ST.PTRICK'S DAY TIRADE

Evening Star, Issue 17923, 20 March 1922, Page 7

ST.PTRICK'S DAY TIRADE

m LISTOH m IRISH FREEDOi. OPia Uottbd Passs Assasuiiow.] AUOICLAISrD, March ,19. Iti a (speech at tho St. Patrick's concert m Erfday evening Dr Listen, coadjutor Jtomaai Catholic bishop,' said his parents ;were <£riven from tho country in which they <were bom, and in which they would ham been content to live, because their foreign masters did not want Irish men and women peopling their own land, but widhad to use it as a cattle ranch for tho snobs of the Empire. lie was a native of New Zealand', and 1 lovo-i his ocrantoy. They could not say that Ireland had got all she asked for and all that h«r sons had died for, but she had got tlio first instalment of her freedom, and was determined to have the whole oE it. (Applause.) The omnipotent hand of God hfflS made Ireland a nation, and whilo the grass grow and the water flowed thero ■would be many to fight, and even die, in order that God's ■desires might bo realised. ■ It seemed to him providential that nien who ihad ■ faced difficulties and carried them 60 far were there to see that tho rulers of Ireland were not duped by England. Ho referred to the men and women in the glorious Easter of 1316 were proud to die for their country, murdered by foreign troops. They could not forget these men and women, but in order that their dream about Ireland might come true they could forgive. Norther at the beginning nor at. tho close of the concert was the National Anthem played or sung. Instead, at the end of the programme, the whole 'audience rose and sang ' God Save Ireland.' The 'Herald' says editorially: "It is dSfficult to see how the cause of Irish freedom is advanced 1 by such speeches as that dlelivered by Bishop Liston, and it is certain that such utterances do much to disturb the peace of Now Zealand and to I encourage religious intolerance and racial antagonisms. Bishop Liston's reference to his parents may he pardoned, but his glorification of the Easter rebellion ot" 1916 and' his Sneering allusions to tho country ami the Empire to which the great majority of his fellow-citizens are proud to owe allegiance are not so easily overlooked. , Irish patriotism may he a beautiful thing, but when prominent and high- | placed Irishmen go out of their way to j make their expression of it an offence to | otlher peoplo they must expect protests ! and occasional retaliation. That Bishop i Liston acknowledged New Zealand as his j birthplace with pride will not, to the most of us, soft-en the harshness and disloyalty of the remainder of his speech. On the ] contrary, it will arouse in many New Zealanders a feeling that they are not proud 1 of him."

The ' Star' also comments on tho speech in strong terms. It says:—"Whetr Archbishop Redwood received the Irish Agreement with the comment that England had mwle peace because she had no money with which to continue the war wo hoped that he would prove to bo alone among the Roman Catholic hierarchy in their attitude that Licked both wisdom and charity. Unfortunately, by his sptech at the Town Hall last evening, the Coadjutor Bishop of Auckland outdid his chief. Having regard to the state of Ireland and ■the paribus possibilities of religious strife in New Zealand, we cannot regard Bishop Liston's rasping and bitter address as anything but deplorable. We say this as a newspaper that has fought Ireland's battles for a much longer period than Dr Liston. It has been said most truly that what is required of Ireland is forgiveness and of England repentance. England is doing her part. Will Irishmen not do theirs? Dr Liston used the word 'forgive,' but there was little spirit of forgiveness in his address. The most deplorable> of all, however, was Dr Liston's reference to the 1916 rebellion. While Great Britain and the Empire were fighting for their lives a section of the Irish people stabbed them in the back. Yet Dr Liston, himself a British subject, refers to \ the ' glorious Easter of 1916' and. to Irishmen murdered by foreign troops. Seuing that the rebels started the fighting, the word murdered has stark humor about it. Has Dr Liston forgotten that at the very moment New Zealand soldiors, including men of his own Church, were giving up

their lives in France, in company with other units of this so-called foreign army? Dt Liston and the local Irish community generally may fairly be asked whether they wish to be considered British subjects, and whether they are for Messrs Collins and Griffith, or for the irreconcilables. At the outset wo ,'nvited our Irish friends to place themselves publicly bohind the treaty, but wd have never heard that they did so Their silence breeds suspicion that they are either vucilhting, lacking. moral courage to declare themselves, or that they secretly wish that De ,Valeri may prevail."

THE MAYOR'S PROTEST. SEDITIOUS AND RUINOUS. "STUDIED INSULT" TO EMPIRE CITIZENSHIP. AUCKLAND, March 19. The mayor (Mr J. H. Gunson, C.M.G.) publishes tho following: The sjpeech of Bishop Liston calls for immedia'/e action on my part as mayor. On behalf of our citizenship I wrote to tho bishop on Saturdiy morning asking . him fco advise me whether he had been cori-actly reported, though my long experience of tho Press in Auckland gives me no cause to . doubt tho accuracy of the report. The speech, as reported, is avowedly and openly disloyal to King and country, and is an affront to our citizenship. It is seditious, and designedly calculated to cause disintegration of all that Britishers hold dear. It is :i studied insult to the citizenship of the •Empire to which New Zealand is proud to belong. The repudiation of England, the sneering reference to her as "a foreign nation," and the entire dissociation with disdain of the speaker, .and t those for whon he spoke na "a right," from all that pertains to the Empire, challenge all loyal citizens to raise their voices in protest. The reference to British soldiers as foreign murderers is especially offensive arm unwarrantable. I take this first public opportunity of saying with all the emphasis possible that the citizens of Auckland will not tolerate for one minute such a studied and deliberate act of disbyilty and of insult to British manhood and womanhood, and in making this intimation I wish, to say that such a seditious and ruinous speech will not be allowed in the Auckland Tow a Hall, or in any place which tho city administration controls or licenses. Tho bishop and others holding views such as those reported are not fit to longer enjoy tho privileges and rights of our British Commonwealth and the protection of the British flag. This speech will be brought under the notice of the Attorney-General, and it will be my duty to advise the City Council to take other appropriate action. In tho meantime, on behalf of the citizens of Auckland, I enter an emphatic protest in the foregoing terms.