SAVAGE SECTARIANISM. Truth

NZ Truth, Issue 106, 29 June 1907, Page 4

SAVAGE SECTARIANISM.

Truth

Published Every Saturday morning AT LUKE'S LANE (OFF MANNERSstreet), Wellington, n.z. Subscription (m advance), 13s. PER ANNUM.

SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1907

ANOTHER YELP FROM THE YELLOW PUP.

When Sir Joseph Ward, after the dearth of Mr Seddon, accepted the responsibilities of office as Prime Minister of New Zealand, that nasty, mangy mongrel, the Yellow Pup, bared its savage 1 teeth, and too plainly indicated that it was prepared to insert its poisonous fangs into any Roman Catholic, and to attempt to political! j& poJ.u-ase, a gioiaau .Catholic

Premier, not on the grounds of policy, but because he wa*, and is, an adherent of the Roman Catholic faith- Happily, however, this; dastardly design, of stirring up religious strife, to permeate New Zealand politics with the bitterest of partisan feeling, was frustrated, and the originators of the vile movement were promptly relegated back, to the oblivion of some obscure country pulpit and lodge-hall. Sensible j mind©d people, reared man age of tolerance, soon grow indifferent to the advance or decadence of Christian creeds and' view with indignation and disgust any .attempt, no matter how slight, to create any ill-feeling or prejudice against a, politician solely because lie belongs to a certain creed. Consequently, ,when an utterly irresponsible and blatant, bitter iragot, whom sensible people failed., and wisely, too, to give co(untona/nce to, endeavored to) drag the sectarian herring across the political trail, ths effort failed as miserably as it deserved.. Though July 12, that glorious day. of Orange fanaticism, is drawing nigh, nothing m the shape of a demonstration aga/inst a Roman* Catholic Prime Minister and Roman Catholic citizens has been mooted. It cannot- be because Orangem'ein do not dare to create a -disturbance ; the evil-minded, Wind ' bigot, ever burning with a zealous desire to perpetuate the bloody slaughter of the, Boyne and to forever ■bless and coniimein prate' Dutch Bill, Prince of Orange ; stops at ■nothing ; not even the risk of 'batterea beads and bruised and ibattered 'limbs will defer Mm. Not even will the force of public opinion check the coiirse of Ms savage, sectarian spirit. **• » '•■■_■ Silent, however, as has been this peace-disturbing element m the colony; of New Zealand, it must not, however, be taken for granted that, the slimy and slanderous, tongao of Orangeisiri against Sir Joseph Ward has been -stilled. All. the way from Toronto", Canada, some kind admirer of . ■ ' 'Truth" has forwarded a copy .; of the "Toronto Sentinel," a journal devoted 'to the cause- of Orangeism and Protestant Alliance. This devious, dirty, dodging journal lives onlyarid thrives on the fact that it creates religious strife, awd.it has its "correspondents everywhere, and New Zealand is not exoep tod. ; Prom the issue of April 25, the following, from among iO"bber interesting items of QrangeMn m New Zealand, indicates top clearly that the flames of fanaticism are still being fanned ; that the movement for the political assassination of Sir Joseph Ward, based on religious grounds, is still being engineered. The New Zealand correspondent of this wretched rag declares :— ' Like Canada, we have a Romanist • Premier, who lias been , attending a Home Rule meeting iiy Wellington, where Devlin, the Irish delegate, preached on Home Rule. Sir Joseph Ward is a Romanist, and isn't it funny, the general manager of the Exhibition; Munrb, is also a Romanist. The v Romanists are getting all the 'best billets m this country, and Protestants have no show now Ward is Premier. | : No wonder Orangeism is gaining t strength, and it is an absolute necessity when Romanizing schemers are scheming by craft and subtiiity, and by and through dark subterranean channels. We must ever combat, and watch them. , \\J " " ' " ' * '' ' ••■ '* ■ ;'.'.'-■ •■■■.'.' ' ■ '' ■, The Premier of Canada, of course; is' Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and" everybody knows, or ought to know,, that' he. is of Firfench extraction and belong^ -to the/ province of Quebec, where the Catholics predominate. The Canadian Premier has successfully weathered a series of savage secta- j rian storms, and no doubt can afford to smile m contempt' at the puny efforts of a powerless, push, who wish to introduce into the twentieth century civilisation coniroye|:&ies tliat belong to an early and more brutal and bloody period of English history. The fact, , however, that 'the Premier of this , colony •: | attend 'a- Home Rule meeting:., m Wellington is surely a strange i.and sinister reason why Romanizing schemers are to be watched and com-b-atted. Indeed, Sir Joseph Ward, as Roman Catholic Premier of New Zealand/ has yet to gd to the length of proposing m the House of Representatives a motion urging Great Britain to .grant Ireland Home Rule, a motion introduced by Alfred Deakin, the Protestant Prime Minister of Australia^ and carried' in -the Australian House of Representatives, the majority 1 of which' belong to creeds other than that, of Romanism. The slimy tongue of Orange slander does not stop at wretched arid wicked lies when it asserts' that m. New Zealand the Romanists are getting all the best' billets,' that Protestants 'have no show now th-at Ward i.s Premier. This wicked and miserable lie must be instaivtarieouslv nailed! It is a lie, , and the fact remains, that nQ$ only are-^he Romanists not getting the test of the billets m New Zealand, biit the Roman Catholic m the Public Service is m a minority, and what matter it ..if- in New .Zealand the Roman Catholics are 'getting the best' (billets ? The best billets m New Zealand were collared long ago. and their present occupants are hanging , on to, them like 'grim death. If a Roman Catholic 'did become manager ot the Christchurch- Exhibition, the fact is hot Ukel* to • crtate a revo- • lution. But why waste time and space by pursuing such a matter any further? Sir. Joseph Ward can, no doubt, like the other Romanist . Pre-v mier, Laurier, afford to smile at, and treat with the contempt it. deserves the miserable machinations of. a section of the community- who have always proved themselves to be the bar to progress- amid enlightenment. Sir Joseph Ward would hardly dare to exhibit religious bias. He would not he .suffered, as far as the interests of the colony are concerned, to .place 'lids religion before his politics. The welcome extended to Sir Joseph Ward this weak is the greatest testimony of the affection all classes have for him. His religion is his. own purely private ami personal concern. If he is a good Catholic, more credit to him, but because he is a Roman Catholic is no sane or just New ZeSand ■ that any attempt to unfurl the Orange banner shou ld be promptly checked. Perhaps it js^the fear that any attempt to create eHgious prejudice by the tion of malicious .untruths m New Sand would have been publicly frownod upon. « the teas on artua-tj ■ irifi: tho blind and bittei lupots .f New Zealand to stir up mud through 9. -.Cajia,^ia : a $m®&& . - " ' ~ ""