VOTING ON THE REVISED PRAYER BOOK [To the Editor of
the SPECTATOR.]
Sin,—.-Neither Dr. Dearmer nor Mr. Williamson give complete details. They make a brave show of the votes and percentages of votes in favour, but say nothing about the large numbers who did not vote at all. In the case of twenty-eight dioceses with a total voting strength of 17,129 the votes in favour totalled 6,926, less than half, while the total of non-voters came to 8,382, or 49 per cent.
it is also important to hear in mind that the representation of the people in the Church Assembly is almost negligible compared with the total populations of the dioceses. It is perfectly true that the Church is not to blame for this, but, as the Bishop of Norwich has so aptly put it : " English people move slowly, especially in religious things, and the Parochial Church Councils belong to a new system, not yet generally understood." As the Bishop of Chehnsford has been accorded a place for reply to the observations of those who have laid objections to the Prayer Book Measure, in the Report of the Ecclesiastical Committee, it will suffice to give the figures for his diocese, taken from the current Diocesan Year Book. Total population 1,474,474, officially represented, so far as ',:he Electoral Rolls disclose, by only 114,521 ó the total popu- Iation. Total votes in the Diocesan Conference, 272; votes In favour, 101; non-voters, 100. Diocesan officials and ex-officio members number 45, and it is safe to assume that they voted in favour. Verb. sap.
Dr. Demmer is so obviously writing from a partisan point of view that it ill becomes him to pour scorn upon the Church Societies. It is because so many have been disloyal to the Church in the past that they have been called into existence, and their followers are wide awake to the seriousness of the present crisis. The passing of the "Deposited Book" by Parliament will be a clarion call for redoubled efforts on their part in the future, and they have implicit faith in the judgment upon their actions by posterity.—I am, Sir, &c., A. R. J.
Previous page
