CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3569, 24 July 1890, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

Social Purity.' TO THE EDITOR OF THE WAIRAKAFA DAILY, Sir,—We notice in the columns of yonr issue of the 21st a few remarks made by theßovJ.Dellowinthe couise of his sermon last Sunday evening, headed, " Sooial Purity," In one place he Bays, on arriving home one Sunday evening at half past eleven, he heard hilarous laughter arising from a field near Papawai.. The place mentioned (Papawai, a native settlement) is at lease two miles from Greylown, and to be near that place we presume would not mean more than half a mile away at; the most, At that rale the Kev, gentleman heard (ho laughter a mile and a half away, (he must have long ears) which we very much doubt that ho did, and feel quite satisfied that he did not, Further, be states he has been " horribly disgusted" at what 119 has witnessed on his way home at a very late hour, between tho Black Bridge and Groytown, (wo suppose he means the Waiohine bridge as to our knowledge there is not a black traffic bridge in the Wairarapa). He says he saw scores (which must mean forty or sixty or more) ofyoung peopleof oppositesexes sitting together on logs, etc.-, on. moonlight nights, which wo believe to be the height of imagination, If lie saw one individual, which is very improbable, he must have counted him twenty, without a second .thought, Perhaps ou that particular evening, If tho rev. gentleman had driven on as far as Featheiston ho would have been able to state he bad seen hundreds. The ..cream his Masterton friends put in his coffee before leaving must tend to create a largo amount of imagination; A few Sundays ago tho rev, gentleman, in the course of his sermon to his Greytown congregation, remarked that there had been dancing going on till a late hour the Sunday previous in a certain hall, a statement entirely without foundation, and false to the extreme, as was afterwards proved to him., Perhaps our readers will now see our object in contradicting the statements made by the rev gontleman at Mastertoh last Sunday, We beseech his hearers in the name of Christ to seek the truth, and hope the rev, gentleman will in future be careftil of tlie statements ho makes regarding tho people of the township he represents,—Yours, &c„ ADVOCATEB FOB TRUTH,. Greytown, July 22.

(TO THE EDITOR.) Sir.—Just now it appears to be the fashion to makq a great outcry about the immorality of the people, ! and under the excuse of the term ' "Social Purity" all manner o£ evil.is , brought forward and paraded before a mixed assemblies, by misguided and I oforzcaloua persons, Doubtless they ■ are well meauing, but at the snme time ah infinite amount of harm ia done by the sowing of seed which too often bears fruit of, an unexpected nature, by placing thoughts of evil in the minds of hitherto innocent young persons, and until placed before them J under the heading of "social purity," hod cover entered their imagination, a In the Wairarapa, as in most other : places, champions have arisen who under the social purity banner hold " up their hands in pious horror at the J' mere thought of immorality in any form, and at tho same timo make ' exnggeratedand misleadiagstatements, calculated in tho first place to do 1 immense harm to those whom they ' directly address, and secondly to the reputation of the place, Everyone of ' mature years is aware of the existence 1 of certain social evils, but I, do not think any person can say with justice that the Wairarapa is a particularly ' immoral district, On the contrary, it 1 is myopiuion, sir, tliat the young ' people of this district are as modest, ' as well-behaved, and as moral, as any 'in New Zealand, Last Sunday 1 evening the Eev DelloW, of Grey town, I preached in Masterton a sermon calculated to do harm to his hearers ' and to the place, and on every hand 1 expressions, of deep disapproval of tho J remarks mado by the rev, gentleman are heard, and it is to, bo sincerely [ hoped that wo may have no more ' such discourses, or Mr Dellow may 1 find his audience leaving in a body, The argument may bo used that" to j. the pure all things are pure," If so, ' I would ask Mr Dellow why he draws the worst possible inference flop all • be sees and hears? Does he imagine that by parading evil before innocence 1 ovil-doers will bo made better ? No, rather will innocence be contaminated, What a striking illustration of this we 1 had a few years ago in the Pall Mali Gazette disclosures, and who can say whore the harm, done by those articles will end? When will ministers of the gospel see tho folly of dragging these things up in thoir churches before children and young girls,*ln my opinion, sir, it is neither Christian nor right.—l am, &, ' ' Pito Patria, - Corporation'?. JltotoaUa. ' TotheEMIOB, Sir—ln perusing your paper I see that the farmers are about to start a wheelwright's, shop in connection with 1 a farrier's. Now, sir, it seems strange, 1 that bccauso farriers chooso to form a I Union and demand a.certain price for ' their work, I, for one, have to loso a cortain'amount of support from the ( many whom I lmvo worked for. I f have carried on a coach builder's and wheelwrights establishment for njajjy ■! years at a great expense; employed ' first-class mechanics, have competed 3 againstthcColony,andforwardedorders ■ to Wellington one way, and Woodville the other; tlflit should bo sufficient 8 guarantee that the farmers of Master- f ton have had fair prices and can get ' good value for their money, Then 11 why form a Faruiera'.Union to boyopW J] Because the farrier offends, tho wheelwright must'suffer, The Chairman; ' Mr Stuckey, at the farmers meeting,' jin his remarks, said introducing unity J i»to ibo Wairamp, so tirw .tk t

settlers, wei-e concerned, would bea good-thing, I quite agroo with Mr Stuckey's remarks, unity is strength, liut boycotting in unions is another thing,-The Avwmma"We have sucli detestation, that we dcciineto discuss it; tho miserable system of revenge ■■ hichit describes is obviously wrong, both root and brjnbli; in every form of development it is tyranny in a new anil monstrous. Bhapa, it is worse than uich'iiiirn,'it'is devilish, Any mm lending countenance to boyoattiug deserves to be disfran. cliiscd, and whenever he is shown to have taken auy part in its practice, he equally deserves what ".our. Courts are now prepared to give him 1 , o ball and ch:iin," Now, sir, I fail to see the use of nnionisni in ilijs Colony unless curried on on a better', principle than some of them which I liavo read of in your valuable journals. I am, &e.; ' Edward Dixon, / Coachbuilder, ■ llnsterton.