SECTARIAN STIFE IN NEW SOUTH WILES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12239, 7 April 1903, Page 6

SECTARIAN STIFE IN NEW SOUTH WILES.

DISGRACEFUL DKCUEBANCEa. THE RIOT AC READ. SEVERAL ARRETS MADE March 26 will long be re; embered by thoiW who were eye-witnesses t< the events of tV'-.'t' '• early hours of the morni.g, when the fi 6r ! •<■ element destroyed the Ist 'portion'* of th town, and at night, whera most disgraced' disturbance took place in connection with -'""' lecture delivered to Protkants by the Bb** * Dr. Dill Macky. ***' '■■.' By eight o'clock the lxcekior Hall «,'" filled with about 600 mei and women? mitted by ticket. Aldorhan Fred Jf«-U *' £"■' ' the Acting-Mayor occupill the chair, and seated on the platform wa\ a large and;,, fluential committee. \ s UQ in Dr. Dill Macky, on risiig, coneratiil»*.j' ' the people of Wyalong on fie Iffiift,? cess of the meeting. This wi not a novel W penence with him ; tvhereverihe went he h»VJ a packed house. He would tell his ; Rom. Catholic friends that he had ho bitterness ' heart towards them; he did not intend ?« ' attack the Roman Catholic rdi<non At this point of the discourse the and; ' ence, already packed to overflowing ■ «,„ - thrown into a state of indescribable confn sion by the sudden report of firearms M lowed by a fusilade of stones ahd glass tattl*. on the roof and around the Wife Tv ■»» ' then apparent that an organised mobhaS collected for the purpose of obstructing tn» meeting. ' 8 tnß • Inside, women (crying and endeavour, mg to get outside; children ware screamtnT and a panic seemed inevitable. This ' hflw C) ' : ever, was happily averted: by the lecture who was assisted by those at the held of'" affairs, by keeping the doors barred, and bv ' using their best endeavours to porsiiaco th» people to resume their seats. ; - Outside, the handful of policemen appeared powerless to quell the disturbance, until tha police magistrate, Mr. G. Stevenson, -cam! ' on the scene at a critical moment anc read the Riot Act. This action tended to qiieten matters considerably, and the lectnrei p ro cceded with his remarks, though still under difficulties, in the shane of stone-throwjie Dr. Dill Macky said that the scene which: those present had just passed through would - have more weight that the reasons he could rive for the establishment of securities f< r the ~ defence of their liberties. There was a bra--tal attempt to interfere with freedoii of speech, and to break up a meeting when not a single offensive word had been spoken. The result of that cowardly attack would bj to cause many to ioin the P.D. Association The man who was responsible for the forma' tion of this association was Cardinal Morm* who for years had been making calumnious attacks on Protestant missions and missionaries, and insulting the Protestant: comma; nity.

The lecturer related in detail some of what ho denominated the Cardinal's slanders,; from the John Williams incident to the attack on' <■ the British navy Admiral Fanshawe had, in reply to the Protestant petition, dealt with the Cardinal in a trenchant manner. At the end of the lecture. Dr. Macky asked those present whether they desired to form a branch, and the whole audience rose. '.',, .' In the midst of the disturbance Mr. W. u Bannister, a lay preacher, happened to Is < • sitting near a window. He was struck by a '',} •' stone, and received a severe cut on the head. The windows of the hall were broken mote or less, and the walls and doors considerably t '■ I battered. ' ■' At one door the crowd made a determined effort to gain admission, but were repelled by equally' determined efforts on the part of ', those inside. This occurred before the read- • ins: of the Riot Act. If the crowd had '■''■ gained an entrance there is no saying what ■'. casualties might have taken place. Happily,'.'w": the timely intervention of the police maristrate averted this catastrophe. The police made several arrests.

