THE COLONISTS Published Every Morning. Saturday. March 20, 1909. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12493, 20 March 1909, Page 2

THE COLONISTS Published Every Morning. Saturday. March 20, 1909. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Faith Healing. An; Anglican conference on mental, spiritual, and faith-healing was held in. London recently/ Prebendary Penhefather presided; and according to the report in .the .."Guardian," there was a long and interesting disciißr'' . sipn.. : Mr J.vM. "Hickson, of the, Sq.ciety of Emmanuel,' which was formed three years ago, and of 'which the "vice president: is Bishop Mylne, explained that the work they were trying to do was to revive in the Church the gift of 'healing. They were, he said, , in sympathy with all -kinds of; healing. They recognised that the doctor was God's instrument, but they, urged tke desirability ... of the v doctor realising the fact a 'little more; — not only to" : giye medicine, but to. pray . to . God that it might be blessed. They wanted a more spiritual atmosphere around the patient. ' :;And that the .'nurses ' might not -be • afraid .to kneel Idowif jand askv Gpd's ; blessing on the remedy they were administeriiig. Rev. C. O'Flaherty— whq;.is also a quali-Wd-medical.man^gayethe gathering several; instances. of spiritual- healing. These and other cases, he said> had

naturally raised the question, What was the limit of healing? From the religious point of view they might say that healing depended on the tuititi of the patient and tie doctor in the will of God. The Dean of Westminster said that people were constantly asking his opinion in the matter. He was a believer in healing by Divine intervention, and in the miracles worked at the shrine of St. Thomas a'Becket; but he doubted, if the shrine were now thrown open, if similar results would follow. He was perfectly prepared to believe in the things that had been alleged ; he was not sceptical, but it was their duty for the sake of the honour and credit of the Church of Christ, to proceed at least as carefully as the Roman Catholic authorities had done in the healing at Lourdes. A very strong commission was needed which would investigate and try to bring together a sufficient amount of information to justify them in going forward. The conference eventually resolved that "the time has come to form a' Central Church Council for the consideration of questions connected with healing by spiritual means."

Advice to Boys. Sir ■ Christopher Furness, M.P., when receiving the freedom of West Hartlepool, said :— Looking into the future, taking the larger view^ I am not without hope that a system of copartner such as that we have initiated ed nr the Hartlepools will make strikes utterly impossible, and serve also tosatisfy the human element in .the relations existing between' Capital and Labour as' distinct from mere monetary considerations^ — the man as distinguished from the machine. If . 1 am asked, as I sometimes am asked, about the future of our boys, let me say that these same boys must take - ■a pride in their work, and have a care of their lauguage also. .There must be respect for their elders. There must, above all, be respect and regard for their parents. I am very often pained to think that the youth of our"' time do not realise and appreciate the sacrifices their forefathers made, and my answer Jo those who ask if boys are to be" included in the" co : parlnerjv is that we will not have' boys as such in tlie scheme, because we only want those who continuously from their earliest beginnings manifest a pride in their work, and who rightly value the property committed to their charge, so that a boy will have'prove himself before' being admitted into the privilege of partnership. : I want co-part-nery to be an inspiratidn tcthe'ladsV We have no reason, even to-day, to be ashamed of the. vessels built in these ports, but I look forward to the time when a co-partnery-built- steamer will be regarded up and down the coast, and, indeed, in every part of the world, as a model of efficiency and high-grade workmanship; to the time so that a boy will have to prove himself itself, and men will not only be proud to be associated with the firm, but take a pride in its productions, such as in other days- the*, artisan felt for the. object ' entirely conceived in' his own brain and wrought by his own hands."

An American Canal Report.

: . A huge canal scheme is projected in America, it being proposed (states an exchange) to put a ring of water round the Eastern States. The route of this. circular waterway will be from New York southward, parallel with the Atlantic coastline to Florida. The Gulf of Mexico -provides the next stage, from Florida to New Orleans and, the Mississippi carries the service to St. Louis. Then it will be necessary to use the Illinois River and other waterways to, Chicago, on Lake Michigan. The Great Lake gives communication with Buffalo, whence the route lies down the Erie Canal to Albany and then" by the Hudson River to New York. New. York State is now spending £20,000,000 for widening and deepening the Eri^ Canal, and Illinois is engaged in a large canal expenditure^ but tha present demand is for inter-state construction by the Federal Government, and it is this plan that will be submitted to Congress. The most pressing need, -and the- one that will receive initial attention, is the dredging of the Mississippi River from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 850 miles, to. provide a channel 15 feet deep.. Almost as important is the deepening of the, internal waterway" system between Cape Cod and Florida. ; At present a boat can travel 'inland from Massachusetts, and come out a thousand miles south at Beaufort, South Carolina, below the storm centre of Cape Hatteras, but the depth of some of the connecting links of this waterway chain is not now sufficient to make the route of commercial value. The new deeper waterways will reduce freight charges to one-sixth their present cost, but the railways are not fighting the project, for they-' realise there is enough work for rail and water.