THE WINTER SHOW.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10731, 20 February 1897, Page 3

THE WINTER SHOW.

TO THE EDITOK. Sik,—l see by your columns that the abovo show is fixed for the 17th to 21sfc June. Now this literally means that as far as the cheese competition is concerned ifc is a walk over, or I may say a gift, to the present holders of the M'Nairn Cup. We at present are almost handicapoed out of ifc through a lack of milk supply at that season, together with the use of turnip and other salatile feeds, whilst large companies have no such drawbacks, and can also get in one day's make sufficient for one entry whilst small factories have to go fcwo and three days. I trust, therefore, the society will for once cater for all and fix a much earlier date, other- - wise the leading feature of their show will be a thing of fche past.—l am, &s., February 17. Lactic WHY ? BECAUSE they have the best reputation and are mosfc in demand by the public, consequently every dishonest trader tries to trade on tbeir fame aud renown. It is really wonderful thafc the Australian people are so blow to see the truth as regards the unscrupulous quacks and charlatans who prey oa the credulity of the Australian public. Scarcely a week ever passes bufc what the press exposes the barefaced ancl shameful practices of some oi these harpies, yet, in face of all they seem to thrive, aud the paper who hounds them down most thrives fafcteat on thoir advertise-

" IMITATION

is fche SINCEREST FLATTERY." The articles most imitated are CLEMENTS TONIC and FLETCHER'S PILLS.

ments and cracks champagne over each balance sheet. Clements Tonic and Fletcher's Pills have never yet stooped to deception and misrepresentation. They are scientific therapeutical agents, aud evidence as to their value can be found in every district, and such being the case ifc is unnecessary to further extol their virtwsw.

