LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14280, 31 July 1908, Page 8

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

THE " COURAGEOUS DLIiIUIYMAN" ! ANI) TIIK " I'IIKSBYTJjRiAN SEXSATION." Sir,—The writer of lire " Browsings in Bookland " page in your issue of the 18th inst., under the Wamiiigly arresting heading "A Courageous Clergyman: a Presbyterian Sensation." announced that the Kev. .T. Uihson Smith had taken up ;t doctrinal position "far removed" from that of bis Church; I hat he had published a book to assail the doctrines of the Church which, the reviewer said, "was eiileulalfcd to ciui.so something akin to a. sensation in church circles, even should it Jiob ultiinatelv take shapo in a heresy hunt.'' The reviewer saw also in Mr Smith's assault a manifestation of the heroic, and so lie hold him up to admiration as a "courageous clergyman." I was led to protest against your reviewer's representation of the ease, and to raise the question whether a. minister of religion, bound by l.he most solemn obligations to propagate and defend the doctrines of his Church, showed courage or treachery in assailing those doctrincs from the pulpit and by the press. I accepted at; correct your reviewer's judgment that Mr Smith's doctrinal position was "far removal" from that, of his Church, but X objected to his | hero-worship of Mr Smith. I further supported my representation of the case by the judgment of Marcus Dods, now principal of the lW'inburgh United Free. Church College. My letter has evoked criticism at Iho hands of the Rev. AY. Hewitson and " Oivis." I crave permission to deal with their strictures. First, with rega.rd to Mr Hewitson. I. did not orofess to prove that Mr Smith was " far removed " from the doctrinal position of his Church on the Atonement. I acceptcd the judgment of your reviewer as correct. The \vords I quoted were adequate to the extent of confirming the opinion of the reviewer—inadequate as regards setting forth all the articles of Mr Smith's belief. Mr Smith says: "We must interpret the human experience of Christ ... in liarliiony with the experience of the unjustly condemned martyr." That is what the Socinian or Unitarian has said for a good many yem The head and heart of the Christian Church for 2000 years has said that suoh an interpretation is altogether inadequate. Every time the communion is dispensed in Knox Church the hymns, tho Scripture readings, the action of communicants say that there is a height and deptli and length and breadth in the vicarious sufferings of Christ that the mere martyr theory cannot, explain. Dr Wadde.ll, in his sermons on "The Lamb of God," asks: "Why should Christ shrink from death Or ask that its cup might pace? Christian thought has one answer to that question. It was the sin of tho world Ho was taking on Himself—the whole aocumuktcd guilt of humanity,.—and atoning far it. That is the only explanation that does justice to the facts." The judgment of your reviewer on Mr Smith's doctrinal position that it is "fax removed" from that of his Church is confirmed by the review of Mr Smith's book in last week's Outlook. TII3 feviewer says that Mr Smith pursues a prominent doctrine of tho Presbyterian Church " with firq and sword and will Rive it no quarter." The reviewer further adds that his Church's doctrine has aroused Mr Smitii's "passionate rag© and scorn—almost, exosssivo rago and scorn." These statements arc sufficient to' show that I was guilty of no "false representation" when I acceptcd the judgment that Mv Smith's doctrinal position was " far'removed" from that of the Presbyterian. Church. As regards my 'writing anonymously, I have followed tho good example of Mr Hiewitson, who, by reputo, has done excellent servico ■ in tho Outlook by voluminous anonymous letters. My protest was against the 'glorifying of what to me sc-omed religious inconsistency in high placcs, awl my name would neither have strengthened nor weakened my position. However, in order that some practical use ina.y come of this protest, I will send my letter of protest and the "Browsings in Bookland" review to the clerk of the Wellington Presbytery over mv own name. This exhausts Mr Howitson's criticism of my letter, but there are one or two questions incidentally raised to which a few words may be given. (1) There ifl the relation of the "sensitive eonscienoo" to the vows taken with the solemnity of an oath at ordination and. induction services. It seems to ine that such a conscience should ho regarded not as an infirmity, but as a strength. An ecclesiastic with a. scared conscience is a moral peril to the community. An example of honour and consciousness is furnished in such a book as Dr John Young's "Light and Life of Men." It covers largely the same ground as Mr Smith's hook. Mr Smith has no doubt lptlc himself well acquainted with its contents. Mr Young drifted into a position, far removed from his Church on the vital question, of the Atonement. What did he do? Assail with "fire i»nd sword" from .pulpit aud by press his Church's doctrine? No. His "sensitive conscience" led him to do what he tells in tho forefront of lus book, -which lie dedicates' to tho Moderator, ministers, and elders of the United Presbyterian Chnrch, and addresses them as follows:— Fathers and Brethren, —Some years ago you are aware I rotired from the ministry of the Albion Chapel, and at tho same time resigned my connection with the United Presbyterian Church. should never have relinquished the special charge, for the people to whom I ministered deserved everything at my hands which was consistent with the obligations o! an earlier and holier fidelity. But it was not possible. 