THE PRESBYTERIAN ASSEMBLY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1601, 19 November 1912, Page 3

THE PRESBYTERIAN ASSEMBLY.

THE CHURCH COLLEGES. GIRLS' SCHOOL PROPOSED. AT HAVELOCK, HAWItE'S BAY. Tho General Assembly of tho Presbyterian Church of Now Zealand resumed its sittings yesterday morning. Tho report of the Home Missions Committee was still furthor considered, and finally adopted with slight amendment. The Kev. Dr. Gibb agreed to act,as convenor of tho commiteo another and ft special vote bt* thunks was accorded to him for his services. KNOX COLLEGE. PRESENTATION TO THE MODERATOR. Tho Modorator (tho Rov. A. Cameron) submittod tho report of the council or Knox College, saving that tho success ot tho collego had been most marked. In futuro thero would be accommodation for eomo thirty or forty more students, and this was owing to the generosity of a number of- contributors to tho funds. With the addition of the new wing, the total cost of the buildings would have been brought up to i£3G,OO(/, but he hoped it would all be opened free of debt. Ho suggested that the incoming comnntteo ought to consider putiug the finances of tho collego on a better footing. Tho Kev. Professor Hewitson, Principal of tho college, spoke to'the report, giving an account of the very satisfactory work (lone by students at the college.. _ Tho Kev. J. Chisholm (Dunedin), on bohalf of tho Assembly, presented to the Rev. A. Cameron a portrait in oils of Mr. Cameron himself, and therewith a cheque, as a mark of appreciation of the work done by him in connection with tho founding of the college. Tho members of the Assembly applauded heartily when Mi\ Cameron rose to receive tho presentation. He acknowledged tho compliment paid him, and disclaimed all title to special recognition. The report was adopted.

THEOLOGICAL HALL. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR COMPETITION. The Rev. J. Chisliolm moved the adoption of the report of the Theological Hall Committee. ~ , . 'l'ho report stated that the committee proposed to oiler in 1913 the following scholarships for competition for:-l: students entering the Umversity-(l) Stood, No.. 1, £25 for three years; 2 Cameron-Muir, X 25 for three years; (a) Anderson, .£2O for three years. II: btuI dents entering the theological Hall (1) Bezg's, .£2O tor three years; (2) Sommervill, No. 2, £W for threo years. Consideration of tlic report was deterred, deputations. THE UNITED LABOUR PARTY. The' Assembly heard Professor Mills, as & deputation; from the United Labour

Professor Mills said ho wished to pat before the Assembly, the working lniins view of the relation's of the Church to the Labour movement. Mr.; Mills addressed the Assembly for. sdmo twenty mmutea, and at tho end of his specch he was thanked by tho Moderator for his address.

MINISTERS' ASSOCIATION. . A deputation from the "Wellington Ministers' Association waited upon t.ho Assembly, to offer greetings, and tho Moderator, on behalf of tho Assembly, reciprocated tho greetings and good wishes, lhe members of the deputation werro the llevs. Porter, Clark, and J. J. iNorth.

A LADIES' COLLEGE, PROPOSAL TO BUILD A NEW SCHOOL. The Rev. James Paterson submitted the report of the Havolock Ladies College recommended that the Assembly gratefully accept the offer rf fte tour acres of land rondo by Mr..T. Mijson fc beCS ' SreX'°'°eieW acres in and, further, to accept gratefully the offer of service as Principal made by. Miss Fraser, M.A., for many years Inncipal of Wangauui Girls' College. It mended the Assembly to approve generally of the plans of, a building cstanated to cost, with furnishing, about. £10,'000, which plans ■ had been submitted by Messrs Rush and James, of Hastings, leaving it, however, to thoexmUivoo alter these .plans or to call tor otners ff it should bo - thought desirable, lhe following gentlemen are nominated asi an ewSSw of the General Committee :-TUe Revs! Jamos Paterson and Alexander Grant (joint conveners), tho ; Kevs. vi. I A Asher,. P. Ramsay, and fl. ]%&*«*»£)* 7»r with uovror to add lo .their munner. Tho committco resolved that lnflr Church was called St. Ooluniua s. Cross, tho inscription, Lo*e, Joy, P fh 0 o'"llov. James Paterson said the Church had already done a peat deal for tefiwras & .»• Church of England and Roman Catholic rnce k to o tte C Ciuu D ch ft their father's would SS'lSt r~ K-Jf !fsr|r«! Church to provide for the higher educaHnn nf "iris in such a college. It should ■ nnt lia left entirely to Hawkes Bay alone, for he hoped tho time would co.no when thero would be other ■ institutions of the «,,nI ind established in other parts o Hie laml In ft® meantime, however al the Presbyterians in the conn ry should succeed Ho moved the adoption of tho

