Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without the permission of the Author. " j \ More a Part than Apart the Catholic Community in New Zealand Society 1918-1940 Christopher John van der Krogt A thesis presented in partial fulfIlment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History and Religious Studies at Massey University, 1994. Abstract The Catholic community in New Zealand between 1918 and 1940 maintained a distinct identity while being fully integrated into the wider society, as this investigation of the demography, spirituality, organization, ethics and politics of Catholics demonstrates. While Catholics, one seventh of the total population, were somewhat over­ represented among lower socio-economic groups, they were distributed quite evenly throughout the country and retained little of the ethnic identity of the original Catholic immigrants. Religious practices among Catholics followed overseas models, especially in the development of devotional piety and active spirituality, in emphasizing the Eucharist and the liturgy, and in basing lay spirituality on the religious life. Catholic spirituality and its underlying doctrines contrasted sharply with contemporary Protestant beliefs and practices, but while Catholics refused to worship with Protestants, Catholic spirituality was more commonly ignored or respected than criticized by them. In establishing organizations and institutions for charitable, educational, social, cultural and sporting purposes, the Church did not seek to isolate its members from the rest of society but to ensure that they could participate in society without compromising their religious integrity. Catholic associations co-operated with their non-Catholic counterparts and Catholic schools taught the national syllabus while adding religious teaching and observances. The degree of social interaction between Catholics and Protestants is demonstrated by the prevalence of mixed marriages. Catholic views on gender roles, apart from the exaltation of religious celibacy, were similar to those endorsed by the rest of society. The main Protestant churches reassessed their attitudes to ethical issues like birth control and divorce, but retained much in common with the Catholic Church. Despite clerical triumphalism, Catholics, too, restricted the size of their families and were no more opposed to divorce than Protestants were. Relatively liberal Catholic attitudes towards Sunday observance, drinking and gambling were more in keeping with those of responsible secular opinion - and practice - than with the views expressed by Protestant clergy. iv Intense sectarian strife during and immediately after the First W orId War was not ' typical of the period and by the Second World War the Catholic Church enjoyed warm relations with the Government and the main Protestant denominations. Catholics were somewhat divided over Prohibition, but, as in the country at large, most op�osed it. The Church was not committed to any political party although Catholic social teaching and the socio-economic status of numerous Catholics led to strong Catholic support for the Labour Party. In this, Catholics shared in a new political consensus during the 1930s. No government could openly give fmancial assistance to Catholic schools - and some recent concessions were lost during the early 1920s - but indirect aid, especially under the Labour administration, reflected increased acceptance of the Catholic education system. Lack of support by politicians or the public at large for state­ endorsed Bible reading in public schools, as demanded by the Bible in Schools League, demonstrated the weakness of the League's assumption that New Zealand was a Protestant country and vindicated Catholic opposition � the League. 1 Preface This thesis investigates the relationship between the Ca�olic community and the rest of New Zealand society from the end of World War One to the beginning of World War Two. It argues that while retaining, and indeed cultivating, a distinct religious identity, Catholics sought to participate fully in the social and political life of the country. This interpretation is advanced by examining five dimensions of Catholic life: demography, spirituality, organization, ethical beliefs and practices, and politics. The Catholic Maori population is not considered here since it was quite separate from the rest of the Catholic community and writing its history would require a different set of sources and skills. Nor is it possible in a thesis concerned with the Church throughout New Zealand to give much attention to regional variations. Chapter one is concerned with the Catholic population and considers its ethnic composition, geographical distribution, demographic features, employment patterns and rates of imprisonment In chapter two, lay Catholic spirituality, especially devotional piety and active spirituality, the Eucharist and the liturgy, and the modelling_ of lay religious practice on the religious life are discussed before assessing their significance for the relationship between Catholics and the wider society. The aims and activities of C�tholic organizations and institutions are reviewed in chapter three, which treats Catholic schooling and mixed marriage as case studies of Catholic integration. Catholic attitudes to issues of gender and personal ethics - as well as statistical evidence for contraception and divorce - are studied in chapter four. Chapter five focuses on sectarian controversy, the Prohibition issue, political parties and ideologies, and the growing rapprochement between the major churches. The politics of religious education are discussed in chapters six and seven, which are concerned with the quest for state aid for private schools and with the Catholic response to the Bible in Schools movement This thesis seeks to balance the concerns of history and religious studies. While students of religion are commonly tempted to divorce religious beliefs and practices from their historical context, historians all too often overlook religion - or pass ill­ informed judgments on its significance. Religion is a cultural phenomenon, or group of phenomena, and can only be understood properly within its changing cultural contexts. Investigating religious beliefs and practices should form an essential part of the agenda of social historians - and not only because religion has a direct bearing on vi other issues, such as the birth rate or the use of leisure. While religious history needs to be integrated into social and political history, for none of these exists in isolation, it also warrants investigation in its own right because, in varying degrees, it has been an important dimension of ordinary life. There has been very little academic writing on the Catholic community in New Zealand during the twentieth century. Parish and diocesan histories, while often of a very high standard, are usually preoccupied with the clergy and neglect the laity. Bishops and priests naturally feature on the pages of this thesis more than do any lay men or women - that is a reflection of both the organization of the Church and of the primary sources - but this thesis is not an institutional history. It endeavours, rather, to combine religious, social and political history. The principal primary sources used in this thesis are the Catholic newspapers, especially the New Zealand Tablet (published in Dunedin), the Month, and the Zealandia, its successor from 1934 (both of which were published in Auckland). For the 1930s, two other Catholic journals have been used: the Marist Messenger, published by the Society of Mary, and Catholic News, published by St Joseph's parish in Wellington. Secular newspapers and official government publications, especially the census reports, Parliamentary Debates and the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives have also proved very useful. Some unpublished material in the National Archives and the Alexander Turnbull Library has been used. Catholic archival sources have also been important ror this study, although most of the Catholic diocesan archives are either incomplete, unorganized or inaccessible. It is particularly disappointing that the best organized and most complete Catholic archive, that of the Auckland diocese, in which all the papers of Bishop Cleary (who died in 1929) were catalogued and made available to researchers by Father E.R. Simmons, has been effectively closed for most of the time during which this thesis was being researched. Full access was granted to the Marist archive and the Christchurch diocesan archive but elsewhere a lack of interest in promoting historical research and the fear that something embarrassing might be uncovered led to severe restrictions, although some very useful material was made available. Numerous people have contributed in a variety of ways to the production of this thesis. I would like above all to thank my supervisors, Drs Peter Lineham and Peter Donovan. Among the many others to whom thanks are due for advising me and particularly for commenting on drafted material, I am especially grateful to Professors Ivan Snook and Barrie Macdonald, Drs James Watson, David Thomson and Colin vii McGeorge, Messrs Basil Poff and Paul Green and Ms Christine Cheyne. Brother Gerard Hogg, Sister Margaret D' Ath, Fath,er Kevin Clark and the late Father Ernest Simmons were most gracious in allowing me to use archival material in their care. Messrs Michael Fitzsimons, Paul Freedman and Kevin Molloy also gave me generous access to their flIes of the Month, the Zealandia, and the Tablet. A number of people kindly allowed me to record interviews with them; their names are listed in the bibliography but I would especially like to thank Mrs Mary Scully and Miss Beryl Bartlett for supplying me with their extensive written reflections as well. For technical advice on word-processing, I am grateful to Mrs Rama McGee. Financial assistance was provided by the University Grants Committee, the Historical Branch of the Department of Internal Mfairs, and Massey University. I would also like to record my thanks to family and friends whose moral and material support helped me to write this thesis. Contents Abstract Preface Abbreviations Chapter One A People Apart? A Population Profile Ethnicity Geographical Distribution The Life Cycle Employment Patterns Crime and Imprisonment . Conclusion Chapter Two "The Only True Religion"? Spirituality and Religious Identity '. Devotional Piety and Active Spirituality The Eucharist and the Liturgy The Religious Model: Retreats and Third Orders The International Character of Catholic Spirituality Catholic Spirituality and Religious Integrity Conclusion Chapter Three Isolation or Integration? Catholic Organizations and Institutions Religious Identity and Social Integration Excluding Catholic Sports Teams Educating Catholic Citizens Mixed Marriage Conclusion ll1 v X111 1 3 18 23 33 57 67 70 73 96 115 121 132 156 159 163 192 202 225 236 Chapter Four Righteousness or Conformity? Gender and Ethical Issues Sexuality and Gender Roles Moral Triumphalism Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? Divorce and Contraception in Practice The Limits of Leisure Conclusion Chapter Five 240 243 , 258 265 284 294 312 "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Polemics, Prohibition and Political Parties319 The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 322 The Sectarian Epidemic IT: the PPA and the Government 340 The Prohibition Debate A "Solid Vote" for Labour? Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party A New Consensus Conclusion Chapter Six 360 376 392 405 423 Sufferance or Succour? The Quest for State Aid to Catholic Schools 427 Gains and Losses 429 The Catholic Case 445 Specific Demands 451 The Labour Era 456 Conclusion 462 Chapter Seven "A Protestant Country"? The Bible in Schools Controversy 467 The League's Agenda 471 Catholic Objections 474 Catholic Counter Proposals 481 The League's Failure: Catholic Conspiracy or Parliamentary Politics? 487 Protestant Hegemony or Religious Pluralism? 499 The Triumph of Secularism 513 Conclusion 524 Conclusion 529 Appendix: Population Statistics 537 Bibliography 588 Graphs 1.1 The Major Denominations, 1916-1945 2 1.2 Male-Female Ratios, 1921 and 1936 25 1.3 Denominational Age ProfIles, 1921 and 1936 27 1.4 Proportions of Adults Never Married, 1926 and 1936 29 1.5 Denominational Proportions of New Prisoners, 1887-1931 60 4.1 Separation and Divorce, 1926 and 1936 285 Tables 1.1 Urban-Rural Distribution of the Major Denominations, 1921-1936 22 1.2 Sex Ratios, 1921-1936 24 1.3 Singulate Mean Age at Marriage 28 1.4 Women and the Workforce, 1921-1936 47 1.5 Imprisonment of Catholic Men and Kinds of Offences, 1918-1931 61 3.1 Registered Catholic Schools, 1919-1939 213 3.2 Mixed Marriages in the Wellington and Christchurch Dioceses 234 4.1 Separation and Divorce, 1926-1936 287 4.2 Child-Woman and Child-Married Woman Ratios, 1921-1936 292 4.3 Denominational Representation in Leisure-Related Industries, 1921-1936 300 8.1 Major Religious Professions of the Non-Maori Population, 1916-1945 537 8.2 Major Denominations in the Ten Provinces, 1921-1936 538 8.3 Major Denominations in the Largest Towns, 1921-1936 540 8.4 Catholic Populations of Boroughs, 1921-1936 542 8.5 Proportions of Persons Not Married in Age Cohorts, 1936 545 8.6 Marital Status and Religious Affiliation, 1926-1936 546 8.7 Catholics Proportions in the Workforce, 1921-1936 553 8.8 Occupational Status of Men in Industrial Categories, 1921 554 8.9 Occupational Status of Men in Industrial Categories, 1921 (percentages) 555 8.10 Occupational Status of Women in Industrial Categories, 1921 556 8.11 Occupational Status of Women in Industrial Categories, 1921 (percentages) 557 8.12 General Occupational Status, 1921-1926 558 8.13 General Occupational Status, 1921-1926 (percentages) 560 8.14 Industrial Distribution of Catholic Males, 1921-1936 561 8.15 Industrial Distribution of Catholic Females, 1921-1936 575 8.16 Denominations of Convicted Prisoners, 1887-1931 586 ACD AGS ACDA AJHR ATL CCDA CE CIC CSSR Abbreviations Australasian Catholic Directory Anglican General Synod, Proceedings Auckland Catholic Diocesan Archive Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington Christchurch Catholic Diocesan Archive Catholic Encyclopedia Corpus Iuris Canonici (Code of Canon Law) Congregation of the Most Sacred Redeemer (Redemptorist) DeDA Dunedin Catholic Diocesan Archive HACBS Hibernian Australasian. Catholic Benefit Society JLC MAW MAC MYB NCE NZEI NZPD PGA PPA SM Journals of the Legislative Council of the Dominion of New Zealand Marist Archive, Wellington Methodist Annual Conference, Minutes Marist Year Book . New Catholic Encyclopedia New Zealand Educational Institute , New Zealand Parliamentary Debates Presbyterian General Assembly, Proceedings Protestant Political Association Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) WCAA Wellington Catholic Archdiocesan Archive _ ...... ------ .. --. . ... . - .. -.-.�--�----------- Chapter One A People Apart? A Population Profile In the first census after the Great War, the overwhelming majority of New Zealanders declared their adherence to one of the four largest Christian denominations, as Graph 1.1 shows. 1 Of the non-Maori population in 1921, 89.48 per cent considered themselves to be either Anglicans (42.22 per cent), Presbyterians (24.57 per cent), Catholics (13.47 per cent), or Methodists (9.22 per cent). The many other denominations and sects were all very small by comparison with these four - even Baptists, the Salvation Army and Brethren accounted for only 1.90,0.91 and 0.89 per cent respectively. This pattern of religious affiliation was quite stable: the same rank order and similar proportions were recorded by the four leading denominations in the 1870s and would continue beyond the Second World War. 2 Although they constituted the third largest denomination in the country, Catholics were very much a minority, since whatever tensions might exist among Protestants, they had more in common with each other than any of them did with the Catholic population. No doubt a large proportion (perhaps a majority) of those who declared themselves members of a particular church had but a tenuous connection with the ecclesiastical institution concerned, yet the consistent pattern of the census returns over a long period testifies to the importance attached to identifying oneself by a religious labe1.3 Each denomination had its own demographic characteristics and the issue to be examined in this chapter is how much the Catholic community differed from or resembled the others. Since the Catholic Church and the three other principal Churches were so much larger than any of the smaller religious categories, it is appropriate to compare 1 2 3 See also Table 8.1. on which Graph 1.1 is based. H. Mol. The Fixed and the Fickle: Religion and Identity in New Zealand (Dunedin: Pilgrims South Press. 1982). pp. 76-77. Table 8.1 shows a growing tendency to take advantage of the right not to declare one's religion. The proportion of people taking this option remained under five per cent in the interwar period. however. and most of them were probably no less religious than the rest of the community. Since a disproportionately large number of young children were counted as objectors. it is evident that some parents declined to preempt the religious choice of their offspring (NZ Census. 1936. vol. VI, pp. 20.22). 2 Chapter One: A People Apart? Graph 1.1 The Major Denominations, 1916-1945 50,----------------------------------------------------------. c o .� 40 :; 30 0. � .... o ., co � 20 � ., g. 10 o 1916 1921 1926 Census Years 1936 1945 • Anglican 1'1 Presbyterian • Catholic II Methodist • Baptist Catholics with the three main Protestant denominations, or with the population as a whole, and in the following discussion, the smaller denominations will usually be ignored. Census reports constitute the most important primary source for this chapter but will be supplemented by other official statistics as well as a variety other sources including by the Catholic press, fiction, archival records and personal recollections. Apart from the recent work of Donald Akenson, which suffers from a number of inadequacies, as will be seen, little use has been made of the interwar censuses to investigate the Catholic community.4 Unfortunately the censuses, normally conducted 4 D.H. Akenson, Half the Worldfrom Home: Perspectives on the Irish in New Zealand, 1860-1950 (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1990). See especially the references to Akenson's discussions of Catholic employment and imprisonment below. Several studies on other ethnic groups will be cited in the fIrst section of this chapter. Introduction 3 quinquennially, were interrupted by the Depression and the Second World War: no census was undertaken in 1931 or in 1941. The 1945 census also departed from the five-yearly pattern, being only nine years after the 1936 census. These irregularities make intercensal comparisons problematic. Comparisons oyer time are also rendered more difficult by changes in the way in which the results of the censuses were reported, either by omitting certain information or by grouping the data into different categories. Further, many potentially informative cross-tabulations (such as matching religious affiliation with income) were simply not made before the original census returns were destroyed. It will be argued that while the demographic profile of the Catholic community was distinctive, in most respects it did not differ dramatically from that of the population as a whole. In the first section of the chapter, it will be seen that although Catholics in New Zealand were descended from a number of different national groups, particularly the Irish, by the interwar period only a small proportion had been born overseas and there was little evidence of continued Irish sentiment. The second part of the chapter will consider the geographical spread of the Catholic population, showing that Catholics were quite evenly distributed through the country and in all the main towns. A variety of demographic variables will be examined in the third section, notably sex ratios, age profiles, mortality, and marriage rates. It will be seen that the Catholic community was comparatively youthful and had relatively high rates of mortality and non-marriage. In the fourth part of the chapter, an examination of Catholic employment patterns will show that Catholics were under-represented in skilled occupations requiring advanced training or education but over-represented in some forms of government employment and other activities open to persons with little capital or limited qualifications. By drawing particularly on imprisonment statistics, which reveal a high crime rate among Catholics, the final section of the chapter will provide further evidence that Catholics were disproportionately represented in lower socio-economic groups. Ethnicity Immigrants from a number of different countries contributed to the Catholic population of New Zealand during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At St Anne's convent school, Newtown, during the 1930s, there were many Irish names but also a few Lebanese, Italian and German ones.5 Only a small proportion of Catholics, 5 Mary Scully (nee Krebs), untitled autobiographical essay (University of Canterbury B.A. essay in Education, 1984). 4 Chapter One: A People Apart? however, were recent immigrants. At the time of the 1926 census, 77 per cent of the Catholic population had been born in New Zealand. Of the 39,050 who had been born overseas - nearly 23 per cent of the Catholic population - at least 18,837 (48 per cent) had been, in .the country for over twenty years.6 The Catholic population of interwar New Zealand consisted principally of the descendants of Irish, English, French, German, Polish, Dalmatian, Italian and Lebanese settlers. It would be beyond the scope of this discussion to detail the history of immigration to New Zealand by Catholics of different nationalities. However, their impact on the ethnic character of the Catholic community and especially the extent to which it retained an Irish ethos will be considered. It will be argued that while a few of the smaller ethnic groups had some local influence on the character of the Catholic community, there was little evidence of Irish sentiment by the end of the period. In interwar New Zealand, the total number of Catholics from continental Europe and Lebanon, or their immediate descendants, was quite small. Only in the case of the Lebanese do census data correlate religion and ethnicity, but some other nationalities were almost exclusively Catholic. The immigrants from Italy and especially Dalmatia were predominantly men. In 1921, there were 559 New Zealand residents who had been born in France but by 1936 this number had declined to 368.7 Some 500 ethnic Poles had migrated to New Zealand before World War Two, although many had been only temporary residents during the gold rushes. About 150 came for employment on public work schemes during the Vogel period and by 1914 about 300 had settled permanently.s In 1921, there were 399 Polish-born residents in New Zealand and there were 366 in 1936.9 The New Zealand Government quietly discouraged immigration by Yugoslavs, Italians and Lebanese during the 1920s, but limited numbers continued to arrive.tO In 1921, there were 485 "Syrian" Catholics (255 men and 230 women) 6 7 8 9 NZ Census, 1926, vol. VIII, p. 34; 4,062 Catholics had not stated their period of residence. NZ Census, 1936, vol. VII, p. 3. I.H. Burnley, "The Greek, Italian and Polish Communities in New Zealand: a Geographical Contribution to the Study of Ethnic Migration, SetUement and Adjustment" (Victoria University of Wellington Ph.D. thesis in Geography, 1969), pp. 341 , 344. For further discussion of these German-speaking Poles, see James Bade (editor), The German Connection: New Zealand and German-Speaking Europe in the Nineteenth Century (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1993), chapters eight and nine (especially pp. 72-74, 82 where reference is made to their religion). NZ Census, 1936, vol. VII, p. 3. 1 0 P.S. O'Connor, "Keeping New Zealand White, 1 908-1920", New Zealand Journal of History, 211 (April 1968), p. 64. .' Ethnicity 5 living as pennanent residents in New Zealand and in 1936 the number had risen to 694 (369 and 325).11 Between 1920 and 1939, 856 Italians (632 men and 224 women) came to New Zealand with the intention of remaining; there were 530 Italian-born residents in 1921 and 917 in 1936.12 Constituting the largest non-Irish Catholic immigrant group, Dalmatians had begun to arrive in significant numbers during the 1890s, usually to work on the kauri gum fields of Northland. Most were single men who aimed to return home and buy land with their savings but of those who decided to stay, married men would often travel ahead and later send their wives the fare, while single men typically returned home to find a brideP In 1921, there were 1,588 Yugoslavs 0,480 men and 108 women) in New Zealand; the number rose to 2,721 (2,205 men and 516 women) in 1936.14 An article in the Month estimated that there were 4,000 Dalmatians in New Zealand in 1928, a number which may be reasonably accurate if taken to include their New Zealand-born descendants.I5 The minor Catholic ethnic groups were usually too scattered to fonn enclaves in New Zealand, although during the interwar period immigrants and their descendants were still living in significant proportions in a few areas and there they retained something of their ethnic heritage. Even where there were relatively high . . concentrations of these ethnic groups, however, they almost invariably lived as minorities interspersed with the wider population. From the tum of the century, and especially during the interwar years, there were some hundreds of Dalamatians living in boarding houses clustered near Auckland's Queen Street but during the 1930s, they tended to move into the suburbs.16 The largest population of Italians and their descendants was in Island Bay where they constituted about one third of the parish. Built up by chain migration from Massalubrense and Stromboli, the Italian community in Wellington long retained a distinctive character. 17 In Dunedin, there was a 1 1 The numbers refer to "race aliens of full blood"; there were smaller numbers of "half-castes": 5 2 in 1921 and 174 in 1936 (NZ Census, 1921 , part VI, p. 34; 1936, vol. IX, pp. 21 -22). Since these figures are higher than the total numbers of residents born in Syria or Lebanon (338 in 1921 and 354 in 1936 - NZ Census, 1936, vol. VII, p. 3), they evidently include New Zealand-born descendants of Lebanese immigrants. 1 2 Burnley, p . 25 1 ; NZ Census, 1936, vol. VII, p. 3. 13 A.D. Trlin, Now Respected, Once Despised: Yugoslavs in New Zealand (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1 979), pp. 26-27, 41-42, 47, 165. 14 NZ Census, 1936, vol. VII, p. 3. 15 Month, 1 5 May 1928, p. 18. 16 Trlin, pp. 145, 148. 17 Burnley, pp. 280-286, 336; Pat Hutchison (editor), SI Francis de Sales, Island Bay, Parish History, 1906, 1920-1990 (Wellington: printed by CHB Print, 1990), pp. 33-36. 6 Chapter One: A People Apart? substantial Lebanese community centred on Carroll Street (called Walker Street from 1916), but this was a poor area which also attracted other ethnic groups, such as the Chinese.18 Puhoi was a notable exception to this pattern of distribution because the town had been founded by Sudeten Germans in 1863 and had attracted few other settlers apart from friends and relatives of the original group.19 At the time of its seventieth anniversary in 1933, the settlement was described as remaining "almost exclusively Catholic".20 Ethnic identity was often maintained by endogamy, for example the Lebanese strongly discouraged their children from marrying outside the community, although those born in New Zealand were less inclined to accept such a restriction.21 By far the largest ethnic contribution to the Catholic population was that of the Irish, but by the interwar period, the overwhelming majority of New Zealand Catholics were of Irish descent rather than Irish themselves. The gold rushes of the early 1860s encouraged numerous Irish migrants to seek their fortunes in New Zealand - often after living in Australia - but many did not stay. For the future Catholic population of New Zealand, the 1870s and early 1880s were more important, since assisted passages and guaranteed employment (railway building and other public works) attracted many thousands of permanent settlers. The rate of Irish immigration from Great Britain declined rapidly thereafter because, without government subsidies, it was much cheaper to sail across the Atlantic than to the South Pacific. However, substantial numbers of immigrants of Irish descent continued to arrive from Australia until about 1920.22 Between 1922 and 1931, 8,394 persons of Irish nationality came to New Zealand as permanent settlers from the British Isles; between 1932 and the first three months of 1940, 1,210 immigrants arrived from the whole of Ireland.23 While the term "Irish nationality" is rather ambiguous, at least for the early 1920s, and the religion of these people is not recorded, it is clear that by the interwar period Irish immigrants 18 D. Page and J. Farry, The Hawkers: a Family Story (Dunedin: Sbinbone Alley Press, 1 990), pp. 45- 46. 19 On this settlement, see, inter alia, D.V. Silk, A History of Puhoi (Dunedin: NZ Tablet Co., 1923) and Judith Williams, "Puhoi, the Bohemian Settlement" in Bade, chapter eight. 20 NZTablet, 12 July 1933, p. 6. 21 Jamelie Joseph and Latifie Kallil, interviews, 30 May 199 1 ; Page and Farry, p. 99. 22 . Akenson, Haifthe World, pp. 24-27. For estimates of the numbers of immigrants before the interwar period, see ibid. chapter one and appendix A. 23 Totals calculated from the figures collected in Akenson, Haifthe World, p. 26. Ethnicity 7 were only a small minority within the Catholic community. At the time of the 1921 census, there were 34,419 people in New Zealand who had been born in Ireland and in 1936 there were 25,865.24 Had they all been Catholics, they would have made up only 21 and 13 per cent of the Catholic population - markedly declining proportions which are overestimates since the Irish-born included Protestants.25 In April 1921, the average age of those born in Ireland was 53.86 years, whereas that of the Catholic population (including the Irish-born) was 27.61.26 During the interwar years, the overall character of the Catholic community in New Zealand would be detennined by the second and third generation of Irish descendants rather than by the recent arrivals. An important exception to this generalization is that certain immigrants placed in positions of influence, such as nuns and priests, might have reinforced the Irish identity of other Catholics. The most notable example is Dr James Kelly, editor of the New Zealand Tablet from 1917 to 1931.27 Catholics of Irish descent were more concerned to participate in New Zealand society than to maintain Irish culture or links with Ireland.28 Kelly organized an annual Irish history competition but it seems to have died out after he resigned from the editorship.29 Catholic schools fonned rugby, cricket and basketball teams, rather than promoting Irish sports like hurling - although football matches could sometimes take on the aura of a national and religious struggle.3o In 1924, some hoped that New Zealand would sen� representatives to the Tailteann Games in Dublin but one of the organizers, noting that no team had registered, wrote that "there is apparently'a strange apathy amongst the Irish in New Zealand".31 Nor did the Catholic press show much 24 NZ Census, 1936, vol. VII, p. 3. 25 The percentages have been calculated from the figures in Table 8 . 1 . 26 NZ Census, 1921 , General Report, pp. 104, 129. 27 For Kelly's militant Irish politics, see chapter five below. 28 Participation by Catholics in the wider society will be discussed more in chapter three. 29 NZ Tablet, 15 May 19 19, p. 13; 10 July 1919, pp. 17- 19; 22 September 1921 , pp. 1 5-16; 1 5 December 1921 , p. 17; 12 June 1924, p. 18; 24 September 1924, p. 18; 24 November 1926, p . 31; 23 May 1928, p. 5; 14 November 1928, p. 44; 17 November 1929, p. 5; 27 November 1935, p. 5; 13 May 193 1 , p. 3. 30 D. Davin, Roads from Home, edited and introduced by Lawrence Jones (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1976; originally published in 1949), pp. 24-25. See chapter three below for evidence of Catholic schools' preoccupation with the sports popular in New Zealand. 3 1 NZ Tablet, 31 January 1924, p. 33; 10 April 1924, p. 35 (letter from C. Gifford Wilson). 8 Chapter One: A People Apan? interest. A brief item in 1936 noted that there were to be teams from the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa, but there was no mention of New Zealand.32 In Dan Davin's No Remittance, Mr O'Connor acknowledges a few years before World War One to his prospective son-in-law, an Englishman and a nominal ProtestaI)t, that in another generation all the Irish and English in the country would be New Zealanders - but warns that Mrs O'Connor would not accept such a prediction.33 Interest in Irish culture, as reflected in the establishment of ethnic clubs and their apparent demise, was evidently the intermittent concern of a few enthusiasts. An Irish Literary, Musical and Social Society was founded in Dunedin in 1920 but it was noted in the first annual report that the membership of 261 scarcely reflected the number of "Irish" people in and around the city.34 A similar Club was established in Wellington two years later.35 In 1924, Kelly praised the Wellington Irish Club, contrasting it with its less enterprising Dunedin equivalent. The Wellington Club welcomed new arrivals and taught them Irish songs and dances - which were evidently more significant to migrants than to the Irish at home. It also published an annual review and sold imported Irish goods.36 Two hundred "members and friends" attended the Club's annual picnic in 1927.37 Evidently it did not survive much longer, since a new Irish National Club was established in 1933 and the following year an Irish National Society was founded in A�ckland. 38 Nor did apparently Irish organizations necessarily concentrate on Irish affairs or culture. When the "Celtic Literary, Social, Debating and Dramatic Club" was formed in Addington in 1938, the inaugural meeting was spent debating equal pay for women, the encyclicals of Pope Pius IX, trotting and tennis.39 The largest "Irish" organization was the Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society - but the Irish element was only secondary. J.J. Marlow, the Otago District­ Deputy, explained that "the organisation was a friendly society first", although it was 32 NZ Tablet, 1 5 July 1936, p. 13; cf 1 7 October 1928, p. 29 for another brief reference. 33 D. Davin, No Remittance (London: Michael Joseph, 1959), pp. 67-68. 34 NZ Tablet, 1 July 1920, p. 28; 9 June 1921 , p. 32. 35 NZ Tablet, 9 March 1922, p. 14. 36 NZTablet, 12 June 1924, p. 18. 37 NZ Tablet, 2 February 1927, p. 27. The same page reports on the annual meeting of the Dunedin Irish Society. 38 NZ Tablet, 22 November 1933, p. 27; 5 September 1934, p. 2; Zealandia, 30 August 1934, p. 3. 39 NZTablet, 1 June 1938, p. 44. Ethnicity also "out to maintain the national sentiment" as well as the Catholic faith of its members.40 9 A useful index of the declining sense of Irish identity among New Zealand Catholics is provided by the celebrations to mark St Patrick's· Day. During the early interwar years, when Irish nationalists were struggling to attain independence, St Patrick's Day celebrations in New Zealand sometimes assumed a political significance which no doubt stimulated Catholics of Irish descent to participate.41 St Patrick's Day (a public holiday) was typically celebrated with Mass, sometimes followed by a picnic and, invariably, a "national concert". In the larger centres there were organized sports and in Wellington and Auckland, there were even public processions with floats; the various celebrations were often spread over several days.42 After the British Government granted the right of self-determination to the Free State by the Treaty of 1921, the political significance of St Patrick's Day evaporated and less interest was evinced in the annual occasion. In 1924, the procession and sports in Wellington were replaced by the celebrations to mark Archbishop Francis Redwood's episcopal jubilee - he had been consecrated on St Patrick's Day - and they were not resumed in 1925.43 It was noted, moreover, that "the concert was quieter" - in part because the children were not there - and that there"was "less green worn than in other years".44 From 1926, the annual procession was no longer held in Auckland, but sport, dancin"g and other activities were arranged for the city's Catholic schoolchildren the following Saturday.45 A 1929 report claimed that the Auckland celebrations that year were the best there had been for some time but admitted that interest had been diminishing for a number of years.46 The Depression was to hasten the decline of the St Patrick's Day observances: in Auckland in 1931 and Christchurch in 1932, the usual sporting events 40 NZ Tablet, 27 April 1927, p. 57. For: further discussion of the Society, especially its unsuccessful attempts to boost memberShip during the 1930s, see chapter three. 41 See chapter five below, especially the reference to resolutions passed at concerts. 42 NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 23; 27 March 1919, pp. 18-19, 2 1 ; 3 April 1919, pp. 33-34; 25 March 1920, pp. 19-22, 37; 1 April 1920, pp. 21 -23; 8 April 1920, pp. 18-19, 21 -22; 15 April 1920. p. 37; 22 April 1920, p. 22. 43 Month, 15 April 1924, p. 21 ; NZ Tablet, 4 February 1925, p. 30. 44 NZ Tablet, 25 March 1925, p. 3 1 ; but cf NZ Herald, 18 March 1926, p. 13 for reference to green ribbons in Auckland. For a later anecdote indicating the almost complete absence of green ribbons on St Patrick's Day in Wellington, see NZ Tablet, 1 5 April 1931 , p. 21 . 45 NZ Herald, 1 7 March 1926, p. 12; 22 March 1926, p. 6. 46 Month, 16 April 1929, p. 23; cf 19 March 1929, p. 39 for the planning of the occasion. -is • !.-�- .::. 10 Chapter One: A People Apan? and associated festivities were not held, although celebrations on a much reduced scale were conducted for the schoolchildrenY The athletic meeting was briefly revived in Christchurch in 1933 but in Auckland the "usual picnic" was "abandoned", apart from "a small programme of races".48 There were regional variations in the observanc<,? of St Patrick's Day: in Greymouth, not only the Mass and the concert but also the picnic and sporting events continued longer than in the larger cities - despite the weather.49 Nevertheless, Patrick O'Farrell recalls that the St Patrick's Day observances in Greymouth during the 1940s were "a Catholic celebration, encouraged by nuns, brothers and the priests, rather than an Irish one. "50 Catholic children of Lebanese descent in Dunedin wore green ribbons on St Patrick's Day during the 1920s, for, as Jamelie Joseph recalls, St Patrick was not only the patron of Ireland but also a Catholic saintS! Similarly, the Dalmatian children in Amelia Batistich's portrayal of life in a Northland town wore green at the St Patrick's Day concert.52 Unlike the other festivities, the annual concert survived with full capacity audiences - it was reported that people had to be turned away in Dunedin in 1939.53 The concert's longevity, however, is less attributable to a sense of Irish identity on the part of performers or audiences than to its role in fund-raising for local (not Irish) purposes. After attending the 1930 concert in Wellington, P.J. O'Regan noted in his diary that, due to the poor quality of the music, it had been "somewhat of a bore" and that "the Catholic community is becoming less Irish as the years go on and 47 Month, 2 March 1931, p. 39; 1 April 1931, p. 37; 1 April 1932, p. 23. When the picnic and sports became too expensive, Father Francis Terry, organizer of the St Patrick's Day activities, arranged Catholic basketball teams as a replacement (Nora Felton, interview, 24 October 1991; cf chapter three below). 48 Month, 1 April 1933, pp. 8, 16. In Christchurch, the annual sports for children were held in 1935 (Zealandia, 28 March 1935. p. 5). 49 NZ Tablet, 8 April 1920, p. 19; 9 April 1930, p. 33; 3 April 1935, p. 14; 1 April 1936, p. 9; Zealandia, 8 April 1937, p. 3; Eileen Kelly in Reflect, Rejoice: Sisters of Mercy Celebrate One Hundred Years in Greymouth, 1882-1982 (Greymouth: Mercy Centennial Planning Committee, 1982), p. 50 (on the 1920s). In Blenheim, too, the annual sports survived longer than in most other places (Month, 16 April 1929, p. 38; NZTablet,:3 April 1935, p. 14; Zealandia, 28 March 1935, p. 3). 50 P. O'Farrell, "Catholicism on the West Coast: Just How Irish Was It?", NZ Tablet, 3 May 1973, pp. 54-55 . 51 Jamelie Joseph, interview, 30 May 1991. 52 A.E. Batistich, Sing Vila in the Mountain (Auckland: Hodder and Stoughton, 1987), p. 93. 53 NZ Tablet, 29 March 1939, p. 23 (Dunedin); Zealandia, 23 March 1939, p. 2 (Auckland). Ethnicity 11 hence ... there is less appreciation of Irish music and song."54 St Patrick's Day recalled the increasingly distant Irish ancestry of most New Zealand Catholics, but it usually had no connection with contemporary Ireland. Kelly complained that the same songs were sung every year: he suggested a number of neglected melodies and reminded readers who might not know how to obtain scores that, "there is a place called Dublin in Ireland, and by the exercise of ordinary intelligence it ought to be possible for most people to establish communications with the Irish capital, where such songs are sold in abundance."55 If the concerts failed to arrest the decline of Irish sentiment, they remained an essential source of revenue for Catholic institutions and other charities, and in this they resembled numerous other events arranged by Catholic parishes, schools, clubs and societies.56 Describing the concert as "somewhat of an annual ordeal" and remarking again upon the decline of interest in Ireland, O'Regan noted in 1932 that since the proceeds were used for Catholic education, "most people who attend do so as a matter of duty" .57 The annual concert in Wellington raised funds for the Wellington Catholic Education Board, while in Christchurch, the concert proceeds were given to Nazareth House.58 In 1931, concert profits in Dunedin and Auckland were used to assist victims of the Napier earthquake.59 Despite their distinctiveness as ethnic groups, even the southern European and Lebanese Catholics had little impact on the character of the Catholic community as a whole. Potentially the most unusual were the Lebanese, but links with western European Catholicism over many centuries had led to the development of a westernized liturgy and spirituality among the Maronites. Jamelie Joseph recalls that the Lebanese were "real fanatics about religion", a view confirmed by Beryl Bartlett, who describes the descendants of Lebanese immigrants in Palmerston North as "very 54 O'Regan diary, 17 March 1930, ATI.. 76-165-2/3. 55 NZ Tablet, 22 April 193 1 , p. 4. 56 For Catholic social activities and fund-raising, see chapter three. 57 Being more preoccupied with Ireland's affairs than most of his contemporaries, O'Regan also regretted that even the Tablet now showed little concern over developments there (O'Regan diary, 17 March 1932; 13 April 1932, ATI.. 76- 165-215). 58 For Nazareth House, see NZ Tablet, 3 April 1919, p. 33; 1 July 1920, p. 18; 12 May 1926, p. 31 ; 3 April 1935, p. 13; 25 March 1936, p. 6; Month, 1 March 1932, p. 21 ; Zea/andia, 28 March 1935, p. 5. Between 1912 and 1928, the Wellington Catholic Education Board raised £2,589 fro� the annual St Patrick's Day celebrations (Evening Post, 3 December 1928, p. 10); for reference to other years, see NZ Tablet, 3 April 1935, p. 13; 25 March 1936, p. 6; 16 March 1938, p. 44; 23 October 1940, p. 23. 59 Month, 2 March 193 1 , p. 39; 1 April 1931, p. 37. -12 Chapter One: A People Apart? fervent, devout Catholics".60 In Dunedin, Lebanese Catholic life was centred about St Joseph's Cathedral and, apart from the intensity of religious sentiment, there was little to distinguish it from that of other Catholics.61 Except during the visits of Lebanese priests, Maronites became, in effect, Latin rite Catholics.62 Dalmatian attitudes to religion were very different from those of the Lebanese but their religious practices were not usually very distinctive either, although they, too, had a liturgical rite of their own.63 While not himself a religious man - like most other Dalmatians - Mate Delich, who lived in Mount Albert, expected his wife and children to say the Rosary together each evening.64 Redemptorist missioners thought the Dalmatians particularly indifferent to the demands of religion. Father Gill, after a brief mission at Oratia in 1927, noted that all the inhabitants - apart from one Frenchwoman - were Dalmatians, who "like most of their countrymen" were "very careless about their religion", although they did attend the mission. Ten years later, Father Crowe, returning from the same place, despaired: "A hopeless lot of Dalmatians" .65 Among the Italians in Wellington, only a few distinctive religious practices existed during the interwar years, notably the commemoration of village saints' days and the blessing of fishing boats.66 However, the latter tradition was not introduced until the 1930s, after the loss of the Santina.67 Content to attend church on important occasions like Easter and Christmas, many men in Island Bay, acc0rding to the parish history, "were not great church goers".68 After conducting a mission in Eastboume, Joseph Spillane SM noted that although the response was good, there were "Many careless people there, especially 60 Jamelie Joseph, interview, 30 May 199 1 ; B.H. Bartlett, "Recollections, Impressions, Opinions and a few Facts, in the parish of St Patrick's Church, Palmerston North (and environs)", manuscript in Miss Bartlett's possession, vol. 2, p. 70. 61 Page and Farry, pp. 22-23, 99. 62 Lebanese priests will be discussed in the next paragraph. 63 Month, 1 5 May 1928, pp. 18-19; 16 October 1928, p. 31 . After a period of limited use, the Roman­ Slavonic or Glagolitic Rite was revived after 1918 (M. Lacko in NCE, vol. 14, p. 1085). 64 Josephine Minto (nee Delich), interview, 29 January 1992. 65 "Annales Laborum ApoSLOlicorum domus Sancti Gerardi apud WelIington NZ 1916-1938" (Inside title: "Chronicle of the Apostolic Labours of Mt S t Gerard's beginning with the year 1916"), formerly kept at St Gerard's Monastery, Wellington. In addition to the entries for 1927 and 1937 quoted here, see also Father McHenry's conunenLS in 1934 after a mission at Awanui in the parish of Kaitaia. 66 Burnley, p. 336. 67 3 Hutchison, p. 6. 68 Hutchison, p. 35. Ethnicity 13 Italians".69 Ironically - or perhaps as a matter of ecclesiastical policy - the two groups most noted for religious indifference (at least among the men), had churches dedicated to their own saints. In 1930, a church under the patronage of Saints Cyril and Methodius was opened at Oratia and, in 1936, a new Church of San Antonio was built in Eastboume after the old church was converted into a schooJ.1° However, while the choice of patrons reflected the presence of Dalmatians and Italians, these churches were not for their exclusive use and there was seldom a Dalmatian or Italian priest available. Nevertheless, the religious and ethnic identity of several groups within the Catholic community was sometimes affirmed by the presence of Catholic priests of the same nationality. With a view to promoting religious commitment among the Dalmatians, Bishop Henry Cleary tried for many years to secure the services of a priest from their homeland. He finally succeeded in 1928, when Milan Pavlinovich took up residence in Auckland.71 There was an element of anti-clericalism amongst Dalmatians influenced by Socialist politics. Members of the Yugoslav Reading Room, established in December 1927, decided not to offer an official welcome to Pavlinovich.72 Several of Batistich's stories feature Uncle Taddi, who claimed to be a Bolshevik and was opposed to religion.73 In her story about a Yugoslav picnic, the priest, Father Pavich - evidently a fictional version of the historical Pavlinovich - is described as "a man of standing, to be respected for his position, even if there were one or two who disapproved of the clergy generally. "74 Pavlinovich returned home in 1937 but a New Zealander of Dalmatian descent, George Marinovich, was ordained in 1939.75 The Lebanese community was sometimes visited by priests from Australia or Lebanon. In 1919, Father Zoukra returned to Syria after having been stationed in New Zealand for several years and in February 1932, Archimandrite Khoury arrived in Auckland to begin visiting "Syrians" throughout the country.76 Father Abdullah Assaf (a Maronite 69 "Marist Mission Record, 1929", p. 56 (February-March 1939), MAW. 70 Month, 20 May 1930, p. 39; NZ Tablet, 1 1 March 1936, p. 6; Zealandia, 1 3 August 1936, p. 3. 71 Month, 15 May 1 928, pp. 18- 19; 16 October 1928, p. 31; NZ Tablet, 29 January 1930, p. 15. 72 TrIin, p. 1 74. 73 A.E. Batistich, Holy Terrors and Other Stories (Auckland: Vintage, 1991), pp. 104, 1 28-129. 74 AB. Batistich, "The Picnic", in An Olive Tree in Dalmatia and Other Stories (Auckland and Hamilton: Paul's Book Arcade, 1963), p. 97; for Pavlinovich's attendance at an annual Yugoslav picnic, see Zealandia, 16 January 1936, p. 5. 75 Zealandia, 28 October 1937, p. 5; 14 December 1939, p. 2. 76 NZ Tablet, 5 June 1919, p. 21 ; 1 1 May 1932, p. 46; Month, 1 March 1932, p. 19. 14 Chapter One: A People Apart? priest with a parish at Redfern, Sydney) worked among the Lebanese Catholics of Dunedin for some months in 1938 and the following year Father Michel Bardouil (a Melkite from Beirut) began a prolonged stay in the North Island.TI Assaf celebrated the liturgy in Syriac and preached in Arabic, but, while familiar to Lebanese Catholics, these languages were increasingly exotic and unintelligible to their children born in New Zealand.78 In 1936, Severin us Mambrini, an Italian Franciscan priest based in Sydney, visited New Zealand for about five months, travelling to a number of centres in the North and South Islands. He conducted missions and other observances for Catholics of Italian descent and for the Third Order of St Francis.79 Archbishop Thomas O'Shea had endeavoured for some time to secure the services of an Italian priest. He hoped that "given the opportunities there would be a religious revival among the Italian Catholics of this country", but his desire for annual visits or even a resident Italian priest was not fulfilled before the war.80 The Catholic community at large continued to depend on Irish priests and nuns, although they were increasingly outnumbered by local recruits. At intervals, Irish priests took a year's leave to return home, thereby reinforcing their links with Ireland.8l Having arrived in Christchurch in 1921 , Father Thomas O'Regan took twelve month's holiday to visit Ireland in 1927.82 New Zealand bishops paid the fees 77 Zealandia, 12 May 1938, p. 6; 2 November 1939, p. 2; 28 December 1939, p. 3; 8 February 1940, p. 5; NZ Tablet, 30 March 1938, p. 45; 6 April 1938, p. 6; 20 April 1938, p. 10; 27 April 1 938, p. 43; 6 December 1939, p. 35; 24 January 1940, p. 29; ACD, 194 1 , pp. 332, 383 (Bardouil listed as residing in Newtown; cj p. 153 for his Redfern parish). The Tablet (17 January 1940, pp. 5-6) used the opportunity provided by these visits to proclaim "the Catholicity of the Church". It is not clear whether there were any Melkites in New Zealand: according to a contributed article, all the "Syrians" in New Zealand and Australia were Maronites - there was no mention of the Orthodox Lebanese, whose presence cannot have been unknown to the author - but another brief item stated that Bardouil was visiting relatives (NZ Tablet, 30 March 1938, p. 9; 6 December 1939, p. 35). 78 NZTablet, 30 March 1938, p. 45; Latifie Kallil, interview, 30 May 1991 ; cj Page and Farry, p. 99. 79 NZTablet, 22 January 1936, p. 36; 5 February 1936, p. 37; 10 June 1936, p. 7; Zealandia, 30 January 1936, p. 5; 12 February 1936, p. 3; 4 June 1936, p. 5; St Joseph's parish notices, 24 May 1936, WCAA. For the Third Order, see chapter two. 80 NZ Tablet, 10 June 1936, p. 7. The provision of a new church and school, along with Mambrini's visit, were presumably part of a policy of promoting religious commitment among the Italians of Wellington. 81 NZ Tablet, 29 May 1919, p . 27 (Murphy, Riverton); 4 September 1919, p . 34 (O'Boyle, Greymouth); 26 February 1920, p. 23 (Corcoran, Queenstown); 8 April 1925, p. 29 (McManus, Palmers ton North); 1 November 1933, p. 7 (Doolaghty, Taihape); 21 August 1935, p. 29 (Herlihy, . Palmerston North); Month, 15 April 1924, p. 20 (O'Neill, Waikiwi, and O'Donnell, Gore); Zealandia, 21 May 1936, p. 3 (Moore, Masterton); 28 January 1937, p. 5 Murphy, Auckland); 9 February 1939, p. 4 (Ryan, St Heliers). . 82 NZ Tablet, 24 February 1921 , p. 22; 16 March 1927, p. 57. Ethnicity 15 of selected students from families of limited means attending Irish seminaries and after their ordination the young priests were sent to work in the bishops' dioceses.83 The Auckland diocese, for example, continued to receive Irish-born and educated priests, although their numbers were apparently not large in most years.84 Between 1918 and 1940 inclusive, 138 priests were ordained after completing all or part of their training at New Zealand's national seminary in Mosgie1.85 Since new arrivals from Ireland would have been much fewer than this, the proportion of Irish priests must have been declining, although it was still significant at the end of the period and the proportion varied from one diocese to another. According to a 1937 report on the Christchurch diocese, there were 40 secular priests, of whom 20 were Irish, nineteen New Zealanders and one English.86 The Wellington archdiocese in 1938 had 69 secular priests, of whom 24 were Irish, 42 New Zealanders, two English and one Swiss.87 Having its own secondary schools as well as a number of parishes, the largest order of priests, the Society of Mary, had some advantage obtaining local recruits. Of 75 Marist priests in Wellington in 1938, 65 were New Zealanders, four Australian, three French, one English, one Scottish and one from Luxembourg.88 Some orders of nuns recruited young Irish women who trained and served in New Zealand.89 A trip to Ireland by Mother M. Josephine Kenny and Mother M. Benignus Henson in 1922 led to a record profession in Auckland in 1926: of 25 new Sisters of 83 See, for example, John Foley, President of St Patrick's College, Carlow, to Brodie, 18 March 1919, and Richard Alyward, President of St Kieran's College, Kilkenny, to Brodie, 24 October 1922, CCDA. For a list of priests who served on the West Coast between 1865 and 1910, including their place of training, see N. Yaney, "The Dual Tradition, Irish Catholics and French Priests in New Zealand: The West Coast Experience, 1865-1910" (University of Canterbury M.A. thesis in History, 1977), pp. 247-252. 84 Month, 20 December 1927, p. 7 (O'Meara, Power, Dunne, O'Neill, Kehoe, Tully, Browne); 20 November 1928, p. 18 (McMahon, Conboy, Kerans); Zealandia, 6 December 1934, p. 3 (Fahy); 5 August 1937, p. 5 (O'Cailaghan, O'Neill, Clarke, Flynn); 14 December 1939, p. 2 (O'Connor). This list is incomplete but it is noteworthy that there were altogether 102 secular priests in the Auckland diocese in 1939 (ACD, 1940. p. 489). 85 D.P. O'Neill (editor), Mosgie/ '75, 1900-1975 (Mosgiel, Holy Cross Seminary" 1975), pp. 43-44. 86 "Prospectus Status Missionis", 1937, CCDA. 87 "Prospectus Status Missionis", 1938, WCAA. 88 Ibid. The Wellington archdiocese had the largest number of Marist priests; there were another 65 in training, who had presumably all grown up in New Zealand, but they were intended to serve the whole country. 89 M.A. McCarthy OP, Star in the South: the Centennial History o/the New Zealand Dominican Sisters (Dunedin: St Dominic's Priory, 1970), p. 221. 16 Chapter One: A People Apart? Mercy, seventeen were Irish, seven New Zealanders and one Australian. In 1937, Mother M. Liguori Marnell and Mother M. Berchmans Fortune recruited another sixteen candidates who arrived in 1938 and were professed in 1941.90 These were record years, however, and the Mercy Sisters were in origin an Irish order - albeit the largest congregation of nuns in New Zealand.91 In 1937, of 120 Mercy Sisters in the Christchurch diocese, 30 were Irish, 82 New Zealanders and eight Australian.92 Wellington had 212 Sisters of Mercy in 1938: nineteen Irish, 172 New Zealanders, seven English and fourteen Australian.93 The postulant nuns usually came to New Zealand at a very young age: the 1938 group ranged from fifteen to twenty-one years.94 No doubt most of the New Zealand-born recruits were also of Irish descent, but like the Catholic population as a whole - only at a slower rate - the priesthood and the religious orders were losing their Irish character. Stereotyping, reinforced by the tendency of some groups to marry among themselves, live in close proximity and to speak their own language, sometimes led to prejudice against ethnic groups. Dalmatians who had not become New Zealand citizens were classified as "enemy aliens" during World War One - they were commonly but inaccurately called "Austrians" - and the Italians experienced similar difficulties during the Second World War.95 Tension between the Dalmatians and the authorities during and immediately after the First World War was heightened by an Irish Catholic, John Cullen, the recently retired Police Commissioner who was appointed to supervise the "Home Service" programme in which Dalmatians were employed by the Government.96 In this instance at least, ethnic differences proved 90 Gracious is the Time: Centenary of the Sisters of Mercy. Auckland. New Zealand. 1850-1950 (Auckland: Sisters of Mercy. 1952). p. 178; Month. 15 September 1923, p. 19; 16 February 1926. p. 22; NZ Tablet. 24 February 1926. p. 31 ; Zealandia. 17 February 1938, p. 5. The numbers vary slightly in these accounts. 91 For the profession of much smaller numbers of Mercy Sisters, see NZ Tablet. 13 February 1929. p. 31 (Christchurch: one Irish. five New Zealanders); 27 May 1936, p. 8 (Timaru: four Irish. two New Zealanders) . 92 "Prospectus Status Missionis", 1937, CCDA. 93 "Prospectus Status Missionis". 1938. WCAA. This report says there were only four Australians but accompanying rough notes give the number as fourteen and both record the total as 212. 94 Zealandia. 17 February 1938, p. 5. 95 Trlin, chapter five; E. and H. Laracy. The Italians in New Zealand and Other Studies (Auckland: Societa Dante Alighieri. 1973). pp. 18- 19. 96 Trlin, pp. 1 14-120; Zealandia, 2 November 1939, p. 3; NZ Tablet. 8 November 1939. p. 8 (obituaries). Ethnicity 17 more important than a shared religion. Irish Catholics also experienced some prejudice. In 1938, when Kathleen Doyle was about to purchase a house in Christchurch, the owners' lawyer hesitated, doubting whether Catholics paid their bills, but when it was explained that Kathleen's father was"English, the sale was approved.97 Even during the early 1920s, however, when it was difficult to separate Irish culture from the strife of Irish politics, the cultivation of Irish identity was not necessarily a source of conflict. In 1922, members of the Dunedin Irish Society were invited to a meeting of the Gaelic Society (and returned the invitation). At the meeting, Bishop James Whyte spoke in praise of the Scots; presumably the hosts were as Scottish and as Presbyterian as their guests were Irish and Catholic.98 By far the most important ethnic group in the Catholic community were the Irish - or more precisely their descendants. The contribution of non-Irish peoples to Catholic life in New Zealand was easily overlooked, especially by a single-minded Irish patriot like Kelly: "The humble homes of green Erin have sent forth across the world the priests and nuns and the pious men and women to whose faith is due whatever of true religion is in the new world to-day. "99 While the smaller Catholic ethnic groups retained some of their distinctive identity during the interwar period, this was only of local significance and the ancestral languages and customs were dying out. Insofar as the different groups maintained their distinctive identities, it was due only in a limited way to religion. Most were too scattered to fonn exclusive congregations and they usually lacked priests of their own nationality. Moreover, while some ethnic groups were noted for their piety and others for their religious indifference, none maintained a distinctive fonn of Catholicism. Being by far the largest ethnic group, the Irish were a special case, but although the Church in New Zealand continued to depend on the services of Irish nuns and priests, there seems to have been little attempt to sustain a distinctively Irish religious community after the 1920s. Annual St Patrick's Day concerts were no doubt nostalgic occasions, but their main purpose was to raise funds for local Catholic institutions. 97 K.S. Doyle, Kathleen 's Story (Christchurch: published by the author and K.M. Gallagher, 1984), pp. 59-6O. 98 NZTablet, 7 September 1922, p. 19. 99 NZ Tablet, 26 December 1928, p. 3. 18 Chapter One: A People Apart? Geographical Distribution During the nineteenth century and for much of the twentieth, Irish Catholic immigrants often. settled predominantly in specific areas of the receiving countries. In New Zealand, as Andre Siegfried observed after visiting the country in 1 899, Irish Catholics had "spread all over the country", and were "too scattered" to have "given their stamp to any of the towns in the Colony". 100 A comparison of the proportions of Catholics and members of the other large denominations in the country's provinces and cities during the interwar period will demonstrate the validity of Siegfried's observation. Table 8.2 records the numbers and proportions of Anglicans, Presbyterians, Catholics and Methodists in each of the ten provinces, while Table 8.3 gives similar information for the fourteen largest urban areas. Some reference will also be made to the proportions of Catholics in boroughs in 192 1 and 1936; a complete list is given in Table 8.4. 101 Detailed investigation into nineteenth and early twentieth century immigration patterns would explain much about the distribution of Catholics during the interwar period, but, as in the previous section, it will not be possible to discuss this subject in any detail, although a few examples will be noted. The present concern is with the distribution of the Catholic community and other denominations through the country, rather than with how the pattern arose. The most unusual province was Southland, half of whose inhabitants were Presbyterian, followed by Otago where almost half the people belonged to that denomination: in the country as a whole, Presbyterians accounted for only a quarter of the total population. Their concentration in the two southernmost provinces reflected the strongly Presbyterian character of early European settlement in the region and its continued attraction for Scottish immigrants. Having such large concentrations in the far south, Presbyterians were relatively under-represented in the other provinces. Methodists and especially Anglicans were under-represented in the two southern provinces. Catholics, too, were noticeably under-represented in Otago ( 1 1 .43 per cent in 192 1 and 1 1 .39 per cent in 1936) but not in Southland, where they had fractionally higher proportions ( 14. 1 5 per cent in 1921 and 1 3.27 per cent in 1 936) than in the country overall. Catholics were more under-represented in Dunedin than in Otago as a 100 A. Siegfried, Democracy in New Zealand, translated by E.V. Burns (Wellington: Victoria University Press with Price Milburn, 2nd edition, 1982), p. 317 . Siegfried's claim that Catholics were more concentrated in the North Island seems to have been less accurate. 101 Unless otherwise indicated, figures for cities will be cited from Table 8.3 rather than 8.4 when the same name occurs in both tables. Geographical Distribution 19 whole, though their proportion of the city's population increased slightly during the interwar period (from 10.98 per cent in 1921 to 1 1 .21 per cent in 1936). The Catholic population of Invercargill ( 13 . 17 per cent and 13 . 13 per cent) was about the same as the national average. If the Presbyterian character of Otago had deterred Catholic settlement, this had not occurred in Southland. Shipping patterns may have been a more important influence, with "Irish" immigrants from Australia, such as the future Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward, disembarking at Bluff rather than travelling on to Port Chalmers. 102 The proportion of Catholics in Bluff itself declined from 16.80 to 13.46 from 1921 to 1936. In the one-time Anglican province of Canterbury - by contrast with the continued Presbyterian dominance in Otago and Southland - the Church of England was only slightly over-represented during the interwar period. Catholics ( 12.39 per cent in 192 1 and in 1936), like Presbyterians, were somewhat under-represented there, while there was a relatively high proportion of Methodists. There was a greater under­ representation of Catholics in Christchurch (10.96 per cent in 1921 and 1 1 .74 per cent in 1936) than in the province as a whole. This contrast is attributable in part to the relatively strong Catholic presence in South Canterbury, which had been built up through chain migration, particularly from County Kerry. 103 The proportion of Catholics in Temuka grew from 20.3 1 per cent in 1921 to 22. 15 per cent in 1936 and from 12.00 to 1 6.68. in Waimate during the same period. In Timaru, it grew slightly from 14.00 to 14.80 per cent. Akaroa, despite its origins as a French settlement, was only 16.80 per cent Catholic in 1921 and 15.95 per cent in 1936 - not a large over­ representation in a population of 619 and 5 1 5. As a result of the gold rushes, Catholics were particularly well represented in Westland - while Anglicans, Presbyterians and Methodists were correspondingly under-represented. With 3 1 .48 per cent of its people Catholic in 192 1 , the province had the highest concentration of Catholics in New Zealand but their over­ representation had declined somewhat to 27.74 per cent by 1936. The proportion of Catholics varied considerably on different parts of the Coast, from a consistent 43 per cent in Kumara to only 16.93 per cent in Brunner in 1936, a decline from 29.03 per 102 M. Bassett, Sir Joseph Ward: a Political Biography (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1993), pp. 5·6. 103 S .G. Brosnahan, "The Battle of the Borough and the Saige 0' Timaru: Sectarian Riot in Colonial Canterbury" (unpublished paper presented to the New Zealand Historical Association Conference, May 1991). --- -- - - �, ---- 20 Chapter One: A People Apart? cent in 192 1 . In Westland's largest town, Greymouth, the proportion of Catholics (3 1 . 1 3 percent in 192 1 and 28. 15 in 1936) was close to the average for the province but declining slowly, while in Hokitika it fell from 29.80 to 25.75 in the same period. Westport's high proportion of Catholics (27.33 per cent in 1921 and 23.68 per cent in 1936) effectively extended the Westland pattern into the Nelson province. In local tenns, the high proportion of Catholics contributed to the distinctive character of the West Coast, but it is important to recall that the proportion of Catholics was declining and that Westland accounted for little more than one percent of the country's total population. If the 14, 1 8 1 inhabitants of Westland in 192 1 had confonned to the national pattern of denominational affiliation, 1 ,9 10 of them, rather than 4,464, would have been Catholics. An over-representation of only 2,554 individuals in such a small community was indeed significant but was not a large number by national standards. Catholics were marginally over-represented (14.25 per cent) in Nelson in 192 1 , but by 1936, the proportion of Catholics was almost the same ( 1 3.05 per cent) as in the country as a whole. Marlborough, by contrast, had a consistent and quite substantial over-representation of Catholics throughout the period (1 6.79 per cent in 192 1 and 17.08 per cent in 1936). Several prominent English families had settled in this area and their presence had presumably attracted other English Catholics. 104 The Nelson urban area had only a small proportion of Catholics (9.87 per cent in 192 1 and 9.58 per cent in 1936) but in Picton they made up about 20 per cent of the population and in B lenheim over 18 per cent Anglicans were somewhat over-represented in Nelson and quite markedly so in Marlborough, while Presbyterians were notably under­ represented in both provinces. Methodists were found in proportions close to their national averages for the three census years in both provinces. In the North Island, the major denominations, and Catholics in particular, were more evenly distributed than in the South Island. The provinces of Wellington, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay and Auckland all had noticeable but declining over­ representations of Anglicans, while Presbyterians were consistently under-represented except in Hawke's Bay where they approached their national average. The proportions of Methodists were quite close to their national figures in Auckland and Wellington but the denomination was somewhat under-represented in Hawke' s Bay and considerably over-represented in Taranaki - a legacy of immigration from the West Country of England. 104 Cf S. Eldred-Grigg, A Southern Gentry: New Zealanders Who Inherited the Earth (Auckland: Heinemann Reed, 1980), pp. 156-157. Geographical Distribution 21 Catholics were generally distributed in proportions extremely close to the national figures in all four northern provinces. In Taranaki, they were over-represented by a little more than one percent in 1921 ( 14. 14 per cent), but this small over-representation declined slightly in the next two censuses ( 13.88 per cent and 13.78 per cent). The proportion of Catholics in New Plymouth ( 10.08 per cent in 1921 and 10.23 per cent in 1936) was lower than in any of the other fourteen largest urban areas. A small under­ representation of Catholics in Wanganui in 192 1 ( 12.81 per cent) had turned to an over-representation ( 14.59 per cent) by 1936 but in Palmerston North, Catholics were slightly under-represented in both years (1 2.85 per cent and 12.55 per cent). The Wellington urban area had a marked over-representation of Catholics ( 15.46 per cent in 1921 and 15. 1 8 per cent in 1936). 105 Hastings had a Catholic population similar in proportion to the country as a whole (1 3.44 per cent and 13.22 per cent), but Napier had an over-representation of Catholics ( 1 5.92 per cent in 1921 and 14.87 per cent in 1936), evidently a legacy of settlement at Meeanee by Irish soldiers who had served in India. 106 In the province of Auckland, Gisborne had a relatively high proportion of Catholics ( 14.37 per cent and 14.28 per cent) while Hamilton' s proportions (13.28 and 13.06) were similar to the national average. The Auckland urban area had a very slight ---­ over-representation of Catholics ( 13.81 per cent in 1921 and 13.43 per cent in 1936). The high proportion of Catholics in Dargaville (20.50 per cent in 192 1 and 19. 1 2 per cent in 1936) is attributable to the presence of Dalmatian gum diggers and their descendants. By comparing the proportions of Catholics in boroughs forming a part of t�e larger urban concentrations with their overall proportions in these cities, it is possible to draw some conclusions about the distribution of Catholics within the main cities. 107 Catholics made up 10.98 to 1 1 .21 per cent of the population of greater Dunedin between 192 1 and 1936, but only slightly more (1 1 .48 to 1 1 .65 per cent) of the population of the city of Dunedin. In the Christchurch urban area, they accounted for 10.96 per cent of the population in 1921 and 1 1 .74 per cent in 1936, while in the city of Christchurch, they made up 1 1 .72 per cent and 12.20 per cent in the same years. The differences between the proportions of Catholics in the Wellington urban area 105 This was perhaps attributable to the high proportion of Catholics in certain forms of government employment, which will be discussed later in this chapter. 106 For an account by W.P_ Payne, see NZ Tablet. 5 July 1933. p. 2 1 . 107 In this paragraph. percentages for cities are taken from Table 8.3 and those for boroughs are from Table 8.4. " 22 t , .:F , Chapter One: A People Apart? Table 1.1 Urban-Rural Distribution of the Major Denominations, 1921-1936 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------.----------.------------------------ Denomination Year Number Total Percentage Percentage Urban Population Urban ' Rural ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anglican 1921 262,604 5 14,607 5 1 .03 48.97 1926 295,748 553,993 53.38 46.62 1936 3 19,549 600,786 53.19 46.81 Presbyterian 1921 127,270 299,545 42.49 57.5 1 1926 150,308 330,731 45.45 54.55 1936 1 64,984 367,855 44.85 55.1 5 Catholic 1921 78,527 164,133 47.84 52.16 1926 87,298 173,364 50.36 49.64 1936 101 ,497 195,261 5 1 .98 48.02 Methodist 1921 56,669 1 12,344 50.44 49.56 1926 63,619 121,212 52.49 47.5 1 1936 62,814 121 ,012 5 1 .9 1 48.09 Total Population 1921 599,997 1 ,218,913 49.22 50.78 1926 693,391 1,344,469 5 1 .57 48.43 1 936 770,448 1 ,491 ,484 5 1 .66 48 .34 Sources: Tables 8 . 1 and 8.3 ( 15.46 per cent and 1 5. 1 8 per cent) and in Wellington city ( 15.77 per cent and 1 5.85 per cent) were observable but not as great. In Auckland, by contrast, there was a sharp distinction between the proportions of Catholics in the greater metropolitan area ( 1 3.8 1 per cent in 1921 and 13.43 per cent in 1936) and in the city proper ( 16.80 per cent and 1 5.77). There was, then, an over-representation of Catholics, relative to their proportion in the greater metropolitan area, in the central areas of each of the four main cities. Catholics living in the larger urban areas were evidently concentrated to some extent in the inner cities and older established suburbs. In other words, they tended to occupy the less expensive housing and many would have been employed in clerical work or the railways and factories close to this fonn of transport. Catholics, like the rest of New Zealand's population, were also becoming increasingl y urban, as Table 1 . 1 indicates. If It urban It is defined as living in one of the country's fourteen largest towns, then 49.22 per cent of New Zealanders were urban in 192 1 and by 1926 5 1 .57 per cent were urban. At the beginning of the period, Catholics (47.84 per cent urban) were slightly less urbanized than the overall population, but · they, too, had passed the rural-urban threshold by 1926 (50.36 per cent). Ten years ' " --� -- --------------- Geographical Disrriburion 23 later, the proportion of Catholics living in the fourteen largest centres (5 1 .98 per cent) was marginally higher than the equivalent proportion for the total population (5 1 .66 per cent). Methodists were fractionally closer than Catholics to the national mean in their rural-urban distribution, while Anglicans were rather more urban and Presbyterians were much more rural than average. While the distribution of each religious group had its own peculiarities, usually due to immigration patterns and in some cases to church settlements, the Catholic pattern was not exceptional. Each major denomination had areas of relative concentration, such as Catholics on the West Coast and Methodists in Taranaki, but none matched the Presbyterians in Otago and Southland. Catholic patterns of urbanization were similar to the national norm, although Catholics were somewhat under-represented in the suburbs. That Catholics were, for the most part, scattered quite evenly as a minority group through the country, had an important implication for their relationship to the wider society. With the possible exception of the West Coast, which had only a small population, Catholics could exercise only a limited influence on the character of any region or town. Nowhere could they establish any collective political dominance, even supposing they had sufficient unity of purpose. The Life Cycle The interwar censuses permit a comparison between Catholics and other religious groups according to several demographic characteristics. In this discussion, sex ratios, age profiles, mortality and rates of marriage (or, more precisely, non-marriage) will be investigated. Some indications of the socio-economic levels of Catholics will also be noted. Further consideration of the birth rate and levels of separation and divorce among Catholics will be reserved for chapter four. It will be argued that, in several of its demographic features, the Catholic community was quite distinct but its differences from other denominations were not usually great. . A characteristic feature of early European society in New Zealand was the disproportionately large number of males in the population, resulting from the immigration of more men than women to the new colony. Only gradually did there emerge a comparatively even male to female ratio, that is, the number of males per hundred females. lOS Between 1921 and 1936, the male to female ratio in the overall 108 E. Olssen, "Towards a New Society", in G.W. Rice (editor), The Oxford Hisrory of New Zealand (Auckland: Oxford University Press, second edition, 1992), pp. 255-257. In a stable population, male births exceed female births but adult women OUlnumber men because the latter have higher mortality rates. 24 1921 1926 1936 Anglican 104.1 1 102.87 101 .51 Table 1.2 Sex Ratios, 1921-1936 Presbyterian 104.53 102.05 101.5 1 Catholic 101.81 99.60 99.63 Sources: New Zealand Census. 1921. part VII. p. 16; 1936. vol. VI. p. 3. Chapter One: A People Apart? Methodist 94.59 93.82 94.58 Total Population 104.63 104.30 102.85 population declined from 104.63 to 102.85. Table 1 .2 shows that the sex ratio of the Catholic population measured by each of the interwar censuses was lower than those of the Anglican and Presbyterian communities but closer to them than was the very low ratio of the Methodists. This similarity of the three largest denominations and the unusual profile of the smallest is confirmed by an examination of the male to female ratios of each age-group as shown in Graph 1 .2. 109 The death of large numbers of men belonging to each denomination in World War One is clearly reflected in the severe dip in the twenty to forty year age-group in the 192 1 curves and in the thirty-five to fifty-five year olds in the 1936 curves. In most age-groups, Catholics were close to the pattern set by the other two large denominations, with markedly higher male to female ratios among the older cohorts in 192 1 . The sex ratios were much more even by 1936. Among the older cohorts, there were somewhat fluctuating ratios, especially in 192 1 , and the Catholic pattern appears as an exaggerated version of the two large denominations, presumably reflecting immigration patterns during the later nineteenth century. The age profiles of the four largest denominations and of the total population can be compared by calculating a divergence index for each five-yearly age cohort. With each cohort of the overall population set at 100, the extent to which the same age­ group in any particular denomination gives a figure above or below 100 provides a measure of the comparative age structure of that religious group. To calculate the divergence indices, it is first necessary to find the percentage of each religious group, and of the whole population, belonging to each age cohort - for example, the percentage of Catholics under five years old. The resulting percentages for each 109 Graph 1 .2 is based on NZ Census. 1921. part VII. pp. 28-31 and 1936. vol. VI. pp. 20-23. III o The Life Cycle Graph 1.2 Male-Female Ratios, 1921 and 1936 1 30 ,-----------------------------------------__ �----------_.r---_. 1 20 .--.-.-... --.----.... .. . . .. . -.-.-.-.... ...... ...... -.... - . . .. . .... - _ . _. _ . . . . ... . _ _ ._ .... .. 1 10 .- .-.-.-. ..... .. . -.-.... -... .. -. .. . -.... -.-.... .. . -.--.-.-.... .. .. . -.-.... -. ..... .. _ . . _ _ ._._ .:; 100 � III o 90 80 .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.. --.-.-... -- 70 �,---�--,r--,---r--1r--,---�-,r--,---r--.---.---r--,---,--�, ___ ,� <5 <10 <: � IOO ,5 0) <.> c 0) e!l � o 95 . ... ... ...•.•....•.. .......... -_ ... _ ...•.•..... .. .............•.• ... .. ...•..... .. ... .......... .. .... .......•.•. /. ._...... . ..... �. : .. . �-' ." � , I / . . .. ... L ... / 85�,----r---.----,---.---�---r---.----,---�--�---.---.----,---� <5 <10 <15 <20 <25 <30 <35 <.40 <.45 <50 <55 <60 <65 <70 70· Age Groups 115.-----------------------------------------------------------------, 110 ··-·········· ·· ··-······· 105 .... -........ ............ .. . � "C ,5 100 ... -- - -- . ...... ... . -. -� �: �1IIl:::::::::::);�::a- '--.::::::: )" / / .. 0) <.> c � � 95 .--... ---.. ----...... ...... -.-_ .... _ .. _ .. __ .. _ .............. .. __ �-/ ........ -....... -.-..... _ .. J o 90 . __ .-... -.-.......... -.-.........•... --......... .... -.-... .......... ..................... -.-.•...... . . -.. . -. . -..•...... _ ... -...... .-..••••.. -.•••. -•.. -.-.• -..... -•. -•.•.•.•.. -- 85 -- .. --............. -...... ....................... -.......... -.. .................. . -............ .. ,.-.,.,., . .... .. .. -.. .... ................. .. .. .... -...... ... 80�'----r---.----'---.----r---.---.----r-------'----r---.----'---.-� <5 <10 <15 <20 <25 <30 <35 <.40 <.45 <50 <55 <60 <65 <70 70· Age Groups ..... Anglican ___ Presbyterian ___ Catholic ... . ....... Methodist 27 28 Chapter One: A People Apart? lives than other married New Zealanders, it was presumably because they worked in more hazardous conditions or had a poorer diet than other New Zealanders, which suggests that they had a lower socio-economic standing than the non-Catholic population. Before reviewing the other statistics on marriage, it will be useful to consider the age at which people married. Since the report on the 1936 census correlates marital status with age, it is possible to calculate the "singulate mean age at marriage" (SMAM) for each of the main denominations. In this procedure, the mean number of years spent unmarried by the members of a given population aged fifty years and younger is taken to be equivalent to the average age at first marriage of a hypothetical cohort.113 There is remarkably little difference in the SMAMs of the four main denominations and of the total population: the average age at marriage for men is twenty-eight and for women it is twenty-five, as Table 1 .3 shows. For both sexes, the age calculated for Catholics is slightly higher than for the other denominations, but the differences among the various churches are too small to be significant. Men Women Anglican 28.20 25.20 Table 1.3 Singulate Mean Age at Marriage Presbyterian 28.34 25.48 Catholic 28.45 25.98 Source: New Zealand Census, 1936, vol. IV, p. 33 and vol. VI, pp. 24-25. Methodist 28.22 25.61 Total PopUlation 28.26 25.46 Graph 1 .4 shows that a relatively high proportion of Catholics, especially men, never married. 114 In 1926, 32.83 per cent of New Zealand women aged sixteen or over had not married and in 1936, the proportion was 32.7 1 per cent. The comparable percentages for Catholic women were 37.48 and 38.29, while the other major denominations were close to the average. In all the main denominations, there were 1 13 This procedure was nrst developed by John Hajnal in "Age at Marriage and Proportions Manying", Popullltion Studies, 7 (1953) 1 1 1-136, and is also explained in Colin Newell, Methods and Models in Demography (London, Belhaven Press, 1988), pp. 97-101. 1 14 The statistics used to make the graph, some of which are cited here, are recorded in Table 8.6. '. � . . . The Life Cycle Graph 1.4 Proportions of Adults Never Married, 1926 and 1936 50.-------------------------------------------�------------------. 40+---- ... � .., Z .., co � 20 .., � .., Q.. 10 o 1926 Men • Anglican 1936 Men 1926 Women Denominations • Presbyterian • Catholic ., Methodist 1936 Women � Toml Popu�tion 29 - . ---------�--------------------------. 30 Chapter One: A People Apart? higher proportions of men who had never married than of unmarried women and the variations among the different denominations were greater than in the case of women. Within the Catholic population, however, the proportion of men aged sixteen and over who had never married (47.29 per cent in 1926 and 47.44 per cent in 1936) was markedly greater than in any of the three large Protestant denominations or in the overall population (39.07 per cent in 1926 and 38.66 per cent in 1936). Since these statistics include thousands of young people who were too young to have married at the time of the census but who did marry some time later, it is useful to concentrate only on the older age cohorts, which can be done on the basis of statistics published from the 1936 census and recorded in Table 8.5. Among persons i� their twenties, the proportions of unmarried Catholics were somewhat higher than for the population as a whole, indicating that Catholics married, on average, at a slightly later age than did the members of the other large denominations. In the older age-cohorts, the differences between the proportions of unmarried Catholics and unmarried Protestants increased but reached quite stable levels among people in their forties. While about one seventh of women in the overall population did not marry, a somewhat larger proportion of Catholic women, about one fifth, did not marry. The difference was much greater among men: whereas about one seventh of New Zealand men did not marry, nearly a quarter of Catholic men did not. Several explanations can be offered for the relatively high levels of singleness among Catholics and their variation from the norm should not be exaggerated. In 1926, there were 2,684 more unmarried Catholic women than would be expected if the Catholic population had conformed to the national pattern; in 1936, there were 3,855 more than might have been expected.1 15 There were some 1,463 nuns in New Zealand in 1926 and in 1936 there were about 1,718.116 Approximately 55 per cent of the "extra" unmarried Catholic women in 1926 were nuns and in 1936, about 45 per cent were nuns. Apart from the sisterhood, which was a specifically Catholic lifestyle, there were not large numbers of unmarried Catholic women by contemporary 1 15 These figures are calculated by multiplying the average percentages for the country (32.83 in 1926 and 32.71 in 1936) by the total number of Catholic women aged sixteen and over (57,785 and 69,079) and subtracting the results (18,971 and 22,596) from the number of Catholic single women (21,655 and 26,451). The numbers of Catholic women aged sixteen years and over are derived from NZ Census, 1926, vol. vrn, pp. 30-31 and 1936, vol. VI, pp. 22-23. 1 16 ACD, 1927, p. 277; 1937, p. 443. The Directory published figures collected during the year before publication, but not, of course, on census day. The Life Cycle 31 standards. Moreover, from the late 1880s until the 1940s, there was an increasing tendency for women in the population as a whole not to marry and Catholic women evidently confonned to this pattern.117 The high proportion of Catholic men who never married cannot be explained by reference to the celibate priesthood or the religious life. There were 4,655 more unmarried Catholic men in 1926 than would be anticipated by the national average and 5,928 more in 1936.118 Subtracting the small numbers of priests and brothers (whose combined total was approximately 359 in 1926 and 480 in 1936) would make little difference to these figures.119 Unlike Catholic women, religious motivations do not appear to have played a statistically significant role in discouraging Catholic men from marrying. In New Zealand society as a whole, there was a high but declining proportion of unmarried men.12O Since the proportions of unmarried Catholic men actually rose fractionally from 1926 to 1936, rather than declining, it would seem that they perpetuated the colonial pattern of male celibacy longer than did the rest of the population. The gradual balancing of the sex ratios already noted would have reduced the difficulty of finding a partner, so the principle reason for not marrying was evidently economic, or, more precisely, an established Irish response to economic conditions. A high rate of male singleness was characteristic not only of contemporary Irish society, but also of the Iris�fue United States. In Ireland, nearly one third of men born at the tum of the century did not marry, a comparable but higher level of celibacy than among New Zealand Catholics. 121 The relatively low rate of marriage among Catholic men suggests that a significant number were not prepared to accept the financial responsibilities of a family, especially during the Depression.122 1 17 E. Olssen and A. Ltvesque, "Towards a History of the European Family in New Zealand", in Peggy E. Koopman-Boyden (editor), Families in New Zealand Society (Wellington: Methuen, 1978), p. 2. 1 18 These figures are derived by multiplying the average percentages for the country (39.07 in 1926 and 38.66 in 1936) by the total number of Catholic men aged sixteen and over (56,627 and 67,545) and subtracting the results (22,124 and 26,1 13) from the number of Catholic single men (26,779 and 32,041). The numbers of Catholic men aged sixteen years and over are derived from NZ Census, 1926, vol. VIII, pp. 28-29 and 1936, vol. VI, pp. 20-21 . 1 19 ACD, 1927, p. 277; 1937, p. 443. 120 Olssen and Ltvesque, p. 2. 121 D. Fitzpatrick and B.M. Walsh in A. Cosgrove (editor), Marriage in Ireland (Dublin: College Press, 1985), pp. 1 16-120, 133, 138; cf Month, 15 November 1922, p. 21 for a contemporary comment on the low rate of marriage among Irish immigrants. 122 Fear of the economic responsibilities of a family may have been heightened by rejection of birth control as immoral (cf Cosgrove, p. 149, note 8), while some men may have been discouraged from marriage by over-protective mothers (cf Akenson, Half the World, p. 1 16). -_._--_.------- -------------- 32 Chapter One: A People Apart? Further evidence of low socio-economic status among Catholics is provided by their high rates of institutionalization. Catholics were markedly over-represented in charitable and medical institutions by comparison with their proportions in the overall population.123 In 192 1 , they accounted for 22.44 per cent of male inmates in orphanages, benevolent institutions and hospitals and 27.70 per cent of females. The male population of mental hospitals in 1936 was 18.5 1 per cent Catholic, while the female population was 16.33 per cent Catholic. In the same year, 30.87 per cent of male inmates in other hospitals and benevolent institutions were Catholics and 40.9 1 per cent of female inmates were Catholics. Since benevolent institutions run by the Catholic Church also served the wider community, it seems likely that some non­ Catholic inmates may have become Catholics (or simply considered themselves to be Catholics) as a result of their stay in a Catholic institution. This was evidently the case in Salvation Army institutions, since that denomination was also over-represented among dependants. In 1921 , 4.40 per cent of males in orphanages or benevolent institutions were counted as Salvationists, as were 5.45 per cent of females. 124 Fifteen years later, 5.60 per cent of the males and 5.65 per cent of females in hospitals or benevolent institutions were reckoned as belonging to the Salvation Army}25 Comparison with Table 8 . 1 indicates that these percentages were much higher than the small proportion of Salvationists (less than one per cent) in the overall population. Even assuming that the census statistics exaggerate somewhat the levels of institutionalization among Catholics, however, it is clear that there were disproportionate numbers of Catholics who were impoverished or debilitated through alcoholism, injury and ill-health, perhaps due to sub-standard accommodation or inadequate nourishment. Although the Catholic demographic profile was distinctive in several respects, it seldom diverged markedly from- the other major denominations or society as a whole. The sex ratios of the Catholic community were only slightly lower than for the total population and much closer to the norm than comparable figures for Methodists. Catholics had a more youthful age profile than did the other three large denominations: 123 For the following statistics. see Tables 8.14 and 8.15; the overalldenominational populations are given in Table 8.1 . _ 124 NZ Census, part VII. pp. 40. 42. 125 NZ Census. 1936. vol. VI. pp. 27, 29. The Life Cycle 33 they had higher birth rates and also higher mortality rates. While Catholics married at about the same age as the rest of the population, relatively high proportions, especially of Catholic men, did not marry at all. The indications of higher mortality and non­ marriage, as well as the over-representation of Catholics in hospitals and benevolent institutions, suggest that Catholics, or rather a significant proportion of them, occupied a lower socio-economic level than did the overall population. Employment Patterns Indications that Catholics were over-represented among the lower socio-economic groups can also be found in contemporary observations. In their advocacy of financial concessions for the Church's schools, Catholics often emphasized the limited means of the community they represented. As a member of an inter-church delegation to the Municipal Association Conference in 192 1 , Father John O'Connell, President of the Catholic Federation, pleaded that the imposition of rates on denominational schools would " inflict an injustice on the poor Catholic working people" . 126 Opening a new school in Seatoun, O'Shea observed that, "The Catholics of New Zealand ... were not overblessed with a surplus of this world's goods, and whatever they possessed had been earned by hard work. "127 According to Mary Goulter, Catholics had traditionally been "a poor and struggling community" and D. McLaughlin, Treasurer of the National Union of Unemployed, could write that, "The Catholic Church is famous because of the large number of poor members." 128 To examine socio-economic status in more detail, it is necessary to consider the employment patterns of Catholics. Ideally, such a discussion would consider their levels of education and training, their precise occupations and responsibilities as well as their incomes. While there is no comprehensive record of such information, the interwar census reports do list the industries in which members of all the larger denominations worked. Comparing the occupations of Catholics with those of the population as a whole, Akenson (who identifies Catholics in general with Irish Catholics) says that "the dead-centre normality of lrish Catholics is striking. " 129 This 126 NZ Tablet, 13 October 1921, p. 21 ; cf. 20 March 1919, p. 43 for a similar remark by the same speaker. 127 NZ Tablet, 15 March 1923, p. 17. 128 Month, 17 August 1926, p. 37; NZ Tablet, 28 February 1934, p. 21 . 129 Akenson, Half the Worldfrom Home, p . 76. This part of Akenson's book is taken almost verbatim from his earlier work, Small Differences: Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants, 1815-1922, an Imernational Perspective (Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1988), p. 58 and also reproduced in "Immigration and Ethnicity in New Zealand and the U.S.A. - the Irish Example", in Jock Phillips (editor), New Worlds? The Comparative History o/New Zealand and the - - ---------- 34 Chapter One: A People Apart? conclusion is based simply on the proportions of Catholics in each of eight extremely broad occupational categories compared with the corresponding proportions for the total population as set out in the "General Report" on the 1921 census. 1 30 Since each of these categories includes a range of occupational statuses and forms of employment, such a blanket comparison is almost meaningless. A much more accurate indication of the employment patterns of Catholics in the interwar years can be derived from the extensive tables in other census reports and reproduced, with comments on their interpretation, in the appendix to this thesis. 1 3 1 In the following discussion, both occupational status and the main areas of employment within each of seven broad categories will be considered. 1 32 The principle issues to be considered are whether Catholics were under or over-represented in any given area of employment, by comparison with their representation in the workforce as a whole or within a category of employment, and in what capacity they were engaged, for example as employers or employees. It will be argued that Catholic employment patterns, as revealed in the censuses, were consistent with claims that the Catholic community was over-represented among the lower socio-economic groups. Men and women will be discussed separately and each of the occupational categories will be considered in tum, namely the primary sector, industrial occupations (manufacturing and construction), transport and communication, commerce and finance, professional employment, domestic occupations and "other groups". In 192 1 , the proportion of Catholic men in the paid workforce was 12.89 and in 1936 it was 1 2.36. Catholic women made up 15.90 per cent of the paid workforce in 1921 and 1 5.35 per cent in 1936 - but these figures would be reduced to 14.88 and 14.29 if nuns were excluded. In 1926, Catholic men constituted almost 12 per cent of the male workforce, while women made up about 15 per cent. 133 Catholic men were considerably under-represented among employers (9.77 per cent and 9. 17 per cent) in 192 1 and 1926. They were also somewhat under- (Footnote continued from previous page.) United States, (Wellington: NZ-US Education Foundation, Stout Research Centre, 1989), pp. 45-46. 1 30 NZ Census, 1921, "General Report", p. 130. 13 1 In the following discussion, figures from these tables will normally be cited without further reference. 132 One of Akenson's categories, dependants, is not relevant to this discussion. 133 For the derivation of these figures, see the appendix and Table 8.7 Employment Patterns 35 represented among the self-employed in 1921 ( 1 1 .74 per cent) but rather less so in 1926 ( 1 1 .54 per cent). At the same time, Catholic men were notably over-represented among relatives assisting without payment in 1921 ( 14.07 per cent) and more so in 1926 ( 15.20 per cent). They were quite markedly over-represented among the unemployed in both years ( 15.82 and 14.63 per cent). While they were proportionately less over-represented among employees receiving wages or salaries ( 13.57 and 12.38 per cent), it must be noted that this category was many times larger than any of the others, so even a small proportional deviation involved a very large number of individuals. Catholic men, according to these statistics, were under-represented among the higher-status (and more remunerative) occupational categories and over-represented in the lower-status categories. To some extent, this pattern must have been influenced by the younger age profile of Catholics, a disproportionate number of whom were not yet. old enough to have their own businesses. Under-representation among employers and the self-employed, however, is a rather crude measure of career success, since it takes no account of those who were promoted within large public or private concerns. It will be seen below that Catholics were under-represented in commerce and, along with their more limited financial resources, this rendered them more likely to be employees rather than employers or self-employed. Among the primary industries in 192 1 , Catholics made up 12.77 per cent of the male workforce - only marginally less than their share of the overall male workforce. Catholics were notably under-represented among primary sector employers ( 10.28 per cent) but only slightly under-represented among the self-employed ( 12. 14 per cent). They made up a disproportionately large share of relatives assisting without payment ( 14. 14 per cent) and were also over-represented among wage and salary earners ( 13.85 per cent). Although Catholic men were just about as likely to work in primary occupations as were other men, Akenson' s equation of primary producers with fanners and his assertion that the "typicality" of Catholics was "striking" are quite unjustified. 1 34 While they tended to be self-employed rather than employers of others, Catholic men were evidently more likely than non-Catholics to be employed on someone else's fann or in someone else's mine. It is therefore not surprising to find that they were over-represented in primary occupations which employed unskilled or semi-skilled labour. Catholics accounted for 134 Akenson, Half the World, p. 77. 36 --.---- - - . - -. -.----------,----�--- Chapter One: A People Apart? 15 .92 per cent of fishermen in 192 1 and 19.76 per cent in 1936.135 They were markedly over-represented among bush sawmillers ( 17.54 per cent in 192 1 and 1 5.97 per cent in 1936). The extremely high proportion of kauri-gum gatherers who were Catholics (463 or 45. 1 3 per cent out of 1 ,026 in 1921 ) reflects the large number of Dalmatians in this occupation. In 192 1 , a very high proportion of bushfellers and scrub cutters (2 1 .54 per cent) were Catholics and among male workers in government nurseries and plantations in 1936, 1 8.9 1 per cent were Catholics. There was a consistent pattern of Catholic over-representation among gold-miners in 1921 and 1936 ( 1 8.9 1 per cent and 1 8.55 per cent for quartz; 2 1 .9 1 per cent and 19.04 per cent for alluvial gold). Similarly there was a high proportion (1 8.66 per cent) of CatHolics extracting road-metal, gravel and sand in 1921 . Catholic men were not over-represented among coal-miners ( 12.32 per cent in 1921 and 1 1 .46 per cent in 1936), but their under-representation was not significant. Although coal-mines on the West Coast no doubt employed a large proportion of Catholics, the Coast's population was itself small and the coal-mines of Westland employed only a very small proportion of the country's miners (2.20 per cent in 1921 and 4.55 per cent in 1936). 136 Moreover, coal-mining drew immigrants from parts of the United Kingdom where there were comparatively few Catholics. A similar explanation may account in part for the under-representation of Catholics among sheep farmers ( 10.89 per cent in 1921 and 10.66 per cent in 1936). Catholics were not necessarily ,under-represented among workers on sheep farms but they were undoubtedly under-represented among the owners, given their under-representation among primary sector employers. By contrast, Catholics were notably over­ represented in agricultural farming ( 14.97 per cent in 1921 and 14.01 per cent in 1936, no doubt because this occupation offered work to large numbers of low-skilled employees.137 Catholic men were slightly under-represented among dairy farmers ( 12. 1 6 per cent in 192 1 and 1 1 .57 per cent in 1936). Among the occupational categories used in the interwar census reports, dairy farming included the largest number of men: 5 1 ,229 in 192 1 and 7 1 ,480 in 1936, of whom 6,228 and 8,270 were 1 35 A number of Italian Catholics living in Island Bay were engaged in fishing as indicaled in the discussion of Catholic ethnic groups at the beginning of this chapter. 136 In 1921. there were only 105 Westland men employed in coal-mining out of a national total of 4.780 (NZ Census. 1921. part VIII. p. 24). The comparable figures for 1936 were 239 and 5.255 (NZ Census. 1936. vol. ?C. p. 23). 1 37 The 1921 and 1936 figures in this calegory were probably compiled differently. as noted in the appendix. Employment Patterns 37 Catholics. If Catholic men had been represented among dairy farmers in the same proportions as they were in the total male workforce, there would have been 6,603 of them in 1921 and 8,835 in 1936: an under-representation of only 375 and 565. 138 Among mixed farmers, too, Catholics were quite close to the proportion of Catholic men in the total m ale workforce ( 13.46 per cent in 192 1 and 1 1 .23 per cent in 1936). Dairy and mixed farms were relatively small and often economically marginal family businesses: when Catholics did own their own farms, it must often have been farms of this kind. Indeed, this is precisely the milieu described in Dan Davin's short stories and novels set in rural Southland. 1 39 B y 1930, the growth of dairying in the Auckland province led to an urgent need for Catholic schools in Matamata, Te Aroha and Morrinsville. 140 In other types of small-scale farming and horticulture, Catholics were markedly under-represented. They accounted for only 5.84 per cent of orchardists in 1921 and 9.42 per cent of fruit and nut growers in 1936. Only 5. 1 6 per cent of market gardeners were Catholics in 192 1 , a proportion which rose somewhat to 8.86 per cent in 1936. Of all the men in industrial occupations (that is, manufacturing and construction) in 192 1 , 12.07 per cent were Catholics, somewhat less than the Catholic proportion of the -­ male workforce. The proportion of Catholic industrial employers was quite low (8.09 per cent) and the proportion of Catholic men who were self-employed was not much greater ( 10.45 per cent). Conversely, Catholic men were over-represented among wage and salary earners ( 12.62 per cent), given their proportion in industrial occupations. There were relatively low proportions of Catholics in industrial categories where high levels of technical skill were required. Only 9.58 per cent of those employed in founding and engineering in 1921 were Catholics and in 1936 only 9.7 i per cent were Catholics. Among motor engineers, 9.42 per cent were Catholics in 1921 and 8.34 per cent in 1936. Joinery works employed a small proportion of Catholics (6.25 per cent in 192 1 and 7. 14 in 1936) and Catholics were also somewhat under-represented among cabinet-makers ( 10. 1 7 per cent and 10. 16 per cent). In 192 1 , few Catholics were employed in the manufacture of horse-drawn vehicles (9.6 1 per cent) or motor cars 1 38 These figures were calculated by multiplying the total number of men by the percentage of Catholics in the workforce. 139 See especially "The Vigil", "Milk Round" and "Growing Up" in Dan Davin, The Gorse Blooms Pale (London: Nicholson & Watson, 1947). . 140 NZ Tablet, 28 May 1930, p. 47. 38 Chapter One: A People Apart? (9.42 per cent) but as assembly-line production of cars expanded, creating new, unskilled jobs, the proportion of Catholics increased (to 1 1 .74 per cent in 1936). Catholic men were also under-represented in butter and cheese production (7.96 per cent in 192 1 , increasing to 9.91 per cent in 1936 as dairy factories increased in size and became more mechanized) and in bread making (10.53 per cent and 10.05 per cent). They were somewhat under-represented in printing and publication ( 10.64 per cent in 192 1 and 1 1 .29 per cent in 1936) and in job and general printing ( 10.66 and 10. 1 1 per cent), presumably because these occupations employed a large proportion of skilled men. Catholics were not under-represented among blacksmiths (13.99 per cent in 192 1 and 12.67 per cent in 1936), but, unlike the other skilled industries just mentioned, blacksmithing was a rural occupation which could be learnt without a formal apprenticeship and which would have been widely practised among Irish immigrants and their immediate descendants. Catholics were over-represented in grain-threshing ( 17.77 per cent in 192 1 , declining to 15.42 per cent in 1936), which was a labour-intensive, unskilled occupation. They were also somewhat over­ represented among freezing workers and others involved in food preserving ( 14.64 per cent and 13.28 per cent). Drink production required large numbers of unskilled workers and 17.97 per cent of men employed in breweries in 1921 were Catholics, while 15.47 per cent of those involved in manufacturing cordials and aerated waters were Catholics. No comparable figures were published for 1936 but the overall proportion of Catholic men employed in drink production in 1921 was 17.33 per cent, declining to 16. 1 8 per cent in 1926 and to 14.81 per cent in 1936. Protestants were more likely than Catholics to consider alcohol production an uncongenial form of employment. 141 The same pattern of Catholic under-representation among skilled tradesmen and over-representation among the unskilled prevailed in the building and construction industries. In 192 1 , only 9.88 per cent of painters, paperhangers and glazers were Catholics and in 1936 only 10.08 per cent. The under-representation of Catholic men in carpentry, building and construction (9.60 per cent in 1921 and 9.35 per cent in 1936) presumably reflects the high levels of skill involved in such work. 142 Higher 141 See the discussions of leisure in chapter four and of Prohibition in chapter five. 142 According to the published statistics, the number of general carpenters in 1936 was 7,061 fewer than in 1921 while, at the same time, the number of men engaged in building and construction increased by 8,840. Evidently, the two categories were not distinguished in a consistent manner and it is necessary to combine them in order to obtain comparable figures for the two census years. __ - - - --- . __ .. _ . ... --._ �_� _. __ ,, ____ ___ �-_�::.........e-.�_ .J ______ �_�-_ . _ -- - EmploymenJ Patterns 39 proportions of Catholics were found among bricklayers (1 1 .35 per cent in 1921 ) and plumbers, gasfitters and drainlayers ( 1 1 .20 per cent in 1921 and 10.28 per cent in 1936), no doubt because these trades, especially the latter, included more unskilled workers. The over-representation of Catholic men in. the predominantly unskilled work of road, railway and earthwork construction was particularly high. In 192 1 , 23.82 per cent of those involved i n roading were Catholics and in 1936 Catholics accounted for 18.62 per cent.143 Among land drainage and irrigation workers, 26.40 per cent were Catholics in 192 1 and 22.34 per cent in 1936. 144 In 192 1 , Catholic men were notably over-represented in transport and communication ( 15.67 per cent). They were markedly under-represented among employers in this occupational category (10.26 per cent) and somewhat under­ represented among the self-employed (12.79 per cent). The great majority of Catholics involved in transport and communication (7,43 1) were wage and salary earners, making up 1 6.00 per cent of the male workforce in this area. Many of these men worked for the government, particularly in the railway and postal services, which explains why so many of them were employees. In 1921 , when the census enumerator included employees of the Post Office Savings Bank: in the number of postal service workers, Catholic men were not as over-represented ( 14.46 per cent) as they were in the 1936 figures ( 15.37 per cent) which excluded employees of the Post Office Savings Bank:. Since the categories in these two years are not the same, the percentages cannot be taken as certain evidence of an increase in the proportion of Catholics working in the postal service. There is better evidence for an increase in the already high proportion of Catholics working in the telegraph and telephone service. The 1921 census counted 3,872 men working in the telegraph and telephone service (of whom 599 or 15.47 per cent were Catholics) as well as 1 ,682 "undefined" postal, telegraph or telephone officers (including 237 or 14. 10 per cent Catholics). In 1936, there were 4,600 men in the telegraph, cable and telephone service (of whom 756 or 16.43 per cent were Catholics) and only 905 working in postal and telegraph services "not otherwise designated" - of whom an indeterminable proportion were Catholics. 145 There was a marked but declining over-representation of 143 The 1936 total ( 1 1 ,480, of whom 2,138 were Catholics) is much higher than the 1921 figure (4,949, including 1 , 179 Catholics) and no doubt includes a substantial number of relief workers. 144 The increase from 875 workers (including 231 Catholics) in 1921 to 1,719 (including 384 Catholics) in 1936 evidently reflects the growth of government work schemes. 145 NZ Census, 1936, vol. X, p. 9. Since the "undefined" category was much smaller in 1936, it seems likely that it was partially absorbed into the more specific postal and telegraph categories, thus reducing the comparability of the 1921 and 1936 figures. However, even though the proportion of Catholics in the "undefmed" figure for 1921 was lower than in either the postal or telegraph figures · . _ ' . ___ . . ___ • • . __ ._M ··�· _ ______ ---''--_____ ... 40 Chapter One: A People Apan? Catholic men in the railway service ( 17.88 per cent in 1921 and 16.07 per cent in 1936). The railways offered work to large numbers of unskilled men and it seems quite possible that the high proportion of Catholics in the interwar period was made up of descendants of the assisted Irish immigrants brought to New Zealand for public works in the 1 870s. Among those engaged in the "loading and discharging of vessels", there was a very considerable over-representation of Catholics in 1921 ( 1 8.62 per cent) but this had declined by 1936 ( 1 6.5 1 per cent)}46 There was also an over-representation of Catholic men in the shipping service ( 14.97 per cent in 1921 and 14.79 per cent in 1936). An over-representation of Catholic men engaged by harbour boards in 1921 ( 14.27 per cent) was reduced to an under-representation by 1936 ( 1 1 .23 per cent), perhaps because the considerable reduction in personnel (from 2,404 to 1 ,264) had most impact on unskilled employees. 147 In the tramway service - also largely controlled by local bodies - there was no over-representation of Catholic men comparable to the large proportion of Catholics in the government-controlled railways. This was a much smaller occupational category, requiring proportionately fewer unskilled personnel, but the percentage of Catholics (12.40 in 1921 and 1 1 .24 in 1936) showed some decline, perhaps again a reflection of economic conditions having a greater impact on the unskilled. 148 The over-representation of Catholics engaged in carrying and cartage (1 5.29 per cent in 192 1 ) was reduced to approximately the same proportion ( 12.34 per cent) as Catholic men in the overall workforce by 1936, presumably because the replacement of horses and carts with trucks required a greater capital investment. In 1936, there was a high proportion of Catholic men employed in (Footnote continued from previous page.) for that year, its absorption into those categories in 1936 (if it occurred) did not prevent the proportion of Catholics counted as working in postal and telegraph services from increasing. 146 Of the 5,447 men in this group in 1921 , 4,965 were designated as watersiders (NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 71). 147 The occupations of harbour board employees included a high proportion of unskilled jobs (NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 72). 148 The proportions of Catholic men employed in gasworks - another local body concern - (12.25 per cent in 1921 and 1 3.80 per cent in 1936) was close to the proportion of Catholics in the male workforce, although showing some increase between the censuses. A smaller and remarkably consistent proportion of Catholics was to be found among the increasing numbers of men engaged in electricity generation and supply: 1 1 .08 per cent in 1921 and 1 l .07 in 1936. Employment Patterns 41 taxi services ( 15.60 per cent) but an under-representation in the skilled work of motor­ garages ( 10.42 per cent). 149 Catholic men were markedly under-represented in commercial and fmancial occupations at 9.82 per cent in 192 1 . They were considerably under-represented among commercial employers (6.82 per cent) but not among the self-employed ( 10.61 per cent). Given the under-representation of Catholic men in commerce - a relatively large number of them (709) operated their own small businesses without employing assistants and a rather smaller number (5 1 1 ) owned more substantial enterprises. At the same time, Catholic men were over-represented among wage and salary earners ( 10.20 per cent) working in commerce . . There were comparatively low proportions of Catholic men involved in occupations dealing with finance. Only 8. 15 per cent of men described as capitalists or proprietors of houses and land in 1921 were Catholics. A low proportion of men employed in banking were Catholics (9. 1 3 per cent in 192 1 and 7.84 per cent in 1936 - though the figures are not quite comparable because the former includes, while the latter excludes, employees of the Post Office Savings Bank.lso Catholic men were also under-represented in insurance ( 10.00 per cent in 192 1 and 9.94 per cent of "all classes" of insurance in 1936) and as stock and station agents (9.82 per cent in 1936). The proportion of Catholic men involved in selling goods also tended to be quite low. Among the large number (4,466) of "manufacturer's agents, merchants, indent agents, or importers" in 1936, only 8.78 per cent were Catholics. Even in small businesses requiring one's own capital investment, such as the sale of hardware and machinery (8.37 per cent and 8.05 per cent), and of textiles and clothing (9.73 per cent and 10.44 per cent), Catholics were under-represented. In two kinds of commercial enterprise, Catholics were still under-represented in comparison with the total workforce, but not with respect to commercial activities as such. Among the more widespread and less capital intensive small shops, the under­ representation of Catholics was less extreme. Catholics accounted for 10.5 1 per cent of those involved in selling groceries and provisions in 1921 and 1 1 .50 per cent in 1936 while 1 1 .52 per cent of butchers in 1921 and 1 1 .49 per cent in 1936 were 149 The 1921 census report combined these two occupations, giving an aggregate proportion of 1 1 .37 per cent. little different from the 1936 aggregate of 1 1 .66 per cent - a typical case of the way in which the consolidation of employment categories conceals significant differences between skilled and unskilled occupations. 1 50 See "banking" and "postal" in Table 8. 14. 42 Chapter One: A People Apart? Catholics. Secondly, commercial activities involving significant numbers of workers with limited skills or training also attracted comparatively more Catholics, such as the sale of horses and livestock ( 10.29 per cent in 1921 ), of coal and firewood ( 12.45 per cent in 1921 and 10.5 1 per cent in 1936) and of timber ( 1 1 .70 per cent and 10.83 per cent). Similarly, Catholic men were less under-represented in department and general stores ( 10.04 per cent in 1921 and 1 1 .06 per cent in 1936) and most of the Catholics working in such enterprises were presumably waged employees. IS I Catholics were slightly over-represented among professional men in 192 1 , accounting for 13 . 13 per cent of them. These professional Catholics, however, were notably under-represented among employers of others (8.89 per cent) and the self­ employed (9. 15 per cent) and were correspondingly over-represented in the very much larger category of wage and salary earners ( 13.55 per cent). Of the 289 men to whom these occupational status categories did not apply, 132 or 45.67 per cent were Catholics - a proportion evidently swelled by the inclusion of lay brothers. 152 The high proportions of Catholic "professional" men among employees and the low proportions among employers reflect the tendency of these men to work for the government rather than the private sector. At first sight the relatively high proportion of Catholic professional men may appear to conflict with the impression built up so far of a comparatively unskilled Catholic workforce. If, following the proportion of Catholics in the total male workforce, 1 2.89 per cent of the 29,803 "professionals" in 192 1 were Catholics, however, there would be 3,842 of them: a mere 70 fewer Catholic men than there were in fact (3,912). The "professional" category, moreover, included not only clerks and several occupations which could be entered with a minimum of formal qualifications (such as the police force and the army) but also labourers and other unskilled persons who worked in such industries as government and health.lS3 At 14. 1 2 per cent in 192 1 and 1 3.72 per cent in 1936, Catholics were over-represented among "general 151 The number of men employed in these stores declined from 7,122 (715 Catholics) in 1921 to 2.766 (306 Catholics) in 1936, perbaps reflecting economic conditions or a change in the method of calculating this category - the number of manufacturers' agents etc. increased by a comparable number. 152 There were over 60 brothers in New Zealand in 1921. most of them school teachers (but effectively unpaid) and therefore classified as professional (ACD. 1922. p. 253). 153 It should be recalled the statistics on religion and employment record the industries in which people worked rather than their actual occupations. For breakdowns of the total "professional" category according to the personal occupations of those associated with it. see NZ Census. 1921, part VITI. pp. 90-98 and 1936, vol. X. pp. 48-49. 57-58. Employment PaUerns 43 government administrative officers and others not elsewhere included". Among the 3 ,365 men thus classified in 192 1 , there were 1 ,305 clerks, 335 labourers, 1 30 messengers, 45 night watchmen and 45 storemen.154 In 192 1 , there was a considerable over-representation of Catholics among "local government administrative officers and others" ( 16.84 per cent) but this declined (to 1 2.86 per cent) in 1 936. The total figure for all religious groups in 1921 (4,269) included 1 ,901 labourers - the latter no doubt including a high proportion of Catholics. 155 There was a marked over-representation of Catholics in the police force, of which they constituted 30.53 per cent in 192 1 , falling to 22.06 per cent in 1936. The police force offered an attractive career to respectable and ambitious but unskilled young men from humble origins. Before 192 1 , the high proportion of Catholics in the force had already declined considerably: an 1 898 Royal Commission found that 41 .6 per cent of policemen were Catholics. This over-representation was attributed to recruitment from the Royal Irish Constabulary - a practice which seems to have led to an over­ representation of Presbyterians as well. 156 Commissioner John Cullen, already mentioned in the discussion of ethnicity, was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary for six years before coming to New Zealand in 1 876. 157 Cullen's successor, John O'Donovan - another Catholic - advertised in the Tablet for recruits.158 After his retirement in 1922, there may have been a policy of reducing the intake of Catholics. 159 In O'Donovan's last year, 34 of the 147 new officers (23 per cent) were Catholics, but the following year, only seven out of 75 new policemen (9 per cent) were Catholics. l60 The actual number of Catholics in the force declined from 290 in 1921 to 276 in 1936, even though the total force increased from 950 to 1 ,25 1 men in 154 There were also 189 cadets, a number of people in small categories and 826 "others" (NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 89). Comparable statistics for 1936 do not appear to be available. 155 NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 89. Since they include so many labourers, these central and local government figures cannot be used to demonstrate a Catholic penchant for clerical work: as J. Watson, "Were Catholics Over-Represented in the Public Service During the Early Twentieth Century?" Political Science, 4212 (December 1990), p. 31 assumed. 156 "Report and Evidence of the Royal Commission on the Police Force of New Zealand", AJHR, H.-2, 1898, p. viii. For further discussion, see Watson, pp. 31-32. 1 57 NZ Tablet, 8 November 1939, p. 8. 158 NZ Tablet, 27 March 1919, p. 23; 3 April 1919, p. 9; 21 October 1920, p. 35. 1 59 See NZ Tablet, 18 May 1922, p. 21 and 28 December 1922, p. 43 for O'Donovan's retirement and a trip to "the Old Country". 160 Annual Police Reports, AJHR, 1922, vol. II, H.-16, p. 5; 1923, vol. n, H.-16, p. 6. The proportions in the preceding and subsequent years are consistent with this interpretation. 44 Chapter One: A People Apan? the same fifteen years. Meanwhile the over-representation of Presbyterians actually increased. 161 In professional occupations requiring higher education or training, Catholics were notably under-represented. Only 7.99 per cent of civil engineers, surveyors and architects were Catholics in 1921 and Catholics made up only a small proportion of public accountants (5.62 per cent in 1921 and 6.67 per cent in 1936). Again, only 8.06 per cent of male school teachers were Catholics in 1921 and 8.49 per cent in 1936, while a mere 6.96 per cent of technical and other teachers were Catholics in 192 1 . The medical and dental professions employed few Catholics: 4.83 per cent and 7.53 per cent respectively in 192 1 (both figures relate only to private practice). Public hospital staff members were 12.4 1 per cent Catholic in 192 1 , but most of those included in this category were not medical personnel. 162 The under-representation of Catholics was less pronounced in the legal profession, although the proportion of Catholics there declined from 1 1 .06 per cent in 192 1 to 9.44 per cent in 1936 and by no means all those represented in these percentages were qualified lawyers. 163 That Catholics were less under-represented in law than in other learned professions may owe something to experience in the police force and to Catholic secondary education, which inclined towards the academic rather than the commercial or technical. 164 Occupations classified as "professional" but employing large numbers of unskilled men attracted a greater share of Catholics. The growing number of picture theatres employed an increasing proportion of Catholics ( 12.57 per cent in 1921 and 1 6.67 per cent in 1936). There was also a considerable over-representation of Catholics in horse­ racing (22.76 per cent in 1921 and 2 1 .95 per cent in 1936). To an important degree this must be explained in terms of the popularity of horse-racing among the Irish and their descendants in New Zealand - and to disapproval of gambling among many Protestants. 165 The proportion of Catholic men in occupations classified as domestic in 192 1 was 19.76 per cent, a considerable over-representation. A very high proportion of male employers in such work were Catholics (25.83 per cent), although only 14.54 per cent 161 Watson, p. 30. 1 62 Only 87 out of 1 ,267 were doctors (NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 93). 163 The figures for accountancy and law are commensurate with those already cited for Catholic involvement in occupations concerned with fmance. 164 See the discussion of Catholic education in chapter three below and Watson, pp. 3 1 -32. 1 65 See the discussion of leisure in chapter four. --- -- - Employment Patterns 45 of the self-employed (a much smaller group than the employers) were Catholics. Conversely, male Catholic domestic workers receiving wages and salaries were slightly under-represented ( 19. 