1 had ceased to regard the articles of our faith in -the light in which I or.ee had seen them, and was unable to limit myself by the Confession and the Formularies of the Church. I Mr Young paid tho price that honour and conscience demanded of him. ITo got no vision from on High that would free [ him from the moral law. Religious charlatans, from Joseph Smith to Madame Blavatsky, have heard voices and seen visions i that freed them from tho moral law. Not so Mr Young, 2. As regards Marcus Dods and his reputation for heresy, referred to by Mr Hewitson, I have to say that his conduct lias in no way been inconsistent with tho honour- , able course laid down in his words. He proaehed a sermon some years ago on " What, is a Christian!" in St. Giles' Cathe--1 dral, Edinburgh, that led him to make the following statement to the College Committee:— As regards the Atouement, I can only say that I have carefully and repeatedly gone ' over tho Confessiorul statement of this doctrine, and I can detect nothing in it with which I do not agree, or with which any published statement of mine is inconsistent. Tho Confessional statement is indeed surprisingly brief. It emphasises the satisfaction to divine justice, and this I desire to emphasise; but it is to be remembered that the Atonement, being the central fact of the world's history, has a hundred different aspects, and 1 claim liberty to emphasise, as I find occasion and according to my impression of existing needs, aspects and bearings of the death of Christ which are not specified in tho Confession, fn closing, I find that. "Civis," like the "Browsings in Bookland" writer, r admires the minister of religion who vows , to preach and defend the doctrines of his ; Church, and who fulfils- such vows by i assailing such doctrines. That is his opinion to-day, but it was not so of vore. Homo time ago he wrote the following ° caustic piece of criticism, which may be 3 altered to tho extent of suppressing names and excising a few sentences: — ~ Whilst as yet Mr Blank- was eating the ' bread of the kirk, in oomplimonl to which j position he was granted the honorary degree f of D.D.. ho carcfully bottled up his eschato--1 logical fads, and went -in and out amongst his brethren unsuspected, carrying all the '1 time, as he himself says, " a solemn belief •* buried as a secret in his bosom." But now that ho has secured a secular position of f which the kith, be it never so angry, cannot i- deprive him, lo! incontinent, ho uucorks him--0 self and—by means of this pamphlet—squirts [■ his pestilent opinions into ovcry Presbytery I. and every congregation within tho bounds. 5 Wherefore his enemies—and they will not r bo few—shall surely quoto unto him this r (Hudihrastic) proverb: s What makes all doctrines plain and clear? [j About five hundred pounds a year. ,[ And that which was proved true before j Prove false again? Five hundred more. Thus, in substance, one of my correspondents, c giving utterance to thoughts which are sim- ' meting just now, I dare say, in the minds of n many amongst his 00-religionisls. I am not of his opinion, and quote him to contradict bim. Regard for the interests of the kirk 1 may have Kept Mt Blank silent whilst he was ?' teaching theology. My sympathies go with ' l those members of' Presbytery whoso feelings !• at this moment are those of Job's war liorftj il when lie smellelh the buttle afar_ off, tho n-oiao of th© captains and the shouting. [\ /'Oivis" must, have forgotten this enunciation of opinion, as well ns the matured judgment of the editor of the Ot&go Daily '• Times, expressed in a leader about the '■ time of tho foregoing "Passing Note";— '' Certainly, no one will defend a stale of tilings, m der which men solemnly declare they believe that which they doubt, will hold 1. that which they deny or even detest, and id while ostensibly enlisting themselves as 10 teachers of a dofinito croed really resolve in their hearts to prooecd straightway secretly to

