ANGLICANS IN AUSTRALIA.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1629, 21 December 1912, Page 21

ANGLICANS IN AUSTRALIA.

Writing on the "legal nexus" question, the London "Guardian" of November 1 says:~"When the letters patent were discovered 50 years ago to havo provided insufficient basis for tho administration of clerical discipline in the Australian colonies, the .various dioceses .organised' themselves in synodic government under' the impression that they were free to do so. ' Belief was so persistently expressed, however, in' some, quarters that this alleged freedom was non-existent • thatGeneral Synod.at last sought the best legal advico upon the subject. Counsels' opinion' is that the Church in Australia is so bound by the law of trust that it is not a Church ■ 'in communion with' or 'in' connection with' the Church of England—it is an. integral part of the Church of England in England. Consequently the law of the Church of England is binding in Australia, and must bo administered by the civil courts of Australia in all cases wbero the trust is involved. - The Australian -Church Synods cannot pass any law contravening tho ecclesiastical law of the Church of England in England, ajid an, Australian bishop has no power to authorise the slightest departure from English' services for Australian needs. This is an impossible state of things, and North Queensland has for some time taken the lead in a growing movement throughout the Commonwealth to obtain freedom for the Australian Church from the legal nexus in England. . . • . The fight for autonomy which hod now commenced is likely to bo long and difficult, but there can bo little doubt of the ultimate issue. The vigorous Church of Australia cannot be expected to be content to remain in bonds."