1 6 per cent) as a proportion of domestic workers. Licensed hoteliers largely account for the over-representation of Catholic men (and of Catholic employers in particular) in domestic occupations. Like horse-racing, maintaining a licensed hotel was a traditional Irish occupation and more likely to meet approval among Catholics than some Protestants. In 192 1 , 27.64 per cent of the men working in licensed hotels were Catholics and in 1936 the proportion was still 27.49 per cent. The much smaller but related occupation of working in private hotels and boarding houses also had an over-representation of Catholics, albeit a much lesser one ( 14.67 per cent in 1921). Most of the men in the 1921 "other groups" category of Table 8.8 and in the almost equivalent "no industry, or industry not specified" category in Table 8. 14 were either retired or waged employees. l66 Among the men who failed to indicate the industry to which they belonged,167 there were very few employers, self-employed men or relatives assisting without wages; indeed the total numbers involved were so low that the proportions of Catholics cannot be regarded as particularly significant. In 192 1 , there was a considerable over-representation of Catholic men among those who either did not specify their industry or were not involved in one ( 18.20 per cent) - an over-representat�on which is best understood in the light of the high proportion of labourers it included. 168 Catholics were again markedly over-represented among labourers who did not indicate their industry in 1936 ( 1 8.40 per cent) and among the typists and clerks who also failed to specify their industry in that year ( 15.42 per cent). There was also an over-representation of Catholics among the unemployed who did not specify their industry in 1936 ( 16.23 per cent) - perhaps because they lacked- any vocational skills. 166 Since the great majority of workers in this category were labourers, typists or clerks, it may be assumed that they were wage rather than salary earners. 167 Occupational status categories such as those used in Table 8.8 would not be applicable to pensioners and while it is conceivable that a few men of independent means were classed as employers, it seems more likely that they too were included under "not applicable". Consequently it seems justified to assume that men counted in other categories bad simply failed to indicate their industry on the census fOrID. 168 Of 10,452 men who failed to indicate their industry, 7,207 were labourers (NZ Census, 1921, part VIll, p. 104). --- ------�-�' ��*�%@.f�·�'.���'-____________ ------------------------------------.... � 46 Chapter One: A People Apart? According to the 1936 census, there were 8,101 men (including 1 ,204 Catholics) receiving pensions in April of that year. 169 Fewer than half of these men (3,495) were old age pensioners170 and the census figures for men and women receiving pensions are far below the official numbers.l7l Despite the anomalies in these statistics, it is tempting to suggest that, in view of the high proportions of Catholic men on pensions in the census figures ( 14.86 per cent of men at a time when Catholic men made up only 10.86 per cent of the population aged sixty-five and older)l72 and the income restrictions which rendered most elderly people ineligible to receive pensions from the state, Catholics were in greater need, especially during their old age. This impression is confirmed by the under-representation of Catholic men among the much larger population (29,066) of men designated simply as "retired" (9. 8 1 per cent or 2,850 individuals). By comparison with women in the other large denominations and with the female population as a whole, Catholic women were more likely to be in paid employment Assuming that almost all working women were aged between fifteen and sixty-four years of age, this difference can be demonstrated in several ways, as seen in Table 1 .4. Only among Catholics was the proportion of women in the workforce consistently higher (by over two per cent) than the proportion of women in the fifteen to sixty-four age bracket. Another way of comparing the denominations is to express the number of workers in each church as a proportion of the number of women of working age. Whereas 34.27 per c_ent of eligible Catholic women were working in 1921 and 32.7 1 per cent in 1936, in the other denominations and in the total population, fewer than 30 per cent of women were in the paid workforce in either year. There are several reasons for this over-representation of Catholics. One possible cause - which would be difficult to demonstrate - is that Catholic women, whose husbands would, on average, earn less than those of other denominations, felt a greater need to supplement the family income. Secondly, as has already been observed, nuns increased the Catholic proportion of the female workforce by about one per cent. A third explanation is 1 69 The equivalent figures for 1921 combined men with independent incomes and pensioners into a heterogeneous category of no value for the present discussion. 1 70 NZ Census, 1936, vol. X. pp. 5 1 . 171 The New Zealand Official Year-Book for 1937 (p. viii) gives the total number of old age pensions for men and women as 47.743 for October 1936. whereas the 1936 census total for all pensioners is only 13 .068. Evidently. most pensioners preferred to regard themselves as retired or still associated with a particular industry. 1 72 The latter proportion is calculated from NZ Census. 1936. vol. VI. p. 2 1 . Employment Patterns Table 1.4 Women and the Workforce Year Anglican Presbyterian Catholic Methodist (1) Proportions of the Female Workforce made up by each Denomination 1921 45,076 26,400 17,525 10,240 40.88 23.95 1 5.90 9.29 1 936 54,189 33, 159 21,33 1 1 1 ,796 39.01 23.87 1 5.35 8.49 (2) Proportions of Women aged 15 to 64 (inclusive) 1921 161 ,986 93,595 42.62 24.62 1936 204,786 123,973 40.97 24.80 5 1 ,142 1 3.46 65,213 1 3.05 36,7 19 9.66 42,429 8.49 (3) Ratios of Working Women to Working-Age Women (as percentages) 1921 27.83 28.21 34.27 27.89 1936 26.46 26.75 32.71 27.80 (4) Unmarried Women aged 15 to 64 (inclusive) 1 936 70,775 46,603 38.50 25.35 27,563 14.99 15,697 8.54 47 All Women 1 10,25 1 1 00.00 138,927 100.00 380,095 100.00 499,864 1 00.00 29.01 27.79 183,827 1 00.00 This table affords a comparison of the proportion of the female workforce made up by the main denominations with each denomination's share of the female population of working age and of the population of unmarried women. The second line in each section of the table (except sflCtion 3) represents the percentage of women in the given denomination as a proportion of the total number of women (from the right-hand column). Sources: (1) New Zealand Census, 1921, part VII, p. 42; 1936, vol. VI, p. 29. (2) Census, 1921, part VII, p. 34; 1936, vol. VI, pp. 22-23 . (3) Calculated from (1) and (2). (4) Census, 1936, vol. VI, p. 25 and vol. IV, p. 33. Since the conjugal status tables include only women aged sixteen years and over, the numbers of fifteen year olds have been added to the figures in section (4) from the sources used for section (2) on the assumption that no fifteen year olds had married. offered by the relatively high proportion of unmarried Catholic women in New Zealand. As Table 1 .4 shows, the proportions of unmarried women aged from fifteen to sixty-four and the proportions of working women in each denomination are very close. The overall occupational status pattern for Catholic women was rather different from and less stable than that of men. Catholic women were somewhat over­ represented among employers ( 1 6. 1 3 in 192 1 and 15.75 per cent in 1926) and, in 1921 , among the self-employed (16. 16 per cent). By 1926, this had declined into a slight under-representation ( 14.32 per cent). Meanwhile the proportion of women who assisted relatives without remuneration ( 15.40 in 1921) had apparently increased 48 Chapter One: A People Apart? (18.12 in 1926).n3 In 1921, Catholic women were represented among wage and salary earners in proportion to their share of the female workforce (14.81 per cent)174 but they were under-represented in 1926 (13.88 per cent). There was a slight over- . representation of Catholics among unemployed women, but the number of individuals involved was too small for this to be significant. Catholic women in the paid workforce showed greater occupational independence than did Catholic men, that is, they were more likely to be employers or self-employed, but this was less so in 1926 than in 1921. Perhaps Catholic women who had managed small farms or hotels in wartime only gradually relinquished them during the early 1920s. In 1921, Catholic women were somewhat under-represented in the primary sector (13.87 per cent), although the number of women involved (9,200 of whom 1,276 were Catholics) was not large.175 Almost all of these Catholic women (1,262) were engaged in farming (especially dairy-farming) and a disproportionate number of them were self­ employed (16.82 per cent) or employers of others (15.02 per cent), perhaps because their husbands had died or deserted them. Conversely, the proportions of Catholic women among relatives assisting without pay (13.30 per cent) and among wage earners (12.92 per cent) were slightly under their proportions in primary employment generally. The proportion of Catholic women (14.22 per cent) engaged in the various manufacturing and construction industries was rather less than their proportion in the workforce in 1921, but not much lower than the proportion of women in the paid workforce when nuns are excluded. Like the women of other denominations, Catholics were predominantly waged employees, making up a proportion (14.13 per cent) consistent with their representation in the industrial workforce. Most of these women were no doubt unskilled factory workers and some clerical staff. Among the self-employed, Catholics made up a somewhat higher proportion (14.91 per cent), while there were too few women in the other grades of employment to make their relative proportions significant. In most forms of manufacturing, consistent with their overall under-representation in industry in 1921, Catholic .women were under-represented in all three interwar 1 73 Since the actual numbers of unpaid relatives assisting in all denominations recorded for 1926 are much lower than for 192 1 . the basis of calculating the figures had evidently changed. 1 74 This figure lies between the two alternative figures given in Table 8.7. 1 75 It may be inferred that the relatively high proportion of Catholic women in the overall w()rkforce was concentrated in urban employment. In 1921. Catholic men were only very slightly under­ represented in primary employment overall (12.77 per cent). Employment Patterns - - - - - . . _ - _ .. _ _ ._ ._ - - - - _ .. ' - .- -- .... -�- -- .--- -. - .. .... . - - . - - _ . ..."... . ... 49 censuses but the numbers of individuals involved would not justify detailed discussion. There was, however, a relative over-representation of Catholic women in 1921 associated with tailoring ( 17.20 per cent), clothing ( 16. 15 per cent) and dressmaking ( 15.33 per cent)176 but these proportions had declined by 1936 (to 15.77 per cent, 14. 14 per cent and 1 3.77 per cent respectively). Many of these women would have worked at home and the decline may be attributable to increasing competition from clothing factories. At the same time, there was some increase in the proportion of Catholics working in woollen-mills ( 10.37 per cent to 1 1 .34 per cent) and in footwear manufacturing ( 10.59 per cent to 12.05 per cent) - both of which were growing industries. Catholic women were over-represented in transport and communication (2 1 .05 per cent) but with only 2,670 members (including 562 Catholics), this was by far the smallest occupational category in 192 1 . The great majority of these women (2,6 10, of whom 553 were Catholics) were employees receiving wages or salaries - in most cases, no doubt, for clerical work. There was some over-representation of Catholic women working for the Post Office. Since the number of women said to be engaged in the postal service in 1921 excluded those working for the Post Office Savings Bank and the 1936 figure included them, it is impossible to detennine whether the proportion of Catholic women (20. 10 per cent in 1921 and 17.67 per cent in 1936) actually declined or not. Moreover, the small numbers of women involved (602, . including 12 1 Catholics, in 1921 and 65 1 , including 1 15 Catholics, in 1936), reduce the significance of the Catholic over-representation. In 192 1 , 24.92 per cent of women in the telegraph and telephone service were Catholics but this category (249 Catholics out of 999 employees) was very small. Of the 20,601 women employed in commercial enterprises, 17,225, of whom 2,3 16 were Catholics, were waged employees. Like Catholic men, women were noticeably under-represented in commercial fonns of employment ( 13.64 per cent) in 192 1 . Their proportions among wage earners ( 1 3.45 per cent), relatives assisting without payment ( 12.54 per cent) and employers ( 13.20 per cent) were commensurate with this figure, but they were somewhat over-represented among the self-employed ( 17 .32 per cent). This suggests that a number of them (up to 234) were involved in small-scale selling, possibly of home bakery products or clothing. Catholic women were well-represented among women engaged in the sale of pastry and confectionery (14.42 per cent in 1921 1 76 This proportion i s only an over-representation i f nuns are excluded from the workforce. 50 - -. ---- Chapter One: A People Apart? and 15.08 per cent in 1936 - the latter figure including cakes, bread and biscuits) and those selling clothing and drapery ( 14.7 1 per cent in 1921 but declining to 1 3.46 in 1936). Most of these textile and clothing saleswomen - who made up the largest commercial category - were probably unskilled, like the large proportions of Catholic women working in department stores (14.50 per cent in 1921 and 15.52 per cent in 1936). Catholic women were consistently over-represented in professional occupations throughout the interwar period ( 17.60 per cent in 1921 and 17.59 per cent in 1936) - proportions inflated by the inclusion of nuns. The "Not Applicable" column of Table 8 . 10 includes 1 ,234 Catholic women, accounting for 93.48 per cent of that professional sub-category; there were about 1 ,300 nuns in New Zealand at the time of the 1921 census. 177 If the not-applicables are removed from the professional category, only 12.78 per cent178 of professional women would be Catholics - a significant under­ representation which is commensurate with their proportions among the self-employed ( 13.55 per cent) and wage or salary earners ( 12.74 per cent)P9 Only a small proportion (7.58 per cent) of Catholic professional women were employers of others. In 192 1 , 17.49 per cent of the 1 , 138 women engaged in general and local government administration were Catholics, mostly as clerks and typists. ISO Catholic women were usually under-represented in privately operated financial businesses, such as accountancy (10.52 per cent in 1936) and law ( 1 3.40 per cent in 192 1 , but rising to 15 .92 per cent in 1936), even though the female staff of these two industrial categories were also made up predominantly of typists and clerks. l SI They were also under-represented among health professionals in private practice such as nurses and mid-wives (1 1 .99 per cent in 1921 and 12.06 per cent in 1936). In the report on the 192 1 census, when mental hospital staff were included in the figures 1 77 Some nuns, particularly those who had retired from teaching or nursing and perhaps those still in training, would not be included among the not-applicables, thus explaining why this number is lower than the total number of nuns. 1 78 This would give a total of 20,762 (22,082 minus 1 ,320) professional women of whom 2,653 (3,887 minus 1 ,234) were Catholics. 1 79 They were also under-represented among professional employers (7.58 per cent) but this category was too small to be very significant 1 80 The total figures include, as well as smaller occupations in both types of government service, 349 clerks and 361 typists in general government service and 1 85 clerks and 73 typists employed by local government (NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 89). 1 8 1 NZ Census, 1 921, part VIII, pp. 91, 97 and NZ Census, 1936, p. 57. EmploymenJ Pauerns 51 for all public hospital staff and attendants, the proportion of Catholic women was 14.92 per cent. That the inclusion of the generally less-skilled staff and attendants of mental hospitals has inflated this proportion is clear from the considerable over­ representation of Catholic women working in mental hospitals (26.20 per cent) in 1936. By contrast, the percentage of Catholics among the female staff of public hospitals in 1936 was only 1 1 .87. There was a higher proportion of Catholic women on the staff of private hospitals, rising from 14.76 per cent to 2 1 . 13 per cent. Since the Catholic Church maintained a number of hospitals, which were run by nuns, it is to be expected that there would be a higher proportion of Catholic women working in private hospitals and the increase is at least partially attributable to growth in the size and number of Catholic hospitals and to the presence of trainee nurses in private hospitals after 1930. 1 82 If the numbers employed in public and private hospitals during each of the two census years are conflated, it is evident that there was a proportional increase in the number of Catholic women working in hospitals from 14.88 per cent in . 1921 to 15 . 19 per cent in 1936. 1 83 In 1921 and 1936, teaching nuns were evidently included among school teachers, giving Catholic women a marked over-representation (2 1 .55 per cent and 2 1 .26 per cent) in that profession. 1 84 Without them, Catholic women would have been considerably under-represented. Nuns (and probably other single Catholic women) also account for the high proportion of female Catholic teachers of music and other specialist subjects ( 1 8.70 per cent in 1921), music lessons being an important source of convent income. The equivalent category for 1936 was defmed as including correspondence school and business school teachers: an increase in the proportions of 1 82 Of 2,781 women engaged in public hospitals in 1921, 1,839 were nurses, while the 1 , 145 women working in private hospitals included 491 nurses (NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 93). In neither case is it possible to determine what proportion of them were Catholics. but the lower proportion of nurses in private hospitals is attributable to the absence of trainees. For discus.sion of the expansion of Catholic hospitals, see chapter three. 1 83 There were 584 (41 5 in public and 169 private) Catholic women out of a national total of 3,926 (2,781 public and 1,145 private) on the staff of hospitals in 1921 and 1,022 (554 public, 299 private and 169 mental) out of 6,726 (4,666 public, 1 ,415 private and 645 mental) in 1936. 1 84 Most nuns in New Zealand were school teachers and the numbers of women classified as having specifically religious occupations in 1921 and 1936 were not large enough to include all nuns. The 1921 table which subdivides industries according to specific occupations gives the number of teachers who were nuns as only 194 (NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 95), presumably a direct reflection of what they wrote on their census forms. The majority of teaching nuns evidently (and appropriately) declared their industry to be education and their occupation to be teacher. There was no question to which "sister" or "nun" would have been the most suitable answer. 52 Chapter One: A People Apart? such teachers would explain the declining representation of Catholics ( 15.90 per cent). 1 85 Catholics were over-represented among women engaged in religious and welfare work - again because this category included nuns. In 1921 they made up 28.93 per cent of the group labelled "religion", and in 1936 they constituted 5 1 .46 per cent of those associated with "religion, including persons connected with churches, etc.". These groupings were evidently compiled on a different basis in 192 1 (when 140 out of 484 women were Catholics) and 1936 (when there were 545 Catholics out of 1 ,059 women). 1 86 The considerable over-representation of Catholic women working in benevolent institutions such as orphanages (26.22 per cent in 1921 and 25.74 per cent in 1936) was largely made up of nuns whose orders were engaged in this charitable work.1 87 Paid domestic occupations made up the largest category of female employment, Catholics accounting for 17.59 per cent of the workforce in 1921 . In that year there was a marked over-representation of female Catholic employers (24.40 per cent), self­ employed women (20.69 per cent) and relatives assisting without pay (27.63 per cent). The proportion of domestic wage earners ( 1 6.96 per cent) was higher than the proportion of Catholics in the female workforce but was lower than the proportion of Catholic women in domestic work. Most of the "extra" Catholic women in domestic occupations worked in hotels. The proportion of C�tholic women engaged in licensed premises was extremely high (37 . 1 8 per cent in 192 1 and 34.92 per cent in 1936). Catholic women were also over­ represented in private boarding hotels and boarding houses in 1921 (20.90 per cent). The numbers involved in these two forms of accommodation were recorded separately for 1936, yielding percentages of 22.90 for private hotels and 19. 1 1 for boardinghouses and lodginghouses. To judge from the numbers of Catholic women counted as employers, self-employed or relatives assisting without payment, a good number of these establishments were evidently managed by Catholic women or their husbands 185 It seems likely that there was a reduced demand for music teachers during the Depression of the early 1930s. For further reference to music teaching by nuns, see the discussion of gender roles in chapter four. 1 86 The 1921 figure includes at least 101 nuns (NZ Census, 1921, part VITI, p. 91) and that of 1936 seems to include 306 nuns (Census 1936, vol. X, p. 57). 187 Among the 484 women counted as working in religion and social welfare in 192 1 , there were 101 nuns and 1 23 Salvation Army officers (NZ Census, 1921 , part VIII, p. 9 1). In the 1936 figures, there were included 306 nuns (NZ Census, 1 936, vol. X, p. 57). -. � - - - . - - - ---- Employment Patterns 53 and fathers.188 There were also high proportions of Catholic women engaged in the largely unskilled work of restaurants and tearooms ( 17.09 per cent in 1921 and 19.01 per cent in 1936).189 It is less obvious why there was a consistent under-representation of Catholic women in private domestic service (12.95 per cent in 1921 and 13.47 per cent in 1936) - which was by far the largest category of paid female employment and one which offered work to the unskilled - although the high representation of Catholic women in hotels and boarding houses offers at least a partial explanation. Catholic women were somewhat under-represented among women in "other groups" who were not engaged in any industry or who did not indicate their industry on the census form: they made up 12.45 per cent of this group in 192 1 . Among the 1 ,747 women in this category who were employed as wage earners, the largest group (to judge from the 1936 census), were typists or clerks who had not named the industry to which they belonged. In this group, Catholics were well-represented (15.60 per cent). Most of the women in the "no industry or industry not specified" category were past the age of paid employment (and therefore appear in the "not applicable" column among the 1921 sub-categories in Table 8. 10). As in the case of men, the statistics on pensions present some anomalies although they tend to confirm the impression of the Catholic community built up so far. l90 In 1936, Catholic women were under­ represented among the very small numbers with independent means (7.31 per cent) or superannuation (8.64 per cent) and in the substantial group designated as ,retired ( 1 1 .24 per cent). Among those counted as pensioners, by contrast, Catholic women were over-represented (15.68 per cent, while only 11.64 per cent of women aged sixty-five or over were Catholics).191 Like their male counterparts, elderly Catholic women were probably not a prosperous group and their limited personal means qualified them for pensions. 1 88 The probable reasons for the over-representation of Catholics in these industries have already been discussed in the context of male employment and will be examined in chapter four. 1 89 The 1936 figure includes railway tearooms (Census 1936. vol. X, p. 22) and may not be comparable to the 1921 figure. 190 The 1921 census report on religions combines women having independent means with pensioners and superannuitants and the gap between the number of pensioners in the 1936 census and the number given in the New Zealand Official Year-Book bas already been commented upon. 191 The latter proportion is calculated from NZ Census. 1936. vol. VI. p. 23. From 1913. women could receive an abated pension from the age of sixty (New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1919, p. 679 and Year-Book 1940, p. 620), but the proportion of Catholic women in the population aged sixty and over ( 1 1 .53 per cent, derived from the same table), is not very different from the figure quoted above. 54 Chapter One: A People Apart? During the interwar period, then, Catholics - both men and women - were over­ represented in unskilled or semi-skilled employment. Conversely, they were under­ represented in both skilled and capital-intensive industries. They were also generally under-represented among male employers, although there was a comparatively large number of small-scale female Catholic employers. In certain kinds of occupations, Catholics tended to be over-represented or under-represented. For example, there were quite large numbers of Catholics in the police force and in the various entertainment and accommodation industries, while there were low proportions of Catholics in commerce. An important general explanation for the pattern of Catholic employment is that many New Zealanders of Irish descent lacked the capital to invest in business (or large-scale farming) or to pay for a post-primary education. However, the under­ representation of Catholic men in professional and financial occupations is only partially explicable as a consequence of the costs of obtaining secondary and tertiary education. Members of the working or lower middle classes would be less likely to aspire to occupations in which they had no friends or relatives to act as role models, and who could help them secure a position, than would young people who did have these advantages. This could be why even "professional" occupations which could be entered with a minimum of formal qualifications and for which training could be ' undertaken in the course of employment (such as surveying or accounting) attracted comparatively few Catholics. The over-representation of Catholics in some areas of employment was no doubt to some extent self-perpetuating: having a relative or family friend in a particular occupation would make this an obvious and perhaps somewhat easier form of employment to enter, since the relative would be in a position to offer suitable advice.192 It has also been suggested that the cohesiveness of the Catholic community, reinforced by high levels of church attendance and a separate school system, would have helped young Catholics find employment by bringing them into contact with well-placed co-religionists. 193 Comparatively low levels of Catholic representation in commerce and high representations in government employment should probably be regarded as obverse sides of the same phenomenon and likely to change only gradually. 192 Watson (p. 30) suggests that baving policemen in the family could bave encouraged young Catholics to seek other forms of government employment as well . . 93 Watson, pp. 32-33 --- -. -- . . . . . . . Employment PaUerns . . ' .... - .. _ - ---- - --. -- -----'- - - .- --- --- 55 In explaining the distinctive patterns of Catholic employment, it has not usually been necessary to refer to religion as such, except in the case of the Catholic Church's relatively permissive attitude to gambling and drinking. It is also likely, but difficult to demonstrate, that at least some non-Catholic employers preferred not to employ Catholics. Such prejudice would be most likely to occur in small businesses where the employer had personal contact with the staff - that is, one of the areas in which Catholics were notably under-represented, especially as employers. During the early 1920s, it was often alleged that religious affiliation was a criterion of employment in certain businesses and that the Protestant Political Association (PPA) encouraged discrimination against Catholic applicants and employees. 194 In 1924, when William Nosworthy, a notorious anti-Catholic, was Minister of Agriculture, the Dairy Control Board advertised the position of Secretary and Chief Executive Officer; a form was issued which asked for the applicant's religion. 195 There could also have been a reluctance on the part of some Catholics to work for Protestants. Such sectarian barriers, if they existed to any significant extent - or were thought by Catholics to exist - would also serve to encourage Catholics to seek government employment. With relatively high proportions of Catholics in some branches of the public service, including personnel in senior positions, the prospects of Catholic applicants would no doubt have been better than in private business. To a considerable extent, government employment was popular among Catholics because of the kinds of jobs offered rather than because Catholics had a stronger preference for government service than did the adherents of other denominations. The government was a large employer of unskilled or semi-skilled workers and the Catholic community included many such people. Like the police force, general and local government administration offered employment opportunities to people with limited previous education and the Catholic education system, though ill-equipped to teach its pupils trade skills or commerce, was able to prepare them for the Public Service Exarnination.196 Many of those who entered the civil service before 1912 had not needed any formal qualification.197 194 NZ Tablet, 28 October 1920, p. 35; 18 November 1920, p. 14; 24 February 1921 , p. 39; 22 February 1923, p. 25; 22 March 1923, p. 1 8; 12 April 1923, p. 26; Month, 16 October 1922, p. 3; NZPD, 1920, vol. 1 89, p. 623 (William Jennings). 1 95 NZ Tablet, 27 March 1924, p. 19; 8 May 1924, pp. 18-19; For further information on Nasworthy, see chapter five and for a later reference to the apparently common practice of enquiring after an applicant's religion, see NZ Tablet, 3 July 1935, p. 24. 196 Watson, p. 3 1 . 1 97 Olssen in Rice (editor), pp. 259-260. - -- - - - .- - -- -----.---"-'�----- --..... 56 Chapter One: A People Apan? Responding to allegations that Catholics were "stuffmg" the public service, the clergy often urged them to seek other employment, especially fanning. While affirming the equal right of Catholics to government employment, Bishop Cleary hoped "to see an increasing proportion of our young manhood going on the land or engaging in other occupations, where ability, industry, and independence may meet with more ample - even if at times more hardly-earned - rewards. II 198 Kelly, as editor of the Tablet, scorned government employment, declaring that Catholic pupils were too well educated for such r�utine work with limited prospects of advancement Catholics would be better advised to work on the land or to enter commerce, the professions, trades, arts and crafts. l99 Similarly, Father James Coffey, angry at the Government's withdrawal of the right to use state-funded scholarships in private secondary schools, vowed to discourage Catholic boys from entering the public service - even though he believed that they were in demand there. ' Speaking at the Christian Brothers' School prize-giving in 1920, he declared that their education qualified Catholics for better positions than they would attain in the service of the state.2OO Evidently lay Catholics tended not share these embittered views, despite repeated clerical appeals to return to the land, often citing the advice of Bishop Moran, founder of the Tablet, and declaring rural life to be more conducive to the maintenance of the family, religion and virtue.201 The divergence of Catholics from the rest of the country's workforce should not be exaggerated. Even without reviewing in detail the distribution of other denominations in specific industries, it is clear from the tables in the appendix that the other large denominations had their own distinctive employment patterns. Presbyterian men, for example were over-represented in primary industries and under-represented in domestic occupations.202 Moreover, the over-representation of Catholics in a number of industries (for example drink manufacturing, road construction, the railways, public 198 Month, 15 March 1920, p. 6. 199 NZTablet, 1 August 1918, p. 25; 17 July 1919, p. 14; 1 July 1931 , p. 3 . 200 NZ Tablet, 13 January 1921, Supplement, p. 8. 201 NZTablet, 5 June 1919, p. 26; 12 May 1921, p. 18; (Bishop Whyte); 6 April 1922, p. 18 (Whyte); 26 June 1924, p. 19; 7 Apri1 1926, p. 33; 4 January 1928, p. 33; 13 June 1928, p. 6; 26 December 1928, p. 3; 1 July 193 1 , p. 3; 29 August 1934, p. 7 (Bishop Brodie); 19 July 1939, p. 5; 10 May 1 939, pp. 25-26; Zealandia, 4 June 1936, p. 4; 6 July 1939, p. 4. . 202 See Table 8.9. •• � _---"- - • __ <:0 Employment Patterns 57 administration and the police force) was declining in the period between 1921 and 1936. There was no single industry dominated by Catholics and, in most occupations, the under or over-representation of Catholics was a matter of only a few percentage points. Nor could it be said, without further evidence of the actual occupations of Catholics within their respective industries, that the Catholic community was predominantly working class, as distinct from having a proportionately large number of working class members. If the employment patterns of Catholics were certainly not "dead-centre nonnal", they were not outstandingly aberrant either. Crime and Imprisonment The disproportionate numbers of Catholics in gaols and refonnatory institutions constitute a prima facie case for supposing that the Catholic community was not well integrated into the wider society - as some Protestant contemporaries argued. It will be argued, however, that while the high rate of criminal conviction among at least nominal Catholics can be explained in tenns of their socio-economic background, prisoners and other inmates were not representative of the Catholic community as a whole. Among the figures included in the exceptionally detailed "Industrial Distribution" tables in the 1921 census report on religion, are the numbers of prisoners belonging to the larger denominations. Of 1 ,080 men and boys in gaols, industrial schools and comparable institutions, 5 13 were Anglicans, 171 were Presbyterians, 3 15 were Catholics and 34 were Methodists.203 Anglicans (47.50 per cent of male prisoners but only 42. 12 per cent of the total male population) were somewhat over-represented. Presbyterians ( 15.83 per cent of male prisoners but 24.56 per cent of the male population) were under-represented, while Methodists (3. 1 5 per cent of male prisoners but 8.76 per cent of the overall male population) were even more under-represented. Catholics, by contrast, were dramatically over-represented, making up 29.17 per cent of male prisoners but only 13.29 per cent of the country's male population. This over­ representation of Catholics was even more striking among the 309 female "Inmates of gaols, &c." on census day in 1921 . Only 63 of these women and girls were Anglicans, 24 were Presbyterians and 4 were Methodists but 192 were Catholics.204 Expressed as 203 NZ Census 1921. part VII. p. 40. The following denominational percentages are calculated from the same source. For convenience. all these prisoners and inmates will be referred to as "prisoners" but it will be shown below that many were not in fact in gaol. 204 NZ Census. 1921. part VII. p. 42. The denominational percentages given below are based on the same source. - -- - . -- -_.- . -------. _- ----------- 58 Chapter One: A People Apan? percentages, these statistics present a marked contrast to each denomination's share of the New Zealand female population, of which Anglicans (20.39 per cent of female prisoners) constituted 42.33 per cent, Presbyterians (7.77 per cent of prisoners) composed 24.59 per cent, Methodists (1 .29 per cent of prisoners) formed 9.69 per cent and Catholics (62. 14 per cent of prisoners) made up only 1 3.65 per cent. Many of these delinquent Catholics, and especially the Catholic women, were in reformatory institutions rather than gaols. Of the 309 females of all denominations, 124 were children under the age of fifteen, another four were under twenty-one and 137 were "inmates" , evidently of institutions other than gaols, for there were only 28 "prisoners" - and sixteen "others".205 In 192 1 , there were 1 84 committals to institutions like Salvation Army homes although this figure may count some individuals more than once and may include males.206 Girls and women of all denominations entered Mount Magdala in Christchurch either voluntarily or after being committed by the cOUrts.207 In July 192 1 , a woman was sentenced to one month in gaol and twelve months' residence at Mount Magdala for importuning passers-by and a second woman, guilty of breaching a prohibition order and of being idle and disorderly, had to live there for two years.208 Another woman, who pleaded guilty in 1929 to charges of drunkenness and to being a rogue and a vagabond, was released and ordered to appear for sentencing if summoned within twelve months - on condition that she went to Mount Magdala.209 It seems quite likely that some women committed to this institution adopted the religion of their hosts - at least for census purposes - incidentally contributing to the high number of Catholic women included in the 1921 census figure. The Salvation Army, which also ran such institutions for women, accounted for 21 (6.80 per cent) of the female "Inmates of gaols, &c. " in April 192 1 : a very high number for a denomination which included only 1 .03 per cent of the national female population.210 Among the 1 ,080 males counted in the 1921 census as being in gaols and other reformatory institutions, 30 were under fifteen years of age, 367 were "inmates", evidently in institutions such as industrial schools, and 683 were 205 NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 103_ 206 Repon on the Justice Statistics a/the Dominion a/New Zealand/or the Year 1921, p_ vii. 207 NZ Tablet, 17 October 1918, p. 17; 25 November 1920, p. 21; 22 December 1921, p. 22; 26 June 1924, p. 18; Month, 15 March 1922, p. 14; 1 July 1931, p. 27; Zealandia, 27 February 1936, p. 2. 208 Press, 4 July 1921, p. 5; 7 July 1921, p. 4. 209 Press, 8 October 1929, p. 8. 210 NZ Census, 1921, part VII, p. 42. Crime and Imprisonment 59 prisoners.211 The high crime rate among Catholics was not new in 1921. Akenson has sought to explain the apparent delinquency of the Catholic population in the 1880s by reference to its immigrant origins and age structure. Other immigrant groups, except the Chinese, also had a higher proportion of malefactors than the New Zealand-born population, though none approached the rate of imprisonment found among the Irish. The Catholic community (half of which consisted of Irish-born immigrants), amounted to only 14.0 per cent of the colony's population, but accounted for 34.4 per cent of prisoners convicted in 1886. These statistics, Akenson argues, reflect the unfavourable position of Irish Catholics in a society dominated by Protestants. Most of the over­ representation of Catholics in prison, however, should be attributed to drunkenness - as distinct from more serious crimes - on the part of the disproportionately large number of single, unskilled males among the Irish immigrants of Vogel's time. Akenson expected that later generations of New Zealand Catholics of Irish descent would show fewer signs of deviance.212 Fortunately, in addition to the 1921 census data already discussed (and which has no counterpart in other censuses), there is available a series of statistics concerning prisoners and their religious affiliations from 1872 to 1931.213 From 1891, these statistics included the percentages of new prisoners belonging to the four major denominations, beginning in 1887. These figures are represented in Graph 1.5.214 . The consistency of each denomination's contribution to the prison population�is one of the most striking features of the graph. As a proportion of the total prison population, Anglicans declined during the First World War and fluctuated somewhat afterwards. In large measure, this must have reflected the high numbers of men serving overseas, some of whom no doubt found it difficult to settle back into civilian life upon their return. The higher percentages of prisoners not claiming adherence to one of the four large denominations in 1917 and 1918 evidently include gaoled conscientious 211 NZ Census, 1921, part VIII, p. 103. 212 Akenson, Half the World, pp. 80-82. 213 Statistics of New Zealandfor 1872, part V, no. 12 and subsequent volumes. Figures for 1921 onwards were published in the Report on the Justice Statistics of the Dominion of New Zealand. Akenson (Half the World, p. 82) says that he could not fmd "information on the relation of crimes, national origin, and religion later in the nineteenth century or in the twentieth." Neither the 1921 census figures, nor this long run of statistics (which includes the country of origin as well as the religious affiliation of convicted prisoners) feature in his study. 214 For the figures used in the grapb, see Table 8.16. 60 '" ... ... c ----- - - -- .- - Chapter One: A People Apart? Graph 1.5 Denominational Proportions of New Prisoners, 1887-1931 50.----------------------------------------------------------, I � !f\ - /. /\ i �,... \ �, ......... , � --\ ..---.. '''''''''' �"'-'" j 40 ---.-_.-.. - .... -----.-.-.---- -- -- - --... -.. - ..... .. ... ------.... .... -----.-.- .. - :.0.,. __ .. .. __ , .... ----•. --.. --.. . ------....... -- .. .. --.. .. --_. -- _.:" __ .... __ • __ A .. .. _ ... --•. -. - .. .. .. .... . . _ .. - .. ____ ..... __ .... __ .. __ . .. .. ... '� ' ... / I . ... I 5l 30 ·c I _ .. . . J I � .... o .--............. ��, ------.--,. -,...---..... ---'-..... / ....... , _________ ., ./---'--- i • �- - x F , - 1 \ I 10 -... -.-.. -- - -.---... ---....... --..... -.. ---................ .......... -.-....... -.. -................ - .. ---... -- -.. -..... --.-.--...... .. -.. -.-. ... ..... /�.-... \ -.. - ..... -.-.-.- . . . . ----...... -.-.- .. .. - ............ - .... - -"':;j :A. :r: ;x." /� ��-�z: ' \�. �''r.x' 'X � ..... . . . ��,.-"" O �"rr"rr"rr"_."_r,,_.,,._rT._rT�rr,,rr,,-,. "_r".-,,.-� 1887 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1908 191 1 191 4 1917 1920 1923 1926 1929 Year . -.- Anglican - Catholic -- Presbyterian -- Methodist -- Others objectors, most of whom belonged to small sects or professed no religion (some of them being Socialists).215 This increase in the proportion of prisoners not belonging to the four main churches also contributed to the dip in the proportion of Anglican prisoners. Not until the 19205 does the record of Catholics in prison offer some evidence of the "regression towards the national nann" anticipated by Akenson.216 Although they constituted only about one seventh of the country's population aged fifteen years and over, Catholics made up approximately one third of prisoners convicted each year.217 In the years directly relevant to this study and for which 215 Statistics o/New Zealand. 1917. vol. I, p. 286 and 1918. vol. I. p. 293; cf. P. Baker. King and Country Call, (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1988). pp. 170. 175-8 and 243. 216 Akenson, Haifthe World. p. 82. 217 The Justice Statistics for each year record very few prisoners under this age. Crime and Imprisonment 61 Table 1.S Imprisonment of Catholic Men and Kinds of Offences, 1918-1931 --------------.------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- ---- Person Property M�cellaneous Totals Ind. Sum. Theft Mischief Vagr. Drunk. Other -------------.-------------------------------------.------------------------------------.----------.------------ Catholic Men 1918 1 1 18 77 14 47 1 17 206 490 1919 18 27 130 13 45 102 214 549 1920 19 30 166 8 49 101 230 603 1921 9 39 138 6 73 172 195 632 1922 15 27 168 10 78 145 176 619 1923 16 33 154 6 73 165 228 675 1924 26 35 135 13 75 188 214 686 1925 13 29 157 26 74 214 337 850 1926 21 43 185 22 1 10 196 238 815 1927 18 34 213 20 103 147 244 779 1928 17 12 199 30 78 163 228 727 1929 22 33 184 14 81 156 188 678 1930 21 35 199 18 1 19 162 272 826 193 1 22 35 249 22 108 131 306 873 AD Men 1918 48 51 284 54 1 14 296 717 1 ,564 1919 70 76 399 70 1 13 273 588 1 ,589 1920 77 91 554 32 158 268 573 1 ,753 1921 49 90 546 18 184 420 603 1,910 1922 94 69 690 30 2oo 349 558 1 ,990 1923 93 ' 88 639 33 192 390 685 2,120 1924 105 97 614 48 188 452 777 2,281 1925 68 104 587 93 177 483 1 ,249 2,761 1926 93 1 19 73 1 71 258 513 820 2,605 1927 84 104 832 76 302 361 818 2,577 1928 79 84 761 83 216 396 812 2,431 1929 95 98 767 63 227 41 1 814 2,475 1930 90 103 845 87 263 395 921 2,704 1931 109 106 1,032 91 280 357 1 ,092 3,067 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.--------------------- statistics are available ( 1918 to 193 1 ), between 28.43 per cent and 34.69 per cent of newly committed prisoners were Catholics. Meanwhile, the proportion of gaoled Anglicans was close to that denomination's proportion aged fifteen or over. Presbyterians and Methodists, by contrast, were under-represented in gaol. While the overwhelming majority of prisoners of all denominations were men, Catholic women were even more markedly over-represented. The average number of new female prisoners to declare themselves Catholic between 19 18 and 193 1 was 53, while the average proportion was 41 per cent. Among men, the average number of 62 Chapter One: A People Apan? Table 1.5 (continued) ------------------------------------... _------------------------------------------------------------------------ Person Property Miscellaneous Totals Ind. Sum. Theft Mischief Vagr. Drunk. Other ... _-----------------------------... _--_ ... _---------------------------------------------------------------------_ .. Percentage Catholic 1918 23 35 27 26 41 40 29 3 1 1919 26 36 33 19 40 37 36 35 1920 25 33 30 25 3 1 38 40 34 1921 18 43 25 33 40 41 32 33 1922 16 39 24 33 39 42 32 3 1 1923 17 38 24 18 38 42 33 32 1924 25 36 22 27 40 42 28 30 1925 19 28 27 28 42 44 27 3 1 1926 23 36 25 3 1 43 38 29 3 1 1927 21 33 26 26 34 41 30 30 1928 22 14 26 36 36 41 28 30 1929 23 34 24 22 36 38 23 27 1930 23 34 24 21 45 41 30 3 1 193 1 20 33 24 24 39 37 28 28 Mean 21 34 26 26 39 40 30 3 1 Sources: Statistics of the Dominion of New Zealand, published annually until superceded by Report on the Justice Statistics of the Dominion of New Zealand from 1921. Abbreviations referring to kinds of offences and methods of conviction: Ind., Convicted on Indictment; Sum., Summarily Convicted; Theft. Theft and Deceit; Vagr., Vagrancy ("Including importuning, consorting with rogues &c."); Drunk., Drunkenness. Catholic prisoners was 700 and the average proportion was 3 1 per cent.21 8 The principal crime for which Catholic women were gaoled was vagrancy, which included "consorting with rogues" and "importuning", amongst other offences.219 Drunkenness and theft were also relatively common crimes among Catholic women inmates. Catholic men were over-represented in all the categories of crime f�r which imprisonment and religious affiliation were recorded, as Table 1 .5 shows. By far the majority of males summarily convicted of crimes against the person were guilty of common assault - and no doubt this generalization applies to Catholic men so convicted.220 The greatest over-representation of Catholic men was among those convicted for vagrancy and drunkenness. As a note accompanying the published tables 218 For the numbers of female prisoners, see Statistics of the Dominion of New Zealandfor the Year 1918, p. 292 and subsequent volumes. For men, see Table 1 .5 219 It may also have included prostitution, but few women were imprisoned for this offence: only nine in 1921 (Justice Statisticsfor 1921, p. xii). 220 Justice Statistics for 1921, p. vii. Crime and Imprisonment 63 always pointed out, drunkenness was far more common than was indicated directly by the rate of imprisonment for the offence, since it was more usually punished by a fme. The over-representation of Catholics among those imprisoned for drunkenness is perhaps in part a consequence of their being repeat offenders and therefore subjected to the harsher penalty of imprisonment. Many of the Catholics gaoled for drunkenness, however, would have served a prison sentence because they were unable to pay a fine.221 This eventuality was noted by Dr Cleary, writing as editor of the New Zealand Tablet, whose verbosity could not conceal the admission of a flaw in the Irish character: The mercurial disposition of the Western Celt (which is a racial, not a religious, trait) impels him, when tipsy, more than his phlegmatic neighbors [sic], to offences of pugnacity; while his greater comparative poverty makes him do his drinking more in the open, where he is relatively more liable to arrest, and exposes him relatively more to imprisonment, on account of his greater inability to pay a fine. He is, in so far, relatively more exposed to enumeration on the denominational statistics of Ie gal crime.222 An important point overlooked by Cleary was that a melancholic or sanguine Celtic Catholic was more likely to drink too much alcohol than a phlegmatic Anglo-Saxon Protestant. While Irish society tolerated high levels of alcohol consumption - especially among young men forced for economic reasons to defer marriage - it did not sanction chronic drunkenness. Among Irish migrants in the United States, however, heavy drinking continued to be common but was less controlled; a similar pattern . evidently developed in New Zealand.223 Prison statistics seldom give an accurate indication of the amount of crime in a society and invariably emphasize the sorts of crimes committed mostly by the lower classes. White collar crime is less easily detected - not least because it does not receive the attention given to more visible breaches of public order. Any group which is over-represented in the lower classes of society will invariably be over-represented in statistics of criminal behaviour - and of imprisonment. This point was emphasized by Cleary as early as 1908. Cleary estimated that Catholics were at least twice as numerous in the "poorer and poorest classes" as were "the members of [the] other 221 In 1921, for example, 416 people went to gaol rather than pay a fme after being convicted of drunkenness and in 1930, 420 were imprisoned in lieu of paying a fme (Justice Statistics/or 1921, p. xv; 1930, p. xvi. 222 NZ Tablet, 1 1 February 1909, p. 210. 223 M.B. Clinard and R. Meier, Sociology 0/ Deviant Behavior (Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 7th edition, 1989), p. 217. For discussion of Catholic attitudes to alcoholic drink and involvement in the liquor industry, see chapter four. 64 Chapter One: A People Apart? chief denominations taken collectively" and noted that it was the poor who "furnish the numerically greatest (but not necessarily the worst) part of our prison population". Catholics, he argued, should therefore be compared not with the total population but class by class with the rest of New Zealand society. 224 In addition to lower socio-economic status and propensity to drink excessively, youthfulness and high proportions of single men evidently contributed to Catholic rates of imprisonment. Violence and theft are crimes associated particularly with young males, of whom the Catholic community had a somewhat disproportionate number. Moreover, the age profile for various categories of offence, which was published in the same tables as the denominations of prisoners, shows that more middle aged and older men were gaoled for vagrancy and drunkenness than were younger men.225 Older, unmarried men, in particular, would have contributed disproportionately to the number of Catholics gaoled for these two offences. (This is not to suggest that young men were not arrested for drunkenness, but those under twenty-one years of age were probably sent to Borstal or an industrial school, rather than gaol, if their offence was deemed serious enough to warrant a period of detention.226) It seems that Akenson was correct in ascribing much of the blame for Catholic crime statistics to the large numbers of single men: what he did not notice, however, was that there continued to be disproportionate numbers of single Catholic men well into the twentieth century. Although the proportion of prisoners belonging to the Catholic Church was high, the numbers of ind}viduals involved was not great and it cannot be inferred that the Catholic population at large was made up of malefactors - as some contemporary Protestant polemicists implied. It would be quite unjustified, for example, to characterize the 8 1 ,33 1 Catholic girls and women in 192 1 according to the 192 in some form of custody on census day that year.227 Even among Catholic men, there were 224 NZ Tablet, 10 December 1908, p. 22; 1 1 February 1909, p. 210. The latter reference will be quoted below. 225 Statistics of New Zealand for 1918, p. 292 and subsequent issues. 226 The Prevention of Crime (Borstal Institutions Establishment) Act of 1924 made provision for detaining offenders aged between fifteen and twenty-one (or twenty-three in some instances) in Borstal in cases where a prison sentence would otherwise have been imposed (Justice Statistics for 1925, pp. xii-xiii). Prison statistics for that age-group are therefore probably an underestimate of delinquency by comparison with older age-groups, although older persons, .especially "habitual drunkards" were also committed to private institutions, such as those run by the Salvation Army, presumably when it was recognized that rehabilitation or long term care were needed (Justice Statistics for 1921, p. xv). 227 NZ Census, 1921, part VII, p. 42. Crime and Imprisonment 65 never more than 873 individuals imprisoned in any year between 1918 and 193 1 . Catholics were embarrassed by the ill-repute brought upon them by their criminal brethren, especially since, until 1909, a table recording the religions, ages and country of birth of prisoners had been published in the New Zealand Official Year-Book.228 Howard Elliott of the PPA, evidently not realizing that these statistics continued to be published elsewhere, sought their reinstatement and used them to denigrate the Catholic education system.229 The Baptist 1.I. North argued that the ill-effects of auricular confession were demonstrated by the over-representation of Catholics among criminals.23o Investigations before and after the interwar period indicate that most Catholic prisoners were at best only nominal adherents of the religion they professed. In March 1908, Charles Venning SM, Catholic chaplain at Wellington Prison, investigated the spiritUal condition of the Catholic prisoners in his care. Only six of the thirty-six prisoners had received any formal Catholic education and only eleven had made their first Communion. Three were not even baptized. Similar findings resulted from investigations in the Dunedin and Lyttelton gaols.231 A year later, six out of thirty "Roman Catholics" in the Wellington Terrace Gaol could not make the sign of the cross; eight could not recite the Lord's Prayer and three knew only the Protestant version (perhaps they had learnt it in gaol). Some of the prisoners interviewed by Venning claimed to have been confirmed by priests and others who had declared themselves Catholics without any legitimate claim to being members of the Church admitted as much after close questioning.232 D.P. O'Neill's study of juvenile delinquent Catholics between 1949 and 195 1 showed that a disproportionate number were only nominal Catholics. Of all delinquents aged between seven and seventeen, 1 9.8 per cent were Catholics, while Catholics made up only 15.72 per cent of the total non-Maori population in this age-group. Almost two thirds of the delinquent Catholics in the study had not attended their Church's schools.233 228 New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1909 (Wellington, 1909), p. 184. 229 NZ Herald, 27 May 1919, p. 8; Month, 14 June 19 19, pp. 5-6; NZ Tablet, 6 June 19 18, pp. 14-5, 7 April 1 921, pp. 25-6; 1 July 1925, p. 22; but cf. Month, 15 November 1922, p. 4 for a reference to the continued publication of the statistics. On Elliott and the PPA, see chapter five. 230 JJ. North, Roman CaJholicism: Roots and Fruits (Napier: printed by G.W. Venables and Co. Ltd, 1922), p. 97. 231 NZ Tablet, 24 December 1908, p. 12; 11 February 1 909, p. 21 1 . 232 NZ Tablet, 18 February 1909, pp. 251-2; 7 April 1921, p . 26. In Australia, too, there were reports of prisoners falsely claiming to be Catholics (NZ Tablet, 18 March 1909, p. 409). 233 D.P. O'Neill, "Catholics and Delinquency" (Victoria University M.A. thesis, 1951), cited by H. Mol and M.T.V. Reidy in S.D. Webb and J. Collette, (editors), New Zealand Society: Contemporary 66 Chapter One: A People Apart? Catholic over-representation in crime statistics evidently reflects the Church's inadequate pastoral care for its wayward members. Preoccupation with the righteous seems to have precluded going in search of the lost sheep. In 192 1 , Father John Golden, chaplain to St Joseph's Home for the Aged Poor in Ponsonby, wrote a letter to the Tablet, lamenting the spiritUal condition of some of his elderly charges.234 Most of the inmates were "devoted Catholics" but others he characterized as "stray sheep". In their younger days, the majority of them "had known a priest at a safe distance" but the "ambassador of Christ" had not fulfIlled his finest and most meritorious duty by recalling them to the practice of their religion. Now it was too late: "The pension and Johnnie Walker lure them away to the police cells ... ". Single men could easily be overlooked by a Church whose chief institutions, the school and the parish, were primarily oriented towards families. In their old age, indigent Catholic men might benefit from the Church's charity, but it was too late for a change of lifestyle. The failure of the Catholic Church in this respect reflects the more difficult task it had before it than the other churches did. In all western societies, the churches have found it easier to retain their middle class than their working class constituents and the Catholic Church in New Zealand had a disproportionate number of such members. Such people were more likely to be only nominal Catholics; they were also inherently more likely to be caught breaking the law. The Anglican Church's high proportion of prisoners (by contrast with the relatively low proportions of Presbyterians and Methodists) was no doubt also due to the disproportionate number of nominal, working class adherents of that denomination. As Venning wrote of the "Catholic" prisoners he interviewed in 1909: They are in gaol, not because they are Catholics, but because they had no Catholic influence in their early lives; they had been without a Catholic home, Catholic companions, Catholic teaching, Catholic schools.235 In all likelihood, most of them had also lacked the advantages of a middle class or respectable working class upbringing: social and ecclesiastical marginality went together. Catholics were markedly over-represented in prisons and other corrective institutions, although the small numbers of inmates, especially women, cannot be taken (Footnote continued from previous page.) Perspectives (Sydney, Wiley and Sons, 1973), p. 268. 234 NZ Tablet, 18 August 1921, p. 35. 235 NZTablet, 18 February 1 909, p. 25 1 ; also quoted in ibid., 7 April 1921, p. 26. Crime and Imprisonment 67 as representative of the Catholic community as a whole. Prisoners and other inmates who described themselves as Catholics tended to have had little contact with the Catholic community and showed little appreciation of its beliefs and practices: they had not been effectively socialized as Catholics. Most of them had committed offences typically associated with lower socio-economic groups, such as drunkenness and vagrancy. The relatively youthful profile of the Catholic population and its high proportion of single men no doubt contributed to its disproportionate share of petty criminals. Moreover, heavy drinking, without the traditional social constraints, seems to have been a common pattern among Irish immigrants and their descendants. Although there was some decline in the proportions of Catholic prisoners before the statistics ceased to be published in 193 1 , the long-term trend demonstrated by Graph 1 .5 shows that there was a significant number of nominal Catholics who were not well integrated into either the Catholic community or respectable society as a whole. Conclusion Catholics made up about one seventh of the New Zealand population, the rest being predominantly Anglican, Presbyterian or Methodist. In origin, the Catholic community in New Zealand was overwhelmingly Irish but by the interwar period, while some Irish immigrants continued to arrive, only a small and declining proportion of Catholics had themselves been born in Ireland. Other nationalities also contributed to the Catholic popUlation, but the largest, the Dalmatians, numbered only several thousand immigrants and their descendants. The smaller ethnic groups influenced the character of the Catholic population in some areas, for example the Italians of Island Bay and Eastbourne. However, there were no Catholic enclaves except for the small population of Puhoi, which was unusual in having been settled almost exclusively by small groups of German Catholics. The minor Catholic ethnic groups largely conformed to the prevailing patterns of New Zealand Catholicism, although occasionally they received visits from clergy of their own nationality and the Dalmatians had a resident Yugoslav priest for much of the period. The Church in New Zealand continued to depend on Irish priests and nuns but, as a community, it showed little evidence of any continuing sense of Irish identity. Like the descendants of other settlers from the British Isles, Catholics of Irish descent had not forgotten their origins but they regarded themselves as New Zealanders. One of the principle reasons for the failure of the Irish and other Catholic ethnic groups to retain any strong ethnic identity was their dispersion throughout the country. 68 Chapter One: A People Apart? Even those who settled in relatively large clusters, like the Italians, nevertheless lived among other Catholics and non-Catholics. Although the unique character of the West Coast owed much to its relatively high Catholic population of Irish descent, this was a very small province and even there, Catholics were not dominant in a manner comparable to that of the Presbyterians in Otago or Southland. In other areas where there was an over-representation of Catholics, it was usually only by a few percentage points and there were no large towns with significant concentrations of Catholics. Almost everywhere, Catholics were but a small minority. In most other respects, the Catholic population did not diverge widely from the rest of New Zealand society, although it had some quite distinct features. Catholic male to female ratios in 192 1 and 1936 were very similar to those of the Anglican and Presbyterian communities. The age profiles of the Catholic population reveal higher proportions· of children and fewer old people than do the profiles of the other large denominations. Catholic men and women appear to have married at ages only slightly older than those of non-Catholics but Catholic women and especially Catholic men were more likely to remain single than were members of other churches. In the case of Catholic women, about half the "extra" unmarried women were nuns, but the unmarried men were more likely to have been influenced by economic constraints. Catholics were markedly over-represented in hospitals and charitable institutions and in the country's prisons, although it has been seen that those who thus demonstrated their failure to integrate into the wider society were also unlikely to have been adequately socialized as Catholics. The employment patterns of Catholics had some distinctive features. Catholics were over-represented in certain areas of government employment, especially the police force, the railways, the telegraph and telephone service and in the rather miscellaneous category of general government employees. Catholics were under­ represented in commerce and in private business and Catholic men were more likely to be employers than employees. A relatively high proportion of Catholic women were in paid employment, many of them as proprietors of licensed hotels. Catholic men and ,women were more likely than Protestants to work in industries connected with drinking or gambling. Such patterns of employment were self-perpetuating in that younger Catholics no doubt often followed older role models or sought their help and advice. Moreover, the Catholic religion and Irish culture had relatively tolerant attitudes towards drinking and gambling. The high proportions of unskilled or semi­ skilled Catholics suggest that they tended to lack capital or advanced education. This Conclusion 69 would also have encouraged them to seek government employment, a tendency perhaps reinforced by concern about sectarian employment policies in businesses run by non-Catholics. Moreover, the government was a very large employer of unskilled labour. It would be easy to exaggerate the distinctiveness of Catholic employment patterns since they did not dominate any area of employment and were usually over or under-represented by a only a few per cent. From a variety of indices, a cumulative case has been established that Catholics were over-represented in the lower socio-economic groups - as contemporaries themselves affirmed. Catholics, a relatively urbanized community, were somewhat over-represented in the four large cities as distinct from their outer suburbs. The relatively low proportion of Catholics in the older age groups and the large proportion of Catholic widows and widowers suggest that the Catholic mortality rate was higher than for the other denominations. Coupled with high rates of admission to hospitals and benevolent institutions, this suggests that the health of a substantial number of Catholics was undermined by such causes as depression, alcoholism, poor accommodation, or unsafe working conditions. Large numbers of Catholic men did not marry - continuing a pattern found among the Irish and their descendants in other countries - and the most compelling explanation is that many were too poor to support a family. Catholics were over-represented in labour-intensive occupations requiring little skill or education and conversely under-represented in employment requiring higher education or large amounts of capital. The high rate of Catholic imprisonment for crimes such as drunkenness and vagrancy further indicates that there was a high proportion of poor Catholics. _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ • _ __ • __ h_ Chapter Two "The Only True Religion"? Spirituality and Religious Identity Claiming to be " the only true religion", the Catholic Church was in principle an exclusive community. l In 1932, Cecil Crocker SM, addressing a meeting of the Hibernian Society in Wellington, declared that The Catholic Church . . . .is different from anything we see about us going under the name of Church . . . .It has its own laws and its own regulations; its own philosophy and its own life . . . . The self-denial that is the command of the Laws [sic] , the conclusion of the philosophy and the consequence of the life cuts us off from being completely one with those in the midst of whom we live. Our surroundings are not Catholic; "! do not think at the present time they are anti­ Catholic - they are simply un-Catholic. But, un-Catholic or anti-Catholic, it is one in this - we can never be of them. We are a people apart; we are in the New Testament, even socially, what the Jews were in the Old. It is the price and the privilege of our being the Chosen People of Messianic times.2 According to the Baptist J.J. North, "the Roman people" in New Zealand were "separate[d] from the rest of the population by mental and religious barriers" .3 For the Catholic community as a whole, religious rituals and observances, rather than sermons or theological reflections, were the most important means of expressing their distinct religious identity and it will be seen that Catholics tended to emphasize precisely the religious practices which most distinguished them from Protestants. Catholic spirituality, it will be argued, was inherently likely to isolate Catholics from the wider society and the issue to be determined in this chapter is the extent to which it did so in practice. Spirituality can be defined as the complex of attitudes, beliefs and practices in which people express and experience their religion. It does not refer directly to the perennial or universal features of a religious tradition but rather to those which are emphasized in a particular historical context. In this discussion, particular emphasis will be placed on those elements of spirituality which were undergoing significant 1 Month. 17 April 1928. p. 1 . 2 NZ Tablet. 23 March 1932. p. 39. 3 JJ. North, Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits (Napier: printed by G.W. Venables and Co. Ltd, 1922). p. 6. ..... -- -- - ----- .. - - - --- .-.'---- InJroduction 71 change and reflection since they will serve best to illustrate the argument Thus, the Mass and the Eucharist will be considered in some detail, whereas other sacraments which were important in the religious experience of Catholics, like confession, will be largely ignored. Much of Catholic spirituality, particularly devotional practices directed towards God or the saints, can be described as "piety", but the notion of spirituality is broader. It includes the cultivation of specific virtues, involvement in charitable activities and political activism based on religious (sometimes sectarian) principles. In this sense, "spirituality" refers to all that Catholics did as Catholics. Thus the efforts of Catholic parents to provide a separate education system for their children, for example, were often described as "sacrificial".4 At the opening of a new school in Invercargill in 1923, Dr James Kelly even asserted that the financial sacrifices of Catholics united them "with the sufferings of the martyrs who died for the Faith on the sands of the Roman Coliseum [sic] " as well as with those who had suffered for their faith in Ireland in more recent times.s Catholic educational, charitable and other activities discussed in chapter three, as well as the moral and political attitudes investigated in subsequent chapters, were a part of the overall pattern of Catholic spirituality. The discussion of spirituality in this chapter will of necessity adopt a narrower focus, but the shifting balance between devotional piety and an active spirituality, which sought to effect change in society at large, is one of the main themes of the chapter. Piety and active spirituality were inseparable in practice and cannot be wholly separated for the purposes of historical analysis. Since this thesis is concerned with the place of the Catholic community as a whole in New Zealand society, the discussion will concentrate on lay spirituality, ignoring practices which were peculiar to the clergy and religious orders. To a large extent however, the laity, the clergy and the religious shared a common spiritUality. Although little use has been made of it by historians, Catholic newspapers during the interwar period provide abundant evidence of contemporary spirituality. The Catholic press published numerous articles explaining particular devotions and movements and also reported on events throughout the country and overseas. This information can be supplemented by a few archival sources, such as parish notices and 4 NZ Tablet, 27 February 1919, p. 21 ; 3 March 1921 , p. 26; 26 April 1923, p. 19; 8 October 1924, pp. 26, 27; 14 April 1926, p. 19; 10 October 1928, p. 22; 1 1 September 1929, p. 3; 14 May 1930, p. 47; 31 August 1932, p. 12; 25 January 1933, p. 3; 7 February 1934, p. I ; 1 May 1935, p. 20; 9 February 1938, p. 6. 5 NZ Tablet, 26 June 1924, p. 21; cf. 29 November 1923, p. 25. 72 Chapter Two: "The Only True Religion"? the records of some parish societies. Little indication can be obtained from these sources about the spirituality of individuals and families but the recollections of Catholics who lived during the period tend to provide illustrative material without altering the general patterns suggested by the Catholic press. Moreover this chapter, being concerned with the relationship of the Catholic community as a whole to the wider society, is less concerned with private Catholicism than with its collective manifestations. Particular attention will be paid to organized religious activity, whether in the fonn of public worship or of lay movements. It will be argued that the spirituality of Catholics was based entirely on trends in international Catholicism and therefore distinguished them sharply from the Protestant majority in New Zealand. While Catholic spirituality was often manifested even in public streets and parks, however, it only occasionally aroused antagonism on the part of non-Catholics. Catholics regarded their religion as conducive to loyal citizenship and compatible with maintaining cordial relations with non-Catholics - most of whom seem to have agreed. This chapter is divided into five sections, of which the first three review the five principal international trends in Catholic spirituality which were evident in New Zealand. The first section will consider both the continued flourishing of nineteenth century devotional piety and, secondly, the newer, more active and assertive fonns of lay spirituality, which were often describe.d as "Catholic Action". In the second section, the third and fourth trends will be discussed. During the later nineteenth century, there was a renewed devotion to the Blessed Sacrament as an object of devotion and this third trend continued well into the twentieth century. By then, however, there was an increasing emphasis on the sacred host as a Sacrament to be received as often as possible. More frequent Communion was linked to the fourth trend, namely the liturgical movement, which promoted more active involvement by the laity in the liturgy. In the third section, it will be seen that efforts to intensify lay spirituality by using the religious life as a model constitute a fifth trend, manifested especially through the expansion of third orders and promoting retreats for the laity.6 6 For standard overviews of Catholic spirituality during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, see: R. Aubert et aI. , The Church in a Secularised Society, translated by J. Sondheimer (vol. 5 of "The Christian Centuries"; London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1978), chapters 6 and 21 (by R. Aubert); H. Jedin et al. (editors), History of the Church: vol. 8, The Church in the Age of Liberalism, by R. Aubert et aI., translated by P. Becker, chapter 15 (by R. Aubert); vol. 9, The Church in the Industrial Age, by R. Aubert et al. , translated by M. Resch, chapters 17 (by O. Kohler) and 27-28 (By R. Aubert); vol. 10, The Church in the Modem Age, by G. Adrianyi et al., translated by A. Biggs, chapter 9 (by E. Iserloh), (London: Burns & Oates, 1981). Introduction 73 The fourth part of the chapter will consider the nature and extent of New Zealand Catholics' dependence on overseas patterns of spirituality and the fifth section will examine the implications of this international spirituality for Catholic life in New Zealand. It will include a discussion of the extent to which Catholics actually participated in the forms of spirituality introduced in the course of the chapter. Devotional Piety and Active Spirituality The often emotional and even sentimental piety which developed in nineteenth century Europe was in part a reaction against the rationalism of the previous century but also, more importantly, a clerically-orchestrated response to the widespread rejection and even persecution of organized religion by anti-clericalists - not least in predominantly Catholic countries. Pius IX (1 846- 1 878) and other ultramontanists enhanced the popular standing of the clergy and the papacy by promoting carefully selected devotions, based on mediaeval models, which gave an indispensable role to the priesthood. In the face of contemporary irreligion as well as scientific and historical studies which threatened the credibility of traditional Catholicism, these devotions, and the doctrines which undergirded them, stressed the miraculous and the mythological, thereby creating for Catholics a mental ghetto.7 The clergy in New Zealand - as elsewhere - emphasized precisely those features of Catholic belief and practice which most distinguished Catholics from other Christians.8 Devotion to the saints and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus were central features of this spirituality, which continued beyond the interwar period. During the twentieth century, the Church made a more active response to anti-clericalism and religious indifference. A variety of new lay organizations originating in Europe, were introduced to New Zealand, notably the Catholic Women's League, the Legion of Mary, the Grail organizations and the Catholic Action groups. During the nineteenth century revival of the cult of saints, the unique status of the Blessed Virgin was underscored by apparitions and a newly-defined doctrine. Mary's 7 8 w. McSweeney, Roman Catholicism: the Search/or Relevance (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1980), pp. 32-52. According to McSweeney (p. 36) "The Pope could not depend upon physical boundaries to prevent the incursion of ideas and attitudes which threatened his authority and the legitimacy of religion. If the ghetto was to survive its boundaries must be internalized, moralized, clearly drawn in the minds of Catholics ... " . H. McLeod, "Building the 'Catholic Ghetto' : Catholic Organisations 1870-1914", in W J. Sheils and Diana Wood (editors), Voluntary Religion, ("Studies in Church History" volume 23; Oxford: Basil Blackwell for the Ecclesiastical History Society, 1986), pp. 428-429. 74 Chapter Two: "The Only True Religion"? Immaculate Conception had been affinned in 1 830 by the Virgin herself in an apparition to Catherine Laboure ( 1806- 1 875), a French nun who was beatified in 1933 and canonized in 1947. The doctrine was authoritatively proclaimed by Pius IX in 1 854, and confmned by a further apparition to Bernadette Soubirous ( 1 844- 1 879, canonized in 1933) at Lourdes in 1 858.9 In accordance with Mary's instructions to St Catherine, a Sodality for girls - the Children of Mary - was established by her Vincentian Confessor, J.M. Aladel, in honour of the Immaculate Conception. Given fonnal approval by Pius IX in 1 847, the Sodality was associated with the Prima Prim aria, originally established by the Jesuits in 1563 as a Sodality for boyS. l0 The Jesuits appointed a National Director for the Children of Mary and other societies affiliated to the Prima Primaria but individual branches of the Children of Mary (usually based in parishes) required a letter of aggregation from the Vincentians. l l Established in Auckland and Dunedin during the 1 870s, the Children of Mary flourished throughout the country during the interwar period, at least in urban parishes. 12 Some 200 women gathered for the diamond jubilee reunion of the St Joseph's branch in Dunedin in 1933. 13 There were over 1 ,200 Children of Mary at the women's Mass during the 1938 Catholic centennial celebrations in Auckland and 9 NZ Tablet. 26 July 1933. p. 3; 4 December 1935. p. 3; 1 1 August 1937. p. 5; 22 November 1939, p. 7. 10 NZTablet. 19 January 1924. p. 53; 23 March 1938. p. 8; Marist Messenger. 1 July 1933. pp. 37-38; 1 August 1937. pp. 17-18; Prayer Book or Manual o/the Children o/Mary (Sydney: Pellegrini and Company. 1932. Australian edition). pp. 1 -2 (reprinted in NZ Tablet, 29 November 1933. p. 3); F.G. Ruffin in CE, vol. 2. p. 659; J. Hilgers in ibid .• vol. 14. p. 128; AJ. Conley. in NCE. vol.13. p. 409. In 1935, the Children of Mary in Dunedin celebrated the 350th anniversary of the Sodality. According to the Tablet report. it was inaugurated in 1685. evidently a misprint for 1585, although the canonical erection of the Prima Primaria by Pope Gregory XIII actually took place in December 1584 (NZ Tablet. 1 1 December 1935. p. 7; c! Hilgers and Conley. op. cit.). 1 1 J. Nerney SJ. the National Director. visited New Zealand during the 1938 centennial celebrations (Zealandia. 12 March 1938. pp. 10. 20; NZ Tablet. 23 March 1938. p. 3 ; cf 3 May 1939. p. 7; Zealandia. 4 May 1939. p. 3. For the establishment of sodalities. see Prayer Book or Manual o/the Children 0/ Mary. p. 3. A Sodality of the B lessed Virgin Mary was established at the Christian Brothers' School in Dunedin in 1929 (NZ Tablet. 6 November 1929. p. 45; 13 November 1929. p. 46; 26 November 1930. p. 43; c! 13 May 193 1. p. 41 and 22 November 1933. p. 6 for references to the connection between this and the Children of Mary). There were also branches of the Children of Mary Sodality for boys in Granity (NZ Tablet. 8 September 1926. p. 27) and at Sacred Heart College. Auckland (Zealandia. 12 January 1939. p. 4). 12 NZ Tablet, 8 October 1924. pp. 17 (Dunedin Sodality established in 1873); E.R. Simmons. In Cruce . Salus: a History 0/ the Diocese 0/ Auckland. 1848-1980 (Auckland: Catholic Communications Centre. 1982). p. 138 (establishment of the Sodality in Auckland given as 1978, obviously a misprint for 1878. ct. p. 194 for a reference to the movement in the 1890s). . 1 3 NZ Tablet. 22 November 1933, p. 6. Devotional Piety and Active Spirituality 75 1 ,600 at an address in the Cathedral. 14 The French origins of the movement continued to be reflected in the common practice of using the abbreviation "E. de M." (En/ant( s) de Marie ). 15 Mary had also told St Catherine to have a medal struck in honour of the Immaculate Conception. The "Miraculous Medal", as it became known, was a part of the regalia of the Children of Mary but was also worn by many other Catholics because of the favours received by wearers through Mary's intercession. 16 The centenary of the Miraculous Medal was marked by a triduum at Port Chalmers. Meanwhile in Dunedin, pupils of St Joseph's Convent School and St Dominic's College were invested with the Medal in an afternoon ceremony which included crowning a statue of Mary, followed by a Rosary procession and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. 17 Catholic families were encouraged to pray the Rosary together daily and the prayer was also used in congregational worship. I S Of all the places where Mary was believed to have appeared in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Lourdes, with its stories of miraculous cures, became the most famous Marian pilgrimage centre. New Zealand Catholic readers and audiences were repeatedly told of the visions and miracles at Lourdes. 19 The Catholic press 14 NZ Tablet. 16 March 1938, p. 33; Zealandia, 12 March 1938, p. 10. 15 NZ Tablet, 14 December 1922, p. 1 1 ; 8 April 1936, p. 29; Month, 15 January 1924, p. 5; 20 September 1927, p. 39; Zealandia, 9 April 1936, p. 5; 1 1 March 1937, p. 5. 16 NZ Tablet, 26 July 1933, p. 3; 11 August 1937, p. 5; 22 November 1939, p. 7; Marist Messenger, 1 July 1932, pp. 12-15 17 NZ Tablet, 3 December 1930, p . 45. A triduum was a series of devotions lasting over three days, usually in preparation for an important feast or to ask God for a special favour (NZ Tablet, 1 August 1918, p. 29). 18 Month, 21 October 1924, p. 39; NZ Tablet, 7 October 1936, p. 3; Pauline O'Regan, Aunts and Windmills (Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 1991), pp. 156-158; Pius XI, Ingravescentibus Malis, paragraph 28: for the full text, see NZ Tablet, 8 December 1937, pp. 3-4, 8 and The Papal · Encyclicals, 1903-1939, edited by Claudia Carlen IHM: (Wilmington, North Carolina: McGrath Publishing Company, 1981), pp. 563-566. 19 Addresses: NZ Tablet, 12 September 1918, p. 19; 19 September 1918, p. 21 ; 1 8 September 1919, p. 35; 6 May 1920, p. 23; 8 June 1922, p. 23; 20 September 1923, p. 26; 17 January 1924, p. 3 1 ; 3 1 January 1924, pp. 2 1 , 23, 27; 1 0 February 1926, p . 2 1 ; 9 February 1938, pp. 4 1 , 43; Month, 19 February 1924, pp. 33, 35; 18 March 1924, p. 45; 18 November 1924, p. 1 5; Zealandia, 20 October 1938, p. 4. Articles: NZ Tablet, 7 August 1919, pp. 19, 21 ; 31 August 1922, p. 30; 27 October 1926, p. 33; 12 December 1928, p. 23; 18 June 1930, p . 5; 10 February 1932, p. 17; 22 June 1932, p. 5; 12 October 1932, p. 27; 10 October 1934, p. 31 ; 15 March 1933, p. 6; 24 January 1934, p. 2; 20 February 1935, p. 7; 27 February 1935, p. 3; 22 May 1935, pp. 20-21; 4 December 1935, p. 3; 26 February 1936, p. 3; 10 June 1936, p. 20; 9 September 1936, p. 13; 4 November 1936, pp. 1 -2; 18 November 1936, p. 1 1 ; 3 1 March 1937, p. 4; 26 October 1938, pp. 24-25, 32; Month, 16 September 1924, p. 37; 20 January 1925, p. 27; 21 December 1926, p. 35; 17 April 1928, pp. 12-13 ; 17 July 1928, p. 7; 21 January 1930, p. 25; 1 February 1932, pp. 9-10; 1 January 1934, pp. 13, 15; Zealandia, 5 July 1934, p. 1 ; 13 February 1936, p. 1 ; 1 1 August 1938, p. 7; 20 October 1938, p. 6; 24 August 1939, p. 9; 18 76 --- - -- - - - Chapter Two: "The Only True Religion"? triumphantly contrasted the carefully authenticated cures at Lourdes with the alleged achievements of contemporary non-Catholic faith healers, such as I.M. Hickson, an Anglican layman who visited New Zealand in 1923, and the Maori Prophet Wiremu Ratana.2o Readers of the Tablet were asked in 1919 to contribute to the cost of sending New Zealand soldiers to Lourdes before their return home.21 In imitation of the site where the Virgin had appeared to Bernadette, numerous outdoor grottos, featuring statues of Mary and sometimes of St Bernadette as well, were built in interwar New Zealand.22 The Lourdes grotto at Nazareth House in Christchurch was blessed by Brodie on the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1933 - the day of St Bernadette's canonization.23 In Palmerston North, outdoor processions in honour of "Our Lady of Lourdes" were held from 1925 and in 1939 a grotto was opened in the convent grounds.24 Another popular Marian devotion, to "Our Lady of Perpetual Succour", was based on an icon depicting the Christ child grasping his mother in fear when confronted by the Angels Michael and Gabriel bearing the cross and other symbols of the passion. The original image, associated with miracles and said to be derived ultimately from a portrait painted by St Luke, had been displayed in the Redemptorist Church of St (Footnote continuedfrom previous page.) January 1940, p. 5; Marist Messenger, 2 January 1939, pp. 7-8; 1 February 1939, pp. 1 1-12; 1 May 1939, p. 19; 1 July 1939, pp. 22-23. 20 Hickson and others: Month, 15 February 1923, pp. 5-6; 15 September 1923, pp. 4, 7-10, 13, 16, 19; 15 October 1923, pp. 7-12; 15 November 1923, pp. 1 1 , 23; NZ Tablet, 1 1 October 1923, p. 29. Ratana: Month, 15 June 1921, pp. 6-7; 15 September 1925, p. 15; 20 October 1925, p. 24. 21 NZ Tablet, 20 Marcb 1919, pp. 9, 3 1 ; 3 April 1919, pp. 9, 21, 23; 17 April 1919, p. 39; 8 May 1919, p. 33; 10 July 1919, p. 28. 22 NZTablet, 18 December 1919, p. 21 (Sacred Heart Cburcb, Ponsonby); 2 June 1921 , p. 21 (St Mary's, Christcburcb); 20 January 1926, pp. 29-30 (St Patrick's College, Oamaru); 16 June 1926, p. 57 (Timaru parisb cburcb); 12 October 1932, p. 46 (Temuka convent scbool); 13 December 1933, p. 6 (St Mary's Convent, Kaikorai); 5 June 1935, p. 7 and 19 June 1935, front cover (St Mary's Basilica, Invercargill); 30 Marcb 1938, p. 46 (Seatoun); Zealandia, 28 February 1935, p. 5 (Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Auckland). References to existing grottos: Month, 1 June 1932, p. 15 (Lewisbarn Hospital, Wellington); NZ Tablet, 21 October 1920, p. 32 (Otaki); 23 November 1927, p. 31 (Seminary at Mosgiel: pboto); 2 Marcb 1938, p. 46 (Sacred Heart Convent, Remuera); Zealandia, 19 August 1937, p. 6 (Convent of the Sisters of the Society of Mary, Wellington). On the grotto at Tescbmakers, see further, M.A. McCarthy, Star in the South: the Centennial History of the New Zealand Dominican Sisters (Dunedin: St Dominic's Priory, 1970), pp. 206, 217, 237. 23 NZ Tablet, 17 January 1934, p. 38. 24 NZTablet, 25 February 1931 , p. 48; 29 Marcb 1939, p. 41; Zealandia, 13 April 1939, p. 4; cf. NZ Tablet, 8 Marcb 1939, pp. 41-42 (Oamaru); Zealandia, 27 February 1936, p. 3 (St Mary's Convent, Wellington). Devotional Piety and Active Spirituality 77 Alphonsus Liguori in Rome since 1 866. Reproductions were often enshrined in churches and hung in Catholic homes.25 In 1935, W. Monaghan, the parish priest at Port Chalmers, decided to build a church at Seacliff as a national shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.26 An annual pilgrimage to the shrine took place each March in commemoration of its dedication.27 In several parishes, and at the Redemptorist Church in Wellington, there were branches of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour for women, which had been founded by the Redemptorists and approved by Pius IX in 1 87 1 .28 At St Joseph's Cathedral parish in Dunedin, which had had a shrine and a branch of the Confraternity since 1 888, hundreds of women attended special devotions on Wednesday nights.29 Apart from the Blessed Virgin herself, the most popular embodiment of Catholic devotional piety during the interwar years - both in New Zealand and internationally ­ was St Therese of Lisieux (1 873- 1 897), "the Little Flower of Jesus" , a Carmelite nun who was canonized in 1925. After publishing her picture on its front cover, the Month was persuaded by readers to provide copies suitable for framing.3o Some New Zealanders claimed to have received cures and other favours through her intercession.3 1 By withdrawing from the hostile and rationalistic society of her time t.O 25 NZ Tablet, 29 October 1924, p. 53; 17 January 1934, p. 7 (Church of the Immaculate Conception, Mosgiel); 18 July 1934, p. 1 3 (St Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin); 8 May 1935, p. 3 1 ; 10 March 1937, pp. 21 -22; Month, 16 April 1929, pp. 3, 5. 26 NZ Tablet, 8 May 1935, p. 3 1 ; 21 August 1935, p. 1 1 ; 6 November 1935, p. 5; 4 December 1935, p. 7; 18 March 1936, p. 6; 15 April 1936, p. 23; Zealandia, 9 April 1936, p. 5. 27 NZ Tab/et, 10 March 1937, p. 7; 9 March 1938, p. 44; 28 March 1938, p. 7; 22 March 1939, p. 4; 6 March 1940, p. 34; Zea/andia, 14 April 1938, p. 5. 28 NZ Tablet, 18 July 1934, p. 13; Month, 16 April 1929, p. 5 (St Joseph's in Dunedin, St Gerard's in Wellington, St Patrick's in Auckland); Month, 21 May 1929, p. 38 (Ponsonby, new branch); 10 June 1930, p. iii (Hamilton); Zea/andia, 2 September 1937, p. 10 (St Heliers); 5 December 1935, p. 3 (St Patrick's). 29 Quinquennial report, Diocese of Dunedin, May 1927, item 74, pp. 3 1 and 46, DCDA (attendance of 300-350); NZ Tab/et, 26 October 1922, p. 31 (enrolment of 550 women); 18 July 1934, p. 13 ; 1 8 March 1936, p . 6 . Monaghan had been a chaplain to the Confraternity before his appointment to Port Chalmers. By deSignating the new Church as a national shrine based on a popular devotion, he was able to draw contributions from Catholics throughout the country (NZ Tab/et, 27 November 1935, p. 4; 4 December 1935, p. 7; 7 October 1936, p. 6; 15 February 1939, p. 45). The shrine itself, for example, was given by F. Hart of Wellington (NZ Tablet, 6 November 1935, p. 5; 15 April 1936, p . 23). 30 Month, 17 August 1926, p. 18; cf. 1 July 1932, p. 33 for an example of a regular advertisement for pictures of the saint by Catholic Supplies Ltd. . 3 1 NZ Tablet, 17 May 1923, p. 23; 2 July 1924, p. 25; 16 November 1932, p. 42. 78 Chapter Two: "The Only True Religion"? live a secluded life of innocent suffering for love of Jesus, St Therese epitomized what has been called the "feminized" Catholic piety of the period.32 She suffered not only as a consumptive, but particularly through the normal vexations of daily life, which, far from evading, she deliberately sought out 33 In 1926, laying the foundation stone for one of several churches dedicated to the new saint, Bishop James Whyte explained how she illustrated the principle that "holiness consists not in doing extraordinary actions but in doing ordinary actions extraordinarily well."34 Father P.J. Cooney, after returning from a trip to Europe, during which he had visited Lisieux, encouraged devotion to St Therese among his Lyttelton parishioners. A statue of the saint was placed in an oratory in the parish church in 1929.35 Each year, before her feast in October, there was held a triduum, consisting of early morning Mass and evening devotions with a sermon.36 The settlement of the Carmelite nuns in Christchurch ( 1933) and Auckland ( 1937) - developments which no doubt owed something to the popularity of St Therese - provided further stimulus to the cultY The Christchurch monastery was described as a national shrine to the Little Flower and relics of the saint were venerated at both monasteries on her feast day.38 Of the new saints and other outstanding Catholics honoured during the interwar period, a high proportion, like St Therese, represented the devotional spirituality of 32 Barbara Corrado Pope. "A Heroine Without Heroics: the Little Flower of Jesus and her Times". Church History. 57 (March 1988). pp. 53-55. 33 For accounts of her life and spirituality in the Catholic press. see: NZ Tablet. 23 May 1918. pp. 15. 17; 3 November 1921. pp. 17-18; 25 November 1925. p. 15; 30 September 193 1 . p. 17; 28 September 1932. p. 3; 31 May 1933. p. 2; 27 September 1933. p. 3; 3 October 1934. p. 3; 29 September 1937. p. 5; Month. 16 June 1925. pp. 9. 1 1 ; 21 July 1925. p. 9; 1 5 May 1928. p. 1 1 ; 2 October 1933. p. 23; Zealandia. 7 November 1935. p. 10; 28 September 1939. p. 9. The spelling of the name varies. presumably because Therese Martin became Sister Teresa of the Child Jesus in religion. 34 NZ Tablet. 2 June 1926. p. 17 (Outram); cf 13 May 1925. p. 45 (Riccarton. cburch-sch Religious Identity and Social Integration 187 basketball team in 1933 which entered the Wellington basketball competition. 173 At the inaugural meeting of St Patrick's Table Tennis Club, South Dunedin, in 1933, the President of the Table Tennis Association, Mr Mollison, congratulated the new Club on entering two teams in the competition. 174 Many Catholic tennis clubs, especially in the South Island, were affiliated to provincial associations and sent delegates to them. 175 In Christchurch, at the Cathedral Tennis Club's 1932 annual dance, the Secretary of the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association, R. Browning, presented the senior team with the shield it had won in the inter-club competition for the fourth -year in succession. 176 When the New Zealand Catholic Lawn Tennis Association was formed by the Auckland and Wellington Catholic Tennis Associations in 1930, it sought to affiliate with the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association so that Catholjc clubs affiliated to the NZLTA would be allowed to compete against Catholic clubs belonging to the NZCLT A. The request was initially declined and in subsequent negotiations the two bodies failed to negotiate mutually acceptable terms. Catholic clubs were therefore forced to choose between their local associations and the NZCL T A, which was thereby prevented from becoming a national body uniting all Catholic clubs.I77 While Catholic lay organizations strove to be accepted by similar non-Catholic organizations, most individual Catholics showed little commitment to denominational associations. It was a �ommon lament that many Catholics did not support their clubs and even joined alternative non-Catholic associations. Despite his enthusiasm about the participation in Catholic organizations, of "some hundreds of young people", mostly under the age of thirty, Bamao acknowledged that there were "many who are not attached to any organisation" and "also many young Catholics taking part in non­ Catholic youth movements". 178 Presenting the Bishop Whyte Shield to the Nga Maara 173 Catholic News, July 1933, p. 2; August 1933, p. 5. 174 NZ Tablet, 31 May 1933, p. 33; cf. Zealandia, 5 July 1934, p. 5 and 1 July 1937, p. 7 for Catholic table tennis teams which competed with other clubs in Hamilton. 175 NZ Tablet, 24 September 1930, p. 43 (St Mary's, Kaikorai: Otago Lawn Tennis Association); 5 October 1932, p. 42 (St Mary's, Invercargill: Southland LTA); 30 October 1935, p. 29 (Waimate: Waihao Sub-Association); 4 November 1936, p. 1 1 (Napier: Hawke's Bay LTA); cf. 19 April 1933, p. 45 (St Patrick's Basketball Club, Gore, appointed a delegate to the local sub-union). 176 Month, 1 July 1932, p. 2 1 ; cf. Zealandia, 5 July 1934, p. 7 for a similar event in Blenheim. 177 Holy Name Annual, December 1931 , p. 49; December 1932, p. 56; NZ Tablet, 30 July 1930, p. 45; 9 November 1932, p. 3 1 . 178 NZ Tablet, 1 1 March 1936, pp. 9, 1 1 . 188 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration ? team at the end of the tennis season i n 1933, Father D.P. Buckley expressed regret that "there were so many Catholic players in Dunedin who thought it beneath their dignity to play for a Catholic club." 179 In 1936, it was noted that the membership of the Timaru Catholic Club had been declining for several years. I SO Meanwhile, active support for St Columba's Catholic Club in Greymouth was limited to "members of the executive and a few stalwarts" ; an extraordinary general meeting was called to overhaul the club. lS I Two years later, a motion to wind up the Club was withdrawn amidst renewed resolutions to revive it. ls2 Initial efforts to extend the Federated Catholic Clubs and Societies to the North Island were characterized as "most disappointing" . I S3 The fifth North Island conference in 1939 attracted only ten clubs - from Wellington, Masterton, Hastings and Napier (where the conference was held). l s4 Most Catholic clubs were maintained by the efforts of a small minority who lamented the lack of interest among their co-religionists: "A few moving spirits are all too frequently left to do the bulk of the work and carry the banner for those who take all and give nothing." I BS The limitations of the Church's efforts to enrol its members in denominational organizations can be illustrated by the HACBS. Hibernians were expected to be "practical Catholics" who were "obedient to the commandments of God and the precepts of the Church, and compliant with the instructions and advice of its prelates and pastors" . I S6 It was often emphasized, that the Society offered not only material benefits at least as good as those of any comparable organization but also spiritual 179 NZ Tablet, 24 May 1933, p. 6; cf. 18 January 1933, p. 43 for an earlier reference to the Shield. 180 NZTablet, 6 May 1936, p. 23. 181 NZTab/et, 2 September 1 936, p. 34; Zea/andia, 10 September 1936, p. 3; cf. NZTab/et, 20 March 193 1 , p. 46 (attendance at meetings of the St Columba Literary and Debating Club in Greymouth "had not been large"). 1 82 NZ Tablet, 20 July 1938, p. 46. 1 83 NZTab/et, 18 April 1934, p. 9; Zea/andia, 16 August 1934, p. 5. The Masterton Catholic Club was usually the only North Island Club to participate in the Easter competitions, which were nonnally held in the South Island (see, for example. NZ Tablet. 1 1 April 1934. p. 20). 1 84 NZ Tab/et, 26 April 1939, p. 7; Zea/andia. 13 May 1939, p. 3. There were evidently seventeen affiliated clubs in the North Island but they did not all sent representatives (Zealandia. 20 April 1939. p. 4). 185 NZTablet. 7 February 1934. p. 3. 1 86 NZ Tablet. 2 November 1932, p. 39; 26 July 1933, p. 29; 23 August 1933, p. 3 (includes the quotation). -- - - _ - ... -_� _ 0.--.-_.,.. ......... __ ......... _ ...... __ -......... "-___ . __ ____ _ . __ . . _ _ . Religious Identity and Social Integration 189 advantages which could not found in secular societies. 1 87 Hibernians could gain a plenary indulgence four times a year by participating in the quarterly General Communion. 1 88 Father Sweeney of Westport believed that "many souls were saved through membership in the society, that would otherwise be lost" . 1 89 It was therefore a source of concern in some quarters that so few Catholics belonged to the Society. Whyte lamented in 1922 that many young Catholic men deprived themselves of the spiritual assistance and moral guidance available through the Hibernians by joining other benefit societies. 190 A correspondent to the Tablet complained that, in his district, "large numbers of our men, young and old, belong to the Oddfellows. 191 Encouraged by 0' Shea, the Hibernians adopted in 1934 a five-year plan to increase their membership from about 4,000 to 10,000. 192 By the end of this period, however, the total membership of the New Zealand District of the Society was only around 5,000, while the Northern District, formed in 1934, had about 400 members. 193 The break-away of ten Auckland branches that year - for reasons not made clear in public - had been opposed by the Society as a whole and by the bishops, who declared that members of the new organization would not be entitled the spiritual benefits offered to members of an ecclesiastically approved society. The New Zealand District continued to function in Auckland but th� Supreme Court recognized the new District and apportioned it a share of the Society's accumulated funds. 194 Evidently the seceding members considered participation in an officially recognized Catholic society as of little account. The overwhelming majority of Catholic men, whether they belonged to some other benefit society or not, apparently agreed. However extensive they were, Catholic organizations and Church-sponsored activities could not isolate the laity from interaction with non-Catholics; nor was this 187 NZ Tablet, 23 December 1920, p. 27; 4 July 1928, p. 39; 8 April 193 1 , p. 39; 4 May 1932, p. 3; 28 December 1932, p. 2; 24 June 1936, p. 13; Zealandia, 21 June 1934, p. 4; 2 August 1934, p. 9. 1 88 NZ Tablet, 2 November 1932, p_ 39_ 1 89 NZ Tablet, 29 May 1924, p. 33. 190 NZ Tablet, 23 March 1922, p. 19_ 191 "Pater Familias" to the editor, NZ Tablet, 6 March 1929, pp. 43-44. 192 NZ Tablet, 13 June 1934, p. 34; 12 June 1935, p. 1 1 ; 24 June 1936, p_ 1 3. 193 Membership figures were published in the annual reports on Friendly Societies and Trade Unions (AJHR, 1939, vol. III, H.- I , pp. 27-28; 1940, vol. II, H.-I , p. 10). 194 NZ Tablet, 26 October 1932, pp. 14, 3 1 ; 24 June 1936, p. 13; Zealandia, 2I June 1934, p. 4; 1 1 October 1934, p. 4; 28 February 1935, p. 5 ; 28 February 1935, p. 5. 190 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? necessarily considered a desirable end in itself. Since Catholics did not live in exclusively Catholic areas or work in exclusively Catholic places of employment, they inevitably came into daily contact with non-Catholics. A contributor to the Tablet, expressing "concern and disappointment" that many Catholic basketball players in Auckland preferred to play for non-Catholic teams, rather than those of the Catholic Basketball Association, had to acknowledge that a number of young women worked for business houses which sponsored their own teams.195 Even groups organized by the Church were not exclusively Catholic. The Gore Celtic Dramatic Society included a "number of members of different denominations" . 196 A report on the Auckland Catholic Repertory Society suggested that it would be consistent with the principles of Catholic Action to encourage non-Catholics to join the Society. 197 In 1936, a Catholic Pastimes Club was established in Wellington "to provide social relaxation in a Catholic atmosphere for Catholic young men and particularly for those who are boarding in the city." At its inaugural meeting, H. Mulholland, the President, offered a special welcome to the members' non-Catholic friends. 198 During the 1939 "Communion Rally" of the MBOBA in Gisbome, there were "several non-Catholic members of the various teams present at the Mass" . 199 A contributor to the Tablet in 1 938 noted that young Catholics often patronized dances "where the atmosphere is anything but Catholic" , in part because even on church premises "others may come to dance (and do other things, such as cocktail drinking etc.)". Moreover, young Catholics often played "billiards, cards and other games.. .in a wholly non-Catholic environment" which encouraged vices and "leakage from the Church" .2oo The point of the article - which discussed extensive parish organizations in Scotland - was to argue the case for yet more facilities for young Catholics. It was admitted, in other words, that the existing clubs and organizations had only limited success in shielding them from secular influences. Catholic identity was sustained to a considerable degree by a profusion of organizations and institutions with charitable, welfare, cultural and sporting interests. 195 NZ Tablet, 8 April 1936, p. 29. 196 NZ Tablet, 28 October 1920, p. 23 . 197 Month, 1 March 1933, p. 33. For a discussion of Catholic Action, see chapter two above. 198 Zealandia, 22 October 1936, p. 4; NZ Tabler, 4 November 1936, p. 27. 199 Zealandia, 20 July 1939, p. 3. 200 NZ Tablet, 6 July 1938, p. 9. - ! -. . I Religious Identity and Social Integration 191 To the extent that they competed with non-Catholic groups by duplicating their facilities and activities, these Catholic parallel organizations resembled the elements of Catholic pillars or ghettos built up in other parts of the world. However, the Catholic population of New Zealand was too small to be self-sufficient; nor did it experience the sustained antagonism on the part of Protestants or anti-clericalists which promoted Catholics to become more insular in-some countries.201 There were no Catholic trade unions or political parties. As members of a minority group with a distinctive world view, individual Catholics were liable to be overwhelmed by a more widely accepted Protestant or secular outlook. Catholic organizations and institutions were therefore established as havens in which Catholic values and practices were taken for granted and reinforced. If they could be persuaded to spent at least some time in such environments, Catholics would be more likely to remain committed to their religion. At the same time, the Catholic community sought acceptance within rather than isolation from the wider society. A 1935 Catholic Women's League report noted that, "The League is being more widely understood and appreciated by the community ­ both Catholic and non-Catholic. "202 Catholic charities, cultural groups and sports clubs were indeed respected by the rest of the population, not least because they excelled at the very activities endorsed by other religious and secular interests. In a society which demanded a high degree of conformity, however, there sometimes arose conflicts over CathoJic efforts to combine a distinct religious identity with full participation in secular activities, notably sport. 201 On the Catholic population, see chapter one; on politics, including sectarianism, see chapter five. 202 Zealandia, 23 May 1935, p. 5. -:- ---- :-+ + --- - - --- ---.-----.--�------- 192 Chapter Three: 1solation or 1ntegration ? Excluding Catholic Sports Teams Through a network of school teams, local clubs and regional associations, rugby more than any other sport fostered an egalitarian spirit and a sense of both local and national identity among New Zealand boys and men - including Catholics. Ideally - and usually - local rivalries among players and supporters were submerged when representative teams played for their town, province or country.20S By organizing their own school teams and clubs (Marist and Celtic) on the basis of religious affiliation and ethnicity, Catholic rugby aficionados maintained a distinct identity while still being integrated into the wider network.206 Catholics took pride in the vicarious achievement of co-religionists selected for the All Blacks for they provided evidence of their community's integration into the wider society while retaining its distinct religious identity.207 Speaking at a farewell function hosted by the Marist Brothers' Old Boys' Association in Wellington before an overseas tour in 1935, All Blacks A. Mahoney and R.M. McKenzie promised they would "always keep up their religion'' .208 A later 205 G. Fougere. "Sport, Culture and Identity: the Case of Rugby Football". in David Novitz and Bill Willmott (editors). Culture and Identity in New Zealand (Wellington: GP Books. 1989). pp. 1 13- 1 17. 206 Despite their name. derived from the French Marie. Marist teams wore Irish green (with a harp as their emblem). not Marian blue. 207 Month, 15 July 1924, p. 21 ; 16 June 1925, p. 15; NZ Tablet. 7 August 1935, p. 34 and Zealandia, 15 August 1935, p. 5; Ryan in King (editor). p. 62. 208 NZ Tab/et, 7 August 1935, p. 34. ------------ ------- Excluding Catholic Sports Teams 193 report noted that the Catholic All Blacks "went to Mass at St. Mary's, Bradford, on a recent Sunday."209 The use of rugby (and other sports) to combine Catholic identity with social integration was challenged by some state school teachers and rugby administrators during the early 1920s. However, it will be argued that the exclusion of Catholic teams was not based primarily on sectarian motives and it will be seen that excluded Catholic teams, anxious to maintain their links with the wider community, immediately took up other sports. Particular attention will be paid to primary school rugby in Dunedin and Christchurch and to the Payne Trophy dispute in Christchurch. In 192 1 , after being debarred from participation in inter-school rugby competitions for a number of years, the Christian Brothers' School in Dunedin was readmitted on the recommendation of the Otago Rugby Union.2IO At the beginning of the 1922 season, however, the State Primary Schools' Sports Association reimposed the ban and the precedent was followed at the end of the season in Christchurch by the Public Schools' Amateur Athletic Association (PSAAA).21 1 In justifying the exclusion of the Christian Brothers' School, I. Moir (a state teachers' representative) cited the Catholic policy, recently expressed by Whyte, of keeping Catholic children out of the state schools: the state teachers were merely helping the Catholic teachers to maintain their own principle of exclusiveness. T. Coutts, another teacher, argued that the denominational schools formed "a homogeneous whole" which was distinct from the state system.212 Catholics were aggrieved to find an important means of integration into the community at large was now blocked. Brother F.P. Bowler of the Christian Brothers' School asked, Rugby is the national game and should it not be run in a national spirit? In all other centres of the Dominion our schools compete on a level with other schools; why not Dunedin?21 3 T.I. Hussey pointed out that only recently "the elder brothers of these boys were fighting and dying side by side with their old State school competitors on the fields of 209 NZ Tablet. 6 November 1935, p. 5. 210 NZ Tablet. 5 May 1921. pp. 14. 27 (exclusion since 1904); 13 April 1922. p. 26; 3 1 August 1922, p. 14 (exclusion for fourteen years). J .C. O'Neill. "The History of the Work of the Christian Brothers in New Zealand" (University of Auckland Dip. Ed. thesis. 1968. p. 40) offers a very incomplete account which fails to distinguish between developments concerning primary and secondary school teams. 211 NZ Tablet. 1 3 April 1922. pp. 25-27 (Dunedin); 2 November 1922. p. 39 (Christchurch). 212 Otago Daily Times. 11 April 1922. p. 5. 213 NZ Tablet, 1 3 April 1922. p. 26. 194 - -- - - -� - Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration ? Gallipoli and France. "214 The Tablet's Christchurch correspondent complained that instead of fostering "good feeling and friendship" among schoolboys, sectarianism would "receive a helping hand" .215 In Dunedin, the ban was extended to include rugby, soccer, athletics and swimming, while in Christchurch it also applied to other SpOrts.216 The efforts of state primary school teachers to exclude denominational schools from participating in inter-school sports were in keeping with the New Zealand Educational Institute's attempts to marginalize private schools by having all forms of government aid to them cancelled.217 Although some Catholics and rugby administrators (including James McLeod, President of New Zealand Rugby Union) assumed that sectarianism lay at the basis of the teachers' actions, they themselves denied thiS.218 Moreover, Protestant schools, such as John McGlashan College, were also excluded.219 However, G.W.C. Macdonald, a Dunedin teachers' representative, voiced precisely the concerns of contemporary anti-Catholic propagandists. The Christian Brothers, he charged, were disloyal: they had shirked conscription during the war and now scoffed at the oath of allegiance required from teachers.22o While some teachers evidently were influenced by sectarian stereotypes, their more immediate concern was evidently the embarrassing success of the Catholic school teams, as Kelly realized. Just as the original boycott against the Christian Brothers' teams was 214 NZ Tablet, 13 April 1922, p. 27; cf. J.B. Callan's similar remarks before the Otago Football Association (Otago Daily Times, 1 1 April 1922, p. 5). 215 NZTablet, 10 May 1923, p. 33. 216 Dunedin: NZ Tablet, 22 June 1922, p. 31 and cf. 13 April 1922, p. 27 and 20 April 1922, p. 23 for soccer). Christchurch: Press, 17 October 1922, p. 9 and NZ Tablet, 2 November 1922, p. 39. 217 For this issue, see chapter six. 218 Otago Daily Times, 1 1 April 1922, p. 5; NZ Tablet, 20 April 1922, p. 23 (J.B . Callan originally accepted the Dunedin teachers' denial of sectarian motives but, on reading the views of G.W.C. Macdonald - noted below - he changed his mind and was applauded at a Catholic gathering for expressing this view); 1 1 May 1922, pp. 18-19 (T.H. Cahill, a Catholic, argued that sectarianism caused the tension in Dunedin); pp. 18, 3 1 (McLeod); 9 August 1923, p. 33 (comment on sectarianism in Christchurch); Press, 17 October 1922, p. 9 (A. Dey of the Canterbury Rugby Union thought sectarianism was the basis of the exclusion of denominational schools in Christchurch). 219 NZ Tablet, 13 April 1922, p. 26; 19 April 1923, p. 29. St Saviour's Orphanage in Christchurch (an Anglican institution) seems also to have been affected (Press, 17 October 1922, p. 9). 220 Otago Daily Times, 1 1 April 1922, p. 5. Evidently taking no account of the relative enrolment of private and public schools, Macdonald asserted that the majority of soldiers who served overseas had trained in state primary schools. For Bowler's response to Macdonald's claims, see ibid. , 1 3 April 1922, p . 8 and for contemporary sectarian allegations, see chapter five. Excluding Catholic Sports Teams 195 attributed by the Tablet to the high scores of the Catholic teams,221 so its renewal was ascribed not merely to "bigotry and a party spirit" but to the state schools' shame at being defeated by teams from a private school "notwithstanding all their advantages".222 After winning the Challenge Shield at the PSAAA's annual sports day in 192 1 , the Marist Brothers' School was evidently excluded in subsequent years.223 Given the importance attached to sport, the teachers seem to have feared that parents would be induced to send their sons to the more successful private schools and thus endanger the employment of state school teachers - just as the transfer of government scholarships to private schools threatened to do. In Auckland, a motion to exclude the Marist Brothers' School in Vermont Street from the inter-school rugby competition was moved by S. Ferguson of the Napier Street School at the annual meeting of the Primary Schools' Rugby Union in May 192 1 . Ferguson charged the Brothers with employing "underhand tactics" to win games and thereby entice boys away from the public schools.224 The proposal was rejected on the Chairman's casting vote at a subsequent meeting but the Vermont Street School was later excluded from the rugby competition.225 In Dunedin, it was alleged that the Christian Brothers entered players who were over the legal weight and age for their grade.226 Coutts argued that the increasing rolls of church schools would create difficulties for the administration of inter-school sports. 227 Fear for the security of their own employment, rather than mere sectarianism, explains why the primary school teachers were almost alone in demanding the 221 NZ Tablet, 13 January 1921, p. 26; 5 May 1921, p. 27; 31 August 1922, p. 14. 222 NZ Tablet, 13 April 1922, p. 25; cf 3 1 August 1922, p. 14; 19 April 1923, pp. 29·30. The Tablet's Christchurch correspondent linked the success of Catholic school teams with their exclusion from inter-school competition (ibid. , 2 November 1922, p. 39 and 10 May 1923, p. 33). 223 Press, 4 December 1922, p. 14; 31 March 1924, p. 6 (the 1923 sports day was postponed). 224 NZ Tablet, 12 May 1921, p. 21. Similar concerns may have been expressed in Christchurch: in a conciliatory speech at the Marist Old Boys' annual smoke concert, Brodie acknowledged that in drawing pupils from a wider area than the state schools, Catholic schools might have had an unfair advantage (Press, 27 October 1922, p. 1 1). 225 Teams from the Brothers' schools in Tasman and Hawkestone Streets turned to soccer because of difficulties with the rugby administrators - Pat Gallagher, The Marist Brothers in New Zealand, Fiji and Samoa, 1876-1976 (Tuakau: New Zealand Marist Brothers' Trust Board, 1976), p. 1 14. 226 Otago Daily Times, 8 April 1922, p. 6 (letter by "Anti-Cant"); 1 1 April 1922, p. 5 (G.W.C. Macdonald); 12 April 1922, p. 2 (column by "Wayfarer"). 227 Otago Daily Times, 1 1 April 1922, p. 5. 196 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? exclusion of private schools from inter-school competitions.228 The Canterbury Rugby Union organized in October 1 922 a meeting of amateur sports bodies at which A.L. Chappell of the Canterbury Centre of the Amateur Athletic Association criticized the PSAAA for reaching its decision in committee and failing to give any reason for the ban. Despite objections from the Rugby Union and other bodies, the PSAAA refused to readmit teams from denominational schools in inter-school competitions.229 In April 1923, a meeting of delegates to the Otago Rugby Union condemned the primary teachers' policy: only the representatives of the State Primary Schools' Sports Association voted against the resolution.23o As in other years, the Union itself, in October 1 923, gave the Dunedin St Vincent de Paul Society a substantial donation - over £30 - from its annual charity match.23 1 Given the usual role of rugby in integrating local and regional players from diverse backgrounds, it is significant that the most notorious case of tension between a Catholic club and secular sports administrators occurred over the Payne Trophy - donated in 1 92 1 by George Payne, a Marist Brothers' Old Boys Association (MBOBA) delegate to the Canterbury Rugby Union.232 Since the winning club teams of the senior competition in Christchurch and Dunedin, rather than composite representative teams, were to play for the Trophy, .the competition thus inaugurated was a somewhat awkward supplement to the established inter-provincial games. Like some of their counterparts in Christchurch, the Otago Union evinced no enthusiasm for the Trophy and for two years no game was played and no rules were drafted.233 228 In Dunedin, the controversy was precipitated by the fonnation, two years earlier, of the Otago State Primary Schools' Sports Association, which sought to control aU state primary inter-school sport (Otago Daily Times, 1 1 April 1922, p. 5). 229 Press, 17 October 1922, p. 9; 17 May 1923, p. 10; NZ Tablet, 2 November 1922, p. 39; 10 May 1923, p. 33. The offer to allow private school cricket teams to enter for one more year was declined. 230 NZTablet, 19 April 1923, p. 29; Press, 16 April 1923, p. 13; cf the Union's opposition to the teachers' policy in Otago Daily Times, 1 1 April 1922, p. 5. 231 NZ Tablet, 27 March 1924, p. 26 (annual report of the Society); cf 17 June 1925, p. 27 and 14 April 1926, p. 3 1 for subsequent annual reports, which give a little more information on the annual contribution. 232 On Payne and his Trophy, see J. Coffey, Canterbury XlII: a Rugby League History (Christchurch: the author, 1987), pp. 46-47; W.F. Brown, "The Payne Trophy Dispute - was Sectarianism a Factor?" (University of Canterbury M.A. research essay in History, 1988), pp. 3-4. 233 Brown, pp. 4-6; Press, 13 September 1923, p. 13 ("The truth is that the Payne trophy competition never met with much favour in Dunedin ... "); "Payne Trophy Case. Suppression of the Marist Football Club" typescript in CCDA, p. 1 ("It soon became manifest that the Trophy was going to be a source of difficulty, and members of the Canterbury Rugby Union openly stated they were not much interested in it"). The latter document was written in support of the club's appeal for reinstatement after its suspension. f Excluding Catholic Sports Teams 197 Eventually the championship games were discontinued and the Trophy awarded to the winning team in the inter-provincial game.234 When the Marist club won the senior competition for the fifth year in succession by beating Merivale in 1923, it became eligible to play the Otago University team which had won the Dunedin competition. Short of players because of injuries, the Marist Old Boys nominated a team which included Bill Devine, a policeman who had recently transferred from Wellington, and Harry Mullins, who, though normally resident in Christchurch and a long-time Marist player, had spent the season in Wellington to pursue his training as a plumber.23s There were widespread accusations of "ringing-in", but, on its reading of the rules, the Marist club considered the inclusion of Devine and Mullins entirely legitimate.236 Only three days before the game, following a demand by the Otago Union, the Canterbury Union insisted that the Marist team be limited to players who had represented the club in at least three games during the past season.237 Rather than alter its team, the club declined to play and was suspended by the Union a week later.238 Since neither party would back down, the suspension was reaffirmed at the beginning of the 1924 season, after a series of unsuccessful negotiations and appeals.239 Although sectarian sentiments may have influenced the Payne Trophy dispute, the Canterbury Rugby Union was not motivated simply by animosity towards .the Catholic community.24o Reflecting on the dispute over school teams, the Tablet could assume it 234 L. Saunders, The Canterbury Rugby History, 1879-1979 (Christchurch: Canterbury Rugby Football Union, 1979), p. 22. 235 Saunders, pp. 22-23; Brown, pp. 7-8. 236 For the Marist c1ub's explanation of its position. including references to these charges. see Press. 13 September 1923. p . 13 and 1 April 1924, p. 1 1 . The latter statement seems to have been written by Brodie himself: a manuscript copy in his hand is in CCDA. 237 Press, 12 September 1923, p. 12. 238 Press, 13 September 1923, p. 13 (Marist statement); Lytlelton Times, 19 September 1923, p. 8. clipping in CCDA (report on the Union meeting). Although quite detailed, the accounts in other Christchurch newspapers (for example the Press, 19 September 1923, p. 8) report less of the discussion at the Union's meeting on 18 September 1923. 239 Press, 7 April 1924. p. 9. The New Zealand Rugby Union had referred the matter back to the Canterbury Union (Press. 15 November 1923. p. 8). 240 M. O'Meeghan SM (Held Firm by Faith: a History o/the Christchurch Diocese, Christchurch: Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, 1988, pp. 140-141) treats the controversy as essentially sectarian. Brown. although setting the issue in the context of the sectarian tensions of the early 1920s (pp. 1 - 3), tends to lose sight of this dimension except for the imputation of some animosity towards the Marist club on the part of Canterbury Rugby Union President S.F. Wilson (pp. 17-18). - - - - --- - - - - - - - --- ------�� -'---�---- 198 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration ? was commonly known that "ill-feeling has been manifested i n Christchurch towards the green-jackets year after year" .241 According to James Joyce SM, the Marist­ Merivale game which preceded the dispute was regarded by many as "a battle of faiths. "242 At the Marist Old Boys' annual smoke concert in Christchurch less than two months after the club's suspension, however, H.T. Annstrong MP (a Catholic) proposed the toast to kindred societies, to which representatives of the Christchurch, Albion and Merivale clubs responded. They, at least, gave some evidence for Annstrong's contention that there was no ill-feeling among the players themselves.243 As a guest at the MBOBA annual smoke concert in 1922, the President of the Canterbury Union, S.F. Wilson, expressed regret at the exclusion of the school teams and promised that the Union would make alternative arrangements for all who wanted to play footbal1.244 Ironically, at the beginning of the 1923 season, the Marist Association in Christchurch rejected a proposal to withdraw from playing rugby in protest at the exclusion of teams from the Brothers' School from inter-school competitions. It was acknowledged that the Rugby Union had done all it could on behalf of the schoolboys.245 In the Payne Trophy dispute, Wilson's quarrel was with the Marist management and he acknowledged that there were "some fine fellows in the club".246 Like the other members of the Executive, he was loath to accept Payne's resignation and persuaded him to stay on.247 (Unable to reconcile loyalty to the Union and to his club, Payne resigned from the latter instead.248) Wilson endeavoured to assure B rodie (the Patron of the MBOBA) that "so far as our officials are concerned" the Union's dispute with the Marist club was not based on sectarianism.249 In March 1924, he even proposed at a meeting of the Canterbury Rugby Union a conciliatory 241 NZ Tab/el, 9 August 1923, p. 33; c! p. 19. For evidence of sectarianism in rugby league circles in Dunedin, see ibid., 20 August 1924, pp. 18, 29. 242 James Joyce SM, "Memoirs of a Marist" (unpublished typescript, 1971 , MAW) p. 49. 243 Press, 3 1 October 1923, p. 1 1 ; NZ Tablet, 15 November 1923, p. 51 . 244 Press, 27 October 1922, p . 1 1 . 245 NZ Tablet, 26 April 1923, p. 33. 246 Press, 19 September 1923, p. 8; 14 March 1924, p. 9. 