PROTESTANT POLITICAL ASSOCIATION (Incorporated).

Taranaki Daily News, 10 December 1919, Page 3

PROTESTANT POLITICAL ASSOCIATION (Incorporated).

(Equal Rights for All; Special Privileges to None.)

(Published by Arrangement.)

r THK Executive of tie Egmont brand of the Protestant Political Assooia tion regrets to learn that Mr. Astburj has seen fit to give publicity to the con tents of a private letter issued by thai body to its members; he nmat accept al responsibility for the introduction of th< sectarian issue into this campaign. Ii this connection we offer the followinj statement:— 1. The Leader of the Opposition Part] lias not, to the best of our knowledge, do iinitely stated that he would not accepi the disloyal or extreme section of labo: I vote, and until he doo9 vre are quite ii ! order in assuming that it is possible hi J would.

2. We emphatically disclaim any in- ■ tontion whatever of suggesting that' Mr. Astbury or his supporters are disloyal, the main object of the letter being to draw special attention to the menace of the extreme and disloyal section oi labor, and we are not responsible for any f perverted construction placed upon the j wording of the letter. | 3. The P.P.A., being a political body, l makes no apologies for entering the polij tical arena, and as such, claims an absoj lute right to send a direction to its memI bers on a political question, as the form j of control is thoroughly democratic. 4. The letter in question was sent to j members only, and the contents were not intended for publication. • 5.' The I'.P.A. is an absolutely loyal as- | sociation. Its 'objects arc to maintain ! loyalty to the King and fight disloyalty ! in every shape and form whether in individuals, associations or Governments. I C. The President of the Egmont branch of the Association is not personally re- | sponsible for the contents of the. letter. ! 7. The following extract from the | Kew Zealand Tablet, the official organ of the Catholic Federation, speaks for itself, and shows clearly what party that ' body will be supporting at this time. Is ( ' it any wonder that' the P.l A., being a : counter association, sends a direction to

its members? 8. We ask Mr. Astbury's supporters not to be misled by any misinterpretation placed on the wording of the letter in question.

EXTRACT FROM THE "NEW ZEALAND TABLET," 15th Nov., 1917. Some time or other there will be a general election. It will not happen as long as the present Parliament can cling to their jobs, but it Avill come later. We wish to ask our Catholic voters not to forget to remember how some of their representatives voted recently. You Catholics of Tarauaki are numerically strong, and it j would be no harm if you used your i strength against the men who voted for j Howard Elliott—-for that is really what I it comes to —when Mr. Massey, like a | loyal Orangeman, led the bigots against j the Brothers. The Catholics of Timaru also have need to examine, their consciences. What return has the illustrious Mr. Craigie made for your support? How has he kept his pledges? But of course we should be foolish to think that pledges or "scraps of paper" matter to many men in that gallery. While remembering these things in our hearts, let us not forget the men who stood for principle and defied the wild wowser and his threats. Messrs. Isitt, Walker and Witty shall not be forgotten if Catholics have any memory for political honesty and upright conduct. Finally, if at a time when it seemed that we had not a man to save us from the tyranny of Sir James Allen, K.C.8., we reminded Sir | Joseph Ward that people were expecting more from him, we now welcome the opportunity to express our admiration for the stand he has made for justice and principle against bigotry and Orangism. As long as he maintains such a firm attitude he will have the support of every man in New Zealand whose support is worth having even though he should lose the favor of people whose opposition is a testimonial to him.