HOSPITAL SHIP

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2488, 15 June 1915, Page 6

HOSPITAL SHIP

APPOINTMENT OF CHAPLAINS '' 0 V PRESBYTERIANS AGGRIEVED ?, THE MINISTER EXPLAINS r| fr k c AND REPLIES TO CHARGES ? a t A protest against the decision of the Minister of Defence to appoint only an v Anglican and a Roman Catholic chap- o lain on the Hospital Ship was made by t a deputation from tho Wellington Pres- * bytery, which waited on the Minister of j Defence yesterday. The deputation, which consisted of the Rev. Dr. Pater- 1 son. the Rev. Dr. Gibb, the Rev. W. J Shirer, and Mr. Ay. M. Hannay, submitted to the Minister tho motion passed a by the Presbytery at its meeting on ! Saturday. Condemned Unheard. "I very much regret," said Mr. Allen in reply, "that I was not interviewed c before the Rev. Dr. Gibb communicated € to the Press his letter, and I regret i that I was not interviewed before the f Presbytery came to a Tho f matter, in the position in which it has 1 Hot to-day, is not one that concerns me c only as Minister of the Crown. It is a e matter that concerns me personally. I I read through Dr. Gibb's letter, and I t am bound to say that after I had read < it I felt that it hit me hard, and that t I was grieved and pained. . . . The 1 part of the letter which affects me person- : ally, in my opinion, is this: 'It is well i nigh incredible that , the Home authori- s ties should lay down a dictum that be- I I sides the Anglican and Roman Catholic I no other churches need apply, so very nearly incredible that one is tempted to think the Minister must surely have misread his instructions.' Of course, 1 may be misinterpreting that sentence, but what- 1 thought it meant was this — either that Dr. Gibb thought me untruthful or that I was not honest. Dr. Gibb: No. Mr. Allen: That is the way 1 have read it, Dr. Gibb, and others to whom I have shown it have- read it the same way. I will put on record to-day all the steps that have been taken in regard to the appointment of chaplains, and I should have been delighted to have given t'nem to Dr. Gibb or to the members'of the Presbytery if they had asked for them, and I regret that they did not do to before passing judgment upon mo without hearing my _ case. Might I also add that this portion of the resolution of the Presbytery cuts me to the quick Tho Presbytery finds it very difficult to understand the assertion that in doing so Mr. Allen is carrying out the instructions of the Home authorities, t say that to the best of my knowledge I am carrying out the instructions of the Home authorities, and that my word should be doubted by the Presbytery I am deeply grieved!" Mr. Allen went on to say that though himself an Anglican, he had many friends in the Presbyterian Church, and so broad-minded was ho in the matter of the faith that ho had himself received communion at the hands of a Presbyterian clergyman. Explicit Instructions. Mr. Allen alluded to Dr. Gibb's remark referring to himself: "Did he ask the Imperial authorities how many medical men or nurses were to go with the s&ip?" 'The suggestion was," Mr. Allen continued, "that I had asked only with regard to chaplains. I don't know why Dr. Gibb should have thrown out this suggestion to the pub- . lie that I was trying to get round the ' Presbyterians when I had no such intention. On May 16 His Excellency the Governor telegraphed to the Secretary of State for tiie Colonies:— " 'What do von suggest as approximate number of medical officers for tho ship? Should any of them be specialists, and if so, in what, and how many should be surgeons and how many physicians? Will female nurses be required on , board? If so, liow many, and what • number of attendants should bo provided for ship?' "On May 21 His Excellency received this reply:— " 'With reference to your telegram of May 21, questions under consideration of Admiralty and War Office will give definite answer as soon as possible." On May 22 His Excellency received this reply:— 'Staff should be based on personnel for hospital ships as given in British War Establishment, copy of which is doubtless in Headquarters Office of New Zealand Army. Specialists not required. Two-thirds of medical officers should be surgeons and one-third physicians. but all should be able to act in either capacity. Female nurses should be sent on Wax Establishment scale.' "That is tho answer to the suggestion ; that I did- not ask the Imperial authorities how many medical men or : nurses wero to be sent with the ship. I hops that answer will be satisfactory to those who axe present, and will prove that every_ step taken was taken with good intention, in order to fit up the ship in all respects as the Admiralty and the War Office desire. Provision for Chaplains. "We, of course, had these particu- ' lars of the establishment of the ship in 1 our possession, but when I came to look it through after receiving the tele- : gram, I found that 110 provision whatever was made in it for any chaplains at all. Then I deemed it to be my f duty to telegraph to the Army Council. to ask them what provision ought to be made for chaplains. ... On May 21 this telegram was sent: — "Should chaplains be appointed to Hospital Ship, and if so what religious denominations are usually represented?" To that telegram came this reply on ] May 27 to His Excellency tho Gover- , nor: — , "With reference to your telegram i of May 21, in the case of Hospital ] Ship to bo attached to the Meditep- | ranean Forces, one Church of England and ono Catholic chaplain are allotted to each." Making the Appointments, "I don't want to dispute about words, , or the interpretation of words," said | Mr. Allen, "but I took that to be an , instruction to me as to the chaplains ( that shmild be appointed to our Hospital Ship for the Mediterranean. I did my best to follow out those instructions, and I took stops at once to communicate with the head of tho Roman Catholic Church asking for his recommendation, and also I took stops to communicate ( with the Anglican Primate. There was i some delay about his reply, and I took i upon myself the dnt.v of coinmimfcitiiig f with the Anglican Bishops. They did 1 not all recommend the samo man. I < have agreed to tho Roman Catholic 1 chaplain. I havo agreed to his appointincut because there is no divergence of E opinion about, who he should be. I "want \ to say what stops T. havo taken or tried £ to take to meet tho wishes of those in t onr community who are not of the An- i J glican persuasion. 1 have- bad recow- t mended to me bv tho Bishops four dif- 1] ferent Anglican clergymen. Ono of them ' does not happen at present to be on our Army list, and under our condition* be vonld havo been debarred from being T appointed. In order to do all I oould [i

