ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 639, 4 March 1867, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

WB DO NOT IDENTIFY OURSELVES IN ANT WAT "WITH THE OPINIONS EXPBE3BED BT OXXJS OOEBESPONDENTS. (TO THE EDITOB OP THE SOTTTHLASTD TIMES). Sib, — I am sorry I must again trouble you with a few remarks on Mr. Pearson's letter in your issue of the 20th inst ; otherwise my silence would possibly be construed into a tacit admission of his allegations, that I withheld some of the j facts, and that my defence had nothing but plausibility to recommend it. Ist. — As to the 50 acre section at Invercargill, I stated that the property was purchased out of money given by the Primate for a specific purpose, viz., for general church purposes in Otago. "Whether the money came out of his Lordship's pocket, or from any Society's fnnds, I know not, and it would be most unbecoming in me to enquire, but I do know that it was under the Primate's Bole control, and was invested in accordance with his instructions. . 2nd. — As to Southland's share in the general endowment, the fact stated in my letter, "that Southland has always received its full share of the interest accruing from this fund," cannot be disproved, because the interest has always been placed to the credit of the Clergy Maintenance 3?und, and after payment of the various stipends, the surplus has always been divided amongst the various clergymen. Mr. Pearson ironically alludes to the liberality which he says " virtually consists in returning our own money with an average of from £7 to £10 added," and attempts to prove this by the statement that, " in 1863, £114 Is. Id. and in 1864, £93 16s. 9d. was sent to the general fund. " Let us test the accuracy of this by an extract from the actual accounts for 1863 — Cleegx Maintenance Fund.

showing a difference of £40, in rou nd numbers, paid to Southland in excess of receipts. But against this I find Mr. Pearson ingeniously brings in the sum of £54, which it is quite true was also received from Invercargill, but he should also have mentioned the source, viz. Marriage Licenses, which we all know are compulsory payments, and have nothing whatever to do with voluntary Offertories and private contributions from any particnlar church or district. Moreover, Otago has contributed three times the amount which Southland has for marriage licenses, and (as the annual accounts show) the whole is placed to a " general fund," at the disposal of the,Board tor general church purposes throughout the two Provinces. 3rd. — As to the consent of the two Provinces to the formation of a new Bishopric, I hope Mr Pearson will pardon me when I speak my conviction that Southland lacked the will, and not the ' ability, to send up representatives to the Board : at all events, it appears that delegates were appointed, and the fact which I quoted from the last published report, viz., that £100 had been promised from twenty subscribers in Otago and Southland, is something more substantial than mere " assents of good will to the Bishop's repeated proposal." "With regard to the subsequent resolution of the Board, which Mr Pearson says I forgot to mention, I can only repeat that I had no report to show what the Board had done since 1864, but the published proceedings at the recent annual meeting (where the presence for the first time of representatives from Southland was hailed with real satisfaction) furnish the necessary explanation, and render it unnecessary to pursue the subject further. I cannot, however, conclude without assuring Mr Pearson that the terms " coercion " and " priestly domination " are dead letters under the present constitution of this colonial branch of the Church of England. The lay element and voluntary contributions for the support of the church are aU-suflicient safeguards against any such religious oppression. — I am, Sir, your's obediently, Wir. Cabb Toting.

Total amount of Offertories and subscriptions received from Invercargill and Eiverton ... £260 1 1 Paid Incumbent of Invercargill and Eiverton amount guaranteed by the Disttrict 200 0 0 Do proportion of surplus of this fund 100 0 0 300 0 0