NEW ZEALAND BIBLE, TRACT, AND BOOK SOCIETY.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 203, 31 May 1878, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND BIBLE, TRACT, AND BOOK SOCIETY.

The Otago Bible, Tract, and Boot So* ciety, (says the Morning Herald) "waiV ' originated in 1873, and ite beginnings; !'. were on a limited scale. Year by year there has been a steady and very con*' siderable increase, the amount of sales iot last year being L4OOO. In addition to the, .. operations of the depot in Dunedin, ;the " managers of the Society have employed from the outset one> and (sometimes two missionary colporteurs. In 1875, the managers arranged with Messrs Coulls and Culling to take over the New Zealand Christian Record, which now has a circu* lation of 1200. The managers, of the So*. . . ciety, " being desirous to extend its use* fulness, and being persuaded that the pre* .. sent is an opportune time for making an effort to attain that object, Inasnm'ch 'as they believe that an awakened interest in tho cause of Christ is widely abroad through the presence . and labours of the.. Rev. Dr Somerville in the Colony, and also as there is the, immediate prospect of . rapid communication between all parts of the Middle Island by rail," have issued a prospectus with tho following proposals :-=• Ist. That; the name of the Society be the New Zealand Bible, Tract, and Book Society. 2nd. That the Society be reorganised upon a basis as similar as practicable to that of the Religious Tract Societies oi London and Edinburgh. 3rd. That the capital of the .Society be L3OOO, r6pr_sented by 600 shares of L 5 each/ Fifty shares shall be taken np from the capital of the present Society, and the balance of its capital handed over to the new Society to form the nucleus of a Reserve Fund. 4th. That in addition to the Dunedin depot, another be opened in Christchurch as soon as practicable, and thereafter in the othor centres of tho Oolony aa meana and opportunities permit. 6th. That the first directors shall consist of the present Board of the Otago Bible, Tract, and Book Society, viz. ; — The Revs. Messrs John Gow and Lindsay Mackie, Messrs Robert J. Gairdner, James Fulton, Geo. B. Herns, and John Douglas. 6th k That , two directors retire annually, but be eligible for re-election at the annual meeting of tho Society*. 7th. That the Christian Record be edited jointly by two gen-Y---tlemen resident respectively , in Dunediri and Christchurch, and be published simultaneously throughout Otago- and Canterbury. The Revs. . Lindsay Mackie ("Dun-. edin), and J. Elmslio (Christchurch), have kindly consented to act as first editors. ; Bbh. That any profits accruing from the. operations of the Society be devoted to extending its Usefulness.