CHURCH UNION.

Evening Star, Issue 20317, 28 October 1929, Page 8

CHURCH UNION.

The date of the annual 'meetings ol tho General Assembly of tho Presbyterian Church of New Zealand was changed at the last meeting iiom Novein her till March. It is not till the new vear has well begun, therefore, that tho deliverance will he received ol a committee which was instructed last year to report on all the ways in which tho Presbyterian and other chinches now work in common, and tho possibilities of an extension of co-operation. Out of that report may come suggestions for a renewal of Mio negotiations for church union between tho Presbyterian and certain other religions bodies which proved to ho in advance of their time when they wero bust considered Except in Canada, where an enormous backblocks area, fast being developed, made special need lor the conccntiation of activities, the difficulties of church union, where that has meant more than the repairing of disruption in what till comparatively recently was u single church, have been more conspicuous than its progress in most countries. An exception promises to be made in tho foreign mission fields where tbo bewildering divisions of Christianity make the greatest and plainest obstacle to its advance. Denominational dill'erenees have been merged, within tho last few years, in wluß is now known as tho Church of Christ in China —virtually a native church. A native church has nob developed yet to the same extent in India, but iho effoits of the Protestant denominations to achieve something more than co-opera-tion or a division of spheres, in their missionary workfare not without thc-.r promise ol a similar union. It is in Southern India that this movement has been most in progress, and what is sought is an amalgamation of the Church of England, the Woslevan Methodists, and the South Indian United Church. The last-named denomination has been m existence now for twenty one years, and comprises Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Lutherans. Negotiations for tho muon have been in progress for ten years, and many conferences have been held. General approval of the scheme evolved lias been given by the governing bodies in India of the three churches concerned, though they arc not finally committed to the details, fn the proposed union tho three elements of Episcopal, Preshy tenan, and Congregational are com bined Comprehension and not limitation has been the aim. “ All that Ims been found helpful in tho uniting churches ” it is claimed, “ has Leon included. and each church will find its special contribution enriched by what the others contribute.” The movement lias roused more enthusiasm in India than it has done at the headquarters ol some of the churches concerned, ft lias met with strmg criticism from advanced Anglo-Catholics, who fear that it may jeopardise the Anglican claim to hold last to the Catholic tradition; and a suggestion was made at tho last British Wesleyan Conference that it meant a surrender of liberties which the Free Churches of Great Britain hold dear. On the other hand, it has been blessed in some quarters wnere approval of it might have been hardly expected by loaders ot tho Greek Orthodox Church, foi example, who have scouted the idea that the relations ot their great connection with Anglicanism might be prejudiced by it. All the evi deuce suggests that the time will soon have arrived when the churches m Europe will have no alternative but to accept the fact, with the logical conclusions that follow from it. that reunion of the ciuii'oJies may be an earnest desire for Europe, but for the missions it is an essential necessity.”

The Chiel Justice (the lion. M. Myers), alter nearing legai argument, reserved his uccision in th.- Supreme Court action in winch tho .»eiv Zca .aim Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltn., claims £5.470 and uuerest at & per cent. Irom Wright, Step.iensoa. and Co., Ltd., in respect of 5,469 sacks of oats paid for by plaintiffs, but which, it is alleged, did iiot conlorill to tilo storoi warrants issued by defendants.— Wellington Association telegram. Of the record of school “ howlers ” there is no end, for children are .sometimes very a musing in their answers to questions, both oral and written, especially if they are driven into a corner, so to speak, with the question. The first thing that crosses their mind is blurted ou.t or written down. The other day a city head master was examining a senior class, the examination was a written one, and .one ot tho questions put was to give the word which would be the complement to infantry. Two of tho girls whether in collusion or not is difficult to say—jumped to the conclusion that if there was an infant there would eventually be an adult, and therefore “adult” would bo tho word. Hut on second thought it was concluded that this would hardly fit in “infantry” and “adult” did not seem to exactly bar rnonise, so to get over that difficulty it was decided that as the infant had “ ry ” at tho end it would bo advis able to add a similar affix to the end of adult, too, and by this process of reasoning caino the two words “ infantry ” and “adultery.” In all likelihood they were, in their childish innocence, totally oblivious of the meaning of tho word they had given as their answer.

After handing five £lO notes to a stranger at Auckland to mind for him r/r, August 15 List and then forgetting all about it next morning the owner of tho money, a Maori buslimaii, disappeared. He had been having some; liquor, and tho stranger, who proved to bo Mr Henry J. Marks, handed the money to tiro police. An inquiry at the Native Land Court elicted the fact that a' Maori named Maimoa Tontaua had been paid £193 on August 15. Ask d whrlher ho had given £SO to a •-.trangcr to mind for him he sn : d Ue thought, he had Inst the money. Today at f'o sngn-e tion of the pole:' he met Mr. Marks at the oCce of P'-Mc 0 fnsp'ctor LTcllis and identified Mr Marks, and an ex-constahie rccogn.sod J’oataua. The money was then handed over to tho Maori, who made a sub stantial gift to Mr Marks.—Press Association telegram.