for tho Weslevans and others who, I know, wanted to have somebody in whom tlie.v could have confidence, I took steps immediately to get this gentleman put back on tho Army List. 1 have this assurance from a proininsnt clergyman of the Wesleynn faith—that we will bo satisfied with this Anglican clergyman if he is appointed, and I hope he will bo appointed." Requirements of the Ship. Mr. Allen explained that wounded men would be on the Hospital Ship only for from four to seven days, and the Ship would return empty to the Dardanelles from Egypt or Malta. On her ■ isturn she would havo only her staff and crow, for it would be contrary to the Geneva Convention for a Hospital Ship to carry soldiers back to fchft front. At Egypt or Malta tho. soldiers who desired it could have tho services of any chaplains available there, so that the only time the wounded would need the ministrations of the ship chaplains would be for tho four or five days on the ship. He had hoped that in this war time the churches might havo been content to allow their people to accopt tho ministrations' of chaplains even of a faith different from their own. He was very sorry to hear that the Presbyterians were not ready to do this. • A Concession. "I deprecate, I am as sorry as a mail can be that any question has been raised at this time dealing with sectarianism. These are the things I feel, and feel strongly, but I would not let you go away from here feeling that I, or the Imperial authorities, or anybody concerned with this Hospital Ship wanted to do an injustice. I would sooner pocket my pride and my own feelings than that you should go away feeling, or that any in your church should feel, that you were not treated right. You have asked me in your resolution that a chaplain nominated by the Presbyterian Church should be appointed to the ship. That is a demand at the bayonet point which I cannot accept—'a chaplain nominated by tho Presbyterian. Church shall he appointed.' The final decision with regard to any chaplain, appointed to the Hospital Ship must rest with the Minister of Defence, and the commission must be from-His Excellency the Governor. . . . It is a military appointment to ,b<3 made by the Imperial authorities. "But I value so liighly the'wolk done by the Presbyterian Church' in New Zealand that if the Church would recommend for appointment a certain gentleman who has done more service for the forces in New Zealand than any other clergyman of .any denomination that I know of, who has been at the camp, and who has broken down in health, I would go out of my way to make that'appointment if that will satisfy you. If that does satisfy you, and he will go ; I will be only too delighted to send lum." • Dr. Gibb expressed on behalf of the deputation appreciation of Mr. Allen'* courtesy in giving such a full explanation, and assured the Minister that neither he nor any member of the Presbytery had desired to impugn his veracity or to suggest that he had been playing a double game. Mr. Allen accepted the _ assurance without reservation, and said that so fat as he was concerned the matter had ended. Tho Presbyterian clergyman referred to by the Minister is the Rev. D. Dutton,- who has been one of the chaplains at Trentham camp.