THE MISSION TO SEAMEN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 149, 24 June 1908, Page 8

THE MISSION TO SEAMEN.

(To the Editor.) 1 Sir, —As certain people are intent on advertising the fact that the Missions l to Seamen's Society, Lojidon, are anx- 1 ious to erect an institute in Auckland. s and as these same people are bent on 1 writing disparagingly regarding the Sail- 1 or's Home, kindly allow mc, as the pion- ! eer agent of the Missions to Seamen, 1 to recount a brief history of my connection with the mission, and thus endea- I your to place the claims of both in their - proper perspective. The "Star" for fob J lowing date gives the account:— July 22, '06.—My duties commenced at St. 3 Mary's Cathedral. Previous to this, I s met Bishop Neligan and gentlemen who 1 formed the committee in Auckland. At 1 this meeting the Bishop stated they had 1 £600 to commence with, and made, mc < an offer of the position of missioner,'thc 1 salary to oe £150 the first year, £100 the second, and £50 the third, the other i money to be spent in establishing the i mission, said mission to be supported t by voluntary subscriptions, etc. The I missioner was to receive from such 1 funds, sufficient to bring his salary up to r £150 per anum. This was "acepted s by mc on the understanding that myself ] and work should not be subordinate T t*»_ a London committee. _;

About the end of September T received , a book of instructions and a letter from the Lonof instructions and a leter from the Lon-α-m office, conveying the following:— I he Missions to Seamen have appointed you jmssioner for the shipping in the harbour of Auckland, New Zealand, at a salary of two hundred pounds per annum, from the Ist July, 190 G. You wm be _ expected to comply with the printed instructions. Y ou will be expected, to_ give your whole time and services exclusively to spiritual work amongst sea-gomg men." Upon receipt of this letter one was desirous of resigning but was prevailed on to retain the post. Although one had to subscribe to those instruct.ons, the £200 per annum was not paid the missioner. neither does the present missioner receive it; yet one is led to believe that the £mo was collected, chiefly by Lord Rγ. ~]y and' the society, to pay the salary of a missioner

- --- / for three years. My first report t tw^! Ckland , commit t ee "commended : that the work,should be separate ft™ 5 the Sailors' Home, on account of°rt r Anglican basis of my work Y e i « * - Council of the Sailors' Home offer*! • to place the Sailors' Hall at m v £* > all the week, except Fiidays "and P Su^' ■ , days from o p.m., the Minister's A,- ---: «onbemg already m possessor of £ t hours. Personally, one was nr* to accept such a generous offerW ™ kla £ d V°- mniittee dii not. appro* l,, Mr Partridge, of Customs-sW i* : feredh.s vacant section to the jnfeL'' for fiiiy pounds per annum 2* purpose of putting up a mission J? Mr. J. J. Craig offered the ship A™ ?t for £500, himself subscribing sfe* the purpose of using it as a '^fJ° r Snip." W. A. Ryan,° Quay-street agreeable to rent their t? flSrwf institute. The missioner undertook-f OmceS m Endea a's Builds All those proposals were rejected ,bv->W committee on various grounds, and "even tually the missioner resigned June S" 1907. So much for the historf o f connection with the mission. 7 > Allow mc now briefly to draw a com panson between the Sailors' Home iw • is, and the institute that's supposed^■' be wanted. Xne Sailors' Home nos=L all the necessary buildings and room for the social, moral, and spiritual wri fare of seamen. The Mission Hall. S( S room, and library are open to all S going men. It is the address for all sailors -who care to use it, whether they are boarders or not. The home is excellently managed and appreciated TiT« number of boarders testify to its wortL The Home is governed by a Council of Aucklanders, and belongs to Auckland The Missions to Seamen's Institute if erected, will- not possess any better facilities man the Home; J question if as good. The institute will possess an Anglican religious basis. The cost of i£ s . erection will have to be defrayed chiefly by Aucklanders. A local committee wilt have to De responsible for the finances and upkeep of the institute, while the trust aeea and the property must be vested in the Missions to Seamen Buaj. ings' Trust Committee in London. The : Home lacks one thing the Institute will possess, viz., a missioner to organise and direct the moral and spiritual welfare of sailors. Why don't the Counca and the Ministers' Association confer and agree to compass this branch of'the work effectively? there being no poa> sibility of it being done in conjunction with the Missions to Seamen.—l am, etcT. H. MARSHALL. • Richardson-road, Mount Albert;