"NEW EVANGEL" IN CHURCH.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1984, 14 February 1914, Page 6

"NEW EVANGEL" IN CHURCH.

—. : MR. FOWLDS AGAIN, t■ 1 - ; ELECTIONEERING OUT OF > RANGE. 3 '■ ' '' ■ ' : PROXY TACTICS SHARPLY ; CRITICISED. - (By Telegraph.—-Special Correspondent.) Auckland, February 13. s The Hon. G. Fowlds, when, he left' 5 for England, left behind hia an adt dress to the Congregational Union. In j the concluding portion of his address, 1 Mr. Fowlds said that an institution , prolific of evil in the.- world knday Was j that which enabled the private appro* . priation of rent Under the «uise of , modern landlordism. He had no doubt , that in tho beginnings of society private t land-ownership served a useful purpose, . but under modern conditions, gather- [ ing to itself as it did all the material i advantages of au advancing civilisation i it was evil, and only evil. The pri- ; yato appropriation of rent, involving i the payment of interest- and profits . beyond the just reward of service for ; service, was the main cause of all the > anarchy and chaos of which k> had spoken. Until the social values were . created by the community, and used for : community purposes, the people could i not have order and harmony in society. 1 Free land—that was the victory the i people must win for themselves, for if - a section of the community was allowed i to control tho land, it controlled the life, the labour, and the liberty oi the . people. : How was it to be done ? Tho ■ answer could not be long delayed, .All that was required was that the Mosaic i land laws should brought up-t-cn date. Then, he went on, there was needed a new emancipation movement to free the great, mass of mankind from industrial slavery, to get the , landowners and the capitalists off tho people's tracks. . Was the Church unable or 'unwilling to lend a hand in denouncing this monster of iniquity, ' which was eating the heart out of civilisation P If the Church, in its corporate body, was unable to takq. any action, he appealed to members to lieip' in the movement) and to do so by first studying the arguments of those who contend that the private appropriation of rent was the main cause of the anarchy and chaos which abounded to-day. Taken to Task. The "Star,'.' which has generally, supported Mr. Fowlds, takes him to task to-night. "The Hon. Geo. Fowlds, as chairman this year of the Congregational Union of New Zealand, has come deplorably short of the not over-exact-ing, standardset up," says the "Star," which goes on: "He has taken advantage of- his position to deliver under cover of an opening address . to tho Congregational Union Conference a political. oration embodying the ! new ovangel' -with-, which he means to appeal to the country at the coming general election. -,He has delivered this address by proxy, being himself thousands of miles away, so that he escapes the criticism to which in ether eireunistanc.es ho would have been subjected by his lay and clerical brethren of the conference. Even thoso who personally esteem Mr. Fowlds- as highly as we do, must admit that his course of action is indefensible. We aro sure that tho Congregational Church has no wish to bo identified with the political views and campaigning of Mr. Fowlds. We know that many of its members will rcsont tho violent language used, and wo apprehend that all will disagree with the tactics-, pursued bv Air. Fowlds in discharging his verbal missiles from a safe distance." Church Hopolessiy Compromised. "The most objectionable feature of tho business," the "Star" concludes, "is that tho Congregational Church ap- , pears hopelessly compromised, and is liablo to be viewed as a mere branch of Mr. Fowlds's electioneering activities. Nothing but" a prompt attd emphatic repudiation can save the Church from the imputation thstt it is willing to be used for the furtherance of a single-tax campaign." ...