The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, 15th MARCH, 1886.

Southland Times, Issue 9165, 15 March 1886, Page 2

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, 15th MARCH, 1886.

In publishing tho letter signed " Civil uod Religious Liberty," whioh appears in another column, we have to 6ome extent departed from our rule of accepting no letters which reflect on our contemporaries But even this alipht departure woald not have been ventured but for the fact that our correspodent's indignation Bhould have been dir ced against ourselves. It Was the Soutaland Times and not the Southland Daily News that sinned, most deeply at least, against the furious zeal of Protestants of the "Civil and Reh'giouß Liberty" fitamp, as the following extract from the Rsv. Father McEnroe's address, published by our evening contemporary, will show : — *' It was a fact (said the good Father) that the more respectable portion of the press of the colony had treated her (Miss Edith O'Gorman) with the contempt she deserved. It was well-known that the Otago Daily Times did not report a single syllable of here. In Invercargill one of the papers treated her with come little respect by giving a Bhort notice of the subject of her first lecture, but it scarcely repeated a single sentence of hers, and wrote not one word on the subject to which the most sensitive CathoHc could find exception. It had pleased the representative of the other looal paper to give several very salient points of her lectures that were entirely offensive to every Catholic What motive tho editor had in that it was for hiaapelf to decide ; it was his own business." Now we bave nothing ro do wish the motive of our contemporary, tut as we learn from a number of letters we have received that the general public sup pose the Rev. Father to have meant the Times by " the other local paper " which gave " several very salient points of her lectures that were entirely offensive to every Catholic," we take- this opportunity of saying that the general public are quite mistaken. It was the Times that did not publish " one word on the subject to which the most sensitive Catholic could find exception." The mistake no doubt arose in thin way. Seeing that the Rev. Father's address to his congregation respecting Miss Edith O'Gorman's lectures was published in the News, moat peop c would be apt to take for granted that " the other local paper" whioh bad given so much offence to tho Catholicß was the Southland Times. The ambiguity would have been avoided had the Rev. Father McEnroe mentioned the papers by name. It is indeed a comparatively small matter, though, as we have said, we have received several letters informing ua that many people, misled by the ambiguous wording of the report of the rev. Father's address, believed that we had taken advantage of Miss Edith O'Gorman's lectures to go for the Catholics. Of course we did nothing of the kind. But we take no credit for what some people, on the other hand, may have considered our self-restraint in this particular matter ; ncr do we think we deserve the heavy censure which our furious correspondent has, by misadventure, bestowed upon our contemporary. We certainly had no intention of treating the lady lecturer with ''contempt." As public journalists it is our duty, to treat all publio characters with courtesy — except of course incorrigible politicals, who have to be treated, Ipr tUck own good (wi the gu^d, q£ $9

country, according to their deßerta. Bat we looked upon Miss O'Gorman, not aa a religious teacher or reformer, but simply 'ejs a person who went about the world aa a public lecturer, like Mr Sala, or Mr Forbes, or Mr Charles Clark, for the Bake of making money. Her indictments against the Catholic Church carried no authority with them, and as anybody could learn what they were by paying a shilling, we did not feel called upon to fill our columnß with statements highly offensive to ' a large section of our fellow oitizena. And for this we neither think we deserve, nor hope to escape, the pains of purgatory. If we mistake not, oar furious correspondent is injj much greater danger. * % j ; I I ' ( J