The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1171, 17 January 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1880.

The Irish famine ! What does it indicate? Fortunately, we only know from report—not from experience. It would scarcely be possible for either an artist or a writer to draw too vivid a picture of the terrors of an Irish famine. Its cause is invariably only a failure of the potato crop, but that 13 the failure of almost everything that the Irish peasantry depend upon for subsistence. Recollections of the miseries produced by the Irish famine of 184G-7 haunt U3 as we write, and we would fain turn our eyes from so dismal a picture to a brighter one. There is a brighter one, but it is partially concealed. The view will dissolve—sunshine is only veiled by storm-laden clouds—and it is in the power of fellow humanity to hasten the operation. They will be equal to the occasion. Their charitableness when the famine-stricken and dying millions of India sent a wail throughout the Christian world is fresh in our memory. The pleadings of the sufferers by the Glasgow Bank failure, which was so liberally responded to, has scarcely died away. These calls from suffering humanity, so liberally responded to, regardless of creed or color, developed the heaven-born phases of human nature. May we not predict that the present call will elicit the same unanimous and liberal charitableness ? The beseeching 3 are not from the Hindoos thi3 time—they are not from the suddenly pauperised wealthy constituents and shareholders of the Glasgow Bank. They are from the poor of Ireland, whose subsistence at all times frugal by compulsion, is being snatched away by famine produced by no act of their own, but by a failure of the crops that have provided them with the bare necessaries of life. Do we need anything more than this to induce us to thrust our hands into our purses as deeply as we are able—any more than this to cause us to share our crust with them ? The meeting at Dunedin answers with an emphasis, the meaning of which cannot be mistaken, No ! The action of a few kindiydisposed men of Oamaru, whose petition to the Mayor has resulted in the summoning of a public meeting for Tuesday night next to consider what steps should be taken to organise a subscription list to assist in alleviating the distress is equally emphatic Such men as Judge Williams, the Rev. Dr. Stuart, and Bishop Moran have led the van, and, despite the opposition of misanthropes the wave of charity will flow freely. Our. local contemporary places before its readers two calls that have lately been made upon the purses of colonists —one for a suitable memorial to Sir Rowland Hill, and the other for aid to the famine-stricken Irish. It favors the memorial fund, and throws cold water on the other. Of the Rowland Hill memorial fund it says :—" Apart ! from his postal reform, Sir Rowland Hill I is worthy of being kept in perpetual rei membrance for the sake of the example i of his life He was an

heroical character, and his work is a boon to all mankind ; and those who think it well for humanity to honor the memory of great benefactors of the race, and who can afford, without prejudice to their personal obligations, to join in a movement having that end in view, could scarcely find a better object for the expenditure of a little spare cash than a memorial to Sir Rowland Hill." It contends that a monument to the dead is of greater moment than the bestowal of food upon the necessitous and starving living. Of the proposed Irish Relief Fund it says : " Our mission is, above all things to speak the truth, not offensively, but with honesty and without fear. It is, in our opinion, at once unfair and unreasonable for the people of such an immensely wealthy i country as Britain to apply, in a case like ! the one under notice, to these struggling i young Colonies for monetary assistance." '•' Bat ' what is truth ?' said Pilate." "We reply that it is not always to be found in the sentiments of an editor. But how noble—how sympathetic—are the utterances of Dr. Stuart when compared with the cold philosophical arguments of our contemporary. At last night's meeting hesaid: | " It was quite enough to awaken their I sympathies and elicit their benevolence to be told that there was deep distress in Ireland, an interesting portion of the British Empire, and that fellow-subjects and fellow-Christians were suffering from lack of bread. When he thought of the superabundance of food everywhere in this country, he felt more fully the position of the Irish who were suffering from hunger." This portends true Christian generosity. Our contemporary's arguments savour strongly of the editor's dungeon, pedantry, and Quakerishness. From that particular class of Latin well - known to schoolboys, we glean the following saying, appropriate to ita case:— "Caesar cucurrit caput swum plenum sed contra homo die pax" (Caesar I ran bis head full butt against the mantel- ! piece). In its article it alternately blows ! hot and cold. It evidently wished to ! deliver itself of all its unpopular notions, but felt that they must be tempered by an occasional contradiction in favor of reason and popular opinion—of Christian charity and humaneness. It again says " We keep all the facts of the case clearly before us." Up to this point our charitableness had led us to attribute our contemporary's cramped notions to a want of consideration. We regret that it has confessed that such is not the case. However, it will matter little if our contemporary keeps all the facts before it, and revels in its contracted and abstruse ideas till doomsday, so long as it is left to do so alone. But, once more it assists the cause by confessing its knowledge that there is much distress in Ireland "amongst our fellow-men and fellow-subjects—we will even say, our blood relations," and that it is aware that the doing of acts of kindness as between them and us will relieve their distress, and cause them to think gracefully of us ; that by audi means our humanity may be raised and our interests as different people belonging to one empire conserved. The next sentence betrays a return of our contemporary's aberration. It says : " Britain should have put her hand more deeply into her own pockota beforo

