MR ALEXANDER WATSON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18352, 16 September 1921, Page 7

MR ALEXANDER WATSON

Mr Alexander Watson concluded his highly successful Dunedin season last oven- 1 ing, when Burns Hall was again crowded to tho doors. The celebrated elocutionist again hold the close attention of his audience, and at the conclusion of each recitation was loudly applauded. Mr Watson will leave for the north this morning.

MR TANNOCK’S REPORT. TO THE KDITOH. Sib,—Mr Tannook’s report to the CSty . Council makes mtereetuxg reading, and forcibly illustrates the advantages of knowledge and travel. On several occasions during the past few years I have expressed the opinion that it would pay Dunedin handsomely to send’its chief officers on tour now and again so that they might see arid learn} Only such officers as are under SOyeaift should be sent. '

To two or throe matters in the repeat ! wish to refer. First, there is the use to which the communal lands in France era put in growing commercial timber. We havft several hundred acres of communal lands in and around Dunedin which are a source at expense to the city, while they should be ft r source of revenue. Sheep have been tried upon them, but this experiment has apparently ended in failure. Why not plant them with commercial timber trees. I have heard several citizens express the opinion that every stick on the Town Belt at least should ba out down for moral reasons. It would be infinitely better to teach the Teh Commandments, together with, a vigorous use of the rod. Certain level patches would no doubt require to be left open fox games, etc., but three-fourths of] the • Town Belt and other open spaces should be growing useful timber. Secondly, Mr Tannock made reference to a teaching Botanical Garden, which implies the growing of medicinal plants. This would be a step in the right direction. It is one which the University authorities must entertain some of those days. We spend large sums of money in importing vegetable drug* which wo could cultivate ourselves and so keep the labour and money within our own country.' New Zealand has great plant wealth, and many,of its plants are-bound to bo of medicinal value. Many years ago I noticed that cattle and horses that 'nibbled away at flax bush stumps were purged! by ;ih I find that the Maoris use it for similar purposes. Then we have a very common shrub with a red and green leaf growing; nil around Dunedin, which has an abundance of a peppery substance in its leaf. I have infused this leaf and fermented the infusion. It makes a pleasant, appetising, and stimulating drink—which fact may be bad news for some people. Thirdly, Mr Tannock referred to the cultivating of native plants and trees in Dunedin. This also is an excellent idea.' When a member of the City Council I advocated! the growing ‘of native flowering shruba-iand trees in our reserves. I found that intelligent visitors to Dunedin were disappointed at the absence of such plants in' oux- re- , serves and gardens. 1 spoke to Mr Tannock, ' Mr M'Curdie, and Mr Hancock (chairman . of the He serves 'Committee), end. the general answer was “They won’t grow,” which, answer to my mind revealed ignorance dr indifference. The City Council should next send the city, architect on tour to see, and leam how cities are built and ornamented.— I am, etc!, Goedon Mhcnosam.' ':

IRISH & ELF-DETERM H . ATIONT; ’f TO THE EDITOB. .. t , „ Sie,— l have been, taught to hate-the name of Cromwell and all his works;' 1 ’Tout correspondent, who signs himself '“Cromwell” hqs been very persistent in ' asking the i reason for Ireland’s apathy in recruiting 'during the last lew years of the war. Father toilk and others have carefullyevaded the question. A paragraph in the Daily Times in 1916 sent the Catholic young men to hell if they dared enlist in the' ser r vices ot Britain That may bo ; reason enough. ■ There is another. In the early days of the _ war Ireland was very enthusiastic, and in Great Britain several' "Irishpriests did recruiting work in their congre-. f ations. Suddenly there was a change, and rish Roman Catholics for the most - paft

became virulent pro-Germans. The fact - that this happened when Italy came tq' the aid of the Allies explains itself. _ When hostilities broke out Italy K was allied' to Germany and Austria. For a time she sat on . the fence. It was known that hergebgraphical position would force her soolnfer or later to take a side. The defeat of the • Triple Alliance—Germany, Austria, ■ and Italy—would mean that Italy would bo broken up, and the Papal States restored to his Holiness. Tho decision of_ the Italian Government upset this calculation,‘ and for the moment the clerical party—not only; in the United Kingdom, but throughout 1 the Empire—used their influence on , behalf of

Germany. In Ireland, Malta, Canada, 'Ana tralia, and New Zealand the authorities had ; to contend with, open and concealed Catholic hostility. "■ *v 1 As a Catholic, with my fellows. I have received, through the Church, quite a budget of pamphlets in reference to self-determina-tion for Ireland. Now, what in the world hav'e we Catholics to do with “self-deter-mination”? The truth is that everything is , determined for us—our life' actions, our literature, and our final destiny. If we an in love'with a girl we have to obtain the approval of the priest. If the girl belong? to a Protestant church, and unfortunately , marries a Catholic young man, the priest would torment the soul out of him, telling him that he was living in sin. Fortunately the Marriage Act has altered that. As for death, Mr M'Swiney, who deliberately, com-, mitted suicide, was claimed as a holy martyr, and goes as a saint to heaven. Op the other hand, after Cardinal Moran died 1 mass was said for the rest of his soul for ai considerable time. There is something wrong in a system that teaches this when it allows an innocent and highly-refepected cardinal tp go to purgatory. ( ; History maintains that “self-determina-tion” is purely Protestant. Herbert Spencer says: “The most fundamenal right of a man is the right to do as he pleases, unrestricted by anything save the • equal rights of others to the game freedom.’ Now, that is my position as a Catholic to the “Self-determination” for ' IrelandLeague. Its members advocate si form - of self-government for Ireland which wouldplace the majority in that country in_ a position to deny the rights of the British Empire to self-preservation and the rights of Ulster to self-determination. _ ,' This is how the Popes of Rome have treated the desire of nations for “selfdetermination” in the past: In 1176 a papal Bull issued by Pope Adrain IV, handing Ireland over to the English King, was promulgated in Ireland. In 1200 I 1 ranee -was placed under the interdict of Pope Innocent . IH. In 1203 the same Popo ’ placed England " under, the interdict. In 1307 Bruce, King of Scotland, then straggling hard to secure the independence of his kingdom from the English, was ( ox,-' communicated by the papal legate. at teq English. Parliament, sitting at ' Carlisle',, and 10 years later, in 1517, ,BruCc, Vaa again excommunicated, and Scotland I ' "win placed under the interdict. These examples will show how Rome believes in the matterof self-determination. We accept the dbc ; trine that Rome is always the same—ln spirit. , , In Ireland, it must not be forgotten, politics is a religious question. Religion the dividing line, .and Sinn Feiners do not like this fact emphasised. By the waw a glance at the map of the area over which the Celtic Church held sway in the seventh and eighth centuries, before the Romish Church was introduced into Ireland, .will, -

show that the Kingdom of Daluada comprised Ulster (in Ireland) and Argyll and the Isles (in Scotland). Therefore any attempt to claim Ulster for an Irish Republic should include in it a , claim for; Argyll and the Isles. I wonder what My Scots Presbyterian friends would say !tq that.—l am, etc.. , , V’, P. MTleot. ’ Bannockburn, September 13. ,