ARCHBISHOP AVERILL’S STRICTURES

Hokitika Guardian, 27 June 1928, Page 2

ARCHBISHOP AVERILL’S STRICTURES

REPLIED TO BY DR GIIEY. By Telegraph—Press Assn., Copyright. WELLINGTON, June 27. Archbishop Averill’s remarks on morality of New Zealand were referred by Hon Young (Minister of Public Health) to Dr Grey, head of the Mental Hospitals Department for comment. The latter in a memo to the Minister says he has no exact knowledge of how Now Zealand, compares with other countries in regard to divorce, prison population or illegitimate births, but if the accuracy of his Grace’s statement with regard to' them may be gauged by- his references to lunacy and suicides, New Zealand may quite safely again turn their attention to butter fat and the All Blacks. It would appear that Bishop Averill has drawn his facts from a pamphlet issued some time ago by. Dr Moore of Dunedin, but this is such a jumb’e . of misleading figures and futile erroneous deductions from mis-statements that it is difficult to know how anyone with even a moderate knowledge cf the situation could l.ie so misled or to bare upon them any. authoritative message to the country. Dr Grey then proceeds to quote some of Dr Moore’s figures on lunacy and the rejection of recruits for the Expeditionary Force, and show where they were wrong. He winds up by saying lie has travelled over a large part of the world and met many men of different races. In spite of all the enssandras and dismal theorists he has no hesitation in affirming that the level of intelligence andstandard of morality in this ' country as compared with others is not such as to cnu.se any measure of uneasiness.