A COLLAPSED SECT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 271, 12 August 1919, Page 7

A COLLAPSED SECT

; CHURCH FUNDS DISTRIBUTED. It is not very often that people find 'themselves in possession of wealth that they do not know what to do with, but that is what happened to Vv. C. Kernot, Charles H. Cotton, and Georgo A. List. ' of Geelong, who mado a unique applij cation, to the <£hief Justice in the Meli bourne Banco Court recently. Some j time prior to ISG-1 some adherents of tho ! Anglican church in Geclcr.g had a disj agreement with Bishop Periy- They 1 : seceded from the church, bought land in 1 ' I.atrobe Terrace, built a substantial. ' ! Milestone church there.. known for sonin ! time as the Free Church of England, ami appointed trustees. A condition of ' iho trusteeship was that the ohurcn should nevor again be subject to episcopal ! control. Changes of trustees had op. 1 ctirred since; most of the members of tho ' i church had returned to tho Anglican ' i fold; the building had been let to the i Church of Christ, and the trustees named \ I hold in trust a property valued at .£SOOO . ! for church purposes, without a congret; go and are receiving rentals for ; : which'they have no use, while there is , n.i p'jrpo'e to which tho nionev can bo . ' legally converted. Mr. 77. E. Hayes, for 1 the trustees, asked His Honour for per- [ ! mission to_ sell the property and to hand 1 nv»r the whole of the trust fund to the : ' Hospital. Mi-. Martin was pre* . sent to represent the Attorney-General, and raised tio objection to the proposal. ; 1 providing that the money was devoted to 1 somo permanent object, and not paid into : th n general funds of the hospital. ; Honour, said Micro were difficulty m the matter. The trust had wholly ; f.Vr'cd. h''t f'o mooi>v hut V-een i crril'ed for Higious purposes rather than 1 charity. However, there seemed no 1 other object to which the money eou'd ■ i lie devoted, and he therefore granted (he • . nnplication, subject (, o the 1 ; General's proviso, costs to come out of j the fund.