REVIEW.

Evening Star, Issue 4227, 13 September 1876, Page 4

REVIEW.

Presbyterian Church Trust : the Boon- I meats relating to the Title and Administration of the Trust Property of the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland, with Historical Narrative. Prepared by Rev. "William Gillies, 33martu Dunedin : Reitk and Wilkie, Princes street. Übe comprehensive title of this little book Jjjfearly indicates its nature and aim. The emthev, in his preface, explains that he had two objects in view la preparing an historical ••native relating to the trust property tiie Presbyterian Church ef « ’tago aad Southland, and in collecting the various documents b-aring on the subject, trs\ '* to put within the reach of the ministers and members of the Ohnroh the fullest Information regarding the manner in which •s Ohnroh became possessed of that proferty, and tke provisions of the trust under tibieh it is administered and secondly, •*%o make the public at large acquainted trith the fall facts relating to the Church's title to and administration of it; so that misrepresentations thereanent may henceforth ee inexcusable.” In pursuance of these objects, Mr Gillies takes us back to what may almost be called prehistoric times, so for ae New Zealand is concerned, and directs our attention to the proceedings which book place in Sootl nd between the years 1848 and 1847 with tho view of founding • Scotch Presbyterian settlement in the •oath of New Zealand, which culminated in

arrangements for the settlement of the Otago block bv a body of colonists despatched from Great Britain under tho auspices of the Otago Association. Port Coop.r was origi •ally chosen as the site of the colony, but was abandoned in favor of Otago, the beacon given for tho preference being Ibat “the neighborhood of Otago was essentially a poor man’s country,” while at Port Cooper “aselection of fifty acres Would not pay the cost of fencing and bnildins en it in the course of the owner’s ate.” It is evident there "were prophets in those days. The Otago Association was an association of lay members of the Free Ohnroh of Scotland, and tho colony which ft was firmed tor the purpose of establishing waa intended to bo strictly a Free Ohnroh settlement, just as Canterbury was Intended by its promoters to be a Church of Sagland settlement, although tho measures taken by the Free Ohuroh were bettor calculated to secure uniformity of religious creed amongst the inhabitants of its colony than

ware those adopted by the founders of Canterbury. These facte are familiar enough fee old settlers, but are less known to recent comers, and it is necessary to be Acquainted with them in order to understand the position taken up by Mr Gillies and those who think with him in this matter. The New Zealand Company bad, in 1844, taught from the Maoris a piece of land, 400,000 acres in extent, called “The Otago Block; ” and the Otaso Association, la order to carry out its colonising schemes, purchased 150,000 acres of this land, with the cotton of buying the rem under in the event Ct Its having sold 120,000 acres to private in jlividnalswithinfive years. The arrangements made for the establishment of the settlement were these : the settlement was to comprise 144,600 acres of land, of which 120,500 acres

were reserved for sale to private individuals; 0,025 acres for an estate to be purchased by the local municipal governments ; 6,025 acres for an estate to be purchased by the trustees for religious and educational uses; and 12,050 aorea for an estate to be purchased hv the New Zealand Company. The price •t the land was fixed at L2 an acre, which gave a sum of L 289 200 as the value of the whole area. Of this amount ono-elghth, or L 38 ,150, was appropriated to religious and educational uses, to be administered by . trustees, who were to expend L12,0500f it in ftie purchase of the6,o2sacres just mentioned, leaving a balance of L 24,100 available for general purposes; but the money was only to bo paid over to the trustees as the lands 6f the Association were sold. It looks rather ft clumsy way of securing a landed endowment] but there were financial difficulties to be overo. me which, doubth-ss, led to this ' plan be ng adopted for effecting the object iu view. The terms of the ag oement, so far fls it related to the endowment for religions ftud educational pnrp ses, were embodied iU a trust deed executed in Scotian ! on the 6th November, 1847, with a code ftf “ Institutes ” annexed. The point which has since been raised is, how far the terms upon which the endowment was originally granted have been observed in reference to education j and this trnst deed and the “ Institutes” are particularly valuable as showing what the parties to the deed contemplated ftt the time. It is plain, then, that they intended that the proceeds of the endowment should b© devoted partly to the support of churches holding the tenets of the Free Church of Scotland and partly to the support of schools in connection with and Under the control of the governing bodies of those churches. The endowment was thus strictly in accord . with the plan of the settlement. It was not exactly a State endowment, although we can hardly accept Mr Gillies s ingenious way of putting it when, referring to the landed estate purchased with the proceeds of this endowment, and now held by the Presbyterian Church, he says : “Any right or title which the .state ever had in or over this property was duly extinguished by purchase just as in the case of property held by private individuals. This purchase was made by toe first landowners in «dago, who, when purchasing their own properties, paid tus part thereof 5s per acre, on erudition that that sum shorn d be devoted to the purchase of propei ty for tho Presbvterian Church. By that 5s per ncre ftaid by tho land purchasers from 1847 to 802 the estate of the Church was purchased, and so was in reality the gift of those early landowners to the Church.” The proper definition ef the endowment is, however, of little consequence. The Otago Association did not manage to tell the whole of its land, and consequently the Church trustees did not get the L 33,150 Originally contemplated; but they received ft very substantial sum, of which they invested L 2,651 in land, the ultimate result being that the Presbyterian Church, under this trust, holds acres of land situated partly in Dunedin and partly in suburban and rural districts. Mr Gillies carefully traces the title of the existing Church to these reserves ; but it may be assumed, for the present, that the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Gothland has legitimately succeeded to this trust property, as well as to the valuable pieces af land in Dunedin known as tho .danse Reserve, tho name which is unpleasai t y familiar to the public in connection with the wide ing of Princes street, tho CollegeReserve, and Church Hill-better knew as Bell Hill, The list three reserves stand on a different footing to the others ; being, according to Mr Gillies, a special gift to the Church from the JNew Zealand » ompany, although one would have imagined that the Church had been to era >ly wall provi ed for previously. Mr Gillies, indeed, claims that, Inasmuch as tho Colony undertook to sell / the remainder of the 144,600 acres hj ft b\ the Otago Association upon tho same terms as those upon which the Association had agreed to di- pose of the block, it ought tu orgr one-qjghfc of the proceeds to m -:Q^rcb, , sbssi fcf «a . cltfmi ■which may 'allowed ! ib lxo' : {m jbejrance, The viw question in this matter

