§ MR. HEALYasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Is it the fact that Mr. Blackwood, Secretary of the Post Office, has established an organization called the "Civil Service Prayer Union;" that Catholic officials who could not conscientiously join the Union, nor assist at its prayers or bible-reading, have been pressed to do so by their chiefs; whether he is aware that one of the objects of the Union, as declared by a printed document circulated through the Civil Service, is—
To make intercession for the unconverted members of our own Departments;886 that canvassing for membership is done during official hours, and that those who refuse to join are regarded as "unconverted;" that at Liverpool the meetings are held on Government premises, viz. a room in the Custom House; and, whether he will prevent these proceedings being carried on during official hours, and by the official superiors of the person who is asked to join?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS)In reply to the three Questions of the hon. Member, I have to inform the House that I have received from Mr. Blackwood the following statement:—That he did not establish the organization to which the first Question refers, which has been in existence for many years, but that he is at present its President; that he has never pressed any Roman Catholic official to join it, and that he thinks such pressure most improbable; that canvassing in the sense of such pressure is not, so far as he knows, resorted to, though it is probable that conversation may take place on that subject as on any other of common interest; that, so far as he is concerned, those who do not join the Association are not therefore considered unconverted; that at Liverpool a quarterly meeting is held, not during the Office hours, nor in the Custom House Office, but in the dining room over the Office, which is used for other meetings, such as the Widows' and Orphans' Fund, and other unofficial business. I see no reason why the Treasury should interfere in the matter. No complaint on the subject has reached me, and the first I heard of the Union was from the hon. Member's Question.
MR. O'BRIENWhat does the right hon. Gentleman think a higher official of the Department means by asking for intercession for the unconverted members of that Department?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS)It is not my duty to explain language of that kind. I have heard of persons of many religions speak of other persons as "unconverted."