THE P.P.A.

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 219, 5 June 1918, Page 6

THE P.P.A.

MEETING AT PETONE. Under the auspices of the Protestant Political Association a meeting was held in the Empire Theatre, Petone, last i night. There was a fairly la. go audi- ! ence, over which Mr. C. P. Brjcklebe.uk ! presided. The speakers were the Hm. I W. Earnshaw, M.L.C., Mr. G. Harford, ' of Feilding, and the Kev. Howard Elliott, organiser of the association. s The Hon. W. Earnsliaw said he knew of no movement which had taken such a hold on tho public confidence as ii.u P.P.A. had during the past ten months. He desired to deal with the attitude of the association to Labour and other uolitical movements. Speaking pi'"sonaiiy, ho contonded that he had ft light fo speak on brlialf of Labour, as it was only by his own efforts during tho past 56 years that he had-been able to earn a livelihood. It was said that iho P.P.A. was ati instrument of the Reform Party and a movement promoted by the capitalists. Were that so, they could he assured thaV he would have had nettling to do with it. The P.P.A. had no alliances with any narty, and cDuld not bo partisan, They stood to opi>ose the domination of the Catholic Hierarchv jn New Zealand and to counter the, tenets of the Sinn Fein and the Catholic Federation.- Dealing witli the recnit anpointments to the Legislative Council, the speaker protested that no representation had been given to Labour. lie appealed to tho pcopls to support ti l © National Government during the war, and held tli»t the tactics of the "Bolsheviks" of Labour, the Sinn J! em, anil the Catholics were distinctly i Tin-pat-riotic, and disloyal to the Government. Mr. Harford maintained '■liat tno P.P.A. existed to see that there wco equal rights for all in New Zealand. There was need for the organisation, and ho appealed to tho people to Biiponrt it. The Protestants in this country were under a great danger, and ne urged that steps should be taken at once to save the situation. The Educ-iHon Act liad been tampered with, with Ine result that this country was now paying .fblO ner year for sectarian scholarships. The Rev. Howard Elliott, remarked upon the growth of the association, which, he said, had exceeded all expec-/ tations. At tlia same time there were some people who were lukewarm and did not associate with the P.P.A. because by doing so they feared they would cause trouble. The Apostle Paul had said: "As much as lieth in you livo peaceably with all men," but it was impossible to livo peaceablv with some people. (Laughter.) Once the Protestants wero awako to the necessity for unity there would be no question as to the strength they would be able to exert. Protestants were determined to protect their heritage. It was tlie duty of the Protestants to see that the education system of the Dominion was not interfered with. Much had been said by the Catholics to the effect that the State schools were Godless. He had investigated the matter and found the criminal statistics showed that tho "Godless New Zealand system of national education somehow managed with the aid of the Protestant religion to keep more of the Protestants out of gaol than the Roman Catholic schools with their religion had done." , The Roman Catholics formed only 11 per cent, of the population of New Zealand, yet in proportion there were twice as many Catholic criminals as Protestants. The working men should see that tho, education system was kept out of the control of the Churches, otherwise they would be plaving into the hands of the capitalists. they must adhere to a secular and national system.