The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-17 00:00:00

THE NATAL DISPUTE.

"A Subscriber " writes to the Times to point out
the danger to which our oldest religious society, the
" S. P. C. K.," is exposed through the activity of a
small, but energetic] section of its subscribers. After
detailing the events of the meeting, at which it was
decided to grant 200 for the use of the Church in
Natal, independently of Bishop Colenso, the writer
points out that that bishop has never been legally
deposed, and the Bishop of Capetown refrains from
appealing to a lay tribunal, which could alone decide
the question at issue. Furthermore, it is a mistake
to suppose that Mr. Macrorie would be welcomed by
the great majority of English Churchmen in Natal.
" Even among the clergy, the majority was against
the proposal for a new bishop. The invitation to
select a new bishop was carried only after the expul-
sion of one or two clergymen who had communicated
with Bishop Colenso, by the casting vote of the
chairman. The laity are in a vast majority, deter-
mined to resist the intrusion of a new bishop by the
Bishop of Capetown. The situation, then, is this
The oldest society of our National Church is asked
to vote the sum of £2,000 for the promotion of an
antagonistic bishopric within a diocese the bishop of
which is condemned by no valid tribunal, and, as far
as is yet known, by no law of the Church ; and this
against the wish of the majority of the clergy and
the laity of that diocese." The writer concludes by
hoping that the grant may be rescinded at the
meeting on December 1.

TILE EXPENDITURE OP CHARITAI3LE AND RELIGIOUS
SOCIETIES.

The Daily Telegraph says that "money does not
flow so swiftly as might be desired into the coffers
of the Curates' Augmentation Society." It would be
more correct to substitute for " Curates' Augmenta-
tion Society," curates' pockets. The fund has received
in two years about £30,000 from the public—not a
bad sum. But of this amount more than £6,000 was
subtracted for management and administration. That
is, more than 20 per cent. of the total sum raised was
expended on such items as the payment of permanent
and travelling secretaries. In other words, if you
give a benevolent gentleman in a white neckcloth the
mini' of ten shillings sterling for the assistance
of a distressed curate, the collector being,
perhaps, a distressed . curate himself, and
thinking that charity should begin at home
—deducts one shilling and eightpence for the
trouble of collection. It would appear from the
report of the fund, recently published, that " the
movement does not receive unanimous support from
the bishops of the Church." The bishops clearly
have their suspicions. This is not altogether surpris-
ing, considering their practical acquaintance with the
Ecclesiastical Commission and its army of secretaries,
clerks, surveyors, Accountants, and lawyers.

nas rouna out • a new, or rather ot.
society, whose expenditure is aJmatter of curiosity.
It is called the Society for the Discharge and Relief
of Persons Imprisoned for Small Debts throughout
England and Wales." Some years ago this association
consisted of sixteeen persons, some of them being
elderly ladies; but of these sixteen only four took any
active park in the society's proceedings. In 1859 an
absent governor returned. The five governors are
the Earl of 'Romney, president and trustee; Mr.
Benjamin Bond Cabbell; treasurer and trustee ; Mr.
Harwood Harwood and Mr. Capel Cure, trustees
and auditors ; and Mr. F. Chatfield, trustee. There
are a solicitor, a banker, a secretary who is Mr.
Joseph Lunn, and an assistant secretary who is
Mr. W. A. B. Lunn. The trustees have the
absolute disposal of the interest of about -0100,000.
derived from a benevolent public for an object
which has daily become less and less, and may
soon cease altogether to exist. The funds had accu-,
mulated to such an extent that the trustees sought
and obtained an Act of Parliament (19th Victoria)
for their better disposal. The society are their own
auditors, and arrange the accounts after a manner
which has excited the astonishment of the Charity
Commissioners. In 1856 the funds had risen to
nearly £107,000. No balance-sheet is published,
and therefore nothing is known of their exp mses
nor of the way in which they di,stribute
their money. " Vigilans " reminds the trustees
that Mr. Peabody and Miss Burdett Coutts have
shewn that there are abundant ways in which the
poor can be helped; and now that the original object
of the society has almost become extinct, the trustees
are called upon to state the amount of the invested
funds at their disposal, the expenses in the way
of salaries and rent, the object to which they
intend to devote their enormous funds, the amount
of subscriptions and donations received during the
past years why they have not published an account
of their receipts, and what amount of money they
spent last year for the relief of persons imprisoned
for small debts. We suspect that the Cornish miners
whom the " tallythen " are so fond of imprisoning for
shawls and bonnets sold to the wives during their
husbands' absence from home, have not even heard
of this society, much less have they benefited by it.