247 Lytle/Ion Times, 19 September 1923, p. 8, clipping in CCDA; Press, 19 September 1923, p. 8. For Payne's later career, see also Brown, p. 19. 248 Press, 7 April 1924, p. 6. At the 1924 annual meeting of the Canterbury Union, he was elected as a delegate of the Hurunui club (Press, 14 March 1924, p. 9). 249 Wilson to Brodie, 22/23 March [ 1924], CCDA. r Excluding Catholic Sports Teams 199 motion drafted by Brodie himself which would have ended the suspension but was narrowly defeated in favour of a motion demanding the withdrawal of the Marist Association's letter declining to play the Trophy game without Mullins and Devine.25o While the Canterbury Rugby Union was concerned to assert its authority over the Executive of the Marist Association, the latter, by refusing to play without Mullins and Devine, placed the honour and solidarity of the club above the demands of the Union. To exclude Mullins and Devine from its team, would, in the opinion of the Marist club, have constituted an admission of guilt to the shameful charge of "ringing-in".2sl Despite his sympathy for the schoolboys, Wilson seems to have provoked a trial of strength with the Executive of the Marist club - whether deliberately or inadvertently. Rather than seeking to allay its fears that the club was "ringing-in" outside players, Wilson himself had suggested to the Otago Union that it should write to the Canterbury Union demanding that players who had not been in three games be omitted from the Marist team.2S2 When the Otago Union followed this advice, on 4 September, the Canterbury Union waited until 1 1 September before officially discussing the issue and acceding to the demand. With the game due to be played on 1 5 September, Marist was given only until mid-day on the 12th to comply with the ruling, although Wilson later declared that the Marist club had been advised on 6 September that the Canterbury Union would endorse the ruling.2s3 While "there would have been no 250 Wilson to Brodie, 14 March [1924], CCDA. The wording of the original motion is not given in the letter and although Wilson promised to return Brodie's letter, it does not appear to have survived. Brown (p. 1 3) quotes from the Union' s minutes the motion which was actually passed on 1 3 March 1924: "Having read the statement of the Marist Club in connection with the Payne Trophy match and having accepted that the Club's action was not intended as a defiance of the legitimate authority of the Canterbury Rugby Union and in view of the fact that the Marist Club bas been under suspension for six months, the Union bas decided to remove the suspension on condition that Marist withdraw their letter of 12 September 1923." The condition at the end, as Brown (pp. 1 3-14) points out but is unable to explain, is barely consistent with the rest of the resolution. In the CCDA there is an almost identical typed statement without the final condition and with no other words on the page. Presumably this was the resolution formulated by Brodie and proposed by Wilson: evidently it was amended before being passed. 251 "Payne Trophy Case. Suppression of the Marist Football Club" typescript in CCDA. p. 6; cf. Press, 1 April 1924. p. 1 1 . 252 Brown. p. 16. citing the min�tes of the Otago Union Management Committee for 3 September 1923. Wilson seems to have alluded to his role in April 1924. when be claimed "a good deal of responsibility" for the Otago Union's demand and referred to baving conferred with that Union (Press. 7 April 1924. p. 9). It seems clear from evidence presented in connection with the exclusion of the Christian Brothers' primary school teams from the rugby competition in Dunedin that the Otago Rugby Union itself was quite free from sectarian animosity. 253 Brown, pp. 9-10 ignores Wilson's claim to have warned the Marist club immediately after receiving the letter from Otago (Press, 7 April 1924. p. 9). 200 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration ? question of the Union's right to determine the selection of a composite representative team, the position of the Marist club in this instance was ambiguous. Wilson thought It was a pity the Marists [sic] Club had not gripped the position more clearly. The game would have been more in the nature of a representative than a club match.254 The Marist Old Boys, however, argued that, "The Payne Trophy Match is a challenge match, not a Union competition match. "255 Refusing to alter the team it had selected, the club wrote to the Union accusing it of "arbitrary interference".256 Demanding the withdrawal of this letter as a condition for the removal of the suspension, Wilson claimed he was not being vindictive; he viewed the issue solely in terms of the Marist club's challenge to its authority over rugby in Canterbury. It was "a matter of discipline" . The question is not whether our ruling was right or wrong. It may have been wrong. The clubs placed us here and they must carry out our instructions.257 The Union's decision was confirmed in April 1924 by a meeting of club representatives, while the Marist Executive's actions were endorsed by the Association's members.258 In sympathy with the Christchurch club, the MBOBA in Greymouth also withdrew from rugby.259 In this instance, the attempt to reconcile Catholic identity with social integration through the "national game" had failed. Nevertheless, Catholic schools and sporting organizations continued to compete with other bodies, despite their exclusion from a few local competitions. While accusing the Otago Rugby Union of inconsistency in not banning state schools from the inter-provincial competitions after the teachers defied the Union (by excluding teams from his school from the inter-school competitions), Brother lH. Murphy accepted the Union's invitation to enter Christian Brothers' pupils in the primary 254 Press, 13 September 1923, p. 13 . 255 Press, 1 April 1924, p. 1 1 . 256 Slightly different versions of the letter to the Union (dated 12 September 1923) are printed in statements by the Canterbury Union (Press, 13 September 1923, p. 13 and 19 September 1923, p. 8) and the Marist club (Press, 1 April 1924, p. 1 1). The club later sought, unconvincingly, to explain away the offending words by saying that to exclude Mullins and Devine from competitions in Christchurch would have been "arbitrary interference" ("Payne Trophy Case. Suppression of the Marist Football Club" typescript in CCDA, pp. 8-9). 257 LytteIton Times, 1 9 September 1923, p. 8, clipping in CCDA. Wilson expressed similar sentiments the following year (Press, 14 March 1924, p. 9; 7 April 1924, p. 9). 258 Press, 7 April 1924, p. 9. 259 Press, 8 April 1924, p. 10. ----�-----'""""----------�.......--...� - -.------- Excluding Catholic Sports Teams 201 school inter-provincial competitions and appointed one of the selectors.260 The ban on teams from private primary schools in Dunedin did not affect secondary schools.261 Excluded from the PSAAA's annual sports day, Christchurch Catholics continued to participate in the meetings of the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Club.262 Non-Catholics (including teams representing state primary schools, Christchurch Boys' High School, the Merivale Football Club and the YMCA) participated in the St Patrick's Sports Association's annual events - among whose patrons was Mayor H.T.]. Thacker MP.263 Unable to persuade the teachers to readmit private school teams, the Rugby Unions in Dunedin and Christchurch offered to organize separate competitions for them;264 the Marist Brothers' School also entered the rugby league competition.26S In other centres, teams representing Catholic schools as well as the Marist and Celtic clubs continued to play rugby with secular schools and clubs.266 In April 1924, the Marist Brothers' Old Boys' Association in Christchurch decided to "revert to its original status as a purely social organisation" .267 Far from withdrawing from interaction with other sports clubs, however, the Association immediately proceeded to enter teams in the soccer and rugby league competitions; the Greymouth Marist club also entered the league competition.268 After playing league for seven seasons, members of the Christchurch MBOBA formed the Athletic Club and re-entered the rugby union competition in 193 1 . This development did not satisfy all the Marist supporters and some of the 260 NZ Tablet, 30 August 1923, p. 33. 261 NZ Tablet, 13 April 1922, p. 26; 20 April 1922, p. 22. According to Cahill, Bowler withdrew the secondary boys from the rugby competition (NZ Tablet, 1 1 May 1922, p. 1 8), but later reports indicate that Christian Brothers' teams continued to play (NZ Tablet, 22 June 1922, p. 3 1 ; 16 August 1923, p. 33). 262 Press, 31 October 1921, p. 5; 11 December 1922, p. 12; 3 December 1923, p. 6. 263 Press, 20 October 1920, p. 4; 26 October 1921, p. 1 1 ; 24 November 1922, p. 8; 17 March 1924, p. 7; 18 March 1924, p. 13. 264 NZ Tablet, 20 April 1922, p. 23 and 22 June 1922, p. 3 1 (Dunedin); Press, 18 Apri1 1923, p. 1 1 and NZ Tablet, 10 May 1923, p. 33 (Christchurch). Wilson regarded the exclusion of the Marist schoolboys from inter-school rugby (organized by the PSAAA) as entirely distinct from the Rugby Union's dispute with the Marist Old Boys (Press, 7 April 1924, p. 9). 265 NZ Tablet, 2 November 1922, p. 39. 266 NZ Tablet, 2 November 1922, p. 39 (Marist Brothers' schools in Wellington); 26 April 1923, p. 33 (Celtic in Ashburton); 10 May 1923, p. 33 (Celtic in South Canterbury); 9 August 1923, p. 33 (school and Celtic tearns in Temuka and South Canterbury). 267 Press, 5 April 1924, p. 14; 7 April 1924, p. 9; NZ Tablet, 10 April 1924, p. 28. 268 Press, 8 April 1924, p. 10; NZ Tablet, 10 Apri1 1924, p. 28. ---_. - - - --- ---------.-- 202 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? disaffected fonned a Celtic Club in 1944. The following year, however, Athletic resumed the name "Marist" and absorbed Celtic.269 Although some of the participants in these events bore a degree of animosity towards the Catholic community, then, the occasional exclusion of Catholic sports teams from open competitions was not essentially a sectarian issue. State primary teachers feared that any endorsement of private education threatened the state system and their own employment, while the Canterbury Rugby Union was concerned to assert its authority over the management of the Marist Old Boys' Association. The response of the Catholic schools and the Marist club demonstrates their concern to continue participating in public competitions: they did not want this means of combining Catholic identity with public status and respectability taken away from them. Educating Catholic Citizens Rejecting the secular schools established by the state, the Catholic Church set up the most extensive network of religious education in the country. In Cleary's view, the Catholic school system, particularly in its primary schools, was "easily the most spectacular fact in the religious history of this Dominion".2?O Donald Akenson has recently argued that the state influenced only the details of the Catholic education system and that "one should not underestimate the degree of separation from the general society that the schools facilitated. "2? 1 It will be argued here, on the contrary, that since Catholic schools taught what the state required and added religious elements, it would be inappropriate to overstate the consequent separation, which was incidental rather than an end in itself. Catholic schools sought to encourage their pupils to be both good citizens and good Catholics - ideals which were regarded as entirely compatible. 269 Coffey, pp. 48, 60; Saunders, pp. 3 1 , 45-46; J.K. Moloney, Rugby Football in Canterbury, 1929- 1954 (Christchurch: Canterbury Rugby Football Union, 1954), pp. 16-17, 88; O'Meegban, p. 141 . 270 Month, 17 November 1925, p . 19; cf. ibid. , 20 April 1926, p . 17 ; 18 May 1926, p. 17 ; 18 January 1927, p. 21 ; 16 August 1927, p. iii; NZ Tablet. 3 1 March 1926, p. 43; Zealandia. 1 1 February 1937, p. 3 . 271 D.H. Akenson, Half the Worldfrom Home: Perspectives on the Irish in New Zealand, 1860-1950 (Wellington: Victoria University Press. 1990). pp. 160. 1 72. 190. Akenson also argues (p. 1 72) that "a circle of ethnic loyalty was joined by these segregated schools" but. by the middle of the twentieth century, this bad developed into a sense of being "New Zealanders of Irish ethnicity". In the light of the discussion on ethnicity in chapter one above. where it was seen that Irish identity among New Zealand Catholics declined markedly during the interwar years, this seems very doubtful claim. Educating Catholic Citizens 203 This discussion will be concerned more with the aims than with the achievements of Catholic education. Catholic educational policy was formulated by the bishops, who reflected Vatican directives and developments in the Church overseas.272 The rationale of Catholic education was expounded in the Catholic press and in speeches at school openings and on other occasions, usually by the bishops themselves or by the clergy. Although the vast majority of teachers in Catholic schools were nuns, they seldom spoke in public but presumably endorsed the general principles of Catholic education as expressed by the hierarchy. The section will begin by considering the Catholic view that religious and secular education were inseparable and then explain why the Church rejected the state education system. Catholic education was conducted in a religious atmosphere but most of its content was governed by the requirements of the state syllabus. Whereas the Church was very successful in building large numbers of primary schools and enrolling most Catholic children in them, its achievements in secondary education were more modest in the period under review. That Catholic schools were not regarded as alien by respectable opinion in New Zealand is demonstrated by the willingness of public figures to attend school openings and other occasions. While Catholic schools nurtured a distinctive religious outlook, it will be argued that they did not seek to detach Catholic children from the wider society. The clergy regarded the Church's schools as indispensable for inculcating Catholic beliefs and practices because of their religious ambiance. Redwood described the schools as "the means of assuring the Church in New Zealand a hopeful and brilliant future" ; if Catholic education were neglected, "we must despair of the Church in New Zealand".273 Brodie declared that "without our school system, our holy faith would soon be exterminated" .274 Kelly was even more blunt: "Catholic schools are absolutely necessary in order to enable the Church to retain its influence over the people. "275 Without religious education in schools, warned Cleary, other religious bodies would soon find " grass growing on the paths to their church doors. "276 Kelly believed this was already happening to the Protestant churches.277 It was even argued that schools 272 The establishment of Catholic schools was not an exclusively Irish policy as Akenson (pp. 1 59-160. 169) implies. 273 NZ Tablet, 1 5 May 1919. pp. 22-23; 27 April 1922, p. 22. 274 NZ Tablet. 27 February 1919. p. 21 . 275 NZ Tablet. 6 October 1921. p. 25; 4 November 193 1. p. 3. 276 Month. 15 September 1921. p. 1 1 . 277 NZ Tablet. 3 March 1921 . p. 26; cf 7 August 1919. p. 26; 29 November 1923. p. 26; 26 June 1924. p. 23; 1 1 September 1929. p. 3; 8 January 1930. p. 3 . 204 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? were more important than churches in maintaining the faith of future generations.278 Confidence in religious education as a means of socializing young Catholics into the ways of the Church found its logical conclusion in the view of the boarding school as the ideal, for there "example and environment co-operate in the formation of character on truly Catholic lines."279 Brodie noted that "separation from home .. . for a few years" was "conducive to the pupil's progress" and to the development of character. His ideal was not simply middle class but monastic and even ascetic: "it is good to go apart into a desert place and rest awhile."28o If the religious life was the ideal expression of the Catholic faith, Catholic schools, and especially Catholic boarding schools, were a close imitation. Parents were expected to supplement the efforts of the school but, it was alleged, a holiday at home commonly undermined the effects of a year at boarding schoo1.281 Religious education was needed to prepare children for eternity as well as for participation in society. Liston reminded an audience in Te Awamutu that since this life was but a preparation for the next, children needed religious education to prepare "for the life hereafter."282 Similarly, when O'Shea opened the Marist Brothers' School in Napier, he declared that Catholics maintained their own schools because they were "convinced there is another world that will last for ever, and this short life is merely a preparation for the next. "283 Dr Cecil Morkane argued that the purpose of Catholic education was to prepare children for citizenship both in their Motherland and in the Kingdom of Heaven.284 At the opening of a new school building in Invercargill, Whyte expressed his hope that the boys who leave this school may take a worthy place among the citizens of this young and prosperous Dominion while at the same time striving by their pious deeds to secure a place in the Eternal Home above. The education imparted in our Catholic schools has the twofold purpose of preparing the pupils for the next world and for this.285 278 NZTablet, 1 8 July 1918, p. 27; 25 January 1923, p. 29; 21 April 1926, p. 19; 1 1 September 1929, p. 3 . 279 NZ Tablet, 29 September 1926, p. 33; cf. Brodie's expression of similar views (ibid., 16 July 1930, p. 39). 280 NZTablet, 16 July 1930, p. 39. 281 NZTablet, 2 September 193 1 , p. 37. 282 Month, 15 July 1921, p. 8. 283 NZ Tablet, 3 1 August 1932, p. 6. 284 NZTablet, 14 April 1926, pp. 17, 19; 1 May 1935, pp. 20-21 . 285 NZ Tablet, 8 October 1924, p. 23; cf. 1 8 March 1925, p. 1 3. . -----------------�-.. -.---�--. . . - Educating Catholic Citizens 205 Educating children as Catholics, or at least Christians, and as New Zealand citizens were seen as entirely compatible objectives. Indeed, they were regarded as inseparable, for religion underpinned moral training which, in tum, was indispensable for individuals and for society at large. According to Whyte, "moral training must rest upon religion as its foundation".286 Religion alone, Redwood contended, could "safeguard respect for authority" and "make the fire of patriotism glow so ardently as to bum up the chaff of selfishness and greed."287 Christian civilization, he believed, would not persevere without Christian education; Catholic schools were "the nurseries of good citizens who are the pride and bulwark of the State".288 Monsignor James MacManus argued that "the main purpose of a Catholic school was to inculcate Christian principles, which alone could save societylt.289 Given its importance both temporally and eternally, religious education could not be separated from secular education - it had to be made Ita part and parcel of the daily routine of school life. 1t290 Secular, moral and religious education could not be separated and the latter was deemed the most important because it pertained to the final end of mankind; religion therefore had to permeate all other branches of education.291 It could not be taught adequately at home or in Sunday School,. but had to be taught in school every day.292 Parents lacked the time or capacity to teach their children religion.293 Whyte warned mothers who sent their children to state schools and taught them the catechism at home that such religious training was "exceedingly 286 NZ Tablet. 8 October 1924. p. 25; c! 1 July 1936. p. 7. 287 Month, 21 February 1928. p. 27. 288 NZ Tablet. 26 July 1923. p. 27; 1 1 November 1925. p. 29; 3 November 1926. p. 30. 289 NZ Tablet. 8 February 1939. p. 43; c! O'Shea's assertion that "Religion alone will be able to save the world from ruin and civilisation from destruction." (NZ Tablet. 21 August 1919. p. 34; Month. 15 September 19 19. p. 1 5). 290 NZ Tablet. 31 August 1932. p. 6. The expression was often used by O' Shea (NZ Tablet, 15 March 1923. p. 17; 4 March 1931 . p. 46; 2 December 1930. p. 42; 27 July 1932. p. 7; 30 January 1935. p. 13 ; Month. 1 September 1932. p. 27). 291 NZ Tablet. 14 April 1926. p. 19; 10 October 1928. p. 22. 292 NZ Tablet. 15 March 1923. p. 17 (O'Shea); 9 February 1927, p. 35 (Redwood); 19 February 1930, p. 47; 15 April 193 1 . p. 3 1 (Rev. PJ. Cooney); Month, 16 October 1922, p. 7 (Liston); 18 February 1930, p. 17 (Liston). 293 Marist Messenger. 1 February 1936. p. 9; Zealandia. 10 February 1938. p. 9. Redwood regarded the school as practically "the sole efficient means by which childhood and youth are formed for their future duties and future battles". I t was "absolute futility to speak of parental care in homes. or of hurried hours in the so-called Sunday-school." (NZ Tablet. 27 April 1922. p. 22; 15 May 1919. p. 22). 206 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? insufficient and inadequate. "294 Liston asserted that "nine out of every ten fathers were utterly incapable of teaching their children religious truths, therefore to exclude religious instruction from schools was to make children indifferent to God. "295 Catholics rejected the public education system primarily on the grounds that it failed to incorporate religious and moral instruction and - with the important exception of Kelly - usually acknowledged its achievements in other respects.296 Mother Mary Benignus described the state school teachers as "a splendid corps of men and women .. . who devote themselves with admirable zeal to their work."297 O'Shea declared that Catholics were "not hostile to the public educational system" which "had a great deal to commend it" but without religious teaching, its graduates were "moral illiterates".298 According to Liston, Catholics were "dissatisfied with, not opposed to, public education, . . . because it is secular education. "299 Taking a more extreme view, Kelly asserted that the failure of public education was apparent in the ignorance and immorality of its illiterate and ill-mannered pupils.3oo Secular schools were "calculated to promote the irreligious and atheistical views of a minority" and state education was "education only in the sense that a corpse from which the soul has fled is a living being."30 1 In Kelly's pessimistic estimate of New Zealand society, the country was already suffering form the ill-effects of secular education: We have but to look around us in this Dominion to recognise the fruits of godless schools. We have in abundance unprincircled legislators, vicious men and women, corruption in public and private life. 02 When Liston said, "Let our most bitter critic set down, if he can, even one solid fact that points to Catholic opposition to the public school" , he could easily have been answered by any reader of the Tablet.303 294 NZ Tablet, 6 April 1922, p. 19; cf 1 1 December 1929, p. 35. 295 NZTablet, 14 July 1921, p. 21 . 296 NZ Tablet, 15 March 1923, p . 17 (O'Shea); 8 February 1939, p . 43 (Monsignor Connolly); but cf Whyte's more guarded praise (8 October 1924, p. 23). 297 NZTablet, 17 June 193 1 , p. 22; cf 22 February 1923, - p. 17 (Brodie); 8 February 1939, p. 43 (Monsignor Connolly). 298 NZ Tablet, 8 October 1924, p. 33; cf 1 December 1926, p. 4 l . 299 NZTablet, 19 February 1930, p. 47; Month, 18 February 1930, p. 17. 300 NZ Tablet, 26 June 1921 , p. 21 ; 29 November 1923, p. 25; 25 June 1930, p. 3; 5 November 1930, p. 3; 24 June 193 1 , p. 3; 28 October 1931 , p. 3. 301 NZTablet, 22 May 19 19, p. 26; 5 November 1930, p. 3. 302 NZTablet, 28 December 1922, p. 29; cf 20 October 1921, p. 25; 1 November 1923, p. 19. 303 NZTablet, 19 February 1930, p. 47; Month, 18 February 1930, p. 17. ' " . --- --. _ . .-------- ------- Educating Catholic Citizens 207 While lamenting that public education failed to inculcate a religiously grounded morality, Catholics also charged that it was, in practice, sectarian and even anti­ Catholic. According to Cleary and other Catholics, there could be no religiously neutral education, for by denying in practice the fundamental importance of religion in education, state primary schools were both secularist and sectarian.304 Meanwhile the secondary schools, with their assembly prayers and readings from the Authorized Version of the Bible, regularly conducted a form of worship "peculiar to Reformed denominations. "305 Cleary often complained about the problems of Catholic teachers and pupils in secondary schools where religious observances took place.306 The 1 877 Education Act's "secular clause" prohibited religious instruction in state primary schools but did not apply to secondary schools. Almost all high schools and technical schools began the day with the Lord's prayer, a hymn and a Scripture reading, a practice which had apparently arisen because many secondary schools were originally founded as boarding schools.307 Catholic pupils at secondary schools usually waited outside while prayers and religious instruction were held for ten to fifteen minutes at morning assembly.308 In a few schools, Catholic teachers and pupils seem to have attended religious observances309 - but this was precisely what Cleary feared. Catholics were not allowed to participate in non-Catholic religious observances and, in the words of Pius Xl's encyclical on Christian education, the only acceptable form of religious instruction was that which took place "under the direction and maternal supervision of the Church. "3 10 304 Month, 15 July 1921 , pp. 6-7; cf. 15 November 1920, p. 18; 15 January 1923, p. 3; NZ Tablet, 12 February 1920, p. 18; 13 January 1921 , p . 26; 10 January 1924, p . 29; 3 1 August 1927, p . 33. Bishop A verill also accused the state primary school system of being sectarian because it reflected the views of secularists (Church Gazette, 1 September 1924, p. 1 37). 305 Month, 1 5 January 1919, p. 4; 20 January 1925, p. 17; cf. 15 November 1920, pp. 18, 19; 15 January 1923, p . 3 . 306 Month, 21 October 1924, p . 18; 1 8 November 1924, pp. 17-21 ; 20 January 1925, p . 17 ; 17 August 1926, p. 18; 1 8 January 1927, p. 22; 16 August 1927, pp. iii-iv; 18 October 1927, pp. iii-iv; cf. ibid., 15 July 1921 , p. 7. Cleary's 1924 statement aroused a public debate (NZ Herald, 21 October 1924, p. 1 1 ; 22 October 1924, p. 13). 307 NZPD, 1924, vol. 204, p. 236; 1925, vol. 207, pp. 5 12-5 13 (Education Minister James Parr) . 308 }LC, 1926, "Religious Exercises", p. 22 (evidence of John Caughley, Director of Education). 309 NZPD, 1926, vol. 210, p. 138 (George Thomson MLC, referring to Catholic staff members at Otago Boys' High School); Evening Post, 20 October 1927, p. 7 (evidence ofT.R. Cresswell, Headmaster of Wellington College). 310 "Rappresentanti in Terra", paragraph 80. This 1929 encyclical was printed in the NZ Tablet, 9 April 1930 and subsequent issues and can be found in The Papal Encyclicals, 1903-1939, edited by Claudia Carlen IHM (Wilmington, North Carolina: McGrath Publishing Company, 1981). For further discussion of Catholic attitudes to Protestant worship, see chapter two above. -------------- . _ . - - ------------------------------------------------------- 208 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? Catholics often complained that their religion was portrayed unfavourably in state schools.31 1 Tablet columnist "Pippa" (Eileen Duggan) remarked that Catholics who attended non-Catholic secondary schools invariably left with "wrong impressions to correct in later years".312 Young Francis Durning, who attended Timaru Boys' High School in 1927, found it prudent to "hold his peace" during discussions of books which portrayed the Catholic Church in an unfavourable light.3 13 Cleary charged that history texts commonly misrepresented Catholic beliefs and practices, misconstrued events involving Catholics, gratuitously attributed unworthy motives to them and used offensive labels like "Romanist" and "Papist" .3 14 In 193 1 , the Month castigated the School Journal for its article to mark Empire Day. Readers of the Journal were told of how British ships in the sixteenth century had crushed the power of Spain and "opened the doors of the human mind by allowing liberty of thought" so that Spain would no longer be able to "stop men thinking by means of the thumbscrew and the rack" . The article went on to describe how Galileo and many other early scientists were tortured or executed for advancing opinions opposed to the Church - yet "ignorant men" failed to "stop the onward march of Truth. "315 Given its criticisms of state education, it might be expected that the Church's own schools would be very different. Catholic education was indeed carried out in a thoroughly Catholic environment: The real value of our schools, as contrasted with secular institutions, is that not only do they make religious teaching a part of every day's routine, but they also make religion a very part of the atmosphere of the school. It is always there. In some way or other it is associated with geography and grammar and history.316 3 1 1 NZ Tablet, 27 June 19 18, p. 14; 6 April 1922, p. 19; 3 May 1923, p. 25; 24 February 1926, p. 29; 5 September 1928, p. 6; 5 February 1930, p. 6; 1 1 November 193 1, p. 22; Zealandia, 10 February 1938, p. 9. In 1923, the Presbyterian Church complained that the Story a/the British Nation series being used in New Zealand schools distorted the history of the Reformation by omitting anything likely to cause offence to Catholics (PGA, 1923, pp. 43, 68; c! Month, 15 December 1923, p. 14). 312 NZTablet, 22 February 1928, p. 21 . 3 13 John P J. Twomey (editor), St Bede 's College, 1911-1986, 75th Jubilee (Christchurch: 75th Jubilee Committee, 1 986), p. 69. 3 14 Month, 15 November 1920, p. 19. The correct interpretation of the Reformation. according to a paper compiled by the Sisters of Mercy for the New Zealand Catholic Teachers' Conference in 1 936. was that the Protestants "shamefully misused" the "convenient pretext" of reform in order to reject the authority given to the Church by Christ (NZ Tablet. 5 August 1936. p. 1 1 ). 3 15 Month, 1 October 193 1 . p. 21 . citing New Zealand School Journal, June 193 1. Part III. pp. 1 32-133; c! Marist Messenger. 5 October 1931 . pp. 13. 15. . 3 16 NZTablet. 27 November 1929. p. 6; c! 12 May 1921. p. 17 (Whyte); 3 June 1925. p. 27 (Redwood); Month. 1 January 1931, p. 10; Zealandia, 9 May 1935. p. 3 (Morkane). jiii> . . _ __ ._ . . . _ _ �� _� _____ ,,,,, _ "' _ """"f _,,--,-,_ ---._-'--. � . Educating Catholic Citizens 209 Children were taught almost exclusively by religious whose lifestyles and distinctive clothing bespoke Catholic values and doctrines. They were taken to Confession, Mass and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. In their classrooms were religious images: crucifixes, statues of the Blessed Virgin and pictures of saints. On an altar-shelf there would be a statue, surrounded by candles and flowers, towards which the children would turn during prayer. The day was punctuated with hymns and prayers, including the Rosary and the Angelus. The year was marked by the great liturgical seasons and the special devotions associated particularly with the months of May and October. Children were encouraged to perform acts of piety like visiting the Blessed Sacrament and giving up sweets during Lent. On entering and leaving the room they would make the sign of the cross after dipping their fingers into a holy water font near the door.317 In primary schools, the daily half-hour of religious instruction was based on the Catechism, whose questions and answers were committed to memory: Who made you? God made me. Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.3 1 8 Children in older classes used Canon Cafferata' s edition with explanatory notes and secondary school pupils were taught an extensive programme of religious history and theology. The religious education syllabus at St Bede's was dominated by doctrine and apologetics.3 19 Similarly, the Sacre Coeur Sisters supplemented the Catechism with "a comprehensive and well-planned course in apologetics, ending with a glimpse of that marvellous product of the human ·brain - Scholastic Philosophy. "32o Even "secular" subjects were treated somewhat differently in Catholic schools. Teachers were encouraged to use Catholic reading material and literature wherever suitable texts were available.321 A meeting of leading Catholic teachers in 1937 3 17 This account draws on Mary Scully, untilled autobiographical essay (University of Canterbury B .A. essay in Education, 1984) and Heather Aim, "Life History of Mary Scully" (University of Canterbury B.A. research essay in Sociology, 1986), pp. 6-7, describing school life at St Anne's Newtown, during the 1930s. See also NZ Tablet, 27 April 1932, p. 22; NZ Catholic Schools Journal, for example May 1932, parl I, p. 57 and October 1932, part I for the devotions of May and October; Reflect, Rejoice: Sisters of Mercy Celebrate One Hundred Years in Greymouth, 1882-1982 (Greymouth: Mercy Centennial Planning Committee, 1982), pp. 37, 38, 93, 1 19. ' 318 H.T. Cafferata, The Catechism Simply Explained (London: Bums Oates & Washbourne, 10th revised edition, 1932), p. 1 . 3 19 John P J. Twomey (edilor), SI Bede 's College, 191 1-1986, 751h Jubilee (Christchurch: 75th Jubilee Committee, 1986), pp. 29, 89; cf NZ Tablet, 10 June 1931, p. 23. 320 Mary Gouller in the Month, 19 November 1929, p. 21 . 321 NZ Tablet, 14 October 1931 , p. 22; 25 November 1936, p. 23. 210 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? considered the "Catholicising of the curriculum" by the incorporation of appropriate history, literature, music and art.322 Catholic primary schools did not have to teach history but this was merely an application of the long-established provision for parents to withdraw their children from history classes even at state schools; Catholic teachers sometimes devised their own history programme.323 The Catholic Schools Journal, according to its editor Paul Kavanagh, offered pupils "the full and true version of history" and brought "a Catholic atmosphere even to geography", making children proud of their Catho�ic heritage by describing the role of the Church in the discovery and development of "every known land" . Catholic children used the Journal for their Proficiency examinations.324 Efforts to incorporate Catholic material into the state curriculum, however, left the basic structure unchanged. At St Anne's school, Newtown, the day finished at 3:30 rather than three o'clock because half an hour was spent on religious instruction at noon.325 According to Cleary, Catholic schools were not really "private" since in them the State curriculum of secular instruction is fully taught, under State inspection, by teachers holding State certificates. They are thus doing State work under State conditions. As such they are, in a very real sense, State schools.326 This argument, of course, was advanced in the context of Catholic claims for a fair share of state funds - in this case the provision of dental care on the same basis as in public schools - but that does not impair its essential validity. According to the Month, Catholic schools "should not be penalised for adding practical Christianity to the State curriculum of secular subjects. "327 Speaking at a school opening in 1927, Liston asserted that Catholic schools formed "a sound and healthy part of our national system of education" and that their 322 NZTablet. 26 May 1937, p. 6; Zealandia, 3 June 1937, p. 5 . 323 NZTablet. 14 October 1931 , p. 22; 25 May 1932, p. 22; cf Education Act ( 1877), section 84 (1) and Education Act (1914), section 56 (3). History was an optional subject in the Proficiency . examination - JL. Ewing, Development of the New Zealand Primary School Curriculum, 1877- 1970 (Wellington: NZCER, 1970). pp. 1 37-138, 168. 324 NZ Tablet, 30 May 1934. p. 9. 325 Aim. p. 7. However, some addilional lime was spent on preparation for the children's first Communion, especially in the preceding week, and in preparation for the annual Easter ceremonies (Mary Scully, interview. 24 January 1989). 326 Month, 15 July 1921, p. 13 ; cf 15 September 1920, p. 17; 20 April 1926, p. 17. For the use of this argument by other Catholics, see NZ Tablet. 15 March 1923. p. 17; 19 February 1930, p. 47; Month. 15 March 1927, p. 22; 1 8 February 1930. p. 17; 1 February 1934, p. 15. 327 Month, 17 February 1925, p. 37. -- ------------- p Educating Catholic Citizens 211 course of studies is New Zealand, for every Catholic school in the Dominion, while following its own spirit and traditions, follows the appointed syllabus of the Education Department. Its ideals are New Zealand, for the Catholic school teaches children to love their native country and has contributed its full share to the building up of our fair land.328 For most of the school day, Catholic schools concentrated on the state syllabus, even, some feared, at the expense of religious instruction. Kelly was concerned that the pupils were not being taught religion as well as their secular subjects and even whether the teachers themselves were adequately informed.329 John Vibaud SM feared that the pressures of the state syllabus and the "examination fetish" led to greater concern with preparing children for employment than for life as Catholics.33o His judgment may have been unduly harsh (except in the assumption that schools run by the Society of Mary were exempt from the criticism) but there seems to have been some basis for his concerns. In 1 9 1 8, Brodie reminded his clergy that "religious instruction should never be omitted from the daily school curriculum".33'! The bishops found it necessary in 1 937 to direct teachers to spend the full two and a half hours allocated to religious instruction each week.332 Like state schools, Catholic schools sought to inculcate a sense of patriotism in their pupils. To be registered under the 1 92 1 Education Amendment Act, a private school had to satisfy government inspectors that it made "suitable provision ... for the inculcation in the minds of the pupils of sentiments of patriotism and loyalty".333 The Catholic Schools Journal bore the motto "For God and Country" and featured articles on George V and Edward VII.334 According to Mary Warren, a pupil at St Patrick's Convent, Auckland, 328 Month, 17 May 1927, p. 13 . 329 NZ Tablet, 10 November 1921 , p . 14; 24 November 1921 , p . 15 . 330 John Vibaud, "Marist Fathers and New Zealand" (unpublished typescript. no date but evidently written during the late 1920s or early 1930s, MAW), p. 23. 331 Christchurch Diocesan Synods, Minutes Book, Synod of 12 January 1918, CCDA. 332 Minutes of the bishops' meeting, April 1937, CCDA. 333 Education Amendment Act ( 1921), Clause 7, Statutes o/New Zealand (Wellington: New Zealand Government, 192 1), pp. 261 -262. Since, according to Education Minister C.J. Parr, all denominational schools were registered before the passage of the Act, (NZPD, 1921, vol. 191, p. 932), this provision probably does not reflect government doubts about the loyalty of Catholic teachers. For the background to this legislation, see Roger Openshaw, " 'A Spirit of Bolshevism' : The Weitzel Case of 1921 and Its Impact on the New Zealand Educational System", Political Science, 33/2 (December 198 1 ) 127-139. 334 NZ Catholic Schools Journal, May 1935, part I, pp. 50-53, part II, pp. 51-52, part III, pp. 98-103; February 1936, parts I and II, supplement, part III supplement; February 1937, part I, pp. 10-12; part II, pp. 2-4, part III, pp. 2-5. -------------- ---- - - -- --- - - 212 .- - ----- -- - ---_ . _ - ---- - -_ ._ - Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? Loyalty to country is no less an obligation than is loyalty to God, and every Catholic school instructs its children on this subject from their earliest childhood.335 The Catholic hierarchy of Australasia declared in 1936 that, "Our children are taught that they cannot be good Catholics unless they be good citizens."336 According to Father D.H. Hurley, Catholic schools were established for the formation of "upright citizens who know and love God" and "who love their country as their home and fatherland."33? The war record of St Patrick's College and other schools was seen as evidence of their success in training loyal ci tizens. 338 As a means of cultivating the ideals of loyal citizenship, the cadet system had as important a role in Catholic schools as it did in state schools and was regularly reported on in the Church press.339 While the Presbyterian Church debated the propriety of having military cadets in Christian schools, during the mid- 1930s, the Catholic Church seems to have had no such scruples.34o St Patrick's College cadets provided the guard of honour at the official opening of Parliament in 1932.341 Having reviewed the rationale and content of Catholic education, it is appropriate to consider how effectively the ideal of educating all Catholic children in Church schools was implemented. Table 3 . 1 shows that the number of Catholic primary schools rose considerably during the 1920s, although the increase in enrolment was less dramatic and, during the 1 930s, the rate of increase was much slower.342 Financial 335 Month, 1 November 1932, p. 8. 336 NZTablet, 9 December 1936, p. 29. 337 NZTablet, 5 June 1935, p. 7. 338 NZTablet, 12 June 1919, p. 19; Month, 15 October 1929, p. 20; 20 May 1930, p. iii; H. Laracy, "Priests, People and Patriotism: New Zealand Catholics and War, 1914-1918, Australasian Catholic Record, 70/1 (January 1993), pp. 19-20; cf NZ Tablet, 1 December 1926, p. 19 (Marist Brothers' School, Invercargill); 26 June 1940, p. 34 (St Kevin's College, Oamaru). 339 NZTablet, 31 July 1 919, p. 19; 12 August 1920, p. 27; 23 September 1920, p. 22; 3 1 March 1926, p. 27; 16 March 1927, p. 29; 29 November 1933, p. 7; 28 February 1934, p. 34; 20 February 1935, p. 7; 18 November 1936, p. 7; Zealam/ia, 25 October 1934, p. 3; 23 May 1935, pp. 3, 5; 2 January 1 936, p. 3; Marist Messenger, 1 April 1935, p. 7. 340 MN. Garing, "Against the Tide: Social, Moral and Political Questions in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, 1 840-1970" (unpublished PhD. thesis in Religious Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, 1989), pp. 514-5 15. 341 Evening Post, 24 February 1932, p. 1 1 ; Marist Messenger, 2 May 1932, p. 29. 342 Until 1932, the New Zealand Official Year-Book included a quinquennial table of statistics on Catholic primary education; in subsequent years, only one year's figures were recorded. For the period from 1886 to 1950, these statistics have been collated in Akenson, pp. 170-171 . Unfortunately, the author omitted lhe enrolment figures from 1919 to 1930, though they were available, for example, in the Year-Books for 1925 (p. 222), 1930 (p. 232) and 1932 (p. 187). Educating Catholic Citizens ------- --- " -- " "- 213 constraints during the Depression no doubt restricted the further expansion of Catholic education, though the bishops encouraged the continuation of the Church's building programme as a means of providing employment.343 More important reasons for the lower rate of expansion in the 1930s were probably the fulfilment of the most urgent needs (in the more populated areas) and the diversion of resources into secondary education.344 In 1 936, the Marist Messenger boasted with some justification that, "Our parochial school system is one of the grandest achievements of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, to which we can point with pride. "345 Table 3.1 Registered Catholic Schools, 1919-1939 1919 Primary 1929 1939 Secondary 1929 1939 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of Schools 152 208 229 25 35 Increase in Schools 56 21 10 Percentage Increase 37 10 40 December Roll 17, 169 22,126 24, 102 1 ,634 2,845 Roll Increase 4,957 1 ,976 1 ,2 1 1 Percentage Increase 29 9 74 Average Roll 1 1 3 106 105 65 81 Sources: Numbers of schools and enrolments in New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1920-21, p. 146; Education reports, A1HR, 1930, vol. II, E.-2, p. 8; E.-6, p. 23; 1940, vol. II, E.-2, p. 16; E.-6, pp. 29-30. Catholic secondary education was much slower to develop.346 However, there was a marked increase in enrolments during the 1930s and the figures given in the table 343 Month, 1 July 1931 , p. 9; NZTablet, 8 July 1931, p. 43. 344 It was Church policy to build a school wherever there were at leasfforty pupils (NZ Tablet, 12 February 1930, p . 47). 345 Marist Messenger, 1 February 1936, p. 9. 346 The earliest detailed government statistics for registered private secondary schools are those for 1928 (A1HR, 1929, vol. II , E.-6, p. 31), although an official "Register of Private Schools" was published annually in tlle NZ Gazette. The list for 1919 (ibid. , 18 August 1919, pp. 2,641-2,647) includes eleven Catllolic secondary schools, all of which served as primary schools as well. The annual editions of the ACD included statistics on Catholic education for the preceding year but they were not published in a uniform format and contain inconsistencies (compare, for example, the figures given on page 259 of the 1930 directory witll references to the same schools on pages 255- 257). 214 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? exclude a substantial number of secondary level pupils receiving a Catholic education at schools which were not registered as secondary schools.347 The Catholic educational ideal, it was said, required not merely primary but also secondary education in Church schools.348 Recalling his experience of canvassing for St Bede's and St Patrick's Colleges, Cecil Knight SM noted that Catholics were slower than other members of the community to recognize the value of secondary education. 349. This can be explained in part by the inclusion in the Catholic community of a high proportion of working class families, who may have been less ambitious for their children. The establishment, maintenance and staffing of private secondary schools, moreover, was an expensive enterprise for a community of limited resources. According to two principals of Catholic boys' schools, Father Gilbert and Brother Borgia, the provision of Catholic boys ' secondary schools was much less adequate than that for girls.35o However, while there were more schools for girls than for boys, the existence of several large boys' schools brought the total enrolment of boys close to the total for girls. Of the thirty-five registered schools in 1939, for example, twenty­ three taught 1 ,493 girls and twelve taught 1 ,352 boys.35I There were scarcely any Catholic technical schools and non-academic pupils were naturally attracted to state institutions.352 According to Duggan, children who attended Catholic primary schools 347 Of ten schools with secondary pupils in the Christchurch diocese in 1929. for example, four were not included in the list of registered secondary schools (ACD. 1930, p. 259; AlHR, 1930, vol. II, E.- 6, p. 23). 348 Month, 2 February 193 1 . p. 14; NZTablet, 29 September 1926, p. 33. Thomas Gilbert SM called for an effort to establish Catholic secondary schools comparable to that which had resulted in the formation of the primary school system (NZ Tablet, 3 May 1923. pp. 23-26). 349 "Reminiscences of Father Knight SM" (unpublished typescript by M.C. Larkin SM. August 1967), pp. 91 , 93. 350 NZTablet, 3 May 1923. p. 26; Month. 15 December 1923. p. 7 . 351 At the opening of the Marist Brothers' Training College. Tuakau. Archdeacon Holbrook argued that the number of Catholic schools could be doubled if there were enough brothers available (NZ Tablet, 3 1 March 1926, p. 43). However. the larger number of secondary schools for girls cannot be explained solely by the lack of teaching brothers and priests in comparison with the much larger number of nuns in New Zealand. Ninety-three women staffed the girls' secondary schools in 1939 while sixty-nine men staffed the boys' schools; the staff to pupil ratios were 1: 16 and 1 : 19 respectively (figures calculated from A1HR. 1940. vol. II. E.-6. pp. 29-30). Almost all Catholic primary school teachers were nuns and it would appear that small secondary girls' schools developed where there were already primary schools run by convents. 352 In 1939, there were only two registered Catholic technical schools - both in Auckland and both for girls. They are included in the secondary school statistics cited above. p Educating Catholic Citizens 215 were "frequently sent to non-Catholic schools for their secondary training".353 After paying for a Catholic primary education, many parents no doubt felt justified in taking advantage of the free education offered by the state.354 Sister M. Bertrille of St Benedict's Convent feared that in such cases the good achieved by a religious primary education would be undone.355 Naturally, Catholic authorities were not content merely to build and maintain schools: they also sought to persuade parents of the need to place "Every Catholic child in a Catholic school".356 From the pulpit and through the Catholic press, parents were reminded of the Church's views on education.357 Most of the material cited in this discussion originally served as propaganda for Catholic education. Eternal values, rather than the hope of social advancement through attendance at prestigious non­ Catholic schools, were the best guide for parents' choices of their children's education.358 According to Kelly, there was "laughter in hell at the airs of .. . parents" who preferred respectability to a Catholic education.359 Public examination results and reports by state appointed inspectors were emphasized to demonstrate that "our Catholic colleges are equal to any in New Zealand from the point of view of scholastic 353 NZ Tablet, 22 February 1928, p. 2 1 . Gilbert noted that an increasing number of Catholic children were attending Slale secondary schools (NZ Tablet, 3 May 1923, pp. 23. 25). 354 According to Gilbert. the award of Proficiency Certificates to children at Catholic primary schools was a mixed blessing for pupils were Wen tempted to take up the right to a free place in a state secondary school (T.A. Gilbert SM. "Evidence submitted to the Minister of Education and the Parliamentary Commission on Education at Christchurch. December 9th. 1929 ... ". p. 9. CCDA). 355 NZ Tablet, 2 1 January 1931 . p. 48; 3 June 1931 . pp. 22-23. Gilbert agreed (ibid .• 3 May 1923. p. 25). A writer to the Tablet claimed that many parents denied their children a technical education rather than risk exposing them to non-Catholic influence (NZ Tablet. 24 May 1939. p. 7). 356 NZ Tablet, 21 August 19 19. p. 33; 18 November 1925. p. 33; 29 September 1 926. p. 33; 2 May 1928. p. 6; 23 January 1929. p. 3; 20 February 1929. p. 42; 25 September 1929. p. 5; 1 1 December 1929. p. 46; 5 November 1930, p. 3; Marist Messenger. January 193 1 . p. 7; February 193 1 . p. 5 . 357 Marist Messenger. January 193 1 . p. 7; Zealandia. 3 1 January 1935. p. 4; 1 3 January 1938. p. 6; 27 January 1938. p. 6; O'Shea, circular letter to clergy, 28 January 193 1 . CCDA; Course of Catechetical lnstructionsfor the Year 1932 (Auckland: printed by Dawson Printing Co .• 193 1 ). p. 5 (24 January); Course of Catechetical lnstructions for the Year 1939 (Auckland: printed by New Zealand Newspapers, 1938). p. 3 (22 January). These booklets outlined the sermon topics for the year in the diocese of Auckland; see also the references cited in the discussion on canon law below. 358 NZ Tablet. I January 1920. p. 15 ; 8 November 1923. p. 29; 27 January 1937, p. 3; lea/andia, 31 January 1935, p . 4 ; 24 November 1935, p . 4; 3 1 December 1936. p . 4 ; 1 3 January 1938. p . 6 ; 19 January 1939, p . 4. 359 NZ Tablet, 10 May 1923. p. 1 8. 216 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration ? attainment. "360 When the government closed schools during the 1925 polio epidemic, Sister Marcella O'Neill, fearing for her pass record, secretly held her Proficiency class in different outside locations each day. 361 Fees were a problem for many Catholic parents but school fees could be waived in order to encourage parents to send their children to Catholic schools.362 As Gilbert acknowledged, "though it is not generally known, hundreds of children are educated free even in the Catholic secondary schools. "363 In some locations, trusts were established to reduce or abolish the costs of Catholic education. The most successful was the Wellington Catholic Education Board, which, having built up a capital fund of over £28,000 since 1912 , was able in 1929 to abolish fees in the eleven city schools it administered.364 Before their abolition, unpaid fees were the largest "expenditure" item in the Board's annual accounts.365 Canon law laid down that parents had a duty not only to provide for the moral and religious education of their children but also that Catholic children were not allowed to attend non-Catholic schools or those which were religiously neutral or mixed. Only the local bishop, in accordance with instructions formulated by the Apostolic See, could authorize attendance at non-Catholic schools and determine what safeguards would be required to prevent the perversion of a child's religion when a dispensation was granted.366 This rule was reaffirmed by Pius XI in 193 1 and by the Plenary 360 Marist Messenger, 1 March 1939. p. 19; cf NZ Tablet. 13 January 192 1 . supplement, pp. 3. 7; 9 December 1 925. p. 1 1 ; 17 November 1926. p. 30; 1 December 1926. p. 41 ; 1 8 January 1928. p. 49; 25 January 1928. supplement, p. 1; 23 January 1929. p. 3; 1 1 February 1 93 1 . pp. 3. 46; 1 5 February 1933. p. 41 ; 22 January 1 936, p. 3; 1 9 February 1936. p. 1 1 ; 28 October 1 936. p. 27; 16 December 1 936. p. 6; 9 February 1 938. p. 6; Month. 1 5 December 1 923. p. 18; 1 6 February 1926. p. 9; 16 March 1926. p. 25; 17 January 1 928. p . 25; 1 8 December 1 928. pp. 2 1 -23; 1 January 193 1 . p. 10; 2 March 1931 . p. 33; Zealandia. 3 1 January 1 935, p. 4; 24 November 1 935. p. 4; 23 September 1937, p. 4. 361 W J. Butler. in Carol Peters-Slinn (editor), Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions. Nelson. New Zealand . .. 1871-1971 (Nelson: Nelson Printers). p. 63. 362 NZ Tablet. 28 December 1932. p. 4 (Brother M.M. O·Connor. Principal of the Christian Brothers' School. Dunedin); 13 January 1 932. p. 42 (Father A. Burger. Rector of St Bede's); Sister Mary Daniel. interview. 9 April 1 990. 363 NZ Tablet. 29 January 1930. supplement, p. 3; cf 3 May 1923. p. 23 and Gilbert, "Evidence". p. 5. 364 Evening Post, 3 December 1 928. p. 10; NZ Tablet, 4 December 1 929. p. 43. 365 See, for example. "Wellington Catholic Education Trust Board. Report and Statement of Accounts, 1927-1928", WCAA. . This report covered the last full year before the abolition of fees. 366 CIC. canons 1 1 1 3 and 1374. . - . . - . . _-- .-.--�,::.....o .,..;,;..;;.:.a� __ .... �:--.."""" _ ...... � ..... __ _ ." _ " .. . . . Educating Catholic Citizens 217 Council of Australia and New Zealand which was held in Sydney in 1 937.367 Parents were often reminded of the requirements of canon law.368 In 1 925, the bishops of New Zealand agreed to refuse sacramental absolution to parents who sent their children to state primary schools, but to take no action in the case of secondary schools - for the present369 The threat was carried out: during a 1927 parish mission in Puhoi, for example, two Catholics were denied Communion because they sent their children to a state schoo}.37o Being debarred from the sacraments did not involve excommunication per se, but rather the withholding of absolution from the unrepentant; such a Catholic would not be fit to receive Holy Communion. As the Marist Messenger pointed out, it was a "grievous sin" to send one's children to a public school when a suitable Catholic school was available.37 1 Catholics in the Wellington archdiocese were warned in 1930 that the policy would apply in future to both primary and secondary schools.372 Priests were advised that the rule would be "strictly enforced" and parents had to apply to their parish priest to obtain permission from the archbishop if they thought there were sound reasons for sending their children to a non-Catholic schoo1.373 Permission would be granted for attendance at day schools only if no suitable Catholic school was within reach and as long as "safeguards against the loss of faith were insisted on". Pupils would have to attend the sacraments and carry out their religious duties regularly as well as joining 367 Pius XI, "Rappresentanti in Terra", paragraphs 34 and 79; Concilium Plena rum N Australiae et Novae Zelandiae, Habitum Apud Sydney, Anno Domini 1937, Editio OjJicialis (Manly: printed by the Manly Daily Pty, n.d., c. 1939), decree 625. 368 St Joseph's parish notices, 21 January 1934, 2 February 1936, 14 February 1937, 30 January 1938, WCAA; NZ Tablet, 13 June 1918, p. 25; 3 May 1923, p. 25 (Gilbert); 24 April 1924, p. 26 (Whyte); 1 1 November 1925, p. 29 (Redwood); 24 February 1926, p. 29 (Brodie); 3 November 1926, p. 30 (Redwood); 16 November 1927, p. 30 (Whyte); 2 May 1928, p. 6 (reprinted extract); 5 September 1928, p. 6; 20 February 1929, p. 42 (Whyte); 23 January 1929, p. 3; 6 November 1929, p. 5; 22 January 1936, p. 3; 9 December 1936, p. 1 1 ; 27 January 1937, p. 3; 8 February 1939, p. 5; cf. Zealandia, 24 May 1935, p. 10. 369 Minutes of bishops' meeting, 6 May 1925, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1-5. 370 "Record of Marist Missions" (1908-1928), May 1927, MAW. 371 Marist Messenger, 1 February 1936, p. 9; cf. Redwood's reference to "grave sin" (NZ Tablet, 3 November 1926, p. 30) and Con cilium Plenarum, decree 628, which states that offending parents "sin mortally" (mortaliter peccant). 372 Month, 18 February 1930, p. 29; NZ Tablet, 5 March 1930, p. 48; St Joseph's parish notices, 26 January 1930, WCAA. 373 O'Shea, circular letter to clergy, 28 January 1930, WCAA. A year later, parish priests were authorized to give permission themselves in clearly justified cases, but they had to inform the Chancery Office of the dispensation (O'Shea, circular letter to clergy, 28 January 1931, CCDA). 218 ---------- - . _- Chapter Three: lsD/at ion or 1ntegration? appropriate pious sodalities. They were not to attend religious observances at non­ Catholic schools. In practice, parents of boys were sent to the rector of St Patrick's and, if their circumstances required it, were offered free tuition. Impecunious parents of girls, however, were allowed to send their daughters to Wellington Girls' College and children could enrol at the Technical College for courses not available in Catholic schools.374 The proportions of Catholic children attending Church schools and state schools can only be approximated. Between 1 927 and 1 93 1 , Liston variously estimated the number of Catholic children in state schools between 14,000 and 17 ,000.375 These figures were presumably intended to include secondary school pupils but a somewhat more accurate estimate can be made by isolating primary pupils since they had to attend school whereas it is impossible to distinguish on the basis of the available statistics between Catholics who attended a non-Catholic secondary school and those of similar age who had left school. According to a 1 925 report on the Wellington archdiocese, 7 ,000 out of 10,000 Catholic primary school children attended the Church's schools, most of the remaining 3,000 living in rural areas without access to Catholic schools.376 The census reports for 1 926 and 1 936 record the number of Catholic children between aged from five to nine years and from ten to thirteen years (inclusive).377 Together, these two age groups can be taken as approximating the primary school age group, giving a total of 33, 148 Catholic primary school pupils in 374 McRae to Brodie, 15 January 1936, CCDA; cf. S t Joseph's parish notices, 16 February 1930, 1 February 193 1 , WCAA. In these instances, the parish priest himself could give permission - which suggests that such cases were quite numerous. 375 Month, 17 May 1927, p. 13; 18 February 1930, p. 17; 2 February 193 1 , p. 15 ; NZTablet, 19 February 1930, pp. 47, 50; 19 March 1930, p. 46. Liston's figures belie Akenson's assumption that "the last thing the authorities of the Catholic church wished to do was pubJicise the fact that not all Catholic children were in Catholic schools" (Akenson, p. 17 1). On the basis of some very rough calculations, Kelly thought that "about half the children of Catholic parents are still going to non­ Catholic schools" - that is over 23,000 pupils (NZ Tablet, 5 November 1930, p. 3). He calculated the total enrolment at Catholic schools as 23,294 (22, 126 primary and 1 ,568 secondary, which actually comes to 23,694) or "one eighth of our total numbers", whereas, in the community as a whole, one flfth of the population was at school. Since Catholic families were larger, Kelly argued, one quarter of the Catholic population or double the present level, should be at school. 376 Quinquennial report. archdiocese of Wellington, 1921 -1925, item 91, WCAA (Latin and English versions). It was also said that of 5,000 children of secondary school age, 2,500 attended Catholic secondary schools, while some of the remainder attended state secondary or technical schools but most had left school. 377 NZ Census, 1926, vol. VIII, p. 32; 1936, vol. VI, pp. 20, 22. �- . Educating Catholic Citizens 219 1926 and 34,008 in 1936.378 In December 1926, there were 2 1 , 137 pupils enrolled at Catholic primary schools and in December 1936, there were 23,728.379 On the basis of these figures, it would seem that about 64 per cent of Catholic primary school pupils attended their Church's schools in 1926 and about 70 per cent in 1936.380 If about two thirds of Catholic children attended Catholic primary schools - and the proportion was increasing - the policy of requiring children to attend Catholic schools was quite successful. Nevertheless, more than one third of Catholics had some experience of state education, whether at the primary or secondary level. Liston estimated that forty per cent of Catholic school children attended public schools; he was probably about right, though some of these children would have been secondary pupils who had already attended Catholic primary schools.381 There was a degree of antagonism towards Catholic schools in some sections of the community, but respectable opinion generally acknowledged that Catholic schools made a valuable contribution to society. In an unusually extreme display of hostility towards Catholic schools, workmen employed by the Hastings Borough Council threw hot tar at convent school children in September 19 1 8.382 Catholic and state school children commonly exchanged insults: Catholic dogs Jump like frogs, Don't eat meat on Friday. Protestant dogs Jump like frogs, Do eat meat on Friday.383 378 In 1936, there were 2,1 74 thirteen year olds enrolled at private primary schools (not all of which were Catholic), but there were more fourteen year olds at private secondary schools than at private primary schools (A.lHR, 1937, E.-2, pp. 24, 51) . 379 AlHR, 1927, vol. II , E.-2, p. 7; 1937. vol. I I . E.-2, p. 23 . 380 Akenson (p. 1 7 1 ) estimates that 58 per cent of Catholic children attended Catholic primary schools in 1926 but, despite references to official statistics. fails to indicate how this figure was calculated. 381 Month, 2 February 193 1 , p. 1 5 . 382 NZTablet. 7 November 1918, pp. 30-3 1 . 383 Dan Davin, "The Apostate" in Selected Stories (Wellington: Victoria University Press with Price Milburn, 1981), p. 23. Jamelie Joseph (interview, 30 May 199 1 ) recalls hearing the rhyme directed against Catholics (in Dunedin), but not the Catholic response. There were variants on this theme: growing up in PalmerslOn North, Beryl Bartlett was subjected to cries of "Catholic dogs eat frogs every Friday morning" - "Recollections, Impressions, Opinions and a few Facts, in the parish of St Patrick's Church, Palmerston North (and environs)", vol. 5, p. 1 87, manuscript in Miss Bartlett's possession. 220 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration ? Sometimes name-calling led on to stone-throwing or fighting.384 Adult opponents of Catholic schools tended to reject other forms of private education as well. William Earnshaw MLC declared in Parliament that, If I had my way there would be no private school in New Zealand. I would have only the State school. 385 Against the background of sectarian tension during and immediately after the First World War, the Protestant Political Association (in which Earnshaw had played an important role) and the New Zealand Educational Institute sought to have all government concessions to private schools withdrawn.386 The efforts of state primary school teachers to boycott Catholic school sports teams have already been discussed. During most of the interwar period, however, public and private schools enjoyed amicable exchanges. At the opening of Redcastle College, Oamaru, Frank Milner, Rector of Waitaki Boy's High School . "promised cordial co-operation in scholastic work and in the sporting field" ; the pledge was ful filled.387 Catholics naturally welcomed indications that other denominations were also interested in establishing schools, seeing in this a vindication of their own policy.388 The common interests of Catholic and other denominational schools were recognized by the establishment in 1927 of an Association of Registered Secondary Schools.389 Gilbert was elected Vice­ President and Brother Benignus of Sacred Heart College was one of the Association's two representatives on the University Entrance Board.39o Civic digni taries, national politicians. governors-general and even representatives of the state education system often attended Catholic school openings and other 384 Interviews with Fred Scully (21 January 1989) and Patrick Sheehan (1 1 April 1990). both referring to Sydenham. 385 NZPD, 1929. vol. 223. p. 717; cf A.R. AtJdnson's assertion that "public opinion has been for all these years set against denominationalism" (lLC. 1926. "Religious Exercises in Schools Petitions Committee", pp. 14-15). 386 See chapter six below. 387 Month. 15 February 1927. p. 22; NZ Tahlet. 9 February 1927. pp. 3D, 35; 21 December 1927. p. 25; 19 December 1928. p. 48; 12 February 1930. p. 52; 21 July 1937. p. 7; Zealandia, 6 December 1934. p. 9. 388 NZ Tablet, 16 May 1918 . p. 15 ; 18 July 1918. pp. 14-15; 1 August 1918. p. 18; 12 September 1918, p. 14; 20 March 19 19. p. 43; 1 1 September 1919. p. 25; 25 September 1919. pp. 25-26; 23 September 1920, p. 21 ; 1 3 January 1921 . p. 28; 3 May 1923. p. 26; 1 1 September 1929. p. 3; 19 February 1930, p . 47; 3 February 1937. p. 34; Month. 15 August 1919. p. 18; 15 March 1920. p. 4; 15 October 1920, p. 17; 18 February 1930. p . 17 ; 5 July 1930. p. 21 . 389 NZ Tablet. 25 January 1928. supplement. p . 1 ; cf ibid. , 5 January 1927, p. 15 (Brother Borgia advocating such an organization). 390 Marist Messenger. June 193 1 . p. 12; Month. 2 August 1930. p. 27. - . -- �- -.. -- - ---.--�... ...-- -� - . . --.-..-- - .- ----...---". Educating Catholic Citizens 221 functions. When Mayor C. Blenkhorn and his wife attended the opening of an infant school in Levin, Dr Arthur McRae expressed his pleasure at this evidence of "the cordial relations existing between the Catholic community and civic authorities".391 At the opening of a new wing at St Bede's in Christchurch, the city's Baptist Mayor, the Rev. J.K. Archer, endorsed a speech by Redwood on the aims of Catholic education.392 The Christian Brothers' college in Auckland was opened in the presence of the Mayor, Sir Ernest Davis and Attorney General H.G.R. Mason.393 When a new school was opened at Westport, the platform included, among others, the Mayor (I.H. Harkness), H.E. Holland MP, W.H. McIntyre MLC, the Principal of the Public School (Mr Wilmott), the Director of the Technical School (J. Metson), and the Chairman of the Public School Committee (G.H. Gothard).394 The opening of St Joseph's School in New Plymouth was attended by the Mayor, F.E. Wilson, representatives of the Taranaki Education Board (PJ.H. \yhite and N.R. McKenzie) and Education Minister R.A. Wright.395 In 1930, Education Minister Harry Atmore visited a number of Catholic schools in Christchurch and congratulated the authorities on the high standard of the, buildings and equipment. 396 While elected officials courted the Catholic vote, Catholics themselves craved the respectability conferred on their education system by visiting dignitaries and used the opportunity to emphasize their loyalty as citizens. St Patrick's College, Silverstream, was opened by Lord Bledisloe, in the presence of Prime Minister Forbes and other leading politicians and educationalists. The Rector, Father J.W. Dowling, was applauded when he declared the school's aim to be making its students "not only good Christians, but also worthy citizens, whose loyalty to King and country is no mere sentiment, but is proved by deeds whenever the occasion demands." In a similar vein, Bledisloe advised the pupils of the college to "Take a proper pride in your Empire, in your fair country, in your old School, and above all in yourselves."397 In the course of a vice-regal visit to St Mary's Convent School in Auckland, the New Zealand National 391 NZTablet, 12 June 1929. p. 47. 392 NZ Tablet. 20 May 1925. pp. 27-29� cf Month, 16 June 1925, p. 7. 393 NZ Tablet. 8 February 1 939. p. 46. 394 NZ Tablet. 4 March 193 1 . p. 46. 395 NZ Tablet, 17 November 1926, pp. 25. 27; Month. 16 November 1926, p. 34. 396 NZ Tablet, 19 February 1930, p. 50. 397 NZ Tablet. 25 March 193 1, pp. 46-48; Month, 1 April 1931 , pp. 13-15; Marist Messenger, May 1931 , pp. 12- 14. 222 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? Anthem was sung twice and the address of welcome by head girl Myra Kemble stressed the theme of loyalty to the King.398 School cadets formed a guard of honour when governors-general visited boys' schools.399 Towards the end of his term, Bledisloe wrote a letter of farewell which was printed in the Catholic Schools Journal. The Journal also reported his address to a gathering of 1 0,000 children in Newton Park, Wellington, the day before his departure.4OO Elected officials and governors-general were not the only non-Catholics who showed their approval of Catholic educational efforts. Non-Catholic citizens often expressed their' support by attending the laying of foundation stones or school opening ceremonies.401 At the opening of a new school at Waipukurau, O'Shea interpreted "the presence of non-Catholic friends" as "an indication of the good spirit prevalent between Catholics and non-Catholics.''402 Mayor George Wildish, at the opening of a Marist Brothers' school in Gisborne, expressed the good wishes of local Protestants for the new schoo1.403 Non-Catholics often assisted in fund-raising activities for Catholic schools, especially, but not exclusively, in rural areas.404 When the foundation stone of the new Catholic school in Te Aroha was laid in 1929, Cleary acknowledged "the very real assistance given by the non-Catholics of Te Aroha, who, he was glad to say, were above sectarian considerations when it came to giving the children the start in life to 398 NZ Tablet 10 August 1932. p. 23; Month. 1 August 1 932. pp. 9-10. 399 Sir Charles Fergusson at the Christian Brothers' School, Dunedin (NZ Tablet, 25 November 1925, p. 31 ; Month, 15 December 1925, pp. 17. 22); Lord Bledisloe at Sacred Heart College, Auckland (Month, 1 August 1932, p. 8; NZ Tablet. 20 July 1932, p. 42); Viscount Galway at St Patrick's College, Silverstream (NZ Tablet, 10 November 1937. p. 7). 400 NZ Catholic Schools Journal, Part III, October 1934. pp. 226-228; April 1935, pp. 76-78; cf. Zealandia, 27 September 1934, p. 4; NZ Tablet. 26 September 1934, p. 6. The Catholic Teachers' conference in Dunedin passed a resolution thanking B1edisloe for his interest in the Catholic schools NZ Tablet, 30 January 1935. p. 7; Marist Messenger, 1 April 1935, p. 33). The Zealandia (27 September 1934, p. 4; 14 March 1935, p. 4) was grateful for Bledisloe's endorsement of Catholic education. 401 NZ Tablet, 19 November 1924, p. 26 (Leeston); 31 March 1926, p. 41 (Tuakau); 1 December 1926, p. 17 (Gisbome); Month, 15 December 1923, p. 17 (Onehunga); 1 February 1932, p. 22 (Helensville). 402 NZTablet, 1 December 1926, p. 41 . 403 Month, 15 March 1927, p . 22. 404 NZTablet, 29 May 1919, p. 33 (Pahiatua); 26 July 1923. p. 27 (Eltham); 24 April 1924, p. 26 (Invercargill); 17 November 1926. p. 27 (New Plymouth); 12 February 1930, p. 47 (Papanui); 19 March 1930, p. 46 (Matamata); 14 May 1930, p. 47 (Manaia); 28 May 1930, p. 47 (Matamata, Te Aroha and Morrinsville); 2 November 1931 . p. 42 (Nelson); Month, 15 December 1923, p. 23 (Thames). .... Educating Catholic Citizens 223 which they were entitled."405 All the furniture in the new Grey Lynn convent - which accommodated fifty boarders in addition to the nuns - was paid for by Geo�ge H. Foster, an Anglican.406 Some non-Catholics even sent their children to Catholic schools in preference to the free state schools.407 Gilbert noted in 1921 that there were two non-Catholic boys at St Patrick's, one of whom had won the Christian Doctrine prize.408 The enrolment of non-Catholics had to be limited, though, in order to maintain a Catholic environment. Whyte wrote in a report on his diocese that there were Protestants at many of the Church's schools, but no more than three or four in each school of 60 to 80 pUpilS.409 In providing its own schools, the Church did not seek to alienate Catholic children from their non-Catholic peers. On the contrary, Catholic education aimed to prepare children for respectable participation in the wider society. At the ceremony to lay the foundation stone of St Bede's, Dean Peter Regnault declared that, "The children at this college should be trained on the lines of the highest and noblest ideals, so that they would grow up to be Christian gentlemen able to take part honorably in the private and public life of New Zealand. "4 10 Liston held that Catholic schools were "not set up in order to keep Catholic boys and girls away from other New Zealanders or to raise up a sectarian people to be strangers in their own l and. "4 1 1 0' Shea, too, denied that Catholics ran their own schools "out of uncharitableness or exclusiveness" : it was simply a matter of conviction that religion had to be central to education.412 At the 1 932 reunion of the Sacred Heart College Old Boy's Association (as in other years), 405 NZ Tablet, 19 June 1929, p. 48; cf Month, 18 February 1930, p. 1 5 for Father W.J. Forde's sentiments at the opening of the school. 406 Month, 1 5 November 1922, pp. 13 , 1 5; cf 15 November 1923, p. 1 1 and Anne Marie Power RSJ, Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. New Zealand Story. 1883-1983 (Auckland: S isters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart., 1983). p. 147. The old convent had burnt down in suspicious circumstances - see chapter five below. 407 Aim. p. 2 (referring to St Annc's. Newtown). 408 NZ Tablet. 13 January 192 1 , supplement, p. 1 . 409 Quinquennial report, Diocese of Dunedin, May 1927. item 55. DCDA. 410 NZ Tablet, 27 Fcbruary 19 19. p. 2 1 . 4 1 1 NZ Tablet. 1 9 February 1930, p . 47; cf Month. 1 7 May 1927, p . 1 3 ; 1 8 February 1930, p. 17. Pius XI taught that Catholic schools did not seek to separate their pupils from the nation to which they belonged but that. on the contrary, Catholic principles made them better citizens who were submissive to civil authority ("Rappresentanti in Terra", paragraph 85). 412 NZ Tablet, 31 August 1 932, p. 6; for a similar statement by Gilbert, see 1 2 February 1930, p. 47. 224 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? there were present representatives of non-Catholic boys' secondary schools in Auckland, otably Auckland Grammar School, King's College and Prince Albert College. Proposing a toast to these "Kindred Associations", Dr Leonard Buxton noted that they were all doing similar work, albeit with their own methods and ideals.41 3 Sacred Heart College representatives attended a King's College reunion the fol lowing year and other Catholic former pupils' associations had similar relationships with the former pupils of non-Catholic schools.414 The editor of the Press asserted in 1921 that there was "no shadow of foundation" for the view that private schools fostered religious antagonisms.415 Catholic schools existed in a state of tension between criticizing public education and having to imitate it. Attendance at a Catholic school was a sign and a guarantee - a sacrament - of Catholic identity. According to Kelly, "A parent who does not send his children to a Catholic school is not a true Catholic".4 16 Indeed, to fol low one's private judgment in defiance of ecclesiastical authority by sending one's children to a non­ Catholic school was Protestant.417 When the bishops and clergy wanted to persuade parents of the moral and religious necessity of Catholic education, they contrasted its aims with those of state schools. The Church, it was argued, needed its own schools to educate children as Catholics, not only because the family could not achieve this task unaided but also because state schools encouraged immoral and anti-Catholic attitudes. Since morality coold not survive without a religious basis, the stability of civilization itself depended on religious education. At the same time, advocates of Catholic schooling sought to convince both parents and state officials that Catholic education achieved the same academic aims as state education and instilled at least as strong a sense of patriotic citizenship. That parents were largely convinced is demonstrated by the high proportion of young Catholics enrolled in the Church's schools. The 413 NZTablet, 15 June 1932, p. 42; Month. 1 July 1932. p. 25 ; cf Month. 20 November 1928, p. 15; 10 June 1930. p. 9; Zealandia. 17 June 1937. p. 7. 414 NZ Herald. 24 July 1933. p. 1 1 ; cf NZ Tablet. 12 June 1935. p. 13 (St Kevin·s. ball in Dunedin); 7 August 1935. p. 36 (Old Boys of several Catholic schools and of Otago Boys' High School. flIDction in Dunedin); 12 August 1936. p. 7 (St Catherine·s. Invercargill); 30 December 1936. p. 7 (St Kevin's Old Boys in Christchurch); 14 July 1937. p. 6 (Marist Brothers' High School, Invercargill); 1 5 June 1938. p. 7 (St Philomena's. Dunedin); Zealandia. 27 August 1936. p. 3 (St Catherine's, InvercargilJ). 415 Press. 10 January 1921. p. 6. 416 NZ Tablet, 22 May 19 19. p. 26. 417 NZTablet, 23 January 1929. p. 3. - - - -- -- --- --- Educating Catholic Citizens -- --. . .. - ---- -�� ... _,... - .-.-.... � . ..... -.. - .-. ----- -" - 225 attendance of prominent non-Catholics at Catholic school functions bears testimony to a widespread endorsement of these goals. Although Catholic education was conducted in a religious atmosphere, its aims and content were largely taken over from the state: Catholic schools resolved the tension by adding the educational demands of religion to those of the state. The religious beliefs and practices instilled in Catholic pupils were quite distinct from those taught at state or even Protestant schools but they supplemented rather than detracted from the state school curriculum. At the Golden Jubilee celebrations for Christian Brothers in Dunedin, J.B. Callan declared that Catholic schools sought to make their pupils "good Catholics and good citizens."418 Mixed Marriage Marriages between Catholics and Protestants provide a crucial index of Catholic integration into the wider society. Wherever Protestants and Catholics lived alongside each other, mixed marriages were one of the greatest sources of anxiety for Catholic clergy seeking to maintain the religious integrity of their communities.419 In 1938, the Tablet reprinted a long extract on "The Evils of Mixed Marriages" from a pastoral letter issued by the bishops of Australia and New Zealand in 1 885: evidently little had changed.42o Despite clerical efforts to discourage mixed marriage, it will be seen, a high proportion of lay Catholics refused to allow their religion .to detennine their choice of spouse, thereby ensuring that, even within the family, Catholics were not necessarily isolated from their non-Catholic contemporaries. Seeing the family as a means of perpetuating the Catholic community and its faith, the ecclesiastical authorities feared that mixed marriages encouraged religious indifference. An article in the Marist Messenger argued that mixed marriages constituted the chief cause of "leakage" from the Church.421 According to Monsignor Power's catechetical column, "The Church is opposed to alliances with heretics because they are contrary to the dignity of the Sacrament, dangerous to salvation, and seldom happy. "422 Returning to the subject on a later occasion, the writer declared that, "The rule, which cannot be gainsaid, is that the Catholic party, so far as external 418 NZTablet. 21 April 1 926. p. 13 . 419 McLeod. p. 441 . 420 NZ Tablel. 19 January 1938. pp. 3-4. 8. 421 Marist Messenger. 1 August 1939, p. 10. 422 NZTablet, 25 January 1923, p. 4 1 . 226 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? signs go, begins very soon to grow weak in the faith. "423 The Tablet argued that Catholic spouses needed to support each other in practising their religious obligations, whereas, for example, a Catholic wife having to cook meat for her husband on a Friday would be subjected to temptation.424 Moreover, the children of a mixed marriage, in Power's view, were "likely to be brought up entirely without religion."425 "Where the mother is a non-Catholic," argued Francis Byrne in an essay expressing the accepted view, "the religious training of the children is even more difficult."426 As well as undermining religious commitment, mixed marriages were said to lead Catholics into violation of the Church 's marital ethics.427 According to Power, the Protestant party sometimes demanded co-operation in "a nameless sin" which threatened to bring about the extinction of the country, thereby treating the Catholic not as "a being to be loved, but a mere instrument of lust. "428 The same concern was expressed in a 1924 statement by the Australasian bishops and by other Catholics.429 A Zealandia columnist, to illustrate the difficulties inherent in mixed marriages, cited the case of a Catholic woman about to marry a non-Catholic who wished to use contraception until they could afford a family.43o Similarly, a Tablet columnist cited the example of a Catholic woman whose non-Catholic mother-in-law urged her to have an abortion rather than bear a third child.43 1 Mary Goulter assumed that mixed marriages were a danger to Catholics in part because non-Catholics did not believe in the permanence of mamage and would seek a divorce on the least pretext.432 According to the Tablet, "The mixed marriage is a twin evil to divorce."433 From the pUlpit and in the religious press, Catholics were repeatedly reminded of the Church's policy on mixed marriages. Liston advised priests that "no bounds 423 NZ Tablet, 14 July 1926. p. 5 1 . 424 NZTablet, 18 January 1933. p. 3 . 425 NZTablet, 14 July 1926. p. 5 1 . 426 Month, 20 May 1924, p . 29; c! 21 October 1924. p. 1 1 ; NZ Tablet, 6 January 1921 , p . 35 ; 29 February 1928, p. 6; Concilium Plenarium N. decree 453. 427 For a discussion of Catholic attitudes LO divorce and contraception, see chapter four below. 428 NZTablet, 14 July 1926, p. 5 1 . 429 Month. 18 November 1924, p. 32; NZ Tablel, 24 December 1924. p . 1 3 ; cf. Month, 15 July 1924. p. 29; 1 March 1933. p. 25. 430 Zealandia, 4 May 1939. p. 12. 431 NZ Tablet, 22 November 1939. p. 21 . 432 Month, 15 September 1921. p . 16; c! 20 January 1925. p. 13 (essay on mixed marriages). 433 NZTablet, 21 July 1926. p. 61 . Mixed Marriage 227 should be set to the zeal of a pastor in stopping them. "434 The clergy were required to preach on the subject on the second Sunday after Epiphany each year, when the story of Jesus' changing water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana was read.435 "Rosaleen", who wrote a column on "The Catholic Woman" for the Tablet, argued that there could be no happiness in a union which was not founded on "a hannony of religious belief'.436 In 1924, the Month ran two essay competitions on the problem and published the best examples.437 Many entrants emphasized the value of Catholic organizations and Church-sponsored social activities in encouraging marriage within the Catholic community, although one contributor, James Maguire, argued that it was impracticable for Catholics to attempt to isolate themselves from the rest of the community since associations formed at home and in business were more significant than those established at social events.438 Admonitions on the issue of mixed marriage were remarkably pessimistic and exponents of the official view evidently took little account of the sensibilities of those whose parents or spouses were not Catholics. Schoolchildren were taught (and presumably required to memorize) the catechism's declaration that, "The Church has always forbidden mixed marriages and considered them unlawful and pemicious."439 According to a brief entry in the Month, under the title "Alone", There is no loneliness like to the depressing loneliness of the Catholic party in a mixed marriage: alone at Mass on Sundays and holidays; alone at the altar rail; alone in the proper celebration of Christmas and Easter and the great feasts of the Church; alone at Benediction; alone at the Mission; alone in Catholic gatherings and social activities - always alone.440 A Tablet editorial asserted that "the mixed marriage is in the great majority of instances unsuccessful " . 44 1 Another article warned that a mistaken choice of marriage 434 Liston to clergy, 26 January 1 922, "CD" CLE 76- 13/5. In this, Liston was simply following canon law (ClC, canon 1064). 435 Minutes of bishops' meeting, 6 May 1925, CCDA. ACDA CLE 1-5; Conci/ium Plenarium IV, decree 451 ; NZ Tablet, 18 January 1933, p. 3; Zealandia, 13 January 1938, p. 6; 12 January 1939, p. 9; St Joseph's parish notices, 1927 (2nd Sunday after Epiphany, no date), 17 January 1937, WCAA. 436 NZ Tablet, 27 October 1926, p. 58. 437 Month, 15 January 1924, p. 29 (women's competition); 17 June 1924, p. 7 (men's competition). 438 Month, 1 8 November 1924, p. 1 1 ; c! 1 5 April 1924, pp. 29-30; 20 May 1924, p. 29; 17 June 1924, p. 29; 16 September 1924, p. 1 1 ; 21 October 1924, p. 1 1 . 439 A Catechism of Christian Doctrine No. 2 (Dunedin: NZ Tablet Co., n.d.), p. 58 (question 3 10); Cafferata, p. 159. 440 Month, 17 July 1928, p. 1 . 441 NZ Tablet, 1 8 January 1 933, p. 3 . 228 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration ? partner could only be regretted but never remedied and could entail not only "lifelong misery" for both partners but even "eternal damnation" for parents and children: How can you expect a non-Catholic to have the same lofty views of marriage that you, as a Catholic, must hold? .. . What great hope can you have of a happy married life in this world, and a happy eternity in the next, when sad experience shows that the vast majority of mixed marriages bring shipwreck to the Faith of the Catholic party and the children?442 . According to a Zealandia, columnist, "Comparatively few mixed marriages result in happiness".443 Readers were told that, "After marriage, when the glamour dulls, religious differences fester into sore spots - suppurating and open."444 Through the restrictions imposed on the solemnization of mixed marriages, the hierarchy demonstrated forcefully its strong disapproval of them. Since Easter 1 908, when the 1907 Ne Temere decree came into effect, any Catholic who married in a civil ceremony or in a Protestant church would not be recognized by the Catholic Church as being validly married.445 Catholics who proceeded to a second marriage ceremony after being married before a priest were automatically excommunicated.446 Meanwhile, the Catholic ceremony was deliberately made unattractive in the case of mixed marriages. Catholic partners were encouraged to have a full Nuptial Mass (in which "practically all of the variable parts of the Mass are adapted to the spirit of the ceremony"), and the official Nuptial Blessing which could only be given at Mass.447 Neither was available in the case of a mixed marriage.448 Such marriages were not to be solemnized before the altar: while their friends and relatives waited in the body of the church, the couple, accompanied by the priest and the witnesses, withdrew to the 442 NZ Tablet, 24 November 1937, pp. 4, 8. 443 Zealandia, 9 March 1939, p. 12. 444 Zealandia, 23 February 1939, p. 1 1 . 445 It followed that a Catholic who married before a non-Catholic minister, or in a registry office, could later obtain a civil divorce and be free to marry in a Catholic church even if the original spouse was still living (Zealandia, 2 August 1934, p. 7; Marist Messenger, 1 January 1938, p. 12). The decree was not directly concerned with mixed marriage but required Catholics to marry before their parish priest or his deputy. For the text and its interpretation, see H.W. Cleary, Catholic Marriages (Dunedin: NZ Tablet Co., 1908). The main provisions of the Ne Temere decree were incorporated into the 1917 Code of Canon Law (CIC, canons 1094-1099). 446 CIC, canons 1063 and 2319; Concilium Plenarium N, decree 460; Zealandia, 12 March 1936, p. 10; 30 December 1937, p. 10; cf 31 March 1938, p. 1 1 . 447 Liston to clergy, 26 January 1922, ACDA CLE 76-13/5; Month, 18 January 1927, p. 3; cf 20 May 1930, p. 1 ; 1 June 1931 , p. 30; NZ Tablet, 24 November 1937, pp. 4, 8. 448 Month, 15 Apri1 1924, p. 20; Marist Messenger, 1 March 1933, p. 28; Zealandia, 16 March 1939, p. 7; CIC, canons 1011-1 102. ------ - - ------ --Mixed Marriage 229 sacristy for the exchange of vows. Only in small country churches, where the sacristy was too small for a "becoming celebration" , and where the Blessed Sacrament was not kept, could the priest ask for pennission to celebrate a mixed wedding before the altar. No general pennission was to be given for this exception: the priest had to apply again in each case. There could be no music or candles at the wedding. Mter discussing these conditions in 1920, the bishops agreed to maintain a unifonn practice and "to be unyielding in the matter" .449 When the Tablet began printing a selection of Dr Rumble's answers to religious queries broadcast on Sydney's station 2SM, the first topic was "Marriage in the Sacristy". Rumble held that, "The strict law is meant to make difficulties for both parties in a mixed marriage" - it encouraged Catholics to "think twice" before fonning a relationship with a non-Catholic.45o A Child of Mary who wrote to the Marist Messenger complaining about having to marry in the sacristy was told that, "Catholics who will do what they have been taught from childhood is abhorred by the Church and considered unlawful and pernicious, must take the responsibility for the 'insult' . " The enquirer's duty was "to apologise for having caused your young man's discomforture" .45 1 Another Catholic, who wrote to the Zealandia about feeling insulted by a wedding which took place in the sacristy while he and other guests waited in the body of the church, was told that, "The law was made to impress upon Catholics that their Church disapproves of their marrying non-Catholics; and that, if they do, they cannot expect their Church to show the same enthusiasm as in the case where both parties are her children."452 Before granting a dispensation from the canon law prohibiting mixed marriages, the Church required the prospective spouses to make several promises. Both had to agree, nonnally in writing, that all children of the marriage would be baptized and brought up as Catholics, while the non-Catholic had to sign a pledge guaranteeing his or her spouse the freedom to practise the Catholic religion.453 Bringing up the children as Catholics included sending them to Catholic schools and allowing the Catholic partner the full practice of his or her religion included respecting the Catholic's 449 Minutes of bishops' meeting, 14 December 1920, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1-5. 450 NZ Tablet, 4 October 1 933, p. 33 . 451 Marist Messenger, 1 November 1937, p. 21 . 452 Zealantiia, 26 January 1939, p. 10. 453 Minutes of bishops' meetings, 6 May 1925 and 24 April 1929, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1-5; NZ Tablet, 18 January 1933, p. 3; Zealandia, 28 October 1937, p. 12; Concilium Plenarium N, pp. 171-172. 230 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? rejection of contraception.454 The Catholic partner was also required to "use every endeavour, by prayer and otherwise lawful means, to secure the conversion of the Protestant. "455 In an attempt to minimize further the dangers of mixed marriages, the non-Catholic partner could be encouraged, or required, to undertake a course of instruction in the faith. In 1922, Liston commended this practice to the clergy of the Auckland diocese and pointed out that the Catholic might also benefit from being present.456 At their 1925 meeting, the bishops felt that it would not be "prudent" to make instructions obligatory, although they gave them a firm endorsement.457 Over the ensuing years, they took a bolder line. In 1929 Brodie could report that the practice was now "in vogue" in his diocese, while the other bishops, though not yet ready to legislate on the issue, hoped that the custom would spread.458 O'Shea, however, decreed that, from Easter Sunday 1930, no dispensation for a mixed marriage would be granted unless the non-Catholic had received instruction on Catholic doctrine (especially as it pertained to marriage) from a priest, twice a week for six weeks prior to the wedding. In the course of the instructions, "the absolute prohibition of contraception" had to be "made quite clear to the non-Catholic party. "459 The clergy were advised that the twelve lessons could be reduced to a lesser number for those having to travel too far. Exemptions could be offered in cases of necessity (Casus absolutae necessitatis excipitur) but then "every effort should be made to induce the non-Catholic party to receive the instructions following the marriage. "460 Similar regulations were introduced in the other three dioceses about the same time.46 1 In Wellington, from 1936, regular classes of instruction were offered at St Mary of the Angels for both Catholics and non- 454 NZTablet, 6 April 1922, p. 19 (Whyte); Zea/andia, 18 November 1 937, p. 12. 455 NZTablet, 18 January 1933, p. 3; cf Zealandia, 6 December 1934, p. 6; CIC, canon 1062. 456 Liston to clergy� 26 January 1922, ACDA CLE 76-13/5; cf Month, 20 May 1924, p. 9 for advice to an enquirer encouraging instructions. 457 Minutes of bishops' meeting, 6 May 1925, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1-5. 458 Minutes of bishops' meeting, 24 April 1 929, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1 -5. 459 O'Shea to clergy, 28 January 1 930, WCAA (original emphasis); c! Month, 18 February 1930, p. 29 and NZ Tablet, 26 February 1 930, p. 47; St Joseph's parish notices, 9 February 1930, WCAA. 460 O'Shea to clergy, 28 January 193 1 , CCDA. 461 Proceedings of the Christchurch diocesan synod, 24 January 1930, CCDA; Minutes of bishops' meeting, 28 April 1930, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1 -5; Minutes of bishops' meeting, 29 April 1931 , CCDA; c! NZ Tablet, 18 January 1 933, p. 3 (editorial assuming that the requirement for twelve instructions was uniform throughout the country). -------_ ...... _--- -- --- --- . . Mixed Marriage Catholics. Of 79 who attended in 1937, sixteen were preparing for a mixed marriage.462 231 Disapproval of mixed marriage was by no means restricted to Catholics. Public debate on the issue was revived in 1920 by the efforts of the Protestant Political Association to promote legislation directed against the Ne Temere decree, although the PPA was itself scarcely less coercive than the Catholic Church. New members had to sign a declaration stating, "I am not married to a Romanist nor will I marry one."463 In 19 19, the Association passed a resolution warning Protestants of the undesirability of marrying a Catholic.464 Sir John Findlay, presenting the Catholic case against the proposed legislation - but not himself a Catholic - could appeal to a commonly accepted view: "The church recognizes, as we all recognize, that mixed marriages provide a poor guarantee for domestic happiness. "465 Bishop Sad lier of Nelson agreed with the Catholic Church that marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics "are harmful to religion, . and most dangerous to the fel icity of life, and are not infrequently destructive of home. " He urged Anglicans, both lay and clerical, "to make every reasonable and legitimate effort to dissuade our Church people from entering into such alliances " .466 While agreeing that marriage to Catholics was inadvisable, Protestants were offended by the detennination of the Catholic Church to impose its own conditions on the non-Catholic partner, and some claimed to discern sinister motives in the Church's policy. J.1. North warned that, "There can be no marriage between a Protestant and a Roman Catholic which is not hedged round with humiliations" , for "the priest will not marry til l the faith of the unborn children is pledged in front" and there were frequently "solicitations to change one's rel igion which are overpowering".467 Archbishop Julius declared in 193 1 that the Catholic and Anglican Churches were "one in principle" on the subject of mixed marriages, since they led to "serious difficulties" , but he did not 462 NZ Tablet, 19 January 1 938. p. 6. 463 Report of the Auckland Post Office Inquiry. AJHR, 19 17. vol. II. F.-8, p. 41 ; NZPD, 1920, vol. 189. p. 230 (Holland); H.S. Moores. "The Rise of the Protestant Political Association: Sectarianism in New Zealand during World War I" (University of Auckland M.A. thesis in History. 19(6). p. 326. The Marriage Amendment Act will be discussed in chapter five below. 464 Evening Post. 26 May 1 9 19. p. 8. 465 JLC. 1920. Appendix. p. 36. 466 Evening Post. 29 September 1920. p. 4. 467 JJ. North. Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits (Napier: Printed by G.W. Venables and Co. Ltd, 1922). p. 1 38 . 232 --- -- ----. ----- - - -.. --. --. --- Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? think the Anglican Church could insist that its members marry within the Church. Convinced Anglicans, however, would not agree to having their children brought up as Catholics.468 The Protestant Principles Committee of the Presbyterian Church, fearing that mixed marriages were increasing, warned in 1927 that they led to religious indifference and disharmony within the family.469 Four years later, the Committee claimed that through such marriages the Catholic Church was strengthened at the expense of "the Protestant Church".47o In 1937, the Hawke's Bay Presbytery expressed its concern over the Catholic Church's "intensive propaganda" and the "alarming" increase in mixed marriages - the Tablet also found the news "rather disquieting" and hoped it was not SO.47 1 To counter the threat, the General Assembly ordered the publication of a series of pamphlets.472 The Outlook published an article entitled "The Vital Issue of Mixed Marriages: A Plea for the Spiritual Unity of the Home" . In some respects the article agreed with the official Catholic position, asserting that mixed marriages led to discord, divorce and religious indifference. However, it took issue with the Catholic claim to legislate for Protestants, notably by demanding a written promise "handing over the children of the marriage to the Church of Rome", and argued that the Protestant spouse had as much right to urge the conversion of the Catholic as the Catholic had to encourage the conversion of the Protestant. In submitting to the conditions imposed by the Catholic Church, the Protestant partner was tacitly admitting that "the Churches of the Reformation are heretical and schismatic. " It was "better to remain single than to be unequally yoked for a lifetime. "473 A letter to the edi tor, endorsing the article's disapproval of mixed marriage, suggested that, "The Church of Rome ostensibly condemns it, but her members are all the time encouraging friendships between their children and Protestants" , evidently hoping "to pluck brands for the burning".474 While this was an unduly cynical interpretation of Catholic attitudes, it does demonstrate an awareness that official Catholic policy was rather different from actual 468 Christchurch Times, 10 January 193 1 , p. 7. 469 0 PGA, 1927, p. 21 . 470 PG 8 A, 1931, p. 2. 471 NZ Tablet, 10 November 1937, p. 10; PGA, 1 937, p. 258. 472 PGA. 1937, pp. 64-65. 473 Outlook, 12 July 1937, pp. 5-6 (by "Watchman"). One of the pamphlets referred to by the Protestant Principles Committee was to he on the subject of "the spiritual unity of the home" and was presumably based on this article. 474 Outlook, 26 July 1937, p. 27. Mixed Marriage 233 practice. The Catholic clergy, and canon law, sought to give the impression that dispensations for mixed marriage were only rarely granted.475 According to Power, A Catholic cannot lawfully marry a baptised non-Catholic. Mixed marriages are abhorred by the Church; she may dispense occasionally from this impediment, but she continues to abhor them.476 Rumble declared that, "The Church cannot accept mixed marriages as the n.onnal thing, and she would not be wise to treat them as if they were nonnal. "477 Responding on a later occasion to a New Zealand enquirer, he asserted that the Church "forbids Catholics to marry non-Catholics, granting dispensations only with the greatest reluctance. "478 Readers of the Zealandia were told that " only for grave reasons and under stipulated conditions" did the Church tolerate mixed marriages when it could not prevent them, "usual ly in order to prevent a greater evil. "479 In fact, the wide range of acceptable grounds for dispensations to marry a non-Catholic indicate that the procedure was quite nonnal. Typical justifications included the age of the woman (and her diminishing prospects of another proposal of marriage), living in a small town where there were few likely partners, and the poverty of a widow. Dispensations were also granted if the priest had a strong suspicion that the couple was sexually intimate, or to avoid a scandal. A reasonable expectation that the non-Catholic would later convert to Cathol icism, or the fear that the couple would resort to a civil or Protestant wedding, were also acceptable grounds. It cannot have been difficult to find � reason why the bishop should permit any given marriage, and commonly several of these reasons were given.48o Mary Goulter acknowledged that, "Mixed marriages are all around us" and the available statistics bear out her observation.481 In the year ending 1 March 1926, there were 61 weddings in St Joseph's Cathedral , Dunedin, of which 22 (36 per cent) were mixed.482 Brodie reported on several occasions that about one third of the marriages 475 CIC, canons 1060-1062. 476 NZTablet, 7 June 1 926, p. 5 1 . 477 NZ Tablet, 4 October 1933, p . 33. 478 NZTablet, 31 July 1 935, p. 1 3. 479 Zealandia, 28 October 1 937, p. 12; cf 12 January 1 939, p. 9; Concilium Plenarium N, decrees 453- 454. 480 Registers of marriage dispensations, 1 929-1944, CCDA. These records were written by Brodie himself until his death in 1 943. 481 Month, 1 5 September 1921 , p. 16. 482 Quinquennial report., diocese of Dunedin, May 1927, item 70, pp. 30, 45. 234 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? solemnized the churches of the Christchurch diocese were mixed.483 Of 43 weddings i n St Joseph's Church, Wellington, during the year ending 30 June 1935, 23 (53 per cent) were mixed and in 1939 a Well ington correspondent to the Tablet cited a diocesan authority "than whom there is none higher" to the effect that almost 50 per cent of marriages were mixed.484 Table 3.2 confirms that between one third and one half of the weddings celebrated in the Catholic churches of the Christchurch and Wellington dioceses were mixed. Table 3.2 Mixed Marriages in the Wellington and Christchurch Dioceses Marriages: Cathol ic Archdiocese of Wellington Quinguennimn 1921-1925 1 ,589 1926-1930 1,152 Year ending 30 June 1933 234 1938 400 Diocese of Christchurch Year ending 30 June year uncertain (incomplete fonn) 126 year uncertain (undated notes) 156 1936 252 1937 1 74 year uncertain (notes, early 1 940s?) 1 30 Mixed 652 1 ,()(){) 195 396 65 80 79 130 247 Total 2,241 2,152 429 796 191 236 331 304 377 Percentage Mixed 29.09 46.47 45.45 49. 75 34.03 33.89 23.86 42.76 34.48 Sources: Quinquennial reports, archdiocese of Wellington, 1921 - 1925 and 1926-1930, item 88, WCAA; Prospectus Status Missionis fonns for the years indicated or undated notes evidently complied for such forms (WCAA and CCDA as appropriate). Figures in italics have been calculated from those in ordinary type. Clerical attempts to maintain the integrity of the Catholic community by endogamy were markedly unsuccessful. There were probably not many young Catholic women who were prepared to lower their expectations and marry an unpromising Catholic just because, like Christine Johnston's Camellia Chambers, they felt destined for 483 Quinquennial report, diocese of Christchurch, 1927, item 88; quinquennial report, diocese of Christchurch, 1930, item 88, CCDA. 484 Catholic News, August 1935, p. 2; "Caritas" to the editor, NZ Tablet, 12 July 1939, p. 7. jiiP Mixed Marriage .------._�.....", ... ""'�w::.=_._ ....... ............ __ � _ _ - - 235 motherhood but found the professional young men of their acquaintance (young doctors in Camellia's case) " to be agnostic or snobbish or enthusiastic supporters of birth control".485 The high proportion of mixed marriages demonstrates not only that Catholics were mixing socially with non-Catholics' but also that numerous Catholics had non-Catholic relations by marriage and (in the ensuing generation) by blood. As an index of Catholic integration (or assimilation) into the wider society, moreover, mixed marriage statistics are an under-estimate: they take no account of pre-marital conversions (to the faith of either spouse) or of Catholics who married "outside the Church" , some of whom were later reconciled and had their marriages canonically validated. By no means al l priests agreed with the bishops' strict policy on the solemnization of mixed marriages: they were often embarrassed at having to take the couple into the sacristy.486 Even Brodie suggested at the bishops' 1925 meeting that perhaps mixed weddings should be allowed to take place before the altar in order to "add solemnity" to the ceremony and "leave a favourable impression on non-Catholics". His colleagues disagreed, arguing that it would "lower our ideals and make the faithful forget the horror in which the Church holds Mixed Marriages" .487 In 1937, Father Michael Doolaghty of Taihape asked O'Shea's permission for a mixed marriage to be celebrated before the altar - after removal of the B lessed Sacrament. He hoped that the groom, a non-Catholic, would eventually be converted and suggested that others might seek the same concession. Permission was denied for precisely this reason and O'Shea suggested that perhaps the young man might see his way to embracing the faith before the ceremony.488 Not until 195 1 was it was decided that weddings could take place before the altar, although the other restrictions remained in force and the new policy was to be implemented quietly without any general announcement.489 Evidently it was recognized that having to marry in the sacristy did not, in fact, discourage Catholics from contracting mixed marriages and that it was therefore better to take the opportunity to stress the Church's posi tive teaching on marriage by allowing a more dignified ceremony. 485 Christine Johnston, Blessed Art Thou Among Women (Auckland: Reed Books, 1991), p. 100. 486 Rev. John Walls (curale in Oamaru during the 1930s), interview, 6 February 1991 . 487 Minutes of bishops' meeting, 6 May 1925, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1-5. 488 M.B. Doolaghty to O'Shea, 5 March 1 937; O'Shea to Doolaghty, 18 March 1937, WCAA. 489 Circular letter to prieslS, 19 November 195 1 , signed by the bishops of New Zealand, CCDA. 236 Chapter Three: Isolation or Integration? Conclusion The Catholic community during the interwar years created a vast range of social, charitable, cultural, sporting and educational organizations and institutions. These associations supplemented the numerous pious sodalities discussed in the previous chapter in sustaining the distinctive character of the Catholic community. Nevertheless, they did not constitute a pillar or ghetto on the European or American pattern even though they carried out non-religious functions, duplicating the facilities and activities of parallel secular or Protestant organizations. Catholics were too small a minority and too dispersed through the country to be self-sufficient; they did not attempt to establish such organizations as denominational political parties or trade unions. Even their post-primary education system was quite l imited, offering almost no opportunities for technical training and providing tertiary education only for the priesthood and religious life. Catholic organizations did not seek to isolate the laity from contact with non­ Catholics as an end in itself, but aimed, rather, to counter the corrosive effects of living in a non-Catholic society. The Church offered its own forms of association for non­ religious activities precisely because it was recognized that Catholics spent most of their lives in contact with non-Catholics. For this reason, the Church was most concerned to influence the young during their formative years, whether as schoolchildren or as adolescents and young adults with leisure time to spend. Catholic schools were maintained to teach rel igion at an impressionable age and were supplemented by activities like Scouting and Guiding. It was not necessary that all participants in the Church 's associations and activities be themselves Catholics: it was enough that Catholics dominated and that the ethos of such undertakings was Catholic. The Church had to compete with increasing facilities for recreation and popular entertainment, some of which, especially dance halls and the cinema, threatened to undermine Catholic moral values.49o By conducting dances and sport under the Church' s auspices, it was easier to influence how Catholics spent their leisure time, although it was quite impossible to distract young Catholics, in particular, from all alternative activities. While protecting Catholics from Protestant or anti-religious influences, Church organizations actually linked them - as Catholics - with respectable elements in the wider community. Benevolent associations l ike the Catholic Big Brothers and the 490 For discussion of Catholic altitudes to the cinema, dancing and other fonns of leisure, see chapter four. .... - ---- -- - Conclusion 237 Catholic Women's League worked in co-operation with parallel non-Catholic organizations. Catholic institutions such as hospitals and schools received the public endorsement of governors-general and politicians. Cultural societies supplemented the efforts of Catholic schools by inculcating skills and knowledge which would facilitate participation in middle class occupations - thereby raising the status of the individuals concerned and, incidental ly, that of the religious community to which they belonged. Catholic schools and former pupils' associations formed teams to compete in the sports which were popular in the wider society because in so doing they could combine their Catholic identity with the usual benefits and pleasures of sport. They could also enhance their standing in the community, and their own self-estimation, through success in competitions - as long as they were not debarred from them. State primary teachers sometimes excluded denominational teams from inter-school competitions precisely because they feared that Catholic sporting success would weaken the state education system. However, Catholic schools, and the Marist Brothers' Old Boys' Association in Christchurch, continued to play either rugby or other sports despite attempts to exclude them. The Church promoted denominational associations, schools and the Catholic family in order to prevent leakage from the Catholic community but many of the laity did not consider this concern necessary. Only a minority of Catholics participated in the full range of organizations open to them. Many were either not interested in the facilities offered, ranging from tennis courts to sickness benefits, or preferred membership of secular associations. Presumably they were content with the more narrowly religious functions of the Church and regarded religion as an individual concern. It was only the threat of losing access to the sacraments that induced some Catholic parents to send their children to Church schools.49 J The clergy were rather less successful in trying to influence Catholics' choices of marital partners. Despite their sometimes extreme rhetoric, the bishops had to reconcile themselves to mixed marriages - even a canonically illicit marriage could be validated - but they would not allow parents to send their children to a non-Catholic school where a suitable Catholic one was available. In part, the di fference lay in the irrevocability of marriage: it was relatively easy to change schools. It was also inherently more difficult to persuade young lovers of the priority of rel igious considerations than to persuade parents of their religious responsibilities towards their children. Catholic education was intended 491 Joan O'Connell, interview, 9 April 1990. -------------------- - - _ .--- - - � -- 238 Chapter Three_· Isolation or Integration? precisely to compensate for the deficiencies of religious training within the family. The ecclesiastical authorities did not consider parents to be competent teachers of religion, even when both spouses were Catholics. Catholic schools were the s ingle most widespread and influential Catholic institution, with the possible exception of parishes themselves. The price of this success, however, was that they had to spend most of their time teaching the same syllabus and the same values as state schools. Concentrating on the relationship between Catholic organizations and the wider community, this chapter has inevitably given less direct attention to individual Catholics. However, as the discussion of mixed marriage suggests, there was a high level of interaction between individual Catholics and non-Catholics. Personal experiences varied but most Catholics no doubt had many non-Catholic acquaintances, friends and relations, whether as neighbours or through school ing, employment or marriage. As K. Turner observed in 1923, " in a country like New Zealand we are such a mixed community that one's Catholic friends are generally not numerous".492 Even at a Catholic school, pupils could fonn close friendships with non-Catholics.493 As representatives of their Church, Catholic clergy and religious were usually respected by non-Catholics. The standing of individual Catholic priests beyond their own congregations was often affinned by non-Catholics, lay and clerical, at farewells and anniversaries.494 When Father Michael Shore left Morrinsville in 1932, Mayor W.T. Osborne presided over a farewell at which the speakers included the Rev. J.H. Starnes, who spoke on behalf of the local Presbyterians, and Canon Gillespie, who represented the Anglicans.495 Among the speakers at Father James Hanrahan's 1936 silver jubilee celebration in Papanui were two Anglican clergymen, Canon H.D. Hanby and the Rev. E.R. Dsmers.496 Some individual Catholics achieved considerable standing in the wider community, precisely because of their activities as Catholics. Perhaps the most noteworthy was Mother Aubert: according to a contemporary account, she was given the "greatest funeral New Zealand has ever accorded any woman." 492 NZ Tablet. 27 December 1923. p. 25. 493 Joan O·Connell. interview. 9 April 1990. 494 NZTablet. 20 March 1919. p. 28 (fe Awamutu); 22 May 19 19. p. 28 (Riversdale); 19 February 1920. p. 21 (Timaru); 30 July 1924, p. 26 (Gore); 22 June 1932, p. 45 (Taihape); Zealandia, 28 March 1935. p. 3 (Masterton and other places). 495 NZTablet. 13 July 1932, p. 7. 496 NZ Tablet. 15 January 1936, p. 38. --- Conclusion 239 Traffic had to be stopped awhile as the mile-long cortege moved away. Wellington closed its doors and drew its blinds. Willis Street and the Quay were as silent as unpeopled lands, though thousands lined the route.497 Despite its distinctive character, then, the Catholic community was fully integrated into the wider society. Indeed, for the many Catholics who showed little interest in their Church's organizations, the question of integration did not arise. For those who did participate in them, Catholic associations were intended to sustain religious integrity, not to isolate their members from non-Catholics. Despite the range of Catholic organizations which paralleled their Protestant or secular equivalents, there was no Catholic ghetto or pil lar. Evidence of Catholic triumphalism was discussed in the previous chapter on spirituality and it will be encountered again in the discussion of moral issues in the next chapter, but the Church was not so inward-looking as to ignore the wider society. Rather it sought, and usually received, acceptance and even commendation for the achievements of its organizations, institutions and individual members. 497 NZ Times. 6 October 1926. quoted in NZ Tablet. 1 3 October 1926. pp. 27-28; ct Month. 16 November 1926. p . 27 (obituary by Mary GouIter). . - �-- -- . ----------� . .. � - ---. Chapter Four Righteousness or Conformity? Gender and Ethical Issues The interwar period was a time of moral ferment as technological developments and the disruption of war accelerated social changes. Reticence about sex was undermined by birth control propaganda and the developing film industry. Abortion, more reliable contraception and increasing divorce appeared to many to be undermining the family. The automobile brought an unprecedented degree of freedom and young people, in particular, often scandalized their elders by new music, fashions and dances. A 1938 editorial in the Zealandia, while recognizing that i t was a commonplace to regard the next generation as worse than previous ones, lamented the contemporary "mass violation of the moral ideal as in the wholesale practice of divorce, birth control and abortion and the flippant casualness in matters of sex ." l During the 1920s and 1930s, all the churches and society as a whole were forced either to reaffirm or to reassess traditional ethical values. Changing attitudes to gender roles and personal morality during the interwar period have not yet received the attention they deserve from students of religion and history. Writers on gender and the family have not shown much interest in the churches.2 There is no study of Catholic morality except for Joanna Bourke's thesis on fertility and contraception in New Zealand and Australia.3 Maureen Garing's thesis on Presbyterianism is unique as a sustained review of moral values in a New Zealand Church, although Kevin Clements' study of the churches during the Depression gives 1 2 Zealandia, 20 January 1938, p. 6. See especially E. Olssen and A. Uvesque, "Towards a History of the European Family in New Zealand", in Peggy E. Koopman-Boyden (editor), Families in New Zealand Society (Wellington: Methuen, 1978); J. Phillips, A Man's Country? The Image o/the Pakeha Male - a History (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1987); B. James and K. Saville-Smith, Gender, Culture and Power: Challenging New Zealand's Gendered Culture (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1989). S . Griffiths, "Feminism and the Ideology of Motherhood in New Zealand, 1896-1930" (University of Otago M.A.thesis in History, 1984) does discuss several religiously-inspired women's groups, notably in chapter eight 3 . J . Bourke, "Catholic Fertility in Australia and New Zealand 1880-1940" (University o f Auckland M.A. thesis in History, 1986). Bourke's thesis does not explore directly the relationship between Catholic teaching and that of other groups, which is the central focus of the present discussion. Introduction 241 some attention to Methodist thinking on moral issues.4 Roderick Phillips' book on divorce discusses briefly the teaching of the churches and the practice of their members.s Recent writing on women's and health history charts the debate over contraception and abortion but with only incidental reference to the churches.6 Research on other relevant issues, such as censorship and eugenics, also includes some allusions to religious opinion.7 Most of the material for this chapter is drawn from the two main Catholic periodicals of the period as well as secular newspapers and government publications. Pronouncements by meetings of the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches will be compared with the position of the Catholic Church':" In 1 936- 1937, public concern was aroused by a royal commission of inquiry into abortion and related issues, notably contraception and the birth rate, chaired by Dr D.O. McMillan MP.8 A number of statements by church leaders cited in the course of this chapter were a part of the ensuing public debate. Athough the opinions presented in these sources are not necessarily representative of society as a whole, they do reflect the views of those who laid claim to moral leadership. 4 5 6 7 8 M.N. Garing, "Against the Tide: Social, Moral and Political Questions in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. 1840-1970" (Ph.D. thesis in Religious Studies. Victoria University of Wellington. 1989); K.P. Clements, "The Churches and Social Policy: a Study of the Relationship of Ideology to jj­ Action" (Victoria University of Wellington Ph.D. thesis in Sociology, 1970). R. Phillips, Divorce in New Zealand: a Social History (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1981). B. Brookes, "The Committee of Inquiry into Abortion in New Zealand, 1936-1937" (University of Otago B.A. Honours long essay in History, 1976) and "Housewives' Depression: the Debate over Abortion and Birth Control in the 1930s", New Zealand Journal of History, 15/2 (1981) 1 15-134; P. Fenwick, "The New Zealand Family Planning Association: its Growth and Development" (University of Canterbury M.A. thesis in Sociology, 1977) and "Fertility, Sexuality and Social Control in New Zealand", in P. Bunkle and B. Hughes (editors), Women in New Zealand Society (Auckland: George Allen & Unwin, 1980), pp. 77-98; P. Mein Smith, "The State and Maternity in New Zealand, 1920-1935" (University of Canterbury M.A. thesis in History, 1982) and Maternity in Dispute: New Zealand, 1920-1939 (Wellington: Historical Publications Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1986); F. Hercock, "Professsional Politics and Family Planning Clinics", in L. Bryder (editor), A Healthy Country; Essays on the Social History of Medicine in New Zealand (Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 1991), pp. 181-197. A. Burns, "Some Aspects of Censorship: a Survey of Censorship Law and Practice in New Zealand from 1841 to 1963, mainly concerning the Control of Indecent Publications" (Victoria University of Wellington M.A. thesis in History, 1968); P. Christoffel, Censored: a Shon History of Censorship in New Zealand (Wellington: Department of Internal Afairs, 1989); P J. Fleming, "Eugenics in New Zealand, 1900-1940" (Massey University M.A. thesis in History, 1981). Griffiths (pp. 246-264) also considers eugenics at some length, concentrating on the views of women's groups in the 1920s. "Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the various aspects of the problem of Abortion in New Zealand", AJHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.-31A. The evidence presented to the Committee is held in the National Archives (NA) Health Deparnnent flies (HI 9402 1311139/15 Diseases - Septic Abortion - Committee of Inquiry). -- � . ..... --:- '-�-�- � .+ + - - - - -- --. - - --- - - ---- _ .-. . - . 242 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? While the Catholic Church refused to compromise with the new trends, the Protestant churches made some concessions but it will be argued that official Catholic attitudes to personal morality were not as different from those of the Protestant churches or other groups in society as clerical pronouncements claimed. Nor, insofar as it can be ascertained, does the practice of the Catholic laity appear to have been significantly different from that of society at large. While traditional ethical standards were increasingly questioned, church leaders not only expressed common concerns, but even collaborated in reaffirming shared Christian teaching. This discussion will focus particularly on the ethics of sexuality and the family, which were especially pressing for the churches in the interwar years. For Archbishop Francis Redwood, morality meant "the suppression and control of the lower, the animal appetites in man and their subjection to a higher life; morality ... demands that interest and pleasure be sacrificed without regret or hesitation upon the altar of duty".9 Protestant moralists would probably not have dissented from this definition but there were differences of emphasis in Protestant and Catholic teaching. The Catholic Church evinced a greater concern over increasingly liberal sexual or marital ethics, while the Protestant churches were more preoccupied with frivolous or harmful recreation. Nevertheless, while lending a distinctive character to Protestant and Catholic ethics, these differences could easily be exaggerated. The main body of this chapter is divided into five parts. It begins with a discussion of sexuality and gender roles, arguing that while official Catholic teaching portrayed religious virginity as superior to marriage, the roles assigned to married Catholics conformed closely with those of the contemporary "cult of domesticity". However, Catholic writers often claimed that their Church alone upheld traditional Christian values, notably on the issues of birth control and divorce, and this moral triumphalism will be discussed in the second part of the chapter. That this claim was exaggerated will be seen in the third section, which reviews a number of ethical issues, asking whether differences in Catholic and Protestant teaching were matters of degree or of principle. Fourthly, statistical evidence for the extent of divorce and contraception among lay Catholics will be compared with statistics for Protestants, showing that, in practice, the Catholic community's behaviour did not bear out the claim to moral superiority. In reviewing attitudes towards leisure in the final part of the chapter, it will be argued that, while Protestant and Catholic moral teachers differed over 9 NZ Tablet. 23 January 1929. p. 44. ..... --�-----.� .... ",---� -...... -...-... .,.-� _.- -.- � --- - " . ... . InJroductinn recreational pursuits like gambling, they shared a common concern over anything relating to sexual ethics, particularly the censorship of films and magazines. 