A QUOTATION FROM “CHEERIO.”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18677, 5 October 1922, Page 8

A QUOTATION FROM “CHEERIO.”

TO THE' EDITOfi. Sj.R,— In your issue of yesterday Mr F. B. Adonis endeavours to explain certain matters in connection -with Mr "Pussyfoot" Johnson's' meeting on Sunday night. Whether lie succeeds in making out a case your readers can easily discover. In the first place, the advertisement published by my council stated in effect that Mr "Pussyfoot" Johnson had made an incorrect statement. Mr Adams replies that Mr Johnson did not use the words attributed to him, and this is what he is supposed to have said: Mr Johnson referred to a passage in "Cheerio" as being quoted from "John Bull." He then referred to the lastmentioned paper as a fitting authority for the trade to quote, or words to that effect, and referred to its connection with Bot- • torn ley. Well, with all due deference to Mr Adams's views, 1 maintain that the statement in the advertisement is more correct than his version. I was at the meeting, and this is what occurred:—Mr Johnson held up a copy of "Cheerio" and remarked:"I have hero a copy of 'Beerio'—l mean 'Cheerio,' and it has a photograph and an article," <ind he mentioned Horatio Bottomley's name in connection with them. He went on to say that .the trade tould not have chosen <i better man as its patron, because Bottomley, at the present time, is serving a sentence of seven years in the penitentiary in the Old Country for robbing women and children. I may explain that I am not relying solely on riiy own notes and my memory in making these statements, as it has been substantiated by many others who ivere present at the meeting and who have discussed the matter with me. Now, why did Mr Johnson bring Bottomley's name into this matter at all? Mr Adams admits that his name was mentioned. "John Bull" and Horatio Bottomley do not come into this story. The article is by Mr 3D. W. Griffith, the creator of "Intolerance," one of the masterpieces of modern kinematogiaphy, and it offers a solemn warning against prohibition and prohibitionists. It is the opinions of Mr Griffith that, count, and they would not lose one fraction of their point if they appeared in any other paper. ,! I reiterate, why was Bottomley's name mentioned in connection with this matter? Simply with a view to discrediting the continuance cause, and it was certainly the. moans of misleading the audience'.—l am, etc., Hoy S. Johxstok. Organiser, Provincial Council of the Oiago Licensed Trade. PRESBYTERY STATISTICS. TO ME EDITOB. Sir, —I nave read your report of yesterday's meeting of the Presbyter)' with very mixed feelings. That the Church is losing ground is shown conclusively by the published statistics—viz.: "Young men's classes showed a decrease of 63; young women's classes, a decrease of 183; number attending public worship, decrease of 532; number examined, decrease of SO; an increase in the indebtedness of the Church and a decrease in total revenue." This is a- condition oi affairs that is entirely unsatisfactory, and, as a member of the Church, I think that the suggestion by the Rev. V. Fairlic Evans "to hold an inquiry to see whether the Church or civil life was at fault" should be acted upon with as little delay as possible. I know that there is a very strong feeling among a considerable section of our members that prohibition is a political question, and that too great prominence is given to it from our pulpits, and also in the Church organ, which is simply chock-a-block with prohibition propaganda, to the exclusion of other matters. That this attitude of our preachers and our press is resenfed by a large number of members is undoubted, and, in my opinion, this is the main cause of the falling-off in Church attendance and donations. "The erection of hoardings on many of our church sites is also an additional cause of offence to many good Presbyterians.—l am, etc., Parishioner.