THE BROTHERHOOD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 283, 27 May 1912, Page 7

THE BROTHERHOOD

ADDRESS BY THE HON. G. FOWLDS. There -was a very large gathering of j men at the 'Brotherhood meeting in the Good Templar Hall yesterday afternoon. The feature of the meeting was.an address by the Hon. G. Fowids, in which he dwelt on the social and economical I problems of the day, and the consequent i great spirit of unrest. The chair was taken by Mr. Okey, M.P., and the Address was preceded by a service of song. At the outset Mr. Fowids remarked that he had recently been down in Otago and Southland, and on both Sundays he was there he had addressed gatherings of men. As a result, he found that some of his good old Scotch convention friends were a little bit concerned, in their own minds, that he should take to delivering what they were pleased to term "political addresses" on the Sabbath Day. When he got in touch with them, he explained, however, that he was dealing with the life work of one of the noblest and grandest of Biblical characters. Continuing, Mr. Fowids went on to ask what was the proper attitude for the church to take regarding social and economic questions. Dealing with ' the problem, he stated that there were some people who contended that the i church was primarily, if not solely, a spiritual institution, and as such it had nothing to do at all with social and economic questions. On tire other hand, some people would be prepared to bring the whole machinery of the church into organisation for the social and political amelioration of the masses. Personally, he thought that both those extremes' were wrong. What was wanted was a fusion between the two classes, so as to get the brightest men—in the church as well as out of it—to work hand in j hand with the one common ideal. Referring to the growing spirit of unrest, which lay at the bottom of the social problem, the speaker said that the world's workers were worrying and toiling, year in and year out, only to find that a large proportion ol the products of their labor had been gathered by the "shirkers." This unrest would not be \ allayed until there was a betterment of the whole social system. It was the duty of Christian people to seek and find a ' remedy. A great labqr leader was wanted to lead the people out of the present condition of Egyptian bondage mto a new and better state. Mr. Fowids then discussed the life of Moses, whom he described as the greatest labor leader the world had "ever known, in order to illustrate many of his points. Ancient civilised kingdoms had come to grief, mainly through the neglect of the Mosaic laws, and he believed that the civilised world of to-day had reached its apex, on the same account. To-day, they stood at the parting of the ways, which would either lead to a collapse or to a new era. The land laws of Moses embodied the social necessities that were required in New Zealand. Our land ballot syi-' tem, with its abuses, had at least, facetiously added the speaker, spiritual authority. Continuing, he pointed out how, under the laws of Moses, parents "could not, as at present, dispose of their heritage to the neglect of their children and their children's children. An awful curse was pronounced against anybody who removed a land-mark, and landjobber; :'-m1 monopolists "were accursed amonf the people." Mr. Fowids, who handled his subject in l an interesting manner, also dealt with various other phases of the social problem.