243 Moreover, the puritan leisure ethic was in decline, so there was some convergence with Catholic attitudes to recreation. In the course of this discussion, the term "moralist" will be used in a non-technical sense to refer to anyone, clerical or lay, who advanced a particular ethical view. Sexuality and Gender Roles Catholics and Protestants in interwar New Zealand were heirs to very different teaching on the ideal vocations of men and women. The Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century had repudiated clerical celibacy and monasticism, while exalting the roles of the wife and care-giver or husband and provider. For Catholics, life "in the world" continued to be regarded as an inferior option by comparison with the celibate priesthood or the religious life. The equivocal status of real family life was underscored by the emphasis on chaste saints as role models even for married people. Despite the elevated status of virginity and the ambivalent imagery used to describe ideal family life, however, Catholic teaching on the roles of married men and women , was well within the range of respectable opinion found in New Zealand society as a whole. Catholics were taught that religiously motivated virginity or celibacy were "more excellent" than marriage, even though individual married persons might be "more perfect in the sight of God than individuals who are in a state of virginity or celibacy". 10 The vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, according to Dr James Kelly, "raise a man or woman to a level above that on which ordinary Christians walk, and compel him or her to maintain it till death." Religious were "fitter for the practice of all the virtues, stronger in faith and more ardent in hope" . 1 1 At the profession of three nuns in 1937, Archpriest John Kelly "said that the choice for the religious life, as compared with the world, lay not between good and evil but between what was good and what was better. " 12 Mary Goulter, a regular contributor to the Month and herself a wife and mother, accepted that there was "an ideal of womanly virtue higher than that 10 Marist Messenger, 1 June 1934, pp. 43-44; cf NZ Tablet, 28 August 1919, p. 1 1 (Redwood); 6 April 1922, p. 18 and 4 May 1922, p. 18 (Whyte); 25 January 1923, p. 41 ; Month, 16 February 1926, p. 19; Zealandia, 27 September 1934, p. 9. 1 1 NZ Tablet, 1 8 May 1927, p. 33. 12 NZ Tablet, 22 September 1937, p. 8. 244 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? of wifehood". l 3 Indeed, the Church actually countenanced the separation of two spouses - even if they had young children - in order that they might be free to enter the priesthood or religious life.14 Although the Catholic Church had a patron saint for almost every honourable human activity, no saints popular in interwar New Zealand had achieved their status through parenthood or as spouses. Newly canonized saints continued the celibates' monopoly on sainthood. An article in the Month, citing the example of St Therese of Lisieux, declared that for the Catholic girl who sought perfection there was "a recognized vocation open to her, giving full scope to the most ardent idealism and the most complete self-sacrifice". 15 Preaching at a Mass for St Philomena's Ex-Pupils' Association in 1936, Bishop James Whyte spoke of the need for "good women both single and married" but almost all of his sermon was devoted to virginity and its exemplars. There could be present, he suggested, "girls who have a soul above the vanities and empty pleasures of the world" who might wish to become nuns. 16 Goulter took comfort in the inclusion of St Monica, mother of St Augustine, in the calendar of saints. She lamented that it was "a trifle difficult to extract an adequate measure of spiritual encouragement from the lives of the saints" . Most of them had lived "much different lives from ours" as "members of some religious community which aimed at religious perfection". It was difficult to emulate those who seemed to live "on a different plane from an ordinary mortal, fettered in daily life to other mortals just as ordinary. " 17 For Catholic women the most important saintly exemplar was Mary the mother of Jesus, whose most emphasized quality was sexual purity. Mary was presented as the model for all women, whether they were maidens, virgins, wives, mothers, homemakers or widows: 18 1 3 Month, 15 May 1923, p. 15. She noted that Protestants were unable to recognize this truth. 14 Marist Messenger, 1 August 1940, pp. 20-21 . This article recounts the story of Mother Cornelia Connelly, foundress of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, and her erstwhile husband, Pierce Connelly - who later apostatized and unsuccessfully sued for the return of his wife. For reference to another example (in which, the children having reached adulthood, the whole family had entered religious life) see Month, 21 June 1927, p. 37 and 21 February 1928, p. 13 . 15 Month, 15 December 1923, p. 27. See the discussion of St Th�r� in chapter two above. 16 NZ Tablet, 12 August 1936, p. 7. 17 Month, 14 February 1920, p. 19. 18 NZTablet, 30 February 1922, p. 22; 27 December 1923, p. 25 ; 26 September 1928, p. 31 and 23 January 1929, pp. 43, 44 (Whyte at the 1928 Sydney Eucharistic Congress, also ill W. Leonard, Addresses Delivered at the Twenty-Ninth International Eucharistic Congress, Sydney, Australia, September 1928, Sydney: Printed by Green Press Ltd, 1929, pp. 30, 31); 3 March 1937, p. 34; 9 March 1938, p. 43; 16 March 1938, pp. 33, 35; Zealandia, 8 July 1937, p. 10; 12 March 1938, p. 20; Sexuality and Gender Roles 245 She is the patron of virtue, alike to maiden, wife and mother. She exhibits the virginal modesty becoming the maid, the conju�al fidelity and loyalty of the spouse and the untiring devotion of the mother. 9 When Goulter considered whether Catholic women could accept the current tendency for the sexes to mix more freely than in the past, she resolved the issue by reflecting on "the model set before every Catholic girl - Mary, the crown and glory of womanhood". Even though the known details of Mary's life were "far froni being ample" , Goulter assumed that "she conformed, in due measure, to the external safeguards which rose as a protecting wall around womanhood in her day and country".20 Catholic moralists often protested against immodest contemporary fashions especially in evening dress and sports wearY Noting papal concern over modem fashions, Bishop Cleary observed that it was appropriate for a protest to emanate from the Church whose members sought to imitate the "purity of the Mother of Christ" .22 In 1925, the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Timaru, inspired by an Italian example and encouraged by Redwood, established Our Lady's League, which enrolled young Catholic women. Members of the League promised in writing never to wear clothing which would displease the Holy Virgin. They were told that sleeves on dresses should extend at least to the elbow.23 The largest organization for Catholic girls and young women was the Children of Mary, who sought to "imitate Our Lady by the practice of her favourite virtues - Purity, [sic] humility, obedience and charity".24 Members of the Sodality wore blue (Footnote continued from previous page.) N.H. Gascoigne, The Book o/the Congress, 1940 (Wellington: Chancellery of the Archdiocese, 1941), p. 58. Women in paid employment are a notable exception to this list 19 Zealandia, 18 July 1935, p. 10. 20 Month, 15 November 1923, pp. 27-28. 21 NZ Tablet, 5 February 1920, p. 26; 20 May 1920, pp. 25-26; 13 October 1921, p. 25; 17 March 1926, p. 33; 14 April 1926, p. 33; 1 3 October 1926, p. 58; 12 June 1929, p. 3; 25 September 1929, pp. 7, 9; 30 December 1931 , p. 3; 27 October 1937, p. 5; Month, 15 September 1919, p. 21; 15 January 1920, p. 3; 15 May 1920, p. 3; 15 November 1921, p. 3; 19 February 1924, p. 35; 16 September 1924, p. 17; 21 October 1924, p . 32; 18 November 1924, p . 31 ; 21 September 1926, p . 41; 15 March 1927, p. 15; 19 July 1927, p. 34; 18 October 1927, p . 19; Zealandia, 24 September 1936, p. 7; Marist Messenger, 1 December 1937, p. 23. 22 Month, 15 April 1922, p. 3. 23 Month, 21 April 1925, p. 31 ; 20 October 1925, supplement, p. iii; NZ Tablet, 1 1 March 1925, p. 15; 15 April 1925, p. 31 . 24 Prayer Book or Manual o/the Children 0/ Mary (Australian edition, Sydney: Pellegrini and Company, 1932), p. 18. For the origins of this Sodality, see above, chapter two. " - -- -- - -.- .---�--------- ---�-- -.- - �----- ---- _._- ------- --- --- - - - ---- 246 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? cloaks and white veils like Mary when she appeared to St Catherine Laboure in 1 830.25 As though recognizing that only virgins could really emulate the virtues of the "Immaculate Virgin" , members left the Sodality when they were about to marry. At the wedding, the other members would form a guard of honour. Before she made her vows, the bride's blue cloak was removed and placed at the feet of a statue of the Blessed Virgin.26 Some older but unmarried women remained in the Sodality: to be a Child of Mary it was more important to be a virgin than to be a child.27 Elevating the Virgin Mother and "her most chaste spouse"28 as role models devalued erotic love even for married people. "Mary's chastity and her fidelity to her husband" , it was said, "furnish a most beautiful example for the Catholic wife in her relations with her husband. "29 Like Mary, Joseph "remained a virgin his whole life. "30 Indeed, it was only by the denial of their sexuality and the separation of sex from parenthood that Mary and Joseph could be regarded as role models for spouses and parents. According to Edward Garesche SJ, Christ's "Blessed Mother, ever Virgin, yet lawfully wedded to St. Joseph, led with that holy patriarch a life of wedded virginity and thus gave an example both to married folk and to virgins."31 Even for married couples, then, the ultimate Catholic ideal entailed perpetual virginity: perfection was unattainable within a normal marriage. In a sermon broadcast from St Gerard's 25 Ibid. , p. 1 ; NZ Tablet, 29 November 1933. p. 3 (unacknowledged extract from ibid). 26 NZ Tablet. 13 May 1925, p. 45; 4 August 1926, p. 35; 5 February 1930, p. 49; Month, 15 December 1925. p. 29; Zealandia. 5 December 1935, p. 7; 7 May 1936, p. 7; 1 1 February 1937. p. 7. Obviously aware of the impression made by this ritual, John Nemey SJ (the National Director of the Children of Mary for Australia and New Zealand), in an article on the procedure for a Children of Mary wedding, denied that removing the cloak meant that marriage was the end of Sodality life (Zealandia, 24 June 1937, p. 7). For another account of the procedure, see Marist Messenger, 1 April 1932. p. 15. 27 See, for example, the photographs of Miss Mary Delahunty, President of the Children of Mary in Palmers ton North (NZ Tablet. 7 December 1932, p. 13) and Miss Lucy Agnes Durney, "the oldest member of the Children of Mary Sodality in Wellington" (18 April 1934, p. 23). Beryl Bartlett (interview, 8 September 1989) recalls that there were a number of women in the Palmers ton North Sodality aged in their 60s. 28 The phrase occurs in the "Divine Praises" recited at Benediction (Prayer Book or Manual of the Children of Mary. p. 46; A Simple Holy Name Manual. Wellington: T J. Tiller. new edition, 1932, p. 86). 29 Zealandia, 8 July 1937, p. 10; cf. ibid .• 1 1 May 1939, p. 12, "So. too, mothers can find in the virginal mother Mary a perfect model of true piety, womanly modesty and wifely fidelity." 30 NZ Tablet, 22 April 1925, p. 49. 3 1 Month. 20 October 1925. p. 5. Although the author was not in New Zealand, his article was especially written especially for the Month. jiiP - - - - -- - -- ---_' ._r<._ ....... - _._ ..... , .... ��. 'CTC'7m_t � _ = Sexuality and Gender Roles 247 Monastery in 1929, a Redemptorist preacher contended that God's command to " increase and multiply" applied to every married couple "save in the wholly exceptional case, when, by mutual consent, they agree to seek in voluntary continence the realisation of a higher ideal".J2 Similarly, the Rev. Dr John J. Nevin, who answered queries on moral issues for the clergy of Australasia, argued that the divine instruction applied to the human race collectively and did not bind individual couples - as long as they refrained from sexual intercourse: "If they wish, they may lawfully observe continence for the highest motives during the entire period of their lives, and there are Saints on the Calendar who have done so. "33 The Month cited the authority of Augustine to the effect that "those are the happier marriages, the parties of which either live in virginity, by mutual consent, or, after having procreated children, agree to live together in virtuous continency."34 In practice, it was presumably not expected that couples would forgo sexual relations pennanently but the theology of marital sexuality was profoundly influenced by the ascetic perspective of those who expounded it. An article by the Rev. Dr Grimley, reprinted from an English Catholic newspaper, argued that "the divine ordinance compels the majority to observe continency" . Only in certain circumstances did marriage constitute an exception to the rule, for even the "relative freedom" of spouses was constrained not only by, for example, sickness and separation, but also by "moderation, mutual regard and the virtue of prudence" . 35 Despite the elevated status of religious virginity and the relegation of matrimony to a secondary status, it could still be claimed that " a most notable feature of Catholicism is the sacredness and dignity with which it invests the family."36 The ceremonies prescribed for celebrating the sacrament of matrimony were said to indicate the importance attached to it by the Church.37 Motherhood was "a sublime vocation [and] a privileged state of life", for every mother shared in the divine work of creation and redemption by bearing children destined to populate heaven.38 Catholic moralists 32 NZ Tablet, 30 January 1929, p. 43. 33 Australasian Catholic Record, 14 (1937), pp. 348-349, 356. Though no examples were cited, the writer no doubt had in mind Edward the Confessor and his wife Edith. 34 Month, 18 March 1930, p. 1 . 3 5 NZ Tablet, 2 March 1938, p. 27. 36 Zealandia, 5 January 1939, p. 6. For further reference to Catholic teaching on the sanctity and integrity of marriage and the family, see the discussion of divorce later in this chapter. 37 Zealandia, 5 January 1939, p. 1 1 . 3 8 Month, 2 November 193 1 , p . 16; cf NZ Tablet, 9 March 1938, p. 8 ; 6 April 1938, p . 25; Zealandia, 9 March 1939, p. 1 1 . 248 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Con/onnity? emphasized that the family was the basic and most important unit of society. In the words of Father Francis McMahon, The family is the unit of all social order, stability and progress. If you sanctify the family, you sanctify the community; but if family life becomes corrupt we may despair of the life of the nation.39 According to Redwood, the nuclear family was divinely sanctioned: "Such is God's idea of a home - father and mother and children living together in the fear and love of God".4o Catholic writing on the family and on gender roles reflected and endorsed conventional views. In Jock Phillips' judgment, "The most popular fictional exploration of the family produced in New Zealand came in the novels of Nellie Scanlon - she was the first novelist who sold at home in large numbers."4 1 The Tablet was proud to acknowledge Scanlon as a Catholic.42 In its presentation of conventional family values, the Church often used distinctive imagery by citing the seemingly improbable example of the "Holy Family" . It was believed that Jesus was an only child, that the marriage of Mary and Joseph was never consummated and that Joseph was not Jesus' biological father but his "foster father".43 Despite these inimitable characteristics, the family of Nazareth was said to provide "the perfect model of home life, complete in every detail and suited to the needs of all" ,44 while Mary's life was described as "the text-book wherein the Catholic wife may learn the ideals of Christian motherhood. "45 The Third Order of Mary placed particular emphasis on imitating the 39 NZ Tablet, 20 July 1938, p. 3; cf 23 March 1938, p. 4; Zealandia, 20 December 1934, p. 7 (Kathleen Kennedy); 13 January 1938, p. 6; 12 March 1938, pp. 10, 20. 40 NZ Tablet, 5 December 1928, p. 43; cf an article by Dorothy Bernard (Zealandia, 27 April 1939, p. 1 1). 41 J. Phillips, p. 23 1 . See, for example, Nelle M. Scanlan, Tides o/Youth (London: Jarrolds, 1933), reviewed in NZ Tablet, 5 July 1933. p. 41 . 42 NZ Tablet, 30 November 1932, p. 4 ; cf 22 February 1933, p. 41 . 43 NZTablet, 28 March 1938, p. 4; cf Month, 1 May 1933, p . 15 (Jesus' "brothers" were actually cousins). 44 Zealandia, 1 1 May 1939, p. 12; cf 6 December 1934, p. 7; 12 March 1938, pp. 10, 20; Monih, 16 November 1926, p. 9; NZ Tablet, 7 August 19 19, p . 33; 12 February 1920, p . 26; 29 April 1920, p. 26; 27 December 1923, p. 25; 5 November 1924, p. 29; 13 October 1926, p. 33; 1 August 1928, p. 3; 26 December 1928, p. 3; 18 August 1937, p. 6; 23 March 1938, p. 4; 14 September 1938, p. 35. 45 Month, 2 November 1931, p. 16. Further references to Mary as a role model are cited above. .... - • •• • _ • _ __ ... __ _ __ __ & _,,�:;""' .. JoI._ ...... .> ... __ �.'" • • • _ j. _ ___ • _ .""'''� Sexuality and Gender Roles 249 virtues of the Holy Family ofNazareth.46 Far from undennining the usefulness of "the family of Nazareth" as a role model, the dearth of Scriptural or historical evidence made it easy to project contemporary values and assumptions onto the Holy Family.47 Whatever virtues might be applied to Catholic children and parents (except fecundity) were necessarily predicated of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and consequently became a source of imitation. And as the perfect example the Church places before us the Christian model and ideal of the Holy Family of Nazareth: Mary the inspiration of all that is noblest in wife and mother; Joseph, the industrious provider and protector, self­ sacrificing and ever considerate, ever courteous; Jesus the pattern of obedience, Who though He was the Son of God, "went down to Nazareth and was subject to them. "48 Joseph, the patron saint of the family, provided a model for fathers as head of the home; in him "all that a husband should be" was "set forth for the human race".49 Mary gave Joseph practical and moral support, for instance by praising his handiwork.5o Month contributor Josephine MacDonald found that domestic life was sweetened by recalling that Mary had cooked for Joseph and Jesus, swept the floor, made the beds, washed the clothes and gone to market.5 1 Her example was even cited in support of breastfeeding.52 An essay by Betsy Davis of St Mary's Convent, Hamilton, noted that, "If Catholic children wish to be like the obedient Jesus, they must strive to be truthful, unselfish, and obedient, watching for opportunities of doing things for others, as Jesus did for Mary and Joseph."53 Catholic teaching on the family, and the role of women in particular, bore a close affinity with the views expressed by other respectable opinion fonners. In the later 46 P. Regnault SM, The Third Order of Mary: its Origins, Rules, Membership (Melbourne: Australian Catholic Truth Society, 1925), p. 7; MYB, 1927, p. 165; 1929, p. 145; NZ Tablet, 16 December 193 1, p. 12; Manual of The Third Order of Mary (Lyons: Librairie Catholique Emmanuel Viue. eighth edition, 1926), p. 45. On the Third Order, see chapter two above. 47 Moreover, New Testament evidence which contradicted the Catholic myth of the Holy Family was usually ignored, for example, according to Mark's gospel (3: 21, 3 1-35), when Mary and Jesus' brothers sought to disrupt his preaching. Jesus declared that his real family was made up of those who carried out the will of God. 48 Zealandia, 5 January 1939, p. 6. 49 Zealandia, 20 December 1934. p. 7; cf. 6 November 1934, p. 7; 1 1 May 1939, p. 12; NZ Tablet, 18 March 1920, p. 26; 16 December 1931, p. 12. 50 Month, 17 May 1927. p. 33; Zealandia, 6 November 1934, p. 7. 51 Month, 17 May 1927, p. 33; cf. Zealandia. 4 May 1939. p. 11 (Dorothy Bernard). 52 Month, 15 April 1924, p. 31 ; 2 November 1931 , p. 17. 53 Month, 1 November 1932, p. 8. 250 Chapter Four: Righleousness or Conformity? nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there had developed, in New Zealand and elsewhere, a "cult of domesticity" which portrayed women as the moral guardians of society, exercising their influence largely (but not exclusively) through the home and the family.54 This ideology attributed a high status to women - or at least to those who fulfiled its prescriptions for true womanhood. The image of the wife as queen of the home was popular among Catholic writers and preachers. 55 According to Zealandia columnist Kathleen Kennedy, every woman, unless she had a religious vocation, dreamt of "a home where she will one day reign as wife and mother."56 In an address to women in St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland, Father Owen Francis Dudley, visiting New Zealand for the 1938 Catholic centennial, asserted that, just as the wife was queen, the husband was king and the children were their subjects. 57 The moral supremacy of women, however, was not allowed to undermine their husbands' position as head of the household.s8 It was a "Catholic Social Principle" that, "The father is the natural head of the family" while, "The mother shares in this natural authority, and is required to exercise it undiminished in his default".59 What has been called "the de­ sexed idealisation of wife-mother"60 naturally bore significant resemblances to the ideal of the Blessed Virgin. Indeed, a common apologetic theme in Catholic writing asserted that Christianity - or, more particularly, the Catholic Church - had raised women from a state of servility in pagan antiquity to a position of great honour and dignity.61 Moreover, it was specifically the influence and example of the Blessed Virgin which had brought about this great advance.62 54 Olssen and L�vesque, pp. 6-12; J. Phillips, pp. 221-228; James and Saville-Smith, pp. 31-35. See also Griffiths, pp. 269-271 and passim. 55 NZ Tablet, 29 April 1920, p. 14; 14 September 1927, p. 33; 6 April 1932, p. 3; 20 July 1938, p. 3; Month, 17 May 1927, p. 33. Further examples are cited elsewhere in this section. 56 Zealandia, 20 December 1934, p. 7. 57 Zealaruiia, 17 March 1938, p. 1 1 . 5 8 Month. 29 September 1928, p. 25 (Bishop O'Doherty of Manilla at the Sydney Eucharistic Congress. also in Leonard, p. 21); NZ Tablet, 24 November 1937. p. 4; Zealandia. 10 February 1938, p. 12; 12 March 1938. p. 20. Note also the references to Joseph already cited. 59 NZ Tablet. 1 2 March 1930, p. 9; cf 25 January 1939. p. 4. 60 Olssen and L�vesque. pp. 7-8. 61 NZTablet. 28 August 1919, p. 13; 30 September 1920, pp. 25-26; 30 September 1925, pp. 25, 27; 23 January 1929. p. 42 (address by Whyte at the Sydney Eucharistic Congress, also in Leonard. p. 28); 3 March 1937, p. 34; Month. 16 October 1922, p. 5. 62 Marist Messenger, 1 May 1934. pp. 42-44; Month. 15 October 1919, p. 22; 15 July 1921 , p. 18; 15 May 1922, p. 6; 15 December 1923. p. 28; 17 May 1927, p. 33; 15 February 1927. p. 18; NZ Tablet, 12 July 1923, p. 29; 23 March 1938, p. 4; 25 October 1939, p. 33. Sexuality and Gender Roles 251 The cult of domesticity emphasized separate spheres of activity for men and women. Catholic writers assumed that husbands were responsible for the material support of their families63 and most discussion centred on the role of women. In a society organized on Christian principles, wives would not have to work outside the home - or would even be prohibited from doing so - because their husbands would be paid enough to support the family.64 It was a principle of natural law that "the vocation of the married woman is in the home".65 Following St John Chrysostom, Kelly argued that "a clear line must be drawn between the duties and activities of man and woman." A husband's responsibilities took him out into society, but while a wife "may have to go out now and then, ... her place is within the home". There she had to create "a tranquil atmosphere" to which her husband returned at the end of the day.66 Father P.J. Cooney told Catholic women that they could restore the home to "the asylum of happiness and peace" that "God intended it to be" .67 It was feared, however, that the entry of married women into the paid workforce was undermining family life.68 In their pastoral letter responding to the Depression, the bishops urged women to "pay more attention to their proper sphere of life, which many nowadays are in danger of deserting, with unfortunate consequences for the home and family, and ultimately for the race."69 At the beginning of the Second World War, the Tablet published a series of articles by members of the Catholic Social Guild lamenting the increaSing employment of women in commerce and industry - a trend, which, it was recognized, would be accelerated by the war.70 Nevertheless, like their contemporaries, women who wrote for the Catholic press argued that young women should train for a career and work for a time even though 63 Month. 1 November 1932. p. 8 (Betsy Davis); Zea/andia. 31 January 1935. p. 7 (Kathleen Kennedy); 27 January 1938. p. 3 and 10 February 1938. p. 12 (l.A. Higgins SM). See also the role attributed to St Joseph above. 64 NZ Tablet. 25 October 1939. p. 33; 1 November 1939. p. 8. 65 NZ Tablet. 1 November 1939. p. 21; cf 8 November 1939. p. 8: "However much the modem woman may protest against against this essentially fundamental Christian doctrine. the fact remains that woman' s fIrst duty is the service of and in the borne." 66 NZTablet. 17 November 1921. p. 15. 67 NZ Tablet. 26 November 1924. p. 27; Month. 16 December 1924. p. 43. 68 NZ Tablet. 20 May 1931 . p. 3; 18 October 1939. p. 8. 69 Month. 1 July 1931. p. 9; NZ Tablet. 8 July 1931. p. 42. 70 NZ Tablet. 18 October 1939. p. 8; 25 October 1939. p. 33; 1 November 1939. pp. 8. 21; 8 November 1939. p. 8. 252 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? most of them would only have to support themselves until they married.71 Far from discouraging them from accepting the responsibilities of wife and mother, a brief career would offer valuable lessons for "those blissful days when the business house is exchanged for the little bungalow in the suburbs with its coat of glistening paint and its bridal-new curtains hung up for all the world to see. "72 Moreover, it was recommended that women enter suitable occupations such as dress-making, teaching or nursing, rather than work in chain stores or factories.73 Kennedy considered "domestic duties" to be "a woman's natural work" and therefore an accceptable profession.74 Goulter recommended that the new Bureau of Child Welfare be staffed by women since "the average male official is bound to blunder, and blunder badly" in such work.7s Catholic writers agreed with contemporary "experts" that, in order for girls to fulfIl successfully their destiny as wives and mothers, they needed appropriate education.76 The Catholic Federation in Auckland offered five day scholarships and two correspondence scholarships for boys but only two day scholarships for girls, while the Christchurch Diocesan Council of the Federation rejected a proposal to open its scholarships competition to girls.77 Cleary did not think that domestic training should be neglected in favour of unsuitable academic learning: Marriage is (or ought to be) the common lot of the convent-trained girl. For that reason we plead ... for the turning-out of sweet domesticated maidens rather than incipient blue-stockings or brilliant executants or smart sayers of airy nothings.78 71 Month, 19 April 1927, p. 33 (Mary Goulter); 17 July 1928, p. 27 (Mona Tracy); Zealandia, 27 August 1936, p. 7 and 16 December 1937, p. 10 (Kathleen Kennedy); 31 December 1936, p. 7 (Susan Russell); cf. Margaret Tennant, "Natural Directions: The New Zealand Movement for Sexual Differentiation in Education During the Early Twentieth Century", New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 1212 (November 1977), p. 149. 72 Month, 17 July 1928, p. 27 (Mona Tracy). 73 NZTablet, 1 8 October 1939, p. 8; 1 November 1939, p. 21; 8 November 1939, p. 8. 74 Zealandia, 16 December 1937, p. 10. 75 Month, 16 August 1920, p. 21 . 76 Zealandia, 27 August 1936, p . 7 (Kennedy). For the debate over girls' education, see Tennant, "Natural Directions", pp. 142-153 and Griffiths, pp. 281-29l . 77 Month, 15 September 1921, p . 15 ; NZ Tablet, 6 February 1919, p . 34; cf. "Regulations and Conditions of the Christchurch Diocesan Scholarships of the New Zealand Catholic Federation", (Printed before December 1919), CmA. 78 Month. 15 September 1919. p. 18; cf. the views of education for girls expressed by " Antonio" (20 January 1925. p. 13). ---------- Sexuality and Gender Roles 253 Goulter attributed the shortage of domestic help partly to the tendency of education to encourage inappropriate career ambitions among those suited to domestic work.79 Conventional male and female gender roles were reflected even in the lives of Catholic religious. At its 1929 annual general meeting, the Wellington Catholic Education Board decided to raise the annual payment to the nuns teaching in its schools from £25 to £35; the Marist Brothers received £100 each as well as £50 to employ domestic help.8o During the later 1930s, the Christian Brothers in Dunedin were paid £40 per annum, while nuns received £25.81 Michael O'Meeghan SM, commenting on a similar situation in the Christchurch diocese, has argued that the smaller stipend offered to nuns was not a matter of unequal pay for men and women but reflected the brothers' need to employ housekeepers and cooks and to buy their own clothes. Nuns could keep house, cook and sew; they could also supplement their income by teaching music.82 (Indeed, music teaching, essential for the economic viability of convents, was a respectable domestic form of employment. 83) No doubt the stipend did reflect such practical considerations, but it thereby revealed assumptions about the different roles assigned to men and women. So strong were male and female stereotypes that even religious men vowed to poverty, chastity and obedience could hire a woman to look after them, rather than learn and practise the domestic arts themselves. Parish clergy (vowed to celibacy but not to poverty) also employed women as housekeepers and cooks. 79 Month, 18 September 1920, p. 22-23; ct 15 March 1921, p. 17. 80 St Joseph's parish notices, 2 December 1928, 17 November 1929, WCAA; typed notes on stipends for nuns and brothers, enclosed with the Board's 1927-1928 report, WCAA; NZ Tablet, 22 October 1930, p. 33. 81 The Dunedin City Catholic Education Trust's annual report for 1936-1937 recorded both the number of teachers and the total payments made for each school. Four teachers at the Christian Brothers School received £200 altogether for fifteen months, whereas the same number of teachers at convent schools received £125 (NZ Tablet, 18 August 1937, p. 35). 82 Michael O'Meeghan, Held Finn by Faith: a History o/the Christchurch Diocese (Christchurch: Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, 1988), p. 158. 83 In a leader article on "The Catholic Teacher", the Tablet (8 January 1930, p. 3) noted that "in many cases our Sisterhoods could not exist in the districts where they find themselves were it not that some of them slaved from morning to night teaching singing and music, often to non-Catholics, in order to provide means for the support of the teachers in the schools." See also the comments of Sister Josephine (NZ Tablet, 21 January 1931 , p. 48) and M.A. McCarthy's reference to the nuns' dependence on "the precious shilling" paid by pupils at the end of each lesson in Star in the South: the Centennial History o/the New Zealand Dominican Sisters (Dunedin: St Dominic's Priory, 1970), p. 234. ". _-"--. � . ''--. -'''; -�.P . ---.#_ .... � ____ ,. . ..... -. _ ___ � ___ . _____ � . _ _ 254 Chapter Four: Riglueousness or Conformity? In the ecclesiastical roles that it assigned to men and women, the Church reinforced the expectation that men should have public roles while women served privately and remained hidden from public view. This convention applied even more strongly to nuns than to other women. In Ianuary 1 932, a large crowd gathered outside the new Dominican convent and school in Helensville for the opening ceremony but the nuns do not appear in the published photograph because they were listening to the addresses from the front parlour.84 Noting that there had been discussion at a recent Anglican synod about preaching by women, Goulter pointed out that the Catholic Church followed the Pauline injunction that women should be silent in church. They already exercised "a high and holy function" in their "quiet domestic sphere as wife and mother", while those who sought "more intimate relations with the life of the Church" could enter a convent. 85 Nor could girls serve at the altar like their brothers. Since the priest was "another Christ, set apart from the world, for the perpetuation of Calvary" , it was " inevitable that the service of the sanctuary, even in its minor details, should be the prerogative of men".86 While motherhood was "a wonderful vocation", " the mother of a priest is called to a great destiny, surpassing the ordinary aspirations of women. "87 The Zealandia asserted that, while women could not be priests, they could enjoy the privileges of the religious life and that there was invariably a woman in the life of male saints.88 During the liturgy, the sanctuary was a male preserve, which women could enter "only on sufferance".89 When no altar boy was available to serve Mass, a girl or woman could give the liturgical responses and ring the bell but only from outside the sanctuary.90 Women did have an important domestic role in church, 84 McCarthy, p. 228; Month, 1 February 1932, p. 22. 85 Month, 15 May 1922, pp. 6-7; cf 1 Corinthians 14:34. 86 Marist Messenger, 1 November 1933, p. 3 1 (article by Goulter). 87 Month, 21 April 1925, p. 31 (GouIter); cf NZ Tablet, 27 July 1927, p. 58 ("Rosaleen"): "The most sacred ambition of the Catholic mother is to see one or other of her children serving God as a member of a religious community." 88 Zealandia, 25 January 1940, p. 7. The latter generalization was dubious and the religious life was also open to men. 89 Month, 21 April 1925, p. 29 (GouIter). 90 Zealandia, 8 November 1934, p. 6; 28 February 1935, p. 6. Instances of girls or women "serving" from outside the sanctuary are recorded by Beryl Bartlett in Palmers ton North during the 1920s and by Peg Baty (O'Neill), who attended St Joseph's Convent School, Runanga, from 1935 to 1943 - Bartlett, "Recollections, Impressions, Opinions and a few Facts, in the parish of St Patrick's Church, Palmerston North (and environs)", manuscript in Miss Bartlett's possession, vol. I, p. 7; Reflect, Rejoice: Sisters of Mercy Celebrate One Hundred Years in Greymouth, 1882-1982 (Greymouth: Mercy Centennial Planning Committee, 1982), p. 1 18. Sexuality and Gender Roles 255 however, especially as members of altar societies, which were sometimes assisted by the Children of Mary. These organizations, like the Cathedral Altar Society in Christchurch, sewed vestments and otherwise maintained church furnishings as well as raising funds for liturgical requirements.91 According to both Catholic and Protestant exponents of the cult of domesticity, it was primarily in the home environment that women were expected to exert their wholesome influence. When Lord Bledisloe, the Governor-General, told the girls of St Mary's College, Ponsonby, that as women they had to be " the refining centres of influence in life", he was no doubt endorsing what the sisters who staffed the college also taught. 92 Reflecting on the McMillan Committee report, Protestant clerics reaffirmed the importance of the home and the role of women as moral guides.93 Readers of the Month were told that, "Mary was queen of her home" and it was there, "and not in the public gaze, [that] her influence was made apparent".94 Goulter assumed that, "in the majority of cases, it is the woman who arbitrates between the conflicting ideals which continually besiege the sanctuary of the individual home."95 Kelly was a strong advocate of women's duty to inculcate moral values in their menfolk but he feared that family life was in decline.96 A woman's power to convert or reform her husband was great - but so also was her power for evil.97 Lamenting the corruption of contemporary youth, Kelly feared that while, "The men may be reformed by good women who will make good wives" there was less hope for families in which the wife and mother had led the undisciplined and dissolute life of a flapper.98 91 Cathedral Altar Society, minutes of meetings, 1926-1941, CCDA. For annual reports of this Society, see NZ Tablet, 14 December 1922, p. 25; 15 November 1923, p. 26; 5 November 1924, p. 41; cf. 17 March 1926, pp. 30-3 1 (Invercargill); 27 May 1936, p. 8 (Dunedin); Zealandia, 21 June 1934, p. 6 (South Canterbury); 3 August 1939, p. 3 (New Plymouth). See also the reference to the Guild of the Blessed Sacrament (in Remuera), in chapter two above. 92 Month, 1 August 1932, p. 10. 93 NZ Herald, 22 April 1937, p. 8 (Archdeacon MacMurray); NZ Herald, 18 November 1937, p. 15; and Press, 18 November 1937, p. 7 (Rev. E.D. Patchett). 94 Month, 2 November 1931 , p. 17. 95 Month, 15 November 1919, p. 19; cf. ibid. 21 December 1926, p. 38 ("Women have the shaping of home life. They set its tone ...... The context is a discussion of the role of women in the celebration of Christmas.). 96 NZ Tablet, 29 April 1920, p. 25; 27 January 1921, p. 25; 20 May 193 1 , p. 3. 97 NZ Tablet, 17 November 1921, p. 15. 98 NZ Tablet, 24 April 1919, p. 26; cf. 14 April 1926, p. 33. 256 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? As long as the women remain pure and good and true a nation cannot be lost; but if once womanhood loses its virtue the end is decay and ruin ... To put the matter another way: the morals of men are what women make them.99 The mission of women as moral reformers could not be confined to the home but necessarily extended to the struggle against social evils which were seen to threaten the family. However, there was a tension in the ideology of womanhood, as expounded by Catholic moralists, between family responsibilities and the urge to reform the rest of society. The election of women to Parliament was applauded by Catholic commentatorslOO but they were rather hesitant about the exposure of women to "the seamy side of life" through jury service. lol When Kelly wrote of women's influence beyond the home, he emphasized the men whose character they moulded, for good or ill. At the same time, however, he called on women to imitate St Joan of Arc, asserting that the "devastation" of New Zealand "by its moral foes" was worse than that wrought in France by the English in her time.102 According to Goulter, when women became mothers, they were content to be "onlookers at the windows of life" . 103 Endorsing the views of a Mrs Peryman of Carterton, speaking at a meeting of the National Council of Women, Goulter argued that women's concern for their children extended beyond the home into the wider society which they entered on maturity and that consequently it was appropriate for mothers to become involved in social concerns when their children grew Up. 104 On other occasions, it appeared that women could not wait that long. Goulter supported the Anglican Bishop Averill's appeal to the Mothers' Union to oppose the publication in newspapers of "those things which are degrading and offensive to all decent-minded people". She was particularly concerned over the unnecessary publication of the "sordid details" of crimes. lOS Goulter also urged women to take an interest in reforming the moral standards of the cinema, for, "Unless we take the lead in this matter, it is extremely unlikely that men will do SO."I06 While 99 NZTablet, 17 June 1920, p. 15; if. 20 May 1920, p. 26; 29 August 1928, p. 3. 100 Month, 14 February 1920, p. 18; 15 January 1923. p. 13 (Goulter on the election of Lady Astor in Britain); NZ Tablet, 20 September 1933. p. 4 (editorial comment on the election of Mrs E.R. McCombs). 101 Month, 15 November 1923, p. 22; cf 15 June 1921, pp. 13-14 (Goulter); Zealandia columnist, "The Sifter", was opposed to women serving on juries (Zealandia, 7 June 1934, p. 4). 102 NZ Tablet, 14 September 1927, p. 33; 6 April 1932. p. 3. 103 Month. 1 5 November 1918. p. 15. 104 Month, 15 November 1923. pp. 22-23. 105 Month. 1 5 September 1923. p. 23. 106 Month, 15 May 1920. p. 12. Sexuality and Gender Roles acknowledging that they naturally had different views on Prohibition, women, in particular, should also promote temperance: 257 We women should be in this good work, not only because our ideals should be purer and loftier than those of men, but because our sheltered and protected lives and gentler natures should fill us with a more divine Rity and compassion for the victims, guilty and innocent, of the scourge of drink. 07 Recognizing that women were increasingly entering public life, Redwood argued in 1 9 19 that while some individuals had suffered, new responsibilities would strengthen women's characters and enable them to exercise more influence than in the past. He urged Catholic women, for example, "especially Catholic women of education and culture", to use their influence to combat the "evil of divorce" . lOS Twenty years later, there was no more hesitation over the duty of women to exercise their particular influence in society at large. Speaking to a conference of the Catholic Women's League, Bishop Liston referred to its role "in influencing and guiding public opinion". He observed that whereas the chief apostolate of women was formerly the home, now women go out also among their fellows to work for God . . . . Women's part is to bring back Christian thought and practice . . . they do that in the homes, now they must do it in a wider sphere.109 Similarly, the Tablet described the "responsibility of woman" as extending "far beyond the home into all the professions for which she is naturally fitted" , for, without such influence, civilization would fall. Catholic women were still expected to champion the home "and all that it stands for", but at the same time, "professions in the world which are suited to women must be available to them so that they can make their refining influence felt in the social environment." Nevertheless, the ambivalent view of women remained: A good woman is a tremendous power for good, and, sad to say, a bad woman is a tremendous power for evil. Her influence in either case is almost incalculable. I fO 107 Month, 15 July 1919. p. 22. Whatever Goulter's personal views, she was writing in a newspaper founded and edited by the leading Catholic Prohibitionist, Bishop Cleary, but the Catholic Church fully endorsed the virtue of temperance. For the Catholic role in the Prohibition controversy, see chapter five. 108 NZ Tablet. 28 August 1919. pp. 9, 1 1 ; cf. Month, 15 September 1921 . p. 16 (Goulter); Zealandia. 8 February 1940, p. 9 and Gascoigne, pp. 60-61 (Archishop Duhig of Brisbane at the Wellington Eucharistic Congress). 109 NZ Tablet, 12 July 1939. p. 27. 1 10 NZ Tablet, 3 1 May 1939, p. 5. The editor's views were supported by quotations from an address by Pope Pius XII to the Congress of the International Union of Catholic Women' s Leagues in Rome and allusions to an article by Dom Virgil on pp. 24-25. 27 of the same issue. 258 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? Within the Catholic Church, then, religiously-motivated celibacy was accorded a higher status than marriage, an attitude which was reinforced by the cult of virgin saints. Nevertheless, marriage and family life were accepted as the vocation of most Catholics. By exalting the Blessed Virgin and portraying the Holy Family as the ideal family, the Church simultaneously upheld the supremacy of virginity while promoting a sanitized version of family life. The official preference for celibacy gave Catholic thought on gender and the family a distinctive character but the expectations placed upon married women and men largely reflected those of contemporary respectable society. Indeed, the mythology of the Virgin serVed to reinforce current notions of womanly domesticity, virtue and influence. Moral Triumphalism Catholic teachers, it will be seen, often contrasted the authoritative moral teaching of their Church with the changing doctrines of non-Catholics. "Christian moral teaching" , according to Kelly, was "the doctrine of Christ which is preserved pure and intact by the Church which He founded on earth and to which He guaranteed immunity from error where faith or morals are concerned." l l l According to Zealandia editor Peter McKeefry, only the Catholic Church spoke "with explicit, unhesitant certitude" because it was not divided by individual judgment and consequent "theological dissensions" . 1 12 As the Protestant churches modified their teaching on contraception and divorce in particular, they were open to criticism from Catholic polemicists, whose Church refused to compromise on these issues. For their part, Protestant apologists pointed to the Catholic practice of declaring certain marriages null, claiming this to be a breach of Catholic principles. From the perspective of Catholic moral teaching, changing Protestant attitudes towards divorce and contraception demonstrated Catholic moral superiority. Catholic apologists took pride in their Church's refusal to countenance any grounds for divorce; even allowing the repudiation of an unfaithful spouse, on the basis of a saying of Jesus in Matthew's gospel, was seen as a weakness on the part of other churches. 1 1 3 Kelly asserted that, "Christianity stands for the family and the blessing of God; atheism and Protestantism stand for race-suicide and the curse that is manifest in the tottering 1 1 1 NZ Tab/et, 22 July 1925, p. 33. 1 12 Zea/andia, 16 August 1934, p. 4. 1 13 Month, 15 November 1921 , p. 1 1 ; cf. Matthew 19:9. This text was not included among the biblical quotations cited in a Redemptorist sermon condemning divorce (NZ Tablet, 30 January 1929, p. 42). ___ � •• -...0--. .... .,.., :F ___ ........ . ___ .. ,_. �_ .. . ..-... . Moral Triumphalism 259 foundations of the societies that practice it. " Birth control propaganda was motivated in part by opposition to the Catholic Church which was "the last bulwark and defence of family life and the Christian home." l l 4 Protestants had debased marriage to the level of a civil contract by "denying its supernatural character" and surrendering it to politicians who permitted polygamy and promiscuity through enacting divorce legislation. l ls According to Cleary, "The Catholic Church is the world's great moral and spiritual power-house" and "the one great moral force that combats divorce and race-suicide". 1 16 The Zealandia lamented that the Catholic Church was "the only body whose moral teaching has not been brought to shame and scorn by corruptions such as divorce and birth control". l l7 Only Catholic teaching on marriage, rejected by most other Christians, could ensure happiness even in the present life. l l s As well as upholding true moral values, Catholics claimed their Church was the only one to provide the means of inculcating and sustaining virtue, namely religious education and the sacraments. l l9 When Canon Percival James, an Anglican, spoke to the Auckland Mothers' Union on impurity as "One of the greatest and most insidious enemies of home life", Kelly denounced the failure of Protestants to establish religious schools and blamed contemporary "moral disorders" on the Protestant doctrine of individual judgment. 120 The solution was to return to the Catholic ideals of marriage, purity and the home: "We need religion and we need the fear of hell . . . The place to begin is in the schools" . 121 According to the Month, "the problem of widespread immorality" would only be dealt with effectively when religious and moral instruction were accorded their "proper place in the daily school life of the child". 122 The only solution to the problem of divorce was "the full reinstatement of the teaching of the Catholic Church on the unity - and the sacramental and unbreakable character - of the 1 14 NZ Tablet, 16 November 1927, p. 33. 1 15 NZ Tablet, 20 January 1926, p. 33. 1 16 Month, 15 June 1920, p. 5; cf 15 August 1922, p. 5. 1 17 Zealandia, 10 October 1935, p. 4; cf 16 September 1937, p. 7. 1 18 Zealandia, 12 January 1939, p. 4. 1 19 For Catholic views on the necesssity of religious and moral education, see chapter three. 120 NZ Tablet, 22 July 1925, p. 33; for a similar response to non-Catholic moral concern, see 17 June 1925, p. 33. 121 NZ Tablet, 6 January 1926, p. 33. 122 Month.. 15 June 1921, p. 7. ------------------- - - - -- -- ------- 260 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conjonnity? bond of Christian marriage. "123 Moreover, the Church taught that the graces made available in the sacraments would sustain marriage through its inevitable difficulties. 124 Monsignor Power regarded Holy Communion as "essential to the peace and purity of married and family life". He asserted that, "Where love for the Holy Communion reigns, the door is shut against divorce". 125 While the Catholic Church strove to uphold authentic moral values, the Protestant churches were charged with continuing the work of the Reformation in undermining moral and doctrinal orthodoxy. The denial of ecclesiastical authority in the sixteenth century had led to a gradual decline in moral standards. l26 E.J. Haughey's prize­ winning essay in the Federated Catholic Clubs and Societies 1934 competition was published in the Tablet under the headline: "The World Pays for the Reformation, Luther's Spiritual Children Have Brought Moral Bankruptcy". Most contemporary economic and moral problems, the essay claimed, could be traced back directly or indirectly to the sixteenth century "break-up of Christendom" and "The present revolt in morals is mainly a reaction against the mutilated and distorted parody of true Christianity known as Protestant Puritanism." Only the Catholic Church was left to preserve virtues like chastity in a "paganised society". 127 Kelly declared that, Whatever of Christian ethics is honored [sic] in the world comes directly from the Church. The religions which sprang from the Reformation have almost ceased to be a half-way house between Christianity and unbelief. 128 In England, significantly, "the new order was established upon a king's divorce" and the masses learned to imitate Henry VIII's behaviour. 129 According to "Jerome" , a member of the Catholic Social Guild of Wellington, the state had a duty to protect the family but, since the Reformation, moral principles had been separated from social and political affairs. As a result, divorce was legalized and the government took no action to stop birth control, abortion and the exploitation of workers who could not support 123 Month, 15 August 1923, p. 6. 124 NZ Tablet, 27 April 1938, p. 7. On this point, see also the discussion of Catholic teaChing on divorce in the next section of this chapter. 125 NZ Tablet, 29 April 1925, p. 35. 126 NZ Tablet, 14 February 1940, p. 5. 127 NZ Tablet, 23 April 1934, pp. 20-21 , 31; for a further contribution by Haughey, see ibid., 28 August 1935, pp. 20-21 ; 4 September 1935, pp. 9, 1 1 . 128 NZ Tablet, 3 December 1924, p. 33. 129 NZ Tablet, 3 December 1924, p. 33; cf. 30 September 1920, p. 25; 6 January 1926, p. 33. �- - - - - Moral Triumpha/ism 261 their families. 130 P.J. O'Regan contrasted the "universally uncompromising attitude" of the mediaeval Church with "the utter failure of the Reformation" as demonstrated by contemporary divorce legislation. l3 1 According to Goulter, "the insignificance of women, their lack of solid education, and their relegation to the domestic sphere only, is in reality a legacy of the Reformation." 132 When the 1 930 Lambeth Conference cautiously sanctioned the use of artificial contraception, the Tablet responded with a leader article entitled "The Anglican Collapse". By separating the pursuit of pleasure from the responsibility of procreation, the Lambeth Conference, according to the editor, had "by a large majority endorsed the gospel of the prostitute". In order to retain "within the vague limits of the fold many sorts of heretics and unbelievers, even among the bishops", the Anglican Church was prepared to modify orthodox Christian moral teaching. 133 According to Cooney, the Anglican bishops, by permitting the use of contraceptives, "abdicated any claim they may have been thought to possess as authorised teachers of Christian morality. " 134 Mter the Lambeth conference, the Month published conflicting Anglican views on contraception and challenged Archbishop Averill to demonstrate how an immoral practice could sometimes be justified. 135 Anglicans had reduced the ethical code of their Church to "mere expediency, a truckling to the spirit of the age, and an exhibition of a pagan conception of life that is a betrayal of the essentials of Christian morality. " 136 In 1937, the Tablet took the Presbyterian Church to task for the General Assembly's recognition of the right of parents to "space and limit their families by conception control." 137 This resolution, the Tablet charged, was "characteristic of the muddleheadedness of the non-Catholic religious bodies" and the "logical conclusion" 130 NZ Tablet, 15 June 1938, pp. 9, 35. 131 NZ Tablet, 3 June 1925, pp. 15, 17. For a similar argument, see the Month, 10 June 1930, p. 19. 132 Month, 19 October 1926, p. 35; cf 15 May 1923, p. 15 (Goulter); NZ Tablet, 25 October 1939, p. 33 ("Joan"). 133 "There is no such sign as the 'Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus' set on the acts of this Conference" (NZ Tablet, 20 August 1930, p. 3). 1 34 P J. Cooney to the editor, Christchurch Times, 13 January 1931 , p. 7; NZ Tablet, 21 January 1931 , p. 9. For a further disparaging allusion to the Lambeth Conference's resolution on birth control, see Marist Messenger, 1 January 1938, p. 13. 135 Month, 1 January 193 1, pp. 1 1 , 32. 136 Month, 1 August 193 1, p. 15; cf 1 July 1933, p. 18. 137 PGA, 1937, p. 63. -- --- - . - 262 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? of Presbyterian "rejection of Catholicism and the clear teaching of the New Testament". It amounted to a "fmal rejection of the last vestiges of Christian morality to which Presbyterians had held for so long". Henceforth "the Presbyterian body has little claim to be regarded as a Christian sect; its claim in the past may have been a slender one, but this last great betrayal will open the eyes of all to the true state of affairs." The conclusion was obvious: "outside the [Catholic] Church there is no hope for morality and no hope for faith". In denying the "fundamental principle" that "Limitation. of the family by any means other than abstinence and continence is absolutely contrary to the natural law and to God's law", the Presbyterian Church was gUilty of the "same shilly-shallying attitude" as the Anglicans had shown at the Lambeth conference.138 A letter by a Catholic accusing the Presbyterian Church of "condoning principles which are . . . diametrically opposed to the most fundamental Christian ideas on morality" was rejected by the editor of the Dominion but published in the Tablet. 139 The Tablet also criticized the "ignorance of Christian teaching" demonstrated by the General Assembly's assertion that a marriage was effectively dissolved by adultery or desertion.l40 Naturally the Presbyterian Outlook repudiated the "ill-informed criticisms" of the Tablet and counter-attacked with charges that the Catholic practice of annulment "was a very ingenious method of avoiding the plain issue" of divorce, while in Italy a man could have two wives, one recognized by the state and the other by the Church. 141 The Tablet returned with the accusation that it was actually the Presbyterians who, by allowing the remarriage of divorces, encouraged bigamy. 142 Annulment was a sensitive issue for Catholic apologists who often had to defend their Church against the charge of allowing divorce by another name.143 It was 138 NZTablet, 24 November 1937, pp. 5, 10. 139 "Veritas" to the editor, NZ Tablet, 15 December 1937, p. 7. 140 NZ Tablet, 24 November 1937, p. 10. Although the Assembly proposed the statement as a basis for discussion within the Church, it did not constitute an authoritative declaration (PGA, 1937, p. 17). 141 Outlook, 6 December 1937, p. 4. The Tablet's original comments had appeared on the same page as an editorial exposition of Catholic policy on the annulment of marriage (NZ Tablet, 24 November 1937, p. 5). By assuming that the Catholic Church allowed divorce on the grounds of infidelity, the Outlook betrayed a lack of understanding of the Catholic position (Outlook, 27 December 1937, p. 4). 142 NZ Tablet, 15 December 1937, p. 7. 143 Month, 15 February 1923, p. 7; 15 March 1923, p. 13; NZ Tablet, 30 December 1936, p. 3; 1 5 December 1937, p. 5 ; 1 3 April 1938, p. 7 ; Zealandia, 1 6 September 1937. .. ---. ... - . - ... _ - -.-- --- - -- . -- ------- -..-... .... ... - - - .- ... . - Moral Triumpha/ism 263 admitted that even Catholics often misunderstood their Church's procedures. l44 According to Archbishop Julius, the Anglican Church had a stricter policy on divorce than the Catholic Church because the latter claimed the right to annul marriages.14S Cooney alleged in turn that "Anglicans flock to the Divorce Courts" and that their Church condoned the state's right of divorce by marrying divorced persons.l46 When the Rev. J.D. Smith of the Dunedin Presbytery intimated that while rejecting divorce, the Catholic Church "had other ways of getting round the position by annuling marriages" , the Tablet devoted a leader article to rebutting the charge.147 In 1937, the Outlook charged that " 'nullity' and divorce are exactly synonymous terms" and that if they were not, then "the Church of Rome condones bigamy". 148 The Tablet replied that religious prejudice had caused the author to write at the level of "a fifth standard school child" . 149 According to Catholic apologists, divorce and annulment were entirely distinct, since divorce purported to dissolve the marriage bond, while an annulment was a declaration that it had never existed because the alleged marriage had not been validly contracted. 150 Protestant churches, which had their own requirements for the validity of marriages (concerning consanguinity, for example). did not regard marriage as a sacrament and effectively left it to the state to decide whether or not any given marriage was valid. It is significant that the Anglican Church, which did attribute a sacramental significance to marriage and was reluctant to admit divorce, seriously considered establishing marriage annulment courts. 151 Without challenging the state's right to regulate marriage, the Catholic Church, invoking a divine mandate to supervise 144 NZ Tablet, 24 November 1937, p. 5. 145 Christchurch Times, 10 January 193 1 , p. 7. 146 Cooney to the editor, Christchurch Times, 13 January 1931 , p. 7; NZ Tablet, 21 January 1931, p. 9. 147 Otago Daily Times, 3 October 1934, p. 3; NZ Tablet, 10 October 1934, p. 3 . 148 Outlook, 6 December 1937, p. 4. 149 NZ Tablet, 15 December 1937, p. 5. 1 50 Month, 15 February 1923, p. 7; 15 March 1923, p. 13; 18 January 1927, p. 25; 21 June 1927, p. iii; NZ Tablet, 19 January 1927, p. 33; 10 October 1934, p. 3; 24 November 1937, p. 5; Zealandia, 16 September 1937, p. 4. 151 AGS, 1940, p. 27, 169-171 . According to the General Synod's Committee on Marriage and Divorce, the Anglican Church was "under obligation to lift marriage from the selfish or physical planes to the sacramental plane" (ibid., p. 169). Averill had noted at the previous General Synod that "the Sacramental nature of marriage is largely overlooked" amidst contemporary social customs (AGS, 1937, p. 32). 264 · -- - --� Chapter Four: Righleousness or Conformity? spiritual matters such as marriage, assumed this right for itself. The Catholic annulment procedure was, in principle, the necessary corollary of the Church's claim to specify the requirements for a valid marriage. Since the conditions laid down by canon law were not identical to those enforced by civil law, the Church required its own legal procedure to enforce its law. According to Catholic teaching, a marriage could be declared invalid by a Church court if it had not fulfilled the requirements of . canon law ab initio. Cases were judged by a diocesan court but if the marriage was declared null, the defensor vinculi ("defender of the bond" of marriage) was then required to appeal to the court of the metropolitan or, more usually, to the Sacred Rota in Rome. The number of annulments declared in New Zealand was not published but there must have been few, if any, cases in most years. In 1933, the Sacred Roman Rota heard 72 cases, declaring invalid only 29 of the marriages involved. ls2 One of the most common grounds for annulment was the determination that undue influence had been brought to bear on the couple involved.ls3 Although Protestant critics did misconstrue the Catholic practice of declaring marriages null, there were grounds for suspecting that the procedure was not as different from divorce as its Catholic defenders claimed. The primary purpose of annulment procedings was not to uncover invalid marriages - there was no question of investigating apparently successful unions - but to determine whether unsuccessful marriages might have been invalidly contracted and therefore not binding. Presumably there were many apparently successful marriages which could have been declared invalid on the same grounds as those which were declared null. Annulment proceedings were only initiated by couples whose marriage had broken down, that is, by spouses who, had they belonged to another church, would have sought a divorce. Moreover, if Protestant acceptance of the principle that marriages could be dissolved was eventually to lead to an increase in divorce, Catholic acceptance of the principle that some marriages were not really marriages at all could also lead to an increase in annulments, as appears to have happened in more recent times. 152 NZ Tablet, 10 October 1934. p. 3. In five of these 29 cases. "previous opinions of validity were reversed or weakened"_ For other years. see Month. 15 Marcb 1923. p. 13; NZ Tablet. 18 November 1936, p. 4 ; 24 November 1937. p . 5; 15 November 1939. p . 7 . 1 53 NZ Tablet. 24 November 1937. p_ 5 _ In the Vanderbilt-Marlborougb case. a cause celebre in the 1920s. it was established that Consuelo Vanderbilt had been coerced into marriage against ber wisbes by ber mother (NZ Tablet. 19 January 1927. p. 33; 26 January 1927. pp. 22-23; Month. 1 8 January 1927. p . 25; 21 June 1927. p. iii). The intention not to have offspring. by means of artificial contraception. was another ground for annulment - J_T. Noonan. Contraception: A History of its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and Canonists (Cambridge. Massacbusetts: Harvard University Press. 1965. revised edition. 1986). p_ 435_ Moral Triumphalism 265 Catholic apologists asserted that their Church alone maintained traditional Christian moral values while other churches were compromising with the declining moral tone of an increasingly de-Christianized society. Meanwhile, Protestant polemicists, irritated by Catholic criticisms, replied that in its annulment procedure, the Catholic Church, too, was compromising its alleged principles. The rest of this chapter will compare the doctrines of Catholic and non-Catholic moralists, as well as the practice of Catholics and Protestants, to assess the Catholic claim to moral superiority. It will be argued that the main purpose of Catholic triumphalist rhetoric was to persuade the Catholic laity to live according to the Church's moral precepts but that the stridency with which these were proclaimed reflects their widespread rejection in practice. Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? Despite the sometimes tendentious boasting of Catholic apologists, official Catholic views on contentious issues like euthanasia, divorce, eugenics and sterilization, abortion and contraception were not radically different from those of the other churches and the rest of respectable society. Rather, Catholic views were simply more extreme - or more consistent - than those of other moralists. Whereas non-Catholics were prepared to adapt general principles (such as the indissolubility of marriage or the prohibition against killing the innocent) the Catholic Church regarded such principles as inviolable moral laws. As social attitudes changed, all the churches, as well as other conservative interest groups, found themselves defending traditional values to a greater or lesser extent but the Catholic Church was less willing to compromise than others. A review of the debate over these issues will show that Catholic teaching was located at one end of the spectrum of opinion: it was distinctive but it usually endorsed the same moral values as did Protestant teaching. The differences between Catholic and Protestant ethical teaching can be illustrated by the issue of euthanasia. In 1937, the Presbyterian Church agreed that "prematurely ending life is too dangerous a principle to be permitted." 154 There was some regret on the part of the Public Questions Committee that it could not recommend the relief of suffering in this manner. 155 Evidently the Church was more concerned that legalized euthanasia could lead to abuses than with the general prohibition of killing the 1 54 PGA, 1937, pp. 64, 180. 155 NZ Herald, 18 November 1937, p. 14. 266 Chapter Four: Righteousness or COnformity? innocent For Catholic moralists, by contrast, an inflexible principle was involved, namely that no-one was allowed to take the life of an innocent person under any circumstances whatsoever. From time to time, the Catholic press criticized the advocacy or practice of euthanasia overseas and outlined the Catholic view on the issue. IS6 During the 1930s, as public debate on euthanasia increased, the Catholic newspapers often reminded their readers of the Church's teaching. ls7 For the Catholic Church, there was no question of reconsidering the issue, but only of reaffirming traditional doctrine. Less committed to universal principles, Protestants were more willing to re-examine traditional mores but, in this instance at least, the practical outcome was the same. According to Catholic moralists, divorce was never permissible. Marriage was established by God and Jesus Christ had elevated it to the status of a sacrament. 158 As a sacrament, marriage was a permanent union; it could not be broken by any human agent because God, as one of the contracting parties, only allowed it to be broken by death.IS9 Moreover, the sacramental marriage of baptized Christians brought with it "such graces as are necessary for the well-being of the married state". Couples who knew that their union could only be broken by death would "naturally try to avoid quarrels" or, at least, "be more inClined to make them up, and less disposed to follow them up to the point of a final rupture". 160 It was assumed that many divorces began with "matters of incompatibility that with reasonable effort could be adjusted or at least tolerated in order to preserve the marriage contract inviolate." 161 If a marriage 156 Month, 15 1uly 1919, pp. 5-6; 15 April 1922, p. 7; 19 November 1929, pp. 17, 19; NZ Tablet, 29 April 1925, p. 22; 6 February 1935, p. 3; 13 November 1935, p. 3. 157 NZTablet, 10 February 1937, p. 20; 13 1uly 1938, �. 8; Zealandia, 3 1anuary 1935, p . 6; 27 February 1936, p. 4; 12 March 1936, p. 4; 9 September 1937, p. 12; 23 September 1937, p. 12; 17 November 1938, p. 3; 25 May 1939, p. 9. 158 NZ Tablet, 12 February 1920, p. 26; 18 November 1920, p. 13; 20 1anuary 1926, p. 33; 23 1une 1926, p. 51 ; 30 1anuary 1929, p. 42; 12 March 1930, p. 9; 24 November 1937, pp. 3-4; Month, 20 October 1925, p. 5; Zealandia, 31 1anuary 1935, p. 7; 7 October 1937, p. 3; Cast; Connubii, paragraphs 5, 38, 49. The encyclical is printed in The Papal Encyclicals, 1903-1939, edited by Claudia Carlen HIM (Wilmington, North Carolina: McGrath Publishing Company, 1981), pp. 391- 414. 159 Month, 18 September 1920, p. 6; 15 1anuary 1923, p. 4; 15 1anuary 1924, p. 13; NZ Tablet, 12 February 1920, p. 26; 3 December 1924, p. 33; 5 December 1928, p . 43 (pastoral Letter by Redwood); cf Zea/andia, 5 1anuary 1939, p. 6 and the statement issued by the Standing Committee of the Bishops of Australasia (Month, 18 November 1924, p. 32; NZ Tablet, 24 December 1924, p. 13). 160 Month, 15 December 1923, p. 4; cf Casti Connubii, paragraph 90. 161 Month, 15 March 1923, p. 5 . Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree ? 267 had become intolerable, however, for example through infidelity or drunkenness, the Church could penn it a separation but this did not sever the bond of matrimony. 162 Divorce was contrary to the teaching of Christ and St Paul; 163 it was setting aside the law of God for the sake of personal convenience. l64 According to Redwood, divorce was " in reality only legalised sexual crime"; 16S other Catholic moralists placed it on a par with adultery and polygamy.l66 Divorce reduced marriage to "a mere convenience for private pleasure". 167 Under the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Act ( 1920), divorce could be granted for failure to comply with an order for the restitution of conjugal rights or after three years' legal separation. 168 Catholics and other critics of the law were concerned that these provisions enabled couples to obtain a divorce by mutual consent, even though collusion between the parties was not supposed to be allowed. 169 A further amendment merely made it more difficult for the "guilty party" to petition successfully for a divorce170 and existing legislation was consolidated in the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act (1928), which made no significant alteration in the grounds for divorce.l7l Even before the passage of the 1920 legislation, the dislocation brought about by the war had led to a sharp increase in the number of divorce petitions. 172 During the interwar period, there were usually between seven and eight hundred petitions annually, but the number rose in the later 1930s to 1 ,243 in 1939.173 162 NZ Tablet, 27 November 1919, p. 15; Christchurch Times, 20 January 1931, p. 10 (Cooney); Casti Connubii, paragraph 89. 163 Month, 15 October 1923, p. 23; 15 December 1923, p. 4; NZ Tablet, 7 July 1926, p. 51 (Mgr Power). 164 Zealandia, 28 April 1938, p. 6. 165 NZ Tablet, 28 August 1919, p. 1 1 . 166 NZ Tablet, 27 November 1919, p. 15; 10 December 1924, p. 51 ; 30 January 1929, p. 43. 167 Zealandia, 14 July 1938, p. 3. 168 Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Act. Clauses 3 and 4, Statutes o/New Zealand (1920), pp. 478-479. 169 Month, 15 December 1923, p. 12; 10 June 1930, p. 19; NZ Tablet, 3 June 1925, pp. 19, 45 (O'Regan); 26 August 1925, p. 1 1 (Cooney); 25 October 1933, p. 3; cf R. Phillips, pp. 43-44. 170 Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Act (1921-1922), Statutes of New Zealand (1921- 1922), p. 614; for the context of this amendment. see R. Phillips, pp. 42-43. 171 Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act (1928), Statutes afNew Zealand (1928), pp. 204-217; R. Phillips, pp. 44, 147. 172 R Phillips, pp. 57, 71 . 173 R Phillips, pp. 56-57. 268 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? Power urged Catholics to "denounce the wickedness of politicians who defile the marriage bed by opening the door to cheap divorce" : 174 The Civil Government of New Zealand is engaged in the satanic work of weakening the marriage bond. Instead of cheap bread and shelter it is thrusting cheap divorce upon the people, and multiplying its pretexts. 175 Catholic and non-Catholic moralists regarded the availability of legal divorce as an attack on the family and the practice of divorce as a threat to society as a whole. 176 They agreed with Cooney who declared that Christian civilization rested "upon the foundation of the family" so any threat to the stability of the family was a menace "to the stability of the State". In It was held that society at large should not be put at risk in order to make divorce available to those suffering genuine hardships. l78 J.A. Higgins SM argued that the state was "made out of families, not of mere men and women" . Individualism led to divorce, which was "so radically evil that no civilization ultimately can survive it" . 179 Moreover, once divorce was made available, it would be impossible to restrain. 180 In criticizing the 1920 Act, the Evening Post reflected similar assumptions: the "permanent welfare of the community" was at stake for "the family and the home" , which were "the real foundations of society", were threatened by legislation which made divorce too easy. 181 While the Protestant churches conceded that divorce sometimes had to be permitted, they abhorred it none the less and the views of the Anglican Church, in particular, were very similar to those of the Catholic Church. Averill regarded the "prevalence of easy divorce" as "disastrous to the well being of any country" since it undermined "the unity and purity of family life" . 182 When the Rev. J.R. Hervey called for a repeal of the laws permitting divorce, his remarks were quoted with approval by 174 NZ Tablet. 10 December 1924. p. 5 1 . 175 NZ Tablet. 29 April 1925. p . 35. 176 NZTablet. 2 December 1920. p. 13; 23 June 1926. p. 51; 28 June 1933. p. 3; 25 October 1933, p. 3; 14 September 1938. p. 35; Month. 15 December 1922. p. 5; 15 March 1923. pp. 4-5; 15 December 1923. pp. 4-5; Zealandia. 12 August 1937. p. 6; 12 January 1939. p. 4. 1 77 NZ Tablet. 26 August 1925. p. 1 1 . 178 Month. 15 October 1923. p. 23; NZ Tablet. 27 November 1919, p. 15. 179 NZTablet. 17 August 1938. p. 9; cf Zealandia. 21 June 1934. p. 5; 17 February 1938. p. 12 (Higgins); NZ Tablet. 25 January 1939. p. 4 (Catholic social science article). 180 Casti Connubii. paragraph 91 ; Zealandia. 24 February 1938. p. 16 (Higgins. citing Pope Leo XIII). 181 Evening Post. 28 October 1921. p. 6; 4 November 1921. p. 7. 182 AGS. 1940. pp. 27-28. ---- - -- - ---... Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? 269 the Month. 183 The 1922 General Synod, following the 1920 Lambeth Conference, affmned that marriage was indissoluble184 and, in 1928, the Mothers' Union reported its concern over the country's liberal divorce laws. 18S In 1937, the Synod endorsed an­ unofficial 1 899 episcopal declaration that remarriage was not permissible. 186 The Tablet congratulated Averill for his reiteration of the Anglican Church's prohibition of the remarriage of divorced persons during his opening address at the Synod but also criticized less strict Anglicans. 187 A special committee reporting to the 1940 Synod reaffirmed the Church's view that marriage was indissoluble except that it was effectively dissolved by adultery - a circumstance which could be recognized by legal divorce. 188 With episcopal permission, the innocent party could remarry. 189 However, the committee felt unable to recognize any further grounds for divorce other than unfaithfuless. l90 For Anglicans, like Catholics, the sacramental character of marriage was a barrier to its dissolution. 191 Moreover, like the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church recognized that where the conditions for a valid marriage had not been fulfilled, the union could be declared null, leaving the parties free to marry someone else. 192 Despite their increasingly liberal attitudes towards divorce, the Presbyterian and Methodist churches also sought to restrict it. In its response to the Tablet's attack on Presbyterian divorce legislation, the Outlook recalled that, "The Presbyterian Church has voiced in clear terms her detestation of the unrestricted divorce which is so easy to­ day" }93 Although the Presbyterian Church's 1921 declaration on divorce 183 Month, 15 August 1923, p. 6. For favourable comment by Mary Goulter on Anglican objections to the 1920 legislation, see Month, 15 November 1921, p. 16. 184 AGS, 1922, pp. 20, 22. 185 AGS, 1928, p. 236. Women who had taken part in divorce proceedings were debarred from membership of the Mothers' Union (Press, 14 July 1938, p. 2). 186 G A S, 1937, pp. 29, 57. 187 NZ Tablet, 14 April 1937, p. 4; cf. 21 July 1921, pp. 25-26 and 7 April 1937, pp. 4-5. See also AGS, 1937, p. 28-30. 188 G 94 A S, I 0, pp. 165-166. 189 AGS, 1940, pp. 166-167. 190 AGS, 1940, pp. 168-169. 191 AGS, 1937, p. 32; 1940, p. 169. 192 AGS, 1937, p. 31 ; 1940, pp. 27, 169-171. 193 Outlook, 6 December 1937, p. 4. 270 ----- --- --_ . . _ -- - . . Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? acknowledged that a marriage could be dissolved by adultery or desertion, it maintained that marriage was "meant to last as long as life lasts" and protested against the greater availablity of divorce created by the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Act of 1920.194 By 1934, however, it was recognized that there was "considerable diversity of practice within the Church" on the remarriage of the divorced.19s It took another four years before a compromise statement of guidance for ministers could be negotiated because "discussions in Presbyteries revealed the sharpest and most extreme difference of opinion on all aspects of the Church's attitude to marriage and divorce." I96 A 1938 statement addressed to couples about to marry declared that "marriage is a relationship entered into for life" but, following the lead of the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act ( 1928), the "Instructions to Ministers" endorsed by the General Assembly acknowledged that a marriage could be dissolved by "sexual vice, habitual cruelty, habitual drunkenness, and desertion". 197 Divorce on the grounds of refusing to comply with an order for the restitution of conjugal rights or on the grounds of three years' separation, though allowed by law, was not to be recognized b� the Church. However, ministers could solemnize the remarriage of such divorces if they were convinced they had repented. 198 According to the Methodist Church, Christian marriage was, in principle, indissoluble, and could not be severed without sin.l99 After the passage of the 1920 Act, the Church's Temperance and Public Morals Committee had expressed a hope that the legislation would soon be revised to make divorce more difficult.2OO By the late 1930s, only a minority of the Church's Special Committee on marriage, divorce and birth control believed that unchastity was the only biblically sanctioned ground for divorce while the majority held that "other things such as insanity, cruelty, desertion etc. are the equivalent of 194 PGA, 1921, pp. 56, 190-194. 1 95 PGA, 1934, p. 177. 196 Professor John Allan, Convener of the Committee on Marriage and Divorce, in PGA, 1937, p. 220. In citing the 1936 report. R. Phillips (pp. 51-52) fails to acknowledge that the Church had not yet agreed upon a fmal statement 197 PGA, 1938, pp. 43, 203, 207. Insanity was added to this list the following year (ibid. , 1939, p. 20). Cf Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act (1928), Clause 10, Statutes of New Zealand (1928), pp. 207-208. 198 PGA, 1938, pp. 43, 207. This compromise did not express the mind of the Committee on Marriage and Divorce. 199 MAC, 1936, p. 67. 200 MAC, 1922, p. 91 . --- -_ .. __ ._----•. - -- -_._ --- - -_.- - ---- --- _ . .. . -. -. . - Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree ? 271 unchastity in morally breaking up the marriage bond" .201 A Methodist minister could remarry divorced persons who, he was convinced, sincerely and honestly accepted the Church's understanding of marriage and were not " guilty of any gross sexual offence whether in connection with the divorce or otherwise. "202 Anglicans, Presbyterians and Methodists, then, shared the Catholic ideal of marital indissolubility, but, in varying degrees, they allowed departures from that ideal. Moralists of all denominations were scandalized by newspaper reports of divorce cases which dwelt upon "prurient" details. In 1923, Archbishop 0' Shea joined Bishop Sprott of Wellington and other Protestant clerics in a deputation to Attorney General Sir Francis Bell urging that such information be suppressed.203 Several moral issues of concern to Catholics and others were raised by eugenic . theories. Particularly during the first third of this century, eugenicists in New Zealand and elsewhere sought to improve the genetic quality of the population by preventing or discouraging the "unfit" from reproducing. 204 Eugenicists claimed that a broad range of ailments and behaviours were hereditary, such as epilepsy, "feeble-mindedness" and tendencies to alcoholism, prostitution and child molestation. Moreover, individuals so afflicted were thought to be extremely prolific. The eugenic movement in New Zealand reached a climax in 1924 when the government established a committee to inquire into the treatment of "mental defectives" and sexual offenders.205 It was recommended that a register of mental defectives be compiled and that persons listed be prevented from marrying. Furthermore, with the approval of their guardians, mental defectives were to be sterilized by vasectomy or salpingectomy.206 After a delay which reflected government hesitation over these controversial proposals, the Mental Defectives Amendment Bill was introduced in 1928.207 Before the Bill was passed into law, opposition from the Catholic Church and other groups 1ed to the deletion of clauses 2 1 and 25 which would have prohibited the 201 MAC, 1938, pp. 72-73; cf. 1937, p. 72. 202 MAC, 1936, p. 68; cf. 1937, p. 73; 1938, p. 73. In the latter two references, the second provision is not mentioned; according to R. Phillips (p. 51), it was repealed. 203 Evening Post, 12 June 1923, p. 8; 13 June 1923, pp. 4, 9; Month, 15 June 1923, p. 4. 204 Fleming, pp. 1 , 60, 71 . 205 Fleming, pp. 42-47; "Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders", AlHR, 1925, vol. m, H.-3 1A. 206 1bid., pp. 20, 21, 24. The committee also recommended that consideration be given to the sterilization or even desexualization of "sexual perverts" (ibid., pp. 26-28). 207 Fleming, pp. 47-50. The delay also gave the government time to consider a further report by Dr T. Gray who visited mental institutions in Britain. 272 4 .. :... .... L:...... . .' _ .'3" ... ..... �._-.�J' ... ............ : :.. � ' ''' .. �, � _ .. � Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? marriage of mental defectives and authorized their sterilization.208 Even Health Minister James Young, in introducing the Bill, foresaw that public opinion might not be prepared to accept so drastic a step as sterilization and, indeed, there was considerable opposition to the Bill on the part of informed commentators.209 Catholic moralists and Labour politicians shared scepticism over the attribution of numerous diseases and anti-social tendencies to heredity.21o Kevin McGrath SM, presenting evidence to the inquiry on behalf of the Catholic Church, had questioned the hereditary determinism which characterized eugenic theory.21 1 The Labour opposition in Parliament was critical of attempts to blame individuals for evils which it saw as resulting from unjust social structures.212 Kelly commended the views of Peter Fraser and William Parry, arguing that the failure of government to improve social conditions, not heredity, created defectives.213 He declared that, "The main causes of degeneracy are the exploitation of the workers by the capitalists and the maintenance of godless schools".214 Sexual crimes were encouraged by "suggestive literature and pictures". The solution lay in the restoration of the home and its values, the establishment of religious education and in the Catholic Church with its sacraments.21S Redwood and Kelly also stressed Catholic natural law arguments: governments had no authority to mutilate the body by sterilization or to deny the God-given right to found a family. Redwood feared that voluntary sterilization could soon become compulsory for the unfit and might also be used by healthy couples as a form of contraception.216 208 NZPD, 1928, vol. 219, p. 492. However, the Mental Defectives Amendment Act (clauses 14 and 22) did provide for the compilation of a register of defectives, whose guardians were charged with preventing them from having carnal knowledge of any other person - Statutes of New Zealand (1928), pp. 403-404, 406. 209 NZPD, 1928, vol. 217, p. 618; Fleming, pp. 54-58. 210 NZ Tablet, 17 June 1925, p. 33; 25 July 1928, p. 3; NZPD. 1928, vol. 617. pp. 631-633 (Fraser); 678-684 (Holland); vol. 219, p. 508 (Fraser). 211 Month, 15 June 1924, p. 27; Fleming, p. 45. 212 NZPD, 1928, vol. 617, pp. 633-634; Fleming, p. 52. 213 NZ Tablet, 25 July 1928, p. 3. Presumably Parry's views were expressed outside Parliament he had little to say about the Bill in the House (NZPD, 1928, vol. 219, pp. 492-493). 214 NZTablet, 17 June 1925, p. 33. 215 NZTablet, 13 May 1925, p. 33. 216 NZ Tablet, 1 3 May 1925, p. 33; 25 July 1928, p. 3; 1 August 1928. p. 42 (Redwood); 26 September 1928, p. 5; Evening Post, 25 July 1928, p. 10 (Redwood). Sterilization was permissible if it proved necessary for the health of the individual concerned. For further discussion of sterilization in terms of natural law, see M.F. Lane, Australasian Catholic Record (1934), pp. 47-53, especially pp. 49- 50. Catholic moralists countenanced the use of sterilization as a lawful punishment for crime: "the State cannot mutilate people who are not criminals" (NZ Tablet, 25 July 1928. p. 3); "it is permitted ... as a punishment for crime, under ajust law" (19 September 1934. p. 2); Casti Connubii, Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? 273 Sir Joseph Ward, speaking in the House of Representatives, condemned sterilization as "an interference to the natural laws laid down by the Almighty".217 By the 1930s, there was less support for eugenic theories, but Catholic moralists still felt it necessary to campaign against them.21 8 In 1934, the Tablet criticized the New Zealand Justices of the Peace for endorsing sterilization as a means of reducing crime and improving the human race and the Zealandia challenged Major Dagger, Chairman of the Nelson Hospital Board for advocating sterilization of the "unfit" .219 That same year, Dr P.P. Lynch addressed the Catholic Readers' Club of Wellington on sterilization and eugenics and a Miss Williams of Dunedin was said to have routed the advocates of sterilization in an address to the Hibernian Social and Debating Club on her work among children suffering from speech impairment at the School for Defective Children.22o The most important exponent of eugenic thought in the 1930s was Mrs N.A.R. Barrer of the Women's Division of the Farmers' Union who lobbied for the reinstatement of clauses 21 and 25 of the 1928 Act 221 Noting the organization's efforts to persuade the Minister of Health of the need for sterilization of the unfit, a writer to the Tablet expressed the hope that Catholic members "who must be a numerous body of women" would "remove this stain" from the Division's record.222 At the Women's Division's 1937 conference, Dr Doris Gordon, founder the New Zealand Obstetrical Society, spoke in support of voluntary sterilization and Dr A.B. O'Brien, a Catholic, spoke on the moral objections to it. Subsequently a remit urging the prohibition of marriage by persons having an "hereditary taint", the (Footnote continuedfrom previous page.) paragrapbs 68, 70. Lane (op. cit. , pp. 52-53) rejected the legitimacy of punitive sterilization. The McMillan Committee endorsed surgical sterilization as a means of preventing conception in women whose health would be endangered by pregnancy, but did not recommend any cbange in the law lest it open the way to abuse - that is, the commi ttee shared Redwood's disapproval of sterilization as a form of contraception for women not wanting further cbildren (AJHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.-31A, pp. 23, 27-28). 217 NZPD, 1928, vol. 219, p. 501 . Ward bad just returned to the Chamber after having a sleep and did not realize that the sterilization clause bad already been removed from the Bill. 218 NZ Tablet, 2 April 1930, p. 3; 2 September 1931 , p. 3. 219 NZ Tablet, 18 April 1934, p. 3; Zealandia, 6 December 1934, p. 4; cf. 27 September 1934, p. 10; 28 February 1935, p. 4; 4 January 1940, p. 8. 220 NZ Tablet, 19 September 1934, pp. 1 -2, 8; 24 October 1934, pp. 13, 27. 221 Fleming, pp. 63-68. 222 "Catholic Woman" to the editor, NZ Tablet, 10 July 1935, p. 36. --- - - --- ------ 274 -- - -- -- -- Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? introduction of voluntary sterilization and the establishment of birth control clinics was not put to the meeting.223 In 1938, however, the annual conference passed, by a "big majority", a remit favouring clinics and sterilization. The motion had been opposed by Fairlie delegate Mrs Goulter.224 After further lobbying it was rescinded at the 1939 conference.225 Although there were fears that maintaining an official position opposed by a significant number of members would damage the organization,226 it seems unlikely that Catholic women were alone in opposing sterilization and birth control clinics.227 Although the Catholic Church had a distinctive approach to eugenic issues, its views overlapped with those expressed by other members of society. Catholics emphasized natural law principles which allowed of no exceptions, while other moralists tended to oppose sterilization on more pragmatic grounds. Evidently fearful lest the wrong people should suffer, the Presbyterian Church, in 1937, declared itself opposed to compulsory sterilization but saw no moral obstacle to voluntary sterilization on the grounds of "physical or mental unfitness" .228 Catholics played an important role in the criticism of eugenics but they were by no means alone in the effort to defeat proposals to introduce sterilization or to restrict marriage by the unfit. Moreover, like many of their contemporaries, Catholics were not opposed to "any reasonable efforts to improve the race", for example it was accepted that certain individuals might have to be segregatated or dissuaded from marrying.229 Eugenics was never a popular cause and support declined further after the passage of the 1928 Act. During the 1930s, manipulation of heredity by the state for eugenic purposes was rendered even more suspect by association with developments in Nazi Germany - a point naturally stressed by Catholic moralists.23o 223 Fleming, p. 66. 224 Dominion, 15 July 1938, p. 13 . 225 Dominion, 14 July 1939, p. 1 1 ; Zealandia, 27 July 1939, p. 4. 226 Fleming, pp. 66-68. 227 Perhaps if the proposals for sterilization and birth control clinics had been separated, there would have been more support for the latter but even the establishment of clinics was not universally supported by non-Catholics, as will be seen below. 228 PGA, 1937, pp. 63-64, 180; NZ Herald, 18 November 1937, p. 14. 229 Evening Post, 25 July 1928, p. 10 (Redwood); NZ Tablet, 18 April 1934, p. 3; cf 2 April 1930, p. 3; 2 September 193 1 , p. 3; Australasian Catholic Record, 1939, pp. 335-340 (Nevin); Casti Connubii, paragraphs 66-70. 230 Month, 2 October 1933, p. 18; NZ Tablet, 18 April 1934, p. 3; 19 September 1934, p. 2; Zealandia, 5 May 1938, p. 6. :,. Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? 275 The Catholic Church was uncompromising in its condemnation of abortion. Even when the health of the mother was endangered by continued pregnancy or child birth, there could be no question of performing an abortion, for the life of the unborn child was as sacred as that of the mother.231 The situation was not analogous to self-defence because the foetus was an innocent party, not an "unjust aggressor".232 Mothers were told that it was Better far to die a little in advance of the ordinary expectation of life than to secure a few years at the cost of mortal sin. The mother who gives her life for the sake of duty takes the surest road to heaven; she is, in truth, a martyr.233 The submission presented to the McMillan Committee on behalf of 0' Shea and the other Catholic bishops declared that "direct abortion" was murder and therefore never justified, even on therapeutic grounds, although it was permissible to carry out necessary surgery on the mother even if this would result in the death of the foetus.234 Non-Catholic moralists, just as aggrieved at the incidence of abortion as Catholics, were nevertheless prepared to allow it under certain circumstances. The 1937 inquiry estimated that there were some 4,000 criminal and 2,000 therapeutic abortions in New Zealand each year. Most of the women involved were married.235 Further debate over abortion was fuelled by Dr Doris Gordon and Dr Francis Bennett, whose book, Gentlemen of the Jury, condemned the failure of juries to convict illegal abortionists.236 Despite the writers' acceptance of therapeutic abortion and contraception (within strict limits), the book was given a quite favourable review by Liston who was pleased to accept the authors' tribute to the Church which, they believed, had most contributed to the solution of the abortion problem.237 Gordon was 231 Month, 18 November 1924, p. 32; NZ Tablet, 24 December 1924, p. 13 (Australasian Bishops Statement). . 232 Marist Mesenger, 1 April 1938, p. 8; NZ Tablet, 13 April 1938, p. 1 1 ; Evening Post, 29 March 1938, p. 4 (Higgins). 233 Marist Mesenger, 1 April 1938, p. 8; c! Casti Connubii, paragraph 64. 234 O'Shea evidence, NA HI 9402 131/139/15. 235 AJHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.-3 1A, pp. 10, 26. For critical discussions of these figures, see Smith. "State and Maternity", pp. 347-348; Maternity in Dispute, p. 102; Brookes, "Committee of Inquiry", pp. 24-27. 236 D.C. Gordon and F. Bennett, Gentlemen of the Jury (New Plymouth: Thomas Avery & Sons, 1937); c! Brookes, "Committee of Inquiry", pp. 65-68. Concern over the reluctance of juries to convict abortionists had already been expressed by others (ibid., pp. 1� 17), including Power (NZ Tablet, 10 December 1924, p. 51). 237 Zealandia, 3 June 1937, p. 4; c! Gordon and Bennett, pp. 81-94, 1 16-1 18. Liston was disappointed by the authors' endorsement of sterilization for women whose health would be endangered by pregnancy - they actually hoped the Church would change its teaching (pp. 1 18-1 19) - and Liston claimed that the Church had been misrepresented on page 1 17, though he did not specify how. 276 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? a tireless campaigner against abortion, believing that women who thus evaded their maternal duties were endangering the Empire.238 McMillan and his colleagues declared themselves "utterly opposed", primarily on moral grounds, "to any consideration of the legalization of abortion for social and economic reasons" and were horrified at the notion that women should be allowed to decide for themselves whether or not to have an abortion.239 It was accepted that an abortion was sometimes necessary for the sake of the mother's health, but the committee declined to recommend any alteration of the law, fearing that this would lead to abuses.240 Protestant opinion largely endorsed these views. The General Synod of the Anglican Church, appalled by the commission's findings, declared abortion to be "a sin against God, a sin against'Society, and a sin against the human body."241 Similarly, the Presbyterian Church's Public Questions Committee considered the incidence of abortion revealed by the report to be "the most alarming" of its revelations and one which required "united action on the part of all right-thinking citizens" .242 Protestant clerics and other community leaders called for stricter enforcement of the law against criminal abortion but wanted the law clarified to allow specifically for therapeutic abortion.243 Mter the publication of the McMillan report, Catholic moralists reaffirmed their belief that abortion was "absolutely illicit" .244 Monsignor Morkane told a meeting of Dunedin citizens that abortion was "a violation of the law of Nature and the law of God" and that his Church would oppose any initiatives to extend facilities for abortion for it did not recognize any difference between criminal and "so-called therapeutic" 238 Brookes, "Committee of Inquiry", pp. 67-68; Smith, "State and Maternity", pp. 341-343, 447; Maternity in Dispute, pp. 106, 108, 150. 239 Ibid. , pp. 21-22. 240 AlHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.-3 1A, pp. 20-21 , 27. 241 AGS, 1937, p. 71 ; NZ Herald, 17 April 1937, p. 15; cf Averill's earlier condemnation of abortion (AGS, 193 1, p. 23). 242 PGA, 1937, p. 175. 243 PGA, 1937, pp. 63, 178-179, 181 ; MAC, 1938, pp. 74, 76; Evening Post, 28 March 1938, p. 6 (report of a committee chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Wellington, Herbert St Bame Holland). According to the Methodist report, "The attitude of the Anglican Church in this Dominion to abortion is just as uncompromising as the Roman Catholic Church" (MAC, 1938, p. 73). 244 Zealandia, 27 January 1938, p. 3; cf 22 April 1937, p. 4; 1 September 1938, p. 6; NZ Tablet, 4 May 1938, p. 9; 3 1 August 1938, p. 6. Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? 277 abortion.245 An 'important test-case occurred in 1938, when Dr A. Bourne of London performed an abortion on a fourteen year old rape victim and then notified the Attorney General of his action. The jury which heard the case accepted that, while the patient's life had not been threatened, Bourne had acted properly to safeguard her mental and physical health. Although the case became a precedent in New Zealand law, the Zealandia was in no doubt that even this abortion had been a violation of natural law and regarded the court's decision as demonstrating the decline of the British judiciary. 246 Despite Catholic disapproval even of therapeutic abortion, however, Liston could join with the Auckland leaders of seven other denominations, including the Jewish community, in appealing to the Government to take "immediate and drastic action" against illegal abortion, which was said to threaten " the very existence of the nation".247 Catholic moralists held a distinctive view of artificial contraception, which they regarded as a violation of natural law under any circumstances. According to the Code of Canon Law, "The primary end of marriage is the procreation and education of children; its secondary end is mutual help and the allaying of concupiscence. "248 Deliberate frustration of the primary end of sexual relations could not be justified even as a means of fulfilling the secondary pUrpose.249 O'Shea explained to the McMillan Committee that artificial birth control and abortion both arose from "an unnatural and perverted attitude to sexual intercourse" which sought pleasure while deliberately avoiding procreation.250 Seeking "pleasure without maternity" , in the view of Catholic moralists, was evidence of selfishness.2SI They emphasized that the prohibition of 245 NZ Tablet. 18 August 1937. p. 6; Otago Daily Times. 10 August 1937. p. 5; cf Brookes, "Committee of Inquiry". pp. 70-71 . See also Higgins' response to the Holland Committee's report (Evening Post. 29 March 1938. p. 4 and NZ Tablet. 13 April 1938. p. 1 1). 246 Brookes. "Committee of Inquiry". pp. 83-84; Zealandia. 28 July 1938. p. 6; 4 August 1938. p. 6; 1 September 1938. p. 1 ; 15 September 1938. p. 1 ; 22 September 1938. p. 6. 247 NZ Herald. 20 November 1937. p. 18. For other statements by Liston. see NZ Tablet. 28 April 1937. p. 6; NZ Herald. 19 April 1937. p. 12 and Zealandia. 22 April 1937. p. 4; 25 November 1937. p. 6. 248 CIC. 1013; cf Casti Connubii. paragraphs 17. 59; NZ Tablet. 12 February 1920. p. 26; 3 December 1924. p. 33; 23 June 1937. p. 41 (Higgins); 13 Apri1 1938. p. 7 (Dudley); 20 July 1938. p. 3 (McMahon); Zealandia. 22 October 1936. p. 7 (Susan Russell). 249 Casti Connubii. paragraphs 54. 56. 59; NZ Tablet. 19 March 1930. p. 24. 250 O'Shea evidence. NA HI 9402 1311139/15. 251 NZ Tablet. 8 September 1937. p. 5; cf 27 May 1920. p. 26; Marist Messenger. 1 JWle 1937. p. 15. 278 Chapter Four: Righleousness or Conformity? artificial contraceptIon (and of abortion) was not an ecclesiastical rule but a natural and therefore divine law; consequently it allowed of no exceptions.252 If a couple had sound reasons for not wanting further children - such as dire poverty, hereditary illness or fear of endangering the woman's health - their only legitimate recourse was to exercise self control and refrain from sexual relations.253 Australasian moral theologians approved of limited use of the newly discovered Ogino-Knaus method of determining the time of ovulation and confining sexual intercourse to the infertile phase of the menstrual cycle, but they did not endorse the general use of this technique and it was not discussed in the Catholic press.254 Official Anglican teaching on contraception was quite similar to that of the Catholic Church. The rite of marriage in the Book of Common Prayer listed the ends of matrimony in an order of priority comparable to Catholic teaching255 and the 1920 Lambeth Conference assumed that "the primary purpose for which marriage exists" was "the continuation of the race through the gift and heritage of children".256 This perspective led to unease over the use of artificial contraception. Despite the Catholic attempt to portray the Anglican bishops as sexual libertines, the Lambeth Conference of 1930 had recommended "complete abstinence from intercourse" as "the primary and obvious method" of birth control for couples who felt a "moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood" . Only those who had "a morally sound reason for avoiding 252 Month, 19 April 1927, p. 19; 18 March 1930, p. 1; 1 September 1930, p. 23; 1 October 1930, p. 14; Zealandia, 17 January 1935, p. 10; 22 April 1937, p. 4; 25 November 1937, p. 6; 1 September 1938, p. 6; NZ Tablet, 31 August 1938, p. 6; Marist Messenger, 1 June 1937, p. 15; O'Shea evidence, NA HI 9402 131/139/15. 253 Month, 15 August 1922, p. 5; 18 March 1930, p. 1 ; 1 September 1930, p. 23; 1 October 1930, p. 15; Zealandia, 22 April 1937, p. 4; 16 September 1937, p. 7; 25 November 1937, p. 6; 27 January 1938, p. 3; 1 September 1938, p. 6; NZ Tablet, 30 January 1929, p. 43; 1 1 May 1938, p. 9; 31 August 1938, p. 6; O'Shea evidence, NA HI 9402 13 1/139/15. 254 Australasian Catholic Record, 1 1 (1934), pp. 95-104 (EJ. O'Donnell); 14 (1937), pp. 347-361 (Nevin). These writers cited Casti Connubii in support of their views but in doing so they were applying traditional teaching to the new situation created by recent discoveries. Pius XI would not have been aware of the Ogino-Knaus method when the encyclical was written in 1930 and did not discuss the systematic use of an infertile phase (Noonan, p. 442). 255 The Book of Common Prayer with the Additions and Deviations Proposed in 1928 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, n.d.), p. 299. A "remedy against sin" was given as the second end and "mutual society, help, and comfort" as the third. In the 1928-alrernative rite (p. 303), the second end was expressed more positively as a means whereby "the natural instincts and affections ... should be hallowed and directed aright". Significantly, the Holland Committee statement quoted the 1928 rite - but not the 1662 version, which was most commonly used in New Zealand - in support of artificial contraception (Evening Post, 28 March 1938, p. 6). 256 Alan M.G. Stephenson, Anglicanism and the Lambeth Conferences (London: SPCK, 1978), p. 149. Q I ] Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? 279 complete abstinence" could justifiably resort to "other methods" , while "motives of selfishness, luxury or mere convenience" were firmly condemned.257 Reporting back to the New Zealand General Synod in 193 1 , Averill also emphasized "thoughtful self control" and spoke of artificial contraception as being justified only in exceptional circumstances.258 Even churches which attributed equal importance to affirming the relationship of the spouses and to procreation as functions of intercourse, rejected the "selfish" use of contraception. Consequently, their position was more like that of the Catholic Church than at first appears. The Presbyterian Church recognized the right of parents to limit the number of their offspring for medical and economic motives but added that, "We cannot too strongly condemn the use of methods of contraception control from motives of selfishness or mere convenience." Since sexual intercourse had "a purpose of its own as a seal and sacrament of love as well as its purpose of procreation", however, the Church did not advocate abstinence but it did stress "the value of self-discipline in the marriage relationship". It did not recognize any moral distinction between the "safe period" and artificial contraception.259 The Methodist Public Questions Committee held that, for Christian spouses, "sex expression has a value in developing fellowship at least equal to a racial [i.e. reproductive] purpose" and that informed use of contraceptives would bring "a richer happiness to the partners in marriage".260 However, the Church condemned "as morally wrong any limitation of families that is prompted by selfishness or by callous refusal to accept the responsibilities of parenthood or by a perverted indulgence of the sex instinct. "261 During the interwar period there was widespread concern - shared by all the major churches and other interest groups - that the excessive use of artificial contraception was leading fo a dangerous decline in the birth rate. Fear of the ultimate consequences of contraception was encapsulated in references to birth control as "race suicide" by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.262 In recommending that contraceptive advice be 257 Stephenson, pp. 170-171. 258 GS A , 1931 , p. 23. 259 PGA, 1937, pp. 63, 179, 181 . The following year, the Church again acknowledged that spouses might wish to space the birth of their children but warned against motives based on "love of luxury, ease, or sensuous living" (PGA, 1938, pp. 43, 203). 260 MAC, 1936, pp. 68-69. 261 MAC, 1938, pp. 74, 76; cf 1936, p. 67; 1937, p. 73; NZHerald, 19 November 1937, p. 18. 262 Month, 15 October 1920, p. 3; 15 February 1921 , p. 13; 19 June 1928, p. 19; 29 September 1928, p. 31 ; NZ Tablet, 1 August 1918, p. 10; 25 November 1920, p. 13; 14 July 1921, p. 39; 10 December 1924, p. 5 1 ; 23 January 1929, p. 42 (also in Leonard, p. 29); 30 January 1929, p. 43; 27 December 1939, p. 18 (reprinted article); 7 F��ruary 1940, p. 10 and 14 February 1940, p. 6 (Dr Halliday -_._ . .... , ....... ........ . .. .. -'-� .. . -- ---- -- 280 Chapter Four: Righteousness or COnformity? given only through "responsible channels", the McMillan Committee hoped that women would also be encouraged to appreciate the "privileges and responsibilities of motherhood" with the net result that they would have more rather than fewer children.263 The New Zealand medical establishment - the Health Department, the Plunket Society, the medical and nursing professions - generally opposed the use of artificial contraception.264 Immediately after World War One, Catholics and others feared that unless New Zealanders populated their country, they would not be able to hold it against pressure from more prolific Asian peoples.26S During the 1930s, there was growing concern over the military consequences of under-population. Higgins warned that, Our nation is dying because of artificial birth-control, and it is only a matter of time when the fertile races of the earth will control, will subju£ate and rule the sterile nations who will not keep the fundamental laws of life. 66 Similarly, the Baptist 1.1. North, in a contribution to the Presbyterian Outlook, declared that, Lust, using the implements of France and of other lands, is destroying the fountain of life, and is openly threatening this country with early destruction at the hands of the yellow races by the action of slow attrition.267 (Footnote continuedfrom previous page.) Sutherland, a visiting English Catholic physician who gave lectures on "How Nations Die"); Press, 7 February 1940, p. 8 (Sutherland); Marist Messenger, 1 October 1937, p. 15; Gascoigne, p. 61; cf. 1 June 1937, p. 16 ("birth-control means the suicide of the race"); AJHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.- 31A. pp. 17, 27 (McMillan Report); NZ Herald, 22 April 1937, p. 8 (article on "Race Suicide" by Archdeacon MacMurray); MAC, 1937, p. 73; Dominion, 5 February 1940, p. 6 (editorial commending Sutherland's views). 263 AJHR, 1937- 1938, vol. m, H.-3 1A, pp. 17-18, 27. 264 Smith, "State and Maternity", pp. 330-341. During the 1930s, Smith argues, eugenic arguments for limiting the birth rate of the less desirable were largely superceded by reliance on improved maternal and infant care (ibid., pp. 336-338; Maternity in Dispute, pp. 1 1 1-1 12). 265 Month, 13 December 19 19, p. 1 1 ; 15 June 1920, p. 5; 15 February 1921, p. 14; 15 April 1922, pp. 6-7. For attitudes to Asian immigration after the war, see P.S. O'Connor, "Keeping New Zealand White, 1908-1920", New Zealand Journal of History, 211 (April 1968), pp. 52-65. In response to widespread concern over Asian immigration, the Reform Government passed the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act (1920). During the 1920s, the act was quietly used to limit immigration by Yugoslavs, "Syrians" (Lebanese) and Italians (ibid, p. 64; cf. chapter one above). If the Catholic authorities were aware of this, they may not have been pleased about a policy which kept their co-religionists at bay. 266 Marist Messenger, 1 June 1937, p. 16; cl NZ Tablet, 20 July 1938, p. 8; 24 August 1938, p. 5; 7 February 1940, p. 10; 14 February 1940, pp. 3-6; Zealandia, 16 September 1937, p. 7; 29 September 1938, p. 3; O' Shea evidence, NA HI 9402 131/139115. 267 Outlook, 3 May 1937, p. 5; cf. Gordon and Bennett, pp. 17-18, 1 1 1-113; NZPD, 1937, vol. 248, p. 367 (William Parry). J I i • � .--'--- -' -- -' --- -'---�-� . - -'- - _. -' ---.----- --_ .- -. . _ . . - - - --" - . . _ . - . _. .- Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? Despite their approval of artificial contraception in principle, the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches deplored the anti-social tendency towards small families.268 Liston and other Catholics supported the call of the Five Million Club, under the presidency of William Barnard, Speaker of the House of Representatives (and a staunch Anglican), for an increase in New Zealand's population.269 281 As well as advocating a higher birth rate, there was a measure of agreement between Catholics and non-Catholics over the advertising and distribution of contraceptives. Since the churches and respectable opinion in general disapproved of sexual relations outside marriage, they all disparaged the supply of contraceptives to the unmarried.27o Catholics fully endorsed the McMillan Committee's assumption that the use of contraception outside marriage could only be deprecated.271 Unlike the committee and the Protestant churches, however, the Catholic Church was not content with seeing the advertisement and sale of contraceptives restricted but demanded their complete suppression.272 During the early 1930s, in deference to the wishes of Brodie, C.]. Carrington had apparently allowed his Bill prohibiting the supply of contraceptives to persons under eighteen to lapse rather than include clauses specifically allowing chemists to sell them to adults.273 Catholics opposed the 268 PGA, 1938, pp. 28-29, 212-214; MAC, 1938, pp. 74, 76; 1941, p. 67; NZ Herald, 19 November 1937, p. 18. 269 On the Five Million Club, see NZ Herald, 4 March 1937, p. 12; Press, 23 March 1937, p. 6; Dominion, 22 August 1938, p. 8. For biographical notes on Barnard, see Barry Gustafson, From lhe Cradle to the Grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1988), p. 275. Catholic support is noted in Zealandia, 1 1 March 1937, p. 4 and 30 June 1938, p. 3. 270 Evening Post, 17 February 1937, p. 10 (editorial endorsing the Chief Justice's condemnation of sexual promiscuity among the young); 28 March 1938, p. 6 (Holland committee report); AGS, 193 1 , p. 23 (Averill); PGA, 1937, pp. 63, 179-181; MAC, 1937, p. 74. 271 AJHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.-31A. pp. 15, 27; NZ Tablet, 4 May 1938, p. 9; cf Marist Messenger, 1 June 1937, p. 16 (Higgins); NZ Tablet, 27 April 1938, p. 7. 272 AJHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.-31A, pp. 12, 15, 17, 19, 27; AGS, 1937, p. 72; PGA, 1937, pp. 43, 178, 181 ; 1938, pp. 63, 177-178, 181 ; MAC, 1938, pp. 74, 76; Evening Post, 28 March 1938, p. 6 (Holland committee). For general Catholic concern, see NZ Tablet, 2 March 1938, p. 37; 23 March 1938, pp. 5, 38; 11 May 1938, p. 9; 18 May 1938, p. 7; Zealandia, 23 September 1937, p. 6; 13 May 1939, p . 4 ; NZ Herald, 10 July 1937, p . 26 and Press, 23 September 1937, p . 12 (O'Brien). For Catholic demands for the suppression of all contraceptives and advertising, see Zealandia, 1 1 March 1937, p. 4; 23 September 1937, p. 6; 25 November 1937, p. 6; 27 January 1938, p. 3 ; 27 April 1939, p. 6; 13 May 1939, p. 4; 25 May 1939, p. 4; 12 October 1939, p. 4; NZ Tablet, 27 April 1938, p. 7; 20 July 1938, p. 8; 7 February 1940, p. 10; 14 February 1940, p. 6; Press, 7 February 1940, p. 8. 273 Carrington to Brodie, 4 August 1934 (copy in WCAA, Bible in Schools File); Contraceptives Bill, "Bills Thrown Out", 1932-1933 (two versions) and 1934-1935; NZPD, 1932, vol. 234, pp. 417, 503; 1933, vol. 235, p. 1 158; 1934, vol. 238, pp. 549, 815, 859; Press, 18 November 1932, p. 15; 19 November 1932, p. 15; 24 November 1932, p. 1 1 ; 9 March 1933, p. 13; Evening POSI, 9 March 1933, p. 12; 19 July 1934, p. 13; 1 August 1934, p. 1 1 . 282 Chapter Four: Righteousness or COnformity? establishment of birth control clinics, which had been cautiously endorsed by the McMillan Committee, and lobbied successfully within organizations like the Women's . Division of the Farmers' Union and the Women's Institutes to have resolutions favouring clinics rescinded.274 However, the reluctance of successive governments to establish clinics (leaving the Family Planning Association to take the initiative in the early 1950s) can scarcely be attributed solely to Catholic opposition, as some writers have implied.275 The Labour Government itself was strongly pro-natalist276 and, despite the widespread use of artificial contraception, it was still not quite respectable to advocate publicly, in defiance of the medical profession, that contraceptive information should be readily available, even if only to married persons.277 Attitudes were changing, but while the Catholic Church was the most outspoken opponent of birth control, its views still resonated in other parts of the community. 274 AlHR, 1937-1938, vol. m, H.-3 1A, pp. 15, 27. For general opposition to clinics, see Minutes of Bishops' meeting, 7 April 1937, CCDA; O'Shea evidence, NA HI 9402 131/139/15; NZ Tablet, 28 April 1937, p. 6 and NZ Herald, 19 April 1937, p. 12 (Liston); NZ Tablet, 18 August 1937, p. 6 and Otago Daily Times, 10 August 1937, p. 5 (Monsignor Morkane); NZ Tablet, 27 April 1938, p. 7; 4 May 1938, p. 9; Zealandia, 23 September 1937, p. 6. For the Women's Division, see above; for the Women's Institutes, see NZ Tablet, 20 October 1937, p. 33; Morkane to the editor, NZ Tablet, 22 September 1937, p. 8; Zealandia, 16 September 1937, p. 7; 1 1 November 1937, p. 10; NZ Tablet, 31 August 1938, p. 6 and Zealandia, 1 September 1938, p. 6 (statement by the hierarchy). 275 On the role attributed to Catholic opposition, see Fenwick, "Family Planning", pp. 151 , 171-174, 181-182, 247-248; "Fertility", pp. 82-85; Brookes "Committee of Inquiry", pp. ii, 42, 51 , 73-74, 78; "Housewives' Depression", p. 133; Smith, Maternity in Dispute, pp. 1 14-1 15. For the establishment of clinics, see Fenwick, "Family Planning", pp. 68-69, 72, 179-183; "Fertility", p. 86; Hercock, p. 1 84; 276 Olssen and Ltvesque, p. 15; B. Kirkwood, "Population and Social Policy", in RJ.W. Neville and CJ. O'Neill, The PopulaJion of New Zealand: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Auckland: Longman Paul, 1979), p. 288; G. Dunstall, "The Social Pattern" in G.W. Rice (editor), The Oxford History of New Zealand (Auckland: Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, 1992), p. 453; Brookes, "Committee of Inquiry", pp. 19-20. Brookes ("Housewives' Depression", p. 1 16) is incorrect in saying that, "The Labour government was legislating for a family with three children which was no longer in existence." Since, as she herself notes (ibid., p. 1 17), the average family in 1936 had 2.5 children, there were obviously still numerous families with three or even more children. Moreover, as Smith ("State and Maternity", pp. 357-358) points out, Labour's policies were intended to promote an increase in the birth rate, not simply to reflect the current rate. To some extent the increase in the birth rate during the later 1930s presumably indicates the success of these policies. 277 While frequently implying that Catholic opposition was behind the government's reluctance to establish clinics, even Fenwick ("Family Planning", p. 174) acknowledges that "the Establishment in general" disapproved of the Family Planning Association - the main lobby group demanding that clinics be opened. - . � 1 Differences in Principle or Differences of Degree? 283 There was, then, considerable agreement among Catholic and non-Catholic moralists on the issues of euthanasia, divorce, eugenics, abortion and contraception. The extent of agreement varied according to the issue concerned and the teachings of some Protestant churches were closer to those of the Catholic Church than were those of other Protestant churches. At a time of changing moral values, Catholics, officially at least, continued to disapprove of actions which Protestants were increasingly prepared to allow - at least in some circumstances. By refusing to countenance exceptions to the natural law, as understood by the Church, Catholics held a distinctive moral position. They were unusual in believing that divorce, therapeutic abortion and contraception were never justified. However, Catholics could join with non-Catholic moralists in disparaging euthanasia, liberal divorce laws, non-therapeutic abortion and the selfish use of contraception, while their rejection of sterilization on eugenic grounds was officially shared by the community as a whole. The Catholic Church regarded particular kinds of acts (such as using artificial contraception, performing an abortion, or remarrying as a divorce) as intrinsically evil. By contrast, the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, while re�arding most such acts with disfavour, tended to judge their moral status according to the situation in which they were performed. Catholic interpretation of the natural law was inflexible because it applied a universal judgment to every particular situation: if a category of action, X, was deemed to be sinful, then any specific instance of X was also necessarily sinful. In their 1938 statement on birth control and abortion, the bishops stated a wide­ ranging principle: "We may not do evil that good may come".278 Since certain actions were inherently immoral, they could not be permitted under any circumstances, even to achieve a good end. The Protestant moralists whose views have been considered here sought to avert greater evils by allowing lesser evils (for example, by terminating one life in order to save another in the case of therapeutic abortion, or by using artificial contraception in order to safeguard a marital relationship and a family facing poverty). In one sense, then, Catholics rejected Protestant teaching on a matter of principle, arguing that the moral law never allowed of exceptions. It was this line of argument which was exploited in Catholic triumphalist rhetoric, for Catholics recognized that once the possibility of exceptions was allowed, the range of exceptions would tend to increase. According to Higgins, "All the arguments used in favour of birth control are arguments of expedience and of convenience; they are not arguments of principle. "279 278 NZ Tablet, 31 August 1938, p. 6; Zealandia, 1 September 1938, p. 6; cf. Romans 3:8. 279 Marist Messenger, 1 June 1937, p. 15. 284 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? . - - - - � Yet, while Protestant moralists did not speak in tenns of universal natural laws, they took for granted the existence of moral nonns which were similar to the natural laws of Catholic moral theology. The good actions they endorsed were largely the same as those of Catholic moralists, while the actions they disapproved of were also largely the same as those denounced by Catholics. Divorce and abortion, for example, were recognized by all churches as evils to be restrained and the question was how much they were to be restricted: completely or only very severely? From this perspective, Protestants rejected Catholic teaching as too extreme and their differences were a matter of degree. An incident in 1937 illustrates the differing perspectives of Catholic and Protestant moralists. At the meeting of the Presbyterian General Assembly, the Rev. J.R. Blanchard declared that the Presbyterian view on contraception - that it could be used only "for grave and inescapable medical reasons" - was in harmony with that of the Anglican and Catholic Churches. Liston quickly dissociated his Church from views which it regarded with "horror" : far from agreeing that there were occasions when married couples could justly use contraception, the Catholic Church did not penn it artificial birth control under any circumstances.280 Instead of acknowledging that the churches all deprecated the selfIsh use of contraception, Liston chose to stress the differences in their teachings. For Liston, the differences were a matter of principle, but for B lanchard, they appeared to be a matter of degree. Divorce and Contraception in Practice The assumption of Catholic moral superiority was not limited to correct teaching but extended to Catholic practice. According to the official report on the Wellington archdiocese for the 192 1 to 1925 quinquennium, the non-Catholic population was only "nominally Christian" and exhibited "the usual vices [and] pleasure seeking that are found in modem non-Catholic communities." Morality among Catholics, however, was "very good" .281 It is impossible to measure the extent of acceptance among the laity of official Catholic moral teaching but on the issues of divorce, contraception and even abortion there is some useful anecdotal and statistical evidence. Catholics were somewhat complacent about the rate of divorce among their co­ religionists, readily assuming that it was much higher among Protestants. In an 280 NZ Herald, 1 8 November 1937, p. 14; Zeaiantiia, 25 November 1937, p_ 6. 281 Quinquennial report, archdiocese of Wellington, 1921-1925, item 84, WCAA, (Latin and English versions). Divorce and Contraception in Practice 285 Graph 4.1 Separation and Divorce, 1926 and 1936 People Legally Separated on Census Day in 1 926 and 1 936 2,--------------------------------------------------------------------, 1.5 "0 OJ (;j ... os Q. OJ CIl OJ co � c OJ <) ... OJ C. O.S o 1 926 Men 1936 Men 1926 Women Denominations Divorced People Not Re-Married in 1926 and 1936 1936 Women 1 .4 -,- --------------------------------------------------, 1 .2 -t-------------------- "0 � o ;> 0.8 +------ o OJ co os � 0.6 � OJ C. 0.4 0.2 o 1 926 Men • Anglican 1936 Men 1926 Women Denominations II Presbyterian • Catholic " • Methodist 1 936 Women Illill Total Population �- -' -.... �" ---------"----'- ----------- 286 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? address of welcome to the Apostolic Delegate in 1921 , Sir George Clifford criticized recent divorce legislation but did not expect Catholics to avail themselves of it. 282 The 1925 Wellington quinquennial report claimed that there was "only a small percentage of divorces amongst Catholics" and, in nearly all cases, one of the spouses was a Protestant.283 Similarly, a report on the Christchurch diocese written in 1927 claimed that there were very many divorces (plurima divortia) among non-Catholics, while among Catholics, divorce was most uncommon (rarissima).284 P.I. O'Regan charged in 1925 that Anglicans and Presbyterians preached a higher standard than they observed: he neglected to acknowledge that the same was probably true of the Catholic Church.285 There are no statistics recording the rates of separation and divorce among the various denominations, but census figures suggest that the Catholic population had a comparatively high rate of marital break-down, as Graph 4. 1 shows. In 1926, 1 .24 per cent of Catholic women who had ever married were legally separated from their husbands; by 1936, this proportion had risen to 1 .78 per cent. Meanwhile orily-1 .03 per cent and 1 .37 per cent of all New Zealand women who had married were separated. Married Catholic men were also more likely (0.93 per cent in 1926 and 1 .57 per cent in 1936) than married New Zealand men in general (0.86 per cent and 1 .34 per cent) to be legally separated. The proportion of divorced people in the Catholic community was also quite high. In 1926, 0.52 per cent of Catholic women who had ever married were divorced and in 1936, 0.89 per cent were divorced. These were lower proportions of divorcees than found among all women who had married (0.55 per cent and 0.97 per cent) because the figures for the total population were elevated by the relatively high proportion of divorced Anglican women (0.65 per cent and 1 . 1 7 per cent). There were rather lower proportions of divorced Presbyterian and Methodist women. Catholic men in 1926 and 1936 included a higher proportion of divorces (0.80 per cent and 1 .28 per cent) than any other denomination, the second highest being Anglicans who followed very closely behind (0.78 per cent and 1 .27 per cent). Both denominations were above average in this respect because the mean percentages (0.74 and 1 . 17) were 282 NZ Tablet, 24 November 1921 , p. 22; cf. 16 March 1922, p. 19 (Whyte). 283 Quinquennial report, archdiocese of Wellington, 1921-1925, item 87, WCAA. 284 Quinquennial report, diocese of Christchurch, item 87, CCDA. Perhaps it was significant that another report, only three years later, described divorce among Catholics simply as uncommon, rara (quinquennial report, diocese of Christchurch, 1930, item 87, CCDA). 285 NZ Tablet, 3 June 1925, p. 15 . �---"�.-�--- -'- .- - ---_ ._--.-- - ---- . ... _------ Divorce and Contraception in Practice 287 Table 4.1 Separation and Divorce, 1926 and 1936 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.--------------. Separated Divorced Total ----------------.------------------------------------------------.--------------------.---------------------.... ---- 1926 Men Anglican 1,082 0.91 921 0.78 2,003 1 .69 Presbyterian 401 0.58 338 0.49 739 1 .07 Catholic 273 0.93 235 0.80 508 1 .74 Methodist 1 13 0.45 106 0.42 219 0.87 Total Population 2,426 0.86 2,073 0.74 4,499 1 .60 1936 Men Anglican 2,013 1 .45 1 ,764 1 .27 3,777 2.73 Presbyterian 702 0.86 665 0.81 1 ,367 1 .67 Catholic 556 1 .57 454 1 .28 1 ,010 2.85 Methodist 260 0.97 21 1 0.79 471 1 .76 Total Population 4,472 1 .34 3,913 1 . 17 8,385 2.50 1926 Women Anglican 1,460 1 .14 835 0.65 2,295 1 .79 Presbyterian 530 0.72 247 0.34 777 1 .06 Catholic 444 1 .24 185 0.52 629 1 .76 Methodist 225 0.78 139 0.48 364 1 .26 Total Population 3,063 1 .03 1 ,635 0.55 4,698 1 .57 1936 Women Anglican 2,258 1 .49 1,779 1 . 