ART UNIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11504, 28 September 1915, Page 2

ART UNIONS.

I THE AUCKLAND DISCUSS 0!». i ! i I' nnm <)rr Conr, r.srn,\ni.nt. i Aff'K IA ,\ |), ScptritibMf "7 In Nm k!aud h ; ,|., v :1 | j,- ; n progress bntuveu iho !'a< riut.io (YmmUlltlOe: ii! 1(1 ii.'i' <\>l !>l ncf I eleigy, TilO !\ivrin! i.-. Comnmtoo aims a: j' (piartor 0 i :i, million by holding ;i Uiu'cn < '#!ruival, SIH-I) a- w ;i■; heir! in southern centre--. The Anclclaud .Ministers' Association p''o(oms I hat. In in I )-<■>,ii]filif'. stX'fuf;j i ivo i-lc-neni:- -'if- si rime of carnival is iuomS. ti i c!- irn oif-. 1,: < t nigbi in mot, „f tho eimrohos m-iiuou;, wvrc. preached, iu which iho aspect, ot tne carnival Mas denounced. 'I he following ir. oliaraetoi i- (iJ io resolutions passed: " Thai. tin's congregation earnestly' protests against any rclaxai ion o| t law against |oticries, which would permit, of lotteries being held in connection with the projected carnival iu Auckland, believing that they would be detrimental fn tho best, interests oh [he community. That copies ol' this resolution be scut in too Crime Mini.-, tor, the * Alini'dor tor 1 eternal Affairs ami tho member for the district."'' This morning the trouble progressed ••tairn further, when a, eonfereuoo of sixty ministers decided to l'oi*vrar<l a similar resolution to Uxo Prim" .Minister. The mooting also msuJved to Bend the following .letter 1o 7\lr Georjjo Elliots chairman of the Patrintio Association:■—

" Sir,- At a, largely attended meeting of the Auckland Clergy Association and tho Auckland Ministers' Association. held this morning, when a bonk sixty representative ministers of the Anglican, Pre.sbyteria n. Methodist, Congregational and Baptist Churches, and officers of the Salvation Army were, present, your letter to Dr A. \V. Averill, Bishop of Auckland, leader of the deputation which waited on your executive- last Thursday, was read a.nd considered. After a long discussion tho following resolution was agreed upon, and I was instructed to forward it to you That i hi.- combined meeting of the Auckland Clergy Association ?,.nd " the Auckland Minister. o .' Association expresses profound regret thai, jn spit.o of the growth of the spirit and practices of gambling in th& ecmmunily and the peril to tho national vigour and efficiency involved in it, your I'keoutivc Committee should have refused to orcludo lotteries from, their methods of rroney raising, though it is evident ihaf, the employment oi this means direct Iv encourages -end footers the gambling spirit. \Vo gladly reeogniso and appreciate the view of your committee, bttt. wo deeply resent the slur cast, upon our soldiers by tho implication of your executive that our soldier* and their dependents cr.ro only for the actual money value of any gift and nothing at all about tbo .spirit in which it is given. We also resent as ■untrue and. unjust tho further imputation that tho people oP Auckland are so insensible to the claims of our soldiers thai they will not contribute all needful sums unless an Appeal .is mado to the love of gains." However, all the clergy are not in accord, as evidenced by tho following letter sent to the Patriotic Committee by the Bev W. lie a My, vicar of St Marks:— "It. would be a very great, pity if the impression got abroad that, tho churches were on one side and tho general public on the o!her in fr matter affecting nation-! duty. It is important to have it clearly understood | that what fuis been said is, whether j right or wrong, merely the opinion of a number of clergy and cannot bind the conscionco or determine the action of the members of tho churches. The clergy arc not the church, though they often appear to think .'o. Personally, I. am not in love villi carnivals, though [ think they are less likely to j do moral and .spiritual injury 'than. I minions and revivals- At the same time, I recognise tba ! - people may bo serious, earnest and determined, .sympathetic without being gloomy. en who enlist cannot l>e said to be blind to tho gravity of the situation, and yet we find that they go to dances and other forms of amasemcnt. As to raffles, 1 am sure that it is a. intsuse of language and misleading to the public conscience to describe them as gambles. The essence of gambling is taking a risk which for the man taking it is an excessive one. 1 o call mo a gambler f eeav.se I may put a flailing or a .'-ali'-cro-vn into a raffle or a sweepstako displays either hopeless ignorance or invincible prejudice. The bad effect that betting may and does have in various kinds of sport is quite a different thing. '1 hat- simply tho pot-hunting spirit in. its worst iorm, and it robC our protests and denuuoi*,-. tions of most, if not/ all, ot their force when we mix up things that arc essentially different and brand as actually evil everything that is capable- of abuse and has been abused. Lastly, it seems pitiful that wo ministers of religion display such nnanimity in condemning the faults, real or supposed, of other men and such a. want of unanim- j ity in co-operating for good purposes."