'Tin’s was Labour Day, observed in -iineciu as a close and general holiday, i'ho weather enticed people to the ripen air, the brilliant sunshine being tempered by a light breeze from the north east, with no sign oi rain. Duneclinites bad many pleasurable options —tho Labour Day sports at the Calc., races at Oamarn and Gore, suburban trips by tho corporation observation buses, railway excursions, steamer runs about tho harbour, and so forth. All these wore freely patronised, and it was a great day for ■ cricketers, bowlers, tennis players, and others. This evening, no doubt, some of tho seniors of tho Labour Party will be thinking about tho beginning of the Labour movement, some of them remembering the part they played. Historians trace tho roots back to 1824, when Joseph Hump and Francis Place secured tho repeal of tho Combination Laws. More definite was the stop taken by the textile workers of Lancashire and Yorkshire, who in 1829 founded the Grand General Union of the United Kingdom. This was replaced by a _ National Association for the Protection of Labour, which quickly died. The Chartist agitation also petered out, then tho trade unions settled down to real organisation, and it resulted in the first of tho new type of comprehensive unions, tho Amalgamated Society of Engineers. The first distinctively Labour members in the Mouse of Commons were Alex. Macdonald and Thomas Burt, elected in 1874. Legislation dealing with unionism was initiated in New Zealand in 1878 by the passing of tho Trade Unions Act.

Once again there is a whaling base in tho Lower Harbour. Like the whales themselves, tho whalers favour old haunts. Over a hundred years ago roving whalers discovered tho advantages of having a base in Otago Harbour, and pieces of their old try pots may still be found at tho Kaik. Good fresh water and safe anchorage wore attractions then as now. Port Chalmers became the home port of tho whalers, and its name figured on tho name plates of whaling vessels. Sea chanties were sung in tho bay; anchors were dropped or ‘‘'catted”; yards were mastheaded, sails unfurled, and admiring schoolboys were enamoured of the romance of tho sea. Times change, but profitable habits persist. A big whaler and five whale chasers have arrived hero to make their base in tbo Lower Harbour. “Dunedin” is on their name plates. On returning from Boss Sea tbo chasers will stay in Otago Harbour while their mother ship is away selling tho whale oil in America or Europe. On her arrival here this trip the deopdraught whaler could not got into tho harbour on a falling tide—but tbo new dredge will be hero before the whaler comes back.

Tho curtailing of Sunday tramear running on certain Dunedin routes has now passed the experimental stage, and is declared a success. Mr W. H. Mackenzie, the manager, asked to-day as to the results, said: “We reduced the service on Sundays from ten minutes to twenty minutes on three Jin-s—from the Albany street loop to Howe street, the Cardens to Normanby, the Monument to Caversham, via Sontn road—and so far we have not noted any falling off in the revenue, though some reduction was anticipated. So wo arc saving so much of the cost ol running . The trial is finite satisfactory.” Mr Mackenzie added that although motor cars are increasing m number the tramway revenue is not feeling it much except on Saturdays and Sundays, Saturday used to be the jug day of the week for tram traffic. Now it is Friday, largely due to Friday being the late shopping daj. The lightest traffic day is Thursday. Figures taken out from'tho cash returns show that the Friday takings arc now almost as mud) as the Saturday takings used to be. Peitiiicut to the subject generally is the lemark (by the interviewer and not Mr Mackenzie) that some bus ness men who reside in the suburbs have given up the practice of using their ears fur the ride in and out once a day. finding it a saving in trouble and money to use the tram service The city’s airport at Green Island was the scene of much activity yesterday a huge crowd being present to inspect Captain Holt’s machine at close quarters and to witness the (lights. The attendance again to-day was strikingly indicative of the interest being manifested in aviation locally. Passenger flights are arousing considerable enthusiasm, and there is no doubt that the visiting pilot will have his time fully occupied during his stay.

A Gisborne Press Association telegram states that the 'fire brigade’s trailer pumps wore engaged all night, pumping out the pond near the show ground, 525,000 gallons being lilted and the water level reduced to a toot after which volunteers made a complete search of the weeds and slime at the bottom of the pond, but found no trace of the six-year-old child, Harry Boyd Foot (missing since Wednesday last, when he left his mother on the show grounds to procure an icc er-am). A strong hid for the political support of the Post and Teleg-anh employees was in dc bv the Leader of the Labour Party (Ml H. E. Holland) at the annual'reunion of the Auckland section ol the employees on Saturday night (states a Press Association message). An assurance that the Labour Party was willing to restore- the cuts ”if it came into power was definitely given by Air Holland “ A happy and contented service will make for better conditions in New Zealand and will reflect itself in better returns to the department,” said Air Holland. No cases were brought forward for •ig in the Police Court this morning. , eniiy it was reported in the '.jtar’ that a miniature gold football, inscribed “ Portola Festival, October, 1913,” had been found in Dunedin, and an explanation of the inscription had now been ascertained. The trophv was the property of H. Atkinson, a member of the 1913 All Blacks, and one each was presented to each member of thb New Zealand Rugby team time toured California. The gift was made by a sports committee in San Francisco during the Portola Festival. Tills festival, it was explained by a correspondent in the Taranaki ‘Herald,’ was held every four years in commemoration of the founder of California. a Spaniard named Portola. Your eyes are Nature’s most precious n-ift Take care of them Consult W V Stunner, optician, 2 Octagon, Dunedin - fAdvt.] For highest quality Diamond Rings, reliable Watches, and Optical Service, Peter Dick the most reliable jewellers and.