ELECTION TACTICS.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 213, 10 November 1896, Page 2

ELECTION TACTICS.

THE SYNAGOGUE OR THE COLOSSEUM (TOWN HALL). TO THE E-ITOR. Sin, — A candidate for parliamentary honors is reported to have the other day, in reply to a question, said " that he would allow the Bible to be taught in the Sabbath schools," and until yesterday I took this reply as an impertinence, but the announcement that was then made from the various _ cal sectarian pulpits completely altered my opinion. From Confucius down to the Latter-day Saints, both inclusive, we have representatives of all the more prominent sects. Each sect holds the other in error, and each sect holds the key of heaven — the possessor of the truth. The result is that our religion and our whisky are about equally hard on our pockets. The licenses are £40 x 6=£240, which is about the money stipend of one of our sectional ministers. What the others receive may be more or less, but probably more, as donations of first fruits, bazaar profits, soiree, concert, and opera takings, and other perquisites are not publicly audited. This voluntary taxation is considerable, and certainly not under the whisky. These sects have Sunday schools, and the one school will not visit the other school, nor will they picnic together. Each adheres to itsown synagogue. If the controversial opposition they keep up, aud the zeal they have for one another were to be abated in the least degree, there might come to be one platform and one sect only, and what would become of the weaker ? Absorption ! and consequent relief of taxation — voluntary as it may professedly be. These sects, however, conceive that if the whisky licenses were eliminated from the electorate, most of the whisky money would find its way to the Church, hence they make common cause against the whisky. To that ; course no one with a soul above a noodle 1 could object. On the one side the publican I and all his angels, on the other the snyagogues and all their auxiliaries. That is so long as '■ the fight is fair and open. I Now last Sunday what happened ? The | heads of the local synagogues on the advice of certain politicians and lecture-paid proj hibitionists, without the authority of the 1 parents, closed their separate Sunday schools, ordered the children to our Colosseum or , Town Hail, to what was in substance a political gathering, and called it Sunday ; school ! i This no doubt explains how the candidate I have referred to answered that he would have the Bible in the Sunday school — it has left the public school — it is now leaving the | Sunday .school. ! The political device in favor of Mr NcNab converting the Sunday school machinery to further his political candidature, requires , only to be exposed to bo despised. He was j reported to be a Sunday school teacher when 1 he started politics, and I do not think he is responsible for this base use to which these schools have been attempted to be applied. If the masters of the synagogues fancy they will increase their revenues by such measures they will be disappointed. They have a hard struggle oven with the aid of the spirit merchants and publicans to keep up their past annual incomes. The Presbyterian is down 4d in the past year, that may not be much, still if the foolish Virgins had timeously replenished their oil by even so much, they might have had access to the bridal banquet. — I am, etc., , Ithuriel. i Goro, 9th November, 189 G. i | .