mderuiiue or openly contradict it, Tt must >e owned. too, that to simple minds it presents itself os n curious spectacle when they ■ee and hear men in gown and bands preachng doctrines utterly at variance with those, public acceptance ot which alone gave Ihem the opportunity of preaching. Jr, as Dr Doils lias well put. the position: 'It cannot bo a question with a man vhothcr Jio should remaiu in connection ,villi a Church whose doctrines he dis■ents from, if liis entrance into that Church ,vas obtained by an assent to those docTines."—l am, etc., Cahpus. Milton, July 28, "CARPUS" AMD MR GIBSON SMITH. Sir,—When your correspondent "Carpus,"' inder the heading" Courage or Treachery— iV.hii'li'/" accuses tie Rev. J. Gibson ftniith it treachery, he utters his own condemnaion; when he does so under the protection >i & liom tie plume lie advertises his own ;owaixlice; and when he misrepresents Mr Smith's opinions, . l>y making partial or letachcd quotations from iiis book, —well, oine men mijfht possibly he found wlio vould regard such conduct- as a stab in !he back under cover of darkness, and as suggestive of cowardice and treachery— joth. I'or many'years past 1 have had the lonour and t.he privilego of the most intinato personal friendship with Mr Gibson Smith, and during the whole of that period ;he bettor 1 knew him the lusher did ho -isc in my esteem. I was a member of lis congregation during tho wliolo of liis lastorato in Invercargill, and as a memlier }f session I came into Iho closest contact with liim up to tho time ot his removal a Wellington; and I asseverate in tho nost emphatic language that I can comnand, and with the absolute fearlessness ,ha>t is horn of truth, that the man who lares to associate an act of treachery with :ho name of Gibson Smith is deserving of he strongest reprobation, and his action vill bo held'in utter detestation by all tvbo ouow tho man he maligns. I am not concerned at the present noment, -with Mr Gibson Smith's opinions yiiich, indeed, I do not wholly agree with), but I am concerned with t.he defence of liis character, and I should count myself i mean and contemptible creature if I dit> lot rise up in his defence.—l am, etc., R F. CUTIIBEHTSON. Invercargill, July 27. TIIE REV. WMTTHOMSON-AND THE BIBTH-RATE. Sir,—Mr Thomson has jumped at still mother conclusion and come to grief again. It is just possible that, he knows me, but when he claims that I know him 1 must beg leave to differ, as I have never, to my knowledge, even seen him. I do not oven know whether, as agent for his association, lie walks our streets in clerical garb. However, that i 6 beside the point. 1 am glad that Mr Thomson tacitly admits that tho evil under discussion (" the secret sin which destroyed Rome") is twice as rampant in Otago under license as it is in . nO-l'icense Maine, After that . ho wriggles admirably: he points out that Otago is the field of a 6trong no-liconso agitation, and implies that the blame for the loss of hcr,i children lies at the door of tho no-license agitators! Excellent! Maine loses 'children because tho hotels are closcd, aud Otago does, so to a greater extent because the hotels are still open and about half the people wish them to be closed—that is what he wishes the unthinking public to believe. What about Auclami City, where the school rolls are increasing by leaps and bounds, and where there is also a strong no-tiosnse feeling Mid one electorate already under noliumse? What about Georgia—for many years practically; arid now,' I Ijjeliove, completely under no-liccnse,—where in the period 1880-1900 the population increased by 48 per cent, and the school roll by ll£ ;>or cent.? Finally, how does Mr Thomson explain tho foot-that, in Dunedin City— tho special sphere of his own labours on behalf of the trade (and, consequently, of Hie birth-rate), and a part of Otago which i.? by no means tho. most 6fcrongly given lo no-liceiise—the loss of children is very much more marked than in the provinco taken as a whole? ■ ■ ■ Mr Thomson puts forth three "facts," ind asks me to explain them: (1) " The nolicense people preach that no-licenso eonserves and multiplies infant life." I am :>ri!i unaware that they do so, and would ho glad to see Mr Thomson support his abortion with something rapro solid. (2) ' 'No-liecnee does not conserve and multiply infant, life." No Di'nof is. or has been, Rivon for this assertion. "Post hoocrgo propter hoc" affords no proof; neither does cne swallow make a summer; so will Mr Thomson please quote the figures for Georgia, Kansas, and all other States where there is a decided no-license feeling? (3) " No-license agitators aro the greatest timers themselves." I have not tho same knowledge that Mr Thomson seems to possuss as regards the number of children belonging on the ouo hand to tho leadinj lio-liconse people of Dunedin, and on the other to t.he members and officials of the Licensed Victuallers' Association. I am afraid this is making the question somewhat tco personal, else would I again ask Mi Thomson to give proofs, and not make mere assertions. For the present I shaLl not accept it'as a.fact until sufficient proof is forthcoming. So much for Mr-Thomson's "facts." The rest of his letter is, I laney, a reminisconeo of the pulpit—a little homily on morality. Mr Thomson knows as well as I do, or as any one does who has looked into the question, that there is either an aa-resl or a decrease ill the birth-rate in nearly all the older and more highly civilised r.atio'ns of tho world, that tho causes lead' ing to this are many and various, and nol always easy t'o evaluate, and that there is in fact, no one single determining cause; and yet lie ivould lead a gullible public intc believing that iio-lioense, or oven no Pccnso agitation, is responsible for the loss ot children in Maine and Otago. Dust throwing! One who indulges in that pas lime is liable sooner or 1 later to impair hij own eyesight, even to t,ho extent of seeinp in my, last letter " that nodieense is £ farce."