The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-10-21 00:00:00

WORKING MEN AND DISESTABLISH-

MENT.

The Wurking Men', I 'ouimittee for Pp dootiii4 the
Separation of Church and State have published the
following whim,ii to the working classes if Great
Britain
Fellow Workmen The Working Men's Committee has been
formed hi consequence of a prevalent impression that the
time is come when the questioa of separation of Church and
State must be referred to the anal judgment of the people.
In the session of Parliament just closed, it was submitted
by Nlr. hush to the tpinion of the [louse if commons. In
Icing this he had no expeetatu on of immediate success.
As, 'however, an Act if Parliament bad separated the
limn+ from the State hi Ireland, he felt himself
warranted Is asking the Legislature to apply the
principle of that measure to the rest if the United kingdoms
Ile was met by the objection that the ease of Ireland was
eepieb, indeed, it 1,14 circumstantially, hot ,it
substantially. Nevertheless, the i:loVernment abirit dcl
undertaken the diserolownient and ilisrstalltnitnttii.t of the
State Church in Ireland did laoot oppose the motion upon its
merits, lit attempted to show that the question 1.138 not yet
ripe for legislative action. MI, idadstone I..bosed his speech
by suggesting to Mr. Vi tali that he must 111,,t convince a ma-
jority of the pe,.ple of the NVkiln. and the justice of his
policy before expecting Parliament hi adopt it.

This'unegulvocal challenge of tie Premier has men ac-
cepted ; and the Sodety for the Liberation of Religion
feint State Patronage and Control has determined to ap-
peal to the people for an expression of opinion on the sub-
ject. The working men of Great Britain have never yet,
as a body. pronounced any judgment on this great ques-
tion hut it has been felt that, after the broad chal-
lenge thrown down by the Premier, they can no longer,
with respect either to him or to themselves, refrain from
a declaration of their honest ;Lod delibende sentiments.
From Mr. Wall and the great party that he has formed
in the emur ry, Mr. Gladstone, as leader of the Liberal
party in the house of Commons, and also as First kinds-
ter of the Crown, has, in set tenet, appealed to the people.
It behoves the working wen, therefore, to answer that
appeal ; and that it simply upon the purely numerical
ground suggested iv MT. Gladstone as to whether among
the adult male population of this island, the majority Are
In favour of, or against, the disendon moot and disesta-
Midi:nod ef the Stale Chbreh in Britain as in Ireland lint
also, and peiluips especially, with a view to the return it
pledged candidates at the next general vltietioll, WllollsovVer
that may take place. The noose of commons, as now con-
stituted, does imt endssly It faithful and complete represen-
tation of the whole pt-epic; antl, Withialt taking a 1.11 of
the whole population, the only 1111.015 of answeriug the
elialletege of the Premier consists in the election if a 11011,
of commons each member of which has 10,11 returned with
It Mtia! View to 1115 avoWeil 00111011 011 this great question
thus 111,11,01 y put to the iShll5.
These. then, are the circumstances under which the Work-
ing M Committee for Prometiog the 51140,10.11 of Church
and State has been hunted, and nose pr,leerdi to work.
The views of this committee niay be thus concisely
stated :

1. They regard matters of relilion as belonging to the do-
mainof cousaieuce, in which everything must be left between
man and his 31aker.

2. They are of opinion that, since the State Church in
one part of the United Kingdom has boen disestablisheil, it
is both unjust and inconsistent not to deal in a similar
manlier with the State Churches of the other parts of the
United K
3. They are persuaded, from observation and experience,
that the state Church has utterly failed to accomplish the
task for which it was established and are also convinced
that its existence, as such, is a fatal hindrance to the attain-
ment of those objects which Churches of any kind profess to
keep in view.
4 The State I Imrch of England has failed as manifestly as
the State lharretn in trebaurl the only .li.forenee Nina' that
while the hulk of the Irish people u ere human Catholics, in
i,•lltra•listinctban to tho avowed Protestanthan of the then
Statodliorch... Inc groat inaj.rity of the British people are
either members of the different Protestant Noncomformist
church.* .4 thenhureh of It-one, or ar, willing to retrain lit
4'hurch, rather than attach themselves to the Establish-
ment.

5. The iilllnlt'li3C revenues of the English and Scottish
Establishments (Si vast as to amount capitalistd to thirty
or forty millions sterling) alone institute a great ar.:Tivilent
against their continuance ; because these revenue.,, tin ugh
the comitem property ,d the whole natl.. are distributed
among the religious teachers of half, or less than half, of the
people. Enormous and disproportionate salaries ant elllo-
- are rut to bishops and other dhnitaries, while, of
that portion of the fund Which in received by the pan.,:hlal
clergy, hy far the largest part falls to those who have the
fewest parishioners, and the smallest to such as minister
among the densest populations.

(I. The obstructiveness of the Establishment Is an addi-
tional reason for abolishing It. Its bishops and ckrgy are
neither appointed nor controlled by, nor are they reslein.
tilde to, the people Jealous of their own privileges, they
redst all changes which may affect their own ascendancy, or
that of the Establishment in w hlch they have so strong a
vested interest. Bence, in every agitation of a pottiest or
social character, they are always on one side and the people
on the other.
7. The Establishment is a source of path oat weakness,
because It divides the nation into two hostile parties. It
prevents good men uniting, Is they otherwise might unite,
in works of philantrophy and in movements for social reform.
It thus carries a mischievous sectarianism into almost all the
affairs of life.

Such are the questions which the committee of working
men commend to the serious considendion of their fellow-
workmen throughout the eountty. birder to ascertain and
give effect to their views, bninch committees u ill lie formed,
and meetings held, in all the large towns. it is hoped awl
believed that the practical result will be that after this great
question has been submitted to the electors, when it is next
debated In the House of Commons Mr. Nliall will be in a
position to give to Mr. latolstone's challenge a satishntory
net decisive answer.

We arc, on behalf of the Working Ilen's Cununittee, yours
faithfuhy, (1 .4
TosigL Grin:, Treasurer.
6 ku ku 'TIER, Secretary.
Committee Rooms, 10, Bolt-could, Fleet-street,
London, Et, Oct., is7l.
Conimittee.—ltsbert Applegurth, Henry Broadhurst, John
Deighton, 11. W. Poster, Guilivl Guile, ileerge lion ell,
It. Marsden Latham, George Potter, James Squire, met F. J.
Whetstone.