RANDOM SHOTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 108, 9 May 1896, Page 2 (Supplement)

RANDOM SHOTS.

Borne tWte, * *«g^trotir a imnio to laati Coma write—rain thought! lor needful daah, Borne write to please the country clash, And raise a din. ywfiftfc aa him ln&ver fash-

J write for iuu<

Taii 'exhibition' made by the Board of Bdtieatiofi in iha abrtiggle for the Chairmanship", cannot tend to improve tho opinion held of tho qualifications of that body .by febe residents of Auckland whom they represent, Tho spectacle of a meeting of eeven members with two chairmen, bobh Bitting &b the head of the table, each protesting that he alone was entibled to preside, and objecting to any business being transoetod by bit rival, waa too funny for anything exeepbtt 'si de' Splitting' farce. The Secretary, Btanding between two fires, had a rather warm time of It. Mr Rico found kYe canuob serve two masters' quibe as true in the Beard of Education as in the Church ; bub lie made a tilever attempt, and acted, I believe, impartially aa between the contending parties. Aaked by Mr Mnir to hand over to him the minutes, the Secretary judiciously avoided th 4 threatened trouble by placing the minute beok oh the table. Mr Muir considered ib beneath bis dignity as Chairmat) te more frbm his scab to gob possession of the! initiate book { had ho done so ib is difficult) to imagind what) would have happened nexb, perhaps a free fighb during whi«h the minutes might have diaappaarod in eforeds,, while thefo is no saying what the fabo of bhe combatawta, struggling for pOssedsioß of fehe official record, would have beeo> Ib ia altogether ' s pretty ketfclo of fish. 1 Things 6annob go oh with two chairmen oh the Board, bhoy had bebter adopt obi* of three coursoi - Babmib the question ia dispnta be Judge Conolly, abide by the opinion *l febe Beard's solicitor, or toss up for ib, heads to win. Tha latter is probably bhe basb way Out in tho proseab temper of the Board, and the winner should stand a dinner at which all should agree to bury SBimosibiea and ataaoke tha calumeb ot peace.

Tho fe-utiion of the churches is ab the preserib time a rabhef popular theory amongst liberal-minded people. Christians are beginning bo recognise thab there is something farcical about the present bendeney to split up the Protestant Church into all sorts of minor divisions. I use fcho word Profceabanb Church because, of course, our Roman Catholic friends have fcho undoubted advantage of freedom from all these petty divisions. A6 the same time tbo Pope himself looks hopefully forward do a time' when a re-union of the churches will take place, though, if it) does, I suppose it) will require to bo on tho lino of tke lion lying down with fchu lamb, the abeorbtion by the greater of the lessor, or in other words, the lamb will b& inside the Hon. Ab the same time it is a hopeful sign when the various sections of the Christian Church even express themselves in favour of a ro-union. All great reforms are talked abeub for some time before they come to pass, and the discussion of the question has the beneficial effocb of gradually preparing men's iniuds for tha earning change. Tho Methodists are nothing it they are not practical, consequently ib is nob to be wondered thab they lsd. the way in tho cjiroction o( closing up their rank% Thia week we pee the movement progress a atep further ahead, for tha question of reunion was the first subject) discussed ab tho meeting ol the Anglican Church Congress. Tho able writer of the exhaustive paper which opened the question wt.e, however, an Irishman, and it goes without saying that) he bad the national gift of humour. This even showed in bis paper in occasional gleams, which took the form of a quieb dig. at what he considered the peculiarities of tbo nonconforming brethren. Please note the torm * dissenter' has now eiven place bo the more courteous one of 'non-conform-ing brathren-' Thia in itself is a hopeful eigq because there was a time when non-conformists were not) infrequently told thab a gentleman whose place of aboda is generally understood to bo permeated with tbo odaur 80 perceptible about the Kotorua boiling mud holes was the firqb dissenter. ■* # * * * * x -a- , * Bub to return to tho paper. The humour of the writer was displayed in one inßbanca by a reference to Baptists aa persons with an antipathy to infants, and whose salvation seomed to depend upon tho quantity of water used. Of courae, this was manifestly meant) in fun, because no gentleman who wished to unite tha several branches of the Church would commence by deliberately oQending obo section by ridiculing their practices. Still Id was sufficient to cause a bib of plain speaking and an unanswerable shot in return. There chanced to be amongso those present) one who though now an Anglican was in years gone by a member of the Baptist Church. Early associations are admittedly very lasting, and in this instance sach droved bo be the case, for the gentleman in question at once defended bis erstiwhilo brethren in the faith, and added very properly, ' we shall never get Christian unity if we begin by ridiculing bho beliefs 'of those with wham we wish to secure unity.' Tho linai sliofc was a severe one to fire nmongsb AnzMcane, for, said the defondor- of the absent oaos,' The Baptist has as much warrant in the Bible for preferring immersion to infant baptism, as the clergyman of tho Church of England has for tqrning to tha Baeb when ho prays. 1 Ib is 4 almoat needless to state bhab bhe essayist promptly offered to alter the offending eentonces, bub lie did nob insult his friend by explaining that ht3 little sally was intended as a JQkd.

