Tuapeka Times

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 327, 4 February 1874, Page 2

Tuapek a Times

AND GOLOHELOS REPORTER AND ADVERTISER.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1874.

"MEASURES, NOT MEN."

A resolution wajs passed on Friday last at the annual meeting of the Dunedin Athenaeum, to open the Institution for 4 hours on Sunday, that we cannot allow to pass unchallenged. We should certainly deprecate the consequences of this resolujtionjbecauae a precedent to all kindred institutions throughout the"provm^. i_ taking up this matter, we do not intend to introduce into our columns tlie -vexed theological question ; but to consider it in that aspect which lies more akin to the line pursued by this journal. If men are not convinced as to the sacrodnesa of the day by Scriptural arguments, we have always held that no act of Parliament and no measures taken on purely social grounds can avail to ensure its proper observance. But this does not mean that we ought to abandon all attempts to preserve the institution of a seventh day's rest, and give up everything to those who, whether from honest or vicious convictions, set at defiance all claims put forth on behalf of the day. It is one thing for a party to say we believe in the day as one of rest from toil, and to be used for devotional purposes, and we do not call upon any to follow onr practices unless they hold our convictions, and quite another for the party to be called upon to sacrifice their views and meet a demand opposed to their convictions. Such a requirement is tyranny. Now it appears to us this is what the resolution passed by the small majority of members in the Dunediu Athenaeum has done. They require the members who hold that the Sabbath is a divine institution either to sanction by their support a state of things they believe to be wrong, or leave the Institution. To take part in the management of the Institution, and be consistent, a man must either erase the Lord's Day from Christianity or be sceptical altogether as to its claims. There was a class of speakers at the Athenaeum meeting who deprecated the introduction of the religious element into it. In doing so, if the report we have read has not misled us, they pointed to a letter written by Dr. Roseby, addressed to the " Evening Star." With what consistency they did so may be judged by the fact that the very man who led in this attack had announced his intention of proposing the resolution, which was only carried by a small majority — a resolution opposed to the views of, we believe, a majority of the members. If the little game of thus opposing the convictions of a large share of the membership had been allowed to pass unchallenged, the men who raised this clamor would no doubt have been pleased ; but it would have remained true, notwithstanding, that the parties had introduced the religious element under a phase which they knew to be offensive to a large body of their fellow subscribers. Well the resolution has been passed by a small majority, and it has been accompanied by an explanation to the effect that the officers were not to be called upon to attend on Sundays, but that members of committee are to attend in their turn. The effect of this will be to make those who believe that the opening of the Institution tends to secularise the Sunday withdraw from the management. Nay, it is, we believe, becoming a question with some, Ought they to support it at all in these circumstances ; and, if so, the institution will be managed by a sect non the less so that they refuse to be so recognised. The majority of that meeting may think themselves advanced and liberal, but the motion they have forced on does not seem to us to be either. The constituents of the Athenaeum are mixed, and the result of' this resolution, if carried out, will make it one-sided. We would advance further, and remind our readers that £500 of public money was voted to this institution last year, and now it will be by no fault of the majority if that institution is not a class one. And we decidedly object to the voting of public money to class institutions. We recently opposed denominational schools at public expense, and we are only consistent when we call attention to this

aspect of the question as regards the Dunedin Athenaeum. We . desire to put no restraint on the party who held these views on the Sunday-qnestioni only they ought, like the 'rest of the community, to support them at tb^eir own expense. They build or' lease premises for themselves nrhere they can carry out their views ; but they ought not to look for public money on behalf of an institution which, in its management, defies the honest convictions of a large body of the public. Public institutions like our Athenseums ought only to be conducted on a basis which renders them as nearly as possible accessible to all. It will never do for them to set the views of any part of the community at defiance, and mix up with them debateable questions. We give this judgment apart entirely from any consideration of the question on its merits. A repetition of such experiments will imperil our Athenseums, which are fitted to do much good, and we cannot help thinking the resolution passed at least short-sigh tbd.