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Otago Daily Times, Issue 16946, 7 March 1917, Page 4

The death of Professor Salmond removes from the community a man of marked influence who has left the impress of his personality upon many of the more prominent men of the present generation Over forty years 'have elapsed since Professor Salmond came from the Mother Country to New Zealand to establish a theological hall in connection with the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland. His original class consisted of only two students, but upon this slight foundation tho splendid and well-equipped institution now known as Knox College was ultimately built. After he had spent ten years in the service of the Presbyterian Church, the Chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy i n the University fell vacant, and Dr Salmond was appointed, after some heated controversy, to the position, which he held until his retirement two years ago with the title of Emeritus-Professor. By the largo number of students who passed through his hands both in. the Theological Hall and at the University his abilitv as a teacher and his unfailing sympathy as guide, philosopher, and friend', are gratefully acknowledged. To have sat under Professor Salmond was to retain eloquent and lifelong memories of a potent influence tending to develop all that was best and noblest in the student.

It was, however, neither as theological nor university professor that ° Dr Salmon d was best known to the general public. Naturally one of the most retiring of men and averse to being in the public eye, he was a stalwart champion of what he believed to be the truth, and he was a man of strong convictions. The popularity or otherwise of a cause never troubled him, and his keen intellect and incisive logic made him a redoubtable antagonist. His first appearance in the controversial lists wa3 at the time when the Freethought movement was directed by strong hands" in the community, and Dr lectures on "The Evidences of Christianity" were a source of great comfort to many who feared for their old-established faith. The storm that raged over the publication of "The Means of Grace," his vehement protest against tho doctrine of eternal punishment, wffl be fresh, in tho memory ol .many

people. It is significant of the change that has conro over the theological temper within the last quarter of a century that the issno to-day of such, a pamphlet'would scarcely caxise an ecclesiastical ripple. It engendered at the time, however, a bitterness which impelled its author to seek the seclusion of university life, from which he emerged saveral years ago with the publication of his famous pamphlet in opposition to tho proliibition of the liquor traffic Professor Salmond w;ts thoroughgoing in all his work, a master of tho subjects he taught, a man of exceptional ability and of great force of character. Ho lived his lifefnlly, did his work well, and loaves behind Mm memories both fruitful and stimulating.

The claim which, tho Dunedin Presbytery makes, that if ministers of any religious denomination are .to bo exempted from military servico, then the ministers of all denominations should' be exempted, is incomplete accord with tho views that have been expressed hy ourselves on the subject since tho question of the liability of the clergy to bo called up for active service has been, brought into unfortunate prominence. It is a claim that is so reasonable that it must meet with general acceptance. The discussion on the subject at the meeting of the Presbytery revealed the existence of a certain amount of misapprehension respecting .the effect of the issue by tho Minister of Munitions of a certificate to the effect that it would be contrary to the public interest if tho reservist, in whose favour the certificate is issued, were called up for service That misapprehension, we feel bound to say, has been created to some extent by the apparent acceptance by the First Otago Milit-ary Service Board of a Ministerial certificate as equivalent to an absolute grant of exemption. This interpretation of tho certificate does not harmonise with the explanation which the Minister of 3>eferice has publicly given of the effect of the document, nor is it borne out by the terms of the regulation that bears on the subject. The regulation, which is one of a series published in the New Zoalandi Gazette of. the 10th October last, is in the following terms : In determining an appeal on the ground set out in paragraph (c) of section 18 of the Military Service Act the board shall, unlcsr, it sees good reason to tho contrary, accept as sufficient a certificate by the Minister of Defence that tho ocouTration of the reservist is of such a nature "that the calling-up of that reservist for military service is contrary to tho public interest.

It will be seen, therefore., that the Military Service Board is, in terms of the regulation, the authority which has finally to determine whether it is or is not in the public interest that a reservist should be called up for service.