A NEW BISHOP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22286, 12 June 1934, Page 8

A NEW BISHOP

There is a quiet dignity in the ceremonial by which, in St. . Paul’s Cathedral yesterday, the new Bishop of Dunedin was consecrated in his office. Ritual, wh&n it is governed by such unostentatious forms, and conducted in such beautiful language, as mark the ceremonial of the Church of England, disproves the criticism which is sometimes heard that it may overshadow the real spiritual significance of the occasion that evokes it. The very presence in one Church, in the scattered New Zealand community, of the Primate and several bishops of the Anglican Communion constitutes an occasion that seems to demand some special and impressive form of celebration, particularly when the prelates are assembled for a purpose of such moment to the Church as the consecration of a new bishop. In the sermon which represented in effect a charge to the Bishop-designate to be faithful in his office, and to the priests and laity in the diocese to be guided by their episcopal head, Bishop WestWatson embodied a plea for communion and understanding among the churches which is of considerable interest. The Anglican Churchy he showed, is, by tradition and active belief, convinced of the virtue of the episcopate in the regulation of its life; but there is no intolerance of, the nonepiscopal churches. It would seem that in Bishop West-Watson’s exposition of the faith of his Church in this matter there is a certain suggestion of manifesto, yet only in such clear pronouncements can a basis be found for that structure of religious unity which, to-day, it should be safe to assert, is the aspiration of most religious bodies. Actually, as Bishop West-Watson implied, and as the evidence in several activities of the churches confirms, there are signs of a union for the accomplishment of humanitarian work, if not of an actual desire to merge the identities of the various Christian establishments. It was stated by him ii. his address that the bishop’s diocese is, in one respect, “a kind of big business,” and practical considerations which engage the attention of a particular church, of an individual bishop,are in the largest sense only a part of the huge administrative concern over which the Christian churches as a whole extend their healing helpful mission. In times like the present, when Governments are facing the peculiarly urgent problems of their constituencies by sinking party differences, the Christian churches are themselves faced with a Work which taxes to the full, and beyond their individual capacities, that of assisting the needy in body and spirit. Reunion or, less finally put, co-operation, is a prospect that must commend itself to them very forcibly as a mutually strengthening and enriching method of conduct. The Anglican Bishop of Dunedin has been installed in his high office in a period that calls for the fullest understanding, tact, and helpfulness in all churchmen, of whatever creed, and it is permissible to think that these circumstances form a happy augury for that closer identification of the labours of the churches to which Bishop West-Watson so hopefully looks.

TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENTS

The controversy between the general manager of the railway service and the chairman of v rectors of the Northern Steamship Company has been of interest because of the light which has been thrown by it upon the policy of the Railways Board. It is alleged that, by cutting its freight charges, the Board has entered into unfair competition with the shipping service. The reduction of railway freights seems to be acknowledged, but it may, perhaps, not be admitted that this has involved an unfair competition with the services provided by the shipping company. The real fact of the matter is that the construction of a costly line of railways up the centre of the long, narrow, peninsula that extends north of Auckland was one of the blunders committed by past Governments. There is no part of the Dominion that is more lavishly endowed with excellent deepwater harbours than this peninsula is, and the shipping service was capable of meeting adequately all the requirements of the settlers. The people of “ the winterless north,” as they call it, clamoured, however, for a railway, and supported their claims by the argument that the North of Auckland was roadless as well \as winterless. They clamoured successfully, even though a Minister of Railways, at the time when the agitation for the provision of rail transport was at its height, expressed the conviction that the return would be insufficient to pay for the axle grease. The railway service was, in the face of formidable competition at sea, bound from the first to be unprofitable, and if the Railways Board has adopted a freight-cutting policy, it can only be concluded that it hopes to attract traffic to an extent that will reduce the loss on the maintenance of its service. A fresh development on the part of the Railways Board has taken the form of the exercise by it of an option to purchase the road transport service conducted between Wellington and Wanganui by a company with a fleet of motor vehicles. This transaction has been described as one that effects a co-ordination of- rail and road services. The description seems, however, somewhat inapt. Aetually, a competing road service will be replaced by a service conducted in the interests of the Railways Board. The road service between Wellington and Wanganui has, for years past, been a powerful competitor to the railways. The railway service between Wellington and Wanganui has been one to be avoided, wherever possible, by travellers. It takes them considerably out of their way and, at the very best, is a service much slower than the road service. The Railways Board evidently designs to eliminate a competing service, but as this is the first occasion on which it has set out to operate a motor service that is not either inter-urban or suburban the question is naturally asked whether this is to be an isolated example of the transference to the railways service of a long-distance transport license.