It was strange that, in the days of churches and schools, libraries, ministers of religion, open-air preaching, a free press, and other corollaries of civilisation, he said, we should have in the midst of us sooth-sayers, fortune-tellers, spirit-tappers, etc., with their charms, crystals, and books of fate.
Of course, there were a great many foolish people with more or less faith in these diviners of the future who were always ready to submit to being duped.
It was perfectly astonishing how tyrannically society was ruled by the superstition that related to the future of life and to the close of lite upon earth.
He also referred to spiritualism as being detrimental to the true spiritual welfare of the people.
It was remarkable that all over New Zealand there were to be found fortune-tellers and their dupes.
"They dethrone God," he said, "and in His place set up a god of chaff.
"Can any sane person for a moment believe that the issues of life and death are in any way connected with the petty details of circumstances to which I have referred?
"Can anyone believe that any man can tell my destiny?"
Fortune-telling, he declared, was verily a black art, a deep, cunning imposture which robbed fools of their money and of what little sense they happened to possess, and which caused them to lose faith in morality and in God.
"Will you go and ask a poor erring creature," he proceeded, "steeped to the very lips in ignorance and in sin, to divine your future?
"God forbid! If I believe that God handed the government of human life to such beings who would use crystals and various other things to tell men of their life, he would cease to be a God to me."
Mr Ready also said, in the course of his remarks, that these people, when brought before the courts, escaped with fines, which were not sufficient punishment.
They ought, he declared, to be compelled to hide themselves from society.
• Though business in the Otago provincial district has been very good throughout the present year, a local business man whose opinion carries some weight recently stated to a Times representative that there was every indication of a lull and of a period of quiet.
So far as land is concerned, he stated values are extremely high, and owing to this fact and the additional difficulty of securing advances, buyers find that unless they secure terms from the vendors financial difficulties crop up and trouble ensues.
Very few transactions in land have therefore been taking place of late.
So far as stock are concerned, the demand which has existed for some time remains unsatisfied.
Flock-owners have been experiencing difficulty in getting their available feed eaten up, and as a result have been holding stock which, under ordinary circumstances would have been disposed of by now.
All classes of stock are sharing in this brisk demand, cattle, like sheep, bringing extremely high rates.
The plentiful supply of grass during the winter has enabled flock-owners to carry stock through in fairly good order without attempting to make use of the turnips, which, in many cases, could not be got at.
The result of all this is that stock are in splendid order and later on should yield heavy returns both of wool and lambs .
-ODT, 6.8.1912.