Ar far as the question of the re-union of the ebureheß was concerned the position taken up by the speakers cb tho Church Congreea wan so beautifully simple bhab one almoab wonders why the non-conforming brethren do nob rush eagerly into bhe wideepead arms that are held open to receive the wanderers back again. Tha position assumed, when pub into plain language, was simply, ■ We are right), therefore we cannot change. If you, dear friends, will kindly give up all the poinbs wherein you ditfer, tshen there ia nothing to prevent a re-union of the churches.' You see the position is, as I said before, beautifully simple thab is from an Anglican points of view. Of course, the Nonconformiog brethren may think otherwise, as their progenitors did when they struck forth from the A»glioan Church, even as that body, a* an earlier period, separated from tUo Roman Catholic Church under tha leadership of the much married bluff King Hal of pious memory, who, by the way, lost nothing in the transaction. A grand' reunion of the Christian Church may bake place when all Nonconferming brethren have been absorbed in the Anglican Church, because when that mirftolfj haa been ttceomplished, I can readily understand thab the nexb ttep to eecur© pscFecb unity will nob be each a marvellous one. I fear, hewerer, fchab the day of miracles is not now«

A discussion has been going on in the Wellington * Times' relative to on Auckland lady starting business aa a 'sharebroker. The matter was treated in a satirical manner by • Scrutator,' whereupon a lady comes to the rescue. She signs herself' A girl who likes to read sense, nob nonsense.' Inter alia she thus delivers herself •.—•' In your article you s»y : "Aba time when mosb maidens are absorbed in the latesb announcements ot bargain sales, and as to the intentions of presumably eligible young men." I consider thab remark an ineulb to tho New Zealand girls and women, to infer thab bhey have nob brains enough bo comprehend, or bake an interest in anything more importanb than men or sales.' Why should not) any girl or woman enber into all honourable professions in order to be financially independent? Can you enow nee one logical reason why she should nob do so 1 If not, then restrain your eneerß. All honour and credit to her if she does, instead of being •'absorbed " in men. These " absorbed " ones aro the exceptions which prove tho rule, and are more to be pitied "than blamed, as they have, till recently, been denied the opportunity of being "absorbed "in anything else, The Seddon Govercmenb has done much to remove obstacles in bhe way of women deßir^ ing to «ntor various Government Departments.'

John Chinaman has gob an advocate in Mrs W. C. Daldy, of the Women's Political League. I gather this from her expressions ab bhe meeting of the League tho otber.day, when ahe ia reported to have said thab she would never vote for keeping tho Chinese out of New Zealand. Mrs Daldy argued thab because the Englishspeaking race were nob prohibited from going to China, wo should not prohibit them from coming here. That is all very well, Mrs Daldy, bub ib has been proved time after time thab wherever Chinese labour enters into competition wibh white labour in the various avenues of employment, starvation prices follow. Further, we do nob wanb to be tainted with John's loprosy and hia vilo habits. And finally, Mrs Daldy, as the head of a League which undertakoa to guide public opinion in political matters, ought to bo aware bhab only certain treaty ports in China are open to English ships, and the lives of foreigners in the interior, as the martyred missionaries found to their cosb, ifro far from being safe.