LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 408, 18 January 1909, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

UNITARIANISM. Sir,—Mr. Gammell at the laying of the Unitarian foundation-stone sketched the history of the Unitarian movement in this city, but omitted to notice an earlier start sought to be made when Unitarianism tried tocroep in undor the shelter: of a Presbyterian name. A spacious building known as tho " Scots Church" was,erected, where, I understan a Unitarian used to . doliver addresses -or preach. sermons. Presbyterians stood aloof, and at last,, after a.short time, the building went, under the .auctioneer's hammer.'; .•■ In.the present attempt Christianrministers were invited by their presence to. show their approval of the' Unitarian movement, . Of course, they declined. ..'• ... What their fate would have been had they been present how appears,;for they would have heard carefully-prepared speeches about " hopelessly obscurantist circles,"' " Maori, tohungas," "meaningless dogmas," "stuffing innocent heads," "bogy men in Church," etc. '"Was not.this a dainty dish?" etc. ._ Tho, foverish anxiety of Unitarians to make it appear that Christian thought is. on their side reminds mp of a glaring, attempt made by a Unitarian under, the letters or initials "H.M." about two years ago;,to claim -the support of Canon Scott Holland for .his opinions. It is; perhaps, curious that' "H.M." - used similar expressions to those employed, by Professor vM'Kenzie in' his' speech at "the laying of the'foundation-stone. '..He wroto of "obscurantism" and '"Christian 'tbhungas," and these are by no means everyday expressions.' I will not attempt to explain the .coincidence. \, Now' "H.M." had found'in a book 'by'; Vivian, a Freethought writer, an extract from:a sermon by, Canon Scott Holland. .The-sermon was printed in full in the. "Church Times,", and,."H.M." quoted from the Freethought writer. This .is evident, for the same peculiarities are in the words■ as''given by Vivian and "H.M." It. is not always safe to read scraps', and "H.M.," by-relyirig? upon the scraps furnished by Vivian,' seriously misrepresented tho Canon's meaning,, with 'the' result that the Canon was made to accord a welcome to Agnosticism,' and; it will be remembered, that Unitarianism and Agnosticism.are hand in hand in many things. ;.--.-' Unable to obtain help from the past. Unitarianism talks:wildly of.the future, and'oonyerts.are puffed up,with notions of superior wisdom and up-tordateness. -They.,tell us wo are'behind the- tinies, and our backwardness seems' to.have.been the.text' at the founda-tion-stone." , Such 'arugments are not convincing, and wo trust wo possess in some measure at least what St. Paul called "semnotes." —I am, etc.: -■' ' " ' '.;■; ARISTOBULUS. .January 9, 1909. .'.' .'.„'.. ' ■ ".;

LABOUR AND THE HALF-HOLIDAY,

Sir,—Your issue of to-day contains ari oration .by one', M. J. Rcardon, delivered at the Trades Hall the previous night, concerning the apathy of the workers with-.regard to the half-holiday.' ,Mr. Reardon is the paid secretary of tho'Labourers' Union, and .one; would imagine he wanted quite .enough' to ..'do without wandering through the city in search of signatures for.a purpose that in no way concerns the Labourers' Union. . Wo havo beard a good deal about the arrogance of the paid secretaries when they met in sacred conclave within tho' walls' of'the Council Chamber in the past, and we can easily believe, it when one,of them'has the effrontery to deliver a rehearsed homily' like .that appearing in your columns this morning. With Mr. Carey I havo no concern. He is responsible to. the.cooks and waiters, who' are, doubtless,; competent to deal with him-fdr having his finger in this half-holiday "pie." "I,am. glad that'the press have been: ad-mitted.-.-to the sage deliberations of-- the Trades Council,.as ib will throw the searchlight of public opinion on the doings of that hitherto-exclusive ..body. ;' We will now be able to read -the incoherent • splutterings of these, aspirants;for higher legislation.' This half-holiday, which has roused the ire of Mr. M. J. Reardon, is a question that affects .the convenience of the labourers, inasmuch as it closes up the shops'on.Saturday afternoon, tho only time, that they can purchase their, requirements. In places where the Saturday half-holiday is an vogue, people are trying to have it reversed. Is it any wonder • .then that Mr. - Beardon , gets ■" snubbed " when he • approaches i people for signatures detrimental to their ovyn interests. If tho spirit; of self-sacrifice is "wanting in the average worker, what about .the paid secretary? These;paid secretaries are doing more to create, confusion and strife in the Labour ranks than all other causes put together. I hope, sir, you will publish this in the interest of myself and a large number of labourers' who protest against: such: uncalled remarks from our paid secretary, who should act with more discretion.—l am, etc., ' : ', STEPHEN M'CABE. ■ January.ls. [Portions of this letter have been omitted.]

A SPORTING PROTEST,

Sir,—l was very pleased to see the letter of "Raymond Tune" in to-day's issue -under the above heading. I think it is a.great pity that citizens of Wellington should endeavour to stop such.harmless amusement as the kinematograph. Surely the pictures of the BurnsJohnson prize-fight can bo no worse than the pictures of the Burns-Gunner Moir fight, which took place in London "last year, yet no attempt was made to prohibit these pictures. There seems to be a great deal of controversy in-Australia at the present.moment as to whether prize-fighting should: bo prohibited or not. Judging by what I have road,. there is a certain class of people in Australia- whose pet aversion is "sport," these people . are what might bo termed " goody-goodies," .who would not deign to go and see a prize-fight,"or'an international football match, but they would usually' be tho first to. tell their friends that' they had seen aicertein'doubtful play at.ascertain theatre. For my part, I would liko to see every young fellow trained' to use his hands, to defend himself in, say, the recent.garrotting cases we have heard so much about in Wellington. Apologising for taking- up. your valuable spaco,—l am, etc., E.E.NiK.-. Wellington, January 16,1009. '