THE NOMINATION TO'ST. JOHN'S, ROSLYN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13586, 7 May 1906, Page 10

THE NOMINATION TO'ST. JOHN'S, ROSLYN.

TO THE EDITOR. •Sir, —I shall bo glad if you will allow me, although a stranger to this diocese, to express my views shortly upon the question of the nomination to SI. John's, Roslyn. Looking at the matter from a common sense lioint of view, it appears to me that the nominators to St. John's were fully '.justified in going outside tho Otago diocese in their choico of a fit man to guide the future destinies of their parish. In secular matters the object aimed at in such cases ds to obtain the Ten' best man available ifor tile position sought to lx> filled. If a .vacancy occurs in the ofllce of town clerk, or in the secretaryship to any large company, inquiries for a suitable successor to the vacant, office are not, as a rule, confined to the city or locality wherein tlie vacancy occurs, but applications are invited from oilier centres, ind even from beyond the limits of tho colony, flic object sought to be attained lieing to obtain not merely a suitable man, Iml. tiro mast- suitable mail available. Why the same principle should not ho followed in the selection of one who is to tilt tho important office of vicar and spiritual guide in an important, parish like St. Wn's, Roslyn, I utterly fail to see, and I certainly think the reverend gentleman who has so keenly opposed the He v. ■Mr Watson's appointment, to St. John's has committed a cruel wrong to that parish. It. may well be Irue that the nominators to fit. John's could not find, within tho precincts of the diocese, a. man in every wav satisfactory for the ]>ositiuu of vicar of the parish, ami consequently they were justified in going outside tho diocese for such a man ; and I certainly think it would conduce to the future harmony and wollhoing of the pariah, as well as to the welfare of tho Church as a whole, if the nominators were given a free hand in a matter which so vitally concerns their interests as tho selection of tlioir own.vicar, even though at. the risk of wounding the susceptibilities of certain, perhaps very estimable, gentlemen who may chance I o be resident within the diocese, and who, in their own opinions, may be fully qualified and competent to fill Iho appointment.—l am, etc., Cnur.cuwAßDKX,