OPEN LETTER NO. it A itEPliTi 3 TO THE EDITOEi Sis,—You will no doubt be goo 1 enough ta grant to those in favour of union between the two Presbyterian Churches pf New Zealand equal space to that granted to those who are opposed to ifc. Allow me, then, to reply fco tho open letter published in Saturday's iskia. I will do so a briefly as possible. 1. The object of holding the discussion of synod in committee was twofolds (a) Ifc was known thafc a good deal of feeling existed, and ifc was held by many to be extremely undesirable thafc heated remarks which might; possibly be made should find their way into print. These remarks often read much worse than they sound. In the interests of peace, vhen, and of brotherliness, is was felt better that the discussion should take place under tha quietest condifciona. (J) Ifc was f ar ther fe.t thafc, the subjecfc being such an important one, as much latitude in speaking should be allowed as was possible. In committee members could speak more than once, while ia synod they could not do so. And, after all • the church afc large lost very little throngh His discussion not being reported, for the reason -.hat the daily press could nofc possibly have spared fche columns thafc would have been ; necessary to put the pros and cons fairly before • the public. f 2. As to the non-publication of the proposed ; basis of union, the committee felt, snd I think ! very properly, that ifc would have been grossly wanting m respect to the synod, and also to the Assembly m the north, had ifc allowed the basis ;to be published. Manifestly a sense of the fiti nees of things required that the synod, should have presented to ifc, in the ordinary and regular : way, such an important document. The com- : mittee had no authority to publish it, and it ; would have laid itself open to very severe blame . u&d it done so. I admit that the opponents of uaion were at a disadvantage, but the friends oi union, exceptmg the members of the Union Committee, were similarly placed. It i s qnifce possible that some who voted against the basis , would have voted for ifc had it been possible to : give a longar time for consideration of the ! different articles. ! 3. Ifc goes without saying fchafc the racial or ! geographical conditions of a country' might ; justify, and even make desirable, a division of ; .he church. England, Scotland, and Ireland i are. '"e^y Peopled by those who keep up a : racial division. That there should be a church :to correspond to each such division seems • natural enough. In this colony we are one ; people, and we should, I maintain, have one ; church. • - £(il the £eograP'nical argument, who can i justify the ecclesiastical division of Otago and ; Canterbury? If thafc argument is to be : pressed Otago will still have to -go in for ■ fuloa^-i S i, Presßut. separation from the rest of i the Middle Island being unwarranted. The > argument has really nothing in ifc. j *. I understand thafc the General Assembly | of the north is just as remarkable for the num- ■ ber of elders who are present as is oar synod. , Only quite recently I read an utterance of a j visitor from Home to thafc effeefc. We are not | so peculiar in this respect as the opponents of j union would make out. Further, ifc is to ba reI membered tbat every second year the Assembly |. would meet in Dunedin, so thafc every second | year afc least the Otago elders would ba exactly I m the same position as they are now, only that I they would have a much larger body of men to mingle with, and have doubly as large interests to careior. When the Assembly did not rue*t ; in punedin it would meet either in Christchurch |or m Wellington, The understanding is that lit is not to go north of Wellington. To go to i Christchurch requires just a night's travellin*; j The members of Assembly arriving in Dunedin ; in the evening, instead of sleeping at Wood's or . elsewhere, would sleep in the steamer, and they j would be able to breakfast in Christchurch. | while to go to Wellington would simply mean : one day more; and this is the northernmost : point, only to be travelled to once in two years ; As for the elders from the north,: the journey ; every second year to Dunedin would, as I have | indicated, only be a night's steaming once in ' *7°. years added t0 their present journey to ; Christchurch. * . ; 5. Your correspondent is nofc correct when he ) says that the system of ministerial support in ! fche north is more congregational than ib is wifch , us. The salaries of ministers of small churches : m.fcbe north are supplemented by the Assembly, :as is done in similar cases here. The manner ; of paying the supplement is different, bufc each i church does help its weaker congregations, j Perhaps your correspondent will be astonished |to nnd that fche Northern Church does i much more in this way, throngh its church t extension fund, than we do through our : sustentation fund. According to the 1896 reports the amounts received in Ofcago for the aid of those churches that contributed less than £199 to the sustentation fund was only aboufc £515, while the amount expended in the north i in supplementing small salaries was £728. This ! includes payments to missionaries. But if we I add the supplements paid to our provincial mis- • wonaries fco the amount received under the sustentation fund in aid of the salaries of regular . ministers it sesms that ifc would still be less | than the supplemental funds distributed in the j north. In the respect mentioned by your cor- | respondent, then, Congregationalism is more ) rampant in this church than it is in that beyond 5 fche Waitaki. If the figures quoted are wrong j I hope they wili be corrected, bufc they seem to | confirm the impression, which is widespread, - that our congregations here in the south are not ) helping one another as they ought to do,—that ; we have small reason to boast concerning fche way I in which we observe this "essential principle of j Presbyterianism." | 6. To all intents and purposes the voting ■ power of the two bodies is equal. According ;to our last proceedings we had 74 ministers • entitled to a seat in the synod, wifch, I suppose, ;an equal number of elders. In the north there ; are 83, according to a telegram in to-day's : Times. These represent 13,3 m members in , the south,_ aHd 11,209 members iv the north. Moreover, in a united church Canterbury and Otago would be much more likely to ieamto one another than, say, Cauterbury and Auckland, or Wellington. And Ofcago, plus any ofcher province, would carry every division. This is hot a very worthy side of the question to deal wifch. I merely answer your correspondent. Should a union take place I hope and believe ifc will be a real one, and that no party lines or divisions will be perpetuated. ! 7. As to the general benefits of union there ; can, I think, be no donbfc. The enthusiasm of - members will tell; the credit; of belonging to such a powerful organisation as fche Preßby- ; terian Church bf New Zealand, a body covering , our land from Stewart Island to the North Cape, would be considerable; and the advan- ; tage of mingling with other men, whose ways . of thinking are different in some respects from ours, would also be great. I hold that, prima facie, the advantages are all on our side, and .; that we are nofc required to prove them. The i other side have it lying upon them to justify ; the maintenance of the present division. Indeed, j your correspondent, in effect, apologises for j this division, and says thafc a time will come ; when union may result, and we meantime are I to continue working separately, smoothing the j way for that union. Will there ever be a time ■ when union will be more easy than ib is now ? ■ I have no hope of ifc. On the contrary, I ; believe that as time goes on the churches will, ; if they remain apart, drift further away from | one another than they are now. If your . correspondent really desires union he should seek to further the present rapprochement rather than hinder it. Time is much more likely to widen the breach than to close it.—l am, &c., ] February 16. , Megas.