coming to the colonies where tunesipf late have been very dull, and where individuals and communities alike at present find it difficult to meet their obligations. Our contemporary's case is not hopeless. We think that we can dispel it 3 hallucination, and assist in the restoration of its reason. Will it be good enough to mention instances of Britain's neglect to respond to the calls of charity ?.. T It cannot. Then the difficulty is overcome. Looking beyond the narrow precincts of its office, it must acknowledge that Britons, whether at Home or abroad, never lose the brightest of their national characteristics—that of responding to charity's calls with a ispontaniety in accordance with the exigencies of the case. They do not, while starvation is doing its grim work amongst thousands of their fellow-creatures, pause to philosophise or enter into minute arguments upon the merits or demerits of their case. They do not scan the subscription list to see what John Smith and Peter Brown have contributed, and withhold a helping hand because they think that they have not contributed enough. It is sufficient for them to know that thousands of their fellow-creatures and fellow-coun-trymen, and their wives and children, are dying of starvation. Our contemporary will yet see that we are right and it is wrong. The subscriptions raised in this district and the Colony will prove it.

The Daily Times and Mr. Stout have scored a victory in regard to the new chair to be founded out of funds under the control of the Presbyterian Church Property Trustees. Dr. Copland urged in season and out of season, in Synod, and in correspondence in the columns of the Times, the propriety of appointing a Professor of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy. With such a chair the University Council would have nothing to do, and last Synod an interim Act was passed which hung the question up till the meeting of the Synod now in session in Dunedin. In the meantime Dr. Copland and his supporters threatened that the new chair would be founded in spite of the University Council, and placed side by side with Professor Salmond's theological chair in a Presbyterian College. Better sense has prevailed. By a majority of 16 to 36 Dr. Copland's motion was lost, and Professor Salmond characterised it as follows :—" The question was simply what was the intention of the Church in 1856, and there were men present who could answer that question. Could it at that time have entered into anyone's mind that such a reading of the Act was possible as that which the ingenuity of Dr. Copland had discovered ? He gave it as his opinion that if such a proposition as that now made had been moved it would have been scouted as an abuse. Dr. Copland's proposal he regarded as both absurd and impossible. To found such a chair in connection with the Theological Hall would be an abuse of the trust—(hear, hear) -and simply an outrage on the conscience of the whole community." We congratulate the Presbyterians, the public, and the Daily Times, •Rhich journal has all through opposed Dr. Copland's proposition, on the victory of common sense over bigotry and sectarian feeling. The best of the joke is that Dr. Copland is charged with having designed the Chair of Moral Philosophy and its L6OO a year for himself. If this be true he was simply fighting for his own hand ; but perhaps this is Dunedin" scandal. The motion finally carried was that moved by the Rev. Mr. Morice to the effect that the Synod should establish with the funds at their disposal a Professorship of English language and leterature, political economy, and constitutional history ; and this, no doubt, the University Council will accept.

As yet no entries have been received in this district for the New Zealand Rifle Association's meeting to be held in Nelson next March, but we believe that there is every prospect of the district being very well represented. Messrs. Morris, Harding, and M'Corkindale are almost certain to be amongst the competitors, and there is a probability of Messrs. Ross (of Otepopo) and King also entering. It is, however, difficult to say who will go to Nelson, but we fear there is little hope of sufficient competitors going from any company to make up a team to fire in the match for five representatives of companies, though we should certainly be pleased to see five of the best shots of No. 1 Company enter the lists, as we believe that they would be hard to beat. From all we can learn, this match is likely to be a comparative failure, for the I only places likely to send sufficient competitors from one company are Wellington and Nelson. It would haye" .been much better had the council of the Association substituted in its place a match for representatives of Provincial Districts, or a nationality match. Of course it is now too late to amend the programme, and we can only trust that the council will gain wisdom by their experience of the result of the match now forming so strong a feature in an excellent programme. At Messrs. Maclean and Co.'s wool sales, held yesterday in Dunedin, cross-bred wools realised from 8d to lOd per lb., which is 2d or 3d in advance of the prices of last year. The wool sold comprised a large quantity from this district. As will be observed from an advertisement in another column, his Worship the Mayor, in compliance with a requisition, has called a public meeting for the purpose of considering what steps shall be taken in order to obtain subscriptions for the relief of the sufferers by the famine in Ireland. At a meeting of the South New Zealand Congregational Mission, held in Dunedin on Thursday last, Mr. Lewis was requested to take the oversight of the Congregational Church in Oamaru. This church has now been organised for more than a year, and it is thought that the fact of its having existed so long without a regular minister proves this to be a suitable locality for a church based on Congregational principles. Pending the erection of a new church, which is contemplated, Mr. Lewis will conduct service in the usual place of meeting, viz., the Old Tees-street Hall.