17 4,037 2.66 Presbyterian 902 1 .03 572 0.65 1,474 1 .68 Catholic 757 1 .78 380 0.89 1 , 137 2.67 Methodist 330 1 .07 235 0.76 565 1 .83 Total Population 4,939 1 .37 3,490 0.97 8,429 2.34 The second, fourth and sixth columns are percentages based on the preceding figures and the total numbers of persons aged sixteen years or over who were or had been married. Sources: New Zealand Census, 1926, vol. VIII, p. 27; 1936, vol. VI, p. 19. See also Table 8.6. brought down by the comparatively low incidence of divorced men in the Presbyterian and Methodist communities. These statistics give only a crude indication of the actual rate of marital break­ down. It is not possible to count the numbers of legal separations or divorces which took place in any denomination because the census data on marital status report only records the number of separated or divorced people in the population on the day of the census. No indication is given of how many people had divorced and remarried, for second or later marriages were not distinguished from first marriages. More than half of all divorced people in interwar New Zealand remarried286 and it cannot be assumed 286 R Phillips (pp. 97 and 142) estimates the proportions remarrying at over 56 per cent for men and over 61 per cent for women. 288 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? that this proportion was the same in each denomination. It is possible that the high proportions of separated and divorced Catholics reflect in part a religiously-motivated reluctance to remarry. Conscientious Catholics, loath to seek divorce, may have contented themselves with legal separation, whereas Presbyterians or Methodists in similar circumstances would have felt free to sue for divorce. Occasionally the Catholic authorities could even allow a civil divorce for "settling civil matters" as long as there was no threat of scandal and it was understood that there could be no second marriage.287 It is also possible that some Catholics divorced their spouses despite the Church's disapproval, but were reluctant to commit the grievous sin of remarriage. Similar considerations may have influenced Anglicans who also had high levels of separation and divorce and whose Church's policy on divorce was more strict than that of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. It is conceivable that the low numbers of divorced Presbyterians and Methodists recorded by the census enumerators reflect their churches' increasingly liberal attitudes to divorce and remarriage, especially in the 1930s. Relatively large numbers of divorced or separated people in any denomination, then, do not, in themselves, prove that there were higher rates of separation and divorce in comparison to other denominations. However, it is unlikely that the larger numbers of separated and divorced Catholics can be accounted for solely on the hypothesis that they were reluctant to remarry and there are other considerations suggesting that Catholics and Anglicans may have been more prone to divorce than Presbyterians and Methodists. A study of 102 divorce fIles from late nineteenth century Auckland revealed that 36 couples had married in a registry office, 36 in an Anglican church and 13 in a Catholic church. While the two latter figures approached the representation of Anglicans and Catholics in the population, Presbyterian (four) and Methodist (one) marriages were considerably under-represented.288 Divorce seems to have occurred - both in the interwar period and in other times - most commonly in the "middle and lower socio-economic strata of New Zealand society".289 Persons of high social standing would have been restrained 287 T. Lincoln Bouscaren SJ, and Adam C. Ellis SJ, Canon Law: A Text and Commentary (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1946), p. 573. 288 R. Phillips, p. 103. Nominal Anglicans were presumably strongly represented among those who married in a registry office; in 12 cases the denomination was not specified. 289 R. Phillips, p. 95; cf. AJ. Nixon, Divorce in New Zealand: .a preliminary survey (Auckland: Auckland University College Bulletin No. 46, Sociology Series No. 1 , 1954), pp. 7-10. " - . . . . . . . . __ . _-- Divorce and Contraception in Practice 289 by concern for their reputation and career, while economic problems (legal fees and the difficulty for women of providing for themselves and their children) would have discouraged divorce among working class spouses. Both the Catholic and Anglican churches had large numbers of lower middle class members, so, religious considerations aside, they might be expected to have comparatively high levels of marital breakdown.290 Divorce appears to have been more common in the cities than in rural areas and this may account in part for higher rates among Catholics and Anglicans than among Presbyterians.291 In all denominations, divorce was probably more common among the nominal members and, as Phillips points out, some denominations (certainly Anglicans and quite probably Catholics) may have embraced higher proportions of nominal adherents than others.292 Marriages contracted in a Registry Office were more likely to end in divorce than marriages blessed in a church,293 presumably because the spouses were less influenced by soCial and religious mores than were those who had a church wedding.294 Commitment to any religious profession was more important in determining attitudes to divorce than belonging to a particular denomination. Catholic commentators assumed that divorce was practically unknown among practising Catholics.295 Census statistics show that a substantial number of divorced Catholics continued to regard themselves as Catholics. Despite the teaching of the Catholic Church, there is certainly no evidence in the statistics reviewed above that Catholics were less likely to countenance divorce than were members of the other three principal churches. Roderick Phillips has even concluded, on the basis of the census statistics, that in general "there is no connection 290 Cf. Nixon, page 19: "Speaking generally, Catholics are members of the lower social classes and derive their unexpectedly high divorce-proneness from that circumstance." See also chapter one, above. 291 R. Phillips, pp. 91 , 81 -83; cf the geographical distribution of the main denominations in chapter one above. 292 R. Phillips, p. 9 1 ; cf Nixon's distinction (p. 20) between "devout and non-devout" church members and the discussion of church attendance in chapter two above. 293 R. Phillips, p. 90. 294 Nixon (pp. 17-18) points out that the choice of a civil wedding may reflect low income or bridal pregnancy. both of which correlate with higher levels of divorce. 295 According to the Month (15 August 1923, p. 6). "among practising Catholics, there is no tampering with the command that 'what God hath joined together, let no man put asunder'". Power believed that "fervent Catholic communicants" shunned the divorce courts (NZ Tablet, 29 April 1925. p. 35). 290 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? between religious profession and divorce".296 The same view was also reached in an earlier study by AJ. Nixon.297 More cautiously, it can be said that, being Catholic did not make married people demonstrably less prone to divorce, despite the views of Catholic moralists. Catholic moralists were forced to admit that Catholics were using artificial contraception. Concerned that "the time has already come when large families cause amusement and ri�icule", Kelly, writing in 1920, assumed that Catholics "alone retain the true and sacred ideals of matrimony".298 In 1925, the Wellington report already cited admitted that the "evil" of birth control had indeed appeared among the faithful of the archdiocese in recent years, but this was inevitable since the "vice" had "gained a strong hold amongst the Non-Catholic population".299 Meanwhile in the Christchurch diocese, "Onanism" and artificial birth control were said to be flourishing among non-Catholics and the greatest vigilence was needed to discourage such vices among Catholics.3OO In both dioceses, these practices were combatted by instruction and exhortation, for example through the Catholic press and at parish missions, and by encouraging frequent reception of the sacraments. Priests were required to instruct penitents in the confessional about the prohibition of artificial contraception and were reminded that by procuring an abortion a Catholic incurred excommunication which could only be lifted by the bishop.lOl In 1.936, "Bridgid", who contributed a regular feature "For Matrons and Maids" in the Marist Messenger, reported a comment by a Catholic acquaintance: We are quick to condemn birth-control in the sects but where are the large Catholic families that should prove our support of our own principles? .... The small family is common now and Catholics are in fashion like the rest.302 296 R. Phillips, p. 91 . 297 Nixon, pp. 14-20 . . 298 NZ Tablet, 12 February 1920, p. 26. 299 Quinquennial report, archdiocese of Wellington, 1921-1925, item 87, WCAA. 300 Quinquennial reports, diocese of Christchurch, 1927 and 1930, item 87, CCDA. 301 "Proceedings of the Diocesan Synod Held in the Cathedral, Christchurch, January 24th 1930", CCDA; Minutes of Bishops' meeting, 12 February 1935, CCDA; cf. ClC, canon 2350. 302 Marist Messenger, 2 November 1936, p. 10. In the questioner's native province, Catholic families consisted of two or three children, whereas a generation before they were said to have included eight or ten children. The fertility of the older generation may have been slightly exaggerated by Bridgid's informant, but the general observation was sound, as will be seen below. For a similar comment, see NZ Tablet, 8 September 1937, p. 5. r- - - - ----- Divorce and Contraception in Practice According to the Zealandia, no genuinely devout and practising Catholic would dissent from the Church's teaching on contraception, but, as a later article acknowledged, many nominal Catholics decided the issue for themselves.303 291 As the McMillan Committee noted in 1937, the decline in the birth rate showed that contraception was being used successfully throughout the community.304 Whereas married women in New Zealand had an average of 6.5 children in the early 1880s, they had only 2.5 by the 1930s.305 Statistics on the fertility of Catholic women indicate that the birth rate of the Catholic population was also declining, although at a slower rate, evidently through the use of contraception.306 Child-woman and child-mother ratios derived from the interwar censuses (and recorded in Table 4. 1 ) suggest that Catholic women had only slightly larger families than did other New Zealand mothers. The child-woman ratio is calculated by dividing the number of children under five years of age by the number of women of child­ bearing age (fifteen to forty-four) and multiplying the result (for convenience) by 1 ,000. In each denomination, the number of infants per thousand women declined by over 20 percent between 1921 and 1936 - a much more significant statistic than the fractionally higher proportion of Catholic children as compared to other denominations. However, the child-woman ratios take no account of the possible differences in fertility between Catholic women who married a Catholic and those who did not, and they assume that children are recorded as having the same religious affiliation as their mothers. Denominational variations in age structure and in the proportions of married and unmarried women further weaken the reliability of the figures as a measure of fertility. Nevertheless, the overall pattern is confirmed by comparing the number of married women of child-bearing age with the number of infants in 1936 - the only census year for which figures correlating age, marital status and religious affiliation were published. The number of Catholic children under five years of age for every 1 ,000 married Catholic women aged between fifteen and forty­ four was somewhat greater (807) than the equivalent ratio for all non-Catholic married women (654) or for women belonging to any of the other large denominations. 303 ZeaZandia, 3 June 1937, p. 10; 26 October 1939, p. 4. 304 AJHR, 1937-1938, vol. III, H.-31A, p. 1 1 . Bourke (p. 77) is probably correct in suggesting that this statement was intended to include Catholics. 305 OIssen and Levesque, p. 16. 306 The statistics discussed below are based on the three interwar censuses; for a longer-term perspective, see Bourke, pp. 37-39. 292 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? Differences between the denominations should not be exaggerated, however, since there were only 153 more infants per thousand Catholic wives than for each thousand non-Catholic wives. In other words, 23 per cent of Catholic married women had one more infant than did Protestant mothers.307 Although these figures do not indicate completed family size, it seems that three quarters of Catholic families had no more children than did the average Protestant family. Tah1e 4.2 Child-Woman and Child-Married Woman Ratios Year Anglican Child-Woman Ratios (x 1,000) 1921 446 1926 431 1936 323 Presby­ terian 446 435 340 Decline from 1921 to 1936 (percentages) 28 24 Child-Married Woman Ratios (x 1,000) 1936 616 674 Catholic 462 444 365 21 807 Methodist Total Non- Total 424 398 326 23 656 Catholic Population 446 448 427 429 335 339 25 24 654 673 ---------------------------------------------'---------------.------------------------------------------------- Sources: Figures calculated from New Zealand Census, 1921, part VII, p. 34; 1926, vol. VIII, pp. 30, 32; 1936, vol. VI, pp. 20, 22, 25. The slightly slower decline of Catholic fertility may have been influenced by religious opposition to artificial birth control but other features of the Catholic popUlation could have been just as influential. From a multiple regression analysis of Catholic child-woman ratios based on the 1926 and 1936 censuses, Bourke concluded that the higher child-woman ratio of Catholics correlated more closely with occupation and rural residence than to religious affiliation. Bourke found a positive correlation between rural residence and family size and negative correlations between family size and numbers of women employed in "secondary industrial occupations" and "men in commercial occupations" . There was no significant correlation between fertility and being Catholic.308 However, census statistics including the whole Catholic population 307 It would not make sense to conclude that Catbolic mothers had 23 per cent more children tban did non-Catbolic motbers: children exist only as whole units: 308 J. Bourke, "Piety or Poverty: Catbolic Fertility in Australia and New Zealand, 191 1, 1926, 1936", New Zealand Population Review 1211 (February 1986), pp. 23-24, 28. The article is a revision of chapter twelve of Bourke's tbesis. - --- -------- Divorce and Contraception in Practice 293 would have masked variations within the Catholic community and, since Catholic families had, on average, fewer than one "extra" infant, variables influencing the fertility of only a part of the Catholic population may have been significant Miriam Vosburgh's family survey suggested that differences in religious commitment may have been important. Interviews with 942 women in Wellington in 1967 included questions about the religion and size of their families of origin.309 The 35 1 Protestant couples who married between 1927 and 1952 had an average of 2.5 children, while the 47 Catholic couples had 3.8 children and the 38 mixed couples had 2.4 children. However, the 17 Catholic wives who attended church only occasionally or never had hardly any more children (2.7) than Protestant mothers who attende,d church regularly (2.6) or not at all (2.5), whereas the 54 Catholic women who attended church regularly had rather more children (3.7). Vosburgh concluded, admittedly on the basis of a tiny sample, that it was only the more committed Catholics who were responsible for the higher fertility of their denomination.31o Catholic women who did not attend church probably did not go to confession either and were therefore not likely to be persuaded by the clergy not to limit their families by artificial contraception - especially if they were married to non-Catholic husbands. Another relevant variable affecting fertility is socio-economic status. The knowledge and use of reliable contraceptives were disseminated more gradually among lower socio-economic groups than in the population at large3 1 l and Catholics were over-represented in these strata. Whatever the causes of the slower acceptance of artificial contraception among the less affluent may have been, they no doubt applied to a significant portion of the Catholic population. There are no reliable statistics available on the extent of abortion among Catholic women, but in about 1928, Dr Jessie A. Scott recorded the religious affiliation of 1 1 1 Christchurch women treated in the public hospital for complications arising from abortion. Presbyterians (seventeen) and Methodists (three) were under-represented but there was a suspiciously high number of Anglicans (70 women or sixty-three per cent of the total); perhaps some women preferred to conceal their real religion. Thirteen of the women were Catholics, almost the same proportion as in the population at large.312 309 Miriam Gilson Vosburgh, The New Zealand Family and Social Change: a TrendAnalysis (Wellington: Victoria University, 1978), pp. 24, 26. 3 10 Vosburgh, pp. 80a-82a. 3 1 1 OIssen and Ltvesque, p. 16. 312 Scott evidence, NA HI 9402 13 1/139/15 . Most of the women were married; some had suffered natural miscarriages. Brookes, "Committee of Inquiry", p. 41 and "Housewives' Depression", p. 127 tends to overstate the significance of these figures and fails to note that it was not just Catholic 294 Chapter Four: Riglueousness or Conformity? Despite the denunciation of divorce by Catholic moralists, their co-religionists were almost as liable to countenance this evil as was the rest of the population. Like the Anglican community, the Catholic population had a relatively high rate of divorce. Catholics may not even have been any more reluctant to resort to abortion than members of other denominations, although the evidence is sparse. In general, it seems that lay Catholics were more likely to conform to the standards of their contemporaries than to fulfil the moralists' criteria for righteousness. The Limits of Leisure Changing pattern� of leisure in interwar New Zealand led to a decline in Catholic­ Protestant differences at two distinct levels. Traditionally, the Catholic Church had a rather more liberal attitude towards the use of leisure time than did the Protestant Churches and this difference sometimes led to controversy. The divergence was also reflected in employment patterns, with Catholics being over-represented in the entertainment and hospitality industries. While Protestant church leaders continued to denounce such evils as gambling and alcohol, however, the community as a whole increasingly rejected the puritan leisure ethic.3)3 In practice, therefore, there was some convergence in the leisure pursuits of Catholics and Protestants. Meanwhile, Catholic leaders, like their Protestant counterparts, were concerned over contemporary "excesses", especially where popular entertainment was not merely frivolous but increasingly depicted sex and violence. Consequently, Catholic and Protestant moralists found themselves working together, particularly in their efforts to have censorship imposed on films, books and magazines. While Catholic moralists denounced violations of their strict code of sexual ethics, they endorsed a much more liberal ethic of leisure than did their Protestant counterparts, notably on such issues as gambling, drinking and Sunday observance. According to the Outlook, the Presbyterian Church placed "horror" of new forms of gambling and "her sense of the danger which the State faces in the liquor traffic" on a (Footnote continuedfrom previous page.) strictures against abortion which were being ignored, even though, taken at face value, the numbers suggest that Anglican women were disobeying their moral guides more than were Catholic women. For evidence of abortion among Catholic women during the 1950s, see Bourke, pp. 50-51 . 3 13 For the Prohibition issue, see chapter five below. The leaders of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches were consistent supporters of the Prohibition movement throughout the interwar period, even though the prospect of establishing Prohibition was diminishing. The Limits of Leisure 295 par with "unrestricted divorce" and "sexual irregularity".314 By contrast, Catholic newspapers often carried advertisements for lotteries and alcoholic drink.31S Gambling "in all its forms" (but especially the totalisator, large scale art unions and the prospect of state lotteries) was often condemned by the Presbyterian General Assembly, especially during the 1930s.316 The Church feared that gambling encouraged greed at the expense of generosity, and indolence at the expense of industry.317 It was "contrary to the mind of Christ" and "the enemy of religion" .3 18 Similarly, the Methodist Conference declared that art unions held even for "worthy objects" were "highly detrimental to the moral and economic interests of the Dominion" and regularly expressed its concern over the issue of gambling.319 The Catholic Church, however, saw no problem with honest gambling by those who could afford to lose without harm to themselves or their dependants, for it was recognized that gambling could lead to social problems.32o Catholics held that, "There is nothing morally wrong in a mild 'flutter' on a race-course with your own money, if you can well afford it. "321 Horse-racing was sometimes discussed on the sports page of the Tablet.322 When the Gaming Act (1922) prohibited bookmaking, Kelly gave his blessing to the bookmakers' campaign to be reinstated and the Tablet carried advertisements calling 3 14 Outlook, 6 December 1937, p. 4. 3 15 Lotteries: Month, 17 November 1925, p. 40; 1 July 1931, p. 40; 1 January 1932, p. 24; NZ Tablet, 21 January 1931 , p. 15 ; 25 March 1936, p. 8; Zealandia, 6 January 1938, p. 3. Alcoholic drink: Month, 1 September 1931, p. 25; 1 September 1933, p. 26; 1 December 1933, p. 24; NZ Tablet, 30 November 1922 (regular front page advertisement); 19 May 1926, p. 42; 17 May 1933, p. 36; Zealandia, 25 October 1934, p. 5; 24 April 1935, p. 3; 21 November 1935, p. 9; 6 October 1938, p. 4; Marist Messenger, 1 March 1938, p. 10; 1 February 1940, p. iii (regular advertisement). 316 P(JA, 1924, p. 23; 1930, p. 68; 1931 , pp. 1 1, 75-77, 80; 1932, pp. 17, 100; 1933, p. 21 ; 1934, pp. 20, 177, 180; 1935, pp. 16, 160, 165; 1936, pp. 22, 256; 1939, pp. 24-25, 138-140. 317 PGA, 1920, p. 33; 1924, p. 23. 318 PG 9 A, 193 , pp. 24, 139. 319 MAC, 1932, p. 64; cf. 1934, pp. 67, 71 ; 1935, pp. 68-69; 1936, pp. 67, 71 ; 1937, p. 70; 1938, pp. 77-78; 1939, p. 68. 320 Month, 14 June 1919, p. 4; 21 October 1924, p. 37; Zealandia, 28 March 1935, p. 6; 3 1 January 1935, p. 6; 13 January 1938, p. 3; 14 September 1939, p. 10; NZ Tablet, 22 November 1923, p. 33; 20 November 1935, p. 9. A salutary warning was provided by the conviction of two Catholics who solicited "donations" for a small unlicensed charitable lottery (NZ Tablet, 21 November 1934, p. 3). 321 Month, 20 May 1924, p. 19. 322 NZ Tablet, 30 September 1923, p. 33; 6 September 1923, p. 33; 13 September 1923, p. 33; 4 October 1923, p. 33; 29 November 1923, p. 33; 10 January 1924, p. 33; 10 April 1924, p. 35; 9 July 1924, p. 35; 3 1 January 1940, p. 33. Presumably the contents of the page reflected the interests of the contributor at the time. 296 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? for the Act to be reviewed.323 In 1927, the Presbyterian General Assembly advised Church committees not to seek grants from the T.G. McCarthy Trust because it was funded from brewery profits.324 The Catholic Church welcomed such funds and O' Shea had represented Redwood on the board since its inception in 1 9 12.325 Protestants regularly lamented the secularization of the "Sabbath" ; in June 1929, for example, thirty representatives of the Protestant churches interviewed the Minister of Railways to protest against Sunday excursion trains.326 Catholics took a comparatively liberal attitude to recreation and even light work on the Lord's day. According to the Zealandia's "Question Box", it was permissible for a small businessman to do his own book-keeping on a Sunday if he could not afford to employ a clerk. 327 Young Bernard Ryan earned a penny a hole as a golf caddy after attending Sunday Mass during the late 1930s.328 For Protestants, the moral problems associated with leisure activities were most acute when the church itself was involved. Anglican synods expressed their disapproval of "the practice of raising money for Church purposes by means of raffles or lotteries of any kind".329 Presbyterian congregations were forbidden to conduct art unions or raffles.330 The Presbyterian General Assembly expressed in 1925 its disapproval of dancing at church functions and described "the letting of Church halls for dances and the holding of dances for the purpose of raising funds for Christian 323 NZTablet, 16 March 1922, p. 16; 6 April 1922, p. 29; 13 April 1922, p. 9; 20 April 1922, p. 37; 27 Apri1 1922, p. 13; 11 May 1922, p. 37; 18 May 1922, p. 13; 25 May 1922, p. 1 1 . 324 PGA, 1927, pp. 28, 39, 226-227. The Presbyterian Church had received money from the Trust in the past (Evening Post, 16 July 1928, p. 10) and, after some debate, the Assembly stopped short of actually probibiting further applications. 325 Evening Post, 6 August 1934, p. 1 1 ; 7 August 1934, p. 5; Zealandia, 2 September 1937, p. 4; NZ Tablet, 24 August 1932, p. 13; 7 September 1938, p. 6. 326 Evening Post, 12 June 1929, p. 10. The three main speakers represented the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches but official Anglican opinion was probably not as uniformly opposed to Sunday recreation as was Presbyterian and Methodist opinion. For Presbyterian attitudes during the interwar period, see Garing, pages 109-123 and for Methodist attitudes, see Oements, pages 109- 1 15. 327 Zealandia, 26 September 1935, p. 6. 328 B. Ryan in Michael King (editor), One o/the Boys? Changing Views o/Masculinity in New Zealand,(Auckland: Heinemann Publishers, 1988), p. 45 . 329 AGS, 1925, p. 247; 1928, p. 353; cf. Evening Post, 3 July 19 19, p. 9 (Anglican Synod of Wellington). 330 PGA, 1939, p. 140. ---------------- __ -- . _ __ _ • - __ •• _ • • - 0 __ - F - - ' -' -- . . . ' - �. - -�- �- - ��� The Limits of Leisure 297 work as most unbecoming, if not reprehensible."331 Similarly, the Methodist Church reaffirmed in 1938 its prohibition of dances on ecclesiastical property.332 Anglican parishes, however, did conduct dances.333 Catholics apparently saw nothing incongruous about raising Church funds by producing wine, holding entertainments and conducting lotteries; they also recognized the value of such shared activities for the Catholic community. In Hawke's Bay, the Society of Mary continued the age-old monastic tradition of wine-making as a source of revenue for works of religion. In 19 19, Catholics in Wellington and Palmerston North raffled two race horses.334 Readers of the Month were told that the 1925 Lewisham Hospital art union was their last opportunity to win a worthwhile prize because the Government had decided not to grant any further permits for large prizeS.335 A social with dancing was held in Okoia, near Wanganui, in 1925 to pay for liturgical vestments.336 Bazaars, dances, raffles and card-playing formed an integral part of Catholic parish life. Social events like euchre tournaments and dances were often run through the winter months and parish groups, both social and religious, took turns to organize them.337 The Hibernians and other groups in St Mary's parish, Christchurch, held card parties to raise funds for a new church in 1937.338 Speaking at a Catholic Charity Ball, Brodie declared that, "The Church readily gave its approval to any legitimate form of recreation, and dancing had a very highly educational influence, tending to form chivalrous manners and spirit."339 Even the 331 PGA. 1925. p. 34; cf 1924. p. 42. These views were reaffIrmed in 1939 (1939. pp. 55-56), after some hesitation at the 1938 General Assembly (1938. pp. 49-50. 62). 332 MAC. 1938, pp. 56-57. Cf NZ Herald. 18 November 1937. p. 14 for a report on the Annual District Synod of the Methodist Church in Auckland. which reaffIrmed its prohibition of dancing on church property and Press. 18 November 1937. p. 7 for a similar resolution by the North Canterbury Synod. 333 NZ Herald. 10 July 1937. p. 26 (Northcote); Press. 23 July 1937. p. 8 (Rangiora). 334 NZ Tablet. 25 September 1919. p. 18; 9 October 1919. p. 21; 4 December 1919, p. 19; 18 December 1919. p. 39. 335 Month. 20 October 1925. p. 31 ; 20 November 1925. p. 31 . Alluvial gold to the value of £2,000 was offered in prizes (Month. 16 June 1925. p. 32). 336 Month, 20 October 1925, p. 21. 337 NZ Tablet. 17 June 1920. p. 22 (St Mary's, Christchurch); 5 August 1920, p. 22 (St Patrick's, Auckland); Month, 15 September 1925. p. 21 (Stratford); 1 October 1930. p. 24 (Oamaru); Zealandia, 16 August 1934, p. 5 (Masterton); 8 April 1937, p. 5 (Balmoral). 338 Zealandia, 5 August 1937, p. 4. 339 NZ Tablet. 21 September 1932, p. 14; for similar comments by Brodie, see ibid. , 1 October 1930, p. 46; 29 June 1932, p. 35; 5 July 1933, p. 8; cf Month, 1 August 1932, p. 3 1 . 298 Chapter Four: Righteousness or COnformity? Children of Mary organized dances - often to raise funds for various causes - as Goulter pointed OUt.34O Dancing was only considered sinful when it gave rise to "occasions of sin", for example by being immodest or suggestive - Children of Mary were told not to dance "to excess" .341 No doubt this maxim was followed by members of the Girls' Guild, which was drawn exclusively from the Children of Mary to assist at the Catholic Seamen's Institute in Wellington. The young women were not pennitted to escort seamen to or from the Institute but could not refuse any sailors' request to dance.342 At their April 1929 meeting, the Catholic bishops agreed that "well conducted Catholic dances, such as we are familiar with in this country, served a useful purpose and might well continue".343 Dances not only raised money but when held under church auspices they were presumably "safer". Susan Russell, who gave advice to "The Catholic Girl" in the Zealandia, counselled her readers to attend dances in their parishes in order to avoid the undesirable features of many public dances.344 Moreover, it was obviously preferable for young Catholics to meet prospective spouses at a predominantly Catholic gathering rather than among non-Catholics.345 When the Protestant churches decided to lobby the government jointly to restrict gambling, as they did in 193 1 , they were unable to secure the co-operation of the Catholic Church.346 A meeting of Protestant church representatives in March 1936 invited 0' Shea to join in a deputation to the Minister of Internal Affairs to express concern at the prospect of increased facilities for gambling.347 O'Shea received the letter too late to take action but noted that "there would probably be a difference of opinion between US".348 A few months later, he was asked by the Rev. J.A. Thomson 340 NZ Tablet, 22 March 1933, p. 23 (Goulter); Zealandia, 5 July 1934, p. 7 (Blenheim); 9 April 1936, p. 5 (Cathedral parish, Auckland); NZ Herald, 22 July 1933, p. 19 (Northcote); Press, 1 5 July 1938, p. 2 (Beckenham). 341 Zealandia, 31 January 1935, p. 6; Prayer Book or Manual o/the Children o/Mary, p. 19. 342 NZ Tablet, 27 April 1938, p. 26; 7 December 1938, pp. 26-27; 6 September 1939, p. 38. It was no doubt anticipated that these women would exercise a wholesome influence on the sailors; Guild members were not permitted to smoke on the premises but cigarettes were sold to the sailors. 343 Minutes of bishops' meeting, 24 April 1929, CCDA. 344 Zealandia, 21 June 1934, p. 7. 345 For the promotion of social, sporting and cultural activities among young Catholics and the Church's aversion to mixed marriages, see chapter three. 346 PGA. 1931, p. 76. 347 Rev. D.M. Martin to O'Shea, 17 March 1936, WCAA. 348 O'Shea to Martin, 3 1 March 1936, WCAA. · - .- --- _ .. - - _ ._- - ---- - - .- -- . . . - . - . . ------_. - - - - - . -- - - . The Limits of Leisure 299 of the Auckland Council of Christian Congregations to sign a manifesto proposing a ban on art unions and restricting betting to racecourses.349 The manifesto was signed by the heads of seven Protestant denominations.35o Mter consulting the other bishops, 0' Shea declined to add his signature, arguing that civil law could not enforce a prohibition of all that was forbidden by the moral law: "The evil would be driven underground and become worse. "351 0' Shea was trying to minimize Catholic­ Protestant differences. Obviously the real reason why the bishops withheld their support was Catholic tolerance of gambling: the Church strongly advocated laws against pornography and the sale of contraceptives, which would be just as difficult to enforce. Differences over the ethics of leisure - and especially over gambling - sometimes led to controversy among the churches. In 1932, the Tablet ridiculed the Southland Presbytery's fear that Sunday mystery rail excursions were intended "to upset Protestantism".352 Kelly taunted North and the Council of Churches for their inconsistency in denouncing church lotteries while failing to complain about the Prince of Wales who, during his 1920 visit to New Zealand, drank alcohol and bet on horses.353 Twice in 1925, Kelly attacked the Presbyterian Church for its protests against art unions, arguing that the "dour folk of the Kirk" should abandon individual interpretation of the Bible and bum down the churches and manses which had been built with lottery profits in the past.354 In 1933, a deputation from the Council of Christian Churches protested to the Minister of Internal Mfairs, J.A. Young, against the operation of lotteries. To the Council's embarrassment - and the delight of the Tablet · the Minister disclosed that some of the churches the Council represented had applied for lottery grants.355 When the North Canterbury Methodist Synod denounced gambling and Sunday golf, among other things, Frank Seward, parish priest of Lincoln, wrote to the editor of the Press criticizing the Synod for "condemning 349 Thomson to O'Shea, 26 May 1936, WCAA. 350 Thomson to O'Shea, 16 June 1936, WCAA. 351 O'Shea to Thomson, 20 June 1926, WCAA. 352 NZ Tablet, 23 November 1932, p. 4; cf Outlook, 14 November 1932, p. 8. 353 NZ Tablet, 8 July 1920, pp. 14-15; 15 July 1920, p. 14; 19 August 1920, p. 14; 16 March 1922, p. 16; cf Press, 27 April 1920, p. 6 for a report on the Prince's enthusiastic betting at the Royal Race Meeting at Ellerslie. 354 NZ Tablet, 1 1 March 1925, p. 23; 2 September 1925, p. 33. 355 NZ Tablet, 10 May 1933, p. 4. -. . -_ . �------��------. 300 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? Table 4.3 Denominational Representation in Leisure-Related Industries, 1921-1936 Anglican Presbyterian Catholic 1921 malting, brewing and bottling (males) Number 570 212 207 Percentage 49.48 18.40 17.97 Index 1 18 75 139 . 1921 production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (males) Number 850 344 315 Percentage 46.75 18.92 17.33 Index 1 1 1 77 134 1936 production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (males) Number 751 343 248 Percentage 44.86 20.49 14.81 Index 1 12 84 120 1921 licensed hotels and accommodation houses (males) Number 1 ,759 539 1 .090 Percentage 44.60 13 .67 27.64 Index 106 56 214 1936 licensed hotels and accommodation houses (males) Number 1 ,708 628 1 , 1 19 Percentage 41 .97 15 .43 27.49 Index 105 63 222 1921 licensed hotels and accommodation houses (females) Number 1 ,634 633 1 .527 Percentage 39.79 15.41 37.18 Index 97 64 234 1936 licensed hotels and accommodation houses (females) Number 1 ,218 524 1 . 155 Percentage 36.82 15.84 34.92 Index 94 66 227 1921 horse-racing and training (males) . Number 762 221 318 Percentage 54.55 15.82 22.76 Index 130 64 177 1936 horse-racing and training (males) Number 665 291 327 Percentage 44.63 19.53 21 .95 Index 1 1 1 80 178 Methodist 45 3.91 46 109 6.00 71 1 12 6.69 87 74 1 .88 22 107 2.63 34 1 18 2.87 3 1 147 4.44 52 22 1 .57 19 39 2.62 34 Total Population 1 ,152 100.00 100 1,818 100.00 100 1,674 100.00 100 3.944 100.00 100 4,070 100.00 100 4,107 100.00 100 3.308 100.00 100 1 .397 100.00 100 1,490 100.00 100 . ---' ...--;' The Limits of Leisure Table 4.3 (continued) Anglican Presbyterian Catholic 1921 cinema (males) Number 279 69 64 Percentage 54.81 13 .56 12.57 Index 130 55 98 1936 cinema (males) Number 471 163 170 Percentage 45.64 15 .79 16.47 Index 1 14 65 133 1936 cinema (females) Number 246 89 156 Percentage 42.41 15 .34 26.90 Index 109 64 175 -----' - - . - - -- - - . .. - . " . Methodist 43 8.45 100 78 7.56 98 26 4.48 53 301 Total Population 509 100.00 100 1 ,032 100.00 100 580 100.00 100 Sources: New Zealand Census 1921, part VII, pp. 36-42; 1936, vol. VI, pp. 26-29. everything within reach".356 While Catholics scoffed at Protestant scruples, Protestants sometimes denounced Catholics for collusion with the forces of evil. The New Zealand Baptist criticized the Catholic Church's "easy going theories concerning drink and gambling", claiming that, "She is on tenns with the promoters of these two habits as no other Church is. "357 Contrasting attitudes to certain forms of leisure were reflected in the occupations of Catholics and Protestants as recorded in the interwar censuses. By setting each denomination's representation in the overall male or female workforce at 100, it is possible to calculate an index of representation to illustrate its over or under­ representation in occupations concerned with drinking, gambling and other forms of entertainment, especially the cinema, as Table 4.3 illustrates.358 In 192 1 , Catholic men ( 139) were significantly over-represented in malting, brewing and bottling, while Presbyterians (75) and Methodists (46) were quite under-represented; Anglicans ( 1 1 8) were somewhat over-represented. Comparing the 1921 and 1936 census figures, it is 356 Seward to the editor, Press, 20 November 1937, p. 13. Seward was pleased, however, that the Synod bad opposed contraception and abortion. 357 NZ Baptist, October 193 1 , p. 294; cf Il. North, Roman Catlwlicism: Roots and Fruits (Napier. Printed by G.W. Venables and Co. Ltd, 1922), pp. 4, 146-147. 358 To calculate the index of representation, the actual percentage of, say, Catholic men working in hotels, is divided by the percentage of Catholic men in the paid workforce. ----e:-.---�-��..,___-_- -.- - .. _ - _ 302 Chapter Four: Righteousness or COnformity? apparent that the over-representation of Catholic men in the production of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages declined (from 1 34 to 1 20), while the proportion of Anglicans was stable ( 1 1 1 and 1 12) and the representation of Presbyterians (77 and 84) and Methodists (7 1 and 87) increased. The Managing Director of New Zealand Breweries Ltd, until his death in 1930, was Thomas Madden, an Irishman described as a "fervent Catholic" .359 Catholic men (214 in 192 1 and 222 in 1936) as well as Catholic women (234 and 227) were strikingly over-represented amongst workers in licensed hotels and licensed accommodation-houses. Anglican men (106 and 105) and women (97 and 94) worked on licensed premises in proportions close to their representation in the total workforce. Presbyterian men (56 and 63) and women (64 and 66), as well as Methodist men (22 and 34) and women (3 1 and 52) were markedly under-represented among hotel-workers but the proportions of Methodists, in particular, were increasing. Catholic men ( 177 in 192 1 and 178 in 1936) were also considerably over-represented in horse-racing and training and leading Catholics played a prominent role in that industry. Sir George Clifford, reckoned "the most notable figure in the racing world in the Dominion", was elected President of the Racing Conference in 1 895 and hel� the position for over thirty years.360 After more than thirty years' membership of the Gore Racing Club, D.L. Popplewell was elected President in 1925.361 Anglican men ( 1 30 and 1 1 1) were somewhat over-represented in horse-racing and training. Presbyterians (64 and 80) and Methodists ( 19 and 34) were notably under-represented but their numbers were increasing. Despite Catholic concern over moral standards in films, Catholics were increasingly over-represented in cinematic theatres (the index of representation for men rose from 98 to 1 33, and for women in 1936 it was 175). Anglicans were somewhat over-represented ( 1 30 and 1 14 for men, and 109 for women in 1936). Presbyterians were markedly under-represented (55 and 65 for men and 64 for women in 1936), while Methodist men (100 and 98) worked in the cinema according to their proportion in the workforce but women were under-represented (53 in 1936). Several important conclusions can be drawn from these figures. Catholics were over-represented in industries which produced or sold alcoholic drink, in horse-racing and in film theatres. Presbyterians and Methodists were under-represented in these 359 NZ Tablet, 20 August 1930, pp. 49-50 (obituary). 360 Evening Post, 17 April 1930, p. 12 (obituary). 361 NZ Tablet, 26 August 1925, p. 34; if. Zealandia, 5 October 1939, p. 3 (obituary). p , The Limits of Leisure 303 leisure-related activities, while the Anglican community tended to be over-represented. Evangelical Anglicans evidently shared the puritan leisure ethic which was endorsed by the Presbyterian and Methodist churches but many more liberal Anglicans held views closer to those of Catholics. The overall Anglican pattern of employment bears significant resemblances to that of the Catholic community - and the Anglican population was larger than the combined number of Presbyterians and Methodists. Moreover, Protestants made up a majority of employees in all the industries discussed here; the same was no doubt also true of the patrons they served. It was the exponents of the puritan ethic who were unusual; in their relatively liberal attitude towards entertainment, alcohol and gambling, Catholics conformed to the attitudes of the population as a whole. Finally, even among Presbyterians and Methodists, reluctance to work in leisure-related industries was declining. It was precisely because New Zealanders as a whole rejected their admonitions that Protestant moralists felt constrained to reiterate them so often. In 1936, the Methodist Conference expressed its "deep concern" over "the increasing tendency to make Sunday a day of sport, picnicing and general distraction"; two years later it again deplored "the present tendency to use the Lord's Day for amusement purposes".362 When the North Canterbury Methodist Synod passed two resolutions against the sale of art unions, H. Chapman warned that the Church could be charged with hypocrisy because "quite a lot of our own members go in for art unions, and talk about what they will do with the money if they win it. "363 Criticism of Sunday golf and other forms of recreation brought adverse comment not only from Seward but also from a lay Methodist and other newspaper correspondents.364 At the same time, Catholic moralists shared many of their Protestant contemporaries' concerns, for example the Church promoted temperance by encouraging candidates for confirmation to take a pledge not to drink alcohol until they reached the age of twenty-one.365 Sometimes Catholic moralists shared Protestant 362 MAC, 1936, p. 70; 1938, p. 78. 363 Press, 19 November 1937, p. 6; NZ Herald, 20 November 1937, p. 14. 364 Press, 18 November 1937, p. 7; "Gunner, 1914" to the editor, 19 November 1937, p. 7; 20 November 1937, p. 13; 22 November 1937, p. 8. . 365 Month, 1 November 1930, p. 20 (confumation in Nelson); see also the recollection of Sister Mary Carmel (Aynsley), a pupil at St Mary's High School from 1934 to 1938, in Reflect, Rejoice, p. 65. According to the Marist Messenger (1 January 1938, p. 14), the pledge was already taken regularly in the Wellington archdiocese when the hierarchy of Australasia agreed to make the practice uniform throughout the region. - - - , - -------.----.--..---""'-----�------- 304 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? views more fully than they admitted. According to the Zealandia, "The Catholic attitude towards Sunday observance has naturally opposed the secularisation of the Sabbath, but has never associated itself with the doleful rigours of Puritanism. "366 The 1 925 quinquennial report on the Wellington archdiocese implicitly acknowledged Protestant influence by noting that, "Abstention from servile works on Sundays is strictly observed by all, as is usual in English speaking countries. "367 Cleary taught that a "modicum of innocent recreation" was acceptable on Sundays as long as it was not excessive, but the "sacred duties of religion" had priority.368 Professor Moor­ Karoly, Choirmaster at St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland, complained that Sunday evening concerts under the auspices of the municipal authorities took people away from their churches.369 Portraying life in a Catholic boarding school, Amelia B atistich described Sunday as a day "spent in a state of suspended animation".37o In 1 940, the Australasian Catholic Record considered at length the lawfulness of knitting on Sundays - at the request of a New Zealand priest who wrote that the issue had been subject to "much discussion" and that the clergy were divided on the matter. Even though it could be considered servile work, Nevin concluded, a woman could engage in up to three hours of light knitting before being in danger of committing a mortal sin.371 According to Cooney, the "modem age" had "lost all sense of proportion and the fitness of things", regarding "pleasure as an end" rather than a means to "the higher aims of life". He warned that "more souls are ruined by improper and tainted amusements than by any other agency. "372 This judgment on contemporary society was endorsed by Protestants. Catholic and Protestant moralists shared a concern over the evils of attending dances, especially if alcohol was being drunk. Kelly denounced not only the " indecent posturings and suggestive huggings of half naked women" but also the " 'sitting out' opportunities ingeniously contrived for, perhaps, worse conduct".373 Endorsing 366 Zealandia, 1 August 1935, p. 4. 367 Quinquennial report, archdiocese of Wellington, 1921-1925, item 86, WCAA. 368 Month, 15 September 1922, p. 6. 369 Month, 20 September 1927, p. 5. 370 Amelia Batistich, "Holy Terrors", in Holy Terrors and Other Stories (Auckland: Vintage, 199 1), p. 17. 371 Australasian Catholic Record, 17 (1940), pp. 241-250. 372 NZ Tablet, 26 November 1924, p. 25. See also the passage by Cleary quoted above. 373 NZTablet, 27 September 1923, p. 18; cf. 20 May 1920, p. 26. � . - -- ---�- -- -' '''� .- .-. '-�.-- .-_ .. ... . The Limits of Leisure 305 comments by an Anglican synod, he railed against "the laxity of fathers and mothers" who allowed their daughters to go out at night unchaperoned and warned of the "fast dances borrowed from the jungle, the joy-riding with doubtful companions, the latch­ key, the eternal cigarettes, and the handy hip flask provided by the partner at the dance".374 Admittedly not all Catholic authorities were as vigilent as Kelly would have liked them to be. A correspondent, who endorsed Kelly's views, asked why the local newspaper advertised a social including "the latest dances - jazz, turkey-trot, twilight destiny waltz, and so forth" under the auspices of the Catholic Club.37s The Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, while acknowledging the right of individuals �o decide the issue for themselves, warned of the "grave moral perils associated with mixed dancing". 376 Catholic and Protestant moralists expressed similar views on the danger of alcoholic drink at dances.377 The joint statement of Liston and other Auckland church leaders in 1937 condemned "the use of liquor at and in the vicinity of public dances".378 Both Catholic and Protestant moralists were concerned about the threat to public morality posed by the portrayal of crime, violence and sensuality in the cinema. The Catholic press frequently reported on the efforts of American Catholics to lobby for improved standards in the film industry, especially through the predominantly Catholic Legion of Decency379 and the Tablet called for a similar campaign in New Zealand.38O 374 NZ Tablet, 22 October 1924, p. 29; cf. 14 April 1926, p. 33. 375 NZ Tablet, 18 October 1923, p. 18. 376 MAC, 1937, p. 50; 1938, p. 55; cf PGA, 1925, pp. 33-34 and 1939, pp. 55-56. 377 Month, 18 November 1924, p. 31 and 20 January 1925, p. 19 (Goulter); NZ Tablet, 27 October 1937, p. 5; Zealandia, 14 July 1938, p. 9 (Kennedy); 4 August 1938, p. 6 (editorial); Outlook, 24 May 1937, p. 5 (Roseveare); PGA, 1925, pp. 33-34 and 1939, pp. 55-56; MAC, 1938, pp. 55-56; NZHerald, 19 November 1937, p. 16 and Press, 19 November 1937, p. 6 (Wanganui-Taranaki Methodist Conference). 378 NZ Herald, 20 November 1937, p. 18. The Holland Committee expressed the same view (Evening Post, 28 March 1938, p. 6). 379 Month, 15 September 1919, p. 5; 15 May 1928, p. 25; NZ Tablet, 30 May 1934, pp. 20-21 ; 1 5 August 1934, pp. 1-2 (comments by Klimeck and non-Catholic speakers at a DlIDedin meeting); 7 November 1934, p. 3; 28 November 1934, p. 3; 20 February 1935, p. 3; 1 1 March 1936, p. 1 1 ; Zealandia, 7 June 1934, pp. 4, 10; 5 July 1934, p. 1 ; 2 August 1934, p. 3 ; 30 August 1934, p. 4 ; 13 September 1934, p. 4; 11 October 1934, p. 4; 8 November 1934, p. 1; 3 1 January 1935, p. 4; 1 1 April 1935, p. 2. 380 NZ Tablet, 6 July 1932, p. 3; 7 September 1932, p. 3; 7 November 1934, p. 3 (cf the letter by "A Fighting Catholic" on page 7). Pius Xl' s 1936 encyclical Vigilanti Cura (in Carlen, op. cit., pp. 517-523) also urged the world's bishops to imitate the Legion of Decency (cf Zealandia, 13 August 1936, pp. 1, 4). - - - -- - - � -- - - - -- -------------------------..... 306 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? Catholics were encouraged to patronize acceptable films.381 Naturally those which offered a favourable view of the Catholic Church were especially recommended. Cloistered, which depicted the Sisters of the Good Shepherd and was fIlmed in their mother house near Angers, was strongly endorsed by O' Shea and other clergy.382 Father P.I. Smyth, who himself ran a cinema in St Francis' Hall, Wellington, incurred the wrath of the Film Exchange Association in 1927 for preaching against certain films and distributing circulars condemning them.383 A writer in the Tablet, reflecting on an unnamed film currrently being screened, lamented that while the "silent screen produced harmful pictures", "the advent of the 'talkies' has brought us a veritable Niagara of immoral pictures." He denounced the "crooks and gangsters" as well as the "miasmic nightmare of unnatural libidinous ferocity" depicted in certain films.384 When the Government Censor, W.A. Tanner, told a Tablet correspondent that the film had been severely cut, the editor commented that it ought to have been rejected altogether.385 Catholic moralists endorsed criticisms by Protestants, including Lord Bledisloe, of violence and sensuality in films.386 Like their contemporaries, Catholics were particularly anxious about the impact of films on the moral values and behaviour of children.387 When a parliamentary committee investigating the film industry in 381 NZTablet, 15 March 1933, p. 6; 31 May 1933, p. 4; 28 March 1934, p. 34; 28 November 1934, p. 3; 13 February 1935, p. 3; 11 March 1936, p. 1 1 ; 4 May 1938, p. 6; Zealandia, 10 November 1938, p. 3; Marist Messenger, 1 September 1938, p. 26. For an editorial urging theatre patrons to complain at the box office about unacceptable ftlms, see Zealandia, 2 September 1937. 382 NZ Tablet, 1 June 1938, p. 45; Zealandia, 2 June 1938, p. 8. Surprised by the endorsement of Cloistered from the pulpit, one Catholic wondered whether the Church bad a pecunary interest in the film (Letter by "Fanfare", Marist Messenger, 1 July 1938, p. 21). For further favourable references to the film, see Zealandia, 28 April 1938, p. 9; 26 May 1938, p. 5; 2 June 1938, p. 1 1 (advertisement); 1 6 June 1938, p. 1 1 ; 1 December 1938, p. 3 (advertisement); Marist Messenger, 1 June 1938, p. 29; NZ Tablet, 29 June 1938, p. 7. At least one Catholic, however, thought that advertisements for the film pandered to anti-Catholic prejudices against convent life ("Layman" to the editor, NZ Tablet, 3 1 August 1938, p. 23). 383 NZ Tablet, 28 December 1927, p. 3 1 . Smyth's name is spelt "Smythe" on this page but in other references it is usually spelt without the "e". 384 NZ Tablet, 1 June 1932, p. 45. 385 NZ Tablet, 15 June 1932, p. 42. 386 NZ Tablet, 6 July 1932, p. 3; Month, 1 August 1932, p. 20. For other favourable citations from non­ Catholic sources, see Month, 15 March 1920, p. 3; 16 August 1920, p. 4; 15 October 1920, p. 4; 13 December 1920, p . 3; NZ Tablet, 3 1 January 1934, p . 3 . 387 NZ Tablet, 6 July 1932, p . 3; 3 1 January 1934, p . 3; 6 March 1935, pp. 20-21 ; Month, 1 5 July 1919, p. 5; 15 September 1919, pp. 4-5; 15 October 1920, pp. 3-4; 15 April 1920, pp. 5-6; Zealandia, 8 November 1934, pp. 7, 10; 6 December 1934, p. 1 ; c! Roy Shuker and Roger Openshaw with Janet Soler, Youth, Media and Moral Panic in New Zealand (From Hooligans to Video Nasties), (Palmerston North: Deparnnent of Education, Massey University, Delta Research Monograph number I I , 1990), pp. 57-68. The Limits of Leisure 307 1 934 failed to recommend stricter censorship, the Catholic press joined other critics in lamenting the lost opportunity.388 Both Catholics and Protestants, such as North, complained about suggestive posters advertising films.389 New regulations subjecting posters to official censorship came into effect in October 1930390 but Protestant and Catholic critics were still not satisfied. The Presbyterian and Methodist Churches continued to complain and in 1932, Carrington asked the Government for stricter censorship of film advertising.391 Shared concern over the undermining of moral standards in ftlms, and the posters used to advertise them, led to co-operation between Catholics and non-Catholics. The Catholic Federation played a leading role in the campaign for film censorship which resulted in the Cinematograph Film Censorship Act of 1 9 16.392 When a public meeting held under the auspices of the Federation called upon the Government to censor films shown to the public, the Evening Post commented that there was "a large and important body of opinion in support of a reasonable censorship" .393 In April 1 930, a deputation representing the Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist Churches, along with the Church of Christ, the Salvation Army and the YMCA, called upon P.A. de la Perelle, the Minister or Internal Affairs, to seek stricter 388 NZ Tablet. 23 May 1934. p. 3; Zeaiandia. 5 June 1934. p. 4. 389 NZ Herald. 3 May 1926. p. 10 (North); NZ Tablet. 28 December 1927. p. 3 1 ; Month. 5 July 1930. p. 21 . 390 NZ Gazette. 1930. vol. III. pp. 2876-2877. 391 PGA. 1931 . pp. 12. 78. 80; 1932. pp. 17. 100; 1933. pp. 21. 87. 89; MAC. 1933. pp. 79. 80; 1934. p. 72; 1935. pp. 69; NZPD. 1932. vol. 233. p. 459. 392 NZPD. 1916. vol. 177. p. 572 (George Russell. Minister of Internal Affairs); Month. 15 January 1923. p. 7; Bernard Cadogan. "Lace Curtain Catholics: the Catholic Bourgeoisie of the Diocese of Dunedin. 1900-1920" (University of Otago B.A. Honours dissertation in History. 1984). pp. 47-48. The role of the Federation is unduly minimized by P.S. O·Connor. '''Protestants'. Catholics and the New Zealand Government, 1916-18". in G.A. Wood and P.S. O'Connor (editors). w.P. Morrell: a Tribute. (Dunedin: University of Otago Press. 1973). p. 186. Christoffel's anachronistic claim (op. cit . • p. 1 1) that the Catholic Federation lobbied against a film in 1909 (about three years before the Federation was founded) is based on a misreading of Shuker and Openshaw. p. 58. (Christoffel used an earlier version of the article by Shuker and Openshaw.) The assertion that the Federation's interest was motivated by concern over the uncomplimentary portrayal of the Catholic Church in some fllms. in contrast to the moral concerns of other advocates of censorship (Shuker and Openshaw. p. 58) is not supported by the reference to Russell's address. While the Federation did seek censorship of fllms denigrating the Church. the appeal of its case for censorship depended precisely on moral values shared with other members of the community. 393 Evening Post. 2 December 1915. pp. 3. 6. · ____ ____ � __ � ____ · _ ��a ____ � _________ � __________ • 308 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? censorship of films and film posters. O'Regan represented the Catholic Church on behalf of O'Shea.394 In 1934, the Rev. E.T. Cox, Mayor of Dunedin, convened a meeting of thirty representatives of religious and community organizations to lobby the Government over film censorship and advertising; a six member sub-committee was appointed to monitor objectionable films. Among those who addressed the meeting and joined the sub-committee was Dr M.l Klimeck, Administrator of St Joseph's Cathedral. The Tablet rejoiced that Protestant clergymen had sought the co-operation . of Catholics in a matter of concern to the whole community.395 A similar organization was formed in Wellington, largely by school teachers including A.J. Cullen SM, Rector of St Patrick's College.396 Catholic and Protestant moralists were also concerned about the corrupting effect of immoral publications on children in particular.397 Cleary devoted his 1920 Lenten Pastoral Letter to the subject of "unwholesome magazines and works of fiction", which "advocate racial suicide, throw a halo of romance around violations of conjugal infidelity, and gloss over crime and vice as something for which the individual is not personally responsible".398 According to Kelly, "nearly all" contemporary books were bad from a literary point of view, and "fully half of the fiction" was "dangerous and decadent".399 Priests in the Wellington archdiocese were required to warn their congregations " against the evils of bad literature at least once or twice a year. "400 With increasing book production, argued Cleary, denominations which had criticized the Index of Prohibited B ooks were themselves coming to recognize the need for censorship.401 In 1923, the Month praised a resolution by the Presbyterian General Assembly protesting against "debasing literature" .402 A number of letters to the New Zealand Herald in March 1926 called for censorship of books and the annual 394 Dominion, 8 April 1930, p. 1 1 ; NZ Tablet, 23 April 1930, p. 47. 395 Otago Daily Times, 7 August 1934, p. 10; 8 August 1934, p. 8; NZ Tablet, 15 August 1934, pp. 1-3. 3% NZ Tablet, 18 July 1934, p. 3. 397 For Catholic concern, see Month, 16 September 1924, p. 27; 21 October 1924, p. 27; 16 August 1927, p. 21; 15 May 1928, p. 9; Zealandia, 10 June 1937, p. 4; NZ Tablet, 14 September 1932, p. 3; 25 May 1938, p. 7. 398 NZ Tablet, 26 February 1920, pp. 22-23; Month, 15 March 1920, pp. 7, 9. 399 NZ Tablet, 6 July 1927, p. 33. 400 Quinquennial report, archdiocese of Wellington, 1921-1925, item 95, WCAA. 401 Month, 15 May 1923, p. 6. 402 Month, 15 December 1923, p. 10; PGA, 1923, pp. 18-19. _::IIIOiII-- - - - - - . --- - _._- . .- --- -- - - _0 - - ---.••• - 0 - - - - •. - - -----' - _ . • The Limits of Leisure 309 conference of the Congregational Union appealed to the Government to take action against cheap imported "immoral and suggestive books".403 During the 1930s, concern was expressed over "dumping" on the New Zealand market of cheap American "pulp" magazines and comics: successful agitation against these publications, by Catholics and others, illustrates widely shared moral concerns.404 Comics provided a cheap form of publication during the Depression and American publishers included increasingly explicit references to sex, violence and especially crime in order to boost sales. By the later 1930s, moreover, comics were no longer simply reprints of strips already published in newspapers but used original material and were therefore no longer restrained by the demands of a family audience.4os American publishers attracted increased advertising revenue by selling large numbers of back-dated comics and magazines in New Zealand and elsewhere. The advertisements often featured books on sex and promoted contraceptives (in part as protection against venereal disease).406 Some three million such magazines, on average about two months old, were being sold in New Zealand annually by the late 1 930s.407 Local publishers, concerned about competition from cheap American magazines, sought a protective tariff.408 Catholic journalist and publishers' representative Patrick Lawlor took a leading role in the opposition to back-dated magazines, urging that customs duty be imposed to protect both the publishers and the youth of New Zealand. He raised the issue at the annual conference of the Associated Booksellers of New Zealand in 1930.409 Later that year, he sought unsuccessfully to promote his concerns through the press and 403 NZ Herald, 16 March 1926, p. 7; 17 March 1926, p. 9; 18 March 1926, p. 7 (letters), p. 8 (sub­ leader responding to the Congregational Union), 1 1 (conference); 19 March 1926, p. 9; 22 March 1926, p. 7; 23 March 1926, p. 7; 26 March 1926, p. 9. 404 Economic considerations were also quite important for New Zealand booksellers concerned over competition and for the Government concerned over foreign debt 405 Bums, p. 71 ; Christoffel, p. 20; Shuker and Openshaw, pp. 83-84. 406 Bums, pp. 71-72; Shuker and Openshaw, p. 84. 407 Press, 30 October 1937, p. 18 (article by R.G.C. McNabb); NZ Tablet, 23 March 1938, p. 5 (citing information from a Library Association conference). Containing either fiction or fictionalized "true stories", the magazines did not date quickly. 408 Managing Editor, Mirror Publishing (signature illegible) to LaWlor, 17 September 1930, MAW. The writer of the letter had approached the Controller of Customs and Labour leader MJ. Savage. 409 Lawlor to the Chairman of the New Zealand Booksellers' Conference, 13 January 1931 , MAW. --------- -------------------� 310 Chapter Four: Righteousness or COnformity? Parliament.410 In 1930 and again in 193 1 , he solicited without success the support of George Forbes, Prime Minister and Minister of Customs.4 1 1 From 1932, customs officials did impose increasing restrictions on the importation of pulp magazines, initially by requiring offending advertisements to be cut out. When the officials demanded that the advertisements be excised before the magazines were imported to New Zealand and the publishers were unable to comply, twenty American magazines, with titles such as Film Fun and True Love Stories, were banned outright. 412 The Tablet rejoiced in the extension of censorship, while some newspaper correspondents evidently complained that the ban reflected undue Catholic influence on the Government. In response, the Tablet asserted that "the job has been only half done", arguing that the Church would exercise a much more thorough purge of imported books and magazines if it had the influence with which it was credited.413 That the Catholic Church was not alone in its opposition to imported pulp magazines was clear from continued and relatively successful agitation by both Catholics and non-Catholics.414 When Lawlor renewed his campaign in 1 934, he elicited the support of Clyde Carr, MP for Timaru and a Congregationalist Minister, whom he provided with three questions which Carr duly asked in the House.415 In April 1 937, Archdeacon MacMurray demanded a ban on "vicious literature" and "obscene pictorial magazines" and in November, Liston joined with other Auckland church leaders in appealing to the Government to stop the sale of "salacious literature" .416 The Press argued the need for censorship of magazines417 and the 410 Ibid. ; W.E. Parry to Lawlor, 1 8 September 1930, MAW. 4 1 1 Lawlor to the Chairman of the New Zealand Booksellers' Conference, 13 January 193 1 , MAW; Forbes to Lawlor, 1 1 May 1931 , MAW. In the flrst letter, Lawlor referred to having interviewed the Prime Minister, wbom be did not name; presumably this was Forbes, wbo took offIce in May 1930. 4 12 B ums, pp_ 72-73_ The New Zealand Libraries Association protested that this procedure made some articles impossible to read and encouraged library patrons to further mutilate magazines (Evening Post, 21 Marcb 1933, p. 8; 16 February 1937, p. 13; 17 February 1937, p. 13; Dominion, 1 5 February 1937, p . 3). 4 13 NZ Tablet, 29 March 1933, p_ 3. No speciflc references are given for the correspondents' letters to which the editorial refers. 414 In addition to the examples cited below, see Bums, p. 74. 4 15 Lawlor to Carr, 1 0 September 1934, MAW; NZPD, 1934, vol. 240, p. 320. Carr raised the matter again a month later, citing a "most reliable authority", perbaps Lawlor, to the effect that imports were increasing alarmingly (NZPD, voL 240, p_ 1 ,161). Customs Minister Coates was reluctant to take any action beyond what was already being done by customs offIcials. 4 16 NZ Herald, 22 April 1937, p. 8; 20 November 1937, p_ 18. 417 Press, 1 8 February 1 938, p. 10; cf. Sbuker and Opensbaw, p. 84 (citing Truth 8 December 1937). The Limits of Leisure 311 Library Association appealed to the Ministers of Customs and Education to take action against them.418 According to a Wellington Catholic Social Guild article in July, pulp magazines, with their "pseudo-scientific" articles on sex and advertisements for contraceptives, were the work of "International Freemasonry", "Communism" and "World Finance".419 The same month, Walter Nash, as Minister of Customs, convened a meeting of representatives of booksellers, librarians and importers to negotiate an agreement that magazines giving undue prominence to sex, obscenity, horror, crime or cruelty would no longer be imported.42o Importers were later asked to sign an undertaking to this effect421 perhaps because Catholic and Protestant moralists were proving difficult to satisfy. A September 1938 editorial in the Zealandia called upon the Government to suppress pornography and upon individuals to boycott offending shops.422 A week later, an article by Lawlor demanded that the Government impose a heavy tariff on the three and a half million pulp magazines imported each year, if not for moral reasons, then at least to protect New Zealand writers.423 The Presbyterian Church's Public Questions Committee, which had been lobbying Nash over pulp magazines for more than a year, had a resolution passed by the General Assembly in November calling upon the Government to stop the importing of "pornographic literature" .424 By the end of the year, the Government's new import licensing regulations were being used to ensure that no licence to import such material would be granted.425 The Tablet acknowledged at the end of 1939 that the Government had banned about ninety pulp magazines - although the editor was still not satisfied that 418 NZ Tablet, 23 Marcb 1938, p. 5; Press, 1 1 Marcb 1938, p. 12 (if. McNabb's article, op. cit.). 419 NZ Tablet, 13 July 1938, p. 9; cf 3 August 1 938, p. 41. 420 Dominion, 19 August 1938, p. 12; 22 August 1938, p. 8; NZLibraries, September 1938, p. 1 ; Bums, p. 75; Christoffel, pp. 20-21 . Sbuker and Openshaw (p. 84), following a typographical error in Bums (ibid., note 3), give the year as 1936. A delegation of librarians had already met Nash and Education Minister Fraser in June (NZ Libraries, July 1938, p. 92). 421 NZ Libraries, November 1938, p. 26. 422 Zealandia, 15 September 1938, p. 6. Kathleen Kennedy, however, adpoted a different approacb, urging the need for moral and religious training to educate public opinion, for censorsbip too easily degenerated into tyranny (Zealandia, 6 October 1938, p. 10). 423 Zealandia, 22 September 1938, p. 3. 424 PGA, 1938, pp. 27, 21 1 , 214. 425 Bums, pp. 74-75. .--- '"'- .-.. . . .... - .---.-_.-............ ---- ---...... _---..-.. --._-- _ .-.... . . -.... - . . - 312 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? enough had been done.426 Despite their different perspectives, then, Protestant and Catholic moralists shared some important concerns over the ethics of leisure; moreover, the differences between Catholics and Protestants in practice were declining. Catholic moralists rejected Protestant scruples over gambling and drinking but they too sought to restrain leisure­ time activities, for example they disparaged servile work on Sundays and lascivious modem dances. While their differences sometimes led to recriminations, they co­ operated on the censorship of printed matter and films because of shared concerns over sexual ethics and the portrayal of violence. Meanwhile, as support for the puritan ethic of leisure declined, Protestants increasingly enjoyed the activities clerical moralists had traditionally denounced: differences in the leisure activities of Catholics and Protestants were therefore diminishing. These two respects in which the Protestant and Catholic communities converged - the concerns of moralists and popular practice - were inextricably related. The widespread rejection in practice of traditional Christian restraints alarmed both Catholic and Protestant moralists. In going beyond the established limits of leisure, secular society, made up almost entirely of at least nominal adherents of the Catholic and Protestant churches, forced moralists of different denominations into defensive co-operation. Conclusion There was considerable agreement among Catholic and Protestant moralists on questions of gender and ethics. Although Catholic attitudes to religious celibacy were not shared by the other churches, moralists in all the major denominations endorsed a common view of the roles and duties of married women and men. All the churches regarded with disapproval the increasing resort to divorce, contraception and abortion, although there were important differences in their teachings. The more extreme claims of Catholic triumphalists, however, were not justified by the differences in Catholic and Protestant values or by the practice of church members. There were also significant differences in Catholic and Protestant attitudes to leisure pursuits, especially gambling, but on the question of censorship, in particular, there was firm agreement. While the consensus on family ethics was declining, it remained strong during the interwar period, and a common fear of moral decline revealed important agreements among Catholics and Protestants over the ethics of leisure. 426 New import regulations were about to reduce the importation of books by flfty percent. so the Tablet hoped the opportunity would be taken to "cut out the rubbish" (NZ Tablet, 13 December 1 939, p. 5; cf. 1 8 October 1939, p. 5; 22 November 1939, p. 21). Conclusion 313 Differences in Catholic and Protestant attitudes require some explanation. The increasing divergence of official teaching on the ethics of marriage resulted from different ecclesiastical structures and theological methods. In particular, the Catholic Church in New Zealand was not free to deviate from papal pronouncements while its moral theology was based on natural law and influenced by an ascetic view of sexuality. Different attitudes to leisure reflect class and ethnic values as well as theological differences. All moralists in New Zealand were influenced by their contemporaries overseas, but Catholic thought was more dependent than that of the other churches or secular opinion. Since Catholic moral doctrine was laid down by the ecclesiastical hierarchy centred in the Vatican, it was less subject to change than were the teachings of other churches. When the Presbyterian Church considered the issue of divorce, for example, it sought the views of Reformed churches in other parts of the world but far from being bound by these views, New Zealand Presbyterians debated the issue for four years before reaching a compromise statement of their own.427 Catholics, by contrast, had only to appropriate the teaching of such authoritative sources as Casti Connubii, Pius Xl's 1930 encyclical on marriage.428 Bishops and priests claimed to be passing on divine revelation and the teaching of Christ himself.429 There were no synods of the clergy or laity to discern the mind of the Church and even at the meetings of the hierarchy, there was no debate over orthodox ethical teaching, but only discussion over how best to pass it on to the faithful. The whole raison d' etre of the hierarchical Church was the maintenance of orthodox faith and morals, while doctrinal soundness was a sine qua non of admission to the episcopate. Dissent was uncommon in New Zealand where the Church was thoroughly ultramontanist in its theological orientation and where there was no tradition of creative theological inquiry. Catholic moralists based their teaching on an uncompromising natural law ethic, authoritatively interpreted by the hierarchy, while Protestants were more willing to reassess moral values. From the perspective of Catholic polemicists, the Protestant churches were lowering the moral barricades by allowing exceptions to long-held 427 For the reports from sister churches, see PGA, 1936, pp. 169-171 . 428 Casti Connubii, op. cit. The encyclical was summarized in the Month (1 April 1931 , pp. 17-19) and printed in full in the NZ Tablet ( 1 1 March 1931 , supplement). 429 Cf. Liston's statement (in a declaration on birth control) that, "The Bishops of the Catholic Church are messengers of Christ" (Month, 1 October 1930, p. 14) and the apologia for clerical teaching in the Marist Messenger (1 November 1937, p. 20). 314 --�---�----.---.-- - --.- .-- -.. ' . . ". -- - ------ Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? ethical principles. According to the Month, the Anglican Church "opened the door to divorce" and, inevitably, "the opening has been steadily widening". While "the Catholicising section" of the Church held "more or less" to authentic Christian teaching, other Anglicans were more liberal and it was usually possible for divorces to find a clergyman willing to bless a new union.43o Goulter argued that, "It seems impossible for those outside the Catholic Church to realise that, once admit the possibility of dissolving a properly constituted marriage, and you cannot possibly draw a hard-and-fast line."43 1 Another apologist defended the Church's rigid stand on divorce by asserting that, "The Catholic Church in her wisdom knew that legislating for exceptions makes the exception the rule. "432 The same danger applied to contraception and abortion. Criticizing the advocacy of birth control clinics by the Women's Division of the Farmers' Union, Higgins argued that "once it is admitted that there is a right and proper use of contraceptives there is simply no possibility of controlling their use" even among the unmarried. The use of artificial contraception was either absolutely right or absolutely wrong and its advocates were acting on the basis of expediency rather than princ�ple.433 "If one contraceptive act is justifiable," asked the Month, "why not two, two hundred, two thousand?"434 The ascetic perspective of clerical moralists also contributed to their moral conservatism, while belief in the superiority of religious celibacy over the married life reinforced the spiritual hegemony of priests and religious over the laity. Furthermore, the example of numerous saints whose status was also inextricably bound up with virginity further endorsed an ascetic ethical code. Defending sacerdotal strictures against contraception, a columnist in the Marist Messenger wrote, "When the priest urges the hard duty of continence rather than the lecherous and unnatural profanation of the holy state of matrimony, he is only asking what he himself practises."435 Catholic teaching on divorce, according to Cooney, was upheld by "the official ethical 430 Month, 15 January 1923, p. 4. 431 Month, 15 September 1921, p. 16. For a similar argument in a reprinted article, see Month, 1 5 November 1921, pp. 9-1 1 . 432 NZ Tablet, 1 1 October 1939, p. 21 . 433 NZ Tablet, 7 September 1938, p. 10. For a similar response by Higgins to the endorsement of contraception by the Holland committee, see NZ Tablet, 13 April 1938, p. 1 1 and Evening Post, 29 March 1 938, p. 4. 434 Month, 1 August 1931, p. 15. 435 Marist Messenger, 1 November 1937, p. 20 ("Flo. Jetsam"). � - - -- Conclusion 315 expert, the Church's priesthood". No profession could understand the sacrament of marriage better than the priesthood, for the celibate was "not likely to belittle his own sacrifice".436 In fact, committed as they were to celibacy, Catholic priests and bishops had every reason to emphasize the responsibilities and sacrifices of married life while carefully circumscribing its pleasures. McKeefry argued that the advocates of divorce placed too much emphasis on personal happiness at the expense of divine law.437 Kelly condemned the "shallow, selfish doctrine" of worldly people who "declare that the primary purpose of marriage is to promote the happiness of those who contract it" so that if the spouses were no longer happy, they could divorce.438 According to Higgins, "Married life is primarily one of duties to be fulfilled not of pleasures to be enjoyed. "439 Married Protestant clergy would be naturally more responsive to increasingly liberal attitudes towards such issues as birth control and divorce. Kelly chided the Protestant churches for "undermining the sanction of the Ten Commandments" by adapting their preaching to "the views of their patrons".440 There was some truth in this judgment but presumably it was not only their congregations who encouraged married Protestant clergymen to reconsider traditional family ethics. Attitudes to leisure were influenced by ethnicity and social class as well as theology. Being of Irish descent, most Catholics in New Zealand inherited a cultural tradition which, within limits, endorsed drinking and gambling - especially betting on horses. No doubt Catholics of English descent, like Clifford, shared their liking for such recreation with numerous Anglicans.441 By contrast, many Protestants - not least the descendants of Scottish Presbyterians - brought to New Zealand a deep suspicion of idleness and the vices to which it led. Moreover, campaigns against alcohol and gambling often reflected middle class attempts to raise the tone of working class culture - and Catholics were over-represented in the lower socio-economic strata. There were also practical reasons for Catholic endorsement of gambling and other 436 NZ Tablet, 26 August 1925, p. 1 1 . Cooney acknowledged that priests' understanding of marriage was limited, "most especially in those matters that lie outside the domain of ethics". 437 Zealandia, 28 April 1938, p. 6. 438 NZ Tablet, 3 December 1924, p. 33. 439 Zealandia, 17 February 1938, p. 12. 440 NZ Tablet, 6 January 1926, p. 33. 441 Indeed, Brodie, in his panegyric, alluded to the "very wide circle of non-Catholic fellow-citizens" with whom Clifford came into contact as a result of his racing and commercial interests (NZ Tablet, 30 April 1930, p. 48). - -- .......... �-- - . . . _. --------.........,...--�------------- 316 Chapter Four: Righteousness or Conformity? fonns of entertainment: sustaining Catholic identity required a heavy [mancial investment. especially in the maintenance of denominational schools - an expense which the other churches avoided. According to North, "The very streets are infested by children selling Catholic lottery tickets when a bazaar is in progress. "442 At the theological level, Catholics regarded the creation as inherently good. Alcohol and gambling, for example, were not regarded as intrinsically evil, but, like food, had to be used appropriately. Human beings were deemed to be sinful but not totally depraved, so they could enjoy the Creator's gifts as long as they did not abuse them by using them for purposes for which they were not intended.443 The Catholic Church taught the Golden Mean, according to Cooney: it "condemns the excess in pleasure as it denounces excess in everything else, and it reproves those fonns of recreation that either are sinful in themselves or calculated to lead to sin."444 Protestants, who took a more pessimistic view of human nature, were more inclined to restrict its outlets. For Catholics, voluntary renunciation of licit activities was lauded but not required; the asceticism of the secular clergy, at least, did not necessarily extend to alcohol and gambling and this may have made them more indulgent towards such pleasures among the laity. In criticizing Protestants, Catholic moralists greatly exaggerated the differences from their own moral doctrine - a fault they shared with Protestant apologists. The Outlook claimed the Presbyterian Church had "an even deeper repugnance of sexual irregularity" than had "the Roman Church" , an assertion regarded by the Tablet as "palpably ridiculous".445 During the interwar years, all the Christian churches in New Zealand lamented the decline of morality which they attributed to the erosion of traditional religion. Catholic moralists were not content to blame irreligion per se: they traced the cause of moral decline to the Refonnation and the failure of the Protestant churches to maintain Christian standards of doctrine and ethics. Writing on the subject of fIlm censorship, the Tablet declared that, "only upon the principles 442 4 North, p. 1 7. 443 Individuals had a duty not to place themselves in a position where they would be tempted to transgess the moral law, for example by drunkenness or fornication. Viewed from this perspective, comparatively liberal Catholic attitudes to alcohol and gambling were not inconsistent with more restrictive attitudes to dancing and censorsbip, for the primary purpose of sexual pleasure was to encourage reproduction by married couples. 444 NZ Tablet, 26 November 1924, p. 25. 445 Outlook, 6 December 1937, p. 4; NZ Tablet, 15 December 1937, p. 5. See also the disagreement between B lancbard and Liston, noted above. -----------_..... -_._-- --- .--- �. - - .. -_ . .. -_ . . � . Conclusion taught by the Church will society ultimately be saved" and Goulter argued that, "because Catholic ideals and principles enshrine the highest that is known to us mortals, we Catholics can lead the rest of humanity. "446 Reflecting on recently published juvenile crime figures in 1923, one Christian moralist gave a comprehensive list of contemporary evils: 317 Lack of reverence in our youth; the serious neglect of family prayer, church­ going, and Sunday school; the distressful ignorance of God and God's Word which is said to be increasing among youth; the phenomenally rapid increase of race-suicide, divorce, and " leasehold" marriages, or tandem polygamy; the frequency of suicide; the appalling prevalence of pre-natal murder; the frantic pursuit of pleasure, amusement, and excitement, together with the lack of restraint that tends to render even legitimate amusements and associations ill­ balanced and unwholesome.447 The writer of these lines was Bishop Cleary, but they could just as easily have come from the pen of one of his Protestant contemporaries. When 0' Shea declined to support Protestant initiatives against gambling, he noted that there were plenty of other matters on which the churches could agree to co-operate.448 Catholic and Protestant moralists faced the same problem: their teachings were being challenged by the emergence of alternative values. The Methodist Church's 1938 "Manifesto on Dancing" observed that, subsequent to the Great War, the map of accepted morality has shown the erasure of many age-old fixed boundaries. The ethical code of our fathers has been called in question and as yet no newer foundation has gained universal acceptance.449 While moralists continued to proclaim traditional values, these were widely rejected in practice. On the whole, neither Catholics nor Protestants followed clerical strictures over contraception, as the decline in the birth rate demonstrates. Increasing numbers of spouses in all of the major denominations were coming to regard divorce as an acceptable solution to marital difficulties. Both Catholics and Protestants indulged in hitherto forbidden entertainments, whether by taking a Sunday train ride or watching a risque film. In a sennon broadcast from St Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin, in 1938, Father Anthony Loughnan described the "new Paganism" , namely a philosophy of life which encouraged a desire for worldly fulfilment without reference to God or eternity. It was the desire for comfort and leisure which justified such contemporary evils as 446 NZ Tab/et, 23 May 1934, p. 3; Month, 15 May 1928, p. 27. 447 Month, 15 September 1923, p. 26. 448 O'Shea to Martin, 31 March 1936; O'Shea to Thomson, 20 June 1936, WCAA. 449 MAC, 1938, p. 54. '----"-_ _�_�_ ____ --",e.-o "'-"';"-_____ �.� ___ _ .. _ ...... _. ___ ._..... __ •• _ _ _ _______ _ 318 Chapter Four: RighJeousness or Conformity? contraception and euthanasia, for without religion, the real purpose of life on earth, including suffering, was not recognized. Evils like divorce and abortion were merely symptoms of the new Paganism.450 Similarly, O'Brien charged that while artificial contraception epitomized the decline of contemporary society, it was also shown by other symptoms, including abortion, sterilization and euthanasia.45 1 Catholic moralists argued that contraception and divorce were inseparable; each encouraged the other.452 Similar views were expressed by a Supreme Court Judge, Sir John Reed, and endorsed by the editor of the Dominion.453 Like all Christian moralists, Catholic clergy warned their congregations not to conform to the standards of "the world". Occasional outbursts against Protestant ethical compromise were directed to Catholic audiences: the primary purpose of moral triumphalism was to reinforce Catholic values. The more Catholic moralists (and their Protestant counterparts) protested against contemporary evils, however, the more they illustrated the increasing gap between clerical theory and lay practice. Catholic moralists pleaded for righteousness according to traditional standards knowing that, in practice, the tendency was toward conformity with newer values. 450 NZ Tablet, 5 October 1 938, pp. 34, 4142; ct p. 5 (editorial). 451 NZHerald, 1 0 July 1 937, p. 26; 24 September 1937, p. 16; Press, 17 March 1937, p. 12; 23 September 1937, p. 12. 452 Month, 1 5 February 1 921 , p. 12; NZ Tablet, 3 June 1925, p. 17 (O'Regan); 26 August 1925, pp. I I , 1 3 (Cooney); Zealandia, 29 September 1938, p. 3; Marist Messenger, 1 June 1937, p. 1 6. 453 Dominion, 3 October 1 939, p. 6. The editor declined to publish a response by a Catholic correspondent who argued that legislators and (Protestant) churches ought to heed the warnings of Pope Leo xm and his successors to the effect that allowing divorce inevitably led to further moral compromise (NZTablet, 1 November 1939, p. 29). �------ Chapter Five "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Polemics, Prohibition and Party Politics Both during and immediately after the First World War, Catholics in New Zealand were the object of widespread opprobrium, manifested most spectacularly in the prominence of the Protestant P�litical Association, the passage of legislation directed against the Church's policy on mixed marriage and the prosecution of Bishop James Liston for sedition. Controversies over such issues as religious education, conscription, Irish independence and Prohibition demonstrated, according to some critics of the Church, that the interests of the Catholic community could not be reconciled with those of the wider society. Indeed, the Church's main opponent, the Rev. Howard Elliott, founder of the Protestant Political Association (PPA), portrayed the Catholic Church as a malign influence within New Zealand society, seeking to undermine Protestant freedom in the interests of papal despotism. "Rome", he declared, was "the enemy of Democracy and the friend of Autocracy"} The PPA opposed "Papal rule over New Zealanders", accused the Catholic Church of promoting the growth of "an alien State within the State" and charged it with seeking "to secure an over-balance of political power and influence" .2 William Keay, in a letter to the New Zealand Herald, argued that, wherever it was established, the Catholic Church was "a disturbing political incubus." The Catholic hierarchy, he asserted, maliciously sought to destroy "the glorious British Empire", in which "conscientious freedom" and "legitimate[,] progressive, democratic ideals" were "so conspicuously omnipresent".3 There had always been some Protestants who feared "the political menace of Romanism", with its allegedly "absolutist claims in every field of human life and activity", but it will be argued that their concerns were not shared by most New 1 Elliott to the editor, Evening Post, 17 January 19 18, p. 2. 2 NZ Herald, 28 August 1918, p. 9 (W D. More); 27 August 1919, p. 9 (H. Johnson and More). Both speakers were addressing PPA meetings in Auckland. 3 W.R. Keay to the editor, NZ Herald, 28 December 1922, p. 3. This letter formed a part of the debate which arose after Bishop Liston identified the interests of the Church with those of the Labour Party - an incident which is discussed later in this chapter. 320 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Zealanders.4 Only in exceptional times could international and local sources of tension combine to render such notions credible to a substantial and vocal minority. As the wave of sectarianism dissipated during the early 1920s, it was increasingly obvious that militant anti-Catholicism was itself a marginal perspective. Rather than the malevolent force of PPA demonology, the Catholic community was seen to be one minority interest group among others. There was strong support for the Labour Party within the Catholic community but there is no evidence of a Catholic "block vote" or of sinister political manipulation by the Church authorities. During the course of the interwar period, and especially the Depression, Catholic concerns increasingly coincided with those of the Labour Party and the other churches, while Catholics were able to deal with political differences without confrontation. By the time of the Second World War, warm relations had been developed with the Government and the other major churches so that renewed attempts to stigmatize the Catholic Church quickly foundered. In contrast to the interest historians have shown in the rise of the PP A and its conflict with the Catholic Church, little has been written about the Church and politics later in the interwar period. From various perspectives, sectarian controversy between about 1912 and 1922 has been investigated in some detail, particularly by H.S. Moores,s P.S. O'Connor,6 R.P. Davis,1 B. Gustafson,8 M. Satchell,9 B.F. CadoganlO 4 5 6 7 8 9 The words quoted are those of S .F. Hunter, Convener of the Presbyterian Church's Protestant Principles Committee (PGA, November 1919, p. 167; cf. PGA, 1920, p. 1 3 1 ; 1921, p. 1 83). H.S. Moores, "The Rise of the Protestant Political Association: Sectarianism in New Zealand during World War I" (University of Auckland M.A. thesis in History, 1966). P.S. O'Connor, "Me Massey and the P.P.A. - a Suspicion ConfIrmed", New Zealand Journal of Public Administration, 28/2 (March 1966) 69-74; "Storm over the Clergy - New Zealand 1 917", Journal of Religious History, 4/2 (1966-67) 129-48; "Sectarian Conflict in New Zealand, 1 9 1 1 - 1920", Political Science. 1 9/1 (July 1967) 3-16; 'Protestants', Catholics and the New Zealand Government, 1916- 18", w.P. Morrell: a Tribute, edited by G.A. Wood and P.S. O'Connor (Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 1973) 185-202, 294-7; "The Era of Bigotry", New Zealand's Heritage 5/67 (1972) 1 860-1, 1 864-7. R.P. Davis, Irish Issues in New Zealand Politics, 1868-1922 (Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 1974), passim. B. Gustafson, Labour's Path to Political Independence: the Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party 1900-19 (Auckland: Auckland University Press and Oxford University Press, 1980), especially chapter eleven; "Intervention in the Public Square: Baptists and Politics in New Zealand, 1916-19", Bulletin of the New Zealand Baptist Historical Society, 8 (July 1980) 2-7. M. Satchell, "Pulpit Politics: The Protestant Political Association in Dunedin from 1917 to 1 922" (University of Otago B .A. Honours thesis in History, 1983). 10 B.F. Cadogan, "Lace Curtain Catholics: the Catholic Bourgeoisie of the Diocese of Dunedin, 1 900- 1920" (University of Otago B .A. Honours dissertation in History, 1984), chapters two and three. · . - . - -- --- . --- InJroduction 321 and R.M. Sweetman. l l Most of these authors' accounts, however, are largely narrative in structure and give little attention to the 1920s. No sustained investigation has been made of the Church's role in the Prohibition debate, despite the issue's prominence in this period. The responses of the leading denominations to the Depression have been investigated in several theses, notably those of A.J.S. Reidl2 and K.P. Clements,13 but neither considers the Catholic Church in any detail. I4 S .M. Skudder's thesis on New Zealand responses to the Spanish Civil War includes an exhaustive investigation of the Catholic press. IS Although it has been possible to investigate the Prohibition debate in some detail using archival sources, most of this chapter is based on contemporary newspapers. The primary focus is necessarily upon the Church's public stance ­ usually as expressed by its official representatives or Catholic journalists - rather than the attitudes or activities of private individuals. The "sectarian epidemic" will be discussed in the first two sections of this chapter, concentrating in tum on the Catholic contribution and then the roles of the PP A and the Refonn Government in order to evaluate the respective importance of each of the main sources of sectarian tension. In the third part of the chapter, it will be seen that Prohibition divided both New Zealand society in general and the Catholic Church itself, but ceased to be such a divisive issue after the early 1920s. The next three sections will discuss political parties and ideologies. In the fourth part, it will be argued that, far from voting solidly for Labour, Catholics were not instructed on whom to vote for, that there were Catholics in each of the main political parties, and that 1 1 RM. Sweetman, "New Zealand Catholicism and the Irish Issue" in W J. Sheils and Diana Wood (editors), The Churches, Ireland and the Irish, ("Studies in Church History" vol. 25; Oxford: Basil Blackwell for the Ecclesiastical History Society, 1989) pp. 375-384; "New Zealand Catholicism, War, Politics and the Irish Issue, 1912-1922" (University of Cambridge Ph.D. thesis in History, 1990). All subsequent SweebIlan references are to the thesis rather than the article. There is also some relevant discussion in N.A. Simmons, "The Episcopate of Archbishop Redwood" (Massey University M.A. thesis in History, 1982), especially chapters five and six. 1 2 AJ.S. Reid, "Church and State in New Zealand, 1930-1935: a Study of the Social Thought and Influence of the Christian Church in a Period of Economic Crisis" (Victoria University M.A. thesis in History, 1961). 13 K. P. Oements, "The Churches and Social Policy: a Study of the Relationship of Ideology to Action" (Victoria University of Wellington Ph.D. thesis in Sociology, 1970). 14 M.N. Garing, "Against the Tide: Social, Moral and Political Questions in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, 1 840-1970" (Victoria University of Wellington Ph.D. thesis in Religious Studies, 1989), pp. 413-436 offers a brief treabIlent of Presbyterian attitudes towards industrial issues. 1 5 S.M. Skudder, " 'Bringing It Home': New Zealand Responses to the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939" (University of Waikato D.Phil. thesis in History, 1986), chapter three and passim. - - ------��.-- ------- ------------... 322 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Catholics were not given clear instruction as to whether or not the Church's condemnation of Socialism applied to the Labour Party. The fifth section will show that there was nevertheless a convergence between the outlook of the Party and the Catholic community, strengthened particularly by class interests and Catholic social teaching. Finally, it will be seen that, despite the Catholic tendency to blame the Protestant Reformation for contemporary social problems, the Depression encouraged a more critical attitude towards social issues and a rapprochement between Catholics and Protestants. In a reversal of developments during the First World War, the Second World War encouraged a strengthening of the improving relations between the Catholic Church on the one side and the Protestant churches and the Government on the other. The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution According to Dr James Kelly, the "No-Popery outbreak which is with us at present comes and goes intermittently, like other dirty epidemics" and would eventually "run its course. " 16 Bishop Henry Cleary used a different medical metaphor, describing the religious and political discords of the time as a "cycle of sectarian epilepsy" . 17 Both analogies suggest an underlying condition which, in certain circumstances but largely unpredictably, manifests itself in an uncontrollable manner. Perennial tensions between New Zealand Catholics and other groups in the community, particularly the antagonism between Irish Catholics and Protestants, had led to controversy and even violence in the past 1 8 While anti-Catholic sentiment was latent among New Zealand Protestants, however, it seldom aroused widespread or sustained interest. Lecture tours by Joseph Slattery and Dill Macky at the beginning of the century, for example, 16 NZ Tablet, 22 August 1918, p. 26. A Catholic politician, William Jennings, told Parliament that, "This sectarian movement is simply like an epidemic of mumps or measles: it comes and it goes" (NZPD, 1920, vol. 1 89, p. 623). 17 Month, 1 5 August 1918, p. 12; if. 15 July 1918, p. 9 ("These eruptions of Vesuvian controversy come in cycles of a generation or thereabouts. ") 1 8 Davis, Irish Issues, pp. 1 1-24, 57-00 and passim; Moores, pp. 1 6-38; Satchell, pp. 1-12; N. Yaney, "The Dual Tradition. Irish Catholics and French Priests in New Zealand: The West Coast Experience, 1 865-1910" (University of Canterbury M.A. thesis in History, 1977), especially pp. 32- 42; D. McGill, The Lion and the Wolfhound: the Irish Rebellion on the New Zealand Goldfields (Wellington: Grantham House, 1990); S .G. Brosnahan, "The Battle of the Borough and the Saige 0' Timaru: Sectarian Riot in Colonial Canterbury" (paper presented to the New Zealand Historical Association Conference, May 1991); A. Davidson, Christianity in Aotearoa: a History o/Church and Society in New Zealand (Wellington: The New Zealand Education for Ministry Board, 1 99 1), pp. 85-88. The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 323 drew only limi�d support. 19 Several short-lived anti-Catholic organizations, exercised over such issues as the over-representation of Catholics in the public service and the defence of secular education, attracted only small memberships early in the twentieth century.20 There was an outcry among aggrieved Protestants over the 1907 Ne Temere decree which required mixed marriages to be solemnized by a priest.21 Responding in 1913 to Cleary's opposition to the Bible in Schools League, .Dean A.R. Fitchett recalled Protestantism's emancipation from "the spiritual tyranny" of "Rome" and denounced the hierarchy's attempt "to restrict the rights and liberties of people not of its fold".22 Only in more troubled times, however, would the New Zealand Parliament deign to offer the long-sought legislative response. The sectarian strife which broke out during World War I was more intense, more widespread and more prolonged than earlier outbreaks because of the unique conjunction of stresses which gave rise to it In this discussion, divided into two sections, each of the main sources and consequences of the sectarian epidemic will be evaluated. Before the war, the Bible in Schools campaign and the rise of the Catholic Federation aroused sectarian antipathy. Then, during the war, another controversy arose over conscripting seminarians and Marist Brothers. (prohibition, although it was not strictly a sectarian issue, also tended to divide the community along sectarian lines, as will be seen later in this chapter.) Antagonism between Catholics and other sections of the community was heightened by Kelly, although Cleary's more eirenic journalism and his contribution to the war-effort earned considerable respect. Nevertheless, the 19 20 21 Moores, pp. 28, 3 1-32; O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", p. 3; Sweeunan, pp. 27, 30, 33. Moores, pp. 3 1-33, 120-121; Satchell, pp. 1 1-12; Davidson, p. 87; W.J. Gardner, "W.F. Massey in Power, 1912-1925", Political Science, 13/1 (March 1961), p. 25. See, for example, PGA, 191 1 , pp. 51-52, 279-281 ; MAC, 1914, p. 120; 1915, pp. 1 12-1 13 . A month-long controversy in the correspondence columns of the Christchurch Press is recorded in H.W. Cleary, Catholic Marriages (Dunedin: New Zealand Tablet, 1908), pp. 20-60. O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", pp. 3-4 suggests that the explosion of the Ne Temere "timebomb" was delayed by the war and "the Bible" (presumably a reference to the Bible in Schools controversy). See also L.H. Barber, "A Canon Law Challenge to Civil Law? A New Zealand Response to the Ne Temere Decree", New Zealand Law Journal (20 September 1977) 365-368. M.N. Garing, "Against the Tide: Social, Moral and Political Questions in the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, 1 840- 1970" (Victoria University of Wellington PhD. thesis in Religious Studies, 1989), pp. 189-192 reviews Presbyterian reactions but is quite misleading in suggesting that these led directly to the 1920 Marriage Amendment Act, whose origins will be discussed below. 22 Fitchett was referring in particular to the requirement that Protestants who married Catholics had to agree that their cbildren be given a Catholic education. A.R. Fitchett, Bible in State Schools League. Bishop Cleary and other Objectors answered. (Dunedin: Otago Daily Times, 1913 ; reprinted from the Outlook, 24 June 1913), p. 1 . 324 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? , j identification of New Zealand Catholics with rebellion in Ireland - an identification fostered by Kelly - was to reach a climax in the prosecution of Liston for sedition. Meanwhile, Protestant fears over Catholic disloyalty and assertiveness were exploited by Elliott, although the PPA represented only a vocal minority of Protestants. Massey and the Reform Government made some important concessions to the PPA, most notably the Marriage Amendment Act, but soon recognized that being closely identified with the sectarian lobby was electorally disadvantageous. Sectarian strife in New Zealand, it will be argued, reflected international developments: when overseas circumstances changed, and related local causes of tension abated, the sectarian epidemic itself came to an end. Anti-Catholic sentiment was aroused in the course of the Bible in Schools campaign of 191 1 to 1914 and by the establishment of the Catholic Federation. When the League, supported by the larger Protestant churches, demanded a referendum to endorse a programme of religious instruction in primary schools, it was strenuously opposed by the Catholic Church, especially Bishop Cleary, and the controversy naturally developed a sectarian dimension.23 Towards the end of 1912, steps were taken to establish the Catholic Federation to defend the Church's interests.24 Although the League went into recess after the outbreak of war, the Federation survived and was seen by fearful Protestants as evidence of a new assertiveness on the part of the Catholic Church. Indeed, having cut its teeth on the Bible in Schools campaign, the Federation began to contemplate further ambitions, such as recommending Catholic fiction to public libraries and "tactfully procuring the disappearance of books offensive to Catholics" .25 Preaching at a Mass before the half-yearly meeting of the Federation in March 19 19, Liston, Rector of the Catholic Seminary, concluded that "sweet reasonableness" had achieved little for Catholic schools, so it was time to "combine 23 Snook, pp. 62-64; O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", pp. 3-5; I. Breward, Godless Schools? a Study of . Protestant Reactions to the Education Act of I 877 (Christchurch: Presbyterian Bookroom, 1967), pp. 54-71. 24 The Hibernian Australasian Catholic Benefit Society evidently took the initiative in the establishment of the Catholic Federation in New Zealand. After the Society's half-yearly meeting in Auckland in August 1912, a deputation called upon Cleary and his guest Redwood, who gave their approval. See Redwood and Cleary to District Officers of the HACBS, 27 September 1912, WCAA, and W. Kane (HACBS District Secretary) to Bishop Grimes (with a copy of the HACBS minutes), 4 October 1912, CCDA. 25 Mary Goulter, referring to Federation activities in Auckland and Dunedin (Month, 15 May 1928, p. 25); ct O'Connor, " 'Protestants'", p. 186. The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 325 and fight" .26 Catholics thought that the sacrifices of their young men in war earned them the right to educational concessions,21 but their Protestant critics saw them as exploiting wartime conditions to pursue their unreasonable demands. A meeting between Federation representatives and the Minister of Education, I.A. Hanan, in August 1917, served only to emphasize their apparently irreconcilable differences.28 Had it benefitted from the guidance of Cleary, who was the most able political lobbyist in the Catholic hierarchy, the Federation might have achieved its ends by exercising greater discretion. However, Cleary's relations with the Federation were uneasy.29 In March 1919, the half-yearly meeting of the Auckland Catholic Federation received a letter from Cleary commending the organization'S work but quoting I.H. Newman to the effect that the laity ought to be "not arrogant, nor rash in speech, nor disputatious."3o In 1920, while acknowledging the need for the Federation, Cleary told the Auckland branch that it was "sick and in need of a tonic". He criticized the Federation for "indiscreet publicity", engaging in more talk than action and occasionally speaking in the name of the Church without the permission of the bishops. He warned that the Federation should not have occasion to distribute any matter which would prove embarrasing if published and that it should not indulge in vituperative language. If the organization engaged in party politics, he would "call upon the clergy and the laity" to suppress it in the Auckland diocese.3 1 Cleary's journal, the Month, gave little direct endorsement to the Federation, although it did 26 Report of the Proceedings of the Thirteenth half-yearly meeting of the Dominion Council of the Catholic Federation ... Dunedin, 5th March, 1919 (Dunedin: NZ Tablet Co.), p. 7; NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 13. 27 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 12; NZ Tablet, 12 February 1920, p. 21 . 28 Evening Post, 1 September 1916, p. 3; Moores, pp. 54-57; O'Connor, '' 'Protestants''', p. 187; Sweetman, pp. 97-100. 29 Brodie, in an undated statement written (in 1929) for Archbishop Cattaneo, the Apostolic Delegate, attributed Cleary's hostility to the Federation to his believing an inaccurate acccount of references to his role in the Bible in Schools controversy made at a Federation meeting (copy in CCDA). Cattaneo came to New Zealand in 1929 to investigate deteriorating relations between Liston and Cleary (O'Regan diary, 3 September 1929 and 5 December 1929, AlL 76-165-212). According to Sweetman (p. 173), Cleary boycotted the Federation between 1915 and 1918 because it had refused to cover his expenses in the controversy. 30 NZ Tablet, 21 March 1918, p. 29. 3 1 Month, 15 November 1920, p. 4; NZ Tablet, 21 October 1920, p. 26; Cleary to the editor, NZ Tablet, 4 November 1920, p. 32. It may be indicative of Kelly's position that although Geary's letter was the only one printed, the usual editorial rubric was placed at the head of the column: "We do not hold ourselves responsible for opinions expressed by our correspondents." r 326 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? publish mid-year enrolment advertisements and, before the 1919 election, rebutted the charge that the establishment of the PP A was necessitated by the political actions of the Catholic Federation.32 If the Catholic Federation was a paper tiger, it seemed fearsome indeed to wary Protestants who noted its appetite more closely than its strength.33 PPA secretary W.D. More claimed that the Federation's "frankly avowed objective was interference in politics, by an organised religious vote, in the interests of Roman Catholic educational ideals." The Federation had "decided to form its own political party, 'running' its own candidates" and the establishment of the PPA was "the logical result of the bigoted intolerance revealed in this latest political move of the Roman Catholic Church. "34 In the middle of 1923, the Federation quite suddenly ceased to exist. There does not seem to have been any public discussion or even an official announcement. P.D. Hoskins, the Dominion Treasurer, wrote to the directors of the Tablet Company that the Executive no longer required its free subscription because the Federation had gone out of existence.35 The coincidence of renewed Catholic assertiveness with the tensions of wartime was heightened by the controversy over the conscription of Marist Brothers and theological students in 1917.36 New Zealand's Catholic community overwhelmingly supported the "just war" against Germany and a prayer for victory was regularly 32 Month, 14 June 1919, pp. 3, 14; 1 3 December 1919, p. 5; 15 June 1920, p. 13; 15 June 1922, pp. 4, 16. At the latter date, when a whole page was devoted to the advertisement, Oeary himself was overseas. 33 According to Sweetman, earlier writers adopted the PPA interpretation by blaming the Catholic Church and especially the Catholic Federation for the rise of sectarianism (Sweetman, pp. 26-27, 95 - citing Davis, Irish Issues, p. 89; Moores, pp. 34, 52-53; O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", p. 3; " 'Protestants'", p. 185). However, these authors do not attribute sole responsibility to the Federation, as Sweetman implies, and whatever the actual scope of Federation activities and ambitions, it cannot be doubted that it scared some Protestants. This is not to say that their apprehensions were fully justified. 34 Open letter to A.J. Entrican, NZ Herald, 29 November 1919, p. 12. 35 NZ Tablet Company, Board of Directors, minutes, 1 1 June 1923 (the minute books are held by the company). 36 For the conscription issue see especially Moores, pp. 67-85; O'Connor, "Storm" and "Sectarian Conflict", pp. 6-7, 9; Cadogan, pp. 50-53; Sweetman, chapter six and page 176; P. Baker, King and Country Call: New Zealanders. Conscription and the Great War (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1988), pp. 124-132. As Sweetman (p. 109) points out, Davis (Irish Issues, p. 212) is incorrect in asserting that "the Catholic authorities ... opposed conscription in the first war". Davis was misled by J.A. Lee, Simple on a Soapbox (Auckland: Collins, 1963), p. 254. -�---- -- -. -- - . - - - . f The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic COnlribution 327 included in Masses.37 However, Catholic loyalty was easily overlooked in the light of episcopal opposition to conscription in Australia and the acrimonious squabble over clerical conscription in New Zealand.38 James Allen, acting Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, promised the Catholic authorities that priests, seminarians and religious brothers called up for service would be exempted on presentation to their local Military Service Board of a certificate from A.M. Myers, the Minister of Munitions and Supplies. When some boards refused to recognize the certificates, Archbishop Thomas 0' Shea denounced Allen and there was a public outcry over alleged special treatment of Marisi Brothers and Catholic seminarians. Principal Charles Garland of the Methodist Theological College, who chaired the inaugural meeting of the PPA, announced that its motto would be "Equal Rights for All; Special Privileges for None" and went on to ask why Marist Brothers should be exempt from military service when Protestant theological students had gone to war.39 By 1918, however, the issue was resolved: the Church was finally granted the concessions it sought and the increasing exemption of state school teachers from conscription undermined claims of special treatment for the Brothers.4o Much of the blame for the revival of anti-Catholic sentiment after 1917 must be T attributed to Kelly, the newly appointed editor of the Tablet.41 Kelly supplied evidence for charges of disloyalty made against the Church, not least by his notorious reference to Queen Victoria as "A certain fat old German woman".42 Writing in 1922, the Baptist J.J. North declared that the Tablet "reeks with sedition", disseminating "the 37 Gustafson, Labour's Path, p. 1 10 (referring to priests on the West Coast); Sweetman, p. 85; Cadogan, pp. 39-40; H. Laracy, "Priests, People and Patriotism: New Zealand Catholics and War, 1914-1918, Australasian Catholic Record, 70/1 (January 1993), pp. 14-26. For the victory prayer, see the Evening Post, 7 January 1918, p. 3. 38 In Australia, two referenda had failed to endorse conscription and since the most prominent opponent of conscription was Archbishop Mannix, an undue proportion of the "blame" was placed on the Catholic Church. . 39 NZ Herald, 12 July 1917, p. 6. 40 Baker, p. 132. 41 For Kelly's background and outlook, see Moores, pp. 64-67; O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", p . 6; " 'Protestants"', pp. 186-190; Davis, Irish Issues, pp. 194-195; Cadogan, pp. 59-61 and especially Sweetman, pp. 142-1 54. 42 NZ Tablet, 1 November 1917, p. 13. Kelly was unrepentant: he later argued that it was inconsistent to persecute people with German associations when the King himself was of German descent (ibid., 5 December 1918, p. 1 5), joked about his "truthful reference to a royal person" (ibid., 28 March 1928. p. 4) and alluded on yet another occasion to "the Kaiser's aunt" (ibid., 23 January 1929, p. 5). \ . - _. . - ------�--'---"---............ """'-- ------. 328 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? vilest calumnies against the Empire".43 Kelly was also gratuitously offensive towards Protestantism: "Why worry about sin and morality when Luther taught good Protestants that such things did not matter?". 44 He traced all contemporary evils back . to the Protestant Reformation: "All the seeds of modem anarchy, all the principles of modem unrest are contained in the Protestant doctrine of private judgment. "45 Far from seeking to encourage cordial relations with the rest of the society, Kelly saw conflict as a means of galvanizing the Catholic community and offered thanks to the Church's opponents for goading Catholics into action.46 He was unashamedly militant: "The policy of turning the other cheek is a council [sic] of perfection for the individual, but as a community we will be respected in proportion as we assert and . defend our rights. "47 When Hanan withdrew funding for the swimming lessons of private school children, Kelly warned that "the government has done its part in urging the Catholics of New Zealand to become rebels, and no mistake. "48 Kelly's preoccupation with the rights of Catholic schools and the struggle for Irish independence led him to despise Massey ("Lord Limavady")49 and his Reform Government (the "Massey Muddlement").5o Massey, an "ill-mannered, uncouth ignoramus" was " led by the nose by a mob of bigots" and "imposed on New Zealand as punishment for her sins".51 Kelly charged that New Zealand was "run by atheists" 43 JJ. North, Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits (Napier: printed by G.W. Venables and Co. Ltd, 1922), p. 3. 44 NZ Tablet, 1 5 July 1920, pp. 25-26; cf the article on Calvinism (ibid., 1 3 February 1919, p. 17) and Kelly's assertion that, "Apart from Catholics, other denominations have lost their grip of religion. They do not seriously, at least in great numbers, try to square their lives by eternal principles" (NZ Tablet, 2 December 1920, p. 14). 45 NZ Tablet, 4 March 1920, p. 15. 46 NZ Tablet, 1 3 March 1919, p. 14; 1 3 May 1920, p. 14; 16 December 1920, p. 14; 31 March 1921, p. 15 (quoted below); cf Sweetman, p. 15 1 . 47 NZ Tablet, 1 November 1923, p . 29; cf 3 1 March 1921, p. 15 (Catholics must be "united as one man and prepared to fight to the last ditch for our rights"). 48 NZ Tablet, 1 January 1920, p. 15. 49 NZ Tablet, 1 1 November 1920, p. 26; 16 December 1920, p. 14; 6 January 1921 , p. 25; 4 August 1921 , p. 25. Limavady was Massey's birthplace. 50 NZ Tablet, 6 January 1921, p. 25; 20 January 1921 , p. 14; 12 January 1922, p. 14; 22 February 1923, p. 18. 51 NZ Tablet, 20 November 1919, p. 26; 20 January 1921, p. 14; cf Kelly's description of the Government as "the tool of rabid bigots who hate us" (ibid., 3 1 March 1921, p. 15). After Massey died, the Tablet claimed that "our attacks were directed, not against the man, but against the legislator and his colleagues in office" - a distinction which was scarcely evident at the time (NZ Tablet, 1 3 May 1925, p. 34). ---- - - -- - - - - -- - -- --- .- - - - -- - - - . ---- . - ----- The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 329 who "seem to hate the name of Christ".52 In 1921 , fearful of Socialist influence at a time of economic recession and industrial unrest, the Government sought to promote patriotism and social solidarity by reintroducing compulsory flag-saluting in schools - a war-time measure which had subsequently lapsed.53 Kelly supposed that "flag­ flapping" was intended to compensate for the children's "ignorance of God and of the principles of Christianity" .54 During the war, Kelly's open support for Sinn Fein almost led to his prosecution for sedition.55 In August 1918, he received a warning from Sir Francis Bell, the Attorney-General, after publishing a paper delivered by Father M. Edge to the Newman Society in Auckland.56 Responding to PP A claims linking Protestantism with progress, Edge argued that the Catholic Church had always championed the cause of the working class, which had suffered because of the Reformation.57 Taking action against the Tablet would scarcely have achieved the aim of restoring domestic harmony in wartime and the Government contented itself with suppressing the short­ lived Green Ray, an aggressively republican newspaper which did not receive official ecclesiastical support because of its strictures against the hierarchy.58 On educational and Irish issues in particular, the editor of the Tablet was left to continue sparring with the secular "day-lies"59 especially the Otago Daily Times (the Otago D.T's)(IJ and its columnist "Civis".61 52 NZ Tablet, 20 October 1921, p. 25; c! 28 December 1922, p. 29 (Parr and Massey accused of irreligion). 53 Liz Gordon and Roger Openshaw, "The Social Significance of Flag-Raising in Schools", Delta, 34 (July 1984) 55-62. 54 NZ Tablet, 9 June 1921, p. 15. 55 O'Connor, " 'Protestants' '' , p. 190; idem, "Sectarian Conflict", p. 6; Cadogan, pp. 65-66; Sweetman, p. 163; c! NZPD, 1917, vol. 180, p. 106 (Attorney-General Herdman). 56 Kelly to PJ. O'Regan, AlL 76-165 6/26; c! Kelly's allusion to having received "now and then a warning from the Attorney-General" (NZ Tablet, 26 December 1918, p. 15). 57 NZ Tablet, 8 August 1918, pp. 10- 1 1 , 13 . 58 Moores, pp. 61-64; Davis, Irish Issues, pp. 193-198; Cadogan, p . 55-56, 63-65; N.A. Simmons, p. 122. The Green Ray also provoked anti-Irish sentiment in New Zealand (O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", p. 1 1). 59 NZ Tablet, 20 February 1919, p. 14; 20 January 1921, p. 14; 3 February 1921, p. 14; 10 March 1921, p. 14; 14 July 1921, p. 26. 60 Moores, pp. 66-67; O'Connor, " 'Protestants'", p. 1 89; NZTablet, 20 January 1921, p. 14; 17 March · 1921, p. 15; 5 May 1921 , p. 18; c! 22 October 1924, p. 19 (letter by J. Robinson; but c! ibid. 17 November 1921 , p. 27 for an item congratulating the Times on its 60th birthday. 61 NZ Tablet, 17 April 1919, p. 25; 10 July 1919, p. 15; 4 September 1919, p. 14; 1 8 September 1919, p. 26; 29 July 1920, p. 14; 4 August 1921, p. 14; 2 March 1922, p. 14; 28 June 1923, p. 18; 24 September 1924, p. 18. For a schematic review of the Tablet's Irish policy, see Davis, Irish Issues, - ... . -- 330 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Kelly's threats and invective were a source of embarrassment to some middle class Catholics who sought a peaceful modus vivendi with the rest of New Zealand society.62 Even P.I O'Regan, who shared much of Kelly's outlook and corresponded with him over many years, could write in his diary that Kelly was "just an average political obscurantist" , whose "stock-in-trade in politics consists mainly of hatred of England. "63 But Kelly had strong clerical and lay endorsement. Both Bishop Michael Verdon and Father (later Monsignor) James Coffey - who administered the Dunedin diocese from before Verdon's death in 1918 until the arrival of Bishop James Whyte in 1920 - were inclined to support Kelly.64 On the day of his consecration - to Kelly's delight - the new Bishop explicitly commended the Tablet's Irish policy.65 In a statement more typical of Kelly's sarcastic and "disloyal" wit, Whyte even entertained a 1922 St Patrick's day audience by suggesting that it was appropriate for teachers to have to take the new oath of allegiance on the first of April. 66 Kelly received support from some of the clergy and the Catholic Federation, while Archbishop Francis Redwood, who must have been aware of Kelly's character when releasing him from the archdiocese to work for the Tablet, endorsed similar views on Ireland.67 In January 1918, the clergy of Dunedin, assembled in synod and presided over by Verdon, endorsed "the strong, self-reliant, and self-determined attitude taken up by the present editor of the N.Z Tablet" , seeing criticism of Kelly as evidence of his effectiveness.68 (Footnote continued from previous page.) pp. 200-203. Kelly's views on state aid will be noted below in chapter six. 62 O'Connor, ·"Protestants' ''. pp. 189-190 (citing correspondence by J.A. Scott - Kelly's predecessor as Tablet editor - and J.M. Twomey); M.D. Clark. "The Roman Response to the Protestant Mission: Bishop Cleary and the Bible-in-Schools in the 1920s" (University of Auckland M.A. research paper in History, 1984), p. 12 (also quoting from Scott's letter); Sweetman, pp. 361-362 (citing Twomey). 63 O'Regan diary, 28 November 1932. Ali 76-165-2/5. 64 O'Connor, " 'Protestants"', p. 199; Sweetman. pp. 158, 225, 290; but cf. Cadogan, pp. 66-68. 65 NZTablet, 16 December 1920. pp. 14, 22-23; cf. Cadogan. p. 75, quoting from a 1921 speech by Wbyte reported in The Dominican Star, 1900-1932 (Dunedin: NZ Tablet Co., 1932), p. 105. 66 NZ Herald, 20 March 1922, p. 8. 67 For resolutions commending Kelly's editorial policy, see NZ Tablet, 24 January 1918, p. 26 (various tributes, including one from the Christchurch Diocesan Council of the Catholic Federation); 3 October 1918, p. 35 (Hibernians in Greymouth); 1 1 March 1920, p. 33 (Wellington Diocesan Council of Catholic Federation); Sweetman, p. 173 (citing Brodie to Cleary, 28 January 1918, reporting on the Christchurch Diocesan Council). On Redwood, see N.A. Simmons, pp. 1 22- 123 ; Davis, Irish Issues, p. 194; Sweetman, pp. 220-221, 292-293. 68 NZ Tablet, 24 January 1918, p. 25 (cf. O'Connor, ·"Protestants . . •• p. 189, citing the Otago Daily Times, 22 January 1918 - with slightly different wording). __ -- • • ' __ _ _ ____ -4-&- 4:___ _ _ ___ � _ _ . . _ . _ __ " The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 331 Two years later, Kelly was given a testimonial from the clergy of the diocese and a cheque (presented by Coffey) for £600, to which supporters from throughout the country had subscribed.69 Cleary was the most consistent and determined Catholic opponent of Kelly, but his efforts received only intermittent support from the rest of the episcopate.70 The hierarchy repeatedly sought - and received - assurances of reform from the editor. At their May 1917 meeting in Wellington, the bishops agreed "that Dr. Kelly be asked to exercise more tact" and Bishop Brodie reported that in response to a letter from him, Kelly had already promised "to adopt a more conciliatory policy."71 At Cleary's insistence - and contrary to the wishes of the other bishops, who accepted Kelly's pledge of good behaviour - the Tablet's Board of Directors reluctantly agreed in December to delete the words "Sole organ of the Catholic body in New Zealand" from the journal's mast-head.72 Fearing renewed attacks on religious schools before the 1919 election, Cleary wrote to Brodie that the Tablet's "tone and temper" would prove a hindrance to the Catholic cause.73 In 1922, Whyte received a letter from Rome warning of the harm caused by Kelly's attacks on the Government and his ecclesiastical superiors. Replying to the Apostolic Delegate in Sydney, Kelly suggested that the views of Redwood and several Australian bishops be considered rather than those of "anonymous calumniators". Writing to O'Regan, he noted that the complaint had been written while Cleary and Brodie were in Rome.74 Blaming Kelly for the ill-feeling directed against the Catholic community, Cleary sought to offer a more judicious defence of the Church. While it is difficult to measure their respective influence during the height of the sectarian epidemic, it must be supposed that Cleary's efforts mitigated to some extent the antagonism aroused by Kelly. Awarded an OBE for his services as a chaplain in France during the war, 69 NZ Tablet, 29 January 1920, pp. 18- 19; cf. the loose page ("Testimonial to Editor, N.Z. Tablet", signed by Coffey and other priests and dated 18 November 1919) circulated to readers during Kelly's absence in Australia for the Irish Convention to solicit donations (enclosed with NZ Tablet, 27 November 1919). 70 Sweetman, pp. 157-158, 174-175, 181 , 185-190, 246, 275-277, 328-332, 366-367, 37 1 . 7 1 Minutes of the bishops' meeting, May 1917, CmA. The matter had been raised by Monsignor Mahony, Administrator of the Auckland diocese (in Cleary's absence); the others at the meeting were O'Shea, Brodie and Verdon. 72 Coffey to Cleary, 12 December 1917, copy in CCDA. 73 Cleary to Brodie, 4 August 1919, CCDA. 74 Kelly to O'Regan, 22 November 1922 and 10 December 1922, An. 76-165-6126. 