J'° ,h ' w '™ Rev. A. Grant coraMs r 1 bllmff of' "'the •'Sollcy so . m ° nminf it Mr. Paterson had shown "hadXt Jinvalu'"3 W^ad tlcmenhad offered .€IOO this year and | JIOO nc"t, and some £Wn a year as lons •V raiuired, so that it was not to say what the real amount now promised actually was. In nil they would need at least <£12,000, and in order to get money to make tho progress payments 'to the contractor for the building meiub i . debentures for SooC the Lenity of the school. There Si te no fears as to the final success of "til" college, and there would not bo tho slightest difficulty in paying 5 per crat on the debentures. He was •sure the debentures would be promptly taken up, ami if the promises for yjnrfy payments were fulfilled tho money for tho interest would bo forthcoming. £ Fraser wns next invited to address ' the Assembly. She spoke altwethor of I he? ideas on tho education of girls, ivh ch ideas were, she admitted, not very ortho''The Rev. Professor. Hewitson, of Knox College, said ho fully realised tho possibilities of such a college for girls, saying that it would exorcise an inealci lauii* influence for good in tho lifo of tho State Ho agreedthat .the Church was exceedingly fartunato in. getting_tho ser,)Vic«\af y«wwj» Jtes .M.

Principal of tho school. Ho was_dellEhted that tho committee lind achieved e> i success hitherto in Us organising v,k, but ho did not approve of the Tocom mondation that the P'j 1 "® ot f ? . -.yit'lifirra of architects should ho adoptal with out competition. Ho suggested that m dependent expert advico ought to taken and that competitive designs Do Ca lir! Pat'erson refused to accept tho burgestioii, find Sir. Hewitsoa nicv\ ed amendment to give cffect to it. The amendment was defeated and tlio motion carried. , THE BIBLE. SOCIETY. IN NEED OF PRACTICAL HELP. | The Rev. F. H. Spencer, New Zealand agent of tho British and Foreign JJiwo Society, addressed the Assembly, tie declared that tho work the society was doing was a very useful work, and tl <. ■ it relieved the churches of an lmmcnso deal of labour and expenditure. iUe society sold the Scriptures at very 1 prices, so that the averago return lor every .£1 worth of expenditure was on } 7s. (ill. The remaining, 12s. 6d. had t be mad© up by, the; Church if; tho work was to be kept going. All Christian lnin isters ought to do everything possiblo to impress upon their congregations the necessity for giving practical support to society. He asked tho Assembly ... apart one regular Sunday uponl « W special sermons dealing with tho socie y work should be preached. On the motion of the Rev. R. M. 1J . burn, the Assembly urged all Presby terian ministers to observe, as far as; possible, the first Sunday m May. as Bible Society Sunday.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS. ' THE EXAMINATIONS. Tho Rev. G. Lindsay presented the report of the Sabbath School** Efunuaton Committee. It showed that tho numbei of entries for examinations tlus year • less than in the two previous years, ut the 430 who took part m tho essay competition only 36 reached the ithper cent, standard, and a. considerable number .ieU below 50 per cent. In Scripture, and l }! tho shorter catechism the sen«al standard of efficiency was good. The comm t tea had at present under consnderatio!a the question of grading tho catcchism sections most suited to the different <g of the children. " ' , The report was'adoptea.

