NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10421, 20 April 1897, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The great Church festival of Easter seems to have been observed in Auckland this year in such an unusually bright and even onthusiastic manner as to merit some attention. It certainly points to the fact that, while we tee many old customs and time-honoured observances fast becoming obsolete, if not already extinct, Easter, the oldest of ecclesiastical feasts, still holds its own and defies the ravages of time. Indeed, judging by reports from the city and suburban churches the observance of Easter Day is becoming more vigorous with age. All the services both in the Anglican and Roman Catholio churches were very largely attended, and in three or four instances the congregations were so crowded that numbers could not gain admission. From St. Mary's Cathedral comes the report that) nob for years have thore been so many communicants, such large congregations, and liberal offerings on Easter Day. At St. Paul's in the evening the church was filled to its utmost capacity, and the attendance of communicants has only been twice exceeded in the time of the present vicar. Considering the position this church once occupied within Canon Nelson's recollection as by far the most popular of nil the Anglican city churches this is saying a great deal. Then at All Saints there were over 250 communicant!, while the building could not contain all those who wished to see the catechising of the children in the afternoon, and was again crowded in the evening. Similar reports come from St. Sepulchre's and other churches, The offerings, too, seem to have been as a rule unusually large. Archdeacon Dudley asked for liberal help for the extinction of the overdraft and the painting of St. Sepulchre's Church, and the response amounted to no less than £118, and the vicar of St). Mark's (Rev. W. Beatty) found a handsome Easter offering from his parishioners of fifty guineas on his breakfast table. Of course, the bright services and splendid decorations were considerable attractions; bub ib must be remembered that these, being in the main the results of voluntary work, are themselves a sign rather than a cause of the remarkable activity in church'life to which we have referred.

Speaking of voluntary labour, visitors from the old country well acquainted with church matters, have more Chan once expressed their astonishment ad the extraordinary amount of first-class church work that it being done voluntarily in this colony. In the towns, lay readers and other laymen often assist the clergy with the services, and in the outlying districts scores of men, who have been working hard all the week, are willing to give up their Sunday rest in order to do work for the church, that simply could not bo overtaken without them. The same thing may be said of the Sunday • school teachers throughout the length and breadth of the land; and only those who have tried it know how discouraging this, work too often is. Then again, we find some of our very ablest and most successful business men giving a great deal of their valuable time and labour in looking after the financial and what may be called the business affairs of the clfljrch, and only lately an able lawyer was thanked for undertaking the difficult and laborious task of codifying the Canons and Regulations of the Anglican Diocesan Synod of Auckland. Again, paid choirs are practically unknown amongst ui, and yet many of our best local singers readily give their services, In moat) of the larger city churches the organists are paid, bub in other town churches this work, too, is done voluntarily, as is almost uni-> versally the case in country districts. Whan we add the services rendered byj vestrymen, churchwardens, and the numerous organisations in which the women play so large a part, we have an amount of work rendered without thought of fee or reward which, if it had to be paid for, would mount up to a total which would be indeed startling. One cannot but feel that a society which can command the services of such a host of willing voluntary workers week by week and year by year must be,, full of vital energy, and the Christian Church as we see it to-day is a striking illustration of the saying that threatened institutions, like threatened men.live long,

Mr. Goldwin Smith, writing from Toronto on the news that a Female Suffrage Bill had passed its second reading in the Bouse of Commons, says " Since the question was last before you, we have had an experience on this side of the water. The three States in which female suffrage prevailed, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, all voted for Bryan and repudiation. Idaho, which has now adopted woman suffrage, went the same way. Bryan's appeal to sentiment) took so much at first that my American friends trembled for the issue. Suppose all the women in the United States had voted, what would have' been the probable result to the Republic ? The movement, however, seems to make little way in the United States. In California woman suffrage was defeated by a large majority, and a very trustworthy observer says that' in the older and better settled States political suffrage for women is in less favour than ever.' Municipal suffrage, this friend says, has not been sufficiently worked to sea what is in it. It has been sufficiently worked in Toronto to show that ib is in favour of sentimental legislation and opposed to practical reform. It is nob inferiority of intellect in woman that makes it dangerous to put thegovernmentintoher bands, though the difference between the sexes in practical intellect, or at least in practical training, is a fact which no one who has a respect for facts can disregard. It is woman's irresponsibility which no legislation can remove. Put the power where you will, the responsibility must rest) on man, and where the responsibility is the power ought to be."

The Hawke's Bay district, which has been the scene of the disastrous floods recorded in our columns, is, owing to its physical features, rendered peculiarly liable to such occurrences, and it is seldom that a year passes without some damage by floods being placed on record. Its western limit is defined by the Ruahine, Kaweka, Ahimanawa, Raukumara, and other ranges that form the watershed between the rivers flowing through Hawke's Bay to the sea and those that run to the West Coast. The Ruahine Range extends northwards for about 60 miles from the Manawatu Gorge as far as the Valley of the Ngaruroro River, by which the Kaweka Range is divided from the Ruahine. From these two ranges, which fall very abruptly 011 the Hawke's Bay side, the land slopes gradually to the sea, forming in some parts fine rolling hills—the essence of a sheep country -and in others oxtensi»e plains, with comparatively little poor soil. The principal plains are: (1) The Ruataniwha, some 50 miles south of Napier. It is 120 square miles in extent, is for the most part occupied by sheep runs, and carries a large quantity of stock, (2) The Heretiunga Plain with an area of 90 square miles, lying immediately to the south of Napier, This is rich alluvial land, a large portion being thickly settled, the remainder being used for grazing and agriculture. The only other plain of any extent is at Poverty Bay. The town of Napier is situated on the peninsula known »b Scinde Island, which is joined to the mainland by a narrow shingle-bank of several miles in length. The business part is on the flat land at the foot of the group of bills that take up the greater part of the peninsula. These hills are occupied by numerous private residences. The district as a whole is well watered throughout with numerous rivers and streams. It will be seen from the above brief description of the physical features of Hawke's Bay that it is a country which is exposed to an unusual degree to danger from floods in the rainy season.

Turkey has declared war against Greece, and serious fighting has occurred on the frontier. Both aides hare lost heavily. Greek warships are bombarding a Turkish fort in the Gulf of Arta. The Powers have postponed the blockade of l'iraus. Nine vessels of the Cape Squadron have gone to Durban. Their object is nob known. China is increasing her navy. Ib is reported in official circles in Washington that the United States intend to annex Hawaii. By an explosion of dynamite in the Transvaal thirty-eight persons were killed. The Mansion House Indian Relief Fund amounts to nearly half a million. Arton, the Panama Canal swindler, has made a confession in which some startling revelations are made. Another deputy has been arrested. He is said to have received sixty thousand francs.