ECHOES OF THE WEEK.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1199, 22 February 1895, Page 23

ECHOES OF THE WEEK.

SiUifS'B niv wedtfon, foiit l'ta totf ttlffc'fe#t tb *.IH rti«««R tfrid t.*lt «t Hit 1 1M8L ~ PuJPE.

ficRUTAToI

il a&jw-stonfotib . BtiU ; 4 '-r« eßi ] a y was a perfect m>hmt a day when work of the lightest kind IfflWtttM <W insufferable burden. It was a day for reclining in a capacious hammock 'neath the shadiest of trees, clad in the airiest flannols, with a pail of well-iced claret cup standing by handy, wherein to take one of iDlek BMtelltU'.'fl/'.mpdeat quencher* " v/htmowa, work, too I hol^iJay >( a..,dayJq H Mfim mng slide. a,n4 for wj.cke.d WW to.ppnder how much .hotter ".anojther, placo' , will be. lridiy l et I( at, l the .other end of the world they've heeujhavipg blizzards, snow fiftyfeat deep,' the over (aa in Pepys' time) strong enough to M*M&&l merit of horses. But oh thepathdtMdooi the thing, the poor devils starving, and dying in the cruel streets of the great metropolis. More unemployed than over this winter, say, the cablegrams. God help thorn, poor, folk, and yet at the West End the danoing and the drinking, the gaming, the theatre-going, the luxury of existence U in ciS full awintf as ever, Well, well, it aan unequal wid* aM i *{mm iet m at imi bethaiiiiM iMmtmhs m nbfe Sb tiblb'iit at hTAii e'nd bi Mb world.

HhME Eb'se l i'er*y' dbvernmeiifc Mi had it A remarkably tfetir jqlueaK, , and it Is evident that thb Eriglipi PHitte Mmis.% heads a divided and disorganised that his working majority is rtiitch too small to allow of any successful carrying out of the ministerial programme, and, finally, that it is quite on the cards that a defeat and the accompanying dissolution may be near at hand. And to whom does he mainly owe the humiliation of only defeating Mr Chamberlain's amendment by tfibSb misbi'abib vote's: To .the Parheliite'sj br a defcjtldtt b'f .that tiaMi W aid which Mr GladstHhe' hag gbefit and wasted years of his life; and frorii which His ittctie'igb'r had a fij+h't to expect the loyalty he did not receive: How the Piirtiellites can reconcile it with their consciences to support an amendment by the man above all men whom they have abused so fiercely, the amendment of " Judas Joe " himself, I cannot for the life of me imagine, but it is now certain that the English Liberals can expect neither gratitude nor common sense from a large section of the Irish party.

"VTO one supports the general idea of Jl% Home Rule for Ireland more Btoutly than L but two things are as clear as llgtiti &m that a majority iti favdilr of Home fetilb tJßttia iittt fab gbt Werb thtfre a ft itejAeraj bifebtibn tfcnibtybwj sfetibnd.Jihat m BidgHsH Biberaii who ha,ye tiut th 1 b.Newc&afcle Bf ne'eu'eafacial teforms in the Jjackgrpiirid for three or four years ,have now a right to demand that this programme shall be attempted at least before the present Government goes out of office. The Pamellite attitude is a dual one of cantankerous ingratitude to those who have sacrificed much to help them, and of crass and unpatriotic foljy as far as their own country is concerned. By their vote the other day they must have alienated the long watering support of the English Liberals.. What will come now it Ib difficult to say> but the Parnellites have certainly kilted all chaftCe of Honie Kulo fdir the next ten .years to come.

Fie practically certain, .fudging hy the late foye*eleotions and other political signs of the times that Lord Eosebery and his colleagues will be driven from office at the next general electioil. A Conservative regime will ,follow, during the course of which the English Liberals and Radicals will work up the country to prepare a really radical reform programme on social and labour questions* leaving the tr,ish party, I venture to prophesy, to stew in their own juico. Irritation amongst the English reform party against the extreme section of the Irish party has bocn growing steadily of late, and this latest exhibition of ingratitude- and folly means the end of the old alliance. We shall see how the Parnellites will get on with Mr Balfour in office. As to the English Radicals, a spell of misfortune will do them good. Eventually they will go back to office stronger than ever. Whether they will then be Very enthusiastic about Home Rule is, however* quite another question. Mr Redmond and his brother Parnellites are, to my mind, the very worst enemies to their own country that unfortunate Ireland has ever known- i

IT may be that the Parnellite support of Mr Chamberlain's amendment was an act of spiteful revenge for the very proper rejection (with Government assistance) of that absurd* and absolutely iniquitous proposition for the release of those unmitigated scoundrels, the dynamiters. The dynamiter, no matter what may be his nation, and no matter too how intense and righteous the grievances of that nation, must be regarded quite apart from any political plea for special consideration he may put forward. He is a scourge, an open and merciless enemy to society. To injure those whom he considers the enemies of his party, he recklessly risks sending to death scores of innocent men, women and children. He is merely a poisonous snake, to be killed without compunction, and to whine out for his release is an act which is unworthy of any decent man, and utterly beyond the serious consideration of any decent government.