—t am, etc.. , July 27. Ken.vkbkc. THE OFFICIO OF THE REGISTRAR FOR DUNEDIN SOUTH. Silt,—lfor. some timo • I have been en deavouring to find the office of the Regis trar of Electors in the Dunedin Soutl electorate, and I was informed that it wai at ono time in a flour mill in Kensington but it has since been removed. To-day ] was actually made acquainted with ib whereabouts, and seiit in my pi aims. Mj messenger, on knocking at the front dooi of a house in a side street off Cargill road, was told to "go round the back," anc here is the office, a small tcolshed or out bouse, not large onough to swing a oat, in. Cannot wo appeal to our Government foi a decent office in the main thoroughfare for the transaction of this important business instead of having it located in such a plact as at present?—l-am; otc., Blkctor of Dunedin South. BLOOD AS A FOOD. Sir,—A short tirno back the Rev. Mi Chodowski, Jewish rabbi, said in theoourw of a lecture that blood is totally indi gestible, and, consequently, useless as i food. Being interested .in tho rearing o: poultry, I know that blood is recommended because of its highly nitrogenous nature as' an excollcnt flesh-forming and egg making food; and I am aware, also, tha there arc a number of people prepared t< vouch that t he well-known " black pud ding" is sustaining in tho highest degree Under the circumstances I think the Rev Mr Ohodowski should give liis authority for the statement 1 have reforrod to, an< pending such forthcoming I ltavo pleasurt in handing you for publication a lettei kindly sent, mo by Professor Malcolm, o the ' Otago University (physiologica department), from which I gather that though blood, like nil other foods, is no totally digestible, it may still bo of con siderable food value.—l am, clc. " Timor," Otago Witness Poultry Column. July 28. Physiology Department, University of Otngo, Dunedin, July 27,1(108. Dear Sir,—ln reply to your inquiry te garding the use of blood us » food: tt i generally conccdct) that tho proleids of blow arc r.ot very digestible, no that, a ixmsiderabl part, though by no means all, of tho bloo pusses through the alimentary canal tit: changed (see Hutchison's "Food n-iu Dietotics," p. 7*2). Oil (lie oilier, lmnd, llalli burton (Brit. Med. Journal, WO!) found tha haemoglobin (tho colouring matter of blow: a substance rioh in iron) was lo nomc oslen digested in the intestines of rati, and Ilia animojs fed) on it showed o largo inorwi=P i tho number of their red blood corpuscles ii compared with Iho normal animals. Als Hausermuun (quoted in i'eingp's " 'I'exl-bool of Physiological Chemistry") round that dt'ie and powdered haemoglobin added lo tho too of rats increased the aniounl of their Interne globin to double the normal. There is ills evidence tha.t tho engs ot hens fed on iron rich foodi contain more iron than ordiuur hens 1 eggs, and are therefore of jjreate nutritive value. So far as the feeding c poultry is concerned, I should say that bloo is relativoly of more value a-s a food t the chickens than to tho grown hen, and ths the eggs of hens fed oil blood are proba,bl richer. Ot course, blood supplies only th

nitrogen part of the food Fats awl carbohydrates are also necessary.—Yours faithfully, lons* Malcolm. CO-OP HRATTVH RAILWAY WORKS. 511".,—1 notice from your report of the Financial Delate tliat tho Hon. .Mr Hall•lone.s again asserts that the gangs employed 011 eo-oporativo works havo .the privilege of choosing their men. This is not in accordance with fact. On the GorcWaikaka. railway formation, for instance, I foutul that the jwreomid of the gaaigs was fleeted at the instance of the inspector without the men being consulted at all i the matter. If complaint was made concerning'this or anything elro all tho answer one could got was the laconic, " Go to tho engineer "--a Journey involving probably 30 milce and ooaoh fa.ro. Sorao hands thus thrust upon workers were capable and willing men; others woro noL men at all, but absolutely usoless objects, who consistently annulled tho best- elForte of the fit. As to the engineer, lie was never at tho works near Waikaka township save on tho occasions when ho and his retainers woro paying tho nion or measuring. Permit me to'nay that, in an often trying position, Mr Mitchell over did his best for those under him.—l am, etc., Johnston, Late Headsman Gang 52, Waikaka Railway. Kelso, July 26.