332 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Cleary was widely respected outside his own Church.75 In the August 1919 edition of the Month, he reprinted a passage from the inaugural address ofW. Gray Dixon, Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly, describing it as "an earnest and powerful appeal for a union of the scattered forces of a divided Christendom, in the face of the world-crisis of our day" and remarking upon its "real eloquence and deep Christian feeling. "76 Dixon replied with a letter thanking Cleary for his " gracious and generous references" to the address. He was especially heartened because of Cleary's own "well-known literary gifts" and his "exalted spiritual position" .77 Cleary often travelled to Wellington to represent Catholic interests and sought to cultivate good relations with the country's politicians, not least Massey himself.78 Against the advice of the other bishops, he established the Month in 19 18 largely because of his dissatisfaction with Kelly's editorship of the Tablet, which Cleary himself had edited until his appointment to the see of Auckland in 1910.79 In contrast to Kelly's abusive polemics, the Month provided a forum for Cleary's long and carefully reasoned apologias for the Catholic Church. Numerous articles were reprinted as pamphlets for distribution among non-Catholics and Cleary also made use of the secular press. Taking anti-Catholic propaganda seriously, he composed detailed rebuttals, for example when North, returning from a trip to Europe in 1923, contrasted the allegedly high levels of illiteracy in Catholic countries with the better educated Protestant nations. so Beginning in June 19 18, the Auckland newspapers published a series of open letters, devised by Cleary, offering substantial sums to the Red Cross if the PP A could prove specified charges which had been laid 75 On Cleary's war-service, see Laraey, pp. 21-24. Kelly's frequent disparaging and sarcastic references to the award and its holders reflected not only his antagonism towards England but also his disapproval of any Irishman who accepted British honours (NZ Tablet, 9 June 1921, p. 15 ; 14 July 1921 , p. 26; 3 1 August 1922, p. 14; 7 December 1922, p. 19; 21 December 1922, p. 19; 22 March 1923, p. 18; 9 August 1923, p. 19; 12 June 1924, p. 18). After the announcement of Cleary's award, Kelly published a photograph of the Bishop in military uniform (ibid , 5 June 1919, p. 28). 76 Month, 15 August 1919, p. 16. 77 Month, 1 5 September 1919, p. 3. 78 For Cleary's role in opposing the 1920 Marriage Amendment Act, see below; for the Bible in Schools controversy, see chapter seven. Other evidence of Cleary's relations with politicians is given in Sweetman, pp. 65-66, 257, 34fr349. 79 Cleary, autobiographical notes, August 1921, pp. 13-14, ACDA CLE 3-2; Brodie, statement (1929), CCDA; Sweetman, p. 182-185. 80 Month, 1 5 November 1923, pp. 19-22. --.--- -""- --- ---..-.-- --- .- - - . -- - - - - The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 333 against the Church and its members in a number of pamphlets.81 With apparent impunity, the PPA largely ignored the challenges, but was forced to retract the assertion that Father John Brennan, over whose name they appeared, had not been justified in signing himself "Late Chaplain to the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces".82 Cleary renewed the challenges in 1921 .83 Reviewing recent Protestant­ Catholic controversies, he offered in 1923 an apologia for the challenges: "In· 1918, we in Auckland showed ... that there is a very conclusive method of dealing with those assailants who are too coarse, or too irrational, or too insignificant to be reasoned with under the normal forms of discussion. "84 He also took the opportunity to criticize Kelly's style of controversy, even suggesting that a Catholic writer should apologize if he had resorted to using abusive personal epithets: Violent or vituperative language, or bitter personalities in exposition or defence, are unbecoming in themselves. Socially, too, they are "bad form." And they are a blot upon the exalted dignity of the sacred truth or of the holy faith which it is both the duty and the privilege of the Catholic writer to defend.8s In contrast to Kelly' s duelling with the Otago Daily Times and other journals, Cleary recalled "the fair, courteous and friendly treatment extended to us, by our confreres of the daily press all over the Dominion" in publishing his responses to misrepresentations of the Church.86 Arguably the most fertile source of discord in New Zealand was the Irish problem, which became especially divisive after the Easter Rising of 1916. However, the inescapable tension between loyalty to the cause of Irish independence and loyalty to the British Empire also divided the Catholic community itself. Kelly and Cleary in particular, both Wexford-born advocates of Irish self-determination, promoted the cause in quite divergent ways. Both Cleary's Month and the Tablet under Kelly's 81 NZ Herald, 26 June 1918, p. 9; 28 August 1918, p. 9; O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", p. 1 1 ; " 'Protestants'". pp. 199-200; Moores. pp. 258-259. 331-334; Sweetman. pp. 195-200. 382. For an account of the challenges. see the Month. 15 November 1918, pp. 10-12. 82 NZ Herald. 9 July 1918. p. 7 (reply to the ftrst three challenges). For the apology. see ibid .• 16 November 1918. p. 4; NZ Tablet. 5 December 1918. p. 21; Month, 14 December 1918. pp. 5. 9-10. 83 Month. 22 January 1921. pp. 3-4; 15 February 1921. pp. 3. 7; 15 March 1921. pp. 3-4. 84 Month, 15 August 1923. p. 7. The immediate occasion for this article was the response of BJ. Gondringer SM to allegations by V.H. Potter MP about oaths attributed to Catholics (see below). 85 Month, 15 August 1923. p. 9. For further discussion of Cleary' s approach to sectarian controversy, see Month, 15 July 1918. p. 1 1 and 15 January 1924. pp. 21-22. 86 Month, 15 October 1923. p. 3; cj. 15 October 1929. p. 19 (eulogy for Sir George Fenwick, editor of the Otago Daily Times). ' ---� 334 . , . . - -, --. . - - . ---- ---�-- -,- _._-------- Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? editorship demanded that England support in the case of Ireland the rights of "small nations" for which it had ostensibly fought the war against Germany.87 The Tablet was more extreme and fuelled fears of Catholic disloyalty by espousing the cause of Sinn Fein, which was republican in principle and prepared to use violence.88 Nevertheless, Kelly's militant rhetoric tended to obscure a relatively moderate position: he argued that Sinn Fein was not committed to republicanism or violence and would accept for Ireland a similar measure of self-government to that accorded other British colonies. 89 Early in 1919, the Tablet Company Directors deputed Thomas Hussey to speak to Kelly about the journal's Irish policy, namely that it advocated Home Rule and dominion status for an undivided Ireland; Hussey reported having a "satisfactory interview" with the editor.9o Cleary's Month advanced a similar demand but refrained from endorsing Sinn Fein.91 The Bishop of Auckland prohibited the display of Irish flags and nationalist symbols at Catholic gatherings in his diocese.92 Elsewhere, flags were used. During the St Patrick's Day sports at Lancaster Park in 1920, the Irish flag was flown from the main staff and the Union Jack from the new members' stand - until their positions were reversed at the behest of H.B. Gould, Secretary of the park's Board of Control. The St Patrick's Sports Association complained but the Board endorsed the Secretary's action.93 In 19 19, inspired by Kelly, St Patrick's Day gatherings throughout the country passed resolutions in favour of Irish self­ government.94 Kelly also promoted (and attended) the Irish-Australasian Convention organized by Archbishop Daniel Mannix of Melbourne in November 19 19.95 87 NZTablet, 20 February 1919, pp. 25-26; 1 May 1919, p. 14; 8 January 1920, p. 26; Month, 15 April 1920, p. 4. 88 NZ Tablet, 26 December 1918, p. 15 . 89 NZTablet, 2 May 1918, p . 9 (editorial reply to "Home Ruler"); 27 February 1919, p . 26; 8 May 1919, p. 26; 1 8 September 1919, p. 15 (Sinn Fein was "opposed in principle to armed force under the present circumstances"). 90 NZ Tablet Company, Board of Directors, minutes, 20 January 1919 and 10 February 1919. 9 1 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 16; 15 March 1920, p. 7. 92 Sweetman, pp. 212-213 , 294-295, 383. 93 Press, 21 May 1920, p. 6. 94 NZ Tablet, 13 February 1919, pp. 14; 26; 20 March 1919, p. 28; 27 March 1919, pp. 14, 21-23; 3 April 1919, pp. 1 8-19, 27. Further resolutions were passed at concerts in 1921 (ibid. , 24 March 1921, pp. 18-23 , 28). 95 NZ Tablet, 20 November 1919, pp. 9-21 , 25-26; contrast the brief report on the Convention in the Month, 15 November 1919, p. 21 . --.� . -� - ' " .. _ ._ . ...--- The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 335 Redwood, describing himself as an Englishman who was indignant over England's misrule in Ireland, was one of the key speakers at the Convention and the most outspoken exponent of Irish nationalism in the New Zealand hierarchy.96 This role earned him the admiration of Kelly, who criticized other unnamed Catholics, including bishops, for their "opposition to Ireland" - by which he meant opposition to his own brand of Irish politics.97 Along with Kelly and most of the bishops, Redwood promoted the Irish Self-Determination Fund initiated by the Convention, but Cleary thwarted collection for the fund in his diocese.98 The Tablet provided a platform for the short-lived Self-Determination for Ireland League, which was established in May 192 1 under the presidency of P.J. O'Regan, and dissolved in September the following year. As well as seeking to correct "the systematic misrepresentation of Irish affairs by the cable agency and the daily press", the League sent three representatives to the Irish Race Conference held in Paris in January 1922.99 Not only was Catholic opinion divided over how best to advocate the cause of Irish independence, but Protestants were also somewhat divided. An extreme view was advanced by the PP A: The solemn truth is that the British Government has hesitated too long and too often in applying the real remedy for Ireland's ills - a ruthless extermination of priests and their plotting dupes. Romanism made necessary Cromwell's campaign. Romanism is making i t plain again to-day.lOO In a series of letters to the Outlook, Christchurch poet Jessie Mackay urged the Presbyterian Church to endorse Irish demands for self-determination and to condemn 96 NZ Tablet. 20 November 1919. pp. 13-15. For articles by Redwood. see ibid . • 14 August 1919. pp. 1 1 , 13; 1 September 1921 , p. 14. For Redwood's Irish views. see N.A. Simmons. pp. 1 10-127. 97 NZ Tablet. 15 December 1921. pp. 25-26; c! 18 December 1919. pp. 14-15 for a diatribe against "persons who under the cloak of a hypocritical friendship of Ireland rarely lose an opportunity to attack her" (the passage, which alluded to persons "who were quite active militarists not a long time ago" and who were "neither true men nor true Catholics. whatever may be their rank or profession in life" was obviously directed at Cleary). 98 Redwood letter to clergy, 12 December 1919. MAW; NZ Tablet. 8 January 1920. pp. 15. 17 (Kelly and Redwood); 13 May 1920. p. 28 (Brodie); 12 May 1921. p. 14 (Whyte and O'Shea); Sweetman. pp. 295-30l . For indications of the amount raised in different dioceses (Wellington was the most generous). see NZ Tablet. 2 September 1920. pp. 14. 27; 23 September 1920. p. 17; 7 October 1920. p. 27; 2 December 1920. p. 22; O'Shea to Mannix. 23 April 1920 and J. Bowe to O'Shea, 17 August 1920, WCAA. . 99 NZ Tablet. 28 September 1922. p. 37. For examples of League publicity, see ibid. 1 7 March 1921 , p. 14; 12 May 1921. pp. 14. 21; 2 June 1921 , pp. 14. 21. 28; 21 July 1 921. pp. 17-18; 6 October 1921 . p. 1 3 . 100 NZ Sentinel. 1 June 1921. p . 2 . quoted in Month. 15 June 1921. p . 3 . 336 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? the British policy of reprisals against both soldiers and civilians during the 1919-192 1 Anglo-Irish war. Her views were given some endorsement by the editor, but the Oamaru and Timaru Presbyteries condemned him not only for the views he expressed but even for giving space in the Outlook for the discussion. 101 Two of the representatives sent to Paris by the Self-Determination League were Protestants: A. Hall Skelton, an Anglican who was President of the Auckland branch, and the Presbyterian Mackay, whose expenses were paid by the League. 102 With the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 192 1 , there was little justification for further controversy in New Zealand, or for quarrelling between Kelly and Cleary. Only extremists like the PPA would now argue that Britain had conceded too much to Sinn Fein at the expense of Ulster Protestants. 103 According to Kelly, the Treaty constituted a "magnificent victory on nearly all the essential points" and the establishment of the "Free State" was "in accord with the aims of Sinn Fein" even though it fell short of the full measure of self-determination still sought. 104 He therefore deplored the division of the Irish nationalists into warring pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty factions.lOs Similarly, Cleary's Month commended the new Irish Government and joined with the Irish hierarchy in condemning the rebels. I06 On the dissolution of the Self-Determination League, O'Regan wrote in his diary, Though yielding to no man in my desire to see justice done to Ireland, I am pleased to know that henceforth we will be able to give our undivided attention to our own country. Heaven knows she needs all we can do for her. 107 101 Outlook (28 February, 7 March, 14 March, 4 April, 1 1 April and 16 May 1921) as cited or reprinted in the Month, 15 April 1921, pp. 21-22; 1 1 May 1912, pp. 9-10; 15 June 1921, pp. 1 1 , 1 3; NZ Tablet, 17 March 1921 , p. 17; 7 Apri1 1921 , p. 23; cf. 9 June 1921, p. 37 and 29 September 1921, p. 17 for letters by Mackay to other newspapers. 102 The other representative, JJ. McGrath, did not attend the Conference (which had been overtaken by the signing of the Treaty in December) and Hall Skelton did not report back before the League's dissolution (NZ Tablet, 1 3 October 1921, p. 23; 28 September 1922, p. 37). For Hall Skelton, see fwther NZ Tablet, 4 August 1921 , p. 22; 25 May 1922, p. 18; Month, 1 5 June 1922, p. 15 ; for Mackay, see further NZ Tablet, 1 5 December 1921, p. 3 1 and 7 September 1922, pp. 21-22. 103 Sweetman, p. 324 (citing NZ Sentinel, 2 January 1922). 104 NZ Tablet, 1 5 December 1921, p. 14; cf. 23 February 1922, p. 14; 2 March 1922, p. 25. 105 NZ Tablet, 16 February 1922, p. 25; 2 March 1922, p. 14. Initially, Kelly doubted reports that Eamonn de Valera rejected the agreement signed by his colleagues (NZ Tablet, 1 5 December 1921 , p. 15). 106 Month, 15 September 1922, p. 3; 16 October 1922, p. 3; 15 November 1922, pp. 5-7. Cleary himself was in Ireland at this time; see further Sweetman, pp. 324-326. 107 O'Regan diary, 1 1 September 1922; cf. 29 August 1922, All 76-165-111 . ---� - .---.----.-- - . - - --- -... -- - . . - . .. -- .-.. -.. - - - . . - . The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 337 However, Irish Catholics in New Zealand were not immediately exonerated from the suspicion of disloyalty. Despite the Treaty, controversy over Ireland reached a climax in 1922 when Liston, now Coadjutor Bishop of Auckland, was unsuccessfully prosecuted for sedition. I08 At the St Patrick's Day concert in the Town Hall, Liston recalled that his Irish parents had been driven from their country so that their land could be used "as a cattle ranch for the snobs of the Empire" and he described the Treaty as merely the "first instalment" of Ireland's freedom. According to the New Zealand Herald, he "referred to the men and women who in the glorious Easter of 1916 were proud to die for their country - murdered by foreign troops." The report noted that the National Anthem was not sung at the concert. I09 New Zealanders who still thought of themselves as British were deeply offended. In Christchurch, for example, the Council of Christian Congregations declared itself "unable to believe that any man is a good New Zealander who defames the Empire." 1 10 Auckland's Mayor Gunson immediately and publicly denounced Liston for making a seditious speech which was "avowedly and openly disloyal to King and country, and . . . an affront to our citizenship" ; he referred the matter to the Attorney-General and the Prime Minister. I I I Liston was condemned and Gunson supported by a number of organizations, especially the Auckland local bodies, and by newspaper editors throughout the country. 1 12 Amidst the public outcry, Cabinet decided, after consulting the Crown Law Office, to prosecute Liston for making seditious utterances. I 1 3 Defended by O'Regan in the Supreme Court, Liston argued that the newspaper account had so condensed and 108 For a largely narrative account of the Liston affair, see M.B . Laws, "The Sedition Trial of Bishop Liston" (University of Otago Postgraduate Diploma in Arts dissertation, 1980). Sweetman (pp. 315-327) offers a more useful account 109 NZ Herald, 18 March 1922, p. 10. 1 10 Press, 21 March 1922, p. 6; NZ Herald, 21 March 1922, p. 6. 1 1 1 NZ Herald, 20 March 1922, p. 6. 1 12 For editorial comment, see NZ Herald, 18 March 1922, p. 22; 20 March 1922, p. 6; 23 March 1922, p. 4; 24 March 1923, p. 6; 25 March 1922, p. 8; Auckland Star, 18 March 1922, quoted in Evening Post, 20 March 1922, p. 7; Evening Post, 20 March 1922, p. 6; Press, 21 March 1922, p. 6; Sun (Orrisrchurch), 20 March 1922, quoted in NZ Herald, 22 March 1922, p. 8; Evening Star (Dunedin), 20 March 1922, quoted in Press, 21 March 1922, p. 6; Sweetman, p. 321. For letters to the editor and resolutions of Auckland local bodies and other groups: NZ Herald, 21 March 1922, p. 6; 22 March 1922, p. 8; 23 March 1922, p. 6; 24 March 1922, p. 8; 25 March 1922, p. 10. The Otago Daily Times (7 April 1922, p. 5) was a notable exception amidst the clamour for prosecution. 1 13 Evening Post, 25 March 1922, p. 6; NZ Herald, 27 March 1922, p. 6; Month, 15 June 1922, pp. 6-7 (includes a transcript of the summons to Liston). 338 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? distorted his speech as to give it a wholly unintended meaning. Only the victims of the Black and Tans had been described as "murdered by foreign troops" and the B ishop had had no intention of arousing dissension. I 14 Justice Stringer was quite sympathetic towards the defendant, noting, for example, that to prove the charge it was necessary to demonstrate seditious intent on the basis of an accurate record of what had been said and that it was accepted even by the British Government that the Black and Tans had indeed committed murders. Mter only three quarters of an hour's deliberation, the jury found Liston "not guilty" but declared that he was partly responsible for the notoriety caused by the "grave indiscretion" of using words likely to offend a large number of people. I IS By providing an outlet for the tensions accumulated since at least 1 9 1 6, the trial not only laid bare the divisions over Irish nationalism within and outside the Catholic Church, but also offered a cathartic end to the Irish drama in New Zealand. A number of Catholics - especially those of English descent - were embarrassed that their religious affiliation linked them with Irish disloyalty towards the Empire. Of the letters criticizing Liston published in newspapers, a high proportion were written by Catholics who proclaimed their loyalty. 1 16 "Semper Fidelis" even suggested that Catholics might need to take more effective control of the schools and seminaries they funded if Liston exemplified what was taught in them. Otherwise Catholic education could prove to be "a hotbed for sedition and the training ground for mischief-making clergy" . 1 17 Mter some hesitation, however, the Catholic laity rallied to Liston's cause, 1 14 This version of what Liston actually said is corroborated by the evidence of Francis Carson, an Auckland Star journalist who was not asked to testify in the trial (Laws, p. 48). Unable to defeat the newly-formed Irish Republican Army, the Royal Irish Constabulary was reinforced in 1920 by demobilized British servicemen who became known, from the colour of their uniforms, as the B lack and Tans. 1 15 For the proceedings, see NZ Herald, 17 May 1922, p. 1 1 ; 18 May 1922, p. 9; NZ Tablet, 4 May 1922, pp. 21-22; 1 8 May 1922, pp. 22-24; 25 May 1922, pp. 18-23; Month, 1 5 June 1922, pp. 7-25; O'Regan diary, 15 May 1922-17 May 1922 and passim, A1L 76-165-111. 1 16 A few of the Catholic letter-writers gave their names but most used pseudonyms: NZ Herald, 21 March 1922, p . 6 (Maurice Foley); 22 March 1922, p . 8 ; 23 March 1922, p . 6 (Patrick Darby); 25 March 1922, p. 10; Evening Post, 21 March 1922, p. 2; 22 March 1922, p. 2 (cj. the reply by B. Hutson, a Presbyterian minister, ibid., 24 March 1922, p. 4). Such letters were grist to the mill of editors who condemned Liston but there was no suggestion that other letters were suppressed although the newspaper controversy was interrupted when the decision to prosecute rendered the matter sub judice. For a letter by a Catholic defending Liston, see Jeanne Hall to the editor, NZ Herald, 25 March 1922, p. 10 and for Hibernian Society resolutions in his support, see ibid. , 21 March 1922, p. 6; 24 March 1922, p. 8. 1 17 Evening Post, 25 March 1922, p. 9. Liston was formerly the rector of Holy Cross Seminary in Mosgiel. " ;& _ ,....a_ .... _w_ ... -__ The Sectarian Epidemic I: the Catholic Contribution 339 seeing in the trial "not a mere personal episode" but "a plot to discredit the Church" . 1 1 8 The verdict and its rider enabled both Liston's defenders and his critics to claim a moral victory. Newspapers which had been quick to denounce the words attributed to Liston endorsed the jury's verdict as well as its admonition. I 19 Kelly interpreted the outcome as "a splendid triumph for all of us, priests and people." 120 Elliott declared that The people of New Zealand ought to be proud of having a Government with the backbone to prosecute a bishop for sedition. If there had been no P.P.A. the Government would never have had the courage to do it. 121 Within a week of Liston's speech, the Auckland City Council had not only condemned it but resolved not to permit "the organisation under whose auspices and on whose behalf the bishop claimed that he spoke" . to use the Town Hall or the Domain until he disavowed the sentiments he had expressed and gave an assurance that they would not be repeated. 122 An acrimonious correspondence, evidently based on mutual misundertanding and including a threat of legal action by Liston, delayed a reconciliation between the Mayor and the Bishop until December when the resolutions were finally declared by the Council to be inoperative and both parties affirmed that the incident was closed. 123 1 18 Liston to Cleary, 24 April 1922, CCDA; for other disparaging references to Liston's Catholic critics, see NZ Tablet, 25 May 1922, p. 14; Month, 15 June 1922, p. 3. The quotation is from an advertisment soliciting funds for a testimonial to Liston to defray his legal costs (NZ Tablet, 6 July 1922, p. 17 and subsequent issues). 1 19 NZ Herald, 18 May 1922, p. 6; Evening Post, 18 May 1922, p. 6; Press, 19 May 1922, p. 6. 120 NZ Tablet, 25 May 1922, p. 25. 1 21 Month, 15 September 1922, p. 4, citing Daily Telegraph (Napier), 19 July 1922. As Sweetman (p. 3 19) observes, "the goading that Massey and his colleagues had endured over the Irish issue" from Kelly and the Labour Party must also be taken into account. 1 22 NZ Herald, 24 March 1922, p. 8; Month, 15 June 1922, p. 6. 123 NZ Tablet, 17 August 1922, p. 23; NZ Herald, 15 December 1922, p. 8; Month, 15 January 1923, p. 9 (reprinted from the Auckland Star, 15 December 1922). 340 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the Government Mounting sectarian tensions were exploited and intensified by Elliott and the PP A. 124 The rise and decline of the PP A provide a measure of popular attitudes to the Catholic community and must therefore to be examined in some detail. Having already earned a reputation as a religious controversialist in his native Australia, Elliott attained prominence in New Zealand when he denounced the 1916 visit to Auckland by the Papal Legate Archbishop Bonaventure Ceretti and accused Mayor James Gunson of kowtowing to Catholic interests on that occasion.l25 Working through the Orange Lodge, Elliott helped to establish a Committee of Vigilance to monitor Catholic activity. The Committee formed the basis of the PPA which was officially launched at a large meeting in the Auckland Town Hall in July 1917}26 Giving up his position as Pastor of the Mount Eden Baptist Church (where he had been since 1909), Elliott was appointed as the PPA's full-time National Lecturer. Although dependent on the peculiar conditions of wartime New Zealand, it was in large measure the organizational and oratorical skills of Elliott himself which account for the PPA's rapid rise and influence. In the person of Howard Elliott, the Loyal Orange Institution had found someone to communicate its message to society at large and to enrol people who would not normally associate with the Institution. By joining the PPA, a Protestant with strong anti-Catholic sentiments could become a "political associate" of the Lodge rather than a full member. 127 Before the 1919 election, Elliott claimed that the PPA had 200,000 members in 225 branches but the membership figure in particular seems highly improbable. 128 In 1922 - by which time the organization was already in decline - its newspaper, the New Zealand Sentinel, listed only 1 ,072 subscribers. 129 Elliott and his organization revived old sectarian quarrels and played on contemporary fears. The papacy was blamed for the outbreak of war in 1914, while demands that priests and brothers be exempt from military service - and an alleged under-representation of Catholics in the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces - 124 For Elliott's background and early activities, see especially O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", pp. 5- 6; " 'Protestants' '', pp. 190-195; Moores, pp. 86-173; Gustafson, Labour's PaJh, pp. 127-129. 125 In addition to the references cited, see Sweetman, pp. 92-94. 126 NZ Herald, 12 July 1917, pp. 4, 6. 127 Moores, pp. 162, 168. 128 Sweetman, p. 249 and Moores, p. 3 14 (citing the Nelson Colonist and Truth of 1 1 October 1919); O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", p. 9. 129 Satchell, p. 74. The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the Government 341 demonstrated the disloyalty of New Zealand Catholics. Further proof was provided by their support for Irish republicanism, especially in the form of Kelly' s provocative editorials. Catholic schools were being accorded special treatment at the expense of the national education system, the Catholic Federation threatened the liberties of Protestant citizens and Catholic domination of the public service already gave the Church a sinister and covert influence over the nation's affairs. 130 Many Protestants were alienated by Elliott's more extreme suggestions. A series of letters he addressed to himself in order to trap Post Office officials, who were monitoring mail associated with the PP A, suggested, inter alia, that a priest was collecting a levy from workmen after securing employment for them at the Newmarket workshops, that in Taumarunui a recently drowned nun had been pregnant and that an Auckland convent had a lime-pit for disposing of bodies. 1 31 H.W. Bishop, appointed as Commissioner to investigate Elliott's assertion that his mail was being censored in the interests of the Catholic Church, regarded Elliott's "abominable and disgusting accusations against members of a Christian Church" as evidence that their author "was so saturated with sectarian bitterness that he [had] lost all sense of propriety." 132 When Attorney-General Alexander Herdman read some of the letters in Parliament, other members asked him to desist and Leonard Isitt, a former Methodist minister and Orangeman, exclaimed, "It makes one ashamed to be a Protestant" . 133 Even Elliott's own Baptist Union Executive, including North, disassociated itself from his activities after the revelation of the "trap" letters. 134 Mter Charles Clements, brother of the defamed nun, waylaid and horsewhipped Elliott in October 1917, the magistrate, F.V. Frazer, apologized for having to convict Clements for assault, 1 30 References to these charges are scattered throughout the secondary literature already cited; most are mentioned in the evidence recorded in the report of the Auckland Post Office Inquiry, AlHR, 1917, vol. II, F.-8, for example pages 35 (question 27), 38 (question 106), 40 (question 203) and 48 (questions 291 and 292). 1 3 1 AJHR, 1917, vol. II, F.-8, pp. 6, 38-39. Elliott denied that the suggestions in these letters were "mere figments": inquiries had shown that, in each case, there was "a substratum of truth" which could be proved (ibid. , p. 39). 1 32 AJHR, 1917, vol. II, F.-8, p. 5. In May 1916, Bishop had expressed his admiration for the achievements of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in rehabilitating women committed to Mount Magdela by the courts (Month, 1 July 193 1, pp. 27-28). 1 33 NZPD, 1917, vol. 1 80, p. 109; cf. Moores, pp. 224-225. 134 Moores, pp. 227-230; Gustafson, "Intervention", pp. 5-6; idem, Labour's Path, p. 1 29; G.T. Beilby, A Handful of Grain: the Centenary History of the Baptist Union of New Zealand, vol. 3, 1914-1945 (Wellington: New Zealand Baptist Historical Society, 1984), p. 97. 342 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? imposed no penalty and denounced Elliott for acting "like a low cad" who "deserved all he got and a good deal more. " 135 Among the Protestant churches, it was the more evangelical or fundamentalist bodies which gave most support to the pPA.136 In Dunedin, Methodists, Baptists and, above all, members of the Church of Christ were disproportionately represented in the Association. 137 The leading citizens of the city tended to associate membership of the PP A with lower social statuS.138 Anglicans did not respond with any great enthusiasm to Elliott who occasionally included "High Church" Anglicanism in his fulminations. 139 The Tablet gloated that, despite itS name, the Protestant Political Association was not supported by the largest Protestant denomination in New Zealand. 140 Many Anglicans and Presbyterians would have been alienated by the PPA's opposition to denominational schools. 141 The Presbyterian Church in Dunedin, enjoying there the preeminent position which the Anglican Church held elsewhere in the country, gave proportionately little support to the PPA. 142 A notable exception was Professor John Dickie of Knox College, whose anti-Catholic views led him to support the PP A, without, however, taking an important role in the organization. 143 Elsewhere, there seems to have been significant support for the PPA among Presbyterians. Officially, the Church rejoiced in the "wonderful popularity" of the PPA, believing that, "Its rapid growth shows that the masses are loyal to Protestantism" - even if "such loyalty may be only traditional, and may be ill-informed" . I44 In 19 19, Presbyterians 1 35 NZHerald, 3 November 1917, p. 8. 1 36 Moores, pp. 219-221 ; O'Connor, '�Sectarian Conflict", p. 10. 1 37 Satchell, pp. 66-69, 9 1 . 1 38 Satchell, pp. 69-70, 87. 139 Moores, pp. 221-223; Satchell, p. 66. 140 NZ Tablet, 29 August 1918, p. 14. 141 Satchell (pp. 8�87) makes this point with regard to Dunedin Presbyterians. 142 Satchell, pp. 27, 66. The actual number of Presbyterian members does not seem to have been far short of the numbers belonging to other Evangelical churches but this must be measured against the high proportion of Presbyterians in Dunedin and the absence of prominent Presbyterians in the leadership of the PP A. 143 Satchell, pp. 23-24, 70; cf. NZ Tablet, 1 1 July 1918, p. 15; 18 July 1918, pp. 14- 15, 17; 1 2 June 1919, p. 26; 21 April 1921, p. 21; 22 December 1921, p. 14; 9 February 1922, p. 14; 10 August 1922, p. 14 (the latter refers to Dickie's introduction to JJ. North's Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits (Napier: printed by G.W. Venables and Co. Ltd, 1922) but does not name the book or the author. 144 PGA, February 1919, pp. 45, 169. -- ------- The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the Government 343 were encouraged to avail themselves "of Protestant organisations carried on in the Christian spirit." 145 Writing in 192 1 at the request of the Protestant Principles Committee, however, the Rev. John Collie acknowledged that while it was necessary for Protestants to prevent the Catholic Church from exercising "any undue political leverage" , the PPA had little claim to represent Protestantism.l46 No doubt with some exaggeration, the Lyttelton Times claimed in 1920 that, "We cannot call to mind a - single Protestant citizen of any note in the Dominion who has ever allowed his name to be associated with this organisation. "147 In order to achieve its ends, the PPA initially contemplated standing for office as a political party but soon recognized that it was not strong enough to act independently and therefore decided to seek influence through the Reform Party.148 According to the PP A, the Liberal Party, under the leadership of the Catholic Sir J oseph Ward, had favoured Catholic interests in the past, while the Labour Party, having reached an accommodation with the Church, was intent upon doing so in the future. 149 Elliott was not only uncompromisingly opposed to Socialism, but he believed that the Catholic Church dominated the Labour Party, which owed its seats in Parliament to "the vote and influence of Rome". 150 He even asserted that "the Roman Catholic Church had secured a moral ascendancy over the minds of the majority of politicians in New Zealand", some of whom "did what they were told by the Roman Catholic Church" while "others were dominated by the votes of Roman Catholics". 151 By supporting M.J. Mack, an Independent Labour candidate in the October 1918 Wellington Central 145 PGA, November 1919, p. 167. 146 Out/ook, 15 August 1921 , quoted in the Month, 15 October 1921, pp. 4-5; cf PGA, 1921, p. 183. 147 Lytleiron Times, 20 December 19 19, quoted in the Month, 15 January 1920, p. 17. 148 Moores, pp. 216-217, 265-266. 149 See Month, 15 March 1920, Supplement, p. 1 (reprinted from the Auckland Star, 25 February 1920) for Ward's farewell speech to his electorate, in which he summarized the PPA's charges against him. Two anti-Ward advertisements from the Soulhland Times are quoted in the Month, 1 5 January 1920, p. 17. 150 Elliott's assertions at a meeting reported in the Evening Post (12 December 1917, p. 3) were challenged by T. Gilmore. Assistant Secretary of the Wellington Labour Representation Committee and himself a Baptist (Moores. p. 274). The two engaged in a prolonged debate; see Evening Post, 15 December 1917. p. 4; 1 January 1918. p. 2; 5 January 1918. p. 3; 17 January 1918. p. 2 (in which the quoted phrase occurs); 24 January 1918. p. 1 1 ; 5 February 1918. p. 4); NZ Herald. 27 August 1919. p. 9; Gustafson. Labour's Path, pp. 127, 129. For a detailed discussion of the relations between the PPA and Labour. see Moores. pp. 265-286. 15 1 NZ Herald. 27 August 1919. p. 9. 344 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? by-election, the PPA had helped to split the anti-Labour vote and facilitated the election of Peter Fraser. Henceforth, wary of repeating such a tactical error, the PPA became closely identified with the Reform Party. IS2 Led by an Ulster-born Presbyterian and former Orangeman, Reform had long been associated with Protestantism. IS3 In the 1919 general election, the PP A denounced the "Triple Alliance" of "Wardism - Romanism - Bolshevism" and publicly endorsed almost every Reform candidate. ls4 Labour leader Harry Holland was particularly aggrieved that, having disparaged the election of Catholics to Parliament, Elliott endorsed a Catholic candidate - D.G. O'Brien - against Holland in Buller during the 1919 election. lSS Barry Gustafson, seeking to explain apparent inconsistencies in the PPA's endorsement of candidates, has suggested that Elliott was working for Reform rather than against Labour or the Catholic Church, but the evidence reviewed in this chapter suggests rather that the arrangement with Reform was merely a temporary alliance of convenience. lS6 Given its presuppositions, it was quite logical for the PP A to endorse a Catholic in opposition to Holland, whose former Protestant affiliation had given way to Socialism. Since Reform seldom put up Catholic candidates,ls7 it must be supposed that, on this 152 Moores, pp. 287-310, 335-336; O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", pp. 12-13; Gustafson, Labour's Path, pp. 129, 1 34-136; Sweetman, pp. 228·230. 153 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 233, 651 (Massey); Moores, pp. 42-47. 1 54 Moores, pp. 314-3 16; Gustafson, Labour's Path, pp. 130-13 1 ; idem, "Intervention", p. 6; Satchell, pp. 35-38. See also the report of a PPA meeting in the Colonist, 1 1 October 1919, quoted in NZPD, 1919, vol. 185, p. 392 (McCallum). A few Liberals were endorsed in electorates without a Reform candidate, while the only Reform candidate not supported was Allen, who had sought exemption from conscription for seminarians and religious. 155 NZPD, 1920, vol. 186, p. 99 and vol. 189, p. 658 (Holland). 1 56 Gustafson, Labour's Path, pp. 1 30-131 ; "Intervention", p. 6. Gustafson (Labour's Path, p. 1 30) says that "Religious considerations appear to have been irrelevant to the PPA in its evaluation of candidates." Similarly, Moores (p. 1 36) thought that maintaining "an anti-radical stance" was more important to the PPA than religious considerations. · These interpretations do not take seriously Elliott's conviction that Labour was dominated by the Catholic Church. Moreover, individual Protestant candidates had, in the view of the PPA, betrayed the Protestant cause. The Presbyterian AJ. Entrican, for example, was charged with attacking the PPA, condemning Ulster Protestant leaders and advertising in the Month - actions which revealed "the religion of his political advisers" (Open lelter by W.D. More, PPA secretary, NZ Herald, 29 November 1919, p. 12). In claiming that the PPA was inconsistent or insincere in failing to back the Liberal Isilt against the Catholic Armstrong in Christchurch North, Gustafson fails to observe that, despite his impressive Orange and Protestant credentials, Isitt had defended the Marist Brothers against conscription and had denounced Elliott's "trap" letters. He had also appeared on the platform with Brodie at a meeting to raise money for the dependants of Irishmen killed in the 1916 rising (Davis, Irish Issues, p. 195). 1 57 Gardner, p. 26. --------------- --" -. -.-- -- . --. _ . --- . . _-_. - - -- . . _ . ' .. - . . . The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the Government 345 occasion, the party was attempting to draw Catholic support away from Labour in a pro-Labour electorate with an exceptionally high proportion of Catholic voters. There was little chance that O'Brien would be elected, but if the Catholic Church dominated the Labour Party, as the PPA supposed, it would be far more effective in Parliament through the party leader than through a Catholic Reform backbencher who would be kept in check by his Protestant colleagues. From this perspective, promoting O'Brien can be seen as an attempt to weaken the political influence of both Labour and the Church, while appearing to disprove allegations of sectarian bias. Elliott himself claimed that the endorsement of O'Brien proved that the PPA's opposition to Labour was not based on religion. 158 A few Reform politicians openly supported the PPA but Massey and the rest of his Government, while making some gestures to the Association, were not prepared to commit themselves publicly to the sectarian agenda. 159 J.S. Dickson of Parnell was a leading Orangeman and one of the founders of the PPA, which he saw as a necessary response to the establishment of the Catholic Federation.l60 In 1923, V.H. Potter lauded the work of Elliott and the PP A and also blamed the Catholic Federation for the rise of sectarian tension. Potter quoted from four oaths allegedly taken by priests and other Catholics, claiming, for example, that foreign priests, before coming to New Zealand, swore to renounce any allegiance to a Protestant king or state.161 Such alleged oaths had formed a part of the sectarian repertoire for centuries and had been circulated recently by the PPA 162 Through the correspondence columns of the Evening Post, Potter was challenged by Bernard Gondringer SM - who had come to New Zealand from his native Luxembourg twenty years previously - to name any priest who had taken the oath and thus allow the charge to be tested in court. Potter evaded the challenge. 163 In September 19 19, William Nosworthy, another supporter of 158 Elliott to the editor, Auckland Star, 7 January 1920, cited in Gustafson, Labour's Path, p. 1 3 1 and Sweetman, pp. 250-25 1. 159 In addition to the following, see Gustafson, Labour's Path, p. 130. 160 NZPD, 1920, voL 189, pp. 660, 662. 161 NZPD, 1923, voL 200, pp. 263-266. 162 Month, 15 October 1918, p. 12; 15 August 1918, pp. 12, 15; 15 November 1918, p. 3; 15 January 1920, p. 5; 15 April 1921 , p. 13; 14 January 1922 , p. 7. For Cleary's response to Potter, including information of the history of the oaths, see Month, 14 July 1923, pp. 3, 6-10; 15 August 1923, pp. 3- 4; 15 September 1923, p. 5-6; 15 October 1923, pp. 5-6; 15 December 1923, p. 4. 163 For Gondringer's letters, see Evening Post, 30 June 1923, p. 8; 4 July 1923, p. 2; 10 July 1923, p. 4; 16 July 1923, p. 7; for Potter's letters (and one by Elliott), see 3 July 1923, p. 2; 7 July 1923, p. 13; 14 July 1923, p. 13. Gondringer's letters were reprinted in the Month, 14 July 1923, pp. 1 1-12 and the NZ Tablet, 12 July 1923, p. 18; 19 July 1923, pp. 19, 21; 26 July 1923, p. 19. 346 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? the PPA, was appointed Minister of Agriculture. 164 The previous April, in a widely­ reported address at an Orange Grand Lodge banquet in Ashburton, he had declared that he would not support any future government "in which there was a Roman Catholic, or in which anyone who had a drop of German blood in his veins was a member. " 165 Nosworthy reaffirmed his attitude towards Catholics in government at least twice after his promotion. l66 His appointment seemed to indicate Massey's support for the PPA but in November the Prime Minister declared in Parliament "that he had no connection with Mr. Howard Elliott or anyone connected with him." 167 Nevertheless, in October 1920, Massey was induced to admit that, the previous June, he had received a delegation from the PPA, which included Elliott himself. 168 PPA secretary H. Sydney Bilby acknowledged years later that Elliott frequently visited Massey at Parliament but, to avoid embarrassing Massey, Bilby himself (who was less well-known) often went to the Prime Minister's office or residence instead. 169 I "" The most important reward conferred on the PPA for its electoral support was clause seven of the Marriage Amendment Act (1920), which made it an offence to allege that "any persons lawfully married are not truly and sufficiently married" or that "the issue of any lawful marriage is illegitimate or born out of true wedlock" . 170 In its original form, as passed by the House of Representatives, the Bill embodied 164 For adverse reactions, see the Auckland Star editorial reprinted in NZ Tablet, 1 1 September 1919, p. 22 and P J. O'Regan in NZ Tablet, 28 December 1922, p. 25, reprinted from Maori/and Worker, 1 3 December 1922. 165 Press, 23 April 1919, p. 5; NZ Herald, 24 April 1919, p. 6. The German allusion was originally directed against Customs Minister Myers who had suppressed the importation of anti-Catholic propaganda (Month, 15 May 1919, p. 6). 166 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 667; 1925, vol. 207, pp. 523-524, 553. According to the latter reference, the statement was originally made in 1914; if so, then it was repeated in 1919. 1 67 NZPD, 1919, vol. 1 85, p. 392; cf. Kelly's sceptical response to Massey's disclaimer (NZ Tablet, 23 October 1919, p. 14). 168 NzpD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 234, 655 cf. p. 229 (Holland and Massey). Massey noted that the delegation had raised economic issues, but said he could not remember what else was discussed. E.J. Howard also referred to Elliott's presence at Parliament (ibid. , p. 663). 169 Moores, p. 319; cf. Gardner, p. 26 (which reports a less informative interview with Bilby) and O'Connor, "Mr Massey and the PPA" (especially the first telegram quoted on page 72, concerning a meeting between Massey and Elliott). See also Moores (pp. 129-130) for Massey's secret address to a Grand Lodge meeting in Wellington in 1916 - after EIliott threatened an Orange march on Parliament and Gustafson, Labour's Path (pp. 129-130) for further discussion of the overlapping membership of the PPA and the Reform Party. 170 New Zealand Statutes (1920), p. 460. --.------�- - . . . The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the GovemmeTl1 347 uncontentious administrative alterations to the Marriage Act (1908), but Elliott persuaded the Attorney-General, Sir Francis Bell MLC, and the Statutes Revision Committee of the Legislative Council, that there was a need to consider legislating against the Ne Temere decree. I7I Elliott and the PPA charged that the Catholic Church challenged New Zealand civil law by refusing to recognize the validity of marriages not solemnized by its priests. Church members whose marriages were valid in law were allegedly required to separate or re-marry and their status was entered in the Marriage Register as "bachelor" or "spinster", thus indicating that they had not been married previously and, by implication, that any children already born of the union were illegitimate. In As Elliott pointed out, an official catechism used in New Zealand Catholic schools declared that two Catholics or a Catholic and a non-Catholic marrying before a registrar or a Protestant minister "do not contract a valid marriage; that is to say, they are not married at all." 173 Detailed evidence was heard by the Statutes Revision Committee and by a special committee of the House of Representatives. The main witness in favour of legislation was Elliott himself, while the Catholic bishops engaged Sir John Findlay KC to present their case before the Council 's committee and Cleary and O'Shea submitted written evidence to the House's committee. I74 O'Shea and the other bishops publicly threatened to defy the new law if it proscribed the teaching of Catholic doctrine and, if necessary, to suffer imprisonment in consequence.I75 171 JLC, 1920, Appendix ("Marriage Amendment Bill", report and evidence), pp. ii, 1 -3, 45; NZPD, vol. 186, 1920, pp. 872-873 (Bell); ct vol. 189, pp. 223-226 (Downie Stewart and Wilford). In fact, the 1907 Ne Temere decree had been largely incorporated into and entirely superceded by the 1917 Code of Canon Law (for further details, see the discussion of mixed marriage in chapter three above). Elliott, who claimed, in effect, to be a more reliable interpreter of canon law than either Cleary or O'Shea, was unaware of this (JLC, 1920, Appendix, pp. 26-27). 172 JLC, 1920, Appendix, pp. 1 , 16, 18, 20, 23-25 and the report and evidence on the Marriage Amendment Bill, AJHR, 1920, vol. II, 1.-7, pp. 5, 16-17 (Elliott's evidence); Dominion, 15 September 1920, p . 7 (statement by Elliott); Rome and the New Zealand Marriage Law: an Insult to Citizens [Auckland: PPA, 1918] . For Cleary's response to this pamphlet and information on its distribution, see Month, 16 August 1920, pp. 10-15. 173 A Catechism of Christian Doctrine No. 2 (Dunedin: The Tablet Printing and Publishing Co., n.d.), p. 59 (questions 312 and 313); ct Rome and the New Zealand Marriage Law; JLC, 1920, Appendix, pp. 3, 15; andAJHR, 1920, vol. II, 1.-7, p. 8. 174 JLC, 1920, Appendix; AJHR, 1920, vol. II, 1.-7). Findlay described himself as "a very much lapsed" Presbyterian (JLC, 1920, Appendix, p. 37). 175 O'Shea to Massey, 1 1 September 1920, WCAA; Evening Post, 13 September 1920, p. 7; Dominion, 14 September 1920, p. 4; NZ Herald, 14 September 1920, p. 6; 27 September 1920, p. 6; NZ Tablet, 16 September 1920, pp. 26-28; 23 September 1920, pp. 18-19; 30 September 1920, pp. 27-28; Month, 18 September 1920, p. 17; 15 September 1920, p. 7; 15 November 1920, p. 3 (Cleary ­ published after the passage of the Act). · - ----.. _-_.----- ---------------. 348 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Although some of the Catholic authorities selectively quoted by Elliott did appear to disregard the validity of marriages sanctioned by civil law, he cannot be said to have substantiated his claims.176 The Catholic Church did not deny the legal validity of any marriages which were valid in civil law, whether the spouses were Catholics or not To be recognized as sacramental, however, marriages involving Catholics had to be celebrated according to canon law, which required the presence of an authorized priest 177 Far from challenging civil law, canon law explicitly recognized its competence to determine the civil aspects of marriage. 178 Indeed, the Ne Temere decree specifically stated that non-Catholics marrying among themselves were not expected to observe the Catholic form of marriage. 179 Rather than force apart couples married in civil law, the Church sought to regularize canonically invalid marriages; the procedure was exclusively ecclesiastical and did not involve entries in the official register kept for the state: there was no recording of the spouses as bachelor or spinster. 180 The catechism dealt only with the viewpoint of the Church's sacramental teaching and was not concerned with its civil effects18 1 - though this was perhaps too subtle a point for the schoolchildren who memorized the catechism. It was also 176 See JLC, 1920, Appendix, pages 19 and 23 for some of Elliott's more telling quotations. For an example of bis misleading selectivity, bowever, compare bis quotation from Mannix (ibid. , p. 24) with the rest of the speecb as quoted by M.1. Savage (NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 627). 177 NZ Tablet, 16 September 1920, p. 15; 30 September 1920, p. 27; Month, 16 August 1920, pp. 5-6, 10; 18 September 1920, pp. 7-8; 15 October 1920, p. 7; NZ Herald, 14 September 1920, p. 6; 26 September 1920, p. 6; JLC, 1920, Appendix, p. 40 (Findlay's evidence); AJHR, 1920, vol. II, 1.-7, pp. 1 3-14 (Cleary's evidence). 178 NZ Tablet, 16 September 1920, p. 26; Month, 15 November 1920, p. 8; JLC, 1920, Appendix, p. 42; CIC, canons 1016, 1080 and 169 1 . 1 79 See Ne Temere, clause XI (3), printed in Cleary, Catholic Marriages, op. cit. , pp. 4 , 9 ; NZ Tablet, 16 September 1920, p. 15. It was later determined bowever, that maniages between baptized and unbaptized Protestants were still rendered invalid under the Ne Temere decree by the impediment of disparity of cult - an anomaly wbich was overcome by canon 1070 of the new code whicb applied this impediment only to persons baptized in the Catholic Cburcb. There was an underlying asswnption that all baptized persons were subject to the discipline of the Cburcb (NZ Tablet, 16 August 1923, pp. 19, 21). 1 80 JLC, 1920, Appendix, pp. 6, 10, 48-49; Month, 16 August 1920, pp. 6, 8-9; 15 October 1920, p. 7; 15 November 1920, p. 1 1 ; NZ Herald, 27 September 1920, p. 6); NZ Tablet, 30 September 1920, p. 27; cf 16 December 1920, p. 33. Elliott presented the House committee with evidence of a case in Hamilton in 1908 in wbicb Dean Darby bad regularized a civil marriage and recorded the spouses as bacbelor and spinster, but, as Cleary and O'Sbea argued, this example did not conform to official Catholic practice (AJHR, 1920, vol. II, 1.-7, pp. 3, 13- 16, 21-22). 181 Month, 16 August 1920, p. 6, 10; 15 November 1920, p. 10; JLC, 1920, Appendix, pp. 5. --� .. --.-..�� - - .. _ ... -- -- --- �- ----- --� The Sectarian Epidemic 1/: the PPA and the GovemmeTll 349 pointed out that the Protestant churches forbade certain marriages which were valid according to the civil law, notably marriages within the prohibited degrees of affmity and marriages of divorces whose divorce was obtained on grounds not recognized by the church concerned. 182 This argument was endorsed by several prOJ:ninent Presbyterian ministers, one of whom described the proposed legislation as "a monstrous piece of folly" . 1 83 While the new law was quite unnecessary (and therefore justified only as a response to sectarian pressure), it also demonstrated the PPA's lack of support in the country at large and its limited influence over the Reform Government. There was widespread disapproval of clause seven on the part of newspaper editors and church leaders.l84 The Christchurch Sun denounced the blind fanaticism of the PPA and the Bill's "unwarranted interference with religious liberty" . I 85 Bishop Richards of Dunedin noted that couples who married before a registrar were not "truly and sufficiently" married according to the Anglican Church and he was willing, if necessary, to join the Catholic bishops in gaol for saying so; his view was endorsed even by Fitchett, whose criticism of the Ne Temere decree has already been noted}86 To allay Anglican fears for the rite of marriage in the Book of Common Prayer, a subclause was included in the Bill guaranteeing that existing marriage services could continue to be used. I S7 Even some Presbyteries passed ambivalent resolutions 182 NZ Tablet. 16 September 1920. pp_ 15. 26; p. 28 (Brodie); 1 1 November·1920. p. 23 (Coffey); Month, 18 September 1920. pp. 5-6. 9-15; JLC. 1920. Appendix. pp_ 33-34. 36-37. 42_ Even if certain maniages violated the laws of the spouses' churches. however, it does not necessarily follow that they were not accepted in practice by the cburches concerned once the wedding bad taken place. 183 NZ Herald. 14 September 1920. p_ 6 and Month. 18 September 1920. p. 7 (Isaac Jolly); NZ Tablet. 7 October 1920. pp. 21-22 \'N. Gray Dixon quoted from the current edition of the Outlook). 1 84 Sweennan. p. 265; NZ Tablet. 23 September 1920. p. 14 ("We are pleased to see that practically every daily of importance in the Dominion has condemned the proposed legislation on Marriage laws."); 1 1 November 1920. p. 23 ("every paper of standing in the Dominion condemned it" - Coffey). 185 Sun. 14 September 1920. p. 6. 1 86 Extracts from the Dunedin Evening Star. 20 September 1920 (printed by O'Kane and McKenzie). WCAA; NZ Tablet. 23 September 1920. p. 23; NZPD, 1920, vol. 1 89, pp. 23 1-232 (Holland). For a review of Anglican opposition. see NZPD. 1920, vol. 189. pp. 226-227 (Wilford); cf Evening Post, 29 September 1920, p. 4 (Bisbop Sadlier of Nelson expressing strong reservations about the B ill); 30 September 1920. p. 10 (resolution criticizing the Bill by the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Waiapu); 6 October 1920, p. 6 (similar resolution by the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Wellington). 1 87 New Zealand Statutes (1920), p. 460, clause 7 (3); on the Significance of this subclause, see Isiu's comments in NZ Tablet, 18 November 1920, p. 21 (quoted from the New Zealand Times) and NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 61 1 (Isiu). 649 (McCombs). 350 ". __ ....... � ,.. _�_�_.",_,,_. -. r;;, � ..... � � __ _ �) .,,","'� __ --' ___ _ .�_. _ ._._,_ ... _ . ' • __ • Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? endorsing both religious liberty and the protection of married couples from calumny. 1 88 However, the General Assembly commended the Act once it was passed, seeing it as a fulfilment of the demands made in 19 1 1 . 1 89 Aware that it was unpopular in many quarters, Massey and his Government tried to avoid being too closely associated with clause seven and its sectarian implications. l90 Justice Minister E.P. Lee even claimed that the new law was "directed against no particular denomination". 191 Disavowing any religious intolerance, Massey was only drawn into the debate by Labour politicians who suggested that he was acceding to a PPA request in return for support at the 19 19 election - a reasonable charge to which he responded with an "emphatic denial" . 192 As Dickson acknowledged, however, promoting legislation on the issue had been a part of the PP A policy to which candidates had been asked to pledge themselves. 193 Massey declared that Reform politicians had a free vote on the issue, but, in the event, the House divided largely along party lines. 194 A Bill introduced by John MacGregor MLC specifically debarring Catholic clergy from solemnizing marriages while their Church's laws on mixed marriage remained in force, was withdrawn in favour of the much more mild addition to the Marriage Amendment Bill. 195 Moreover, the phrasing of clause seven 1 88 Evening Post, 21 September 1920, p. 8 (Wellington Presbytery); cf NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, pp. 626 (Savage, quoting the Auckland Presbytery); p. 642 (Edie, quoting the Clutha Presbytery). The Oamaru Presbytery, in its capacity as the Protestant Principles Committee, endorsed the move to legislate (Evening Post, 29 September 1920, p. 4); cf Press, 14 October 1920, p. 9 for a report on the different views of several Presbyteries. Robert Wood, wbo bad promoted the General Assembly's 1911 appeal to Prime Minister Ward to legislate against the Ne Temere decree (see the references cited at the beginning of this cbapter), pursued the matter with vigour, although be could only do so in a private capacity (lLC, 1920, Appendix, pp. 28-32; see especially pp. 31 -32 for Wood's status; AJHR, 1920, vol. II, 1.-7, pp. 10-13, 17-18, 20-24). 189 PGA, 1920, pp. 21 -22, 130-131 . 190 Sweetman (pp. 269-271 , 347-348), following Cleary, seeks to exculpate Massey and the Reform caucus as a wbole. 191 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 228. 192 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, pp. 233; 651 -653; cf pp. 226 (Wilford), 229-230 (Holland), 236 (McCallum), 650 (McCombs); 663 (Howard); 667 (Parry). 193 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, pp. 660, 672; for the pledge, see Satcbell, Appendix 3B; for a PPA resolution seeking legislation against the Ne Temere decree, see Evening Post, 26 May 1919, p. 8. 194 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 235, 652 (Massey); pp. 668, 674 (division lists). 195 Marriage Amendment Bill (No. 2), "Bills Thrown Out", 1920; NZPD, 1920, vol. 187, pp. 1 1 58- 1 159; vol. 188, pp. 746-748; NZ Tablet, 30 September 1920, p. 14. ,., --------- --- - - --_._--- -- - -- . . - The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the Government 351 left the Church free to uphold its teaching on marriage: there was no likelihood of 0' Shea's threat being fulfilled. Shortly after the passage of the Act, Brodie and the other bishops rejected Cleary's suggestion that the wording of the catechism should be altered - even though the Council committee concerned with the Bill had been promised that changes would be made. 196 Cleary duly arranged the printing of a special edition for his own diocese. Interpreting this action as a capitulation to the enemies of the faith, Brodie thought that "his state of nerve exhaustion overwhelmed him with terror at the imagined consequences of imagined hostile attacks. 197 While clause seven of the Marriage Amendment Act was the offspring of Reform's affair with the PP A and gave satisfaction to both parties at the time, it proved, in the event, to be still-born. 198 If the Marriage Amendment Act was the PPA's greatest triumph, the limited appeal of sectarian politics was underscored by governmental caution over other PP A policies. Lobbying by both the PP A and the NZEI secured only the reversal of recent concessions to denominational schools (most notably the right to hold government scholarships) but left them no weaker than they had been before the advent of the Reform administration in 1912. 199 Thoughtful non-Catholics were sceptical of Elliott's claims and doubted their electoral appeal. A former wartime chaplain, W.B. Scott of the Cambridge Terrace Methodist Church in Christchurch, denounced the PPA's campaign against Ward in 1919 and recalled the fraternal sentiments experienced by all denominations on the battlefield.200 In a letter to the Auckland Star, he noted that "Canterbury is largely Liberal, consequently you may imagine that P.P.A.-ism is not very popular down our way."201 When Ward blamed his defeat on PPA propaganda in his Awarua electorate, the Christchurch Press, which traditionally supported Reform, 196 Minutes of bishops' meeting. 14 December 1920. CCDA. ACDA CLE 1-5; cf Month. 15 November 1920. p. 5; JLC. 1920. Appendix. p. 6; JLC. 1920. Appendix. pp. 45. 47-48; AlHR, 1920. vol. II. 1.-7. p. 20. 197 Brodie. statement (1929). CCDA. 198 The latter image was used by Cleary (Month. 15 August 1923. p. 3). O'Regan noted in 1924 that there had been no prosecutions under the Act (NZ Tablet. 3 April 1924. p. 35). but in 1931, the Presbyterian General Assembly was advised that "a member of the 'Pentecostal Church' " had recently been convicted of contravening the Act "by discussing the basis of a certain marriage". This was regarded as a "departure from the original ground of the legislation" (PGA. 1931. p. 78). 199 See chapter six below. 200 Auckland Star. 30 November 1919, quoted in the Month, 15 January 1920. p. 17. 201 Month. 14 February 1920. p. 7. --l .. -. - .. . -----� ......... ------.-� �......,..---------.. 352 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? argued that, "Sectarianism and the P.P.A. had as little to do with the result of the election as with last year's rainfall. " Far from endorsing Elliott's "gross charges" against Ward, the Press intimated that allegations of "stuffing the public services with his co-religionists" were only circulated or accepted by the "densely ignorant or hopelessly prejudiced". Moreover, few would believe the "really weird story" that Ward had included the papal coat of arms on the New Zealand one pound note as the price of a loan from the Vatican.202 One of the PP A's most blatantly sectarian demands - that convents be subjected to official government inspection - was apparently never seriously considered, even though candidates in the 1919 election had been asked by the PPA to pledge support for regular inspections so that women held in convents against their will would be enabled to escape.203 As readers of the Catholic press were aware, convent inspection had been demanded and even introduced in other parts of the world.204 It might have been expected, moreover, that the scandal surrounding the alleged "escape" of Sister Mary Liguori from a Wagga Wagga convent into the "protection" of a Protestant family in 1920 would have strengthened the demand for inspection.205 Like Elliott's insinuations about the depravity of convent life, however, the notoriety which accrued to the Orange Lodge in Australia as a result of the incident may have undermined support for convent inspection legislation. The suspicious fire which destroyed St Joseph' s Convent, Grey Lynn, on Good Friday in 1921 , the night after a PPA meeting in the Auckland Town Hall, may have had a similar effect - not least because Cleary took the opportunity to discredit the sectarian cause by reviving the debate over Elliott's insinuations about convent life.206 202 Press, 25 February 1920, p. 6. 203 Satchell, Appendix 3B, reproduces the questions to candidates, and the accompanying explanation, as sent to J.T. Paul MP. 204 NZ Tablet, 14 November 1918, pp. 9-10 (Georgia, Florida and Maine); 12 April 1923, p. 17 (Cleveland); 10 January 1924, p. 47 (Leeds). 205 Cf. NZ Tablet, 21 July 1921, pp. 14, 19; 4 August 1921 , pp. 17-21; Month, 15 August 1921, pp. 3, 7-18; 18 September 1920, pp. 3, 13-15, 18-19; cf. P. O'Farrell, The Catholic Church and Community: an Australian History (Kensington, New South Wales: University of New South Wales Press, 1985), pp. 348-349. 206 Cf. Month, 15 April 1921, pp. 6-9. Much of the issue is taken up with a review of the sectarian campaign (especially its alleged relationship to the fIre) and reprinted letters by Cleary and J.F.W. Dickson, President of the PPA in Auckland, addressed to the Auckland newspapers. See also Month, 1 1 May 1921, p. 13 (Cleary's letter to the editor of the Auckland Star), pp. 19-21 (controversy over Elliott's allegations concerning Mount Magdala); NZ Tablet, 14 April 1921 , pp. 15, 18; 2 June 1921, p. 18). __ "--",�""",,,-,,�iiOoiliot ......... _._�_� __ ,�________ _________ .. _ . - - . . The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the Government 353 Between 1920 and 1923, Elliott's limited and declining importance to the Government was demonstrated by his efforts to influence successive appointments to the positions of Public Service Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner.207 The latter vacancy was initially ftlled by Frazer, the magistrate who had rebuked Elliott during the Clements assault trial. When Frazer was promoted to the Arbitration Court in 192 1 , he was succeeded by P.D.N. Verschaffelt, a Catholic towards whom Elliott bore a strong antipathy. In October 1922, Elliott lobbied against Verschaffelt's anticipated promotion to the office of Commissioner, claiming that he had only acquiesced in his appointment as Assistant Commissioner after the previous Commissioner, W.R. Morris, had given him an assurance that he would not recommend Verschaffelt as his successor. The Prime Minister dissuaded Elliott from publicizing the issue on the eve of the election but the results demonstrated the PPA's loss of influence. Massey now evidently judged it inexpedient to block the promotion of a capable and popular public servant on the grounds of his religion. Verschaffelt was appointed Deputy Commissioner in January 1923 and Public Service Commissioner in June.208 The PPA's journal signalled its disillusionment with Massey by describing him as a "place-holder" whose chief remaining ambition was to hold the premiership longer than Richard Seddon had.209 Taunted by Liberal politician Robert Masters in July the following year, Massey denied that he was a "bosom friend" of Elliott 210 Sectarian controversy in New Zealand reflected similar events overseas, especially in Australia. Fitchett noted that the "Bible-in-State-Schools League" derived its name "from the corresponding Queensland organisation, together with its aims, its principles, and its hopes" .2 1 1 It also employed Archdeacon D.J. Garland, the 207 For the following, see O'Connor, "Mr Massey and the PPA"; Sweetman, pp. 344-346; Alan Henderson, The Quest/or Efficiency: the Origins o/the State Services Commission (Wellington: State Services Commission and Historical Branch, Department of Internal Affairs, 1990), pp. 105- 106, 1 16. 208 The Tablet monitored closely Verschaffelt's rise to prominence (NZ Tablet, 6 March 1919, p. 16; 26 June 19 19, p. 30; 17 July 1919, p. 33; 9 October 1919, p. 19; 30 September 1920, p. 21 ; 3 March 1921, p. 28; 7 June 1923, p. 27; 13 September 1923, p. 25). Potter claimed that the appointment of Verschaffelt (and of George Craig as Comptroller of Customs) showed that Massey's Government was not biased against Catholics (NZPD, 1923, vol. 200, p. 264). 209 Sentinel, 1 August 1923, quoted in Gardner, p. 26 and Sweetman p. 346. 210 Masters also quoted from the Sentinel (NZPD, 1924, vol. 203, p. 235; cf NZ Tablet, 16 July 1924, p. 19). 2 1 1 Fitchett, pp. 3-4. 354 ClUlpter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? organizing secretary of the Queensland League, while its programme was based on the system of Bible reading developed in New South Wales.212 'Ple Catholic Federation established in Victoria in 191 1 , and subsequently in other parts of Australia, was modelled on similar organizations in the United States, England and Germany, and became in tum the basis for the New Zealand Catholic Federation.213 Wartime tensions in New Zealand paralleled those in Australia where the arrival of Dr Mannix in 19 13 had coincided with a growing assertiveness on the part of the Catholic Church.214 Controversy over the conscription of Marist Brothers echoed the much larger conscription controversy across the Tasman, where Mannix and his Church were blamed for the rejection of conscription in two referenda.215 Mannix also inspired the efforts of the Catholic Federation to secure educational concessions in Australia during the war.2 16 Misreading the New Zealand situation in the light of developments in Australia, Elliott exaggerated the political significance of the Catholic Federation and Catholic influence within the Labour Party.217 Catholics were proportionately much less numerous in New Zealand, where the Federation, unlike its Australian equivalent, did not become embroiled in party politics.218 As Elliott told the Post Office Inquiry, there were organizations like the PPA in the United States, the Cape Colony, Canada and throughout Australia.219 He himself brought to New Zealand something of the sectarian outlook which was more common in Australia than in New Zealand and his understanding of the Catholic Church, for example the nature of convent life, owed more to American anti-Catholic propaganda than to anything which actually took place 212 Breward, pp. 53-55. 213 Redwood and Cleary to District Officers of the HACBS, 27 September 1912, WCAA; W. Kane to Bishop Grimes (with a copy of the HACBS minutes), 4 October 1912, CCDA; O'Farrell, Catholic Church, p. 300; M. Hogan, The Sectarian Strand: Religion in Australian History (Ringwood, Victoria, Penguin Books Australia, 1987), p. 1 83 . 214 O'Farrell, Catholic Church, pp. 298-304. 215 O'Farrell, Catholic Church, pp. 324-334; Hogan, pp. 177-179. 216 O'Farrell, Catholic Church, pp. 305-306, 312-3 15. 2 17 See, for example, Elliott to the editor, Evening Post, 1 January 1918, p. 2; 17 January 1918, p. 2; Moores, pp. 267-268; PJ. O'Farrell, Harry Holland, Militant Socialist (Canberra: Australian National University, 1964), pp. 91-92. For Australia, see Hogan, chapter seven and O'Farrell, Catholic Church, chapter five. 218 O'Farrell, Catholic Church, pp. 312-313, 346-347; Hogan, pp. 183-187. 219 AlHR, 1917, vol. II, F.-8, p. 48. & The Sectarian Epidemic l/: the PPA and the Govemmenl 355 in New Zealand.22o Moreover, Elliott, whose father was born in County Armagh, evidently imbibed Protestant Irish antipathy towards the Catholic Church from an early age and in New Zealand he allied himself to the Orange Lodge, with its heritage of Irish sectarian politicS.221 Cleary criticized the Lodge for introducing into the Dominions "the mouldy hate and strife of old-time, old-world quarrels. "222 Meanwhile Kelly, a reluctant immigrant, brought to New Zealand a uniquely Irish blend of Catholic religion and nationalist politics and read the New Zealand situation in the light of Ireland.223 Identifying Ulster Protestants, who were persecuting Catholics, with "the followers of the horsewhipped cad" in New Zealand, he declared we have evidence that those who are kith and kin with the assassins of Belfast hold the Government in the hollow of their hands .... Let them do their worst. All that they can do will only strengthen our cause and make the Catholic Church in New Zealand as vital and as glorious as it is in persecuted Ireland ... 224 During the early 1920s, international and local sources of sectarian strife abated. Clerical conscription was no longer an issue and the Prohibition movement was defeated in 1919 and 1922. Postwar regulations requiring schoolchildren to salute the flag and teachers to take an oath of allegiance were directed against Socialists rather than Catholics and Catholic acceptance of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the favourable verdict returned in the Liston trial took the sting out of allegations of Catholic disloyalty.225 The Catholic Federation disappeared in 1923 and thenceforth the Church became more circumspect about demanding concessions for its schools.226 Meanwhile, the Bible in Schools League was slow to recommence its campaign. When it did, during the mid- 1920s, some politicians remarked on the recent decline of 220 Moores. pp. 90- 101. 104-106. 221 Schedule of births in lhe district of Maldon. Victoria; date of birth 10 March 1877 (photocopy supplied by Dictionary of New Zealand Biography staff). Asked at lhe Post Office Inquiry when he began spreading anti-Catholic propaganda. Elliott replied "When I was at school" and affIrmed that he had "kept it up ever since" (AJHR, 1917, vol. II, F.-8, p. 39). 222 Month, 1 5 July 1918, p. 9. 223 Cf. NZ Tablet, 31 July 1929, p. 3: "The writer has memories of early youth which are pictures of little groups of men he knew very well engaged in fighting all day long against small armies of soldiers and policemen and bailiffs in defence of the homes in which they were born .. . ". 224 NZTablet, 3 1 March 1921 , p. 15. 225 During lhe Liston affair, however, it was occasionally suggested that clergy should also have to take the oalh ("Teacher" to the editor, NZ Herald, 20 March 1922. p. 4; Geo. M. Johnston to the editor, NZ Herald, 22 March 1922, p. 8). 226 For �is issue, see chapter six. / ,. ... - .. _-=-- -- .--�-� -.------� .. � ... .. �. ----- -----� .. - 356 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? sectarianism in New Zealand.227 In fact, the revival of this issue would lead to further sectarian squabbling but, without the admixture of other issues, controversy over religious education was not of sufficient moment to arouse widespread or sustained antagonism in the community at large.228 Some Catholics believed that their Church's efforts to alleviate suffering during the 1918 influenza epidemic helped to overcome prejudice, although Cleary evidently doubted whether such efforts would lead to a mitigation of sectarian allegations against convents.229 In Kelly's estimation, the priests and nuns who risked their own lives to aid influenza victims gave the lie to sectarian calumnies about them. He and Cleary contrasted their self-sacrifice with the alleged inactivity of the PPA and its supporters, but after the epidemic was over, Kelly was angered by the lack of recognition accorded the nuns for their work.23o Although Kelly remained editor of the Tablet until December 193 1 , his tone was more restrained after the resolution of the Irish issue and the death of Massey in May 1925. He still argued about education with the old passion ("our schools are godless because our godless politicians. want them to be godless") but his editorials on this issue were largely for Catholic consumption.231 As Kelly's rhetoric became more moderate, less attention was paid to that of Elliott From the early 1920s, the PPA rapidly lost influence. Once the Ne Temere phantom had been exorcised by a ritual legislative incantation, the PPA had little to offer a broad �otestant constituency. Presbyterian divines continued to warn that, "Romanism is ever seeking to uphold its own supremacy, and is constantly meddling with secular and political affairs" but the Protestant Principles Committee had so little to do that its concerns were taken over by the Life and Work Committee and ceased to be reported upon after 193 1 .232 Allegations of a Catholic conspiracy in New Zealand could only seem credible in times of social distress; without crises to feed upon, the PPA starved. After the re-election of Reform in December 1922 - as a minority 227 NZPD, 1924, vol. 203, p. 595 (Massey), p. 621 (Monteith); 1926, vol. 210, p. 410 (Newman); 1927, vol. 215, p. 532 (Sullivan). 228 For this controversy, see chapter seven. 229 Catholic Federation . . . 5th March, 1919, p. 10; NZ Tablet, 2 January 1919, p. 3 (Brodie); Month, 14 December 1918, p. 6 (Cleary). 230 NZTablet, 5 December 1918, p. 14; 19 December 1918, p. 14; 6 February 1919, p. 14; Month, 1 5 March 1919, p . 3 ; 3 1 March 1921, p . 15; 15 April 1921, p. 19. 231 NZTablet, 31 August 1927, p. 33. 232 p(}A, 1923, p. 68; 1924, p. 230; 1926, pp. 153-156; 1927, p. 209-210; 1928, pp. 219-221 ; 1931 , p. 82. The quotation is from a circular issued by the Church in 1926 (PGA, 1926, p. 1 55). >. ---- ---------------------------------- - ---- -- - - �----- -- ----. -- - - - --- ,- --- -. , -- -.-------_._- --- - -- - - . - - - - - . - - - ---- -- -- The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the Government 357 government despite PPA support233 - Kelly predicted that "the Orangeman is not likely now to bring in any more persecuting legislation at the behest of the P.P. Ass . parsons."234 Massey's death, and the accession of lO. Coates to the Reform Party leadership, confirmed the break between the Party and the PP A. It is said that Coates refused Elliott admission to his office.235 Kelly observed that the 1925 election, unlike previous elections, was not characterized by "efforts to rouse sectarian animosity". He attributed the change to a rejection of sectarian support on the part of Prime Minister Coates, who was "a straight-forward gentleman".236 In July 1928, the PPA annual conference resolved that the AssoCiation had "no party political allegiance" and, in the forthcoming elections, members were urged to support only candidates who could be expected to place the "interests of the Dominion and Empire above party considerations".237 During the campaign, the President of the PPA in Auckland appeared on Ward's platform.238 The Association lingered on until about 1932239 by which time Elliott had embarked on a business career. In 1930, he became the founding editor of the New Zealand Financial Times.24o Evidently unaware of Elliott's new role, the Tablet, still under Kelly's editorship, described the Financial Times as "a­ straight-forward, patriotic journal". The Tablet found itself in happy agreement with the Financial Times's economic proposals, including severe retrenchment on the part of government and local bodies in response to the Depression.241 Although sectarian tensions eased, Elliott and other propagandists continued to make dubious and sometimes risible claims about the influence and activities of 233 O'Farrell. Harry Holland. p. 126; Satchell. pp. 55-63; Sweetman. pp. 336-337. 234 NZ Tablet. 22 February 1923. p. 18. 235 O'Connor. "Sectarian Conflict". p. 16; James Joyce SM. "Memoirs of a Marist" (unpublished typescript, 1971 . MAW). p. 87. 236 NZ Tablet. 1 1 November 1925. p. 22; cf. 2 May 1928. p. 5; 27 November 1929. p. 5; cf. O'Connor's unsourced references to contemporary observations ("Era", p. 1866; "Sectarian Conflict", p. 16). In Potter's Mount Roskill electorate. a pamphlet was circulated in the name of the PPA asserting that Catholics were disloyal and urging the election of Protestant candidates. but Potter himself disavowed the publication (Month. 17 November 1925. pp. 27-28). O'Farrell (Harry Holland. p. 1 34) says that in 1925. the PPA's anti-Labour campaign was "more vehement than ever before". 237 Evening Post. 12 July 1928. p. 4. 238 O·Connor. "Sectarian Conflict". p. 16. 239 M . . 3 12 oores. pp. 11. • 240 See G.H. Scholefield (editor). Who's Who in New Zealand and the Western Pacific. (Wellington: L.T. Walkins Ltd. 4th edition. 1941). p. 136. The third edition (Rangatira Press. 1932; see page 156 for Elliott) does not mention Elliott's editorship of the Financial Times. 241 NZ Tablet. 7 October 193 1 . p. 6; cf. 26 August 1931 . pp. 5-6; 23 September 193 1 . 358 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Catholics, or to issue polemics against the Church and its doctrines. When Margaret Martin, a seventeen year old Protestant attending Epsom Grammar School, ran away from home in September 1924, evidently to escape her mother's attempts to curb the influence of a Catholic teacher, Miss Terry, there were claims that the Catholic authorities were directly involved.242 In 1925, Elliott claimed to have learnt from "the last remaining Protestant" to leave Puhoi, that the "wholly alien and Romanist" popUlation of the town had "bought out and driven out" all the local Protestants. The charge was answered by the Father D.V. Silk, who published the testimony of two current Protestant residents.243 A 1930 pamphlet opposing the Nurses' and Midwives Registration Bill, which would allow nurses to be trained in private hospitals, warned against "Rome's further aggressions" . It also claimed that a recent change to government fireworks regulations was a concession to Catholic concerns over Guy Fawkes' Day pUblicity.244 According to the Nation, the parents of a student killed at the Marist house of studies during the Napier earthquake were forced to take out a second mortgage on their house in order to pay at least £100 for prayers and masses for the repose of his soul. Despite a challenge from K.I. McGrath SM, editor of the Marist Messenger, no names or other evidence were provided.24s In 1933, it was rumoured that debutantes at Dunedin's annual Catholic Charity Ball each had to pay the Bishop £15 - the previous year, the fee had allegedly been £70.246 During a mission in Newtown in 1935, propagandists waited outside the Church to give out pamphlets based on The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk, long cited to justify convent inspection.247 A visiting Australian speaker, F. Kilner, gave a series of lectures on "Protestantism and the Church of Rome" in Wellington in 1934. Among the topics advertised was the significance of the recent jubilee celebrations in honour of 242 NZHerald, 29 September 1924. p. 8; 21 October 1924. pp. 8, 1 1 ; Month, 21 October 1924, pp. 17- 18; 1 8 November 1924, p. 21 . 243 Month, 17 March 1925, p . 17 (reprinted in NZ Tablet. 25 March 1925, pp. 30-31), quoting extracts from NZ Sentinel, 2 February 1925. 244 Paul Kavanaugh to Brodie, 17 May 1�30, CCDA; Month, 10 June 1930. p. 19. 245 Marist Messenger, July 193 1 , p. 12 and Nation, 8 July 193 1, p. 7 (both .references cite the original article from the Nation of 8 March); Marist Messenger, September 1931 , pp. 5-6. According to Moores (p. 128), Elliott himself edited the Nation from 1931 00 1936. 246 NZ Tablet, 2 August 1933, p. 4; 23 August 1933, p. 4. 247 NZ Tablet, 24 April 1935, p. 36; cf Month, 16 September 1924, p. 37 for earlier evidence of the book's circulation. ----- - --�-- - - -- The Sectarian Epidemic II: the PPA and the GovemmeTll 359 Redwood.248 North marked the Catholic centenary of 1938 by publishing a booklet detailing Protestant objections to the errors of the Catholic Church.249 During the 1938 local body elections in Wellington, there were complaints that sectarian issues had been introduced.25o The germs of sectarian strife had been endemic in New Zealand society long before the circumstances of the period and the contribution of influential individuals led to the sectarian epidemic which began during World War I and lasted until the early 1920s. According to Kelly and Elliott, the two most infectious "carriers" in the epidemic. their own legitimate activities brought to light the already-existing animosity of their opponents. Elliott, claiming to be "out on a great public duty", denied that he was increasing the level of sectarian antagonism in the community, but acknowledged that his actions did "bring to the surface the ill feeling that exists already on the other side. "25 1 Meanwhile Kelly asserted that "the bigotry is there all the time" but it was . "only when we Catholics fight for our rights that it is shown. "252 Elliott intensified dormant Protestant fears and prejudices which had already been aroused by several Catholic-Protestant controversies, the rebellion in Ireland and the apparent disloyalty and assertiveness of the Catholic community embodied in the Catholic Federation and Kelly's Tablet. However, the PPA never represented more than a minority of Protestants and enthusiasm for the principles it embodied waned as the sources of tension were overcome. Even at the height of the Association's popUlarity, individual Catholic and Protestant clergymen maintained cordial relations. A visitor to the Grey Lynn presbytery in November 1918 was surprised to find the Anglican Bishop Averill and the Rev. Cable in amicable conversation with Bishop Cleary and Father Holbrook.253 The limited extent of anti-Catholic sentiment can be gauged by the 248 Evening Post. 17 March 1934. p. 3. A handbill advertising the lectures. commencing on 19 March 1934. (copy in WCAA) refers to the Redwood jubilee celebrations. 249 JJ. North. The Plain Points of Protestantism (Auckland: H.H. Driver. 1938). On the front cover were printed the words " 1838 - 1938. Roman Catholic Centenary in N.Z. 1538 - 1938. 4th Centenary of the English Reformation" and the publication implies (p. 5) that sectarian bitterness frrst occurred in New Zealand because of the arrival of Bishop Pompallier. The Outlook (31 January 1938. p. 28) published a laudatory review. 250 Evening Post. 9 May 1938. p. 10; 10 May 1938. p. 8. 251 AlHR. 1917. vol. II. F.-8. p. 38. 252 NZ Tablet. 22 May 1919. p. 33. 253 Month. 14 December 1918. p. 9; cf. the earlier references to farewells for priests cited in the conclusion to chapter three above. 360 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Government's cautious response to PP A pressure and its eventual repudiation of the Association. Elliott set out to show that the Catholic Church represented a foreign power hostile to the interests of New Zealand and the British Empire, but it was increasingly clear to the great majority of New Zealanders that militant anti­ Catholicism was itself a socially disruptive force. New Zealand society continued to incubate the germs of sectarianism but since the early 1920s they have never again reached epidemic proportions. To Elliott himself must be attributed much of the responsibility for bringing discredit on efforts to marginalize the Catholic Church, while Catholics themselves, it will be argued, learnt to limit sectarian controversy by emulating the example of Cleary rather than that of Kelly. The Prohibition Debate State Prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages was a very divisive issue in New Zealand (and other Anglo-Saxon countries) during the years of the sectarian epidemic. For Presbyterians, Methodists and the smaller evangelical denominations, Prohibition was almost an article of faith, but the Anglican Church, while deploring the evils of the liquor trade, was divided over the solution.2s4 The even division of the community was demonstrated by the referendum held on 1 0 April 1919. Out of 5 1 8,016 votes, Prohibition was favoured by an excess of 13 ,896 votes within New Zealand but the 3 1 ,98 1 anti-Prohibition votes of the Expeditionary Forces gave the National Continuance option a slim margin of 10,362 - a 5 1 per cent majority.2SS Even within the Catholic Church there were sharply conflicting opinions, with Cleary's Month lending its support to the Prohibitionist cause which was vigorously opposed by the Tablet and Redwood.256 This disunity within the Church is worth considering in some detail since it prevented the presentation of a single "Catholic" viewpoint in the debate: to a large extent the Church reflected the divisions of the wider society rather than standing apart from them. Although the Prohibition debate remained in some respects a sectarian quarrel, in which evangelical Protestants were identified with one side and Catholics with the other, Prohibitionists could not 254 See J. Cocker and J. Malton Murray, editors, Temperance and Prohibition in New Zealand (London: Epworth Press, 1930), pp. 155-173. 255 Report on the 1919 Special LicenSing Poll, AJHR, 1919, vol. II, H.-39, p. 25; Cocker and Murray, pp. 126, 271 (the 13,896 figure is misprinted as 13,396; 7,723 overseas soldiers favoured Prohibition). 256 For a discussion of Redwood's views, see N.A. Simmons, pp. 128-137. -- - ------ - �----- - ---- -- -- - - -- - - -� The Prohibition Debate 361 afford to lose the support of Cleary and other Catholics by indulging in sectarian propaganda. After 19 19, moreover, the prospect of Prohibition became increasingly remote. Even though it remained on the evangelical agenda, it lacked support in the community as a whole. Since the Catholic Church's involvement in the Prohibition debate during this period has not been investigated systematically by any previous writer, this discussion will begin with an outline of the public statements of Redwood and Cleary and the role of other Catholic Prohibitionists. Then the arguments used by Catholic participants in the debate will be reviewed before a consideration of the sectarian dimension of the issue. Finally, the Prohibition debate in the years immediately following the First World War will be placed in its long-term perspective and its significance for the place of the Catholic community in the wider society will be assessed. The strongest opponent of Prohibition in the New Zealand episcopate was Redwood. At end of 19 18, he and the other Australasian archbishops met in Melbourne and issued a statement endorsing some form of restriction on the sale of alcohol, such as direct state control, but rejecting Prohibition as inappropriate and unworkable.257 The New Zealand hierarchy, however, was unable to agree on a joint statement on Prohibition.258 Shortly before the April 1919 referendum, therefore, Redwood wrote a pastoral letter which the Tablet published as its leading article. 259 One hundred copies of the letter were sent to each diocese with a request that it be read from the pulpit in every church on the Sunday before the referendum.260 Redwood warned that any Catholic who voted for Prohibition was "true neither to his common sense nor his love of freedom, nor his loyalty to his Holy Religion. "261 While acknowledging that Catholic voters had some latitude in the matter (it was not binding "under pain of sin"), the Tablet urged them to follow the teaching of the bishops and anticipated that every "loyal Catholic" would.262 Redwood certainly expected his advice to be followed by Catholics throughout the country. The opening sentence of the pastoral letter read: "The clergy and people of this archdiocese and of the other 257 NZ Tablet, 5 December 1918, p. 15. 258 Oeary to Redwood, 11 Apri1 1919, CCDA. 259 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, pp. 25-27. 260 Redwood to Brodie, 25 March 1919, CCDA. 261 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 27. 262 NZ Tablet, 31 October 1918, p. 14; 3 April 19 19, p. 14. ------- - . 362 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? dioceses in New Zealand naturally look to their Metropolitan for right guidance on the matter of Prohibition - National Prohibition - with which this Dominion is threatened. "263 In his correspondence to Brodie, Redwood described the pastoral letter addressed to the clergy and people as "telling them how to vote".264 Cleary, by contrast, repeatedly reminded his readers that, given the choice of Prohibition or some degree of state control, they were free to choose for themselves which of the options they should support, as long as there were adequate safeguards for sacramental wine.265 Fearful that his stand would divide the Church, Cleary was initially reluctant to state unequivocally his personal views, preferring to leave the matter to individual Catholics to decide for themselves.266 Moreover the clergy of the Auckland diocese were forbidden to advance their own views in sermons or other activities on church premises.267 Without specifically mentioning the stand of his episcopal colleagues or the Tablet, Cleary emphasized the variety of Catholic opinion, even in the hierarchy and among Catholic journalists.268 Yet since Cleary concentrated on the evils of alcoholism and mentioned only one danger of Prohibition (the possibility of a ban on sacramental wine) in order to allay fears concerning it, his own opinion was obvious enough from the beginning.269 The "drink traffic", he declared, gave rise to vice and crime, disease, "domestic strife and misery" and a high economic cost to the state and to industry.27o Redwood's pastoral letter forced Cleary to state his position less equivocally and underscored the differences in the two prelates' views. Cleary was taken by aback by the issue of a letter to be read in each diocese even though he himself had not been . consulted.271 The Archbishop of Wellington had no jurisdiction over the B ishop of 263 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 25. 264 Redwood to Brodie, 25 March 1919, CCDA. 265 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 18; 15 March 1919, pp. 5, 6, 7; 15 April 1919, p. 6; 15 May 1919, p. 9; 15 November 1919, pp. 1 3, 15, 17. 266 Month, 15 March 19 19, p. 7 ("we have deliberately refrained from expressing our own personal view"). 267 Cleary to clergy, 12 March 1919, CCDA; Cleary to Dean Cahill, 31 March 1919, in Month, 15 April 1919, p . 6 ; Cleary to Redwood, 2 April 1919, CCDA. 268 Month, 15 March 19 19, p. 7; cf. 15 April 19 19, p. 6; 15 November 1919, p. 15 . 269 Month, 15 July 1918, pp. 17-18; 15 March 1919, pp. 5-7 and Supplement. 270 Month, 15 March 1919, p. 6. These words were repeated before the election and liquor poll of 1919 (Month, 15 November 1919, p. 13). 271 "I. ..did not anticipate the issue of Your Grace's document" (Cleary to Redwood, 11 April 1919, C(J)A.) The Prohibition Debare 363 Auckland, who declined to have the letter read in his churches. Cleary objected to the attempt to bind Catholic consciences on the issue, pointing out that a number of priests and lay people in the diocese were conscientious Prohibitionists. Furthermore, Cleary was unwilling to publish and seemingly endorse a statement which would thus be construed as a retraction of his own publicly declared views.272 Not only was the pastoral letter circulated in the Auckland diocese by means of the Tablet, however, but it was also published in full page advertisements in the Auckland newspapers on the eve of the April referendum.273 This late publication may have been intended to forestall any effective response from the Bishop of Auckland but, on the morning of the poll, Cleary arranged for the publication of his own views in the New Zealand Herald. In order to avoid direct confrontation with Redwood, he simply published a letter addressed to Dean Cahill, dated 3 1 March 19 19, replying to a request for direct advice on how Catholics should vote in the referendum. Cleary refused the advice but countered arguments about the suppression of communion wine and emphasized the legitimacy of Catholic support for Prohibition. He also expressed the opinion that in view of the evident inability of the law or the licensed trade to overcome the evils of alcoholism, "the public conscience is fully justified morally in trying the experiment of National Prohibition". The nearest he came to a direct reference to Redwood was an acknowledgement that, liThe ablest and most zealous and saintly prelates of every rank .. . honourably and conscientiously take different sides - even opposite sides - on the debated issue of the liquor traffic. "274 Few readers of the Auckland press can have missed the public disagreement of the two most respected Catholic churchmen in the country. Wellington's Evening Post published Redwood's pastoral letter ("by arrangement with the Catholic presbytery") alongside an extract from the Month (also 272 Cleary to Redwood, 2 April 1919, CCDA. 273 NZ Herald, 9 April 1919, p. 1 5; Cleary to Redwood, 1 1 April 1919, CCDA. The respective roles of Redwood and the liquor trade are not apparent but presumably the trade required the Archbishop's permission to reprint his pastoral letter in its entirety. On the eve of the general election and liquor poll in December, Redwood's pastoral was published in the Herald again (16 December 1919, p. 19; cf p. 10 for an advertisement quoting the Month). 274 NZ Herald, 10 April 1919, p. 13; cf Month, 1 5 April 1919, p. 6; 15 May 1919, p. 9; 1 5 July 1919, p. 4. Cleary described his response as a "moderate and reasoned published statement [which] studiously avoids even the remotest hint or refe�nce" to Redwood's pastoral letter and whose "date and substance" deliberately belied the connection (Cleary to Redwood, 1 1 April 1919, CCDA). Presumably Cleary was not responsible for another advertisement published in the same issue (page 1 1), citing Catholic authorities (including Cleary) in favour of Prohibition and explicitly replying to Redwood. Other attempts to solicit Catholic votes in favour of Prohibition were also published the previous day (NZHerald, 9 April 1919, pp. 3, 13). 364 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? "published by arrangement", presumably with Cleary) a few days before the poll.275 Brodie was perturbed by the "glaring public scandal of a Catholic B ishop publicly opposing his Archbishop".276 Having committed himself to this finner and potentially even more divisive stand, however, Cleary was careful to avoid an open breach with his episcopal peers by addressing his comments to Catholics within his own jurisdiction.277 The familiar catalogue of evils associated with alcohol was now portrayed as arising from "the traffic in alcoholic drinks ... as generally conducted within our diocese" .278 By implication, the same limitation applied to the teachings of the other bishops, for they, too, could only offer "advice or recommendation", based "on the facts known to them within their respective sees".279 However, Cleary's advocacy of Prohibition became more forceful: "the sins and scandals of a large and undesirable part of the drink traffic have long been maintained at a level of iniquity which the public conscience need not - and ought not - to tolerate".28o Before the November 1919 election and liquor poll, he wrote that, "with our dying breath we would declare it our conscientious belief that there is a real, solid hope in National Prohibition for the deep physical and moral and economic mischiefs of the licensed and unlicensed traffic in alcoholic liquors. "281 Cleary sought to dissociate the Catholic Church from the liquor trade but there were stronger links than he admitted - or was aware of. While there were, he acknowledged, responsible elements in the trade, they were too few to overcome the evils wrought by their colleagues.282 Cleary was particularly agitated about the "tied house" which he blamed for encouraging licensees to push the sale of alcohol " to the 275 Evening Post, 7 April 1919, p. 3; cf Month, 15 March 1919, pp. 5-7. It is possible that Redwood saw in this publication of Cleary's views within the archdiocese a justification for the publication of his own pastoral letter in the Auckland newspapers two days later. 276 Brodie, statement (1929), CCDA. 277 Month, 15 April 1919, p. 6; November 1919, p. 17. In a letter to Redwood, Cleary pointed out that the Month was "a Diocesan organ only" and that subscriptions were not solicited outside the diocese. (Cleary to Redwood, 2 April 1919, CCDA). 278 Month, 15 July 19, p. 4. 279 Month, 15 November 1919, p. 15. 280 Month, 15 May 1919, p. 9; repeated before the 1919 election and liquor poll (Month, 15 November 1919, p. 17). 281 Month, 15 November 1919, p. 13. 282 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 16; 15 March 1919, p. 5; 15 May 1919, p. 9; 15 July 1919, p. 4; 15 November 1919, p. 17. -, .., --..-.>-- --=--' The Prohibition DebaJe 365 detriment of the social and moral welfare of the nation. "283 Even Kelly protested that he had no brief for the trade and would welcome reform.284 State control of the liquor industry, for example, would preserve individual liberty while still restricting the abuse of alcoho1.28s Catholics were strongly represented in the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages but, according to Cleary, "A high percentage of the so-called Catholics in the business are ... careless or lapsed".286 He strongly resented the suggestion that the Church itself was in any way linked with the interests of the trade.287 "The Church of the Living God," he declared, "is founded on a Rock, not upon a Vat" .288 In fact, the Catholic Church was not as innocent of involvement as Cleary would have liked to believe. In September 1922, Redwood wrote to Dean Bowers of Christchurch (who was running the diocese in the absence of Brodie) "on behalf of the Association or the Licensed Victualers of N.Z." advising him to have the priests of the diocese impress upon the laity the need to ensure that their names were on the electoral role before the coming election and liquor poll.289 Three months latir, shortly after the poll, the National Council of the Licensed Trade in New Zealand wrote to Redwood to express its gratitude "for the services you have rendered, both personally and in your advocacy of the maintenance of the rights and privileges of the people. "290 The Bishop of Auckland was far from being the only Catholic Prohibitionist. Catholics whose families had been harmed by alcoholism commonly supported the cause.291 Dr A.B. O'Brien of Christchurch publicly advocated Prohibition and in 1922, Redwood was moved to denounce a small Wellington group calling itself the 283 Month, 15 July 1918, pp. 17-18; 15 March 1919, p. 5. 284 NZ Tablet, 8 May 1919, p. 14. 285 NZ Tablet, 29 August 1918, p. 15; 12 September 1918, p. 15. 286 Cleary to Redwood, 11 April 1919, CCDA. For Catholic employment in the liquor industry, see chapter four. 287 Month, 15 April 1919, p. 6; 15 May 1919, p. 6; 15 November 1919, p. 17. 288 Month, 15 May 1919, p. 6; cf 14 June 1919, p. 3; 15 November 1919, p. 13 . The aphorism was adopted by Prohibition campaigners (Dominion, 2 November 1925, p. 6; Press, 2 November 1925, p. 18; Otago Daily Times, 3 November 1925, p. 19). 289 Redwood to Bowers, 9 September 1922, CCDA. 290 J.R. Raw (? signature unclear) to Redwood, 12 December 1922, WCAA, Prohibition me. 291 Kathleen Doyle, interview, 24 January 1989; Mary and Lou Dudson, interviews, 27 January 1989. 366 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? "Irish Catholic Prohibition League" .292 D.G. Sullivan, Labour parliamentarian (19 19- 1947) and Mayor of Christchurch (193 1 - 1936), was also a Prohibitionist.293 In 1919, the bishops were embarrassed by Charles Todd and Father Maurice Cronin who toured the country giving lectures on Prohibition.294 Todd was President of the Otago Temperance Council before being elected as Dominion President of the New Zealand Alliance for the Abolition of the Liquor Traffic (1926-1928).295 He was characterized by Coffey as one of these Catholics who go to Mass but never to the Sacraments. He is a successful business man and good and kind to his wife and children[,] all of whom are practical Catholics. He is a rabid prohibitionist who will make use of any means to gain his end. Two of his brothers have gone under through drink[,] hence his advocacy of prohibition.296 Reflecting Coffey's estimate of the man, Kelly challenged Todd to demonstrate that he was a " living member" of the Catholic Church, who, among other things, received the sacraments and was in union with the Pope.297 Cronin had served as a priest in the Christchurch diocese for four years until 1918, before going back to his own diocese of Salford, England. The following year, he returned to New Zealand, although he had not been invited by the ecclesiastical authorities and presumably did not have leave from his own bishop. He was refused work in the Christchurch diocese and Brodie warned his priests not to offer Cronin hospitality or to allow him the use of their churches or chapels. Cleary similarly showed his disapproval by forbidding Cronin facilities for saying Mass unless he could produce appropriate papers from his bishop.298 Cronin had the support of some priests in the Dunedin diocese299 but he and 292 Press, 12 September 1922, p. 12; Evening Post, 9 October 1922, p. 5; Cocker and Murray, p. 161 . Kelly claimed that the League had fewer than twelve members (NZ Tablet, 14 December 1922, p. 27) and O'Regan believed that it existed only on paper (O'Regan diary, 3 December 1922, ATL 76- 165-111). 293 Gustafson, Labour's Path, p. 122. 294 See, for example, Otago Daily Times, 10 March 1919, p. 4. 295 Cocker and Murray, pp. 161, 258, 264; 1.S. Gully, in A.H. McLintock (editor), An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (Wellington: Government Printer, 1966), vol. III, pp. 403-404. 296 Coffey to Brodie, 1 1 March 1919, CCDA; cf Coffey to O'Shea, Cleary and Brodie, 14 March 1919, CCDA. 297 NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 14. Kelly lived with Coffey at the episcopal residence in Dunedin (ACD, 1919, p. 186). 298 Cleary to clergy, signed by "lohn Bradley, secretary", 12 March 1919, CCDA; Brodie to clergy, 25 February 1919, CCDA. Copies of the letters were evidently sent to clergy of the Auckland and Christchurch dioceses. 299 Coffey to Brodie, 1 1 March 1919, CCDA. The Prohibition Debate 367 Todd apparently exaggerated the extent of their support in the Church. In Timaru and Blenheim, Todd evidently claimed to have Coffey's approval, despite the latter's protests that he had done no more than acknowledge Todd's freedom to offer hospitality to Cronin.3oo Todd also claimed the endorsement of Father O'Donnell of Gore, who had said only that Cronin was not banned by the Catholic Church.30l Although intended only for the clergy, Brodie's letter was leaked to the press, allowing Cronin to claim that he was being persecuted and enabling him and Todd to depict O'Donnell and Coffey as being at odds with Brodie.302 In 1922, George Zurcher, a priest in the American diocese of Buffalo and President of the Catholic Clergy Prohibition League, visited New Zealand at the request of Todd, who accompanied him on a· speaking tour.303 He began in Christchurch - to the chagrin of Bowers who unsuccessfully forbade Zurcher to lecture in the diocese and wrote to Redwood for advice.304 Fearful of making a martyr of Zurcher (a mistake which had been made in the case of Cronin) Bowers, Redwood, Whyte and Liston agreed to delay making a public statement until close to the election and to avoid reference to the visiting cleric.305 Zurcher was refused faculties to say Mass in the Christchurch diocese (except privately on one occasion)306 and Redwood wrote to Whyte and Liston that he would do likewise in the archdiocese of Wellington.307 In the event, the bishops apparently allowed him to celebrate Mass privately.308 Zurcher 300 NZ Tablet. 20 March 1919. p. 14; 3 April 1919. p. 14; Coffey to O'Shea, Cleary and Brodie. 14 March 1919. CCDA. 301 NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919. p. 14. 302 Press. 28 February 1919. p. 6; 1 March 1919. p. 8; Evening Post. 1 March 1919. p. 9; Cleary to Brodie. 2 March 1919. CCDA; Coffey to Cleary. 19 March 1919. CCDA. 303 Press. 12 September 1922. p. 12; Evening Post. 7 October 1922. p. 3; 9 October 1922. p. 5; Cocker and Murray. p. 258. 304 Bowers to Redwood, 12 September 1922; cf Bowers to Whyte. 29 September 1922. CCDA. 305 Redwood to Bowers 18 September 1922; Bowers to Redwood. 19 September 1922; Whyte to Bowers. 21 September 1922; Redwood to Bowers. 22 September 1922. CCDA. However, when Liston received a circular letter from Redwood in late November, he decided not to circulate it in the Auckland diocese out of deference to the absent Cleary (Liston to Brodie. 28 November 1922. CCDA). 306 Bowers to Redwood. 12 September 1922; Bowers to Whyte. 20 September 1922. CCDA. 307 Redwood to Bowers. 14 September 1922. CCDA. 308 Whyte to Bowers. 21 September 1922. CCDA; Zurcher to Redwood. 26 September 1922. WCAA; cf Redwood to Zurcher. 29 September 1922. WCAA (sentence on faculties for saying Mass illegible). Zurcher told a Wellington audience that he had been allowed to say Mass privately (Evening Post. 9 October 1922. p. 5). 368 - - - - - - .. - - .. -_ . --... -.�------------ Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? eventually sent his credentials to Redwood from Invercargill, explaining that he had not had time to present them when passing through Wellington.309 Redwood told Zurcher that his actions were offensive to the Catholic clergy, expressed his resentment at Zurcher's coming to New Zealand and advised him to leave as soon as possible.310 Although they sometimes invoked the same principles, Catholic Prohibitionists and anti-Prohibitionists reached different conclusions. Cleary and other Catholic writers agreed in rejecting as heretical the Manichaean notion that alcohol was an evil in itself, since it was a part of God's creation.3 1 1 To Kelly's mind, this meant that Catholic Prohibitionists were actually aiding heretics312 but Cleary did not believe there was any Man'ichaeism among Prohibitionists.313 In Redwood's view, the mere misuse of alcohol was not a sufficient reason for banning it, any more than printing, the theatre or dancing should be forbidden. It was just as logical to blame drapers for the shop lifting which occurred on their premises as to blame brewers for the evils of excessive drinking.314 Kelly likewise proposed alternative objects for the Prohibitionists' zeal, such as automobiles which created opportunities to undennine the virtue of young women.315 Redwood and Kelly took the argument a stage further by arguing that the drinking of alcohol was sanctioned in Scripture and by the example of Christ himself - an obvious argument which Cleary strangely failed to address.316 Cleary advocated total abstinence as a virtue endorsed by the Church but Kelly emphasized that it was only virtuous because it was not compulsory and that the virtue could not be cultivated where Prohibition was in force.317 Nor would people be made moral by legislation as the Prohibitionists seemed to hope:3 1 8 the Prohibitionist states 309 Zurcher to Redwood, 26 September 1922, WCAA. 310 Redwood to Zurcher, 29 September 1922, WCAA. It is possible that a different letter was actually sent. 3 1 1 NZTablet, 15 August 1918, p. 15 ; 19 September 1918, p. 14; 26 September 1918, p. 30 (fodd); 5 December 1918, p: 15 ; Month, 15 July 1918, p. 18; 15 March 1919, p. 6; 15 November 1919, p. 13 ; 19 October 1922, p . 33; 30 November 1922, p . 19 (the latter two references quote sermons by 1 . Eccleton, SM). 312 NZ Tablet, 15 August 1918, p. 15 . 3 13 Cleary to Redwood, 2 April 1919, CCDA. 3 14 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 26. 315 NZTablet, 3 Apri1 1919, pp. 25-26. 3 16 NZTablet, 15 August 1918, p. 15-6; 27 March 1919, p. 15; 10 April 1919, pp. 25-26. 317 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 18; 15 March 1919, p. 6, 7; 15 November 1919, p. 13; NZ Tablet, 22 August 1918, p. 15 ; 31 October 1918, p. 14. 3 18 NZTablet, 15 August 1918, p. 17; 22 August 1918, p. 15; 1 1 December 19 19, p. 26 (Redwood). The Prohibition Debate 369 in America were characterized by divorce and low church attendance.319 While upholding the virtue of temperance, Redwood feared that Prohibition would actually encourage law-breaking, sly-grogging and smuggling.320 By contrast, Cleary did not see Prohibition as an attempt to render people moral by legislation, but simply as the removal of an obstacle to cultivating virtue.321 Moreover, legislation alone would not be adequate without addressing the social and economic causes of alcoholism and without religious and moral reform.322 According to the archbishops of Australasia, though, such reforms should be encouraged instead of Prohibition, for they would foster temperance and remove any justification for Prohibition.323 James Ecc1eton SM declared Prohibitionsts to be admitting the failure of religion, since they sought to achieve by coercion what ought to be brought about by moral suasion.324 Episcopal exponents and opponents of Prohibition agreed in principle that it was justified in some societies. Cleary, moved by the evidence of drunkenness in New Zealand and by the inability of government or the trade itself to devise adequate safeguards, was convinced that Prohibition was appropriate for individuals or communities whose use of alcohol was immoderate.325 The archbishops argued that Australasia was not "drink-sodden" as advocates of Prohibition claimed, though if it ever became so, Prohibition might then be justified. 326 Speaking for New Zealand in particular, Redwood branded the notion that its people were "drink-sodden" and in need of "drastic legislation" as "a vile and monstrous calumny".327 To Bowers he acknowledged that in some circumstances it would be ethically permissible to impose Prohibition - though not in a "conspicuously sober" country like New Zealand.328 319 NZ Tablet, 22 August 1918, pp. 15-6. 320 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 26. 321 Month, 15 March 1919, p. 6. 322 Month, 1 5 July 1918, p. 18 323 NZ Tablet, 5 December 1918, p. 15 . 324 NZ Tablet, 19 October 1922, pp. 33-34; 30 November 1922, p. 19. 325 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 18; 15 March 19 19, p. 6. 326 NZ Tablet, 5 December 1918, p. 15. For another rejection of the notion that drunkenness in New 'Zealand was sufficiently prevalent to justify Prohibition. see ibid., 19 October 1922, p. 33 (sermon by Eccleton). 327 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 26. 328 Redwood to Bowers, 14 September 1922, CCDA. 370 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? National Prohibition, according to Redwood, would be "an odious and inquisitorial tyranny"329 and in the words of the assembled archbishops of Australasia, Prohibition constituted "an unwarrantable infringement on the reasonable liberty of the mass of the people".33o Kelly's pre-referendum editorial lamented that "we are on the highway to an intolerable tyranny under mob rule".33 1 The establishment of state tyranny was the strongest ethical objection to Prohibition.332 Cleary, on the contrary, saw the state as the agent of the public conscience and believed it therefore had a right to regulate or even forbid the sale of alcohol if this were deemed necessary in the public interest.333 Cronin and Zurcher could be dismissed as visitors to the country who, like the laymen Todd and O'Brien, were not authorized to speak on behalf of the Church, but the isolation of Cleary constituted a serious rupture in the Catholic leadership. Claiming that the Tablet refused to give a fair presentation of the case for Prohibition, Todd published a brief pamphlet responding to Kelly but largely taken up with quotations from other writers, including Cleary.334 In 1925, he published in the Otago Daily Times an advertisement which attacked Kelly and contrasted "Archbishop Redwood's wild and wet effusions" with "Bishop Cleary's cultured and reasonable articles" .335 Contrasting the views of Todd and Cronin with those expressed by the Australasian archbishops, Kelly concluded that, "Against the opinion of the Hierarchy united in Council certainly only a fool would oppose the opinion of an irresponsible Catholic layman, or even of an individual priest "336 Presumably the opinion of a lone episcopal Prohibitionist was not worth much more. On an earlier occasion, Kelly had lamented the harm done by "misguided Catholics" : "No matter who they are, no matter what position they hold, they must remember that they are not speaking for the Church when they advocate total Prohibition".33? Kelly was unmoved by the testimonies "of 329 NZTablet, 10 April 1919, p. 26. 330 NZ Tablet, 5 December 1918, p. 15. 331 NZ Tablet, 3 April 1919, pp. 25-26; cf 29 August 1918, p. 15; 1 3 November 1919, p. 15 . 332 NZ Tablet, 27 March 1919, p. 15. 333 Month, 1 5 July 1918, p. 18; 15 March 1919, pp. 6-7; 1 5 April 1919, p. 6; 15 November 1919, pp. 13-15; 13 December 1919, pp. 3-4. 334 Charles Todd, Prohibition and Catholics (Dunedin: printed by Wilkie and Co., 1919). 335 Otago Daily Times, 3 November 1925, p. 13. Like his pamphlet, most of Todd's advertisement (taking up a whole double column of the "Public Notices") consisted of quotations. 336 NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 14. This was an exaggeration, for only the archbishops had expressed a collective opinion. 337 NZTablet, 1 5 August 1918, p. 15 . The Prohibition Debate 371 priests and even of bishops" in favour of Prohibition.338 Redwood dismissed Cleary's attitude as but one of the latter's "fads" and hoped that the Bishop of Auckland, who . was overseas in 1922, would not return home before the election and liquor poll at the end of the year. He regretted the "trouble and embarrassment" Cleary had caused Catholics "throughout the Dominion" .339 Bowers described a letter by Cleary on the eve of the 1919 election as "a source of great embarrassment to all of us clergy and laity alike since it was published" and wished Cleary would follow the line endorsed by the other bishops.340 While Prohibition divided the Catholic Church, or at least its leadership, the issue also had strong sectarian overtones. According to Kelly, the prominent role of Methodists and Baptists in the campaign was enough in itself to make Catholics wary.34 1 He asserted that, "The advocates of Prohibition are in the main the greatest enemies to the Catholic Church and the most implacable tyrants, who would show no mercy to Catholics if they had their way. "342 Redwood saw the Prohibitionist cause as largely the work of fanatics, although there were some sincere Catholics involved whose families had been hurt by alcohol abuse.343 He warned that his pastoral letter on Prohibition should not be read in churches or published until the Sunday immediately before the referendum, lest on an intervening Sunday, "our enemies" would have an opportunity to invoke the "no-popery argument" in their pulpits "with words they would not dare to use in the newspaper" . 344 There were grounds for this concern: when Coffey met Todd, he was embarrassed to find him in "a crowd of men notorious for their hatred of the Church" as evidenced by their past support for anti-Catholic lecturers.345 Even Cleary admitted that there were "enemies of the Church in the 338 NZ Tablet, 27 March 1919, p. 15. 339 Redwood to Bowers, 14 September 1922, CCDA; Redwood to Zurcher, 29 September 1922, WCAA. 340 Bowers to Redwood, 12 September 1922, CCDA. The words "since it was published" were added to the original draft; perhaps Bowers was referring to the letter addressed to Cahill before the April 1919 poll. 341 NZ Tablet, 29 August 1918, p. 15. 342 NZTablet, 29 August 1918, pp. 15-16. 343 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 26. 344 Redwood to Brodie, 25 March 1919, CCDA (original emphasis). 345 Coffey to Brodie, 1 1 March 1919, CCDA; cf. Coffey to Cleary, 19 March 1919, CCDA. Kelly was forced to retract the claim that the chainnan of the meeting addressed by Cronin and Todd in Dunedin on 3 March 1919 had been associated with the anti-Catholic ex-nun Margaret Shepherd (NZ Tablet, 26 June 19 19, p. 1 5; cf. 27 March 1919, p. 15; 3 April 1919, p. 14). � --- .-:; ..��-.;..; �.!;.---... _. -�--"'- .-.� .. , -. 372 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Prohibition movement" but they did not run it and anyway there were also good Catholics on both sides of the issue.346 Cleary had a novel explanation of the link between sectarianism and Prohibition. He believed that the PP A was funded in part by the liquor industry and that Dickson was a lobbyist for the brewers. He asserted that many Auckland priests and lay Catholics were determined to support Prohibition if the brewers sponsored Dickson in the 1919 election. Even Catholics in the liquor trade were afraid that antagonizing the PP A and the Orange Lodge would be harmful for business.347 The PPA, however, claimed to be standing against "some part of the liquor trade". 348 The sectarian dimension of the controversy was most apparent in Catholic fears that Prohibition would be extended to the use of sacramental wine. Kelly was certain that if Prohibition were introduced, the "No-popery party" would lobby for a ban on wine for religious use.349 Redwood saw such a ban as the inevitable corollary of the view that alcoholic drink was in itself eviP50 He warned that "the No-License movement numbers among its most prominent advocates men who publicly denounce the Mass as "an unchristian superstition" and make no secret of their determination, if they had the power, to prevent its celebration in New Zealand."35 1 Both Kelly and Redwood drew cautionary lessons from the experience of Prohibition in the United States.352 Even though contemporary Prohibition campaigners in New Zealand (including Todd) denied any ambition to ban sacramental wine, Kelly repeatedly alleged that the Rev. B.S. Hammond had expressed in 191 1 a hope that this would happen.353 346 Cleary to Redwood, 2 April 1919, CCDA. 347 Cleary to Brodie, 16 March 1919, CCDA; Cleary to Redwood, 2 April 1919 and 1 1 April 1919, CCDA. 348 Colonist (Nelson), 1 1 October 1919, quoted in NZPD, 1919, vol. 185, p. 392 (McCallum). 349 NZ Tablet, 15 August 1918, p. 15; 3 April 1919, p. 14; 30 November 1922, p. 18. 350 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 25; 11 December 1919, p. 26. 351 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 27. Earlier in the same pastoral letter (p. 26), Redwood had been more circumspect: "We know that there are in the ranks of the Prohibitionists, though not, perhaps, among the present leaders in this country, bitter enemies of the Catholic Church and of the Mass" (emphasis added). 352 NZ Tablet, 15 August 1918, p. 15; 29 August 1918, p. 15; 10 April 1919, p. 26; 29 April 1920, p. 14; 22 July 1920, p. 14; 30 November 1922, p. 23. 353 NZ Tablet, 8 August 1918, p. 14; 15 August 19 18, p. 15; 29 August 1918, p. 15; 5 September 1918, p. 14; 12 September 1918, p. 15; 7 November 1928, p. 6; cf. Moores, pp. 38-39; A.R. Grigg, "Prohibition, the Church and Labour: a Programme for Social Reform, 1890-1914", New Zealand Journal oj History, 15/2 (October 1981), p. 146. Kelly denied that he was misrepresenting Hammond (NZ Tablet, 19 August 1918, p. 15). For Todd's defence, see Todd to the editor, NZ The Prohibition Debate 373 Neither Redwood nor Kelly were reassured by the promises of the Prohibitionists and the Government that sacramental wine would be protected by regulation, since such regulations could be altered in the future.354 Coffey, however, confided in the bishops that he was not impressed by the argument that communion wine would be endangered, although as an Irish Catholic he professed little faith in Acts of Parliament as guarantees.355 Cleary did acknowledge that some Prohibitionists might seek in the future to imitate the more restrictive legislation of certain American states,356 but he was satisfied by an assurance he had received from Attorney-General Bell that Prohibition regulations would make adequate provision for the continued use of altar wine.357 He did not think that any "present or prospective political party is at all likely to be strong enough or foolish enough . . . to antagonise Catholics and Anglicans - or even a compact body of Catholics alone, roused and fused red hot by an attack upon their central act of worship."358 Although they continued to restate their previously expressed views, there was some mellowing on the part of Kelly and especially Cleary over the coming years. Before each of the triennial liquor polls of the 1920s, Redwood's pastoral letter and the Australasian archbishops' statement were reprinted in the Tablet.359 In 1928, both statements were reproduced twice.360 Kelly reiterated his old arguments361 but also (Footnote continuedfrom previous page.) Tablet. 26 September 1918. pp. 30-3 1. to which Kelly responded the following week (3 October 1918. pp. 15. 17). 354 NZ Tablet. 10 April 1919, pp. 26-27; 3 April 19 19, p. 14. In August 1918, however� Kelly had expressed the more moderate view that a Prohibition law could only be satisfactory to Catholics if it included a specific exemption for liturgical wine (NZ Tablet, 1 5 August 1918, p. 15 ; 29 August 1918. p. 15). 355 Coffey to Cleary. 19 March 1919. CCDA. In evidence, Coffey alluded to the need to defend the right to use government scholarships in Catholic secondary schools as provided for in legislation as recently as 1914. 356 Month, 15 July 1918. p. 18. 357 Month, 1 5 March 1919, p. 5 and Supplement; 15 April 1919. p. 6. (The latter reference is to a letter by Cleary dated 3 1 March 1919.); 15 November 1919. p. 15. In a letter to Redwood. Cleary referred to the Attorney-General as "our tried and trusted friend" (Cleary to Redw<><>d. 2 April 1919. CCDA). Cleary had already received a similar assurance from Massey (Sweetman, pp. 201 -202, citing Cleary to Massey 13 November 1918 and Massey to Cleary. 1 5 November 1918. ACDA). 358 Oeary to Redwood. 2 April 1919. CCDA. 359 NZ Tablet. 30 November 1922. pp. 18. 29-30; 28 October 1925. pp. 30-3 1 . 33. 360 NZ Tablet. 24 October 1928. pp. 22-23; 7 November 1928. pp. 43-44. The archbishops' statement was also reproduced in part on page 5 of the latter issue. 361 NZ Tablet. 1 1 November 1925. p. 22; 22 December 1926. p. 22; 7 December 1927. p. 22; 2 May 1928. p. 5; 23 May 1928. p. 5; 6 June 1928, p. 5; 29 August 1928, p. 3 ; 17 October 1928, p. 5; 7 November 1928. pp. 5-6; 7 November 1928. p. 3; 21 November 1928. p. 6. 374 - -- ' - ' - . -,--- .-.----�----.-------. ---- Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? increasingly expressed hiS approval of state control of the liquor industry362 and questioned the need for triennial polls.363 Cleary was overseas in 1922 but in 1925 and 1928 he repeated "the substance of our former instructions" to the Catholics of his diocese.364 He added the assurance that there was no possibility of suppressing sacramental wine because acceptable wine could be made by soaking raisins in water!365 Reflecting on the provisional results of the 1928 poll, in which the National Continuance option received for the first time more support than Prohibition and State Purchase and Control combined, Cleary sought to minimize their significance. Of the three options, only National Continuance had been promoted by an expensive advertising campaign. The liquor trade was still characterized by abuses such as the "far too numerous class of licensees who cater for drinking by women and girls" . Yet there were, he believed, intimations of reform and the reduced trading hours (actually a wartime measure which had been made permanent back in 1918) constituted "the most notable reform in the liquor traffic for a great many years past." Further reform would stave off Prohibition and Cleary himself would then be content with "the abolition of ardent spirits and the reasonably regulated use - licensed or otherwise - of wines and ales' of moderate alcoholic content"366 Cleary was modifying his stand. Before the 1925 poll he had admitted that the liquor trade would not be threatened with Prohibition if it reformed itself.367 In 1928, he was acknowledging that such reform was actually taking place and that full Prohibition might not be needed. The Catholic role in the Prohibition debate revealed more about Catholic assumptions concerning the place of the Church in the wider society than about Protestant attitudes towards the Catholic Church. In the period discussed, there was no widespread public antagonism towards the Catholic Church on account of Prohibition, although Catholic opposition to the cause certainly annoyed its Protestant supporters. Most Prohibitionists knew they had more to gain by persuading at least some Catholics . 362 NZTablet. 17 October 1928. p. 5; 5 September 1928. p. 5; 7 November 1928. p. 3; 21 November 1928. p. 6. 363 NZ Tablet. 1 1 November 1925. p. 22; 21 November 1928. p. 6. 364 Month. 20 October 1925. pp. 17-18; 16 October 1928. pp. 21 . 23 (page 21 has the words quoted). 365 Month. 16 October 1928. pp. 23. 25; 20 November 1928. p. 13 . 366 Month. 