JT is, however, the sore misfortune of poor Ireland, that amongst its so called friends it numbers men who are a combination of fool and rascal. Much of the bloodthirsty villainy perpetrated by the dynamiters was plotted in America, where there

exist papers which are a disgrace to the very name of Ireland. As for example, the Irish UepUblk (Now York), which says in a recent ifldue J-*"*

We would rt* the ilGWrf of Buaaian ifqQtifl ijihivlitg Mid liiditt $ aV« wOtlld dng e'feW *Wofs» td Mtisfi aL'insi iVo'woulcf go &wM°p%*%.s. fil at tho tramp of tho Z'C/Uato oTi'hXi\vcp. m tho streets of London, and the thunder <bf revolutionary guiiH on froodom's battlefields in Ireland. Irishmen, againwe warn yon tlio struggle we longed so for is not far taffi nwXxonlinva not a moment to spare in the Work* of tho old land, then, n.nd loam how to shoot.

IT is such incendiary garbage as the aboVt'/ which, acting upon weak minds, soli's" tip the dynamiter to bin fiendish work. lMS u miMfskph kid been Toprintod by tho MP ¥4m^&&ft m f semMo man just and honest cause.of, Hquie. ,K#% , -£dd' to these wild screeches the base ingratitude of the Parnelites and he is deliberately blind Who doos not see in these things an at}cjOU*ag©nie»t to tho English Liberals to aas "fep«j|.f) will have no movo of you, we have sadr'i/?cect eftotfgh for' youywo will work out our own pblltiW let Ireland work out hers.*' 1 t&ptktyj mettf, is no truer friend to tho Homo Eule than ia the writer, but it is just as well that colonial sympathisers shotild realise that the time is coming when the English tiiberals' Will dissolve a partnership which Hag fadb'H 3d biie-sfidedj and, disgusted and ateappbfnW ittm id :ihm Gfn eulafra, Agaii ,1 sa'y ? th'e Tti&eWfel aWid thd *&¥p* imeidt the iele'a'se'oi' th?e worst fr'ien'ds p'o^i 1 ' iMa'n'df ha's bvet' known; dh 1 , itiillf •

Mid the Pope the .BiblicaY adage,, "Put| not your trust iti p , rin!ce , s» , ' , : and accepts, a|l the stories current of md o.<m Cxar's breadth of religious toleration, with lt&ts serious limitation, and no small suspicion as to their bona fides. A good many other people in less exalted positions than tho good old gentleman at the Vatican are sliflildtfiy" iacfe'dilittus as* the eJSaob degree of jtiiptfv&ue'nfc i§; id inti §teitipß hiWe b'ebu sMy'in'gVty fc'Sriie fflb , b'f istiS riWcle'r'n The ihitU cjl iMMteUet fS p.ti doiib,'t tliai the, youiig' Ciax ';Tsar" for f(fty Mr Steads) atfd ftzarina (I won't have it Tsaritza; the now tangled way) are hampered in their desire for reforms, social, religious and political, by the influence of the court entourarjg and the bureaucracy. Monai'chs,nominalaatocrats though they bo, can't always do as they like, and that gentleman with the long name (ending in "off 1 " —I forget the rest) whoso title is Procurator of the (Credit Synod* who was at the bottom Of the late* O&tr'V fiendish peiwcutioh bf the Jevvs, is iio'fc iilifoly id tilidtf ife* Bid systeril of iiitoler£ihbe'j b'igo'tiy, drid, p'erggcjlitißii, bi ! ali wHb ai ; e o'Ut§ide the Greefc jpSble td dtfdp* tit dttM irijß "bbMMI:

T" itb/jfe \vho ivb're hopiiig tliat the now regime would mean religious' freedom' were, I am afraid, reckoning without their host in the shape of the official I have named. Like His Holiness the Pope, I am prepared to believe that Russia will treat the Jews and Catholic?, and other non Greek denominations with decency, justice, and open toleration, only when 6hc does so treat there, and not till then. "Fine words butter no parsnips," and until we have good proof to the contrary I shall not be in the least astonished to find, the last doys of the Bussian Jews and Catholics no betted tbrth the Aral:

FIIHE blackguardly attacks (iil picture JL and print) of the little Christchdrch rag which is the literary (?) expositor of the gospel according to Saint Isitt; itpbri a well-known CJhristchUrch merchant} whd holds a leading tidsitidii ill cotiuftctiaii Willi ©no of the local churches} has how been followed up by a declaration on the part of the Christchurch Prohibition League, Which is Chadbandism pure and simple. A press association telegram, published during the week runs as fellows:— Tho ChristohutfoH Prohibition Lflittf uo has tetegtfiibhed to tho Anglican General Synod at Nelson, tho Presbyterian Gonoral Assombly at Auckland, arid tho Congregational Union at Dunedin, respectfully asking each of those bodies to rule that liquor sellers and men, who, as members of jockey clubs promote gambling, ought not to hold office in Christian cjiurohoa.

