BISHOP CLEARY'S CRITICISM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1766, 3 June 1913, Page 6

BISHOP CLEARY'S CRITICISM.

BIBLE-IN-SCHOOLS LEAGUE ORGANISER UPHELD, 9

At a meeting of the Executive of the Biblo-in-State-Schools League, the following resolution was passed with reference to certain statements published by Bishop Cleary. of Auckland:— Resolved: "That the members of the Executive of the Biblc-in-Schools League, having received two communications from Dr. Cleary, Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, making certain charges against Canon Garland, organising secretary of the league, and having carefully considered the sume, find that the only charges of any significance are those referring to the relationship of the Roman, Catholic •children in tho schools of New South AVales to tho instruction given by priests of tho ltoman Church in these institutions, and the charge made against Bishop Cleary of withholding evidence from tho public regarding a serious charge he had brought against tho league. "In the leaflet of which complaint Is made, the' Reman Catholic children are described a 9 'children instructed,' wliereas the numbers specified are tho total of these children attending tho public schools of that State. This error was corrected by Canon Garland as; soon as his attention was called to it. Tlie laiflet was withdrawn and destroyed; a fresh leaflet was published and forwarded to those to whom the first issue had been sent. Further, in tho columns of The Dominion of March 27, Canon Garland plainly acknowledged tli,e error and corrected it.

"The members of the Executive are of opinion that tho Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland's charges are an instance of 'much ado about nothing,' or, at the.most, about very little. If the error had not been corrected there would hnvo been some cause of complaint, though even in that case the significance of the unchallenged fact that priests of tho Roman Church paid 711 visits to the schools of New South Wales, in the year 15111, would have been unimpaired, The ministers of that persuasion are clearly not unwilling to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the Education Act of Now South Wales to impart the tenets of their Church to their own children in the State School. But the error was corrected, and all reasonable ground of complaint removed.

"Bishop Cloary, in his letter addressed to the Executive on Ayril 12, states that 'tho league leaflet distinctly conveys tlio impression that I (Bisftop Cleary) received a cablo message on the subject from the present Tasmanian Director of Education, Mr. M'Coy, on December 2, 1913 ("sic, evidently a mistake of the Bishop's for 1012") and some days later a letter. As the cablo message was dispatched on December 2, 1012, and the letter on the day following by tilt Tasmanian Director to Bishop Cleary, the natural inference which anyone would make is that Bishop Cleary received them; but, of course, wo accept his statement that lie did not receive them until December 21.

"Wo would point out that even on the Bishop's own admission, he withheld the evidence received from Tasmania from December 24, 1!)12, t,o January 4, 1013, a jwriod of 11 days, and even then Bishop Cleary did not publish it; but only admitted that ho had received it after Mr. .lolly, a member of the Executive, had published n copy of the letter which Bishop Cleary admitted, he bad been in possession of for the previous 11 days; and which has not been made public by him. Not until April 12, when he wrole his letter to the Executive, did Bishop Cleary state that lie' did not receive the cablegram sent to him on DeccmW.2 till his return to Auckland at Christmas Eve, so that the letter written on January It by Canon Garland as organising secretary stated the facts as they then existed.

"The members of tho Executive tako this opportunity of' expressing their entire confidence in Canon Garland as tho leader of tho movement to secure the objects of the Bible-in-Schools League. They nre well assured that ho is absolutely incapable of wilfully set-king to mislead anyone. They hereby express I heir invincible conviction of his straightforward veracity and his fairness to opponents as displayed not only in the matter of the complaint of the Roman Catholic Bishop of A/iekland, but also in ftll the method* ho employs in conducting kijoam^uiga,"