THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1892. MR A. B. WORTHINGTON.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2413, 18 October 1892, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1892. MR A. B. WORTHINGTON.

An amusing spectacle, albeit a little pitiable, was witnessed in Christchurch last week. A few years ago there came to that city, from some place which appears to be not well known, a gentleman bearing the name of A. B. Worthington. He is supposed to have come from America, and some people claim to havj unearted an unsavory record of his doings there, but we believe that nothing is positively known with regard t© his antecedents. All that is positively known is that he is a man of gentlemanly bearing and scholarly parts, although some of his critics have placed grammatical errors to his credit. Lindley Murray himself, however, has been caught tripping in his grammar, so there is nothing very extraordinary in Mr Worthington saying " between you and I" when he ought to have said " between you and me." Mr Worthington was accompanied by a charming lady, and his relationship to her has been discussed, though, so far as we know, not satisfactorily settled. Mr Worthington and the lady commenced to preach a new gospel, and here we must put in the plea of ignorance. We have made inquiries as regards Mr Worthington's teachings, but even those who have heard him frequently do not appear to know much about it. We are told that he delivers a delightful address about nothing at all, and that the listener is no wiser at the end than he was at the beginning of it. We have read six lines of one of his pamphlets. It was to the effect that death is an unreality, which, like sin and sickness, would be with us so long as we acknowledge its mastery. That was enough. Life is too short to read proofs of death being only imaginary, so we gave up there and then the study of Mr Worthington's philosophy. But Mr Worthington has succeeded beyond what he or anyone else could have expected. In two or three years he has succeeded in building what is described as a splendid edifice, which is called the Temple of Truth, and here immense congregations assemble to hear him, while the pews of other churches are half empty. The ordinary ministers of religion look with mnch disfavor on him. They have waited on him in a body, with the view of drawing him into a polemical discussion. He received them most courteously, but declined the discussion. They and others have since attacked him through the columns of the newspapers, but he has not deigned to notice them. He has treated all charges—and some of them were rather serious—with complete indifference. He has kept on the even tenor of his way, and the effect has been to fill the Temple of Truth and empty some of the other churches. Finding that the parsons had failed, the women resolved to try their hand. About 100 women met one day last week in the Free Methodist Church, and after much talk proceeded in a body to Mr Worthington's residence. They were courteously received, and after exchanging civilities they told him they came to ask him to leave Christchurch, as his teaching was immoral. He asked them had any one of them been injured by his teaching, and a Mrs Lodge said " Yes," and repeated the request that he would leave. He said he would not leave until he was carried, and thereupon the ladies offered to carry him, but he replied that he would not go until he was carried to the cemetery, and then withdraw. The ladies then filed out of the House and spent some time in praying and singing hymns. This we regard as a most pitiable spectacle, but we shall not dwell upon it further than to say that it places woman suffrage before .our eyes in a new light. We have favored the female franchise, but this incident has weakened our faith in it, aCfl inspired us with a dread as to the consequents of giving women the power to vote. It is'alleged that Women are the equals of men, but we say, without fear of contradiction, that it would be im.possible to get 100 men so simple, so guileless, and so silly, as that they would go to a man's house and ask him to give up his means of living, and leave the scenes of his successes and his triumph, because in their opinion his tfmC.hing was injurious to public moralitv. 'Tiult- 1 () 0 women so devoid of sense'could be gin to act like the' women of Cin'lstoiu:r c » is scarcely credible, but more deploraJiJistill is the fact that they acted at the instigation of a clergyman. The Rev. Mr Iloskins, it is said, incited them to it. The incident will undoubtedly cool the ardor of some of the advocates of woman's suffrage, as people will think that women who could do this are not fit to exercise the franchise. THE MAYOR OF GORE. GoiiE is not a very euphonious name for a town ; it breathes of bowie knives, stilletoes, pistols, and coffee, and so on. This is the name of a town in Southland, which boasts of two biweekly papers and a mayor. Gore is famous for its mayor. Once on a time the Mayor of Gore insisted, gn

being regarded as the chief magistrate of the town, but the other Justices of of the Peace there declined to acknowledge him as such ; in fact they objected to sit with him, and he determined to compel them to do so. One day when two Justices were sitting His Worship entered and planted himself down between them, but, sooner than tolerate his presence, they adjourned the court. Later on in the day they again sat, but the mayor was there as fresh as a daisy, and then a scrimmage took place with the result that they tore the record book of the court between them. We said then, and we say now, that the two Justices ought to have been removed from the Commission of the Peace. Justices of the Peace may disagree in private, but on the Bench they ought to show nothing of it. It has frequently happened that men who would not speak in private have sat apparently on the most friendly terms on the Bench, and this is how it ought to be. On the judicial Bench private malice ought to be forgotten, but in Gore it had its full sway. Often since then, the Mayor of Gore has been in evidence, and at thepresent time the position is thecause of a terrible social upheaval. Mr lan Simson, the famous Mayor of Gore, is one of f.he largest shareholders of one of the local papers, and a candidate for the mayoralty this year ; Mr Alfred Dolamore. a part-proprietor of the Opposition rag, is the other candidate, and both are backed by their respective journalistic properties. This has thickened the plot around the mayoral candidature, so that it is not easy for the bewildered spectator to ascertain, who is the greatest villain of the play. One paper calls the other its "reptile contemporary " ; the other talks about the " malevolent ravings of a besotted intellect." One says that one of the candidates was black-balled by the lawn tennis club ; the other says the other candidate met with a similar experience, and denies that there is any truth in the report that the candidate contemplates joining the Rechabites, which is, we take it, a delicate way of hinting that he appreciates the dew of the Grampians. And so the quarrel goes on. It makes amusing reading, no doubt, for the larrikins, but how will the blue-blooded lawn tennis club look at it ? One thing is certain ; one of the candidates must be elected, but the blue-blooded lawn tennis club will not admit him as a member and then, oh then—but we must turn from the contemplation of such a sorry spectacle as the Mayor of Gore fallen so low as that he can only look over the fence where the lawn tennis club is perspiring with the exertion of their game ! Let us draw the veil over the sad scene and weep for the fallen greatness of the Mayor of Gore.

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Tjie Legislative Councillors are now appointed, but as most of them are unknown we are not in a position to say whether the selection has been wise or not. One thing which is most conspicuous is that they are all townsmen, while the country districts are completely ignored. We did not think the Government could have committed such an act of folly as this. The most effective cry which their opponents have persistently raised against them is that in all their legislation they have favoured the towns to the detriment of the country. Up to the present time the cry has been baseless ; there has not been the slightest grounds for it, and we have tried to repel it with all the vigor of which we are capable. But what can we say now, when we see that not a single representative of the farming community the most important interest in the colony has been placed in the Council V We know for a positive fact that the name of a substantial South Canterbury farmer was submitted to the Government, but neither he nor anyone else of his class has been appointed. Three members for the city of Christchurch, two for the city of Dunedin, and not a single representative for the 200 miles intervening. This is not as it ought to be ; it "is anything but satisfactory, and we are surprised at the fatuity of the Government, in over-looking the 'farmers—the very class they ought to have considered first of all. No doubt they have had great difficulties to contend with, but probably they will feel consoled by the fact that they have secured the approbation of the Christchurch Press.