WHAT a lovely exhibition of Christian charity is contained in the above. The request of the Prohibition League is tantamount to a declaration that no man who keeps an hotel, no man who takes part in, or in any way countenances the sport of can possibly hope for a place in that, better world, of which apparently these Ohiistchurch Chadbands imagine they are the sole key holders. Personally I know many publicans and many racing men who arc interested in and connected with church work, and I venture to say that these men support the churches and the church work with far greater liberality than, do many prominent prohibitionists. Not only that, but they habitually display a practical charity which does them the highest credit. They lead decent lives, they speak no ill of their neighbours, they are not possessod of mean, paltry souls, they can agree that there may be two sides to a question—they are not narrow-minded, bigoted, ard abominably intolerant.

IP the acceptance of the Prohibition fad is to _be the only trite pass port to Heaven, then, I fear, that from tho ranks of the elect would be excluded many thousands of men who are far more truthful, more honest, more charitable, and who are in every way better rnon than are many of Mr Isitt's followers. Are we to believe with the Christchurch Prohibitionists that these men are outside all spheres of christian usefulness? Perish the thought. I wonder by the way whether these Prohibitionists ever read their Bibles, There is a little

BQntdiidS i?c'6W, "publicans and sinners " which I commena it? tftttrt. eonsideration. Prohibition in New Zealand 1 iVf mtftttHiim to spell Cant, Cant, and nauseous t'dttfr gift that!

UP in Kawke's Bay many of tho natives haw aftUJl little nest eggs of their ow'tf, (mongh, in theso days of toff Tt'p<msti-U(Shiom! and the like., there Id gob'd r d'ekl! of rtrixiety ti# to the security offered to ,**d swell anxiety is not confined to ttitf I .' Tfeer other day a stcut middle-aged natlvt/ Mdf called upon a firm of solicitors at Hastings I »«d tolcf him that she had read in tho papers banks were " no good," would Mi v '-"--" her deposit of L3OO in the so-and-so biM AW Mf her at once before it was too late. An MWOTsfcfancea of tho legal gentleman proving Of fi& mWsAli he sent a clerk and drew out the money lii t «old. The Maori lady went away con- ' {(ftttQ'd and was afterwards seen parading &'e'htoin' street in noro doubt as to which ba'Mc should honour with her account'. Is. fbMehW k'fld aj'ent. met her and advised ll'ei 1 ' 4& ■&&. stesh a«d such a bank. "No fear," Md ihtf aid hdf, "too much the flash place," ana jtobt&wert* down tho street. All at once she stopped in front of tho Bank of New South Wales, 'ghat's the fellow for me," she said. Her Hkirc/it'cst'Ttt , I fiend pointed out the disability Ol liiifßiit&m bank having its headquarters on the " crtW bi*t tho old lady couldn't understand, and ttfftfttipftimtly ejaculating " That's the fellow foi v uSeVibto* .; Australia about that fellow," went inside and planked down her gold. What's in ft name P

iV undoubtedly a great Uo'tiMkad teoW,' but it- i» j us* as well, #'h'eh' Mar/ Aim iW (Hmti&tfd With iU use, td geb ! itimi s'h'e' ikmf ttew tibWiifeah'dW vi m&kf' Atta* as illuWaWtf M tW .necessity' foi 1 sxMl & hint being taken tif M' hW6' detfr stoves—and Mary Anns—let' rife" recount to' you'#i& following interesting incident J--A gentleman hdltftttg a high, a very high, official position in th% sifcy recently purchase! a gas-stove. At tlftb" end of the month, to his titter consternation ana tStfWtatt bff was confronted with a gas bill of over -titZ Weirig om of tho greatest, if not the Of" Aiiikdfiiim in the colony in the . oi' hii mmi ally checked th'e to' MM office prnpurpti to profe'. thW fa'c't' M« fee* foil ,M c#des*i««l contained a , monstrou's* th'e gas office he was cbhfi'bniJtJa ■^'iih ) tho usual bland declaration that gas motors resemble? ttie late lamented George Washington—they caitPft JJe* Still inconvioneed ho went homo and su'cTclefily the happy thought, occurred tohim to cross- '«»x»irfftf© \ ary Ann In viewof thcbillandof itsavvful portent, LlO for one month's gas, Mary Ann, whose capacity for astonishment (at the amount of household aceouats) is notoriously inadedu'a'tc, Wdß fofouce at least dumbfonnrlered. '"WhyV^r'— -,-tfa&m ttiuet b& a mistake; Wo' b'ric bb'riid iidve' bfiefl rri<§»fS «ritefal tbuu I ; vcj beeri; Why, I rtsstife ytftf,- sif, efef siHCfi il'iat Bt,6'ye b'oe'ri.iti the htfu'se tyailMWf oiick lei kh'd i.kal)ei, ii{/hi'S </6' dxii. JJaij mid ttiijhi ihcy'tic Veihi biirtihlrj — lidw' coiMd ilierd be any escape ?'" Ah'd VJr —— dgttopt) tWat the most brilliant ability in'the of accounts was as nothing where gas bills'afe concerned as set against the stalwart stupidity of a Mary Ann to whom a gas stove ia a no:elty..