LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
MR. BATES'S INACCURACIES, Sir, —I have to ask you to grant me space to contradict some of tho inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr. Bates in his statement read before the Parliamentary Committee, and published in the local Press. Firstly. I did not second the motion . re Biblo-in-scnools in the General Synod; as a- matter of fact, I have never once spoken in Goneral Synod or any , other Synod upon this question. Secondly: I did not hear what Mr. Bates said on the Bible-in-schools issuo in our Diocesan Synod, as I was not present when h» was speaking. Thirdly: It is absolutely false to state or infer that any clergyman who is licensed by the Bishop to hold a cure in this diocese holds the same, or Can be removed at the sole will and pleasure of the Bishop. Mr. Bates states he made no reflections on the clergy. I beg to differ from him. In the "New Zealand Times" of July 9/ 1914, in its report of the discussions in Synod on the Bible-in-schools question, he is reported ap having said: "Let the clergy_ do their work, make the utmost of their opportunities, preach better sermons, read more books, and they will have mpro than they can do, without interfering in the public schools." If': this is not a reflection I should be glad to know what is, but I am probably as obtuse as he seemingly is. It was on'reading the report of this speech in Synod that I was prompted to take the first opportunity I could to express niy opinion of himself, and I regret he was not present to have heard it. On reflection I am tin able to see any reason to regret or withdraw a single word or expression 1 then used, and if I required justification he himself has' supplied' it in Ms grotesque and unfair attempt to impugn-the conduct of his Lordship tho Bishop as President and Chairman of Synod. I havo only to, add that if tho other statements made, by him are on. a par with those I have dealt with, and which concern me personally,-I consider Canon Garland would be perfectly justified, in stigmatising them in much stronger terms than he actually used.—l am, etc., • ROBERT WILBERFOSS. Sir,—Canon Garland jwill have the sympathy of all fair-min'ded peoplo regardless of their opinions on tho question at issue in his protest at having fo submit to the cross-examination of the Rev.. D. C. Bates, a witness oidy before the Education Committee. The Rev. D. C. Bates, claims to represent those in the Church of' England who are in opposition to tho Bible-in-Schools League. How was he selected to repre-sent-them? Was there; any meeting of these thousands of people? If so, did thoy select the Rev. D. C. Bates? No, sir, there has never been any meeting of these imaginary people, and the reverend gentleman presumably has appointed himself. The general public when they realise this method of appointment will judge-the value of his representations.~-l am, etc., *""- ANGLICAN.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19141031.2.72
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2298, 31 October 1914, Page 11
Word count
Tapeke kupu
512LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2298, 31 October 1914, Page 11
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Dominion. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.