NOTES CONCERNING THE MELANESIAN MISSION. 201 
Australian Board of Missions’ interest in Australia six years ago caused 
a great improvement in the local contributions to the Melanesian Mis- 
sion, and in 1913 these amounted to £2,928 as against £5,122 from 
New Zealand. 
In England, up till the time of the episcopate of Bishop Wilson, all 
interest in Melanesia was confined to the Eton Association and to the 
actual friends of the Mission—~. ¢., those in close touch with particular 
missionaries. [he Rev. Prebendary Selwyn had discharged all duties 
connected with the raising of the English income of the Mission, but 
in 1899 a paid secretary was appointed and an office was taken in 
the Church House, Westminster. The Rev. L. P. Robin was the first 
secretary and he was succeeded in 1905 by the Rev. A. E. Corner, 
who still occupies the position and who acts in an honorary capacity. 
For the last twelve years the Mission has had a regular lecturer touring 
in England and in 1913 the English income was £8,800. 
THES EUG. 
Up till 1895 the Mission had no way of making its needs known and 
of spreading the knowledge of its work, except by its annual reports or 
by quarterly papers published by Bishop J. R. Selwyn in England. 
The first number of the “Southern Cross Log”’ appeared in 1895, and 
now for twenty years the “Log” has been published monthly, and an 
edition is also published in England. Undoubtedly the “‘Log”’ has 
helped greatly in the augmentation of interest in the Mission, and the 
fact that the Mission has at last emerged into full view and has taken 
its place as one of the missions of the whole church is owing largely to 
services rendered by the “Log.’’ We may now say that whereas the 
Melanesian Mission started its life as the creation of the apostolic zeal 
of one man and was practically a private mission for many years, it 
has become at length the possession of the whole English Church. 
Before the episcopate of Bishop Wilson the leaders of the Mission 
contributed largely to its funds. In the building of the ships a large 
amount of private money was thus expended and the present Southern 
Cross is the only one built by public subscriptions. Bishop Wilson 
saw the necessity of bringing the needs of the Mission to the minds of 
the people of the Church at large and he greatly extended the already 
existing policy of apportioning native scholars to various schools and 
parishes; he also inaugurated the “‘Island”’ scheme, whereby a person 
or parish guarantees the upkeep of a mission school in a certain place; 
by this means he practically insured regular yearly contributions. 
The head office of the Mission is in Auckland. ‘This is owing to old- 
time associations and also to the presence there of Archdeacon Dudley, 
who was for so many years the treasurer of the Mission. Latterly the 
organizing secretary for New Zealand has also had his headquarters in 
Auckland. Bishop Wilson appointed a committee of business men in 
