MEN'S MISSION HOUSE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14783, 16 March 1910, Page 2

MEN'S MISSION HOUSE.

*IRST ANNUAL MEETING. A MAN AND A CHRISTIAN. The first annual mooting of supporters of the Mens' Missior House in Fillcul street was held yesterday, at the Town Hall His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. 11. Walker) presided, and among those present were— Veil. Archdeacon Gould, tho Ilevs. Canon Curmii-Siggers, Canon King, W", Ronaldson, W. .Slado, 11. Parata, V. G. Bryan King, R. If. Marryatt, C. Child, Messrs A Washer, G. E. More-ton (secretary), F. G. Gumming (Patients and Prisoners' \ici Society), James Allen, M.P., Duncan Wright, a number of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, and several ladies. Tho Mayor, in moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, expressed pleasure in so doing, and. said lie recognised this institution was doing,, and ha°d done grind work. Excellent work had been clone by the Jfay. V. King and his able-bodied helpers. His '.was essentially city work, and the city was indebted to' this,, and to other institutions, for tho.good work done, It was surprki"! to see the amount of work that could' bo done if taken up in earnest. The Rev; V. King had.his work at heart. If this work had not been taken ut> by Mr King, and tho other social societies, it would have had to b? done, and tho expense borne, by the Charitable Aid 80-mi. His Worship concluded by hoping that the work would prove : oven' more successful than in the past. ; :'

The Hon Canon Curzon-Siggcrs, in seconding Ills motion for tlio adoption of the report, spoke mainly on behalf of the Advisory Board. The report was a per-' sonal document,, and there was a gcod deal that the Rev. Vincent King could not put in. Mr King received no salary. The speaker would make a very earnest appeal to llic-e who had supported the mission in the past, not only to support it in the future,,but to get others to do so. He would like to impress upon the publicthe need for support being accorded to the; general fund. The work fell practically under three categories. Mr King strove to raise the spirit of hope" in those who came. to him of hope, thinking themselves forsaken of man and of God. Then he set himself lo restore self-respect, and made the unemployed f'ol once again that they, were employable Mr King found these poor, despairing creatures some Eort of work to do, restored their spirit of independence, till they felt themselves to be once more men. A great deal of moral JFort had to be brought to tear on work of this kind. The result had been that, in some' .eajk's, men who had been helped at, tho Mission 'House:.'had returned' to- thank Mr,; King; others had -sent money to go tb : wards helping others who might be in oV similar'plight to that in which they had. once been. Mr King had been assisted in this work by_ Duuedin employers of labouiya number of whom.had looked uporf; the ..matter, from., .a, philanthropic ..-paint of; JVfiew'^l.Tlianks,^ ■both- iii Hie- matter of leading"articles 'and many kindly allusions and helpful words had .materially .assisted-the work. . The police had also helped tho movement. Many people believed that tho police existed for tho sole purpose of " running peoplo ill," an absolutely erroneous idea. The Canon went on to narrate instancy of cases wherein the police had behaved in the most humane and unselfish manner. The sneaker said that the one person not mentioned in the report was Mr Kihg himself. . 'Of his', work 'and'■•■ character it would be impossible to speak—no words of his could convey what the board felt of him, nor what' his 10-workcrs in other philanthropic societies felt—perhaps ho could best, express their feelings by saying that Mr King . was • everything that ■ was meant :by. the ..three, terms, a man, a. philanthropist, and a Christian. Mr Washer gave some of his experiences when visiting the Mission House. He had found there, as a rule, not " dead beats," but young fellows who had left their ships on the understanding that they would have no difficulty in obtaining employment. They did not, obtain employment, and there they were- without 63 in their pockets. The cases «>bk deserving ones, and he thought .the public should know it. Most of the cases treated in the Mission liouse had not been caused by drink (ho did not know if the Rev. Vincent, King had the knack of "weeding out"), but by dire misfortune. Causes of distress were not only relieved, but work was found for the men. He thought this example might tx followed by the Charitable Aid Board.

The Mayor said he would place this suggestion before that- body,

Archdeacon Gould spoke of the good work effected by the Mission House and its chaplain.

Mr Gumming gnvc personal testimony to the labours' of the Rev. V._ King, of whom he spoke in the. most glowing terms.' The report and balanco sheet were adopted, and a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding, proposed by Mr .Tames Allen, M.P., was carried by acclamation. Apologies for non-attendance were received from his Lordship the Primate (Bishop Nevill), Dean Fitchctt, the Rev. G. W. Hardin"- of Waikomiiti, Messrs G. M. Thomson, °M,P., /W.' L. Logic, and Sister Ernestine.