20 November 1928. pp. 17-18. For final figures see Cocker and Murray. p. 271 . 367 Month, 1 6 October 1925. pp. 17-18. -------------- --- .. r " � The Prohibition Debare 375 to vote for prohibition than by arousing Protestants to support it as a way of striking a blow at the Catholic Church.368 Catholic disagreement over Prohibition was founded not only on varying estimates of the problems of alcohol but also on differing attitudes to the non-Catholic proponents of Prohibition. In contrast to Cleary's optimistic estimate of Prohibitionist intentions, Kelly and Redwood emphasized the sectarian . dimensions to the conflict by stressing the communion wine issue. They took up a defensive position in part because they feared that the Church's enemies sought to abolish the Mass by cutting off the supply of sacramental wine. Kelly's views were endorsed by the hierarchy as a whole and his incessant commendation of its authoritative teaching owed as much to this happy coincidence as to any loyalty he bore the episcopate. Cleary, by contrast, while recognizing the sectarian designs of a few Prohibitionists, trusted that the good-will of most Protestants would ensure the continued availability of altar wine. He was no doubt correct in this estimate of Protestant attitudes, while decreasing support for Prohibition reduced further any threat to sacramental wine. From a long-term perspective, it is clear that anti-Prohibitionist Catholics were on the side of the victorious majority in the Prohibition debate. In 1927, when the. Government proposed to reduce the three-way liquor poll to a two-issue choice (for or against Prohibition), the Press denounced the idea as a capitulation to the interests of the New Zealand Alliance in the face of growing opposition to Prohibition in the country at large.369 The Tablet quoted the Press editorial with approval.370 By the 1930s, the issue had lost its significance for most Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Before the 1935 liquor poll, the Zealandia, successor to Cleary's Month, published advertisements for both National Continuance and Prohibition.371 As a 1938 National Continuance advertisement in the Tablet asked rhetorically, "What, Again? I thought we had settled this question". 372 Catholics and the majority of the population agreed, but the leadership of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches continued to advocate 368 An important exception was William Ricbardson, editor of the Free Press and a prominent figure in the establishment of the PPA (Moores, pp. 36-37; cf Cocker and Murray, p. 249). On the Free Press (published in Auckland), see O'Connor, '' 'Protestants', pp. 195-197. 369 Press, 1 December 1927, p. 8; cf Cocker and Murray, pp. 133-134. 370 NZ Tablet, 7 December 1927, p. 22. 371 Zealandia, 24 October 1935, p. 6; 21 November 1935, p. 2. 372 NZ Tablet, 28 September 1938, p. 44. 376 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Prohibition until well after World War II.373 On this issue, it was the Evangelical community, not the Catholic Church, which held a marginal position. A "Solid Vote" for Labour? Protestant opponents of the Labour Party, supposing the Catholic Church to be a homogeneous and strictly disciplined organization, rather than a community embracing diverse political views, were ready to believe without substantial evidence that Catholics were directed by the hierarchy on how to use their vote. A similar assumption appears to lie behind Erik Olssen's reference to an "alliance between the party and the Roman Catholic Church" in 19 19.374 However, although Catholics were encouraged to participate in politics, there was no "Catholic" vote. The Church disclaimed any right to instruct the faithful on how to vote and Catholics supported all political parties. Indeed, official Catholic antagonism towards Socialism and Communism ensured a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards the Labour Party, even though this Party increasingly attracted Catholic support. During the interwar period (and earlier) it was widely believed that Catholic political loyalties were subject to ecclesiastical discipline.375 The Catholic "block vote", commonly supposed to favour the Labour Party, was thought to be used to advance sectarian interests incompatible with those of the community at large. Potter assumed that whenever a Catholic stood for Parliament, Catholics would not vote for anyone else.376 According to North, "The ominous fact is - and everyone admits it ­ the Roman Catholic Church is in politics. "377 Politicians' concerns over the Catholic block vote, he alleged, were reflected in every parliamentary debate which touched upon Catholic privileges.378 Dickie asserted that, "It requires no proof to show what a menace to any country a large section of the electorate, voting simply as they are told by their 'spiritual' guides, must be."379 The Anglican Church Gazette, lamenting 373 Davidson, p. 156. 374 E. Olssen, John A. Lee (Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 1977), p. 19; cf idem, A History of Otago (Dunedin: John McIndoe, 1984). p. 187. 375 For a discussion of the "block vote" issue in the nineteenth century, see Davis, Irish Issues, chapter eight. 376 NZPD, 1923, vol. 200, p. 266. 377 North, Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits, p. 10. 378 North, Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits. p. 5. 379 J. Dickie, "Foreword" in North, Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits. Evidently Dickie thought proof that Catholics did actually vote as the clergy told them to was equally unnecessary. A "Solid Vote "!or Labour? 377 parliamentary rejection of the Religious Exercises in Schools Bill in 1927, argued that, "Politicians recognise that the Roman vote is a solid vote, and they act accordingly." Anglicans, by contrast, lacked political influence because they would not "allow themselves to be dragooned by ecclesiastical authority in political matters. "380 The claim that the Catholic block vote supported the Labour Party, with which the Church was supposed to have a special arrangement, continued to be made long after the demise of the PPA. Before the 1938 election, there was circulated a chain letter claiming that the Labour Government was being used by the Catholic hierarchy " to fIll the Civil Service with Roman Catholics" and that Labour would tax Protestants to pay for "idolatrous Convents and Schools which are erected in every town in opposition to State Schools".38 1 Some prominent Catholics did hope that their co-religionists could become an effective voting force, especially if proportional representation were introduced. In response to sectarian pressure, Kelly urged Catholics to unite: "we must form one solid phalanx that will stand like one man against any Government that will infringe our rights at the dictation of persons who make a living out of hating us. "382 Recognizing that Catholic voters were only a small minority in most electorates, O'Regan, 0' Shea and the Catholic Federation considered proportional representation as a means of increasing Catholic representation in Parliament.383 Kelly argued that proportional representation was the only fair kind of democratic government and was opposed by the PPA because it would undermine the Association's control over the Reform administration.384 He commended the Labour Party's support for such a change to the electoral system.385 Lamenting the inability of the Catholic community to secure morally acceptable divorce legislation, O'Regan noted that " the system of single- 380 Church Gazette, 1 December 1927, p. 4. For further discussion of claims about the alleged Catholic block vote against Bible in Schools bills, see chapter seven below. 381 NZ Tablet, 7 September 1938, p. 6. The Zealandia (29 September 1938, p. 6) attributed such propaganda to "a familiar organisation arising from its well-deserved obscurity" - presumably the Orange Lodge. 382 NZ Tablet, 19 August 1920, p. 15 ; cf, 23 September 1920, p. 14 ("We must depend on ourselves; we must organise and be ready to fight for our rights as Catholics and as citizens .... Sinn Fein is our best motto. ") 383 Davis, Irish Issues, p. 184; O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict", p. 10. 384 NZ Tablet, 31 March 1921 , p. 15; cf 28 November 1928, p. 3 (for a brief allusion to proportional representation). 385 NZ Tablet, 2 October 1919, p. 15 ; 28 June 1923, p. 18. · 378 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? member constituencies makes Catholic representation impossible" and concluded that proportional representation was of "paramount importance to the Catholic body, nay, to society itself'.386 Proportional representation could have given Catholics a stronger voice in Parliament - though probably not a decisive role on contentious issues - but only through the establishment of a Catholic party, which was apparently never seriously considered. It was pointed out that allegedly Catholic parties overseas, such as the German Centre Party and the Italian Popular Party, had no official standing387 - although this was not always noted when the electoral successes and other news about these parties or the role of priests in politics were reported.388 As individuals, Catholics were urged to become involved in politics, partly to promote their sectional interests, but also because Catholic teaching was believed to supply the answers to society's needs. Speaking to the Catholic Federation in 19 19, Liston identified the material interests and social welfare of Catholics with those of the community as a whole and warned that the Catholic minority "must not stand apart as an alien" for, "We cannot afford, either for the sake of our country, or our religion, to live away from the social and political life around us." The time had come, he suggested, "for us to enter more boldly into the national life and make ourselves a force in the nation". In order to win the country "to Christ and His Church", Liston urged Catholic laymen to "find their way onto all sorts Of public bodies and cheerfully shoulder the burdens of public duty". 389 0' Shea told the Federation that Catholics had a duty to help their country in postwar reconstruction, since only the Catholic Church endorsed the coherent system of social principles necessary to steer a safe course between "reactionary Capitalism" and "radical revolutionary Socialism" .390 In 1933, Leonard J. Cronin, the new editor of the Tablet, argued that, "Many Catholics are suffering from an inferiority complex, which had its effect in their abstention from a prominent part in public life." There needed to be "more Catholics in Parliament, on 386 NZTablet, 3 June 1925, p. 15. 387 Month, 15 January 19 19, p. 4; 1 5 December 1922, p. 3; 15 August 1923, p. 1 1 ; 17 July 1928, p. 25; NZ Tablet, 29 May 1919, p. 15 ; 14 February 1934, p. 39 (McRae); cf. North's allegation (Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits, p. 1 1) that "Everywhere there is a Catholic party, a Catholic vote" but Protestants were nowhere organized in such a manner. 388 NZ Tablet, 10 January 1924, p. 47 (Austria); 23 January 1929, p. 3 (Germany); 1 February 1933, p. 4 (Belgium); Month, 1 5 February 1923, p. 6 (Holland); 17 June 1924, p. 39, 1 8 November 1924, p. 13 and 15 February 1927, p. 18 (Monsignor Seipel, Austrian Chancellor). 389 Catholic Federation . . . 5th March, 1919, p. 6; NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 13 . 390 NZ Tablet, 7 August 1919, p. 34. _ .... ---- - - - - A "Solid Vote "!or Labour? 379 local bodies and also in all those societies which represent community thought in business, politics and social advancement." Cronin believed that, "In the legislative sphere the most effective way of winning favor [sic] with the non-Catholic community is for the Catholic politiCian to demonstrate his dis-interested spirit of service for the highest welfare of all sections of the community, irrespective of class or creed." Catholic politicians could promote the public good by acting in accordance with their Church's social teaching, even though the religious basis of their policies would not necessarily be apparent391 Despite the assumption of some Protestants that their political and religious antagonists must necessarily be acting in collusion, the Catholic community was seldom, if ever, so united on a single issue that it could exercise a block vote. No doubt Catholics, as a community, favoured state aid for their schools, but there is no evidence to suppose that they were ever so uniformly preoccupied with this issue that they could overcome their differences on all others. Even if they had been so united, moreover, the scattering of Catholics' votes over the country's electorates would have deprived them of any combined electoral significance unless substantial numbers of non-Catholics voted the same way. At most, Catholics might conceivably hope to hold the balance of power in a hung Parliament and demand state aid or some other concession as the price of a coalition, but a government dependent of such sectional support would be very unpopular in the community at large. Responding to allegations that the Catholic block vote was behind Labour Party opposition to Bible reading in schools, Cleary told the congregation of St Patrick's cathedral: "So far as your knowledge and mine goes, Catholics, like their fellow-citizens of other faiths, vote in accordance with the class to which they belong, or along the lines of their commercial interests, or of their free and unfettered personal preferences. "392 Patrick Darby, a Catholic supporter of the Reform Government, could declare that, "No bishop or priest has ever influenced the votes of myself or the large number of Catholic voters known to me. "393 391 NZ Tablet, 1 February 1933, p. 3; cf 24 May 1935, p. 3 for encouragement of Catholics to become involved in municipal politics. Cronin commenced his editorship in June 1932 (Directors' minutes, 17 May 1932). . 392 Month, 16 August 1927, p. i; cf T. Gilmore, Assistant Secretary of the Wellington Labour Representation Committee, to the editor, Evening Post (5 January 1918. p. 3): Catholics and Protestants "vote according to their class interests and the measure of their economic knowledge" and Patrick Darby to the editor, NZ Herald (26 June 1928, p. 12): "Roman Catholics, as well as their fellow-voters of other Churches, vote according to their own private opinions and political predelictions ... 393 NZ Herald, 26 June 1928, p. 12. 380 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? In principle, the Catholic press and the hierarchy disavowed any claim to detennine the political allegiances of Catholics. Fearful of the opprobrium aroused by even the appearance of official involvement in party politics, Cleary was the most earnest exponent of ecclesiastical neutrality. He frequently asserted, usually in response to accusations by non-Catholics to the contrary, that the Catholic Church was above party politics and had no alliance with any party. Individual Catholics were free to choose for themselves which party or politician they supported. However, the Church did claim for itself a duty to enunciate the moral principles which should influence the citizen's political views and also reserved the right to speak out whenever ecclesiastical interests or moral principles were threatened.394 During the 1919 election campaign, Cleary warned the clergy of Auckland that "on no account, and in no circumstances, is any political address to be given in any church."395 He declared that, "Neither the Catholic Federation, nor the Catholic Church, nor its heads, nor the Catholic body, in this Dominion, are running any political party, or any candidate."396 At the bishops' meeting in 1920, Brodie asked whether a recent instruction of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith prohibiting clerical involvement in politics applied to New Zealand. Redwood saw no objection to careful participation in politics as long as priests did not do so in church but Cleary argued that the instruction did apply, at least in part, to New Zealand.397 Seeing in it a means of curbing Kelly' s excesses, Cleary secured a ruling that the instruction did apply in this country and occasionally alluded to it in the Month.398 Even Kelly argued that the Church did not interfere in party politics, but had to pronounce upon moral and religious issues.399 Catholic editors explicitly disowned any party allegiance for their journals,400 sometimes in response to accusations that electioneering advertisements 394 Month. 1 5 November 1919. p. 3; 13 December 1919. p. 7; 14 February 1920. p. 3; 1 5 June 1920. p. 6; 15 August 1923. p. 12; 15 January 1924. pp. 21-22; 19 May 1925. p. 21; 17 May 1927. p. 17; 17 July 1928. pp. 23. 25. 395 Cleary to clergy. 28 October 1919. quoted in Month. 13 December 1919. p. 7 (original emphasis). 3% Month. 13 December 1919. p. 7. Cleary's warning to the Federation not to involve itself in party politics bas already been noted. 397 Minutes of bisbops' meeting. 14 December 1920. CCDA. ACDA CLE 1-5. 398 Month. 15 November 1920. p. 4; 15 August 1923. p. 12; 19 May 1925. p. 21; 17 July 1928, p. 25; Sweettnan, pp. 276-277, 330-331. 349. 399 NZ Tablet, 14 November 1928, p. 3; 26 December 1928. p. 5. 400 Month, 1 5 January 1920. p. 4; 1 5 January 1924. p. 22; NZ Tablet. 10 May 1933, p. 4; 27 July 1938. p. 46. .- ---. - .- - . . '- _. _ -----_. A "Solid Vote"for Labour? 381 reflected editorial preferences.401 Readers of the Month were advised that its advertising columns "have been all along open on equal terms to candidates of all Parties, and ... candidates of all parties have been canvassed for advertisements".402 Indeed, Catholic newspapers published advertisements for the Liberal, United, Reform, Labour and National Parties.403 Catholics were urged to enrol and vote but were never explicitly told whom to vote for, since the Church had no iriterest in party politics�404 In local body politics, however, prominent Catholic non-Labour candidates occasionally received influential but indirect endorsement Such backing never amounted to official sponsorship but it did suggest that the Church had an interest in the election of Catholics to political office. Before the 193 1 municipal elections, parishoners at St Joseph's in Wellington were reminded of the duty to vote: if they did not know whom to choose, there were always a few candidates "concerning whom it is possible to obtain the necessary assurances." P.D. Hoskins, a Citizens candidate for the City Council and the most prominent Catholic layman in Wellington, had already been named twice in the parish notices in connection with the Catholic Education Board and the St Vincent de Paul Society.40s The Tablet's Wellington correspondent 401 NZ Tablet. 1 1 December 1919, p. 27; ZealaruJia, 20 October 1938, p. 6. 402 Month, 13 December 1919. p. 16. 403 Liberal: NZ Tablet. 20 November 1919. p. 23; 27 November 1919. pp. 19. 28; 4 December 1919, pp. 37-39; 1 1 December 1919. pp. 28-29. 37; Month, 15 November 1919. p. 16; 13 December 1919. pp. 12, 20. United: NZ Tablet, 7 November 1928. pp. 2. 34. Reform: NZTablet. 17 October i928. p. 2; 31 October 1928. p. 39; 7 November 1928. p. 39. Reform did not advertise in the Catholic press during Massey's tenure as Premier and the 1928 advertisements were onl y authorized after a special meeting of Tablet Company Board of Directors (Minutes. 3 October 1928). Coalition: NZTablet. 18 November 1931 . p. 7; 25 November 1931. p. 16; 20 November 1935. p. 36. Labour: NZ Tablet. 20 November 1919. p. 7; 27 November 1919. p. 9; 1 1 December 1919. pp. 4. 23. 39; 18 November 193 1 . p. 2; 25 November 193 1. pp. 2. 7. 15. 41 ; 20 November 1935, p. 7; 28 September 1938. p. 6; 5 October 1938. p. 6; 12 October 1938. p. 6; Month. 15 November 1919, pp. 12. 14; 13 December 1919. pp. 8. 14. 18. 20; 16 October 1922. p. 12; 15 November 1922, pp. 6. 8. 10; Catholic News. November 1935. p. 7; Zealandia. 21 November 1935, p. 7; 6 October 1938, p. 5; 13 October 1938. p. 5; 13 October 1938. p. 7. National: NZ Tablet. 21 September 1938. p. 8; 28 September 1938. p. 8; 5 October 1938. p. 8; 12 October 1938. p. 8; Catholic News. November 1935. p. 5; Zealandia, 21 November 1935. pp. 5. 8; 22 September 1938. pp. 2. 9; 29 September 1938. pp. 8. 10; 6 October 1938, p. 13 ; 13 October 1938. pp. 5. 9. 404 NZ Tablet. 31 August 1922. p. 14; 6 June 1928. p. 5; 3 October 1928. p. 5; 24 October 1928, p. 3; 7 November 1928. p. 3; 1 May 1935. p. 3; 30 October 1935. p. 3; 20 November 1935. p. 3 ; Zealandia. 7 November 1935. p. 4; 18 July 1935. p. 4; 29 September 1938. p. 6; 20 October 1938. p. 7. 405 St Josepb's parish notices. 3 May 1931. WCAA. 382 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? openly urged readers to vote for Hoskins, but the Month's reference to his candidacy was much more impartial.406 Before the 1933 election, the Secretary of the Candidature Committee wrote to the Administrator of St Joseph's parish asking that Hoskins' candidacy be promoted from the pulpit. Hoskins himself, however, having reconsidered the matter, wrote to cancel the request.407 During the 1935 local body election campaign in Dunedin, the Tablet complained that "extraordinary stories" were being circulated about Catholic candidates, especially Deputy Mayor 1.J. Marlow, who, it was said, would govern the city according to instructions from the Pope if elected as Mayor. Cronin recalled that there never had been nor ever would be a Catholic block vote and that the Church claimed no jurisdiction over party politics unless religious issues were at stake. Nevertheless, despite his attendances at Catholic functions, sitting Labour Mayor E.T. Cox was dismissed as one "whose promise bubbles have been bursting with disconcerting frequency since his election two years ago" . Marlow, the Citizens' candidate, was said to have carried much of the Mayor's responsibility over this time.408 The article was obviously intended to arouse sympathy for Marlow as the innocent object of "the bigots' attacks"; his membership of the Tablet Company's Board of Directors was not mentioned. A week earlier, Cronin had argued that since there were a number of worthy Catholic candidates, it was "the plain duty of the Catholic community to give them wholehearted support at the ballot box."409 However, shortly before the national election later that year, he declared that, "The Catholic voter should not be influenced either for or against a candidate because of his religion. "4 10 The existence of prominent Catholic non-Labour candidates for local and national political office effectively counters the charge that the Church was committed to the Labour Party.4 J J There were two prominent Catholic candidates in the 1935 Wellington City Council elections: Hoskins for Citizens and M.J. Reardon for 406 NZTablet, 29 April 1931. p. 45; Month. 1 May 1931. p. 19; cf. Zealandia. 9 May 1935. p. 7. 407 W.N. Bacon to A. McRae. 5 April 1933; Hoskins to McRae. 7 April 1933. enclosed with St Joseph's parish notices. WCAA. 408 NZ Tablet. 1 May 1935. p. 4. 409 NZTablet. 24 May 1935. p. 3 . 410 NZTablet. 30 October 1935. p. 3; cf. 27 November 1935. p. 3. 4 1 1 In addition to the examples below. other non-Labour Catholic candidates included the 1935 . National candidate for Eden. C.E. Clarke (Zealandia. 7 November 1935. p. 5; cf. 28 July 1938. p. 8). Presumably the named United Party candidates commended by Kelly (NZ Tablet. 2 May 1928, p. 5) included Catholics. '. , 0-i ---- .� A "Solid Vote "/or Labour? 383 Labour.412 Carey Carrington, a Dargaville builder involved in local body politics, was Chainnan of the Refonn electoral committee from 191 1 until 1925 and was appointed to the Legislative Council the following year.413 The Prohibitionist Charles Todd, admittedly not viewed with favour by the hierarchy, was Mayor of St Kilda ( 1923- 1926) before seeking election as the Refonn candidate for Dunedin South in 1928.414 After serving as Mayor of Oamaru for two tenns, M.F.E. Cooney was an unsuccessful National Party candidate for the electorate in 1938.415 Mosgiel Mayor and Tablet Company Manager John P. Walls, who was given pennission by the Board of Directors to stand as United candidate for Chalmers in 1928, was also unsuccessfu1.416 However, George Black, a fonner pupil of St Patrick's College and Honorary Secretary of the Marist Brothers' Old Boys' Association, held Motueka for the same Party from 1928 until his death in 1932.4 17 The most prominent Catholic politician, Ward, was held in considerable respect by his co-religionists, despite their reservations about his achievements. After he was defeated in the 1919 election, Kelly hoped that Ward would later return to Parliament a wiser man and was enthusiastic about his election as head of the United Government in 1928: "In the short time since his coming into power, Sir Joseph Ward has succeeded in giving a new vitality to the country. "418 Ward's passing was marked by extensive tributes in the Catholic press, whereas the deaths of Massey and Holland had attracted only brief attention.419 According to "Pippa" (Eileen Duggan), "The devotion of the South to the dead Premier is almost 412 Zealandia, 9 May 1935, p. 7. 413 Scholefield, Who's Who, (4th edition, 1941), p. 102. In 1930, Carrington moved to Auckland (Month, 18 March 1930, p. 44; 10 June 1930, p. 39). 414 In 1931 , he stood as an Independent Reform candidate for Central Otago (Gully in Encyclopaedia a/New Zealand, vol. III, pp. 403-404). 415 Month, 1 June 1933, p. 1 1 ; NZTablet, 15 May 1935, p. 3 1 ; 1 June 1938, p. 44; ZealaruJia, 16 JWle 1938, p. 5. The seat was retained by Labour's Arnold Nordmeyer, a Presbyterian minister. 416 Tablet Company, Board of Directors, minutes, 1 August 1928; Month, 17 May 1927, p. 15 ; 1 8 December 1928, p . 25 ; cf. NZ Tablet, 7 November 1928, p . 2 for an advertisement. 417 Month, 18 December 1928, p. 25; 20 May 1930, p. 20. 418 NZ Tablet, 8 January 1920, p. 14; 13 February 1929, p. 5. For other favourable references to Ward and his Govemmem, see ibid. , 3 October 1928, p. 5; 21 November 1928, p. 6; 28 November 1928, p. 3; 14 August 1929, p. 6; 30 April 1930, p. 6. One editorial comment began with the heading "Ward Wanted" but then concluded, "It is not a Ward but a Mussolini New Zealand requires at present..." (NZ Tablet, 1 February 1928, p. 22; cf 20 June 1928, p. 6: "Wanted a Mussolini"). 419 Ward: NZ Tablet, 16 July 1930, pp. 3, 6-9, 46-5 1 ; 23 July 1930, pp. 1 5, 47; Month, 2 August 1930, pp. 12-15; Massey: NZ Tablet, 13 May 1925, p. 34; 20 May 1925, p. 29; Month, 19 May 1925, p. 21. Holland: NZ Tablet, 11 October 1933, p. 5. 384 ",-_ .. - - -. � ... ! . ...,: --- ____ --=0. ......... ______ • _ ,._. ___ _ ._ Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? feudal."420 Kelly was quickly disillusioned with Ward's successor, George Forbes, not least because he believed the excessive costs of government during the Depression were funded disproportionately from taxes on such goods as beer and tobacco rather than on less essential items like soft drink and the cinema.421 Although Forbes was "an honest gentleman" , he was "not another Sir Joseph Ward."422 However, Catholic approval was not limited to Catholic or Labour politicians. It has already been noted that Kelly's antipathy towards Massey was not extended to Coates; the Tablet continued to defend and praise him before and after the 1928 election.423 This may well have reflected a widespread view among Catholics_ Amelia Batistich portrays Coates as having a strong rapport with the Dalmatian community in his electorate (apart from a few Socialists), although their affection for a personable politician did not necessarily involve the Reform Party or Government.424 The differences between Liberal and Reform were an anachronism by the later 1920s and Kelly was among those who commended proposals to fuse them.425 No doubt many Catholics who supported the Liberal and United Parties endorsed the Coalition Government from 193 1 , the National Political Federation from 1935 and the National Party after its formation in 1936. For others, however, the death of Ward and the widespread view that the Coalition had failed to confront the Depression would have undermined old party loyalties and encouraged a turning to Labour. An important constraint on Catholic support for the Labour Party was the Church's hostility towards Socialism and Communism. A series of pastoral letters penned by Redwood in the years before World War I had emphasized the irreconcilability of Socialism and Catholicism.426 His articles in the Tablet after the war, while stressing the positive aspects of Catholic social doctrine, continued to warn against the evils of Socialism, such as its fostering of class antagonisrrt.427 In 1933 he issued a pastoral 420 NZ Tablet, 30 July 1930, p. 23. 421 NZ Tablet, 8 July 193 1 , p. 5; 19 August 193 1, p. 5 ; 9 September 1931 , p. 6; 16 September 193 1, p. 3 . 422 NZTablet, 30 September 193 1, p . 5 . 423 NZ Tablet, 2 May 1928, p. 5; 3 October 1928, p . 5; 2 1 November 1928, p . 6 ; 28 November 1928, p. 3; 14 August 1929, p. 5; 30 April 1930, p. 3; 21 May 1930, p. 6; but cf. 20 July 1927, p. 22 for a more critical view. 424 A. Batistich, Sing Vila in the Mountain (Auckland: Hodder and S toughton, 1987), pp. 48-53. 425 NZ Tablet, 21 May 1930, p. 6; 6 May 193 1, p. 3. 426 N.A. Simmons, pp. 4548. 427 NZTablet, 8 May 1919, pp. 17-18; 26 August 1925, p. 27. A "Solid Vote "for Labour? 385 letter condemning Communism for its "hatred of God", denial of property rights and exaltation of the state.428 Such condemnation of Socialism, blended with concern for the condition of the working classes, reflected papal teaching expressed particularly in Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum ( 1891 ) and Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno ( 193 1).429 Pius distinguished between Communism and Socialism, acknowledging that the latter's demands " at times come very near those that Christian reformers of society justly insist upon." Nevertheless, Socialism, "if it remains truly Socialism", could not be reconciled with Catholicism.43o When Pius reiterated his condemnation of Communism in Divini Redemptoris ( 1937), O'Shea, following instructions from the Apostolic Delegate, wrote a brief pastoral letter drawing the attention of the faithful to the new encyclical.43 1 Under Cleary's direction, the Month showed no interest in Socialism but in June 1932, the journal published an editorial stressing the incompatibility of Communism and Catholicism.432 During the 1930s, the Catholic press often carried articles warning against Communist activities and propaganda directed from Moscow and found throughout the world, including New Zealand.433 The persecution of Catholics and other Christians in Russia, Mexico and Spain was cited as an indication of what would happen in New Zealand if Communism were not thwarted.434 In 1939, the Tablet warned the "Catholics of this country" that the defeat of Communism in Spain was Ita solemn reminder of their duty not only of combatting a system of chaos to Spain, but of working in season and out of season to remove the causes upon which the success of Communism depends. lt435 It was recognized that 428 NZ Tablet, 22 February 1933, p. 7; Month, 1 March 1933, p. 27; cf Redwood's articles on Bolshevism (NZ Tablet, 7 September 1927, pp. 25, 27; 25 July 1928, pp. 42-43). 429 For Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno, see The Papal Encyclicals, 1878-1903, edited by Claudia Carlen HIM (Wilmington, North Carolina: McGrath Publishing Company, 1981), pp. 241- 261 and 1903-1939, pp. 415-443. A summary appeared in the Month (1 July 193 1 , pp. 21-22) and the full text in the NZ Tablet (15 July 1931 , pp. 29, 31 and subsequent issues to 12 August 1931 , p. 29). 430 Quadragesimo Anno, paragraphs 1 1 1-120. 431 Carlen, The Papal Encyclicals, 1903-1939, pp. 537-554; NZTablet, 19 May 1937, pp. 23-27, 33, 37; Zealandia, 22 April 1937, p. 1; 10 June 1937, pp. 3, 4. 432 Month, 1 June 1932, p. 20. 433 NZ Tablet, 24 August 1932, p. 3; 20 May 1936, p. 3; 4 November 1936, p. 1 1 ; 1 1 November 1936, p. 23; 17 March 1937, p. 4; 6 April 1938, pp. 5-6; Month, 1 August 1933, pp. 1 1-12; Zealandia, 12 August 1937, p. 1 . 434 NZ Tablet, 7 July 1937, pp. 3-4, 8, 41 (Leonard Brice SM); 13 October 1937, pp. 6-8 and Zealandia, 4 November 1937, p. 7 (broadcast sermon by Kevin Crowe CSSR). 435 NZ Tablet, 1 February 1939, p. 5. 386 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? unjust social conditions provided fertile soil in which Communism would flourish.436 Only the Catholic Church, it was claimed, offered a viable alternative to Communism.437 Catholics were therefore urged to take an active role in combatting the spread of Communism and their meagre efforts were sometimes contrasted with the zeal of the Communist foe.438 D. McLaughlin, Treasurer of the National Union of Unemployed, complained in 1 934 that although there were some 70,000 unemployed, presumably including about 10,000 Catholics, fewer than a dozen Catholics were prominent in the Union, which had some 25-30,000 members. Catholics needed to become involved in order not only to improve the lot of the unemployed but also to counter the influence of the small but vigorous Communist rival organization, the National Unemployed Workers' Movement.439 Similarly, Catholic editors warned against Communist activity in trades unions and urged Catholics to take an active role in order to counter such influence.44o According to McKeefry, "One of the greatest potential powers for good or evil in the world to-day is labour" : hence the Church's preoccupation with Communism.441 Catholics were divided on the question of whether or not the Labour Party fell under the Church's condemnation of Socialism and, far from telling the laity to support Labour, neither the hierarchy nor the Catholic press offered any clear direction in the matter.442 In part, this failure may be thought attributable to uncertainty about 436 NZTablet. 27 February 1919. p. 22 (Brodie); 29 May 1919. pp. 14-15; 26 June 1919. pp. 21-22 (Redwood); Zealandia. 8 October 1936. p. 4; 21 October 1937. p. 6; 7 July 1938. p. 4. 437 NZ Tablet. 27 September 1933. p. 21 (Higgins); 7 July 1937. p. 8 (Brice); Zealandia. 4 July 1935. p. 4; 10 June 1937. p. 4; 7 October 1937. p. 12; 21 October 1937. p. 6; 7 July 1938. p. 6. 438 Zealandia. 14 April 1938. p. 6; 5 May 1938. p. 6; 7 July 1938. p. 6. 439 NZ Tablet. 28 February 1934. p. 21 ; cf 13 September 1933. p. 33 and 25 October 1933. p. 21 for further comment by McLaughlin. 440 NZ Tablet. 17 February 1937. p. 3; 3 March 1937. p. 3; 17 March 1937. p. 4; 22 September 1937, p. 5; Zealandia. 28 January 1937. p. 4; 1 December 1938. p. 6; 8 December 1938. p. 6; cf Alan B . Carter to the editor. NZ Tablet. 3 March 1937. p . 6 (Carter himself was appointed editor a few months later). 441 Zealandia. 14 July 1938. p. 3. 442 Reid (pp. 96-97). copied by Clements (p. 326) who was evidently copied in tum by Simmons (p. 53. citing only an irrelevant reference used by Clements). is quite incorrect in claiming that the Church gave "official assurances" that the condemnation of Socialism did not apply to the Labour Party. The references cited are either unofficial (NZ Tablet. 20 November 1935. pp. 6-7 - an anonymous article by a priest. which is discussed below) or both unofficial and irrelevant to the question (Month. 1 September 193 1. p. 14 and 1 February 1933. pp. 20-21 - editorials which do not mention Labour). Moreover. other relevant statements need to be taken into account Olssen bas also claimed that Verdon and Whyte insisted that the Labour Party did not represent the form of Socialism condemned by the papacy and Redwood (Olssen. Otago. p. 187). A "Solid Vote "!or Labour? 387 Labour's programme, which, without formally repudiating Socialist objectives, was increasingly moderate in detail. However, it will be seen below that leading Catholics such as Liston and 0' Shea did support Labour: their reluctance to advise Catholics on whether or not the Party's programme was incompatible with Catholic teaching apparently did not reflect uncertainty on their part. Cleary, however, thought the anti­ Christian elements in the Labour Party did constitute a serious impediment to Catholic support.443 Nevertheless, his concern to keep the Church free from party politics left readers of the Month without guidance on whether they could, in conscience, vote Labour. Kelly was not so reticent but later editors of the Tablet were less clear. While upholding the Church's condemnation of Socialist errors and wary of unacceptable elements within the New Zealand Labour Party, Kelly regarded the Party as such to be worthy of Catholic support.444 A via media between the evils of Capitalism and Socialism was needed, but Kelly's sympathies were with the working class rather than the capitalists.445 Reflecting on Labour's performance in the 1925 elections, he regretted the "fringe of anti-religious and anarchical tendencies which the leaders seem unable to control" .446 Kelly distinguished between different forms of Socialism and between extreme and "sane" Labour, arguing that the latter was not condemned by the Church. The Labour Party's policy of nationalizing c.ertain industries (such as mines, insurance, banks and shipping interests) was simply a more thorough application of principles already practised in New Zealand and also advanced to a lesser extent by the Liberal Party. Moderate Socialism and Labour Party objectives were increasingly similar to Christian principles - as enunciated in Quadragesimo Anno - and were actively promoted by many Catholics and other good 443 Oeary to Van Rossum, 25 March 1923, cited in Sweetman, p. 369. 444 In addition to the following, further explicit references to the Labour Party and specific politicians will be given below. 445 NZ Tablet, 27 November 1919, pp. 25-26; 4 December 1919, p. 25; 14 October 1920, pp. 15, 17; 1 1 January 1923, p . 29. Cadogan (pp. 72-73), noting that Kelly was i n Australia late in 1919, argues that the editorial published on 4 December was composed within "the clerical circle of Monsignor Coffey" and was a "condemnation of Socialism". However its contents were consistent with Kelly's writings and Cadogan's other evidence for a "coup in the boardroom", especially the assertion that the Liberal Party monopolized the Tablet's advertising space at the expense of the Labour Party that month, is quite incorrect (as the references to party advertisements cited above indicate). 446 NZ Tablet, 1 1 November 1925, p. 22; cf 27 November 1919, p. 14. 388 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Christians who upheld the right of private property and the importance of the family. Catholics were therefore free (but not obliged) to support Labour, while rash or wholesale condemnations of Socialism, likely to alienate workers, were unjustified.447 Under Kelly's successors, the Tablet was more equivocal. In 1933, Cronin published a rather confused editorial, which, while acknowledging the right of Catholics to form their own opinions about governments and recognizing that there was a distinction between Communists and more moderate Socialists, nevertheless argued that even the latter were condemned by papal teaching for their materialistic worldview. A quotation from the noted American theologian John A. Ryan - to the effect that Catholics should not support a Socialist party even if its actual platform were as compatible with Catholic teaching as was that of other parties - was misinterpreted to mean that Catholics were not forbidden to vote for a party " simply because it has annexed the name Socialist". In a conclusion which scarcely answered the practical question attributed to the Catholic voter, Cronin argued that Catholics needed to work for the emergence of new political groups founded on the principles of social justice.448 In the same year, A.J. Mills, a Brisbane priest, was given space in the Tablet to argue that all Socialism, which he regarded as essentially the same as Communism, was condemned by papal teaching, while Capitalism, despite its abuses, was more acceptable. This view was challenged by M. McWilliams of the Technical College, Wellington, who distinguished between Socialism and Communism and regarded the former as more compatible with Christianity than was Capitalism.449 Other contributors also condemned Socialism without indicating whether or not the Labour Party was to be rejected with it.45o A week before the 1935 election, however, "a New Zealand Priest" urged readers to vote because the principles of social justice were at stake. While the Church condemned Socialism, and individual political candidates may have been guilty of holding Socialist views, none of the three main parties, as far as the author knew, had placed Socialism in its electoral programme. 447 NZTablet, 2 October 19 19, pp. 15, 17; 9 October 1919, pp. 25-26; 13 November 1929, p. 3; 3 June 193 1 , p. 3; 8 July 193 1 , pp. 3, 5; 23 September 193 1 , p. 3. 448 NZ Tablet, 8 February 1933, p. 3. 449 NZ Tablet, 22 February 1933, p. 13 ; 8 March 1933, p. 23; 12 April 1933, p. 37; 17 May 1933, pp. 36-37, 43; 5 July 1933, p. 20; cf. 10 May 1933, p. 33 for a letter by "Reader" consisting of a series of questions designed to imply that state intervention was necessary for social and economic well­ being. 450 NZ Tablet, 7 June 1933, p. 7 (Father C.1. Collins); 12 July 1933, pp. 20-21 (1.1. Kennedy -see the reply by M. McWilliams, 23 August 1933, p. 27); 10 July 1935, p. 36 (AJ. Bamao). • ,:- i � ; --.;.;... ........ ----....-----.--"'"' .......... --....�-------- . - --- ----. - � - . . - -- -�- � - ' - _ . � - -- - - - . -. .---- A "Solid Vote "/or Labour? 389 The second column of the article shared a page with advertisements for the Labour Party.451 When a "Dunedin West Catholic" wrote to the Evening Star asking how Catholics could reconcile support for Labour with the Church's condemnation of Socialism, Cronin ignored the question and attacked the correspondent for supporting a particular candidate (Downie Stewart) in the name of the Church.452 After the poll, the Tablet congratulated the new Government o'n its election and was cautiously optimistic about its prospects of success. Cronin was sure the newly appointed ministers had "the good-will of every section of the community in their efforts to restore prosperity to the Dominion" - a view endorsed on behalf of Catholics by 0' Shea - and even expressed regret that Holland had not lived to see his Party elected. Moreover, the editor belatedly acknowledged, "The fact that the Labour Party is a 'socialist' party frightens nobody to-day, and the spectre of complete nationalisation has been dispelled by the new Government's declared intention to encourage private enterprise to aid industrial expansion."453 In 1937, presumably disillusioned with the Labour administration, Cronin resigned to take up the position of Managing Editor of the anti-Labour New Zealand Financial Times.454 In 1938, a "Sacerdos Parvus" wrote to the Tablet suggesting that if the Labour Party were committed to Socialism properly so-called, that is, "national ownership of all means of production, distribution and exchange" - as it appeared to be despite the disavowal of such an aim by some Labour politicians - then it would be a mortal sin for Catholics to support Labour. Although ostensibly seeking to promote debate on a difficult but urgent moral issue, the writer and the new editor (Alan B . Carter) were condemned in a number of letters as National Party propagandists. Most replies (there were too many to publish) took the pragmatic view that extreme Socialism was at most a far-distant possibility and that, meanwhile, Labour's policies were more in conformity with the Church's social teaching than were those of National. Carter, while stressing the non-partisan stance of the Church and the Catholic press, had initially endorsed "Sacerdos Parvus" as an earnest inquirer, but ended the 451 NZ Tablet. 20 November 1935. pp. 6-7. 452 NZ Tablet. 27 November 1935. p. 3; "Dunedin West Catholic" to the editor. NZ Tablet. 4 December 1935. p. 6 (including an extract from the original letter to the Evening Star, 25 November 1935). 453 NZ Tablet, 4 December 1935,·p. 4; 1 1 December 19, p. 4; 15 January 1936, pp. 4-5; if. 8 January 1936, p. 2. 454 Zealandia. 9 December 1937, p. 7; NZ Tablet, 12 May 1937, p. 5. On the foundation of this journal, see above. .. --. --:-- -- . ... '_. _"-,_ .. ;.........-- 390 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? correspondence by quoting Cardinal Bourne and the London Month to the effect that Catholics were free to support whichever party appealed to them, including a so-called Socialist party, as long as they followed their consciences whenever religious principles conflicted with party policy.4sS Father Owen Dudley, visiting New Zealand for the Catholic Centenary celebrations, condemned Communism for denying the right to private property but, acknowledging that the tenn "Socialism" was very vague, thought it quite acceptable for a government to own mines, railways, industries and businesses with the people's consent.4S6 Before the 1938 election, however, the National Party was allowed to play on Catholic fears of Socialism through a series of advertisements in both the Tablet and the Zealandia. Labour was accused of trying to conceal its programme of gradually nationalizing the means of production, distribution and exchange - which was the first step towards the establishment of Communism. Private enterprise would be abolished and a totalitarian state, comparable to the regimes in Italy, Gennany and Russia, would be established. Labour was disloyal towards the monarchy and opposed to Christianity, while the National Party represented a variety of denominations. "The Menace of Socialism" , which offered the "Economic Security of a Prison" , could only be ended by voting for Nationa1.4s7 Campaign advertisements did not indicate the politics of editors but, if the delicate question of whether the Labour Party was guilty of promoting the Socialism condemned by the Pope were thought to have been answered authoritatively in the negative, it is unlikely that the Catholic press would have carried advertisements associating Labour with extreme Socialist views. Catholics often fretted that the Labour Government might be influenced by Communism, a concern which was particularly stressed in the Zealandia, which, like its predecessor the Month, usually evaded the question of whether or not Catholics could endorse Labour. In 1 936, Father Seymour of Napier warned about Communists in the Labour movement, but he acknowledged that no member of the Labour Government actually exhibited Communist tendencies.4s8 Nevertheless another Marist, Leonard Brice, warned in 1937 that although the election of Labour had 455 NZ Tablet. 20 July 1938. pp. 5. 6; 27 July 1938. pp. 6-7; 3 August 1938. pp. 6-8; 10 August 1938. pp. 6. 43. 456 NZTablet. 20 April 1938. p. 4. 457 Zealandia. 22 September 1938. pp. 2. 9; 29 September 1938. pp. 8. 10; 6 October 1938. p. 13; 13 October 1938. pp. 5. 9; NZ Tablet. 21 September 1938. p. 8; 28 September 1938. p. 8 . 458 NZ Tablet. 15 July 1936. p. 13 . , _-----.��--- __ .. . _0#... . .. _ .� __ ....... _ . --",-_, ___ _ , ___ � ,. ___ _ . ____ . - . -- - - . . . . . A "Solid Vote "/or Labour? 391 averted the threat of Communist revolution. and while there was "much in recent social legislation which agrees with Christian social principles". it was probable that the present legislators would progress towards "Marxian Socialism. which is fundamentally opposed to Christian doctrines. "459 Catholic papers warned of the danger of Communist infiltration of the Labour Party and were relieved when Communist applications for affiliation were declined.460 The Zealandia declared that "Catholic workers. either in Britain or elsewhere". would withdraw their support from any Labour Party which advocated revolution or immoral fads like birth control.461 When Prime Minister Savage asked for confidence in his Government. the Zealandia replied that it would only be given as long as the Labour Party kept to democratic principles and did not flirt with Communism as some of its members seemed to be doing.462 McKeefry was concerned when Finance Minister Nash eulogized aspects of Soviet policy after a trip to Russia and when EJ. Howard attributed the Spanish Civil War to a "wanton attack on a lawful Government". Both politicians had been elected as part of a constitutional Party yet they seemed to be identifying with Communist interests.463 Support by Labour politicians for the Communist-inspired Spanish Medical Aid Committee was also a serious concern for the Catholic Church.464 While some trade unionists and Labour politicians advocated extreme Socialism. the Zealandia emphasized that this was not sought by the voters who elected the Labour Government. New Zealand did not want complete nationalization but a wider distribution of property. 465 Catholic denials that there was a block vote. and assertions that the Church did not involve itself officially in party politics. must be accepted. These statements were not simply made to allay the concerns of non-Catholics: they were addressed to the faithful in the Catholic press and from the pulpit and are therefore self-authenticating. Even if 459 NZ Tablet. 7 July 1937. p. 8. 460 NZ Tablet. 23 September 1936. p. 3; 11 November 1936. p. 3; 18 November 1936, p. 3; 17 March 1937. p. 4; 27 September 1939. p. 5; Zealandia. 8 October 1936. p. 4; 25 February 1937. p. 4; 8 April 1937. p. 4. 461 Zealandia. 28 March 1935. p. 4. 462 Zealandia. 26 August 1937. p. 6. 463 Zealandia. 28 October 1937. p. 6; cf 11 November 1937. p. 2 and Skudder, pp. 163-166. 464 Skudder. pp. 162- 163; NZ Tablet. 3 February 1937. p. 3; Zealandia. 29 July 1937, p. 4; 12 August 1937. p. 6. 465 Zealandia. 1 1 August 1938. p. 6; 19 October 1939. p. 4. 392 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? contrary pronouncements could be found - only instances of support by individual writers for particular parties and politicians have been noted - they would further demonstrate that the Church did not speak with one voice on party politics. On balance, nevertheless, the evidence discussed here suggests that there was widespread support for Labour in the Catholic community. There was very li�e involvement by Catholics in the Reform Party although the Liberals and their successors included some Catholics. The Labour Party, which since its inception had been a coalition of radical and moderate reformers, increasingly compromised its Socialist principles in order to make itself more acceptable to a broad constitutency, including Catholics. For at least some Catholics, there remained a fear that Labour retained or would revive Socialist objectives incompatible with papal teaching. Far from telling Catholics to vote Labour, the authorities failed even to state unequivocally whether or not Catholics could vote Labour. Moreover, the Church as such had no corporate relationship to the Party whereby votes could be delivered in return for the promotion of Catholic causes. The Catholic community was much like any other church in its relation to Labour: individual Catholics supported the party which most appealed to them, while representative Catholics lobbied the Government to conform more closely to Catholic interests and ideals, for example by suppressing Communist tendencies within its ranks. Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party While the Church itself was not committed to the Labour Party, as the previous section has demonstrated, increasing numbers of individual Catholic voters were. One of the most prominent was Liston, whose identification of Catholic and Labour interests in 1922 caused embarrassment to the Church and the Party. There were a number of secular reasons for Catholic attachment to the Labour Party, while Catholic social teaching, which was increasingly studied in the 1930s, promoted ideals most likely to be fulfilled by a Labour administration. Overt Catholic support for Labour politicians was only slightly more evident than for members of other parties. Among the leading Labour politicians of the interwar years, there were several practising Catholics, notably D.G. Sullivan, H.T. Armstrong and M. Fagan MLC. Savage, a Rationalist for most of his political life, gradually returned to the faith of his childhood only in his fmal years, not receiving the sacraments until the last seven months.466 However, the involvement of Catholic 466 B. Gustafson, From the Cradle to the Grave: a Biography o/Michael Joseph Savage (Auckland: Penguin Books, 1988), p. 212. Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party 393 laymen in the Labour Party did not represent any official ecclesiastical connection and these Catholics were outnumbered by Protestant ministers. and laymen, also acting as individuals however much their political activity was influenced by a Christian social concem.467 Under Kelly's editorship, the Tablet was sometimes distinctly partisan, but, while rejecting Reform, it usually stopped short of choosing between the Liberals and Labour. Even when endorsing Labour before the 1919 election, Kelly hoped the two parties would make common cause against Capitalism - presumably as embodied in the Reform Party.468 Before the 1922 election, he reprinted the Marriage Amendment Act division list and advised a correspondent to vote Labour.469 He made no effort to conceal his delight at Reform's losses and Labour's gains in the 1922 election, declaring that Labour had won "a great victory", whereas "the Reform machine has broken down" .470 An article by O'Regan reprinted from the Maoriland Worker declared, "Never did a Government appeal to the constituencies on a record so discreditable and indefensible as the Massey Government did. "471 On the announcement of the Reform-United Coalition Government in September 193 1 , Kelly remarked that, "While a National Government, including men like Mr. Holland and Mr. Fraser, would have been infInitely better, the fact that such acute critics will be in the Opposition Party has its compensations. "472 After Kelly's retirement from the Tablet in December 193 1 , his successors adopted the policy of the Month and the Zealandia in refraining from overtly partisan editorial comment While Cleary was overseas in 1922, Liston, responsible for the Month in the editor's absence, made his own political views clear - before and after polling day. In 467 For Christians active in the Labour Party during its early years, see Gustafson, Labour's Path, p. 120. 468 NZ Tablet, 2 October 1919, p. 15. Kelly endorsed Holland's criticism of the wartime National Government (ibid., 1 1 September 1919, p. 18). Immediately after the election, Kelly wrote, "Now, thank Heaven, all our people have bad their eyes opened as to the worthlessness of the main parties which are but one party to-day" (NZ Tablet, 18 December 1919, p. 14). The context was a discussion on education and the editor was urging readers to support individual candidates rather than parties; there was no explicit reference to Labour. 469 NZ Tablet, 30 November 1922, pp. 25, 27. 470 NZ Tablet, 14 December 1922, p. 18; 21 December 1922, p. 19. 471 NZ Tablet, 28 December 1922, p. 23, reprinted from Maoriland Worker, 13 December 1922; cf. an earlier reprint by the same author, criticizing Truth for its anti-Labour stance (NZ Tablet, 30 November 1922, p. 21). 472 NZ Tablet, 23 September 1931, p. 3. 1.0 - 394 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? a pastoral letter, Liston emphasized the duty to vote and noted that the Church had "many political enemies".473 Eschewing any claim to involve itself in party politics or to constrain the freedom of Catholic voters, the Month argued that Reform's attitude towards the Church, demonstrated, for example, by the Marriage Amendment Act and the Liston trial, was "not calculated to inspire enthusiasm in Catholic voters who have regard to the status of Catholics as citizens".474 In the last edition of the Month before the election, readers were reminded again that they were free to vote for the party of their choice but it was emphasized that the Church was concerned about "immoral or unjust social conditions" in general and the "welfare of the worker" in particular. The "essential principles of industrial justice" were reviewed but it was acknowledged that the Church "does not say which political party is most likely, or best fitted, to bring about the establishment of improved social or industrial conditions. "475 At Sacred Heart College's annual prize-giving in December, Liston supplemented the usual remarks about government grants to denominatiollal schools with a few reflections on the recent poll. He believed that New Zealanders had "at last awakened to the true state of affairs in the political life of this country" and explicitly identified Catholic interests with those of the Labour Party: Thanks to God, the Labor [sic] people - our friends - are coming into their own ­ a fair share in the Government of the country. They were not long since in a minority. Now their claims are being listened to. So, too, please God, we Catholics - a minority - will come into our own, and have our claims in the matter of education listened to with respect 476 The Month made no reference to Labour in its account of the occasion.477 The editorial section, however, reaffirmed both the Church's avoidance of party politics (a propos of the Italian Popular Party) and its traditional concern for labour as a class (a propos of remarks made by the Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly).478 This material may have been prepared before the publication of Liston's speech, or else it may reflect a recognition that declaring his personal views was harmful to both 473 Liston to clergy, September 1922, ACDA. CLE 76-13/6. 474 Month, 15 September 1922, p. 4. 475 Month, 15 November 1922, pp. 3-4. 476 NZ Tablet, 21 December 1922, p. 26 (following the Otago Daily Times). The NZ Herald (13 December 1922, p. to) published a compressed version of the statement and accentuated Liston's identification of the Church with Labour. 477 Month, 15 December 1922, p: 1 1 (following a report in the Auckland Star). 478 Month, 15 December 1922, pp. 3-5. ---...... ._�--"'-,,"'----"""'''''''''''''---� ------'- '---- '- -_ . . - _ . . . . - Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Pany 395 Labour and the Church. "A Maoriland Worker" asked whether there was "an alliance between the Roman Catholic Church and the Labour Party", for, if there were, he would bid "farewell" to the Party.479 Other newspaper correspondents were convinced that the existence of such an alliance was now beyond doubt and were unmoved by protestations to the contrary.480 Liston's statement, as Darby argued six years later, when Canon Percival James cited it as evidence of a Labour-Catholic alliance, was "an isolated instance".481 Cleary had been embarrassed and annoyed by Liston's public support for Labour, which violated his own policy of studied neutrality.482 Despite - or because of - his personal connections with Labour, Liston was careful not to assist opponents of the Party and the Church by further such indiscrete comments. When the Labour Government was elected in 1935, the Zealandia, of which he was proprietor, made no comment. 483 As individuals, some Catholic clerics promoted and influenced the Labour Party but their involvement provides no proof of the political accommodation between the Church and Labour alleged by some contemporaries. After a visit to Napier before the 1922 election, O'Regan assured Kelly that "our people" supported the Labour nominee. Reviewing three other electorates (Gisbome, Christchurch North and Riccarton), he asked Kelly to use his influence among the clergy to promote the Labour candidates.484 Kelly, noting that Dunedin Catholics would vote Labour, promised to do what he could. He thought the priests "willing enough to help" but added, "you know the farmers and their mercenary spirit as well as I do."48s Liston encouraged the priests in Gisbome to ensure local Catholics were enrolled so they 479 "A Maoriland Worker" to the editor, NZHerald. 14 December 1922, p. 7. 480 NZ Herald, 15 December 1922, p. 7; 16 December 1922, p. 13; 19 December 1922, p. 7; 21 December 1922, p. 5; 28 December 1922, p. 3; 30 December 1922, p. 9. 481 NZ Herald, 30 June 1928, p. 14. 482 Oeary to Liston, 17 February 1923, cited in Sweetman, p. 369. 483 E.R Simmons, In Cruce Salus: a History of the Diocese of Auckland, 1848-1980 (Auckland: Catholic Communications Centre, 1982, p. 249) described the failure of the Zealandia to discuss the election and particularly the accession of Savage as Prime Minister as "a bit odd" but it is quite comprehensible in the light of the earlier events described here. 484 O'Regan to Kelly, 19 November 1922, A1L 76-165-6126. 485 Kelly to O'Regan, 22 November 1922, A1L 76-165-6126. After the election, Kelly claimed that Dunedin Catholics had "voted solidly for Labor [sic] except in the South Dunedin district where they had no reason to tum their backs on Sidey" (Kelly to O'Regan, 10 December 1922, A1L 76- 165-6126). 396 -- ' . ------ - �-. -_ ... -. --� -..... -----.. --- � - . Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? could vote against W.D. Lysnar.486 In Auckland, this was evidently unnecessary: after the election he wrote to O'Regan of his pride in the Catholic voters there, adding that "they didn't need no coaxin', neither!" .487 Liston was a personal friend of Savage but this does not appear to have given him any privileged influence over the Prime Minister, whose close associates included people of quite varied religious backgrounds.488 Even John A. Lee, writing about his conflicts with the Labour leadership, acknowledged that in discouraging Savage from appointing Lee to a Cabinet position, Liston merely confmned Savage's own intentions.489 When O'Shea wrote to the other bishops in 1937 advising them to remain neutral while the Bible in Schools League promoted brief religious observances in schools, he argued that they ought to beware of doing anything which would offer the least excuse for the raising of the sectarian cry. This is not only in our own interest but in that of the present Government. Adam Hamilton is in the offmg.490 Such an attitude cannot be construed as revealing an alliance with Labour - any more than the congratulatory message from the Presbyterian General Assembly to Hamilton on his appointment as Minister of Internal Affairs in 1932 can be taken as an indication of Presbyterian collusion with the Reform Party or the Coalition.491 Gustafson's investigation of the origins and early history of the Labour Party revealed "no evidence to suggest, let alone substantiate, accusations of an organized attempt on the part of the Catholic hierarchy to capture control of the NZLP". His conclusion that "there was no justification for contemporary accusations that Labour was a party dominated by the Catholic Church" is applicable to the 1920s and 1930s as well.492 Nevertheless, Catholic voters did have a number of reasons to support Labour, especially their common antagonism to the Reform Party and the PPA, Labour 486 Sweetman, p. 334. 487 Liston to O'Regan, 9 December 1922, AlL 76-165-6126. 488 Gustafson, From the Cradle, pp. 122-123, 212-214, 271-272. 489 J.A. Lee, Simple on a Soapbox (Auckland: Collins, 1963), pp. 29, 37, 41; if. Olssen, pp. 80-81 . 490 O'Shea to Wbyte, 24 June 1937 (and identical letters to Brodie and Liston), WCAA. 491 PGA, 1932, p. 99. As an active Presbyterian layman and Knox College graduate, Hamilton would have been personally known to a number of the ministers at the Assembly. 492 Gustafson, Labour's Path, pp. 126, 127. Citing incidents like Father Matthew Brodie's support for the striking unionists at Waibi in 1912, Gustafson does not draw a sufficiently strict distinction between Catholic endorsement of the labour movement, based on sympathy for the cause of workers and their families, and Catholic support for the New Zealand Labour Party. Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party 397 attitudes to conscription and Irish independence, and the Party's promotion of working class interests. The decline of the Liberals was no doubt in some measure both a consequence and a cause of increasing Catholic support for Labour. As more working class Catholics turned to Labour, thus weakening the Liberals, the latter became increasingly less attractive by comparison with Labour and the change of allegiance accelerated. Antipathy towards the Reform Party, long ideritified with Protestant interests, was no doubt reinforced by the PPA's unofficial alliance with Reform. Elliott's vilification of Labour and the Church, especially the accusation of sinister collusion, may have encouraged Catholic voters to identify Labour as their champion, especially after the passage of the Marriage Amendment Act.493 Kelly published the divisiop list and urged Catholic parents to teach their children to remember the names of "Holland, McCombs, Savage, Isitt, and Fraser, as the men who have not sold their souls to a horsewhipped cad"; among these, only Isitt was not a Labour politician.494 According to Holland, there was "no man in New Zealand who handles truth more recklessly than Mr. Howard Elliott"495 Catholics and Labour politicians sometimes offered similar explanations for the rise of the PP A. 0' Shea attributed the wave of sectarianism to "Big money" which, he charged, had subsidized the activities of "an Irish Secret Society" in an effort to divide the population and distract it from important issues such as the evils of profiteering. The Government, moreover, was a "willing tool" because it wanted "to divert public attention from its own shortcomings and the more pressing needs of the country. "496 A similar analysis was advanced by Holland and other contemporaries.497 Those Irish Catholics who opposed all conscription and other Catholics who resented attempts to conscript seminarians and Marist Brothers 493 O'Farrell, Harry Holland, p. 94; Davis, Irish Issues, pp. 210-211 . 494 NZ Tablet, 1 1 Novembex 1920, pp. 26-27. Unfortunately for Kelly's purpose (he told readers to paste up the list in a prominent part of their bomes), the beadings "For the Amendment" and "Against the Amendment" were reversed! 495 NZPD, 1920, vol 189, p. 229, if. p. 233. Holland cited a numbex of statements by Elliott in support of the charge. 496 Month, 15 October 1920, p. 7; NZ Tablet, 30 September 1920, p. 28; if. 28 October 1920, pp. 14, 37. 497 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, pp. 230, 233; if. the cartoon reproduced in Gustafson, Labour's Path, p. 128. This interpretation is strengthened by the economic concerns of the PPA delegation which called upon Massey in June 1920 and by Elliott's later career in business. Moreover, before the 1919 elections, Elliott solicited donations for a "fighting fund" of £20,000, having already received several "substantial donations" (NZ Herald, 27 August 1919, p. 9). 398 . .. . . . '" . -.- .. . . -= ... .:.......:...--------=--.. - . ... --.. - - . -. �- �- . . ----- -�-- Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? found an ally in the Labour Party.498 Labour's promotion of the cause of Irish independence between 1916 and 1921 certainly won the Party support amongst Irish Catholics, at a time when the Liberals evaded the issue and Reform was identified with illster unionism. The principal Labour spokesmen on Ireland were Holland and Fraser, who addressed the issue in public speeches and in Parliament 499 Kelly praised them for their efforts, encouraging Irish voters to support them.500 By contrast, he condemned Massey and even Ward for failing to endorse the cause of Ireland when they called upon Irishmen to fight for small nations like Poland and Belgium.sol Kelly saw the 1922 election result as a vindication of both Labour and Ireland. New Zealand, he declared, was "awaking at last" : "The success of Labor [sic] - or, if you like - of the Red Flag and the Green Flag - proves that "502 Of far more lasting significance than the PP A, conscription or Irish issues was the large number of working claSs Catholics. Citing census evidence, Gustafson argues that "for socio-economic and historical rather than religious reasons, there was considerable latent sympathy among Roman Catholics for a radical working-class party" .S03 Religious motives should not be underestimated, however, for promoting the rights of workers and criticizing Capitalism were increasingly important themes in Catholic teaching.504 No doubt Catholic pastors gave expression to the interests of their flocks, but they also reflected international developments in Catholic social thought, which were stimulated by the First World War and especially by the Depression. 498 Gustafson, Labour's Path. pp. 105-1 19, 126; Baker, pp. 64-73, 153-169; Sweetman, pp. 233-234; cf. NZ Tablet, 30 October 1919, p. 17 (Kelly's endorsement of Holland's pamphlet on conscientious objectors). 499 O'Farrell, Harry Holland, pp. 92-94; R.P. Davis, "The New Zealand Labour Party's 'Irish Campaign', 191 � 1921, Political Science 19 (1967) 13-23; idem, Irish Issues, chapter nine; Gustafson, Labour's Path, pp. 126-127; Sweetman, pp. 235-238, 302-307. 500 NZ Tablet, 13 February 1919, p. 14; 2 October 1919, p. 15; 12 August 1920, p. 14; 24 February 1921, p. 24; 17 March 1921, p. 14; 14 September 1922, p. 23; ct 22 July 1920, p. 21 (Labour Party Conference resolution favouring self-determination); 14 July 1921, p. 23 (address by Fraser in Napier); 21 July 1921, p. 18 (address by Fraser in Wellington). 501 NZ Tablet, 27 March 1919, p. 14; 18 March 1920, p. 25. 502 NZ Tablet, 21 December 1922, p. 19. 503 Gustafson, Labour's Path. pp. 125-126; for an analysis of the census evidence, see chapter one above. 504 This may be what Gustafson (ibid.) means by "the Catholic doctrine of social SOlidarity" but, from this perspective, Catholic teaching was difficult to reconcile with the Socialist doctrine of class struggle. ".- • ..----....-.- � • • "_ .. _ ... ______ .01....... . ...... _ __ - ._ .,-�_. _ ---.. ..... . . �--... -... . . --. .... - . . . -...... - . Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party 399 Immediately after the war, and in a more sustained fashion during the 1930s, the Church set about inculcating its social teachings, principally through study groups and articles in the Catholic press. The war against Germany had been justified in the name of democracy and freedom, while concern over wartime profiteering further stimulated demands for social reform. Drawing on papal pronouncements, especially Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum ( 1891), and the writings of contemporary American theologians, the Month, in its first few years of publication, printed numerous items on labour issues, such as wages and profit-sharing.505 Redwood, hitherto better known for his opposition to Socialism, composed articles on similar themes for the Tablet.506 O'Shea and other churchmen urged the formation of social study groups so that Catholics could learn about the principles necessary for social reconstruction.50? Few independent groups were established for this purpose but other Catholic organizations, such as Catholic Federation and the Students' Guild in Auckland, also provided a venue for disseminating Catholic social teaching. 508 The Depression occasioned renewed interest in Catholic social thought,509 and led to calls for organized study of social issues by the laity. 510 The most noteworthy exponent of Catholic social doctrine was John A. Higgins SM, who was appointed by 505 Month, 15 August 1918, p. 16; 14 September 1918, p. 12; 15 November 1918, pp. 9-10; 15 February 1919, p. 9; 15 March 1919, p. 3; 15 April 1919, p. 10; 14 June 1919, pp. 4-5; 15 July 1919, pp. 12, 15-16; 15 August 1919, p. 17; 15 October 1919, pp. 10, 12; 15 June 1920, pp. 6-7; 15 October 1920, pp. 4-5. 506 NZ Tablet, 1 August 1918, pp. 7, 9; 8 May 1919, pp. 17-18; 15 May 1919, pp. 17-18; 19 JWle 1919, pp. 9, 1 1, 13; 26 June 1919, p. 21; 2 December 1920, p. 17; 5 May 1921, pp. 17-18; 7 July 1921, p. 19; 1 June 1921, pp. 9, 1 1; 29 March 1923, pp. 21, 23; 19 April 1923, pp. 21, 23; 26 August 1925, pp. 27, 29. 507 NZ Tablet, 7 August 1919, p. 34. 508 NZ Tablet, 25 July 1918, p. 34 (Catholic Federation); 12 September 1918, p. 19 (Social Study Gub of St Joseph's Parish Catholic Federation); 19 September 1918, pp. 1 1-13 (Catholic SbJdy Club, Wellington); 2 June 1921, p. 35 (Catholic Federation, Wanganui); 8 September 1921, p. 22 (St Luke's Guild, Auckland); 12 July 1923, pp. 21-25 (Student's Social Guild); 1 June 1922, p. 27 (Tunaru). 509 NZ Tablet, 24 September 1930, p. 35 and 13 May 1931, p. 3 (articles on Rerum Novarum); 9 December 1931, pp. 4243 Oecture by Father James Maguire on "The Reconstruction of the Social Order" to the Otago University Students' Guild); Month, 2 February 1931 , p. 12 (report on unemployment in the USA); 1 April 1931, pp. 24-25 (article by Joseph Husslein S1); 1 May 1931, pp. 8-9 (article on Leo XIII, "The Social Pope"), 18 (article by Husslein), 23 and 34 (articles by John A. Ryan). 510 NZ Tablet, 30 April 1930, p. 6; Month, 1 May 1931, p. 15; 1 October 1932, p. 20. The hierarchy's pastoral letter suggested that Catholic clubs and societies "form reading circles and study clubs" (Molllh, 1 July 1931, p. 9; NZ Tablet, 8 July 1931, p. 42). - --- -- - - - .. -- - .-.-- . ,--- .- .-... --� 400 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? O'Shea in August 1932 to teach social study classes in Wellington. Over the next few years, similar groups were organized in all the main centres and in many provincial towns of the archdiocese.Sl l While Higgins contributed to the Catholic newspapers many articles on social issues - often of a rather abstract nature - lay people who had attended classes also wrote numerous items.Sl2 Maurice Mulcahy SM wrote a long series of articles based on Quadragesimo Anno for the Marist Messenger.Sl3 The Press Group of the Catholic Social Guild in Wellington published 1 17 items in 1938.S14 In August 1935, Higgins began an eight-month study tour of the United States, Canada, England and Ireland, meeting notable exponents of Catholic social thought, before resuming his work in New Zealand.sls From June 1937, at Liston's request, he began preparing short statements on Catholic social principles for publication in the Zealandia (under the title "Bear in Mind") and reading at Mass every Sunday in the Auckland and Wellington dioceses.s l6 The study of social doctrine was seen as an essential preliminary to Catholic Action.S17 Thus in a 1934 pastoral letter commending the efforts of the Wellington sociology class, 0' Shea declared that, "Catholic laymen 511 Month, 1 September 1932, p. 37 (Wellington); 1 February 1933, p. 26 (review of the first year); NZ Tablet, 7 September 1932, p. 43 (Wellington); 18 January 1933, p. 25 (review of the origins of the Wellington group); 6 June 1934, p. 1 1 (review of the progress of study groups in Wellington and other centres); 18 July 1934, pp. 2, 36 (Christchurch); 3 July 1935, pp. 3, 40 (Dunedin); 7 October 1936, p. 6; 26 May 1937, p. 38 (Wanganui); Zealandia, 10 May 1934, p. 6 (Christchurch); 6 June 1935, p. 5 (Auckland); 4 July 1935, p. 5 (Dunedin); 15 August 1935, p. 5 (New Plymouth); 5 December 1935, p. 7 (New Plymouth); 16 July 1936, p. 2 (Wanganui); 30 July 1936, p. 3 (Napier); 13 August 1936, p. 3 (Palmerston North); 3 June 1937, p. 2 (Hastings); 23 September 1937, p. 4 (Christchurch, various parishes); 16 December 1937, p. 6 (progress report by Higgins); 1 5 December 1938, p. 6 (establishment of the Catholic Study Asociation in Auckland); 13 July 1939, p. 3 (Blenheim). 512 See, for example, the features "Catholic Social Science: its Principles and Functions" (beginning in the Zealandia, 10 May 1934, p. 5); "For the Catholic Worker" (beginning in the Zealandia, 3 June 1937, p. 3); "Catholic Social Science" (beginning in the NZ Tablet, 3 August 1938, p. 9). For examples of lay contributions, see NZ Tablet, 25 January 1939, pp. 3-4 and Zealandia, 25 March 1937, p. 7 (essays by members of the Palmerston North study circle). Higgins also produced a monthly newspaper (Reid, pp. 74-75). 513 Marist Messenger, 1 September 1937, pp. 12-13 and subsequent issues to 1 May 1939, pp. 26-28. 514 NZ Tablet, 28 December 1938, p. 8; Zealandia, 29 December 1938, p. 4. The Tablet regularly publisbed Catholic Social Guild articles. 515 Zealandia, 20 June 1935, p. 2; 3 1 July 1935, p. 36; 15 August 1935, p. 2; 2 January 1936, p. 9; 9 April 1936, p. 8; NZ Tablet, 12 June 1935, p. 6; 31 July 1935, p. 36; 1 January 1936, p. 9; 25 March 1936, p. 7; 22 April 1936, p. 6. 516 Zealandia, 3 June 1937, p. 6; 28 December 1938, p. 8. 517 NZ Tablet, 7 September 1932, p. 43 and 18 January 1933, p. 25 (Higgins); Marist Messenger, 1 July 1937, p. 28 ("Richard Crusader"). On this concept, see chapter two above. Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party properly instructed by the Church, [sic] will alone be able to win the hearts of the masses outside and effect the work of social re-construction. "S18 401 While disavowing any direct role in party politics, the Catholic Church claimed a unique authority to expound the principles necessary for social reform. According to McKeefry, the Church was "the guardian of the Moral Law, which covers wages and interest, employment and unemployment, buying and selling, and every other economic practice and institution. "S19 It was emphasized that only the Catholic Church taught the essential principles without which all efforts to reform society would founder.s20 Brice explained that Catholic "sociology or social science" was a branch of ethics or moral theology ·concerned with "the fundamental principles or laws" which ought to govern human society. In teaching sociology to study clubs, therefore, priests were not "dabbling in politics" but expounding the principles "necessary for the welfare of human society."S21 Despite this disclaimer, the Church identified itself with the same social groups as did the Labour Party. Redwood declared that the Catholic Church was "the Church of the poor, lowly, and humble".s22 Liston appealed to the Catholic Federation to support legislation which would secure the rights and dignity of the "toiling masses".S23 Brodie spoke of the "irrefutably just and sacredly noble cause of labor [sic]" .S24 Such advocacy of social reform brought charges from the PP A that the Church was supporting the Labour Party. In response, O'Shea argued that while the Church owed no party allegiance, its championship of the weak as a matter of principle did lead it to sympathize with the efforts of the Labour movement to secure better remuneration and living conditions for workers.s25 According to Higgins, "the Church teaches that ... the reason why labour is nobler than capital is that men are worth more than chattels - that man is spiritual and capital is material. "S26 However, the prominence of labour in 518 NZ Tablet, 20 JlIDe 1934, p. 8; if. Quatiragesimo Anno, paragraphs 140, 143 (to which O'Shea alluded). 519 Month, 1 May 1931, p. 14. 520 Month, 15 July 1919, p. 15; 1 October 1932, p. 20; 1 February 1933, pp. 20-21 . 521 'ab NZ 1j let, 26 May 1937, p. 38. 522 NZ Tablet, 19 April 1923, p. 21. 523 Catholic Federation ... 5th March, 1919, p. 6; NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 13; if. 21 June 1923, p. 45 (address by J.P. Kavanagh). 524 NZ Tablet, 27 February 1919, p. 22. 525 NZ Tablet, 18 July 1918, p. 34. 526 NZ Tablet, 5 August 1936, p. 6. 402 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Catholic social thought did not mean that the Church approved of contemporary Labour parties or their policies.527 Nevertheless, Catholic social thought was not limited to a vague sympathy with the poor but embraced ideas which overlapped with Labour Party philosophy.528 O'Regan argued that, "Society is reeking with injustice, and as far as I can see the Labour Party is the only organisation which seriously faces the position. " He regretted that "our Cawthlic [sic] laymen" were too respectable to concern themselves with the social teaching of Leo xm.529 While avoiding entanglement in party politics, explained the Month, the Catholic Church had "defInite social principles", such as the doctrine that there was "no absolute ownership of wealth" since "the possession of riches is only a stewardship".53o DefIning Capitalism as "the abuse of capital", Redwood declared that, "Capitalism must go ! "531 Higgins stressed that, "Capitalism in its present day form is not simply a good system being abused: it is an abuse raised to the condition of a system until evil has become systematic. "532 The Church, according to Kelly, always listened to the voices of the poor and oppressed and taught that Capitalism was unjust and un-Christian.533 In their 1931 pastoral letter on the "Present Economic Distress", the bishops condemned "the industrial economic system" for having "failed and failed miserably in our times to promote a fair and equitable distribution of wealth" or to ensure regular employment Its "worst feature" was that it left itself "open to manipulation by selfIsh and crafty men against the interests of the people" .534 A much 527 NZ Tablet. 14 September 1938. p. 9 (Higgins). 528 For an overview of Catholic social teaching and its theoretical basis. see Reid (pp. 93-101). The account in Oements (pp. 323-331) is very closely based on that of Reid. 529 O'Regan to Kelly. 16 January 1923, AlL 76-165-6A11. The writer was defending the Party against criticisms expressed by Kelly (Kelly to O'Regan, 16 January 1923 and 29 January 1923. AlL 76- 165-6A11). 530 Month, 15 August 1922, p. 3. On the limitation of property rights, see also Month, 15 October 1920, p. 5; Zealandia, 16 August 1934, p. 2 (Higgins); NZ Tablet, 20 April 1938. p. 4 (Dudley); 7 September 1938, pp. 9, 37 (Higgins). 531 NZ Tablet, 29 March 1923, p. 21. Redwood was not opposed to capital itself but only its contemporary abuses (ibid., 15 January 1920, pp. 1 1, 13; 5 May 1921, p. 17.) 532 Zealandia, 27 September 1934, p. 2; if. NZ Tablet, 21 September 1938. p. 9. 533 NZ Tablet. 2 May 1918, p. 26. 534 Month, 1 July 1931 . p. 9; NZ Tablet. 8 July 1931, p. 42. For further aiticism of contemporary Capitalism (some of it more moderate than the examples quoted), see NZ Tablet. 6 May 1920, p. 25; 13 May 1936. p. 6 (Higgins); 22 September 1937, p. 5; 20 April 1938. pp. 3-4 (Dudley); 24 August 1938, p. 27; 14 September 1938, pp. 9. 37 (Higgins); Zealandia, 13 September 1934, p. 2 (Higgins); 8 November 1934, p. 2 (Higgins); 21 December 1935, p. 2; 13 September 1934, p. 2; 17 June 1937, p. 3; Marist Messenger, 1 August 1936, p. 21 (Higgins). ----- Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party 403 emphasized theme in Catholic teaching was advocacy of the "just" or "living" wage sufficient to support a family in modest comfort.535 However, in promoting the widest possible distribution of property, Redwood and others favoured profit-sharing and worker participation in management rather than the wage system.536 Catholics also deprecated the control of credit by private interests for their own ends and therefore advocated reform of the monetary system to place credit and prices under public - ultimately governmental - contro1.537 Higgins had an interest in the Douglas Credit movement and was in contact with its representatives both in New Zealand and overseas - although the Tablet joked about the "Chimerical intricacies of the Dougl�­ Credit System".538 Shortly after his appointment as a government representative on the Board of Directors of the Bank of New Zealand, H.J. Kelliher wrote for the Tablet an article rejoicing that, "at long last, we have a Government that has undertaken the responsibility of introducing an honest money system. "539 Referring to monetary reform in particular, Clements concluded that "there was a largely unintentional convergence between Labour policy and the Roman Catholic Church's understanding of the economic and social realities of the time".S40 Converging interests did not necessarily mean that Catholic social study was a covert form of Labour Party canvassing. After quoting a series of Catholic authorities 535 NZ Tablet, 1 August 1918, pp. 7, 9 (Redwood); 23 May 1928, p. 3; 31 December 1930, p. 3; 7 January 193 1, pp. 5-6; 5 August 1936, p. 6; (HigginS); 1 1 November 1936, p. 34 (HigginS); 6 May 1937, p. 7 (Higgins); 29 Juoe 1938, p. 9; 25 January 1939, p. 4 (essay Mary Waters); Zealandia, 1 1 October 1934, p . 2 (Higgins); 25 October 1934, p . 2 (Higgins); 7 May 1936, p . 4. 536 Redwood; NZ Tablet, 15 May 1919, pp. 17-18; 19 June 1919, p. 13; 15 January 1920, p. 1 1 ; 2 December 1920, p. 17; 7 July 1921, p. 19; 29 March 1923, p. 21; 19 April 1923, p. 23; 26 August 1925, p. 29. Other writers: NZ Tablet, 25 April 1928, pp. 3, 6; 2 May 1928, p. 3; 9 May 1928, p. 3; 30 August 1939, pp. 9, 15; Zealandia, 30 July 1936, p. 6 (Higgins); 24 June 1937, p. 3 (Higgios); 23 June 1938, p. 6; 1 1 August 1938, p. 6; 10 November 1938, p. 1 ; 24 November 1938, p. 5; 26 January 1939, p. 9; Marist Messenger, 1 April 1938, p. 38 (Mulcahy); 1 June 1938, p. 12 (Mulcahy). 537 NZ Tablet, 9 December 1931, pp. 42-43; 14 June 1933, p. 20; 5 February 1936, p. 13; 22 April 1936, p. 6; 1 July 1936, p. 36; 21 September 1938, p. 27; 19 October 1938, p. 27; 20 September 1939, p. 33; 27 September 1939, pp. 38, 41; 27 December 1939, p. 6; Marist Messenger, 1 November 1938, pp. 24-26. 538 Zealandia, 6 June 1935, p. 3; 15 August 1935, p. 2; 21 November 1935, p. 4 (Canada); 9 April 1936, p. 8 (England); NZ Tablet, 1 January 1936, p. 9 (Higgins in Alberta, "The Land of Social Credit"); 25 March 1936, p. 7 (England); if. NZ Tablet, 1 February 1933, p. 5. See also Reid, pp. 108- 1 1 1 . 539 NZ Tablet, 23 September 1936, pp. 1-2, 8; if. 1 4 October 1936, p . 8 for a proflle 00 Kelliher. 540 Oements, p. 330. --...., ....... . .-.. - .. 404 Chapter Five: '1\ Disturbing Political Incubus"? in the course of an address to the Catholic Study Club in Wellington, M.J. Reardon drew the conclusion that, "We Labor [sic] agitators, therefore, are in good company" .541 However, Catholic social doctrine could also be used to scrutinize Labour politics, as has been noted in the discussion of Socialism. A Zealandia reader was surprised to fmd in 1938 that a study group was criticizing the Labour Government. In reply, it was explained that study groups were not limited to narrowly theological issues and could well find themselves objecting to current legislation, although the discussion should not descend to the level of propaganda.542 "Jerome" , a contributor to the Tablet's Catholic Social Guild series; deprecated legislation and governmental functions which increased people's dependence on the state, including the provision of medical benefits to those who could pay for their own health care and even the supply of free milk to schoolchildren, which allegedly deprived parents of their own responsibilities.543 Higgins himself emphasized that medical care was primarily the responsibility of the family and opposed the nationalization of the health system.S44 He argued that the family should be as self-reliant as possible; governments had to promote social justice but should not encourage fmancial dependence upon the state by making unearned payments.545 When a corresponent complained that the Tablet's "Catholic Thought" column was being used for Labour propaganda, the editor pointed out that increasing bureaucracy, a feature of contemporary government, was condemned in the social encyclicals just as strongly as the evils of Capitalism.s46 Rejecting the extreme views of both Capitalism and Communism, the Catholic Church claimed to offer a middle path.547 It was argued that, "If slavery results, under Capitalism, from ignoring the rights of individuals, it would also result from the glorification of the State under Socialism. "548 The Church condemned equally the "unjust claims" of both Capital and Labour.549 O'Shea believed that Catholicism 541 NZ Tablet, 19 September 1918, p. 1 1 . 542 Zealandia, 18 August 1938, p. 12. 543 NZ Tablet, 26 April 1939, p. 23; 1 March 1939, p. 9; cf 27 December 1939, p. 6 (by "Youtb- Jerome"). 544 ZeaZandia, 8 April 1937, p. 6. 545 Zealandia, 22 April 1937, p. 6 546 NZ Tablet, 14 February 1940, p. 5. 547 NZ Tablet, 15 June 1920, p. 15; 28 December 1938, p. 8; Zealandia, 16 August 1934, p. 2. 548 NZ Tablet, 6 May 1920, p. 26. 549 NZ Tablet, 27 July 1938, p. 46. __ ---- _._-_ �o __ • • _. _ __ ��_ ... ..... _ _ • __ _ '" •• ___ �_ • • _ ... _ _ _ _ Convergence between the Catholic Church and the Labour Party 405 "would provide the golden mean between the extremes of Capitalism on the one side, and revolutionary socialism on the other. "550 Moreover, "whatever is good in all modem theories of social reform is taken from Catholicism, and whatever Catholicism looks askance at may be considered detrimental to true reform. "551 According to Redwood, in a statement directed at Protestants as well as Socialists, Whatever is truly best and most progressive in modem social doctrine was put into practice by Christianity more than four centuries ago .... What is good in Socialism is Christian. The rest is pernicious error. "552 While Catholic leaders usually refrained from overtly supporting the Labour Party, individual Catholics were often committed to it for a variety of reasons, of which the most important was the Party's championship of working class interests. In some important ways, Catholic social teaching, which received unprecedented attention during the Depression, parallelled Labour philosophy and presumably encouraged reflective Catholics to see the Party as a promising vehicle for social reform in conformity with their Church's teachings. Nevertheless, Catholics asserted the autonomy of their social doctrine and were willing to use it to criticize Labour policy as well as Communism and Capitalism. A New Consensus Catholics believed that their Church alone taught the principles needed for social reconstruction, while the Protestant Reformation was responsible for the evils of industrial Capitalism. This triumphalist attitude, however, did not prevent Catholics from co-operating with their fellow citizens to relieve the problems of the Depression. Moreover, just as Catholics were encouraged to appropriate their Church's social doctrine during the 1930s, Protestants, too, were compelled by the Depression to re­ evaluate the relationship between the Gospel and social problems. There was thus a convergence in the attitudes of many Protestants and Catholics. Moreover, church members increasingly turned to the Labour Party as the means of achieving social reform. This new consensus survived the Spanish Civil War, despite differences of opinion within the wider community, and Catholics reaffInned their loyalty on occasions such as the accession of King George VI in 1937. During the Second World War, the good relations established between the Catholic Church, the other main 550 NZ Tablet, 22 July 1920, p. 18. 551 NZTablet, 7 August 19 19, p. 34 (O'Shea). 552 NZ Tablet, 8 May 1 9 18, p. 18. _ .... -015lI0II.''- 406 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? denominations and the Government contrasted sharply with the antagonism of the First, despite attempts to arouse sectarian antipathy. Claiming that their Church spoke with unique authority on social questions, Catholics criticized not only Socialism and Capitalism but also Protestantism. Catholic apologists claimed that the Church was responsible for the elevation of workers from the status of slaves in the classical world. SS3 During the Middle Ages, the Church had protected the serfs.SS4 Guilds, whose development was fostered by the Church, were idealized as "mediaeval trades unions" which had regulated wages and working conditions.sss A corollary of such thinking was sensitivity to any derogatory reference to �e Middle Ages. When Education Minister c.J. Parr made a disparaging allusion to "the old monkish system of education which we have inherited", Catholic apologists were quick to defend the mediaeval Church.ss6 In England, the guilds and monasteries, which were essential agents of charity, had been destroyed by the Reformation.ss7 O'Regan also blamed the Reformation for "the poor laws, the loss of the common fields, the horrors of the so-called industrial revolution" and other evidence of the "triumph of sensualism over law". SS8 Capitalism and its attendant evils, notably the emergence of an impoverished proletariat and a concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, were regarded by Catholics as a direct outgrowth of the Protestant Reformation.ss9 According to E.J. Haughey, Calvinism, under which "avarice was consecrated as a virtue" and rationalized by laissez-faire doctrines, gave 553 Month, 15 July 1 919, p. 15; 15 December 1922, p. 4; 18 November 1924, p. 37; NZ Tablet, 1 June 1 922, p. 9; 21 June 1 923, p. 45; 10 December 1930, p. 3; Zealandia, 16 September 1 937, p. 6; Marist Messenger, 2 May 1938, p. 13 and 1 June 1938, p. 1 1 . 554 NZTablet, 22 August 1 91 8, pp. 9-10 (Redwood); 3 1 July 1 935, p. 7 (CJ. Collins). 555 Month, 15 July 1 9 19, p. 15; 15 June 1920, pp. 6-7; 14 January 1 922, p. 6; 15 November 1 922, p. 3 (includes the phrase quoted); 15 December 1922, p. 4; 18 November 1924, pp. 15, 37; NZ Tablet, 1 August 1918, p. 7; 8 August 1918, pp. 5, 7; 15 May 1919, p. 28; 26 November 1924, p. 15; 18 January 1933, p. 2; 7 August 1935; 16 March 1938, p. 9 and 20 April 1938, p. 4; 6 September 1939, p. 33; Zealandia, 16 September 1937, p. 6. 556 Month, 15 August 1922, pp. 6-7; 15 June 1 922, p. 27 (Mary Goulter). For further examples of such sensitivity, see Zealandia, 22 November 1 934, p. 4 and NZ Tablet, 1 3 December 1 939, p. 5. 557 NZ Tablet, 21 June 1 923, p. 45 (J.P. Kavanagh); 29 February 1928, p. 3; 4 May 1932, p. 3 ; 2 November 1938, p. 27. 558 NZ Tablet, 3 June 1925, p. 15. 559 Month, 1 5 October 1920, p. 5; 16 October 1 922, p. 6 NZ Tablet, 8 August 1918, pp. 10-1 3; 27 November 1 929, p. 6; 10 December 1930, p. 3; 28 January 1931, p. 3; 18 January 1933, p. 1 ; 5 April 1 933, p. 24; 28 February 1934, p. 21; 27 March 1935, p. 8; 24 July 1935; 7 July 1 937, p. 4; 28 June 1939, p. 5; 15 November 1939, p. 8. , --.-"'-�-- --.-- .,. .. --..--._--...._-- A New Consensus 407 rise to industrial Capitalism, whose injustice led, through Marx, to Communism. Luther, "despite his specious cant about freedom", had established "many false and spurious forms of authority", leading ultimately to the rise of Nazism.560 Despite Catholic efforts to blame Protestantism for contemporary evils - usually in articles and addresses directed at Catholic audiences - the Church was able to co­ operate with secular and religious agencies to relieve distress during the Depression. The hierarchy urged Catholics to be "ever ready to co-operate with the State and public bodies in their efforts to ameliorate distress, and afford relief to those in need" .561 Reflecting on developments in 1931 , the Month noted that Catholics had "gladly co­ operated with and been encouraged and inspired by their fellow citizens, not of the faith maybe, but of the golden circle of kindliness of heart. "562 In Auckland and Wellington, Catholics joined committees representing business, local government and the churches concerned with securing work for unemployed boys.563 The Social Workers' Association in Auckland co-ordinated the relief efforts of various churches after its establishment in 1930. For a time, Archdeacon H.F. Holbrook, representing the St Vincent de Paul Society, was the Chairman; he was also involved in the Mayor's Metropolitan Relief Committee.564 0' Shea nominated the President and Treasurer of the St Vincent de Paul Society (p.D. Hoskins and Colonel J.G. Roache) to represent the Catholic Church on Wellington's Inter-Church Central Relief Committee, while Hoskins also served on the Mayor's Relief Fund Committee.s6S At the invitation of J.R. Blanchard, Convener of the Public Questions Committee of the Presbyterian Church, O'Shea sent Higgins, O'Regan and M.T. Ryan to represent the Catholic Church at a meeting to prepare a public statement on unemployment in 1932; further consultations between Catholic and Protestant representatives took place in the succeeding years.566 In July 1933, Brodie spoke at the inaugural meeting of the 560 NZ Tablet, 23 April 1934, pp. 20-21 , 3 1 ; ct 28 August 1935, pp. 20-21 . Haughey also argued that post-Reformation capitalism had originated in the nominally Catholic Italy of the Renaissance (NZ Tablet, 4 September 1935, pp. 9, 1 1). . 561 Month, 1 July 1931 , p. 9; NZ Tablet, 8 July 1931, p. 42; ct similar sentiments expressed in a pastoral letter by Liston (Month, 1 May 1933, pp. 18-19). 562 Month, 1 March 1932, p. 16. For specific examples of such joint charitable work, see chapter three. 563 NZ Tablet, 2 November 1932, p. 42; 16 November 1932. p. 42; 1 1 January 1933, p. 15 ; Month, 1 August 1932, p. 19; Zealandia, 19 December 1935, p. 6. 564 Month, 1 April 1931 , p. 30; NZTablet, 5 July 1933, p. 6; Reid, pp. 34-35 if. MAC, 193 1 , p. 135. 565 NZ Tablet, 5 August 1931 , p. 46; if. Month, 1 August 1931 , p. 17. 566 Blanchard to O' Shea, 30 June 1932, 16 July 1932, WCAA; PGA, 1934, p. 176; 1935, p. 160; MAC, 1935, p. 65. 408 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Christchurch branch of the National Reconstruction Association, an organization largely made up of businessmen. Mayor Sullivan and Dr O'Brien were also present.567 Gradually recognizing that charity was not an adequate response to the Depression, the churches increasingly questioned the causes of poverty and unemployment. All agreed that the problems of the Depression were fundamentally moral: without individual conversion to the values of the Gospel and recognition of divine authority over every human endeavour, economic and social reform could not succeed.S68 According to the Presbyterian General Assembly, the crisis resulted from "the violation of the laws of God" in a world which worshipped Mammon and practised selfishness. God's law required "reverence for life and love of one's neighbour. the strong helping to bear the burdens of the weak. "569 The Catholic bishops declared that "the root of our present economic and industrial difficulties is a moral one" and called for "a change of heart, not only amongst those who control the destinies of nations, but amongst the people themselves."57o Nevertheless, the Catholic Church, having developed its social teaching in competition with European Socialism since the late nineteenth century, was better prepared than were the Protestant churches to respond to the Depression not simply with moral exhortation but from the basis of a coherent social philosophy. Protestants in New Zealand had long tended to emphasize personal moral reform rather than to criticize unjust social and economic structures. Campaigns against gambling and liquor or in favour of Bible reading in schools and Sunday observance were intended to bring about reform at the individual level and thereby promote Christian virtue.571 Moreover, the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, in particular, had tended to identify with the interests of the state and were therefore disinclined to criticize the government. Among the Protestant churches, the Methodists were the frrst to develop a critical perspective on the causes of the Depression and the most appropriate responses to it. 572 Presbyterians (who accounted 567 Press, 1 1 July 1933, p. 10; NZ Tablet, 19 July 1933, p. 6. 568 NZ Tablet, 3 December 1930, p. 3; 3 January 1 934, p. 21 (Higgins); NZ Herald, 5 April 1 932, p. 1 1 (Liston); Marist Messenger, 1 July 1936 , p. 1 4 (Higgins); Month, 1 May 1933, p. 1 8 (Liston); Zealandia, 19 July 1934, p. 4; 27 January 1938, p. 1 2; MAC, 1933, p. 81; 1934, p. 69; 1935, p. 73; PGA. 1 932, pp. 14, 98; 1 933, pp. 21, 81, 84. 569 PGA. 1 934, p. 182. 570 Month, 1 July 193 1 , p. 9; NZ Tablet, 8 July 1931, p. 42. 571 Reid, p. to. 572 Clements, pp. 153, 196, 204, 21 1, 3 1 3-314, 331-335. p---� - ---�-- -- A New Consensus 409 for half the Coalition Cabinet),573 were the least inclined to accept that the Church ought to take a direct role in political and economic affairs (except at the level of moral crusades).574 However, the General Assembly adopted in 1934 a report which suggested that it was a Christian duty to "Counteract the tacit assumption that the present system is an approved Christian social order, and that no fundamental changes are necessary or desirable. "575 Protestant church leaders urged their members to take up the study of social questions and, as in the Catholic Church, study groups were established.576 Occasionally there were opportunities for Catholics to explain their views to a wider audience. In 1936, Rerum Novarum and Quadragesimo Anno were discussed at a joint meeting of the Auckland University Labour Club and the University Catholic Club.577 At a luncheon sponsored by the Crusade for Social Justice in 1937, Liston expounded Catholic social teaching to an audience which included the Governor-General, Viscount Galway, and Archbishop Averill.578 While Catholic social teaching endorsed reforms promoted by Labour politicians, Protestant demands for change, especially those emanating from the Methodist Church, also tended to coincide with Labour policies. Methodists criticized the concentration of wealth "in the hands of a small minority" and asserted that "such steps as are necessary to secure a more just and equitable distribution of the nation's wealth should have the support of Christian people. "579 Advocates of "Christian Socialism" shared with the Labour Party a desire for moderate reform rather than revolution.5BO The Depression accelerated the tendency for the Labour Party to replace its theoretical ideals with short-term proposals calculated to relieve unemployment and hardship. Its programme, including public works schemes and monetary reform, increasingly resembled the churches' agenda, in contrast to the Coalition's reluctance 573 Oements, p. 196. 574 Reid, p. 75; S. Rae, Changing Patterns of Presbyterian Social Service (Dunedin: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1983), p. 6. 575 PGA, 1 934, pp. 53, 1 83. 576 Reid, pp. 72-73 ; Garing, pp. 421-422; MAC, 1934, p. 69; 1935, p. 72; PGA, 1932, p. 15, 99, 103; 1934, p. 53; 1936, p. 179. 577 ZeaIandio., 24 September 1 936, p. 4. 578 NZ Herald, 4 June 1937, p. 14; Zealandia, 10 June 1937, p. 5. 579 MAC, 1935, p. 73 . 580 Reid, pp. 92-93. \ · . - - - - -- ------ --------- 410 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? to undertake bold measures. S81 Like some Catholics and Labour politicians, a number of Protestant clerics, of whom the most enthusiastic was Percy Paris, editor of the New Zealand Methodist Times, were attracted to monetary reform proposals and regarded the Labour Party as their champion. S82 The League to Abolish Poverty was organized in 1935, with O'Shea as one of the Vice-Presidents, to collect signatures for a petition to the King seeking adjustments in the fmancial system. At the meeting to inaugurate the Auckland branch, presided over by the Rev. W.W. Averill, Holbrook declared that i,the economic and fmancial system had broken down hopelessly" .S83 Presbyterians were warned, however, that "ranting about Capitalism, and uncritical enthusiasm over new credit schemes" were "positively dangerous".s84 Just as numerous Catholics were drawn to the Labour Party by its advocacy of social and industrial reform, many Protestants also became involved with the Party for religiously-inspired motives as well as class interests. During its early years, the Methodist and Baptist Churches, with their urbanized and wage-earning memberships, provided significant support for Labour, although the Party's philosophy appealed rather less to the Anglican and Presbyterian communities.S8S In 1919, a Methodist Annual Conference resolution enthusiastically endorsed the efforts of labour "to secure its just, fair, and equitable rights, including improved conditions, increased wages, and shorter hours" and pledged "to assist Labour to that end".s86 Some Protestant clergymen, like their Catholic peers, came to regard the Labour Party as a vehicle for the implementation of Christian ideals. On Labour Day in 1924, the local branch of the Labour Party organized an open air demonstration at Carlaw Park. A crowd of · 3,000 listened to addresses by five speakers. The Rev. 1. Lamb Harvey, a Presbyterian, declared that " although he could not subscribe to certain planks in Labour's political 581 Reid, pp. 1 19-124. For Liston's involvement with a call for public work schemes, see below. 582 MAC, 1933, p. 8 1 ; 1 934, p. 70; 1 936, p. 69; Press, 18 February 1938, p. 16; Reid, pp. 74, 89-90, 104-1 16; Clements, pp. 215, 224-238; RT. Robertson, "The Tyranny of Circumstances: Responses to Unemployment in New Zealand, 1929-1935, with particular reference to Dunedin" (University of Otago Ph.D. thesis in History, 1978), pp. 406-41 1 . 583 NZ Herald, 1 2 August 1935, p. 12; Reid, p. 108. 584 PG A, 1933, p. 83. 585 Gustafson, Labour's Path, pp. 123-124; "Intervention", pp. 4-5. 586 The Conference also recommended "the principles of co-partnership and profit-sharing in all forms of industry" (MAC, 1 9 19, p. 122; Press, 6 March 1919, p. 7) if. a similar resolution the following year (MAC 1 920, p. 63). Gustafson (Labour's Path, p. 1 25) treats the 1919 resolution as evidence for Methodist endorsement of the Labour Party but in the discussion, as reported, "Labour" was contrasted with "Capital" and no reference was made to the Labour Party. ��-_ . ..--- .' ... -_ .... - _ .. _.��_----. .. - --. --� .... � -----,- .------ ... . -............ A New Consensus 411 programme, he had found more of the spirit of religious idealism in the Labour movement than in any other political movement" More guarded comments, emphasizing the need for personal moral reform, were made by the Rev. W.G. Monckton of the Anglican Church and Ensign Inglis of the Salvation Army. Holbrook, reiterating the customary Catholic apologia for the mediaeval guilds and tracing later social evils back to the Reformation, also called for adherence to the teachings of Christ in order to combat "a corrupt social system". Savage, the MP for Auckland West, correctly interpreted the occasion as "a reply on the one hand to those who said Labour was dominated by one church, and on the other hand, to those who said that Labour men were not concerned about the Church. "587 By provoking disillusionment with the political status quo, the Depression further encouraged both Catholics and Protestants to favour the Labour Party. Having co­ operated in relieving social distress during the early 1930s, representatives of the leading denominations joined in a swelling chorus of complaint against the Coalition Government's inadequate response to unemployment in particular. In June 1932, Liston and other Auckland church leaders, concerned about rising unemployment and recent rioting, published a joint statement urging "loyal co-operation with the constituted authorities and with one another .. :to solve the pressing problems of the hour. "588 Before long, however, Christians of different denominations were criticizing the Government for requiring the unemployed to undertake unproductive relief work on wages barely adequate for subsistence.s89 In July 1934, Mayor G.W. Hutchison presided over a large public meeting under the auspices of the Auckland Citizens' Committee, which passed resolutions demanding improved pay and conditions for unemployed relief work. Among the speakers was Liston who, speaking "not only as a citizen but also as a representative, however unworthy, of the Church", proposed public work schemes such as slum clearance and home building. Although he reiterated the Mayor's affIrmation that the meeting was non-partisan, the Committee's pointed criticism of the Government only four months before the election indicated that both Catholic and Protestant leaders shared in widespread disillusionment with the 587 NZ Herald, 27 October 1924, p. 10; for further apologetic argument by Holbrook on this occasion, see Month, 1 8 November 1924, p. 37. 588 NZ Herald, 14 May 1932, p. 13. 589 Reid. pp. 53-5; NZ Tablet, 1 5 February 1933, p. 4; Zealandia, 27 September 1 934, p. 4; 14 February 1935, p. 4; 28 February 1935, p. 4; MAC, 1 934, p. 69; 1935, pp. 7 1-72; PGA. 1932, p. 16; 1933, p. 21; 1934, p. 1 76; 1935, p. 160. ' 412 Chapter Five: HA Disturbing Political Incubus"? National Government's response to the Depression.590 At a September 1935 public meeting organized by a group of Auckland clergy and chaired by Archbishop Averill, a resolution proposed by Holbrook criticized the Government for merely temporizing over the problem of unemployment rather than solving it. A further motion declared That this audience, in calling for a no-confidence rejection of the present Government at the forthcoming poll, records its conviction that any continuance of civic and political ineptitude, on the part of this or any other Government, is warranted not only to destroy faith in constitutional government, but also to do despite to the essential spirit of Christianity.591 Five Protestant clergymen, or former clergymen, contested the 1935 election as members of the Labour party.592 One of them, the Presbyterian Arnold Nordmeyer, later explained that "there was a convergence between what the Churches said and what the Labour Party said. "593 The election of the fIrst Labour Government in 1935 and its re-election in 1938 by a much increased popular vote were thus aided by both Catholic and Protestant church leaders. Far from suspecting the Party to be a tool of the Catholic Church, most Protestants had evidently come to share the view of most Catholics that only a Labour Government could address social and economic problems successfully. Yet some Protestants and Catholics still feared the Socialist bogey lurking behind the Labour Party. The Presbyterian Church expressed concern in 1936 about the "avowed Socialistic aims" of the new Government and the concerns of Catholics have already been discussed.5� Nevertheless, there was something of a new political consensus, involving both Catholics and Protestants. A potential threat to this consensus was the Spanish Civil War, which the Catholic Church regarded as a contest between atheistic Communism and Christianity.595 590 NZ Herald, 1 1 July 1 934, p. 15; NZ Tablet, 1 8 July 1934, p. 7; Zealandia, 19 July 1934, p. 1 . 591 NZ Herald, 1 1 September 1935, p . 1 5 . For an earlier statement by the same group of Auckland clerics, see Reid. pp. 179-181 . Holbrook had "the full support of his Bisbop" (Reid. pp. 65-66, citing an interview with Liston). An even more direct statement denouncing the Coalition, attributed by Clements to Archbisbop Averill at a public meeting, was in fact made by Kenneth Melvin, a Free Methodist member of the clergy group (Clements, p. 201, incorrectly citing the NZ Herald, 23 November 1935; cf Reid. p. 65, citing an election broadsheet, dated 23 November 1935, in Melvin's papers). 592 Reid, p. 131 . Davidson (p. 1 10) says ten, but this seems to be a mistake based on K.P. Clements, "The Religious Variable: Dependent, Independent or Interdependent?" in M. Hill (editor), A Sociological Year Book of Religion in Britain (London: SCM, 1971), p. 44. 593 Interview with Nordmeyer, quoted in Qements, p. 24 1 . 594 PGA, 1936, p . 179. 595 Skudder, pp. 10, 120-123; NZ Tablet, 2 September 1936, p. 3; 7 October 1936, p. 3. p A New Consensus 413 However, apart from Catholics and Communists, most New Zealanders were not directly concerned about the war. The Labour Government's sympathies were with the Republicans but it was not interested in taking a strong stand in the international community and it evidently did not want to offend either its Catholic or its Communist supporters.596 Despite its own uncompromising support for General Franco, moreover, little attempt was made by the Church to convince non-Catholics of the justice of the Nationalist cause.597 Cleary's, rather than Kelly's defence of Ireland proVided the model. Apart from a small number of letters and articles in the secular press, Catholics made few public protests against pro-Republican activities in New Zealand. At a public meeting in Christchurch, Brodie objected strenuously to a proposal to send an ambulance destined to serve under the Republican flag.598 Occasionally Catholics directly accused the Protestant churches of associating themselves with Comm-unism in Spain and some New Zealanders blamed the Church for the crisis there.599 Catholic activities concerned with the war, such as days of prayer and discussions by debating groups or study clubs, were typically undertaken within the Catholic community.600 Emphasizing "the unspeakable calamities that have befallen Catholics in Spain", diocesan appeals were organized to assist the restoration of ecclesiastical buildings damaged or destroyed in the war.601 Skudder has suggested that by keeping a low profIle on the issue of the Spanish Civil War for fear of arousing pro-Republican, anti­ Catholic sentiments, the Catholic Church became increasingly insular.602 A more probable interpretation is that Catholics, while defending their principles quietly, did not want to jeopardize improving relations with the wider community� Meanwhile, personal and formal links between the denominations continued to be strengthened, particularly in Wellington. Shared concerns over moral issues such as 596 Skudder, pp. 7, 81, 245 and chapter one. 597 Skudder, pp. 10, 124, 166, 168; ; but cf. NZ Tablet, 30 December 1936, p. 7 and 10 February 1937, p. 7 (public address by Father M.D. Forrest at Huntly); 1 1 May 1938, pp. 3-4, 41 and 18 May 1938, pp. 3-4, 41 (address given in Upper Hutt by B J. Barnao, organized by Catholic members of the Labour Party). 598 NZ Tablet, 9 December 1936. pp. 3, 7; Press, 2 December 1936. p. 10; Skudder, pp. 124; 160-161, 166-168. 599 NZ Tablet, 18 November 1936, p. 3; Skudder, pp. 161, 298, 300, 327-334. 600 Skudder, pp. 158-159; NZ Tablet. 14 October 1936, p. 7; 9 December 1936. p. 6; 24 March 1937, p. 7; 8 September 1937, p. 9. 601 O'Shea, pastoral letter dated 8 February 1937, Zealandia. 25 February 1 937, p. 4; cf. NZ Tablet, 8 September 1937, p. 6 (collection in the Dunedin diocese). 602 Skudder, p. 169. 414 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? censorship have already been discussed.603 When the Presbyterian Dr James Gibb established a branch of the League of Nations Union in Wellington in 1922, he received the enthusiastic support of O'Shea and O'Regan.604 Under Gibb's inspiration, the Churches' United Peace Committee, which included two clerical and three lay representatives of the Catholic Church, produced in 1927 a manifesto denouncing war and endorsing the League of Nations. 60S In 1931 , Gibb chaired a large public meeting under the auspices of the League of Nations Union in Wellington, at which addresses were given by the leaders of the three main political parties. Archbishop 0' Shea and Canon James (one of Cleary's principal antagonists in the Bible in Schools debate) proposed and seconded a resolution endorsing the forthcoming Wodd Disarmament Conference in Geneva. 606 Even after the Catholic hierarchy repudiated the agreement O'Shea negotiated with the Bible in Schools League in 1932, the Archbishop continued to meet and correspond with League Secretary E.O. Blamiresf)()7 O'Shea sent a message of condolence to the Wellington Presbytery on the death of Gibb in 1935.608 Writing to a Christchurch Presbyterian who shared O'Shea's concern for religious education, the Archbishop noted that he "counted many real friends amongst the members of your church", and that Gibb had been a staunch friend for the last ten years of his life.609 When Dr David Kennedy SM died in 1936, D.M. Hercus, Moderator of the Wellington Presbytery, sent not only a formal letter but also a personal handwritten letter seeking to "establish personal contact with one who is greatly respected and trusted far outside the bounds of his own communion."610 While O'Shea was overseas in 1939, the Anglican Bishop of Wellington, Herbert St Barbe 603 See above, chapter fOUf. 604 L.H. Barber, The Very Rev. James Gibb: Patriot into PacifISt, (Dunedin: Presbyterian Historical Society of New Zealand. 1973), pp. 1 1-12, 16; O' Regan diary, 28 February 1 922, AlL 76-165-111 ; Evening Post, 13 April 1922, p. 7; NZ Tablet, 1 1 September 1935, p. 6 (pastoral letter on the Union); if. 1 3 June 1928, p. 44 (report on a brief radio talk on the League in 1928). 605 NZ Tablet, 22 June 1927, pp. 25, 33. For the fate of the manifesto, see Davidson, pp. 100-101 and for an earlier joint declaration which involved Catholic representatives, see Evening Post, 29 March 1 922, p. 7. 606 Evening Post, 6 October 1 93 1 , p. 12; NZTablet, 2 1 October 1 93 1 , p. 3 1 . 607 For example, a letter from O'Shea to Blamires i n 1 937 helped to persuade the Wellington Education Board to allow the introduction of religious observances in primary schools under its jurisdiction (see chapter seven). 608 R. Inglis, Presbytery Clerk, to O'Shea, 3 1 October 1935, WCAA. 609 O' Shea to Leighton JD. Weir, 9 December 1 936, WCAA. 610 Hercus to O'Shea, 1 1 March 1936, WCAA (two letters). 4 ; A New Consensus 415 Holland, who was himself about to leave the country, wrote a letter of greeting in anticipation of O'Shea's retum.61 1 At the civic reception for the Apostolic Delegate before the Eucharistic Congress, Holland represented the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational Churches.612 O.E. Burton, as Convenor of the Methodist Public Questions Committee, kept 0' Shea informed of negotiations for reunion with the Congregationalist Church.613 When the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches celebrated their centenaries, 0' Shea sent his congratulations although he was unable to attend.614 Such informal contacts and joint concern for social action among Catholics and Protestants led to the establishment in 1941 of the Inter-Church Council on Public Mfairs, made up of representatives of the Catholic and Protestant churches in Wellington. 615 Changing attitudes on the part of the Catholic hierarchy towards proposals to allow the University of New Zealand to confer degrees in divinity illustrate the new spirit of co-operation. During the Bible in Schools Campaign in 1912, the Government rejected a request to amend the university legislation in order to provide for degrees in divinity.616 Cleary's Month was unenthusiastic about a new proposal promoted in 1925.617 In 1928, T.K. Sidey, as Chairman of a University Council Committee concerned with the issue, wrote to Redwood seeking the Church's views.618 The reply, drafted by Cleary, asked for further information on the treatment of different schools of theology - evidently a reference to Catholic and Protestant teaching - and the 611 St Barbe Holland to O'Shea, 22 May 1939, WCAA. 612 NZ Tablet. 7 February 1940, p. 6; Zealandia, 8 February 1940, p. 6. 613 Burton to O'Shea, 4 August 1939; O'Shea to Burton. 4 August 1939; Burton to O'Shea, 1 1 December 1939, WCAA. 614 O'Shea to Percy Paris, 10 June 1939; O'Shea to the Moderator of the General Assembly, 19 February 1940, WCAA. 615 J A Park, "The Ecmnenical Movement in New Zealand" (University of Otago M.A. thesis in History, 1950), pp. 130-131 ; C.G. Brown, Forty Years On: a History of the National Council of Churches in New Zealand, 1941-1981 (Christchurch: National Council of Churches, 1981), pp. 44, 290. note 31, 298. note 2. Both sources record the establishment of the Council as having taken place in 1942 but the first meeting was to be held on 28 October 1941 0. Thomson Macky to Monsignor AJ. McRae, 14 October 1941. WCAA). 616 1. Breward, Grace and Truth: a History of Theological Hall Knox College, Dunedin, 1876-1975 (Dunedin: Theological Education Committee of the Presbyterian Church. 1975), p. 169. 617 Month, 21 July 1925, p. 21. 618 Sidey to Redwood, 23 April 1928. WCAA, CCDA. · . . - - .. --�-. . - . -- --.--- -- -------- 416 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? funding of the project.619 ' Mter discussion by the bishops at their 1929 meeting, Redwood wrote to Sidey that they were opposed to the teaching of theology in the university for the same reasons they rejected religious teaching in state schools. They therefore felt "under an obligation in conscience to resist your proposals by every legitimate means at our disposal" .620 The plan was subsequently rejected by the Government. 621 In 1937, John Dickie wrote to 0' Shea asking for a meeting in the hope of securing the Catholic Church's "benevolent neutrality" in renewed efforts to enable the university to offer divinity degrees. Setting aside his former antipathy towards Catholicism, he wanted tp tell 0' Shea "how highly representative Presbyterians appreciate the cooperation of the great Mother Church of Western Christendom in those matters where your Church & mine can cooperate. "622 The university authorities decided in 1939 to approach the Government but further delay was caused by the war. In 1945, when O'Shea was asked by the Rev. Herbert Newell, Secretary of the Council of Churches, what the Catholic attitude towards divinity degrees would be, the bishops' only concern was whether there would be any cost to Catholic taxpayers.623 Newell assured the Archbishop that the tuition would be provided by existing theological colleges, not the state-funded university.624 In 1946, a Faculty of Theology was established in Dunedin, with staff paid by the churches concerned.625 In addition to cultivating good relations with other denominations, Catholics often stressed their loyalty to the state.626 Formal luncheons organized by the Hibernians 619 Undated draft with note by Cleary, WCAA and CCDA; Cleary to Redwood, 12 June 1928 and accompanying carbon copy of letter to Sidey (to be signed by Redwood) dated 13 June, WCAA; Redwood to Sidey, 28 November 1928, WCAA (a further copy of the letter drafted by Deary and evidently the version sent); if. Minutes of bishops' meeting, 3 May 1928, CCDA, ACDA a.E 1-5. 620 Redwood to Sidey, 24 April 1929, WCAA; ct minutes of bishops' meeting, 24 April 1929, CCDA, ACDA CLE 1-5. Redwood's letter is quoted in Breward, p. 170. 621 Breward, p. 170; ct Redwood's report at the next bishops' meeting that he had spoken with Sidey since the previous meeting but had heard nothing more of the proposal since then (minutes, 28 April 1930, CCDA, ACDA a.E 1-5). 622 Dickie to O'Shea, 28 October 1937, WCAA. 623 H.W. Newell to O'Shea, 21 March 1945 (referring to a conversation with O'Shea on 16 March); 0' Shea to Liston and the other bishops, 16 March 1945; Whyte (on behalf of the other two South Island Bishops) to O'Shea, 20 March 1945); Iiston to O'Shea, 19 March 1945; O'Shea to Newell. 23 March 1945, WCAA. 624 Newell to O'Shea, 1 1 April 1945, WCAA. 625 Breward, p. 172. , 626 For the inculcation of patriotism in Catholic schools, see chapter three below. ,......-- - A New Consensus 417 included a joint 'toast to "The Pope and the King".627 The Church enjoyed good relations with successive governors-general, who often attended Catholic functions.628 In 1935, 0' Shea, Brodie; Whyte and Liston were guests of Lord Bledisloe at a private infonnal luncheon in Government House.629 On the occasion of George V's silver jubilee the following year, the Tablet noted that, Catholics no less than other sections of the community have joined in the Empire's royal salute .... The fact that George V is a Protestant King in no way diminishes the loyalty of Catholic citizens or the sincerity of their good wishes.63o In an address given shortly after the King's death, O'Shea emphasized that Both Church and State are sovereign and independent in their respective spheres and both have a strict claim binding on the consciences of their subjects, of obedience to law. The Church has no power over civil legislation in matters purely secular, nor has the State any authority over spiritual matters.631 There was distress at the prospect of Edward VIII's marriage to Mrs Simpson, but his abdication and the coronation of George VI in May 1937 allowed a resumption of the loyalty theme.632 The Hibernian Society's 1937 annual conference passed a resolution affirming its members' loyalty to the new King and Queen and donated £100 to the King George Memorial Fund - in addition to the contributions made by individual branches.633 Dr Francis Walsh told a Wellington congregation that although great sins had been committed in its name, the British Empire was "the strongest force for peace, security and order in a troubled and changing world. "634 627 Month. 15 August 1923, p. 16; NZ Tablet, 6 April 1927, p. 57; 4 July 1928, p. 39; 2 April 1930, p. 52; 8 April 1931, p. 39; 29 March 1939, p. 8; ct Month, 1 July 1932, p. 25 (Sacred Heart Old Boys reunion). 628 Month. 15 April 1930, p. 19 (welcome to Lord and Lady Bledisloe); NZ Tablet, 1 January 1930, p. 3 (editorial commendation of Sir Charles Fergusson and Lord Bledisloe); 20 March 1935, pp. 3 (editorial commendation of Bledisloe), 5 (farewell message by Bledisloe). For the attendance of governors-general at Catholic functions, see chapter three above. 629 Zealandia,28 February 1935, p. 5. 630 NZ Tablet, 8 May 1935, p. 3; ct 15 May 1935, p. 6; 29 January 1936, pp. 3, 6; Zealandia, 23 May 1935, p. 2; 6 June 1935, p. 4. 631 NZ Tablet, 5 February 1936, p. 6; ct Zealandia, 30 January 1936, pp. 4-5 for Catholic observances in Auckland 632 NZ Tablet, 9 December 1936, p. 3; 12 May 1937, p. 5; 19 May 1937, p. 8; 26 May 1937, pp. 23, 41; Zealandia, 6 May 1937, pp. 4, 5; 20 May 1937, pp. 4, 5; 3 June 1937, p. 5. 633 NZ Tablet, 2 June 1937, p. 8; Zealandia, 10 June 1937, p. 6. 634 NZ Tablet, 26 May 1937, p. 41. The 1938 Catholic centennial celebrations occasioned further expressions of Catholic loyalty, as discussed in chapter two. --.-�- -�--- ---- - --- --- ------... 418 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? During the Second World War, in contrast to the First, few doubted Catholic loyalty. At the outbreak of war in 1914, Catholics had already been identified as a disloyal faction - a view which, in the eyes of many Protestants, was confmned by the actions of the Catholic Federation and Kelly's Irish nationalism in wartime. By the time war resumed in 1939, however, the bishops were thanking God that "relations between the Church and the State and our non-Catholic fellow citizens are of the happiest and most cordial nature."635 The Zealandia declared a few days before the outbreak of hostilities that, "if war should unhappily come, then Catholics will join their fellow-citizens in meeting the perils of the day with fortitude. "636 Liston expected that Catholics would be "ready for duties and generous in self-sacrifice. "637 Unlike some leading Protestant figures, the Catholic Church condemned pacifism and upheld the doctrine of the just war.638 Dr Noel Gascoigne wrote that, from the Catholic viewpoint, the_ issues involved in 1939 were "vastly different" from those of 1914. The Kaiser, for all his faults, had not persecuted the Church. But should Hitler triumph, should Stalin conquer, then verily the reign of Anti­ Christ is upon us. These are the issues. This is why we fight not a war, but a crusade.63g Catholics had long regarded Communism as a greater menace than Nazism640 and the Nazi-Soviet Pact, directed at Catholic Poland, confmned their suspicions: "Communism now stands revealed in all its native treachery".641 Russian Communism and Genoan Nazism were "but two aspects of militant Paganism".642 Communist . propagandists in New Zealand would "never succeed in explaining away the latest trick of their Russian masters or their dastardly invasion of gallant little Poland. "643 · 635 NZ Tablet, 20 September 1939, p. 39 and Zealandia, 28 September 1939, p. 4 (pastoral letter of the hierarchy on the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress). 