The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY OCTOBER 31, 1885. THE SOCIAL PROBLEM.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1412, 31 October 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY OCTOBER 31, 1885. THE SOCIAL PROBLEM.

At the Himnai \ uhlie meeting ol the Emrainui-I Congregational Church, Oamaro, mi the 27ih in.-t., the following resou.ions, moved by the R-v. Edward Walker and seconded by th> Ivv. John iiit*'»worth, were un«nimoush adopted : Kesolved-''That this meeting oxpresses profound thankfulness to God that universal attention has been so effectively aroused by the recent discostires in the Home Count ry to tin widely prevalent and terribly diabolical tniffit) . . ~ ami for the in*ta>m?n'> of preventive r«form which the Criminal Law Amendment Act provides tlitre ; (2) That this meeting also expresses itsearnest, convicion that the safeguarding of ihe present and tuture youth «>f N«w imperatively demands similar, but more thorough-going, legislation in this colony ; (3) That the durati >nof protection should extend to the age of 2t yitar*, and corpoi .1 punishment be inflicted for violation ; (4) That, further, this meeting hereby app"als to every congregation and philanthropic organisation in thic> country to express itself by resoln tion or petition upon this question, and requests that the Chairman, the Rev. F. Seth-Smith, will forward a copy of these resolutions to the Premier, the Hon R. Stout." We publish the above a- th«» request ot the Rv. Seth-Smith, who pressed at the meeting, but at the onm;* time do not at all commend the action of the Church in question. In our opiuion, the less raid about these matters the better. The subjoc.t is one which we do not wish to discuss. It is very dangerous—because, however delicately handled, it it imp"*sible to tr**nt it t»o that it will not have a contaminating iafluence on the minds of the young. We bare expunged a few words which appeared in the resolutions—thew-rdh were innocent enough, Hnd th ir moaning would not possibly be understood b) half our readers. It is, however, in tlu difficulty to understand them the greatest danger lies. Their incom orehensibiiity would lead to inquiries, which would result in an explanation. But it is better not to pur.ue the subject further. We have not a-lowed anj of the revelations of the Pall Mall Gazette to appear in these columns, although other papers have made copious extract* from thfm, and we do not inteni to do «n. In our opinion, tlie action cf the Pall Mali it the greatest social outrage that has been committed in th> oresent century, and the more notice that in taken of H, the more widespread will its pernicious '■fleets become. ♦— DISTRICT FAIL WAYS. Our ariicle on the Di»ftict Railwajt* seems to hare irritated our recondite contemporary in Waimate. It nays the article wai» remarkable for th<* number of error* it contained, and tlie* to prov*that it was all wrong. Instead of doing bo, however, it admitfc every fact, and attempts to explain the causes which led-to. their existence. It explains that the reason Messrs Studholm*and liouglass were those who made tl> railway was bpcause ,l the remaining shareholders were unnble to fuifi' their We knew that; we knew the remaining shareholders were "ilunim>B," and we knew also that Messrs cMudholme nnd D.>ug!a«B were not able to fu fill their agreements, but we said not* ing »boii 1 it. Then the Times ex plains that the reason the railway w>.# ,not conatraottd sdi&Uno* of 1$ mile.*,

as originally intended, was " owing to the innbility nf the Directors to float th* debentures' in the London market." That is nil light, but, it wan constructed, notwithstanding this, a* inr a*. Messrs Htudholme and Douglass wanted it. Our statement was correct, Then it B«ye the reanon only two \tn\m e week wero run an the line wbb " that the Company cf.md not pay the Railway J for Additional trips, the charges boing J bo exorbitant." Exactly—w« said it ; wonld not pay to run tr*ina more fro | qaently. I hen with regard to damage! i>y floods, our contemporary says th-»* two yesrs ago the Company spent LSOOO in providing against floods, and thai hincft then no damage has been done. We hope that no iumage will be done in future, hut it appears to us that the danger still ♦•xists. Taking our remark* on "he Waimate Railway as a whole w» i(jink they were strictly correct, Not one assertion has been disproved. Mverythincr has been admitted, bin, with an amount of childish innocence that is quite refreshing, the Timeß trias to excuse the existence of such thing.*. The jribic done : it i« useless to discuss it further ; but we must nay that <n>> think the colony has got the, worst, nf j;.