CONFUSING THE ISSUES.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2014, 23 March 1914, Page 4

CONFUSING THE ISSUES.

The opponents .of the. Bible4n- : Seiiaols movement .are bestirring themselves and are talking of active campaigning en an extended scale. This is asifc should be. The greater the. activity on both.sides the more the. public and the politicians ;will bo st-irfed into a pw.per- recognition of how very live and important the question tuts become. Bnt while the activity that is being displayed on both sides healthy sign, the Seal of the executive of the 'National Schools Defence League appears to be developing, in spine' ol- its nieniliei's a tendency to concentrate their attacks not "on the system,they object to, but isather on the. ■individual who stands foj? that system. It must he rather tattering,' of ■■■ ! course, 'to Ganqs.Gajjmnd to"find: his exponents so anxious to decry his efforts, for it is a sure sign that they feat him; but it is a pooi? so : rt of fighting, The Issue is not whether GsK(h, GABLAifb was in error in this -0*" that statement, but whether the > principle which his organisation...is. standing for is a sound one and in .the interests of the country. It wouid bo a quite. amazing thing ii in all the , huHdi'cijs. "of.. Speeches:;.he has,made, and if In all the fiousands .ofjeaf* Jets he has issued in .coUneeticin with his campaign worV'GAiio'N' GArlasd' had not miide an odd slip m' two. It may suit the Defence League to concentrate theiv'attention on teal or imaginary cmws of this kind, and make them the vehicle, fox personal reflections of an ob.jec'fii.onaMe njiiUre, attfihutiii.g the warsfc possiblts itiotiv-cs, bij't such tatties 'are . less likely to injure the oh feel; of tie a'ttacks tliaji.'fco dfeeffidit the eanse oi tlioso' adopting them- GMpitj' GarI4'nd as it happens does not requite to rely on the executive .of the. Schools Defeiie.o League f.o:r a (gsi'tififlate of good work hero and elsewhere speaks.for itself,.and he has. won the fe'SJJ'fict a.h ; tion of a much md&s cit'.clc ; of the ptsblje of AwstvaiaiSia. .than is .cyer likely to be influenced.% the 'Defence Leagjio, Tihe .pCi:so:h:a'l phase of the matter, however;, has hb'tfiing to' do with tjho re.a-1 issue.fefo're' tlig co,Un#y ; In tile "heat oi Goii.ti'.ove.l'sy ■either swift is liable to sfr'ain 'facts to SUp.pqyt its .arguments., and the pub-= 1 lie .must judge cm the .niei'ife of tho caseas a whole. Far irist'a : h,pe, in the offifiial rep'Oi't of the meetihg of the executive.' of the 'Schools Defeaco Lettguc which we publish ihls m.orning t'he*jj appears this, sc'nfehpe :■*- Aiidfter M£My g/ntif j%g fafet fr.iis- tlvafi tile W*'W&.il''S ClvtJst'ift!! Union declfiiell by ail overwhe.l'm;iiii iivajtt■ity to cowiiiitt itself to tlm Gi'alland:'isygv tem of Bllde in scli<ml.s.,' '"

The executive <if the' Defence Lea-gitqi presuiriabiy know the whole fa.ets of' the posit.io.li selling to ihs \VV&T.IT, \ Oonveiifcipii, and that fopiiig the casethey must feftpw tftjtt the 'atixtcrtient; i pp'ted. is misleading;. % p'ia.ees eer- ■ t'aki given ;laete in i'hb. Jest, pps.sibic', '.light- from the point of view of the.■ ' Defence teagAie, and serves to.:P£sni-'oy i } the impression that the W.O.T;fJ r is' pverwhelmnjgly opposed id the ttflfe.' : iii-Sehopl's system' asadvecate-d by the :' league of wklch ©akW G>jttAf?'D is ■ the organises.'. The Defence £eagu& ] of course icMws quite ifijtj. that suc'b I is not the ease; that tii convey such i«B impression is to ltiislted the pub-' lie as to the tojite position. It knows that last yea : r the W*G.T: U,' Goftvcn,t;i(3jj ceitffoiroect. the Bibte-ih-'Schooh proposals; that,as a result brashes of the a.H over the country made protests. Also that at : t% Gpiiventiftii just held at! Gisboraie the motion moved "Tha't the Cfonvejitipii eiUlprs'es the action, .of the fifty byaiidies sitppo.rt- .■ iftg the Bil.3ie ; fragile.,'* ■that those ■ sV'h,6 fireferred the Nelstm system urged' ai qoiivpfomije in the: direction of leaving it open to individual members to work for the s,ys-' tern each preferred, and that this eempronuse was accepted by the tfioyer of the motion and by the great bulk of those supporting'the Bfb'Je-JB-S.chciDlis League, A few held out to the bitte end, ant! the Dpfinice League in the pantgraph quoted above seeks; to convey the idea that these few represented the strength of the ,tJ.ib}p-ni-Seh-Dpls League supporters. This is how it gets its "overwhelming jn.it.ronty." Here are the cottdhiding woitls of the ieicgrapliMl report of the proceedings on the occasion in question;

"So it goes oilt to the whale world,'" I mid Mrs. Lee Co\vi4i "that we are solid j for Bible in schools.' 1 iijiptaisc,) .! the. Defence league nay regard this as "highly gratifying," but if so. it narrows the reasons for its existence to a very ijin.tih finer point than, it was prepared to admit a lew .months ago. No eda suggests .that because the Defence League have Strained the facts in this «••**»! to suit : their own eaiiSft that their caits.e shwMbfi discredited. oni* rrasgir for refyy.riMg to this parHisnlar incident is riot ori account of its importance,

but rather to point out to the Defence League that even they are liable to *m, and that at is not likely to load to a helpful understanding of the merits of the question at issue i E the controversy is to be led .from i'he highway of sott.ftd argument into the byways of personal recrimination and the attributing of vmttorthj' ri»tive.s. If thfiir ease is n, strong Oive they have enough ahlo iiwii in their .ranks to fight it on its merits with' out constantly attacking the. .motives of their, opponents ana afcti-fhuting sinister design?. Their present insties savour largely of a desire, to eonfuse the real issues.