uestion should be
settled it was impossible to obtain such confirmation. Bishop Suter,
acting on the verdict of the Standing Commission--which was to the
effect that the election of Bishop Hadfield was null and void--proceeded
to act as primate, and to invite the Standing Committees to confirm the
action of the Christchurch Synod. Those of Nelson, Auckland, and Waiapu
at once did so; but those of Wellington and Dunedin, holding that Bishop
Hadfield was legally elected, took no notice of the communications of
the senior bishop.

The position was undoubtedly full of interest to lawyers, but it was
painful and humiliating to devout members of the Church. Some weeks were
occupied in fruitless negotiations, but at length, through the influence
of the aged Bishop Harper, a way was discovered out of the thicket.
Bishop Hadfield resigned his claims to the primacy, and Bishop Suter,
whose position was now uncontested, summoned a special meeting of the
General Synod. It met in Wellington on April 23rd, 1890. The Bishop of
Wellington was elected primate, and the election of Archdeacon Julius to
the see of Christchurch was validated, sanctioned, and confirmed.

But larger issues soon occupied the public mind. A waterside strike
paralysed for a time the commerce of the country, and introduced the
era of "Labour." The predominance of Darwin, with his "struggle to
live," gave way to the humanitarian conception of a struggle to let
others live. In some respects the new movement was a return towards the
principles of Christianity, which had seemed to be surrendered in the
war period. As such it was hailed by many minds. The new bishop of
Christchurch was welcomed with a general enthusiasm because he came as
an avowed sympathiser with the aspirations of labour. But the events did
not justify either the hopes of the one side or the fears of the other.
Labour gained a large measure of political power under Mr. Ballance and
Mr. Seddon. Many measures were passed to secure higher wages, shorter
hours of work, more careful sanitation, and better technical training.
Yet, as years passed by, the fundamental conditions did not seem to be
greatly altered. Legislation could not go deep enough. It could not
change human nature. That could only be effected by the diffusion of a
spirit of justice and consideration throughout the community. The effort
to diffuse such a spirit is the proper work of the Church; and as this
truth became clearly seen, the