At the conclusion of the Volunteer parade last evening, Captain M 'Corkindalo road a letter to the Citizen Cadets from the Timaru Artillery Cadets in reply to a challenge sent them to fire a friendly match. The Timaru Corps stated that they had been compelled to decline to accept the challenge at present, as their old range had been abolished and a new range had not yet been obtained, It is

probable, however, that a match will, be arranged so soon as the Timaru Cadets have secured a new range. The Congregational denomination in Oamaru will no longer be dependent for their religious services upon the periodical visits of ministers from other places. The Rev. J.,H. Lewis, late of Bristol, has just arrived in Oamaru, and will enter upon his duties to-morrow, when services will be held by him in the Old Tees-street Hall in the morning and evening, at the 'usual hours.- . Ic is'iiotified -that"the weekly parades of No. 1 Company, 0.R.V., will be resumed on Monday evening at eight o'clock, and that the band will meet for practice at eight o'clock every Tuesday evening. ■*■;• . A general- meeting of ' members of the Oamaru Jockey Club will, be,held at.the Eninire Hotel on Monday, at eigbt^o'clock, for the purpose of receiving- a -balance-sheet and .transacting general .business. - A meeting; of the Oamaru Schools Committee was held last evening in Mr. Hardy's office, there being present—Messrs. N. Fleming (Chairman), W. J. Smith, Montagu, Garland, Hay, and Hardy (Secretary). Messrs. Peattie, Rice, and Lindsay were also present. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed, and the outward correspondence was read and approved. Mr. Wm. M'Donald was appointed assistant teacher in the South School, and Miss Jones was appointed.to fill a similar position in the North School. - The appointment of matron to the High School was postponed till the return of Miss Blakely from Victoria, and in the meantime the Education Board will be asked that Miss Pratt may be sent to Oamaru to fill the vacancy for a week or two. A letter was read from the Secretary to the Education Board with reference to the appointment of two representatives on the Education Board for North Otago. -After a little discussion it was decided to nominate Messrs. James Fulton and H. Clarke. On the motion of Mr. Montagu, seconded by Mr. Smith, a unanimous vote of thanks was accorded to the retiring Chairman. Both gentlemen spoke very highly of the manner in which Mr. Fleming had fulfilled the duties pertaining to the office,- and expressed a hope that the incoming Committee would endeavor to secure his services for the forthcoming year. Mr. Fleming briefly replied, and the meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the chair.

The monthly inspection of the headquarters companies of the North Otago Volunteers wa3 held last evening, when there was a very good muster, more particularly of No. 1 Company. After the arms, &c, had been inspected by Captain Sumpter, the officer in charge of the battalion,- the force, headed by the bands of the Artillery and No. 1 Companies, had. a short march out. On returning to the Volunteer Hall, the officer commanding read a letter from Col. Reader, Under-Secretary for Defence, stating that LlO had been granted towards putting the rifle range in order. Another letter was read from Col. Reader,' intimating that it was impossible to comply with the request for a number of Snider rifles until a supply of arms had been received from Home. Captain Sumpter also read the regulation anent the district prize firing, and intimated that a meeting of officers would be held on Tuesday, the 26th inst., to apportion the sum allocated to this Volunteer district. Some other announcements were made, and the parade was dismissed. At the Resident Magistrate's Court to-day, before T. W. Parker, Esq., R.M., James Kelly, against whom 42 previous convictions were recorded, was again charged with having been drunk and disorderly, and was fined L 5, with the alternative of 14 days' imprisonment, with hard labor. John Hawker and Charles Lefevre were charged with having, at Herbert, on the. 14th instant, stolen 30s worth of stamps from the shop of Mr. Charles Beckingsale. Prisoners pleaded not guilty, and were remanded until Monday. John Madden was charged .with having wilfully and maliciously broken and damaged five panes of glassin the window of Charles Clifford's boarding-house, and was fined L2 10s, and ordered to pay L2 damages, with the option of going to gaol for 21 days, with hard labor.