THE BAITING OF DR. GIBB

New Zealand Tablet, 21 August 1913, Page 34

THE BAITING OF DR. GIBB

... We publish elsewhere in this issue the Open Letter’ to the Rev. Dr. Gibb in which the Very Rev. Dean Power, of Hawera, deals m vigorous and comprehensive fashion, and with his accustomed literary grace, with the questions presented at Dr. Gibb’s Bible-in-schools meeting at Hawera, and with the Presbyterian divine’s utter failure to fairly and squarely face: the plain issues submitted to him. The whole of the questions and answers given at the meeting are reported in the Raw era Star of August 2; and they make extremely interesting reading. The points embodied in the questions were all exceedingly well taken; but perhaps the neatest and completest ‘ bowl out ’ to the lecturer was administered in connection with the questions relating to the religious test imposed upon the teachers by . the League’s scheme. The questioner stated that under the proposed system he considered a religious test would be introduced and asked the doctor if it was right that any teacher should be subjected to such a test. In reply, Dr. Gibb labored hard to show that no religious test was imposed. He quoted the Queensland lesson book as an example, contending that no Catholic teacher — by'implication, no teacher at —could take exception'to those lessons, and stated that he would be quite willing that a Catholic teacher should supervise his child in the reading of those lessons. * The questioner prefaced his next question by instancing the case of a teacher who said to the children that he hoped they read their Bible. He did, but he did not believe a word of it. * How,’ asked the questioner, ‘ would you like your child to be taught in that manner?’ With the innocence and rawness of a school boy, the impulsive and impetuous cleric put his head right into the noose. We quote the report: ‘ Dr. Gi*b, with much feeling, said such a man should be put out of the school straight. He was moved with indignation to the very depths of his soul that any man should give utterance to such an expression. Such a man was a knave and should be driven out of the school.’ And a minute before the lecturer had tried to show that the Bible lessons involved no religious test for the teacher ! The questioner’s natural and obvious retort was The doctor says there is to be no religious test, but he has just stated that a certain class of man should be driven out of the school ’ —and the applause which followed showed that the audience thoroughly grasped the situation. League apologists have, without exception, shaped badly at question time; but we have thus far met with nothing quite so delicious as the way in which the hot-headed Dr. Gibb gave himself and his case away, and delivered himself helplessly into the hands of the enemy.