_ On the following day Dr. Dill Macky. arrived at Temora from Wvalong. No hall being available, he held his meeting at the . . Salvation Army Barracks. Early in the evening trouble was anticipated, but as the people were allowed to - enter the hall cmietly it was thought that all . would go smoothly. , , After about half-an-hour. however, the noise began, and stones were thrown on the "i:■■-.'( roof. In , a few ■■ minutes the storm burst, Windows were smashed, and the front, of the'•;., building was damaged, stones and bricks be-'.' insr thrown through the broken windows. , One man was hit on the law, having tiyo .'• of his teeth knocked out. while several We're cut about the head and face. A number of ladies fainted, and two were struck, with,' . stones. A perfect pandemonium ensued, but fortunately the crowd could not got into the hall. , ' Dr. Dill Mf>ckv stuck bravely to the plat form, amid flying missiles, and formed a" branch of the Protestant Defence Association. ■ \': i V At this juncture the Rev. Anson Smith rose and addressed the meeting. He said that, although he was not in sympathy with Dr. Dill Manky's mission, he thought the scene was a disgrace; but he would like Dr.'' ' Dill Macky to know thai the row 'was not made by the respectable Roman Catholics, but by the. hoodlums of the town. Dr. Dill Macky was subsequently taken, out by a side door, under police protection, being followed by a crowd of over 200, hoot-' inp- and howling. This is'the first time that any religious strife has been heard of in Temora. Usually all denominations work in unity, peace, . concord, brat the bitterness now having been .' planted, is sure to leave its seed behind. _ Dr. Dill Macky was refused accommodation at several hotels, and party feeling runs''.' very high. Although there were many Roman Catholics inside the hall, they were most ' orderly throughout. The sum of £2 odd wag . collected in the hall to pay for the damage; ————__ ___ A ROMAN CATHOLIC ASSOCIATION. _____ SUGGESTION BY CARDINAL MORAN. DEALING WITH BARKING CURS/' ' I■■ On March SO Cardinal Moran. at a meet-, : ing of the St. Patrick's Day Celebration Committee in St. Mary's Presbytery, referred a* length to certain current events. Sir William Manning, in nronosing a vote of thanks to the Cardinal, said that he had. .' had the courage and the wisdom to defend " his people on every occasion. He (Sir William) could say in cold blood that that time bad been a crucial time in the history of Catholics in this State, and ho was glad.to . say that they had risen to the occasion. They j , had m demonstrated that they were a great • community in this community. It was not only.'., - that they had 25 per cent, of the voting ' , power, but they had demonstrated that there was in the possession of their people a great .''' intellectual force that could not bo denied. , , (Hear, hear.) Mr. T. J. McCabe seconded Iho vote of thanks. . '■ Cardinal Moran. in responding, said that he had been thinking during the past few.:.;?; days that the outcome of the debate of the ■-'■"-;:' Past few weeks might be a very useful thing. , : ; ! A Catholic associatior would have a very :; 5 great effect, independent of any political party, by looking after Catholic interests and championing everything that could come.v, : : under the denomination of genuine patriot-' "-' m " a ** e nacl keen Particularly struck by the efforts that some people had been making to urge upon the.lmperial Government to . call upon one of their* Governors in a State' -•<, in which they were particularly interested to - - . resign on account of his being a Catholic. (Laughter.) He thought that that was a mat- V: J: ter of the greatest impudence that these. : gentlemen could be guilty of, but at the , same, time he would not attend at all to these '•'" insults they had offered themselves, and in- '■■ nit! i* • nad endeavoured to bring upon catholic bodies, either from tho representatives of their own Government or from the ' military or naval authorities. These things, he was sure, all their Catholic people despised as he did, but they really showed such ' an amount of intolerable'insolence and impudence that he thought it was only right that they should consider the expediency of de- ' tending their own interests and show these ;.'■ people that if they insulted them, of course ; they would give then , as good & thrashing as they could. (Hear, hear.) It was the way they treated curs when they annoyed and barked at them. It was better when a num- , &« ■•°£ em so assembled to annov them tc Kf, get :.-id of thorn. Whilst they desired every messing to be partaken of by Protestant citi-. Zens, they asked for nothing for themselves except wha' they had a right to ask for, and he .nought it only right that they should iorm an association to show these enemies oljsßM S I ho Proclaimed their enmity and deJfJZ i l ro ™ mud at them - that they really ; were determined to defend thoso interests c«m™ SSert - th _ ose "ghts that they onjoved in . common with their fellow citizens of every . would ,10u «*'on. Ho did not think it orJ a n^- WlSe ,l? r them to form any political ' for a * w . n T<HeM. hear)-but merely one , IM aanta , ,n V-their own interests when astLinf Vt, 1 ** , fc h same time promoting any- ' &_?,£_ f°^ Id break down those prejudice? - from rtS ate Some of their fellow citizens f . He m ;t' r0 Professed the Catholic faith I cousEk ed i e . matter merely for thai. .consideration,.and .if those present who had > experience of public life thought it expedient l„£r Uld l nvite some "* the 5 leading repre- • .sentat,ves n r t J and formulate something on the lines he »d suggested. iApplause.)- ■•;: >v : . - ■_. :: > V.;-. .\.':■ ■-.■:'■-■;'■■■■■■■■ ■ .: k V't? ■ '■': ■•'•'•■' ■'•■• ' ■ - : - ■". ■ > :„■■•-'.' .• «i Y&M