YOUTH OF THE CHURCH. A VITAL MATTER. Tho Eev. John M'Kenzie (Christctarcli) moved tho adoption ot the Youth ot the Church Committee's report. Following is an extract from tho re P °"lt is satisfactory to be'able to that the total congregational increased during the year by 1 of the increased'liabilities re ; l "£, 1 t the committee, owing to tho "PPomtment of a second agent, it is evident-that the financial position requires careful consideration. In last year s report- t ' estimated that under present the sum of .£7OO would be needed which amount was apportioned- as !°; lo^; 0 . Congregations. .£300; Bible Clasje* A-SU, Sunday Schools, £150. The wtunUmounts received during the year esa tions, .£311; Bible Classes, .£lB3, bundaj Schools, J!65. Congregations have coffin buted the amount asked for. In sideration of the fact that Mr. Barton had l>een at work only four months Wore tho end of the flnancml year, the cent - bution of Bible Classes must be regarded as highly satisfactory, cannot be said of the Sunday School contribution. At present our Sunday Schools report tho sum of. £6140 passing through their books. In tho face of this fact it does not sewn unreasonable to expect from them a . of .£l5O for the support of their own a«cnt. Your committee recommends thai during the present year an effort should be made to ascertain definitely the mind of Sunday School teachers m this raster. Unless a more generous response comes from the Sunday School section, a special agent cannot bo maintained for this W '£ committee made the following re- , commendations (along with °tb el3 't, "1. Tliat the Assembly appoints Yount People's Day for .tho. third Sabbath of October,-1913, and in view of the fact that next year will be a time of special ovanKolistic effort in the Dominaon, appoints the week ending October ln , as , special prayer and effort on behalf of tho directed to examine into the .causes that ] ° any decrease in tho number of Sunday Sciiool scholars- or Biblo Class members within their bounds, and report to tho committee through corresponding wei£ bers. That more earnest efforts be made to start new Sunday Schools and Biblo Classes, and that' in the case of newlystarted Bible. Classes they be urged to affiliate with the unions. Mr. Mackenzie said that although tno attendance at Presbyterian Suiiday Sclioola had increased. from 26,000 to 36,000 in ten years, it was still a fact that not all. the children were being enrolled in the Sunday Schools. There were somo 16,000 children of Presbyterian parents who .were not accounted for in tho school registers. The .Chinch ought not to be satisfied until at had enrolled at least 50,000 children, and ui this the big city churches, could do most, Ho deplored the Sunday picnicking habit, especially the growing custom ot taking children to tho seaside and to other place, .on Sunday. These children iwcre Kcttiiif no religious training, and the Tesult wa. that they were growing up in a Christiai land absolute pagans. , Mr. George A. Troup seconded tho motion. He said tho falling off .in the number of young people joining the Church in nearly all districts was abnormal, and tlio reduction could he explained only by the hypothesis that some extraordinary cause was at work bringing this about. '.It was a vital matter for the 'Church, for tho young people, must be the life-blood of all congregations. He hoped that a very decided increase would be recorded next year.. Mr. F. B. Barton, 8.A., Bible Class Travelling Secretary, urged the need for greater enthusiasm in the work among young people. 1 Many Mung . men were Riven up t& amusement that did not ennoble, and were exposed to penis anu temptation that could only he oveicome by a faith which did net. shrink. There M 4e n ßev. f °G. a H re jupp, Sunday School Travelling Secretary, also gavo somo acpount of the work be was doing.. He saitt the Sunday scnool tcachers were keenly enthusiastic; the teacher who had no vision was "becoming-more and more rare. For the rest he spoke of teaching' method [ft Sunday schools, his remarhs being addressed mainly to teachers. Tho report was adopted.