BIBLE-BURNING.

Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 838, 12 March 1903, Page 2

BIBLE-BURNING.

AND THE STORM,

By Telegraph—Press Association,

Auckland, last night. The Fiji Times Bays re the Bible-burn-ing :—As a matter of fact as soon as the

priest responsible for this sacrilegious performance publicly denied that the alleged burning had taken place in the spirit first ascribed the sting was removed, and little more feeling was expressed in Fiji, other than that next time the rev. father who must be held responsible for the regrettable incident, since the burning was done on premises under his charge, must perform his clearing-up with somewhat more privacy than was observed in the instance under notice. Since no public burning had taken place the imputation of the committal of an offensive act cannot be sustained, and the matter is of no concern, further than that from the colonial papers the occasion has afforded heart-burnings in quarters least desirable as far as the natives’ interests are concerned.

Fiji passengers on the Taviuni state that interest in the Bible-burning at Sava has very much diminished. Little more is likely to be heard of it. Never was, they state, so much importance attached to the matter locally as displayed abroad. It was only the keen enmity existing between the Catholics and other denominations which fanned the circumstance into such flaming prominence. Exactly how much Bible-burning was done will apparently never be definitely agreed upon, as the estimates of the two parties differ widely,