of men. lie assured the As<wmb!y that there was no need to run lifter Labour, flit! Church was a family, of which Labour was a pnrl, und there should clwnys be a good undcr.standint; between them. The Hev. J. Ciellie undertook to rebuke Dr. Gibb. "]. am sure." he said, "that I lie speech we had to-night from Dr. Gibb was a very unhappy speech, which will tend to drivi! tho labouring man awnv from the Church. As far as I. can see, Dr. Gibb has nu great sympathy with tue working idbii. Jlis Master would not havo been without that sympathy." ■Dr. Gibh: I probably have more sympathy with the working man than 'Mr. Gellie has.

Mr. Gellie: I think ihat the Assemhlv nre not showing any real sympathy with tho working man, and 1 think wn 'should not leave to-night without showing some more sympathy for him, tor no doubt he has suffered many wrongs in Iho past. The above debate was provoked by a paragraph in the report of (h<. committee on the stale of rpligiwi, which rt-ad--Throughout the world to-day a '{reat power is malting itself felt. ]'t is narrowminded to judge it by certain phases of il, or to condemn it because of certain eviis clinging to it. To say it is merely a demand for less labour and more money is a serious mis-judgment; to cull it atheistic because some eitremistf in the movement are anti-Christian is most short-sighted. The great Labour movement is not purely selfish, ns some imagine, but a world-wide rising of a sense of the brotherhood of man. which will do much in the near future to obliterate national differences. The sense of sm as social wrong is being deepened. Tins great fact must bo grasped tlmf. where there is often apparent opposition to the organised Church it is not opposition to Christianity. The committee, therefore, recommended that the Presbyteries be directed, through their committees, to pursue tho work in connection with (lie Church and labour movement, and to report to the committee, that they may prepare n declaration of the Church's attitude to social wrongs for the consideration of tho next assembly. The Ker. I?. M. E.vburn (convener of the committee) explained that when this matter was investigated there was no such definito political Labour party as there was now, and the report had no reference to political matters. The recommendatious were adopted.