636 Zealandia, 31 August 1939, p. 4. 637 Zealandia, 7 September 1939, p. 4. 638 NZ Tablet, 12 December 1934, p. 7; 29 April 1936, pp. 21, 34; 6 May 1936, p. 7; 27 May 1936, p. 34; 24 February 1937, pp. 1-2, 34; Zealandia, 6 June 1935, p. 4; 16 June 1938, p. 12; 17 August 1939, p. 4; 7 September 1939, p. 10; 14 September 1939, p. 2; 28 September 1939, p. 4. On Protestant pacifists, see Davidson, pp. 101-102. 639 NZ Tablet, 27 September 1939, p. 7. 640 NZ Tablet, 18 November 1936, p. 4; 25 November 1936, pp. 1-2; 3 March 1937, p. 6; 16 March 1938, p. 6; Zealandia. 23 March 1939, p. 6. 641 NZ Tablet, 27 September 1939, p. 5. cf. Zealandia, 9 November 1939, p. 4 ("Tem1>le as is the fact of war it has already done much good in the Immasking of the Soviet"). 642 NZ Tablet, 30 August 1939, p. 5. 643 NZ Tablet, 27 September 1939, p. 5. --. . .... - -. ... -.--" �- ------ ----.- -- .- . � . . �-- _... ----". - - --- _ ..... -- - -- -.- A New Consensus 419 The Zealandia endorsed a warning by Opposition leader Hamilton about Communist activities and propaganda. 644 In a charge reminiscent of that laid against Socialists and Irish Catholics during the First World War, it was asserted that Communists were undermining the war effort.64s When Hitler invaded Russia and Stalin became an ally, the Catholic press, reluctant to accept the new alliance, had to be asked to restrain its anti-Communist rhetoric.646 New Zealand Communists and Rationalists could now accuse the Church of disloyalty, recalling its former partiality towards Fascism, particularly in Spain.647 In another echo of Orange Lodge and PPA charges, the New Zealand Rationalist complained that Catholic schoolchildren were being brought up owing allegiance to a foreign power which supported Fascism in Spain while opposing "our great friend and ally Russia" .648 However, during the Second World War, unlike the First. the Government and the leading churches - Catholic as well as Protestant - worked in harmony to stifle sectarian tensions. The churches negotiated jointly with the Government for the exemption from conscription of conscientious objectors, theological students and Marist Brothers.649 N.C. Burns, who gave a series of lectures in 1940 at the Paramount Theatre, Wellington, on such topics as "Greater than Hitler: Who is the Great Beast Monster of Biblical Prophecy?" was evidently stopped by Fraser at O'Shea's request. 6SO During the First World War, the circulation of anti-Catholic books and tracts had fuelled sectarian discord and only in 1918 was the Government fmally persuaded to ban further importation of such "Protestant literature" .651 The Labour 644 Zealandia, 19 October 1939, p. 4. 645 Zealandia, 2 November 1939, p. 4; 7 December 1939, p. 4. 646 NM. Taylor, The New Zealand People at War: the Home Front (Wellington: Historical Publications Branch, 1986), pp. 589-598. 647 C.W.N. Cooke, "To what extent was the antipathy toward Catholicism by the Rationalist Association an integral component of Rationalism in the 1930s and 194Os?" (Massey University Diploma in Humanities research essay in History, 1991), pp. 7-8. 648 NZ Rationalist, 1 June 1942, p. 7. 649 Taylor, pp. 248-249. 650 Evening Post, 22 June 1940, p. 5 (advertisement); cf. 8 June 1940, p. 5 ("Mussolini and the Vatican"); O'Shea to Fraser, 25 June 1940, WCAA; W.B. Gamble to O'Shea, 1 July 1940, WCAA (this letter concerns the Jehovah's Witnesses and has a note by O'Shea about his reply: "Mentioned Burns being stopped by the Prime Minister"). 651 O'Connor, " 'Protestants'", pp. 197-198; NZ Tablet, 13 June 1918, pp. 27, 30; 10 October 1918, p. 15; 24 October 1918, pp. 25-26; 14 November 1918, p. 14; Month, 14 September 1918, p. 16; 15 October 1918, pp. 9, 16, 18; NZ Herald, 25 September 1918, p. 6. The ban was lifted in 1920 (Month, 15 May 1920, p. 6). 420 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Government's wartime censorship regulations were applied to sectarian propaganda from January 1941 .652 Later that year, it was found necessary to warn the editor and publishers of the Nation not to print further articles denigrating the Catholic Church, which had been accused, amongst other things, of being "no less crafty than Nazism". J.T. Paul, the Director of Publicity (the chief Government censor) was able to ask McKeefry in return to avoid antagonizing Communists, including the Soviet ambassador: a request with which the Zealandia editor expressed himself most willing to comply.6s3 In 1942, copies of Edith Moore's No Friend of Democracy: a Study of Roman Catholic Politics - their Influence on the Course of the Present War and the G�owth of Fascism, addressed to the Rationalist Association, were seized by officials.654 When Lee complained to Fraser over the ban, the Prime Minister replied that he would not allow any attacks on the Catholic Church while Catholic boys were giving their lives for their country.6SS Satisfied with the Government's efforts to censor anti-Catholic propaganda, Monsignor AJ. McRae wrote to Fraser that, "Here in New Zealand, I think it is safe to say that at the present time there is a greater spirit of friendliness and cooperation in the relations of the various churches than at any time in the past" He suggested that No Friend be referred to the Inter-Church Council, whose members McRae had "come to know and respect" and whom he judged to be "even more solicitous of a continuation of Catholic cooperation than some of our own leaders. "656 Just as certain Protestants had exploited wartime stresses to press their long­ standing demands for legislation restraining activities of the Catholic Church, so the Church itself exploited the opportunity provided by the Second World War to demand the suppression of propaganda by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Since 1934, the Tablet had regularly criticized the Witnesses and their leader Judge Rutherford, demanding that the Government ban their anti-Catholic tracts, radio programmes and recorded messages broadcast from vehicles.657 Unlike the PPA, the Witnesses had no political 652 1003 1009 Taylor, pp. , . 653 Taylor, pp. 919-921. The Tablet seems to have been less compliant (ibid., pp. 597-598). 654 Taylor, pp. 1008-1010; Cooke, pp. 8-9. 655 Fraser to Lee, 1 December 1942, copy in WCAA; Taylor, pp. 1009-1010; cf. Olssen, Lee, p. 184. The correspondence between Fraser and Lee was read out in Parliament by the Prime Minster (NZPD, 1943, vol. 263, pp. 1020-1022). 656 McRae to Fraser, 5 February 1943, WCAA. 657 NZ Tablet, 28 February 1934, p. 20; 1 1 April 1934, p. 4; 19 September 1935, p. 4; 2 October 1935, p. 3; 13 May 1936, p. 3; 20 May 1936, p. 3; 27 May 1936, p. 3; 4 November 1936, p. 3; 2 December 1936, p. 4; 10 March 1937, p. 4; 30 June 1937, p. 5; 21 July 1937, p. 7; 1 1 August 1937, p. 5; 25 May 1938, p. 5; 22 March 1939, p. 13; 19 Aprll 1939, p. 5; cf. Zealandia, 28 April 1938, p. A New Consensus ���---- --- - -- - 421 agenda and, far from promoting a Protestant alliance against the Catholic Church, their attacks on all the major denominations earned them widespread opprobrium. This was intensified during the war, when their refusal to salute flags or perform military service was deemed disloyal. The organization was declared subversive and its activities curtailed unti1 1945.658 Fraser told Parliament that it was the Government's responsibility "to see that, during the war, insults to people's religion are stayed and, if possible, eliminated for the time being. "659 Like Catholics during the First World War, the Witnesses became, during the Second, victims of the majority's demand for conformity - but this time the majority included the Catholic community. The most noteworthy anti-Catholic propagandist was John A. Lee who personally linked the major strands of anti-Catholicism during the Second World War. Lee cautiously defended the Witnesses' right to free speech and, while they prepared extra labels, he printed material for them in a special edition of John A. Lee's Weekly. 660 Having been expelled from the Labour Party in 1940, Lee launched his own Democratic Labour Party and later the Democratic Soldier Labour Party. Reviving debate over the Spanish Civil War late in 1941, he accused the Catholic clergy of supporting Fascism, a charge calculated to draw support from Communists in particular, and attacked the alleged influence of the clergy over Catholic voters. Lee was supported by Elliott and the Orange Lodge as well as the Rationalist Association.661 Unlike Elliott, whose anti-Catholicism led him into an alliance with the governing political Party, Lee's anti-Catholicism (or more accurately his anti­ clericalism), was a means of striking at the governing Party.662 Moreover, again unlike Elliott, Lee's attitude was a matter of political pragmatism rather than life-long conviction. His criticism of clerical involvement in European right-wing politics antedated the war and his antagonism was sharpened by Liston's personal opposition (Footnote continuedfrom previous page.) 6; Taylor, p. 235. 658 Taylor, pp. 234-243. 659 �L>, 1940, voI. 258, p. 503. 660 �L>, 1940, vol. 258, pp. 515-516; Lee, Simple, pp. 245-246; Olssen, Lee, p. 193; Taylor, p. 240. 661 Olssen. Lee, pp. 175-180, 187-188, 192; Cooke, pp. 9-12; cf. Lee, Simple, p. 231. 662 Lee counted individual Catholics among his closest friends and supporters, for example his private secretary, F.GJ. Temm was desaibed as "a well-known Auckland Catholic" (Zealandia, 10 September 1936, p. 4). However, Temm resigned from the Demoaatic Soldier Labour Party because of Lee's anti-clerical stance (Olssen, Lee, p. 183). 422 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? him. As Lee later wrote, "I had never been anti-clerical - indeed, 1 had got alorig splendidly with the Roman Catholic c1ergy".663 Lee's earlier career had exemplified the efforts of Labour politicians to cultivate Catholic support and Labour's sensitivity to Catholic voters would help to consolidate Lee's own isolation. In 1922, his candidacy for the Auckland East electorate had been advertised in the Month, which later printed a notice in which he thanked his supporters for their votes.664 Lee had also appeared at Catholic functions and visited Catholic institutions.665 During the Depression, he had enthused over the Church's contribution to the solution of social problems.666 As Under-Secretary for Housing, Lee had proudly led 0' Shea and other Catholic dignitaries on a tour of the government housing scheme at Orakei during the 1938 Catholic centennial celebrations.667 In February 1939, he represented the Government at the Pontifical Requiem Mass celebrated by Liston for Pope Pius XI.668 Moreover, in the debate over the Bible in Schools issue, Lee had even criticized others for inciting sectarian antipathy towards the Catholic Church.669 Lee's own sectarian propaganda contravened the wartime censorship regulations but the Government dared not prosecute him and prevailed upon the Zealandia to exercise restraint in its references to Lee.670 Even he, however, had misgivings about the political wisdom of the alliance with Elliott and the quarrel with the Church - in part because he feared the strategy would impede any future reconciliation with Labour, as it did.671 The Depression encouraged the development of a new political consensus involving Catholics, Protestants and the Labour Party - despite the Church's 663 Lee, Simple, pp. 154-155. 664 Month, 16 October 1922, p. 12; 15 December 1922, p. 18. Olssen (Lee, page 52) says that Lee's candidacy had the support of Liston in 1930. 665 NZ Tablet, 23 December 1925, p. 31 (garden fete to celebrate the silver jubilee of Mater Hospital); NZ Tablet, 15 January 1936, p. 38 and Zealandia, 16 January 1936, p. 5 (Savage and Lee at the Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Ponsonby); Zealandia, 25 February 1937, p. 7 (Catholic Readers' Club, Wellington, discussing the poetry of Eileen Duggan). 666 Reid, p. 133. 667 NZHerald, 2 March 1938, p. 15; Zealandia, 5 March 1938, p. 9. 668 Zealandia, 23 February 1939, p. 7. 669 NZPD, 1925, vol. 207, p. 520 (referring to Isitt); p. 521 (referring to Nosworthy); 1928, vol. 217, p. 993 (referring to Canon James). 670 OIssen, Lee, p. 178; cf. Taylor, p. 920. 671 OIssen, Lee, pp. 188, 195, 204. - - . --- - - . _--- -.- - - .- � .. - - - - -" - - - " -- -- --- A New Consensus 423 triumphalist attitude towards social issues. Working together to relieve the distress of the unemployed and their dependants, leading Catholics and Protestants became increasingly critical of conservative Government policies, a trend which was no doubt also stimulated by the dissemination of new theological perspectives. By no means all Protestants were convinced that the Labour Party embodied Christian values but, at least by 1938, a majority of the electorate shared in the new consensus. Anxious not to undermine their improved standing in the community, Catholics were wary of provoking undue controversy over the Spanish Civil War, and stressed their loyalty to King and Empire. The Catholic community therefore entered the Second World War assured of continuing good relations with the Government and the other churches, who co-operated to ensure there was no liklihood of a new sectarian epidemic. Anti­ Catholic propagandists could not claim to represent the interests of the community at large but were now isolated from the majority, which included Catholics. Conclusion The sectarian epidemic which began during the First World War and lasted until the early 1920s was caused by a temporary confluence of tensions. Latent sectarian antagonism had already been aroused by the Bible in Schools and Prohibition debates and Protestant fears were intensified by the activities of the Catholic Federation. Doubts over Catholic loyalty in wartime, fuelled by controversy over conscripting theological students and Marist Brothers, were given a fIrmer basis in the Irish nationalism espoused by Kelly in particular. Elliott and the PP A exploited these issues - and other sectarian allegations - to demand government action against the Church. However, the PPA represented only a minority of the country's Protestants, albeit a substantial and vocal minority. Massey and the Reform Government, while sharing some of Elliott's concerns, realized that too close an association with the PPA would alienate more voters than it would attract Once the Marriage Amendment Act was passed, there was little in the PPA's programme to interest most Protestants, especially as the international tensions which fuelled antagonism towards the Catholic community were resolved. The acceptance by Irish Catholics in New Zealand of the 1921 Treaty establishing the Irish Free State undercut accusations of disloyalty. Opponents of the Catholic Church were not a homogeneous group and their concerns embraced both religious and political issues. Elliott himself, although he no doubt profited from the animosity towards Catholics generated by their opposition to the Bible in Schools campaign, had been one of the founders and the Secretary of the 424 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing Political Incubus"? Auckland branch of the National Schools Defence League before the First W orId War and therefore effectively on the same side as the Catholic Church in that controversy.672 He had apparently even written to Cleary about co-ordinating efforts to defeat the League.673 Like Catholics, Baptists and other small Protestant denominations - the main supporters .of the PPA - knew that their distinctive religious views would not receive equitable treatment in a state-approved programme of religious instruction dominated by the three large Protestant churches. Liston was prosecuted for political disloyalty and fomenting discord in the community, not simply because he was a Catholic, although he would probably not have been charged had there not already been prolonged sectarian tension in the community at large. Gunson was more tolerant of religious differences than of political dissent and in this he seems to have reflected the prevailing attitude. However, the Liston affair did reflect the tension between being a Catholic, especially a Catholic of Irish descent, and being a New Zealander. Catholics were not entirely innocent victims of sectarian animosity, for their own actions had contributed to the insecurity felt in some Protestant quarters. However, while Kelly had both supporters and detractors during the years of the sectarian epidemic, the Catholic community as a whole seems to have learnt to defend its interests without unnecessarily offending the wider population. The mysterious demise of the Catholic Federation seems to be early evidence of this lesson. Without compromising their views on Communism or events in Spain, Catholics increasingly sought to co-operate with the Protestant churches. They also found in the rising Labour Party a champion for their class interests and a vehicle for promoting social reform, a concern increasingly evident among Catholics during the 1930s. Despite residual fears of Socialism, Catholics increasingly endorsed attitudes which coincided with those of the Labour Party or, more precisely, that part of the Party which was in the ascendant and increasingly appealing to other New Zealand voters. Allegations of collusion with or even domination of the Labour Party by the Catholic Church, however, owed more to the sectarian imagination than to any activities of the Church. The Catholic Church was not a politically homogeneous body, as differences over Irish nationalism and Prohibition revealed. Individual 672 Scholefield. Who's Who, (3rd edition, 1932), p. 156; Moores, pp. 107-108. 673 Sweetman, p. 60. (No date or reference is given.) ------ _. - -- . - - -- - - - - - Conclusion 425 Catholics were involved in all the major political parties, although they were increasingly associated with Labour. Frequent assertions in the Catholic press that the Church did not endorse any political party or candidate cannot be dismissed as disingenuous, for they were primarily addressed to Catholics themselves and would have undermined any attempt by a bishop or priest to claim the authority of the Church for his own political preferences. Not all Catholic clerics and journalists were as careful as Cleary to avoid endorsing particular politicians and parties but, during the 1930s, representatives of Catholic opinion were far more circumspect than they had been during the 1920s. There waS no repetition of the outspoken partisan views of Kelly and Liston. In part this was because it was recognized that overt expressions of political preference were embarrassing to both the Church and the Party. Religious leaders from all denominations had warm relations with Savage and other Labour politicians and the Catholic community was only one of many sections of society which hoped to influence the policies of the Labour administration. Insofar as it acted for political change, the Catholic Church was one interest group among others - and all the churches had representatives in the Labour Party and Government Moreover, from the Party's first beginnings, it inc;luded a significant representation of Protestants as well as non-Christian Socialists. Like Prohibitionists, who tended to overestimate the socially redeeming effects of enforced temperance, conspiracy theorists who blamed society's problems on the machinations of "Rome" , were less readily believed during the 1920s. A more politically informed, educated and secular electorate was somewhat less likely to adopt single-issue explanations of social ills, especially when they were demonstrably ineffective (like Prohibition in the United States) or unproven (like the allegations against the Church). The Depression encouraged more members of all the main denominations - Catholic and Protestant - to support a Labour Government because its proposals for social and economic reform seemed most likely to fulfil the aspirations of both Christian Socialism _and Catholic social doctrine. Moral explanations of economic problems were by no means abandoned, but bankers and international [manciers proved more acceptable objects of conspiratorial explanations than did Catholics. The demise of the PP A and the experience of the Depression opened the way for a new political consensus embracing most Catholics and Protestants. Disillusionment with the Coalition Government and increasing support for Labour cut across denominational lines and further weakened the appeal of sectarian propaganda. Whereas Catholics had found themselves the objects of widespread disapproval during 426 Chapter Five: "A Disturbing PoliJical Incubus"? the First World War, they had been fully incorporated into mainstream society by the Second. � t -.- '.-- . _-' .. --' -------- Chapter Six Sufferance or Succour? The Quest for State Aid to Catholic Schools Public attitudes towards Catholic schools provide an important indication of the place of the Catholic community in the wider society.l Were denominational schools to be grudgingly tolerated or should they be encouraged for their distinctive contribution to education? If Catholics provided their own schools, should they also have to pay for the state schools or should they receive financial compensation for their own educational efforts? At no time in the period under discussion was a government willing to adopt the principle of fully subsidizing private education. If Catholics or anyone else considered the state education system so unacceptable that they found it necessary to establish their own schools, they would have to pay for both systems, through taxation (for state schools) and voluntary contributions (for private schools). J.J. North, voicing the concerns of many who were opposed to denominational schools, submitted that the real issue was "not whether the nation should pay for Church schools of any sort, but whether it should endure them."2 According to Bishop Cleary, Catholic schools had "long formed an official part of the State system" until they were "driven out" when that system was made secular in 1877.3 The Church was not resigned to the loss of government support and calls for some reimbursement of the money spent on private education were frequently made. The state aid issue in the interwar period has received little attention from historians, although there is useful material in the writings of A.G. Butchers.4 Richard 1 For Catholic views on education, see chapters three and seven; the former includes statistics on the extent of Catholic schooling. 2 JJ. North, Roman Catholicism: Roots and Fruits (Napier: Printed by G.W. Venables and Co. Ltd. 1922), p. 6. 3 Month, 20 Aprll I926, p. 17; NZ Tablet, 31 March 1926, p. 43. Cleary overlooked the move towards secular education in the provinces before the 1877 Education Act, but his statement was an important premise of Catholic educational mythology and it was true that the state in former times had subsidized denominational schools. 4 AG. Butchers, Education in New Zealand (Dunedin: Coulls Somerville Wilkie, 1930), especially chapter XXIX; The EducQlion System (Auckland: National Printing Co., 1932), chapter XVIll. Reviewing The Education System, Bishop Liston noted both Butchers' aim to give a fair presentatioo of the Catholic case for state aid and the weakness of the opposing argument (Month, 1 Aprll 1933, p. 34). 428 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? Davis' survey of Irish issues, although having a 'chapter on education and ending in 1922, scarcely mentions state aid at this time.s Donald Akenson's more recent study of the Irish in New Zealand relies for its cursory treatment of this topic on two theses.6 Alan Grey's thesis on state aid, however, is little more than a compilation of the more readily available primary sources.7 Maureen Wilson's thesis on the background to the integration of private schools into the state system in the 1970s includes a list of forms of aid granted to private schools but this is largely based on Grey.s Following these two authors, but taking little cognizance of their inaccuracies and omissions, Akenson too, produced a list of government concessions.9 Rory Sweetman's recent thesis refers only incidentally to education.lO Official government publications, newspapers and occasional archival documents provide a more complete record of state grants and their significance than has hitherto been appreciated. Although the principle that the state should subsidize private schools was never explicitly conceded, successive governments did provide some assistance to private schools, or at least to their pupils. Evolving government policies on the state aid issue reflect the regard in which the Catholic Church was held in the community at large. In the first section of this chapter, it will be seen that during the early years of the Reform Government, denominational schools had secured a number of concessions, but in the charged sectarian atmosphere of wartime and the immediate post-war years, these new concessions were withdrawn. The Protestant Political Association (pP A) and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) lobbied against private schools of all denominations, seeing them as a threat to the secular state system. By the time the sectarian controversy had abated, however, private schools were no worse off than they had been before the advent of the Reform administration. The second and third 5 R.P. Davis, Irish Issues in New Zealand Politics, 1868-1922 (Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 1974), see chapter four. 6 D.R Akenson, Hal/the Worldfrom Home: Perspectives on the Irish in New Zealand, 1860-1950 (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1990), see chapter six, especially pages 182-183. 7 8 9 A. Grey, "The State Aid Issue in New Zealand Education: a history from 1877-1956" (Victoria University of Wellington, M.A. thesis in Education, 1958). For Grey's summary of concessions see pp. 196-197. M. Wilson, "The State Aid to Private Schools Issue in New Zealand Education, 1963-1974" (University of Auckland M.A. thesis in Education. 1975), pp. 141-143. Akenson, p. 183. The main error in Akenson's list concerns scholarships and is explained below. 10 RM. Sweetman. "New Zealand Catholicism. War, Politics and the Irish Issue, 1912-1922" (University of Cambridge, PhD. thesis in History, 1990). ;; 11Ilroduction 429 parts of the chapter will show that while dreaming of the integration of their schools into the national education system and full reimbursement of the costs of teaching at least secular subjects, the advocates of Catholic schooling avoided public controversy and concentrated on seeking piecemeal concessions. This policy achieved a measure of success, although the economic conditions of the early 1930s limited the promised expansion of the school dental service. In the final section of the chapter, it will be seen that, while the Labour Government which took office in 1935 was just as committed to the maintenance of a secular state education system as its predecessors had been, it did not see Catholic schools as a threat to state schools and was cautiously sympathetic to the demands of Catholic voters. At the beginning of the interwar period, Catholic schools had been threatened with the loss of the few concessions they had obtained, but by the end of the period they were receiving unprecedented benefits - though their aspirations were far from achieving complete fulfIlment Gains and Losses By the time of the First World War, private schools had secured some significant forms of government aid but, during and after the war, these were threatened. A few concessions dated back to the late nineteenth century but the Catholic Sir Joseph Ward, Prime Minister of the Liberal Government from 1906 to 1912, had evidently been too cautious a politician to promote Catholic educational interests. Subsequently, William Massey's Reform Government, having no need to fear accusations of favouring the Catholic Church, had conceded several benefits sought by denominational schools. Cleary acknowledged to O'Shea that the Massey Government had shown itself a better friend to Catholic educational interests than had any previous administration.I I During the sectarian strife of the war years and immediately after, however, the PPA and the NZEI campaigned against private schools, which were increasing in number. In 1920, the third annmu meeting of the PP A resolved that the Government should "safeguard" the state education system by withdrawing "all grants and privileges to the denominational schools" . 12 At its 1921 annual meeting, the NZEI voted to establish a committee which would report back to the executive on "the undermining of the national system by private schools". H.A. Wilkinson, who promoted the motion, complained that, in the previous 1 1 Qeary to O'Shea, 2 September 1922 (or 1921), AffiA. cited in Sweeunan, (thesis), pp. 65-66, 348. 12 Evening Post, 14 May 1920, p. 4. 430 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? five years, private schools and their rolls had grown three times faster than the state schools. 13 The Press criticized the teachers as "enemies of the private schools" and charged them with attacking a fundamental liberty by seeking to abolish such schools altogether. It accused them of seeking a state monopoly on education for the sake of their own career prospects. 14 H.F. Penlington of the NZEI disclaimed any animosity towards private schools but the Press, citing the Institute's 1919 conference resolution against the inspection of private schools, was unconvinced. IS Thomas Gilbert SM responded to the NZEI with a sermon, at St Mary's in Christchurch, defending denominational schools, while the Tablet claimed the Institute wanted to penalize Catholic schools because the state schools could not compete with them; it also reprinted the Press editorial.16 Antagonism towards Catholics and their schools was also to be found among some school committees but their views were not lefi unchallenged. Before the 1919 election, the Auckland Primary School Committees' Association, encouraged by the NZEI and the Headmasters' Association, formulated a set of questions to be put to candidates. The Association sought the withdrawal of "all existing concessions" to private schools, notably free rail passes, the tenure of government scholarships and examination for the Proficiency Certificate.17 When the Apostolic Delegate passed through Hawera in 1923 and the local state school headmaster brought the children out to greet the visiting dignitary the School Committee complained to the Minister of Education. After some local Catholics defended the headmaster's actions, a group of twenty-three irate citizens convened a meeting to demand that parents who sent their children to private schools should not be allowed to vote in the school committee elections, but their resolution was lost 18 In 1925, the Auckland Primary Schools Committee's Association adopted by twelve votes to seven a remit to exclude graduates of private schools from teaching in state schools. In moving the remit, I. 13 Press, 8 January 1921, p. 8. 14 Press, 10 January 1921, p. 6. 15 Press, 14 January 1921, pp. 6, 7; 17 January 1921, pp. 6, 7. For the text of the 1919 resolution, see below. 16 Press, 10 January 1921, p. 2; NZ Tablet, 13 January 1921, pp. 26, 28; 20 January 1921, p. 17. Gilbert was Rector of St Patrick's College, Wellington until his appointment as Rector of S t Bede's College, Christchurch in 1929. 17 NZHerald, 23 September 1919, p. 8; ct Month, 15 October 1919, p. 12. 18 NZ Tablet, 18 May 1922, pp. 18-19. r Gains and Losses 431 Mars emphasized that it was directed against Catholic schools, the character of whose pupils he regarded as suspect, especially if they were Irish. The Auckland Education Board refused to accept the resolution and the editor of the Auckland Star was incredulous that such bigotry could be supported by a majority of the province's school committees. 19 In response to lobbying against private schools, Education Minister Josiah Hanan began to withdraw recent concessions. Subsidies for cookery classes, run by Catholic nuns in Greymouth, Port Chalmers and Dunedin, were threatened by anti-Catholic sentiment and official recognition of the latter two classes was withdrawn in 1918.20 The following year, an amendment to the regulations covering manual and technical training limited the Government's subsidies to classes taught by its own teachers on state or local body premiseS.21 Funding for swimming lessons offered to private school pupils was also withdrawn22 and newly-trained teachers, no longer permitted to fulfil their bonds by teaching in private schools, now had to work in state schools.23 The three most substantial forms of aid to private schools, each of which was threatened during the period under review, were the registration and inspection of schools, free rail travel for pupils and the tenure of National Scholarships in private schools. Meanwhile, local bodies sought to have schools' exemption from rates withdrawn. The most fundamental "aid" offered private schools was free inspection and the associated right to present candidates for examinations conducted by the inspectors. Under the 1877 Education Act, private primary schools could apply to their regional Education Board for an inspection to be "conducted in like manner as the inspection of public schools. "24 The right to ask for the services of government inspectors, one of whose principle tasks was to examine pupils, was evidently not a guarantee that 19 NZ Tablet, 8 April 1925, pp. 33-34; Month, 21 Aprll I925, p. 19; both cite the Auckland Star, 26 March. 20 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 12. 21 NZ Gazette, 1919, vol. I, p. 146; Repon o/the Proceedings o/ihe Thineenth half-yearly meeting 0/ the Dominion Council o/the Catholic Federation. . .Dunedin, 5th March, 1919 (Dwedin: NZ Tablet Co.), p. l 1 . 22 NZ Tablet, 1 January 1920, p. 15; 3 March 1921, p. 26. 23 Repon ... Catholic Federation. .. 1919, pp. 1 1 , 13; Evening Post, 15 January 1919, p. 4. 24 Education Act, Clause 98, Statutes o/New Zealand (1877), p. 128. 432 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? inspections would be made.25 During the 1890s, after the introduction of the Junior Civil Service Examination in 1886, the attainment of recognized qualifications increasingly became a prerequisite for clerical and professional employment. Catholic schools had to lobby the boards to have their inspectors examine candidates for recognized certificates and not until 1905 did all the boards accept this responsibility.26 (By that time, the Certificate of Proficiency had become the qualification sought at the end of primary school, entitling the bearer to two years' free state secondary education.) An amendment to the 1877 Act (as re-enacted in 1908) effectively made inspection compulsory for primary and secondary schools from the beginning of 191 1 . 27 Children of school age (seven to fourteen years) were henceforth required to attend a registered school or be taught at home and only schools willing to be inspected could be registered.28 According to the 1914 Education Act, "Every ... registered schooL.shall be inspected by an Inspector of Schools. "29 The Senior Inspector in each district was required to report to the Education Board and to the Minister of Education and to give "assistance and guidance to the teachers".3o Inspections were to be arranged on the initiative of the managers of private primary and secondary schools and continued recognition as a registered school was dependent upon a successful report31 At its conference in January 1919, the NZEI resolved That private schools be registered for purposes of compulsory attendance and inspection as regards the general quality of instruction and equipment and 25 Legal opinion varied as to whether or not boards were required to fulftl requests for inspection, so Archbishop Redwood sponsored a petition to have the law amended (NZ Tablet, 19 April 1894, p. 17). 26 Colin McGeorge, "Schools and Socialisation in New Zealand, 1890-1914" (University of Canterbmy, PhD. thesis in Education, 1985), pp. 660-662; David McKenzie, "The Growth of School Credentialling in New Zealand, 1878-1900" in Roger Openshaw and David McKenzie (editors) Reinterpreting the Educational Past (Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1987), p. 88; Butchers, Education in New Zealand, pp. 89-90. For Catholic school inspection in Auckland, see S.C. MacPherson, ". A Ready-made Nucleus of Degradation and Disorder'? A Religious and Social History of the Catholic Church and Community in Auckland, 1870-1910" (University of Auckland M.A. thesis in History, 1987), pp. 188-190 and Yvonne Brookes, "Catholic Religious Education in the Diocese of Auckland, 1877-1914" (University of Auckland research essay in History, 1981), pp. 30-36. 27 Annual Report, Department of Education, AJHR, 191 1, vol. ill, E.-I, p. 10. 28 Education Act., Consolidated Statutes (1908), vol. IT, Clauses 149-150, pp. 279-281 . 29 Education Act., Clause 132 (1), Statutes of New Zealand (1914), p. 225. 30 Ibid., Clause 132 (3). 31 Ibid., Clauses 133 (1) and (3), p. 226. - - . . ----- e. . p---- - - - Gains and Losses 433 hygienic conditions; private schools shall not be examined, and no certificates entitling to public privileges shall be issued to their pupils.32 If implemented by the Government, this restriction would have prevented children attending denominational schools from attaining the Proficiency Certificate and other qualifications necessary for their future employment or further education; Catholic parents would have had to choose between their children's spiritual and material welfare. A Mr Webb, who had promoted the motion, argued that there ought to be some disadvantage in attending a private school lest the Government encourage the growth of a rival which would endanger its own education system. The Tablet saw in the Institute's concern over competition from non-state schools an admission of failure and an unintended compliment to Catholic education.33 J.A O'Connell SM denounced the attempt to create a state school monopoly as "tyranny and oppression of the worst kind".34 "Nomad", a contributor to the Month, condemned as "Prussianism" what he interpreted as a policy of trying to centralize all schooling under state control and through it to inculcate a secular morality. 35 When the Institute presented its resolution to Education Minister Hanan in July, Archbishop O'Shea, contrasting the state-funding of public schools with the private schools' dependence on generosity and sacrifice, argued that the real aim of the NZEI was to close denominational schools.36 Hanan pointed out that inspection of private schools was necessary to ensure that they provided a satisfactory education; he thought the proposal not to award certificates would have to be given thorough consideration.3? The Government did not adopt the NZEI's policy. Indeed, annual inspection of all private schools, as a precondition of registration, was explicitly made compulsory by the Education Amendment Act of 1921 .38 Catholic pupils continued to be examined for the Proficiency Certificate by state inspectors,39 who, Gilbert acknowledged, gave 32 Evening Post, 15 January 1919, p. 4; cf. Press, 16 January 1919, p. 4. 33 NZ Tablet, 6 February 1919, p. 14; 13 February 1919, p. 15; Month, 15 October 1919, p. 12. The fu-st reference deals specifically with Webb's motion. 34 NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 43. 35 Month, 15 May 1919, pp. 9-10, 13; 15 October 1919, pp. 12, 15-16. 36 Evening Post, 7 July 1919, p. 7; NZ Tablet, 21 August 1919, p. 33 (reprinted in Month, 15 September 1919, p. 12). 37 Evening Post, 7 July 1919, p. 7. 38 Education Amendment Act, Clause 7, Statutes of New Zealand (1921), pp. 261-262. 39 Butchers, Education in New Zealand, p. 431. _..i....�.-___ � ______ _ 434 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? Catholic teachers "great help and encouragement".40 During the Depression, however, inspection of Catholic schools was interrupted in order to reduce government expenditure.41 When Proficiency was abolished in 1936, the principals of registered private schools, like their public school counterparts, were accorded the right to confer leaving certificates which entitled children to attend state secondary schools without charge.42 Another long-standing concession to private schools - or, at least, to their pupils, was free rail trave1.43 In 1886, the House of Representatives endorsed the extension to private school pupils of the system of free rail passes provided for state school pupils the previous year.44 Several speakers argued that by thus encouraging attendance at private schools, the Government would save itself money which would otherwise have to be spent on expanding the state education system.4S From June 1889, children up to fifteen years of age travelling to public or private primary schools by rail were offered free quarterly tickets.46 This concession was later extended to private secondary pupils.47 Catholic education was the main beneficiary: in the year ending 3 1 March 1917, £1 .430 was paid by the Education Department for the conveyance of Catholic primary school children and only £34 for children of other denominations, while the cost of transporting Catholic secondary pupils was £1 10 and £80 for other 40 T A. Gilbert SM, "Evidence submitted to the Minister of Education and the Parliamentary Commission on Education at Christchurch, December 9th, 1929 ... ", CCDA, Bible in Schools file, p. 9. Gilbert was appointed by the hierarchy to be its representative to the Recess Education committee (NZ Tablet, 3 December 1930, p. 47). . 41 NZ Tablet, 31 August 1932, p. 6; 2 January 1934, p. 27; Minutes of bishops' meeting, 14 November 1932, CCDA. 42 N.H. Gascoigne, "A Treatise on the Private Schools", unpublished typesaipt dated 1959, p. 18, MAW; H.G.R. Mason, Education Today and Tomo"ow (Wellington: New Zealand Government, 1944), p. 69. 43 As Butchers (The Education System. p. 194) pointed out, though, free travel for pupils enabled private schools to enlarge their "catchment area". 44 NZI'D, 1886, vol. 54, pp. 131-137; cf. NZ Gazette, 1885, vol. n, p. 1 133. 45 Ibid., pp. 132 (Guiness), 134 (Atkinson), 135 (Turnbull). 46 NZ Gazette, 1889, vol. I, p. 573. The statement in the Department of Education's Annual Reports (AJHR, 1909, voL ill, E.-I, p. 8 and subsequent reports) and Butchers, Education in New Zealand (p. 238) that free rail passes were issued to public and private school children only from 1895 is incorrect. 47 Grey (p. 196) says this was granted in 1913 but Sir Joseph Ward, speaking in 1920, said it was in 1914 (Month, 15 March 1920, supplement, p. 1). -- ------- Gains and Losses 435 denominations.48 During the 1919 election campaign, Howard Elliott misrepresented the amount of state money spent on the conveyance of Catholic children and called for an end to this allegedly favourable treatment 49 The following year, he led a delegation to James Parr, the new Minister of Education, to plead the Association's case against this and other concessions to denominational schools. so As the Tablet claimed, free rail passes issued to children attending Catholic schools did not constitute a special privilege: the pupils were being treated in the same way as children attending other church schools or state schools. 5 1 In practice, though, children being conveyed to the nearest Catholic school must have travelled, on average, greater distances at public expense, passing state schools on the way. Meanwhile, to Elliott's chagrin, their state school contemporaries had to attend the nearest public school, rather than, for example, a large and well-endowed urban school further away.52 The Government was evidently unmoved by calls for a withdrawal of free rail travel to denominational schools, but the principle of equal treatment was broken in 1918. In that year, the Westport Harbour Board decided that it would no longer give school children free passage on its private line from Cape Foulwind to Westport Although willing to pay the fares of state school pupils, the Government refused to pay for those attending the convent school, despite representations from the Catholic Federation.s3 Occasionally, it was found to be cheaper to give transport without charge to Catholic teachers rather than to the children.s4 When the Catholic school in Granity was opened in 1914, it was staffed by nuns from Westport, eighteen miles away.5S The cost of transporting Catholic school teachers for the 1916 fmancial year was £ 1 00; no comparable expenditure was made on other denominations.56 Free rail travel for nuns 48 AJHR, 1917, vol. I, E.-12. These figures were compiled by order of the House of Representatives and were not published in other years, although the total cost of free rail transport for children attending private primary schools is readily available in the annual reports of the Education Department (AJHR, E.-I). 49 Month, 15 March 1920, supplement, p. 1. (Speech by Sir Joseph Ward, reprinted from the Auckland Star, 25 February 1920.) 50 Evening Post, 13 May 1920, p. 7; NZ Herald, 15 May 1920, p. 8. 51 NZ Tablet, 20 June 1918, p. 31 . 52 Butchers, The Education System, p. 194; Evening Post, 13 May 1920, p. 7. 53 ,_�_ Repon ... Catholic Ft:UCratiolL .. March, 1919, p. 1 1 . 54 P.S. O'Connor, "Sectarian Conflict in New Zealand, 191 1-1920", Political Science 19 (1967), p. 15. Accading to the NZ Tablet, 17 June 1920, p. 39, this policy was followed in three locations. 55 Month, 15 June 1920, p. 17. 56 AJHR, 1917, vol. I, E.-12. 436 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? on the West Coast was opposed by the PPA delegation to Parr, which found the Minister responsive to its arguments.57 When he withdrew the concession, petitions against the change of policy were circulated in the affected places (and signed by some non-Catholics�8 but to no avail. Noting that it would cost more to transport the pupils than the teachers, Kelly accused the opponents of free travel for the nuns of "making P.P. Asses of themselves. "59 The most serious educational loss to the Catholic community was the withdrawal of the recently-recognized right to hold National Scholarships in private secondary schools. Until 191 1 , pupils at denominational primary schools were not even eligible to compete for the scholarships.60 Regional Education Boards, (theoretically in partnership with the Minister of Education) had discretion to determine whether scholarships could be held at non-state schools within their jurisdictions, with the result that only some boards allowed tenure at denominational institutions.61 Mter lobbying by the Catholic Church, this anomaly was rectified by the Education Act of 1914, which declared that both junior and senior scholarships could be held "at a secondary school or its equivalent approved by the Minister".62 In 1918, only eighteen scholarships, out of a national total of some 800, were held at private schools - and four of these were held at non-Catholic schools.63 The proportion of scholarships held in private schools was increasing, though the numbers remained tiny.64 There was growing agitation for the withdrawal of this concession. The newly­ established General Council of Education recommended in 1915 that the Government 57 Evening Post, 13 May 1920, p. 7; NZ Herald, 15 May 1920, p. 8; Month, 15 June 1920, p. 17. 58 Month, 15 JlIDe 1920, p. 17. 59 NZ Tablet, 18 January 1923, p. 18. 60 Education Amendment Act, Oause 6 (1) and (3), Statutes of New Zealand (1910), pp. 353-354; cf. Education Act. Clause 72 (b), Consolidated Statutes (1908) vol. IT, p. 261. For the rest of this paragraph, see Month, 15 July 1918, p. 12; 15 November 1920, p. 17; NZ Tablet, 25 July 1918, p. 18; 1 1 Novembec 1920, p. 22. 61 Education Act., Clause 72 (g), Consolidated Statutes (1908), vol. IT, p. 262. According the Education Amendment Act (1910), Clause 6 (2), (New Zealand Statutes, 1910, p. 354), scholarships could be held in any secondary school subject to inspection, but no change was made to the Education Act (1908), Oause 72 (g). 62 Education Act., Clause 103, Statutes of New Zealand (1914), p. 214. 63 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 12; NZ Tablet, 30 May 1918, p. 19; 25 July 1918, p. 14. 64 The Department of Education's annual reports give the total numbers of scholarships held in registered schools but do not give separate figures for Catholic schools. In December 1918, 23 out of 796 scholarships were held at private schools; in December 1919, 23 out of 766 and in December 1920, 36 out of 738 (AJHR, 1920, vol. IT, E.-I , p. 33; 1921-1922, vol. IT, E.-I, p. 32). -------� Gains and Losses 437 should no longer allow its scholarships to be held in private schools and nor should government-paid "free places" be made tenable there.65 In 1918, agitation by the NZEI led to consideration of the issue by Cabinet, but the matter was deferred while Massey and Ward were overseas.66 When a motion to ask the Government to disallow the holding of National Scholarships at non-state schools was rejected by the Managers of King Edward Technical College in July, Kelly assumed prematurely that there was "no need to worry about No-Popery here yet" .67 A Mr Hayward, who had proposed the motion, affected to be surprised when Father Coffey protested, for he was not concerned about religion but merely advocating "equality for all and special privileges to none" - the slogan of the PPA! At school committee election meetings, resolutions were passed against all forms of government aid to denominational schools and referred to the NZEI. J.A Scott, a Catholic teacher writing in the Month, no doubt correctly detected here the influence of the PPA 68 Dunedin's Evening Star, in 1919, advocated that meetings of householders pass a resolution against any form of state aid to private schools.69 That year, two pupils who had earned scholarships were not permitted by the Minister of Education to hold them at the Christian Brothers' School on the grounds that it had not measured up to the inspectors' standards.7o Of the two problems found, the staff shortage had already been remedied and the school authorities intended to make good the lack of physics equipment as soon as possible; tenure of the scholarships at the school was eventually granted.71 The following year, the Canterbury Education Board decided it would no longer pay for scholarships held in private schools pending the Government's reconsideration of the issue.72 Howard Elliott claimed that the Catholic Church was gaining £300 annually through scholarships - money which should have been spent on state education.73 When he led a delegation to Parr in May 1920, Elliott expressed the PPA's "strong objection to 65 are y, p. 77; ct Month, 15 November 1918, p. 9. 66 Sweetman, (thesis), pp. 192-193. 67 NZ Tablet, 25 July 1918, pp. 14, 18. 68 Month, 15 July 1918, p. 12. 69 NZ Tablet, 10 April 1919, p. 27. 70 NZ Tablet, 17 April 1919, p. 18. 71 J.C. O'Neill, "The History of the Work of the Christian Brothexs in New Zealand" (University of Auckland Dip. Ed. thesis, 1968), pp. 46-48. 72 McGrath (initials illegible) to P J. O'Regan, 9 June 1920, AlL 76-165-6116 73 Evening Post, 1 July 1919, p. 4. 438 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? State scholarships being tenable at sectarian schools. "74 Only four months later, Parr introduced into Parliament the wide-ranging Education Amendment Bill which included a clause to limit the tenure of scholarships to state schools.7s By paying £18 a year to schools attended by scholarship holders, he told the House of Representatives, the state was directly subsidizing denominational schools. Such payments were "the thin end of the wedge of disaster" which, if unchecked, would continue to encourage the establishment of private schools, resulting in "the disruption and shipwreck of the national system of education"J6 During the eight-hour debate on the Bill in the House, few other members showed any interest in the scholarship clauses and none defended the Catholic position. George Martin echoed the concerns of the Minister, warning that "the growth of denominational schools" was a "danger to our national education system".77 Denouncing the withdrawal of scholarships from private schools as "merely a concession to one of the most sinister influences inside of New Zealand", Labour leader Harry Holland proposed that all scholarships be abolished and education be provided free of cost from kindergarten to university.78 In the Legislative Council, Patrick Nerheny, a Catholic, emphasized his Church's [mancial commitment to education, arguing that since 74 Evening Post, 13 May 1920, p. 7; NZ Herald, 15 May 1920, p. 8. 75 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 129; Education Amendment Act, Gause 27, Statutes of New Zealand (1920), p. 454. Akenson (p. 183) indicates that the right to hold scholarships in private secondary schools was reinstated in 1926. He attributes this information (p. 244, note 64) to the theses by Alan Grey and Maureen Wilsoo. However, Wilson (pp. 141, 143), citing Grey, says quite wrongly that the scholarships were tenable in private schools from 1920 until 1926. Grey in fact says the exact opposite of this. for his list of types of aid to private schools (pp. 89, 196) includes " Abolition of the holding of Government secondary scholarships at non-State schools" from 1920 to 1926. The source of confusion, which Akenson and Wilson have tried in their different ways to correct. is thus Grey, who nonsensically listed a withdrawal of aid as a form of assistance. While tIying to correct him, though, both Wilson and Akenson have assumed that there really was a change of policy in 1926. Grey cites Butchers (Education in New Zealand, p. 323) as the source of his information but what Butchers actually says - in a footnote on that page - is that. "The abolition of the holding of Government secondary scholarships at non-State schools was another important measure adopted during this [i.e. Parr's] Ministry." In the main body of text. on that page, he also gives the dates of Parr's tenure as Minister of Education: 1920 to 1926! Only by coincidence did Grey get the first date right; the second became the occasion of a fictitious restoration of government scholarships to private secondary schools. 76 NZPD, 1920, vol 189, pp. 555-556. For a Catholic response to this line of argument, see J.A. Scott's article in the Month, 15 November 1918, pp. 6, 9. · 77 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 577. 78 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 584. Holland's suggestion was endorsed by Peter Fraser and George Mitchell (ibid., p. 590). p---- -- - - Gains and Losses 439 scholarships were "established for the benefit of the community generally" and that the standard of education at Catholic secondary schools matched that demanded of state schools, the removal of the right to hold scholarships was "an act of tyranny" and injustice.79 The right to hold government scholarships in Catholic schools had betokened a recognition of the quality of the Church's education system and even of the regard in which the Catholic community was held. Conversely, the agitation over and eventual loss of the scholarships led to bitterness and a renewed sense of isolation. It was emphasized that the taxes of Catholic citizens were used to pay for the scholarships, which had been established to promote the education of the most able pupils for the benefit of the whole community - not just those whose consciences pennitted them to attend the state secondary schools where Protestant religious observances were held at assembly.80 When the Bill was before Parliament, the Catholic Federation sent a message of protest to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Labour Party. 81 Coffey attributed the Government's change of policy to jealousy and bigotry.82 The Government had allowed itself to be dominated by "a noisy, narrow-minded, and bigoted section of the community".83 For years to come, Catholic leaders continued to bemoan the loss of the National Scholarships.84 In 1919, perhaps motivated in part by its declining record in securing concessions from the Government, the Catholic Federation had already begun to establish its own scholarships for pupils attending the Church's schools.8S When the right to hold government scholarships was lost, the Dunedin branch of the Federation undertook to compensate in full any Catholic scholarship holder who chose to attend 79 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, pp. 597-598. 80 Month., 15 July 1918, p. 15; 15 November 1920, pp. 18-19. 81 NZ Tablet, 11 November 1920, p. 11. 82 NZ Tablet, 1 1 November 1920, p. 22; 13 January 1921, supplement. p. 8. 83 NZ Tablet, 18 August 1921, p. 19. 84 NZ Tablet, 3 March 1921, p. 21 (Coffey); 6 April 1922, p. 19 (Whyte); 21 December 1922, p. 26 and Month, 15 December 1922, p. 11 (Brother Borgia); 15 December 1926, p. 31 and Month., 18 January 1927, p. 22 (Cleary); NZ Tablet, 19 March 1929, p. 46 (Liston); 29 January 1930, supplement. p. 3 (Gilbert). Gilbert also reminded the Recess Education Committee that "even this aumb was taken from us" and asked that scholarships be made tenable in registered secondary schools once again ("Evidence", pp. 9, 18). 85 Month., 15 February 1919, p. 3; NZ Tablet, 6 February 1919, p. 34; 12 June 1919, p. 35; 14 August 1919, p. 34; Repon ... Catholic Federation. .. 1919, pp. 8, 9, 1 1 , 18-19. · - - -. :- .-:- -."; - .... 440 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? one of the Church's secondary schools.86 The organization and funding of scholarships seems to have become the Federation's main preoccupation in the last few years of its existence.87 Coffey told the Federation's Dunedin Diocesan Council in August 1921 that the state's refusal to pay for scholarships in Catholic schools was their "primary concern at the present time". 88 Some £200 would have to be found annually by the Dunedin diocese to make good the loss to Catholic scholarship holders. Bishop Whyte's address to the Council was exclusively preoccupied with the "misguided and deplorable step taken by the present Parliament "89 Maintaining scholarships now became the most cogent justification for paying the annual subscription.90 As charitable institutions, private schools could claim an exemption from local body rates but this concession was threatened by councils seeking to augment their revenue. Since 1 894, school properties under four acres had been exempt from rates as long as the schools were not conducted for profit91 Local authorities were prohibited by the Education Act (1914) from charging rates on the lands and buildings of public schools, but no mention was made of private schools.92 After the First World War, there were proposals to impose rates on them. According to Elliott, Catholic schools, as religious institutions, were exempted from rates (valued at £16,000 to £17,000 each year), whereas the schools of other denominations were treated as businesses and required to pay.93 In 1920, he claimed a victory for the PPA when the Wanganui Borough Council won a case in the Assessment Court against the Catholic schools in 86 NZ Tablet, 1 1 August 1921, p. 27; 18 August 1921, pp. 14-15, 22. 87 Ct the annual report (to 30 June 1921) of the Dunedin Diocesan Council: "The chief activity of your executive bas been in connectioo with the scholarships granted by the Diocesan Council" (NZ Tablet, 18 August 1921, p. 22). 88 NZ Tablet, 18 August 1921, p. 19. 89 NZ Tablet, 18 August 1921, p. 2l. 90 NZ Tablet, 6 April 1922, p. 19 (Bishop Whyte). See also the Federatioo's advertisement in the Month, 15 June 1922, p. 16. 91 Rating Act, Statutes of New Zealand (1894), Clause 2, p. 79; Rating Act, Consolidated Statutes (1908), Gause 2, p. 61. For a discussion of other relevant legislation, see P J. O'Regan's article in the NZ Tablet, 6 September 1923, p. 15. 92 Education Act, Clause 158, Statutes Of New Zealand (1914), p. 231. 93 Evening Post, 1 July 1919, p. 4. That Elliott's distinction between Catholic and other denominational schools was wrong is apparent from the reference to the Municipal Association Conference below. p Gains and Losses .• � _ ,.. ... tr 441 its jurisdiction.94 His assumption that the way was now open for the rating of other Catholic school property proved unfounded. The Municipal Association Conference in 1921 received a deputation representing the Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches seeking continued exemption from rates for their schools.95 Although the delegates were received sympathetically, the conference proceeded to pass a motion that the Rating Act should be amended to limit exemptions to general rates only and not other forms of rates. However a further remit, to the effect that each denomination should be permitted only four acres of rate-free property in any given rating area, failed for want of a seconder.96 The 1923 conference narrowly rejected a proposal to impose rates on voluntary schools.97 P.l O'Regan urged that, if the Government took steps to abolish the rating exemption of voluntary schools, Catholics should respond by threatening to refuse to pay their rates.98 In 1923, the Invercargill Borough Council claimed rates from the Dominican Sisters for two and a half acres of educational property but Mr Justice Sim determined that the land was exempt under the Rating Act, except for the tennis courts which were let to St Mary's Tennis Club in the summer.99 Denominational schools continued to be exempted from rates100 but, from time to time, they were treated unsympathetically by local bodies. In 1933, the Northcote Borough Council - in contrast to the policy of other local bodies in Auckland - refused to supply free water to the Catholic school on the grounds that it was a private institution and the state provided adequate schools (which were given free water by the Council). lOl 94 Evening Post, 5 May 1920, p. 12; 14 May 1920, p. 4. Assessment Comts were established lDlder the authority of the Rating Act (Clauses 22 to 32) to hear objections to rating valuations. Consolidated Statutes (1908), vol. V, pp. 65-66. 95 NZ Tablet, 6 October 1921, p. 23; 13 October 1921, pp. 21-22; Evening Post, 5 October 1921, pp. 5-6. 96 The proposal was obviously directed against the Catholic Church; its mover, a Mr Murch from Wanganui, complained that one denomination there had six schools (NZ Tablet, 13 October 1921, p. 22). 97 NZ Tablet, 6 September 1923, p. 15. Since the conference remits were not published in advance, the churches did not send a delegation on this occasion. 98 'ab NZ 7j let, 4 October 1923, p. 17. 99 NZ Tablet, 13 September 1923, p. 21; M.A. McCarthy O.P., Star in the South: the Centennial History of the New Zealand Dominican Sisters (Dunedin: St Dominic's Priory, 1970), pp. 214-215. 100 NZ Tablet, 9 May 1928, p. 44 (Department of Education statement). 101 NZ Tablet, 23 August 1933, p. 7. 442 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? The demands of the PPA and the NZEI were not fully conceded by the Government but the trend towards increasing concessions for private schools, discernible in the earlier years of the Reform administration, was reversed. By the time Sir James Parr relinquished the office of Minister of Education (in 1926), however, the sectarian storm had abated and Catholics could resume their patient struggle to secure piecemeal concessions from the government Pupils attending private schools were admitted to technical education classes and educational authorities increasingly assisted non-state schools on an informal basis. Maori denominational schools had not been threatened and continued to receive limited government support From the later 1920s, pupils attending private schools were allowed to attend manual and technical training centres, usually to learn woodwork and domestic subjects.102 They were also increasingly offered free transport to these Classes.103 In 1934, St Benedict's School (Auckland), was registered as a technical school for girls and free season tickets were available for pupils who had to travel to it by rail.104 Free manual training (and transport thereto) was not a concession to private schools except in that it saved them the expense of providing it themselves. It was, in fact, no more than a recognition that children who usually attended private schools were nevertheless entitled, like other children, to attend government-funded manual classes. Since they were already entitled to receive the rest of their formal education at state schools - though their parents chose not to accept the right - no new principle was involved. Informal assistance to private schools from educational authorities seems to have increased in the later 1920s and 1930s. Since the establishment of the national education system, state education authorities had responded to requests for advice from private schools lOS and, on occasion, material assistance was also proffered. Opening St Mary's School in 1921 , Bishop Brodie thanked Inspector Brock and the local branch 102 NZ Tablet. 21 January 1931, pp. 7, 49, 50; Annual Report, Department of Education, AlHR, 1929, vol. n, E.-I, p. 16. 103 According to Grey (p. 196), followed by Wilson (p. 141), private school children were first given free lessons and transport to manual classes in 1928. In 1927, however, 3,148 pupils from 1 14 private schools were given manual training lessons (Annual Repa:t. Department of Education, AlHR, 1928, vol. n, E.-I, p. 12). Reports for earlier years do not indicate when this training was rust offered and the earliest reference to transport for private school pupils attending manual classes refers to 1930 (Annual Repa:t. Department of Educatlon, AJHR, 1931, vol. n, E.-I , p. 17). 104 Zealandia, 27 September 1934, p. 5. 105 Grey, p. 196. r - - .-- - ---- ._- Gains and Losses 443 of the Education Department for their advice on the new building. 106 Education Board architects sometimes made recommendations when new Catholic schools were being built, for example the Marist Brothers' School in Timaru and St Joseph's School in New Plymouth.1oo At the opening of a Catholic school in Westport in 1931 , W.H. McIntyre MLC - Chainnan of the Nelson Education Board - thought it appropriate to rebut the view held "in some circles" that the Nelson Education Board was unsympathetic towards Catholic schools. lOS Other sympathetic educationalists also assisted Catholic schools. Monsignor Mahony, laying the foundation stone of a new Catholic school in Onehunga, expfessed gratitude to W.N. McIntosh, former headmaster of Onehunga High School, "for many services rendered to the Sisters in the cause of education." 109 When St Mary's Boys' School, in Blenheim, was burnt down in suspicious circumstances, the education authorities lent desks and other equipment so that the boys' education would not be interrupted. IIO During the Depression, relief workers were sometimes employed to improve the grounds of Catholic schools, such as those of St Joseph's Convent, Wbangarei. 1 1 1 The Minister of Employment and the Panmure Road Board were thanked by Father Downey in 1934 for assisting in giving unemployed men of the district work putting the grounds in order before the construction of a new convent 1 12 In the case of Maori secondary education, the Government recognized that subsidizing private schools saved it money, although Gilbert complained in 1930 that Catholic primary schools for Maori children in North Auckland and at Jerusalem received no government aid.l 13 Since 1867, the Sisters of the Mission had run St Joseph's Maori College for girls in Hawke's Bay which, like the colleges of other denominations, was assisted by government-paid scholarships held by some pupils and 106 NZ Tablet, 24 Novembel- 1921, p. 18. 107 NZ Tablet, 8 April 1925, p. 29; 17 November 1926, p. 25. 108 'ab NZ 14 let, 4 March 1931, p. 47. 109 Month, 15 December 1923, p. 17. 1 10 NZ Tablet, 1 August 1928, p. 13. For a parallel occurrence in Tunaru in 1924, see Barbara Harper, The Harvest: History o/the Catholic Church in Tunaru, 1869-1969 (Tunaru: Centennial Committee, Catholic Presbytery, Timaru, 1969), p. 91. 1 1 1 Anne Marie PowerRSJ, Sisters o/St Joseph o/the Sacred Heart, New Zealand Story, 1883-1983 (Auckland: Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, 1983), pp. 168-170. 1 12 Month, 1 February 1934, p. 15. 1 13 Gilbel't, "Evidence", p. 19. 444 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? by grants attached to these scholarships. Scholarships, occasionally supplemented by Maori Purposes Board funds, were also tenable at St Patrick's College, Wellington (later transferred to St Patrick's Silverstream) and at Sacred Heart College, Auckland, along with government-paid free places.1l4 St Peter's Rural College in Northcote, Auckland, taught trades and agriculture as well as training catechists. l IS The school was taught by St Joseph's Missionary Society (the Mill Hill Fathers) and open to Maori boys who had passed the sixth standard. When Prime Minister Coates gave an address at the opening ceremony in 1928, he expressed the view that "State-subsidised denominational boarding schools continued to provide adequately the need for secondary education for the Maori. " 1 16 One third of the cost of the new school had been supplied by the Maori Purposes Board but a request for additional assistance was unsuccessful and an application for registration as a secondary school was declined because French and Higher Mathematics were not taught 1 17 The Labour Government of the later 1930s was more generous to the cause of Maori education but not until 1941 did the Department of Education establish Maori secondary schools of its own and these were not intended to displace denominational schools. 1 18 During and immediately after the Great War, denominational schools had fallen victim to a drive for national conformity, which was not limited to Catholic schools. Elliott told Parr that the PPA "stood for the national system, and did not look with favour on private and denominational schools, of whatever denomination" . 1 19 As the previous chapter explained, however, the Catholic community was viewed with some misgivings in certain quarters: its schools therefore made an easy target for allegations of unfair privilege. The Reform Government, goaded by the PPA and the NZEI, sought to protect its education system against the supposed threat of private schools, 1 14 Butchers, Educalion in New Zealand, pp. 124-125,442, 516-518; Mason, p. 54. The number of scholarships held in Catholic schools was not large: see J.M. Barrington and T.H. Beaglehole, Maori Schools in a Changing Society (Wellington: New Zealand council for Educational Research, 1974), pp. 178, 221, 225. 1 15 Month, 15 May 1928, p. 32; 19 June 1928, pp. 23, iii; NZ Tablet, 20 June 1928, p. 42. 1 16 NZ Tablet, 20 June 1928, p. 42. 1 17 Gilbert, "Evidence", p. 20. Barrington and Beaglehole (p. 193) give the figure of £40() for the building granL This was evidently only the initial grant: Liston said that £2,000 had been promised over a five year period but the diocese itself had contnbuted £4,345 for the buildings and £200 per annum for maintenance (Month, 19 June 1928), p. 23). 1 18 . . Annual Report, Department of Educa1ion, AlHR, 1946, vol. n, E.-I, p. 10; Mason, pp. 54, 57, 58. 1 19 Evening Post, 13 May 1920, p. 7; NZ Herald, 15 May 1920, p. 8. ------- -��--....-..- -.------. . -- --- -- .---� -- - -- - - �-�-------- Gains and Losses - - .- - ----- 445 most of which were Catholic. The Catholic Federation understandably saw in the NZEI's policy evidence of a well-organized campaign to establish a state monopoly and suppress private schools.120 Whatever the long-term aims of the PP A and the NZEI, though, the right of Catholic schools to continue in existence was never really threatened. Moreover, successive governments, whether Reform, United (from November 1928), or the Coalition (from September 1931 ) tacitly accepted a responsibility to uphold appropriate standards of education in non-state schools. By the mid 1920s, having withstood the attack, Catholic and other denominational schools began once more to acquire minor concessions. The Catholic Case There was no systematic campaign for state aid during the interwar years, but politicians and the Catholic laity were reminded of the Church's official position on state aid at the recurrent openings of new schools. As taxpayers, Catholics contributed to the state education system even though their own schools, unlike church schools in other countries, were excluded from it Though ultimately seeking the integration of Catholic schools into the national education system and the allocation of an appropriate proportion of government revenue to private schools, Catholic authorities concentrated on more immediate concessions like free school buses, dental treatment and copies of the School Journal. A plea for state aid was as much a part of the ritual for opening new schools as was the collection to reduce the school's debl121 Not infrequently a civic dignitary or politician was invited to attend and perforce to hear the case rehearsed once again. 122 Local body officials were not usually in a position to influence government educational policy but some mayors were also members of Parliament or at least members of political parties represented in the House. It was in the interests of politicians, especially Labour politicians - whether local or national - to cultivate the support of Catholic voters, but at the same time they could not afford to leave 120 Report ... Calholic Federalion. .. 1919, pp. 1 1, 14, 24. 121 When Brodie opened a new brick building for St Joseph's sdlool in Lyttelton, it was the fll'St such occasion he knew of when it had not been necessary to hold a collection (NZ Tablet, 27 January 1921, p. 19). 122 In addition to the examples cited below, chapter three refers to further instances when politicians attended Catholic school openings. ___ --C-__ _ ___ . . . . __ _.� ___ ....0; 446 ,;.L...o ____ �'''''',_:,,�� ____________ •• . _ Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? opponents of state aid with the impression that Catholics were being granted special favours. At the laying of a foundation stone for a new school in Thames in April 1923, Liston had the opportunity to summarize "Catholic claims in the matter of education" before an assembly which included both the retiring Mayor, E.N. Miller, and his successor the local Member of Parliament, T.W. Rhodes. 123 Neither responded to the implicit demand for government concessions but contented themselves with words of welcome to Liston and praise for the efforts of the Catholic community. 124 Mter a typical statement of Catholic attitudes to educational issues by O'Shea, at a school opening in Waipukurau in 1926, Mayor E.A. Goodger declared that "he could heartily endorse all that had been said by His Grace. " 125 About the same time, Cleary outlined the Catholic position on state aid in the presence of Mayor George Wildish, while laying the foundation stone of a new school in Gisbome.126 When the foundation stone of a new building for St Mary's College in Wellington was laid in 1930, the Minister of Education, Harry Atmore, was present to hear speeches by Archbishops Redwood and O'Shea. The latter tactfully explained why Catholics were prepared to fmance their own schools despite the availablilty of a state education system which was "splendid" apart from its exclusion of religion. He acknowledged that neither the Government nor the Minister were in a position to change the system wanted by the majority of people. Atmore noted that "there were remarks of Archbishop O'Shea with which he perhaps could not altogether agree" but went on to endorse the value of religious education. He concurred with O'Shea's view that religious education was not a function for the state, but evidently drew different implications from this principle. 127 Labour MP W.E. Barnard attended the opening of the Marist Brothers' School in 123 NZ Tablet. 17 May 1923. p. 15; Month. 15 May 1923. p. I I . 124 Rhodes also said that "religion was high above the turmoil of politics" and should not be mixed with it. though his wools were evidently not an allusion to Catholic educational demands but to the sectarian strife of the period and perhaps to Liston' s trial for sedition (NZ Tablet, 17 May 1923, p. 15). According to the Month. he also asserted that religious bodies in Thames "helped one another" (Month, 15 May 1923, p. 1 1). 125 NZ Tablet, 1 DecembeJ" 1926. p_ 4I. 126 NZ Tablet, 1 DecembeJ" 1926. pp. 15, 17. 127 NZ Tablet. 26 March 1930, pp. 4648; Month, 15 April 1930. pp. 9, 12. The Ministec's presence is not to be explained solely by the school's proximity to Parliament Buildings; he also attended the laying of the foundation stone of St Joseph's School, Nelson (in his own electorate) in NovembeJ" 1931, where a similar exchange of views with O'Shea took place (NZ Tablet, 2 December 1931. p. 43). -. - � ----------- - - --- - - ----- - - - --- - - - --- - - The Catholic Case 447 Napier in 1932, and promised that "he would do everything in his power to have Government grants made available to Catholic schools" especially those which had shouldered extra burdens since the earthquake. 128 In 1935, a new Church and School (in one building) were opened at Forbury and the Mayor of Dunedin (Rev. E.T. Cox) attended along with Frederick Jones MP. Cox (a Methodist) acknowledged that Catholic "claims for assistance from the government were just and righteous, and something should be done for them." Jones noted that "He and his predecessors had always had friendly relations with the Catholics of the electorate, and he hoped this goodwill would-continue." I29 Such sentiments were timely in an election year. When Brodie opened a new kindergarten in Riccarton in 1936, he pointed out that some £350,000 had been spent in Christchurch on Catholic education. H.S.S. Kyle, National Party Member of Parliament and Mayor of Riccarton, responded that such expenditure constituted "a case for the subsidising of Catholic schools." 130 Determined that, as far as possible, Catholic pupils should not attend state schools, Catholic authorities argued that their own schools ought to benefit from taxes paid by the Catholic community. Liston pointed out that Catholic taxes were used to support the public education system yet Catholics, unable in conscience to use this system where Church schools were available, were not given a share of tax to support their own system.131 According to O'Connell, in an address to the Catholic Federation in Dunedin, Catholics were "deprived of their rightful share of the taxation to which they were bound by law to contribute."132 Liston explained that while Catholics were "content" to pay for denominational schools without imposing a burden on their fellow-citizens, they nevertheless demanded that an appropriate share of their own taxes be allocated to their own schools. 133 O'Shea pointed out that "the greater part of the money contributed by the Catholic parents of New Zealand is spent on other people's children." 134 Catholics were only saying "that the money contributed to education by the Catholic parents should be spent by the State on the education of 128 NZ Tablet, 31 August 1932, p. 6; if. pp. 12-13. 129 NZ Tablet, 9 January 1935, p. 33. Cox's name is given as E.C. Cox in the Tablet. 130 NZ Tablet, 18 November 1936, p. 7; Zealandia, 19 November 1936, p. 3. 131 Month, 15 July 1921, p. 9; 16 October 1922, p. 9. 132 NZ Tablet, 20 March 1919, p. 43; Report ... Catholic Federation ... 1919, p. 23. 133 Month, 17 May 1927, p. 13; NZ Tablet, 19 February 1930, pp. 4748; Month, 18 February 1930, p. 17. 134 NZ Tablet, 21 August 1919, p. 33. 448 • . " • __ _ r • _ __ __________ _ Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? Catholic children". 135 Cleary and others emphasized that Catholics did not expect to be reimbursed for the costs of religious education but they demanded that "a just proportion" of their taxes be spent on the Church's schools for the results they attained in secular education. 136 To Bishop Whyte, the issue was one of "mere justice" ; he compared the injustice of the New Zealand government to that of the penal laws in Ireland137 and argued that, "A just government would be willing to pay our teachers for the secular side of education and it would not compel Catholics to pay for a system of education that they cannot in conscience accept." 138 As usual, it was Kelly who expressed the Catholic view most forcefully, denouncing "the State Theft, or the Public Robbery of Catholics" 139 as a "gross and tyrannical injustice on the part of the Government" which collected taxes from Catholics while withholding aid to their schools.14O In doing so, "the Government of New Zealand pursues a systematic persecution of our people".141 Schools which set moral training flrst are persecuted. Teachers who sacrifice their lives for the cause of Christian education are penalized. 142 To reinforce the Catholic case for state aid, the Wellington Catholic Education Board's annual reports invariably included a section with a title such as "Statistics every Catholic should know" .143 Using the Department of Education's annual reports, the Board calculated how much the Catholic community was saving the government by maintaining its own schools without state aid. In 1924, for example, the Board reckoned that Catholics were saving the government £237,835 annually on primary education while contributing £305,699 to the cost of state primary education through their taxes.l44 Statistics calculated by the Board were used, without acknowledgement, 135 NZ Tablet, 29 May 1919, p. 33; if. 21 August 1919, p. 34; 15 March 1923, p. 17; 8 October 1924, p. 33; for a similar comment by Kelly, see NZ Tablet, 3 March 1921, p. 26. 136 NZ Tablet, 1 December 1926, p. 17, if. Month, 17 February 1925, p. 37; 18 March 1924, p. 1 1; NZ Tablet, 21 August 1919, p. 34 (O'Shea) and the quotation from Whyte below. 137 NZ Tablet, 17 November 1926, p. 30; 8 October 1924, p. 26. 138 NZ Tablet, 27 May 1925, p. 30. 139 NZ Tablet, 18 June 1930, p. 3. 140 NZ Tablet, 13 February 1919, p. 15. 141 NZ Tablet, 10 January 1924, p. 29. 142 NZ Tablet, 24 June 1920, p. 15. 143 "Wellington Catholic Education Board, Report and Statement of AccoUDts, 1921-22", MAW. Summaries of the annual reports were published in the Catholic press and even in the local newspapers (e.g. Evening Post, 10 October 1936, p. 14). 144 NZ Tablet, 12 November 1924, p. 15. -------- - _. - _ . - -- - _ . The Catholic Case 449 by Catholic politicians pleading their Church's case on educational issues, notably the withdrawal of National Scholarships and the Bible in Schools controversy.145 Gilbert presented the Recess Education Commission with a similar array of statistics - without acknowledgement - from the Board's 1928-1929 report to justify a plea for state grants.l46 He suggested that if the government paid Catholics £28-1 1-6 for each pupil in a Church secondary school (the amount spent on pupils attending state secondary schools) it would still retain for other related purposes £13,370 out of an estimated £53,060 contributed annually by Catholics to the total cost of secondary education. He proposed that the extension of free places to registered secondary schools could be among the expenses funded from the remaining £13,370.147 Speaking at the St Bede's College annual prize-giving in 1929, Gilbert told his audience that Catholics, by paying taxes which were spent exclusively on state education while maintaining Catholic schools at their own expense, paid the government, directly or indirectly, £673,756 annually.148 The demand that Catholic schools should receive government funding derived from the taxes of the Catholic population, since their schools taught the state syllabus to the satisfaction of state inspectors, amounted to a claim that these schools should be a part of a national system of education. 149 According to Gilbert, the state education system was not a national one because it did not embrace the various religious beliefs of the community. ISO When Cleary addressed the Cohen Commission on Education in 1912, he argued that "taxes -which are levied on all" should "be used for the benefit of all" . He looked back to the time when "Catholic schools .. .formed part of the State system" but "were excluded from it by Act of Parliament in 1877." 151 The example of many other countries demonstrated that governments could reconcile the demands of 145 NZPD, 1920, vol. 189, p. 597 (P J. Nerheny); cf. Month, 15 October 1920, p. 1 1 ; NZPD 1926, vol. 210, p. 361 (CJ. Carrington); cf. NZ Tablet, 16 December 1925, p. 15. 146 See "Wellington Catholic Education Board, Report and Statement of Accounts, 1928-1929", WCAA This report did not receive the usual publicity - evidently because it was released about the time of Cleary's death, which naturally preoccupied the Catholic papers. 147 Gilbert, "Evidence", pp. 6-10, 17. The same figures were used by Butchers (Education in New Zealand, pp. 441442) to outline the Catholic argument for state aid. 148 NZ Tablet, 29 January 1930, supplement, p. 3. 149 q. chapter three above and Butchers, The Education System, pp. 195-196. 150 Press, 10 January 1921, p. 2; NZ Tablet, 13 January 1921, p. 28. 151 Report of the Education Commission, AJHR, 1912, session 2, vol. ill, E.-12, p. 100; if. the quotation from Cleary at the beginning of this chapter. ;�..... . ._---' -" .- . - 450 . - ----..,- .. -.. -�- ------ -_._..... --. --- - --- Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? both secularist and religious educationalists. ls2 Butchers, writing in 1930, agreed, citing as evidence the success of denominational education in the province of Nelson before the establishment of the national education system. IS3 At the opening of the new Grey Lynn convent in 1922, Bishop Brodie, who had just returned from overseas, described the methods by which governments in Britain and the dominions - except Australia - funded denominational schools.ls4 In his recent audience with Pope Pius XI, the latter had remarked on the strange fact that New Zealand did not follow the example of England. Other countries of the Empire, except Australia, incorporated denominational schools within a national system of education and granted them fair subsidies. The argument that what was possible in other parts of the Commonwealth, and in Holland, ought to be possible in New Zealand was a constant refrain. ISS Brother J.B. Gettons, Rector of St Kevin's College, even used the visit of Governor-General Lord Galway to point out that New Zealand and Australia were the only parts of the British Empire where parents were "penalised for doing their duty towards their children." ls6 In 1927, the Month published an article demonstrating how the emergence in England of "a Catholic system of education within the national system" made more equitable provision for Catholic schools than what was offered in New Zealand.ls7 Gilbert told the Recess Education Commission that Catholics were "ready and anxious to co-operate with the State in evolving a truly national system of Education". ls8 Liston, speaking in 1930, looked forward to the time when secular and religious schools would together form a national system of education.ls9 Two years 152 Ibid., p. 101. 153 Butchers, Education in New Zealand, pp. 443-44 . 154 Month, 15 November 1922, p. 15. 155 NZ Tablet, 12 June 1919, p. 19; 15 March 1923, p. 17; 13 March 1924, p. 17; 8 October 1924, pp. 24, 33; 19 November 1924, p. 26; 24 February 1926, p. 30; 1 December 1926, p. 41 ; 17 November 1926, p. 30; 31 August 1927, p. 33; 16 November 1927, p. 30; 19 February 1930, p. 50; 19 March 1930, p. 46; 15 Aprll 1931, p. 31; 2 December 1931, p. 43; 9 January 1935, p. 33; 30 January 1935, p. 13; 5 October 1938, p. 27; Month, 15 February 1923, p. 9; 17 May 1927, p. 13; 18 February 1930, p. 17; 1 February 1934, p. 15; Zealandia, 29 August 1935, p. 2; 30 July 1936, p. 2; 6 October 1938, p. 6; Gilbert, "Evidence", p. 13. 156 NZ Tablet, 9 December 1936, p. 39. 157 Month, 19 July 1927, pp. 14-15. An later article descn1>ed the situation in Holland (17 January 1928, p. 1 1). 158 Gilbert, "Evidence", p. 21. 159 NZ Tablet, 19 February 1930, p. 50. The Month (18 February 1930, p. 17) reported Liston as saying that each new Catholic school was a part of the national system. The Catholic Case 451 later, O'Shea proposed the establishment of a national education system embracing both secular and religious schools and funded by the government on the basis of results in secular subjects. 160 Specific Demands Aware of the political impossibility of realizing their ultimate goal of a reintegration of Catholic schools into the national system, Catholic leaders emphasized specific fonns of state assistance. Direct lobbying of the government for state aid, however, was infrequent and very limited in its demands. 161 Moreover, the two issues on which agitation most commonly focussed - health and transport - were primarily for school children and only indirectly benefited schools. Even the request for free copies of the School Journal was justified by the needs of the children. Private schools and their pupils were, in principle, entitled to medical inspection but they do not seem to have received it on a regular basis. The School Medical Service was established in 1912 and registered private primary schools were permitted under the Education Act (1914) to apply for a medical inspection of the school and the pUpilS. 162 However, a list of "essential duties" carried out by School Medical Service doctors and nurses did not mention private schools.163 Very occasional inspections did take place, for example at St Joseph's School, Grey Lynn in 1921,164 but while the Health Act of 1920 made provision for compulsory medical inspection in public schools, it made no reference to private schools.l65 Dr Ada Paterson, Director of the Health Department's Division of School Hygiene, told the Recess Education Committee in 1930 that the division had hitherto confmed its efforts to the state primary schools.l66 In an address to the Christchurch Diocesan Council of the Catholic 160 NZ Tablet. 31 August 1932. p. 6. The idea was endorsed by the Tablet (ibid.. p. 3). 161 In the context of the Bible in Schools debate in 1927. Cleary asserted that the Catholic Church had not pressed its claim for state aid on parliamentary candidates or legislators since 1902 (Evening Post, 29 September 1927, p. 8; NZ Tablet. 9 November 1927, p. 23). 162 Education Act, Clause 134 (6). Statutes of New Zealand (1914). p. 226. 163 Annual Report, DeparUDent of Education, AJHR, 1918, vol. n, E.-I, p. 28. 164 NZ Tablet. 8 September 1921. p. 22. In 1920. a medical examination of children in Ttmaru Catholic schools was undertaken by Dr Loughnan and a non-Catholic colleague. Dr Talbot, but they seem to have been acting in a voluntary capacity (NZ Tablet, 5 August 1920. p. 3� Catholic Federation report). 165 Health Act, Clause 139, Statutes of New Zealand (1920), p. 213. 166 AJHR, 1930, voL ill, I.-8A, p. 1 18. It was proposed to extend medical inspections to secondary school pupils who applied for teacher training. 452 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? Federation in 1920, 1.R. Hayward contended that children attending private schools were entitled to the same medical and dental treatment offered to state school children.167 Catholic leaders do not appear to have been unduly concerned over the medical inspection of denominational schools but they did speak out on the issue of dental treatment. In 1921 , when the government declared its intention to provide free dental treatment to all children at state primary schools, Cleary denounced the implication that the health of Catholic children was not the concern of the state.l68 It was obviously convenient to offer dental treatment through the school system but the issue was medical, not educational, and to deny treatment to children at denominational schools was to impose a religious test as a condition of state health care.169 O.R. Wise, an Irish Protestant, wrote to the Damaru Mail in 1926 deploring the policy of not admitting Catholic children to school dental clinics; he saw in this the kind of religious hatred which had caused such harm in Ireland.170 When Francis Bartley SM opened a new Catholic school at Pleasant Point in 1928, he complained that children whose fathers fought in the same war as the fathers of state school children were suffering from discrimination by not being given dental and medical inspection.l7l Taking up the subject again later while laying the foundation stone for a school in Blenheim, he reminded the Minister of Health that his responsibility extended to all the children of New Zealand and that Catholic schools were available to serve the cause of public health - as they had been during the influenza epidemic.I72 W.J. Girting MP, present at the ceremony, acknowledged that "every section of the community" should have access to the health services provided by the government. 173 167 NZ Tablet, 12 February 1920, p. 18. 168 Month, 15 July 1921, pp. 1 1, 13. The School Dental Service was initiated in 1919 but the first cohort of school dental nurses did not complete its tw�year training and begin service until 1923. See the Annual Report, Department of Health, AJHR, 1939, vol. ill, H.-31, p. 90 and T.W.H. Brooking, A History of Dentistry in New Zealand (Dunedin: New Zealand Dental Association, 1980), pp. 99-100. 169 It is noteworthy that the Health Act of 1920 brought both the School Medical Service and the School Dental Service, originally controlled by the Department of Education, under the control of the Department of Health. 170 NZTablet, 25 August 1926, p. 17. 171 NZ Tablet, 8 February 1928, p. 23. Bartley had been a chaplain in World War I (NZ Tablet, 14 August 1919, p. 34). 172 NZ Tablet, 10 October 1928, p. 22; Month, 16 October 1928, p. 15. 173 NZ Tablet, 10 October 1928, p. 23. "".. . . Specific Demands 453 Early in 1929, the newly-elected United Government declared that dental treatment would be provided for children attending private schools on the same basis as for state school pUpils. 174 When Atmore laid one of the foundation stones for the new Catholic school at Te Aroha, in June 1929, he promised "to legislate for every child in New Zealand" irrespective of "creed, sect or class. " 175 Dental treatment, he argued, was a right for New Zealand children whatever school they attended. The predominantly Maori pupils of Matata Convent School were being offered dental treatment by 1933176 and Catholic school children in Oamaru were admitted to the local dental clinic, for a fee, in 1934.1TI In 1936, Catholic pupils were attending the local clinic in Greymouth and Father Healy was seeking the co-operation of the Kumara state school committee to establish a clinic for both convent and state school children.178 The admission of new schools to a dental clinic was determined by local committees, however, and the Masterton School Dental Committee refused to admit children from Catholic schools until the Catholic community protested, through the local Member of Parliament, to Health Minister Fraser in 1938.179 Similarly, the Matamata School Dental Clinic Committee declined to admit children from the Catholic school even though, according to Father Silk, Catholic parents had contributed to the cost of building the clinic. 180 174 Brooking, p. 127. 175 Month, 18 Jooe 1929, p. 15; NZ Tablet, 19 Jooe 1929, p. 48; if. ibid., 28 May 1930, p. 47. 176 Annual Report, Department of Health, AJHR, 1934-1935, vol. ill, H.-31, p. 35. Out of a total school roll of 55, 51 pupils were Maori. 177 Zea1andia, 24 May 1934, p. 6. The payment of £1 1-4-0 was presumably the Catholic school's share of the incidental maintenance costs which had to be paid for by the local schools (cf. Butchers, Education in New Zealand, pp. 490-491 and Health Minister AJ. Stallworthy's comments in the NZ Herald, 27 May 1930, p. 10). From 1931, clinics were required to make an additional contribution of £30 per annum to the Department of Health for the cost of materials. This approximately doubled the maintenance costs borne by the dental clinic committees, who were therefore authorized to charge children up to five shillings each annually (Annual Report, Department of Health, AJHR, 1932, vol. ill, H.-31, p. 31). A concessionary rate f_----------..--._----- ._- .- 462 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? context of the state aid debate was to change dramatically and Catholic schools were fmally re-integrated into the national education system. Conclusion A few concessions to non-state schools, or to their pupils, had been offered in the late nineteenth century but the Liberal administration, even with a Catholic Prime Minister, had been guarded about aid to private schools. In its fIrst few years of offIce, the Reform Government had been more generous but during the First World War and its immediate aftermath, it reversed this policy although it stopped short of implementing the full demands of the PP A and the NZEI and left intact the minor concessions it had inherited. It was not until the later 1920s that Catholic schools once again began to acquire new forms of aid. The Depression was naturally a lean time for private schools but the Labour Government, while avoiding any commitment to the principle of state aid, found ways to contribute to denominational education. Both Church leaders and politicians realized that heavy demands from Catholics or generous concessions by governments would arouse antagonism in some sections of the community. The agitation of the Catholic Federation during the war no doubt contributed to the widespread reaction against denominational schools led by the PP A and the NZEI. Concessions which had been made by the Reform administration were quickly taken back when public animosity was aroused. The withdrawal of the right to hold National Scholarships in private schools was felt keenly and the lesson seems to have been learnt In a rare lapse of political judgment, Cleary in 1926 considered seeking legislative endorsement for state aid to Catholic schools but the wiser counsels of his fellow bishops prevailed.236 Although less prominent than it had been, opposition to state aid to Catholic schools did not disappear after the mid- 1920s. When the United Government announced that children attending private schools were to be eligible for the School Dental Service, Howard Elliott protested that the previous Minister of Health (James Young) had declared this ought not to be done until the service was provided for all state school children.237 The new Minister (Arthur Stallworthy) defended the policy by asserting that it was unrelated to the matter of "sectarian schools" and had been 236 MD. Clark. "The Roman Response to the Protestant Mission: Bishop Oeary and the Bible-in­ Schools in the 1920s" (University of Auckland M.A. research paper in History, 1984), pp. 25-26, citing ACDA a.E 84-3. 237 NZ Tablet, 24 Apil1929, p. 47, citing the Dunedin Evening Star of 18 April. • I I I ,,-.- _4- --"-- - . . -- .. -.. --.. -- .�- ___ ... -�� -_. --- ,,--� . - - - - -- - ____ _ � _ __ V- Conclusion 463 intended by his predecessor. I. Bridger of the PPA also criticized Atmore's willingness to assist at the opening of Catholic schools.238 At the annual meeting of its Dominion Council in August 1930, the PPA expressed its "grave anxiety and concern" at the inroads being made into secular education by the Minister's attendance at the openings of "sectarian schools".239 He had enough to do looking after the national system without eulogizing and spending money on private schools. In 1936, David McDougall MP told an audience attending the opening of a new convent school in Gore that, since the laying of the foundation stone, he had been criticized "in certain quarters" for endorsing Catholic demands for government subsidies to denominational schools.240 By keeping its specific demands modest, the Church kept such antagonism to a minimum and gained more than it would have by aggressive lobbying. Under the Labour Government, Catholic patience brought rewards in the fonn of a piecemeal and pragmatic policy, which accorded benefits to the pupils of private schools and overlooked distinctions between state and non-state schools when new fonns of government expenditure were introduced. Roy Shuker has recently criticized Laurie Barber's contention that the debate over state aid ended in the late 1930s.241 Even though there were no state aid bills in the interwar period, Barber's claim that the consolidation of the Catholic education system led to a reduction in the urgency of Catholic demands is not supported by the evidence presented in this chapter.242 However, even Shuker's recognition that "state aid remained very much an issue in Catholic minds" but was donn ant until the expansion of Catholic schools in the 1950s is not an accurate summary.243 Shuker overlooks both the demands for aid addressed to successive governments and the response of the Labour Government in particular. It is no doubt correct to say that W orld War II and post-war educational refonns overshadowed the politics of religious education, yet 238 NZ Tablet, 1 1 September 1929, p. 7 . . 239 EVening Post, 13 August 1930, p. 3. 240 Zealandia, 2 July 1936, p. 3. 241 Roy Shuker, The One Best System? (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1987), p. 251 ; cf. Lawrence Barber, "The Defence of Secular Education in New Zealand, 1887-1937", Delta 4 (May 1969), pp. 37-38. Although writing before the Integration Act (1975), Barber should not have overlooked the Catholic agitation in the 19508 (X' the maxked inaease in government grants during the 196Os. 242 Barber, p. 41. 243 Shuker, pp. 251-252. 464 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? during this time denominational schools received an unprecedented degree of government aid. Without organizing a sustained campaign, Catholic leaders nevertheless sought to keep the state aid issue before politicians and the Catholic laity. Despite their limited success, the bishops had to be seen by Catholic parents to be working to reduce the costs of private education since they exerted such pressure on Catholic families to educate children in denominational schools. Demands for state aid were most commonly voiced in Catholic gatherings, especially school openings, and in the Catholic press: the main audience was the Catholic laity. After the resignation of lames Kelly at the end of 193 1 , no editor of the Tablet displayed his passion for the education issue. At the beginning of each school year, L.l. Cronin's editorials on education not only lacked Kelly's fiery conviction, but also concentrated on parental obligations rather than Catholic demands and were often little more than reprints from a previous year.244 In 1938, the new editor, Al� Carter, asked whether Catholics were becoming complacent about the situation.24s He warned his readers that they would not secure their just claim if they merely sat down and waited for it. Indeed, the "justice" Catholics sought was, as the editor admitted on a later occasion, "yet distant", although he did claim to discern "signs ... that an era of good-will has commenced."246 The Zealandia also showed more concern over the duties of Catholics than for state aid, especially at the beginnning of each school year.247 When the Auckland Star complained that some people Were being taxed twice over for the new pension scheme in 193&, however, the editor took the opportunity to remind readers that Catholics had long been subjected to a double taxation for education.248 Catholics were convinced that eventually the justice of their case would be recognized by the rest of the community. Kelly thought that most Protestants would support Catholic claims for a share of the taxes they contributed to maintain their schools "if only they got a vigorous lead from their pastors."249 O'Shea was sure other 244 Compare the editorials (all on page 3) in NZ Tablet, 24 January 1934 with ibid., 23 January 1935 and 22 January 1936 with 27 January 1937. 245 NZ Tablet, 19 January 1938, p. 5. 246 NZ Tablet, 13 September 1939, p. 5. These "signs" were not specified but most of the editorial was about the greater acceptance of Catholic claims in Australia. 247 Zealandia, 31 January 1935, p. 4; 13 January 1938, p. 6; 27 January 1938, p. 6; 19 January 1939, p. 4. 248 Zealandia, 12 May 1938, p. 6. 249 NZ Tablet, 1 November 1923, p. 18. ------ .- - --._._------ Conclusion 465 citizens would come to acknowledge the importance of the work of Catholic education and not inflict hardship on any section of the community if they understood the situation.2S0 Liston also thought that once they appreciated the position, non-Catholics would endorse a settlement of the issue.151 Meanwhile, since Catholics were obviously willing and able to pay for their own schools, governments saw little need to spend money on denominational education. As Dean Burke told a gathering to open a new school building in Invercargill, "No matter what the expense the good Catholic people will keep the flag of Christian education flying over many and ever multiplying primary schools, secondary schools [and] colleges". 152 Gilbert told the Recess Education Committee that "if no aid comes from the State, we shall still joyfully go on with our work".153 In 1934, Archdeacon Holbrook, acknowledging that "the present state of the country's fmances" rendered inopportune any serious demands for government aid, promised that "we will continue to make our sacrifices until we receive justice."254 Brodie, opening St Paul's School in Christchurch the following year, assured his audience, which included three parliamentarians, that, "Whether help came or not, the Catholic community would continue its efforts and sacrifice when the necessity arose. "15S Speaking in Greymouth in 1938, he reiterated that Catholics would continue to maintain their own schools whatever the fmancial burden.256 There were three main reasons why successive governments avoided any open commitment to the principle of state support for denominational schools.157 Butchers emphasized the anxiety that, if Catholic schools were subsidized, other denominations, especially the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, would also establish a comprehensive network of schools and demand similar concessions. Drained of pupils, staff and resources, the national system would then be forced to give way to 250 NZ Tablet, 15 March 1923, p. 17; 8 October 1924, p. 33. 251 NZ Tablet, 19 February 1930, p. 48; Month, 18 February 1930, p. 17. 252 NZ Tablet, 8 October 1924, p. 27. 253 Gilbert, "Evidence", p. 13. 254 Month, 1 February 1934, p. 15. 255 NZ Tablet, 13 February 1935, p. 2. W. Hayward MLC and D.G. Sullivan MP (Mayor of Christchurch) were themselves Catholics; the other MP was R.W. Hawke. 256 Zealandia, 6 October 1938, p. 6. 257 Butchers (Educlllion in New Zealand, p. 442) expressed the matter differently by saying that the pinciple of granting some aid was accepted in JXactice but not applied consistently. 466 Chapter Six: Sufferance or Succour? state-subsidized private schools.258 This was the fear expressed by Parr to justify the withdrawal of National Scholarships from denominational schools and it was also the nightmare of the NZEI and the PPA Although more generous than its predecessors, the Labour Government, too, was profoundly committed to the maintenance of the national system of secular education. Secondly, therefore, politicians had to be wary of arousing the anti-Catholic lobby and other opponents of private schooling.259 The PPA was implacably opposed to state aid for the schools of all denominations but, being inherently antagonistic towards the Catholic Church, it considered any concession to Catholic schools an unjustified special privilege. Finally, as long as Catholics were willing and able to support their own schools, governments were spared the expense of educating thousands of New Zealand children. Only in the 1970s, when Catholics ceased to be able to pay for their own schools - and when the threat of antagonism from anti-Catholics and educationalists could be discounted - would government policy have to be reviewed. The failure of the Catholic Church to obtain full satisfaction for its educational demands does reflect its minority status: New Zealand society as a whole refused to spend public money to satisfy the special interests of Catholics - or any other church. During the interwar period, it was not anti-Catholicism which determined the outcome of the state aid debate but pragmatism and the pressure for conformity. 258 Butchers, Education in New Zealand, pp. 442-443; The Education System, pp. 196-197. 259 Butchers (Education in New Zealand, p. 442) referred to "an almost instinctive su1H:onscious fear on the part of the Protestant majority of the Roman Catholic Church itself." ------ -------------------------� . --- �-=----. �� Chapter Seven "A Protestant Country"? The Bible in Schools Controversy Ever since the establishment of a national system of "free, secular and compulsory" education, following the Education Act of 1 877, the Catholic Church and some leading Protestant groups had sought to alter the status quo. While Catholics claimed state support for denominational schools, many Protestants lobbied for the introduction of religious instruction into the national education system. Although most Catholic children attended denominational schools, their Church retained an interest in state education, as Bishop Liston explained: "It is part of our country, many of our Catholic children have to be educated under it, and a great deal of our Catholic money is sunk in it, and is yearly spent on it. " 1 Speaking in the Legislative Council, Carey Carrington claimed for Catholics the right to a voice on the question of religious lessons or observances in state primary schools because their taxes were helping to support public education while they also paid the full cost of a private education system.2 Consequently, the Catholic Church became involved in the recurrent debates initiated by the Bible in Schools League. From 1912 to 1914, the League ran a vigorous campaign, calling for a referendum on religious education. Parliament declined to hold the referendum and the League went into recess during the war. After the war, the League renewed its attempts to have the law changed in favour of religious education. During the 1920s, it adopted a new strategy by endorsing Leonard Isitt's Religious Exercises in Schools Bill, under which schools would be required to conduct simple religious observances devised by the Protestant churches. The Catholic Church refused to participate in the preparation of the exercises and, through the 1920s, vigorously opposed their introduction. From 1930 to 1935, the League promoted yet another programme, embodied in the Religious Instruction in Public Schools Enabling Bill. Although Archbishop 0' Shea endorsed the new Bill on behalf of the Catholic hierarchy, it was denounced by the other bishops. Since the League claimed to represent all the main Protestant churches and regarded the Catholic Church as its major opponent, the debate over religious 1 Month, 17 May 1927. p. 13 . 2 NZPD. 1929. vol 223. p. 720; Month. 19 November 1929. p. 13. 468 Chapter Seven: '}\ Protestant Country"? education in state schools tended to be seen as a contest between Catholicism and Protestantism. In fact, the controversy reflected a rather more complex range of opinions and interest groups. Contestants in the "Bible in Schools" debate were competing for the opportunity to influence the course of education and thereby to mould future generations of New Zealanders. The national education system therefore functioned as a microcosm of society as a whole, reflecting in miniature the tensions and values of the population at large. At stake were three conflicting models of New Zealand society, just as there had been when the national education system was established in 1 877.3 According to the "Protestant" view, epitomized by the Bible in Schools League, New Zealand was a Protestant society and its public institutions should reflect this, notably by including suitable religious observances in the school curriculum. Catholics agreed that religion provided the necessary basis for civilized society but they were not prepared to compromise distinctively Catholic doctrines and forms of worship. They therefore proposed a "pluralist" model, demanding that the state deal even-handedly with different religious groups. In education, this meant subsidizing denominational schools and making equitable provision for the religious instruction of Protestants, Catholics and other religious communities in state schools, according to their numbers. A "secularist" model was promoted by a somewhat heterogeneous collection of people who agreed that public institutions should not reflect the interests of any religious group: secularity was deemed to be neutrality. Most "secularists" were actually Protestants for whom the state education system was sacrosanct and had to be protected against the introduction of any officially sponsored religious instruction. In his capacity as Mayor of Christchurch, the Rev. J.K. Archer, a Baptist, opened a conference on religious education in 1929 by describing himself as "a convinced and unqualified secularist as far as religious education was concemed".4 This position was championed by the National Schools Defence League, founded during the controversy over the Religious Instruction in Schools Referendum Bill before the war,s and was 3 Richard P. Davis. Irish Issues in New Zealand Politics, 1868-1922 (Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 1974), pp. 78-79. 4 Press, 4 September 1929, p. 15. 5 Defence League President A.R. Atkinson was probably an atheist, while another prominent representative, Professor T .A. Hunter of Victoria University College, was a Rationalist. See LA Snook, "An Interpretation of the Religion in Schools Issue 1914" (University of Canterbury MA thesis in Education, 1964), p. 35 and Colin McGeorge and Ivan Snook, Church, Stale and New Zealand Education (Wellington: Price Milburn, 1981), p. 14. The Religious Liberty Association also opposed the Bible in Schools League (see FL. Sharp to the edikX', Dominion, 20 August 1927, p. 1 1). _________________ -"" ... L Introduction 469 also espoused by the Labour Party and the New Zealand Educational Institute. Although the Catholic Church had a very different agenda from that of the secularists, its response to the Bible in Schools League was similar. Both Catholics and advocates of secular education worked for the defeat of the League and its Protestant supporters. The debate over religious education in public schools offers important insights into the place of the Catholic Church within the wider society. It will be seen that the 'Bible in Schools League sought to marginalize the Church, stigmatizing it as a minority group whose special interests were incompatible with those of the Protestant majority. During the 1920s, however, Bishop Cleary demonstrated that his Church could participate in a public debate on a par with other groups, presenting views which were not merely reflections of sectional interests but were widely shared by other contributors to the debate. Despite O'Shea's agreement with the League in the 1930s, moreover, the Catholic hierarchy as a whole continued to side with opponents of the League. Although voluntary religious education and observances were increasingly permitted outside official school hours in state primary schools, the education system remained legally secular. The defeat of the League reflected public rejection of its "Protestant" conception of New Zealand society: the Catholic Church was not marginal to but an integral part of the wider society. Although Protestant attempts to introduce religious education into state schools have been examined by a number of scholars, little attention has been paid to the Catholic opposition in the interwar years.6 Ian Breward' s survey of Protestant agitation for religious education is indispensable but naturally gives little information on Catholic attitudes.? Similarly, Donald MacDonald's thesis on the Bible in Schools 6 Brief overviews of the religious education issue are provided by McGeorge and Snook; Bruce Turley and Margaret Reid Martin, Religion in Education: Outlines and Reflections on the History of New Zealand Developments (Wellington: Churches Education Commission, 1981); JJ. Small, "Religion and the Schools in New Zealand 1877-1963", Comparative Education Review, 9 (1965) 53-62; Lawrence H. Barber, "The Defence of Secular Education in New Zealand, 1877-1937", 7 Delta 4 (May 1969) 37-48. According to Barbee (p. 41), the Catholic bishops "reduced their opposition to Protestant demands for religious exercises and Bible teaching in state schools" so that they could then claim state aid for Catholic schools on the grounds that state schools taught Protestantism. However Cleary explicitly rejected the strategy of supporting the League in order to strengthen the case for state aid once the Bill was passed (NZ Tablet, 9 November 1927, p. 23, 25). The only time when some of the bishops withdrew opposition to the Bible in Schools lobby was in the early 1930s when O'Shea agreed not to use the introduction of religious exercises in schools as an argmnent for state aid. Roy Shuket, The One Best System? (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1987), pp. 241-263 summarizes the issues but completely neglects the 1920s. Ian Breward, Godless Schools? A study of Protestant reactions to the Education Act of I 877 (Ouistchurch: Presbyterian Bookroom, 1967). 470 - ::-=y= - - Chapter Seven: HA Protestanl Country"? League supplies few details on the Catholic Church's role in the religious education debates of the period, although it is a serviceable, but uncritical, summary of League sources.8 M.P. Crosswell's essay on Cleary and the Bible in Schools League makes little contribution to the subject but M.D. Clark's research paper on the same theme gives a detailed introduction to the debate in the 1920s.9 Clark's work is important as the only substantial research directly concerned with the Catholic contribution to the religion in schools debate in the 1920s, but his approach is more chronological than analytical. Donald Akenson, while devoting a whole chapter to Catholics and education between 1860 and 1950, has rather more to say about religious education in Ireland and the integration 'of Catholic schools in the 1970s than about Catholic involvement in the Bible in Schools controversies of the 1920s and 1930s.10 League secretary Rev. E.O. Blamires compiled an account of the negotiations with the Catholic Church in the 1930s but this is largely composed of documents published at the time and offers disappointingly few insights for an author who was so intimately involved in the events. 1 1 The interactions among the Catholic bishops in the 1930s have been largely untangled by Ivan Snook.12 . Newspapers, especially the Catholic press, and parliamentary publications are the most useful published primary sources for this chapter. It is fortunate that Cleary, the 8 Donald V. MacDonald, "The New Zealand Bible in Schools League" (Victoria University of Wellington, M.A. thesis in Education, 1964). Two other theses dealing with the debate over religious education contain some useful material: M.G. Milmine, "An Investigation into the Place of Religious Instruction in the Primary Schools of New Zealand" (University of Otago, M.A. thesis in Education, 1935) and E.A. Johnston, "Religious Education in the State Primary Schools" (Victoria University College, M.A. thesis in Education, 1952). Ivan Snook's thesis (op. cit.) on the controversy over the League's Referendum Bill (1914) provides further useful background. 9 M.P. Crosswell, "Bishop Henry William Cleary and the Religion in Primary Schools Issue", University of Auckland M.A. research essay in History, 1973; MD. Clark. "The Roman Response to the Protestant Mission: Bishop Cleary and the Bible-in-Schools in the 1920s", University of Auckland M.A. research paper in History, 1984. This thesis is indebted to Clarlc's paper for several references to Protestant sources. 10 D.H. Akenson, Half the World from Home (Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1990). What Akenson does say on the subject is derived from secondary sources and not always accurate. He claims, for example, that "with the exception of a brief wobble in the early 1930s" the Catholic Church consistently opposed the Nelson System (pp. 183-184). It will be seen in the course of this chapter that the Nelson System was not opposed by the Church during the 1920s; nor was it at issue in the events of the early 193Os. Akenson does not seem to have been aware of Clark's work. 1 1 E.O. Blamires, A Christian Core for New ZeaJarul Education (Auckland: printed by Whitcombe and Tombs, 1960), pp. 23-39, 84-90. 12 I.A. Snook. "Religion in Schools: a Catholic Controversy", New ZeaJarul Journal of History, 612 (October 1972) 169-77. This article is a revision of the appendix to Snook's thesis. p Introduction 471 main Catholic protagonist in the 1920s, edited his own newspaper, since his correspondence was not accessible during the course of this research.13 The surviving records of the League contain some useful information, including Blamires' papers. 14 0' Shea preserved most of his correspondence concerning the agreement with the . League in the 1930s, but this matter will not be considered in detail here. IS The fIrSt section of this chapter will discuss the League's proposals in the 1920s. Then an examination of Catholic objections to the League's Religious Exercises Bill and of Catholic counter proposals will show that the Church's views on religious education in state schools had a lot in common with those of non-Catholics. Next, the League's attempt to blame its failure on the machinations of the Catholic Church will be contrasted with the real reasons for Parliament's rejection of the Religious Exercises Bill. Then the bitter debate between the League and the Church will be considered to show that the League sought to override Catholic concerns and assert a Protestant hegemony. Lastly, it will be shown that in the 1930s the principle of state secular education fmally triumphed over the League's attempts to change the law in favour of Protestantism. The League's Agenda After an initial meeting in 1921 , representatives of the Protestant churches gathered in Wellington in August 1922, and decided to lobby for the introduction of religious exercises (the Lord's Prayer, hymns and Bible readings) rather than explicit religious instruction.16 These observances, according to !sitt's Religious Exercises in Schools Bill, were to be conducted for between fIfteen and twenty minutes at the beginning of the day in "public schools, Native schools, secondary schools, and technical high 13 Some of Cleary's papers, held in the Aucldand Catholic Diocesan Archive, are cited by ClaIk. There is little relevant material from the 1920s in other Catholic archives. 14 Churches Education Commission Collection, A1L 82-391, boxes 1, 2, 24 and 25 15 O'Shea's papers in the WCAA duplicate much of the material kept by Blamires and there are copies of some items in the CCDA. 0' Shea's inteIpreta1ion of his quarrel with the rest of the hierarchy is extensively documented in an eleven-page duplicated statement headed "Bible-in-Schools Question" (copies in CCDA and WCAA; ct Snook:, "Catholic Controversy", p. 173.) Since the last date mentioned is 14 February 1933, it was probably this account to which Archbishop Cattaneo, the Apostolic Delegate in Sydney, referred when he acknowledged receipt of "the two copies of your Statement on the Bible-in-Schools question" in May that year, shortly after the Delegate had been asked by the other bishops to settle the dispute (Cattaneo to O'Shea, 20 May 1933, WCAA). 16 PGA, 1922, pp. 1�187; Evening Post, 12 August 1922, p. 8; Breward, pp. 74-76; MacDonald, pp. 83-105. . - 472 Chapter Seven: "A Protestant Country"? schools", except that schools already conducting similar exercises (as most secondary schools did) would not have to alter their practice. 17 There was to be no "instruction in the tenets, dogma, or creed peculiar to any religious society or denomination" and the Scripture reading was "to be without interpretation or comment" except what was "reasonably necessary for grammatical explanation". 18 When the Bible in Schools League was re-constituted in May 1925, it gave official support for the change of policy.19 Each year from 1923 to 1926 inclusive, !sitt unsuccessfully sponsored his Bill - in the latter year, he introduced it into the Legislative Council to which he had recently been promoted. Revised editions of the same Bill were sponsored by Henry Holland in 1927 and 1928, but again without success.20 Despite these repeated setbacks, the League consistently claimed its proposals were endorsed by most New Zealanders. !sitt, seconded by Education Minister James Parr, claimed "the united and wholehearted support of every Protestant church in the Dominion".21 It was assumed that the endorsement of the League's programme by the leaders of the Protestant churches guaranteed the backing of the membership of these churches. Isitt claimed for his Bill the support of "no less than 1 ,065,487" church members - a figure which, as Cleary scornfully pointed out, included "the latest babe in anns" .22 According to Archbishop Averill, Anglican Primate and President of the League, the leaders of most denominations, representing 70 to 80 per cent of the population, "were absolutely agreed upon the platform of the Bible in State Schools 17 The Religious Exercises in Schools Bills and other rejected bills can be found in the bound annual volumes of "Bills Thrown Out" available in the Parliamentary Library and elsewhere. For the original version of the Bill, see the volumes for 1923 to 1926. The quotation is from the preamble; clause two defines the time; the content of the exezcises is specified in clause three and clause six refers to established practices. On one day each week the religious exercises could be replaced by patriotic exercises (clause two). 18 Ibid., preamble and clause three. 19 League Executive Minutes. 28 May 1925, AlL 82-391-1. 20 Bills Thrown Out, 1927 and 1928. The new versions limited the time for the exercises to ftfteen minutes (clause two) and a procedure was specified for the preparation of the hymnal and Scripture manual by chmch representatives (clause three). In 1928, Native schools were omitted from the schools affected (Jxeamble, clauses two and seven) and teachers' comments were to be confined to what was needed foc "vezba}" rather than for "grammatical" explanation (clause three). The omission of native schools seems to have been an attempt to overcome the opposition of three Maori members of Parliament -Pomace, Ngata and Henare (NZ Herald, 1 August 1928, p. 10) but foc the official explanation, see NZPD, 1928, vol. 217, p. 968 (Holland). 21 NZPD, 1925, vol 207, pp. 504 (Isitt), 514 (Parr and Isitt); cf. 1924, vol. 203, p. 587 (parr), p. 627 (!sitt). 22 Isitt to the edit