is : Has the Ernst property acqrrred from the tago Association been diverted from its original purposes ? It was set apart for “ religions and educational usesand although the Trust deed leaves It to the discretion of the trustees ae to what proportion of the funds shall bo devoted to either object, it is evident, from the tenor of the “ institutes ” and a general review of the whole of the circumstances under which the endowment was made, that it waa intended that a substantial share should be spent upon education. When, however, the Provincial Council established a State system of education, it became needless for the Presbyterians to maintain denominational schools; besides which, the existence of such schools might have tended to injure the Provincial schools, especially in country districts, by diminishing the number of scholars, and so render-

ing it impossible to secure the services of efficient teachers. The funds arising from the endowment, which began to be very considerable in amount, naturally flowed into the ecclesiastical exchequer, and the matter attracting attention, it came before the Provincial Council. Ultimately, the Church proposed a change in the administration of the estate, by which twothirds of the annual revenue of the estate would go to form an ecclesiastical fund, from which weald be defrayed tic cost of building an i repair) i g manses and churches, and the endowment of a theological chair or chairs in connection with the Presbyterian Church; while tbe other t'drd would form an educational fund, which would be applicable to iho sunp >rt of a literary chair or chairs in any college or university in Otago. This arrangement was embodied in a Bill, which passed the Assembly after some opposition had been encountered and evi-

dence taken by a select oommittco The grounds of complaint against this measure were that the application of a portion of the funds to tho endowment of theological and literary chairs, and tbe neglect to maintain schools in connection with the Presbyterian Church was a failure to carry out tne objects of the trust ; while Mr Gillies urges that, since it is inconvenient to striotdy comply wbh the original terms of tbe Trust, those terms have been properly varied, and quotes an opinion of l ord Moncrieff in support of his argument. It Is certain that when it becomes impracticable or impolitic to carry oat the original objects of a trust, a Court of Equity will vary the application of the funds, always keening in view the primary end of the grant; but Mr Gillies overlooks the fact that his argument cubs both ways, and since tho settlement by the Otago Association is become] merged in one of a larger and more catholic character, the progress of which has enormously enhanced the vaise of this trust property, it is a fair subject for consderation whether

the terms of the trust should not be varied bo as to restore to the community some portion of the benefit which it has bestowed. Moreover, since the Government has undertaken the entire change of education, and the (Jhurcn Trustees do not propose to establish denominational schools {in which we think tuey are wi*e), the question may be put, why should not the Trustees make a proportionate contribution to the State 1 The support of schools is of the essence of thii Trust. It pleased the Church, when a P§ plying to the Legislature for its variation, to tix one-third as the proper quota of the funds to be dtvoted to educational uses ; but why not two-thirds ? There are numen-ns questions involved in this matter to which Mr Gillies’s narrative does not furnish a reply. As an advocate, Mr Glides states his case temperately and well, and his book will he of service both to friends and foes ot the Church ; but we do not think it will produce the effect which he desires—of “setting at rest the fears of the one and the in pcs of the other regarding the pa siblo taki g away of those properties from the Onuroh,”