THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, MAY 21, 1901. INSULTING THE KING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 3742, 21 May 1901, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, MAY 21, 1901. INSULTING THE KING.

iiUSUMEN in whatever part of tho world they live will r-ad with the deepest regret the insults which, according to the cable grams, have been heaped upon Hi; Majesty tho King by an Irish paper called The Irish People. This was the name of the paper with which O’Donovan Kossa was connected when ha was arrested about 35 yearn ago. it was thou the organ of the Fenians, rind was suppressed, but, doubtless, it hrs been resuscitated, aud what its politics are now wo are not in n position to say. Wo have not heard of its existence for many years until now. But, whatever its politics may he, one thing is absolutely certain, and that is that it could not do anything more unjust or impolitic than to attack tho King. The attack was unjust, because tho King is in no way to blame for tho political condition of Ireland; it is impolitic because His Majesty hai-i always been most friendly in his attitude to Ireland. Aa Prince of Wales he, of course, was debarred from taking any part in party politics, but, notwithstanding this, he was popularly recognised as a s-.ipporter of Home Rule, Duo thing certain is that hb was always a supporter of Mr Glad atone, though, of course, ho could not take any decided stand in enforcing hia political views, aud that he declared himself a Home Ruler has gone abroad through the newspapers uuoontrudicted. In his younger days lie spent a great deal of hia time in Ireland, a good part of which ho travelled on foot, and he whs extremely popular with the. Irish people. Wo remember the time when ho was at death’s door how anxiously concerned tho Irish peopie were about him. They expected great things from him when he reached the throne, and they used to my it was like their luck that he should die. For tho Irish people to insult the King is, therefore, unfair, unjust, and impolitic. It is true that he cannot do them much good or harm personally, but still his influence is great, and it would ho far bettor for them to have him aa a friend than an tsn enemy, Uuder any circumstances tho King has done no wrong to

Ireland or the Irish, and even though he is the personification of British rule, it >a au outrage which Englishmen must resent; and iu that way it will and must injure Ireland. We have no idea what the attack coiuiata of, further than the indication given by the statement that vnglish Catholics are somehow concerned in it. It is said it will cause a breach between English and Irish Catholics. his suggests the idea that it has something to do with the Coronation Oath, which the King is by lav/ compelled to take, and by which ho swears that the Catholic religion is idolatrous, and so on. 11 may be that the King is hereby hold up as taking a false oath, but, of course, ibis, is only a surmise on our part, which has been suggested by the fact that English Catholics and Cardinal Yanglv.n ...re iu some way mixed up in the affair. But even then, the King is not to blame, tie is compelled to take this oath according to the law of the land, and very possibly serious complications w mid arise if he had refused to sign it. An exchange says it is au open secret that the King himself is very much opposed to the oath. One thing is certain, and it ia that the oath cannot bo altered <oio?pt by an Act of Parliament, and that tho Sling could not bo King until ha had taken it. The Act of Parliament could ; not become law until it was signed by the King, and the King oou d not sign it until ha was sworn in. It ia plain, therefore, that there was no getting out of it. :ie had to take the oath, for if ho had not done so ho could nut perform any of the Kingly functions, not even sign an let relieving him of the necessity of taking it, if, therefore, inn. subject of

the attack was the coronation oath it would have been unjust, ior the King could not help hiraseif. Tho coronation oath is simply uarbarous, and ought to luve been altered long ago. It was the cause of a groat deal of trouble when tho ;-t - Queen took it over sixty years ago,

cud there has been time enough to have altered it since then. The King has many subjects of various races and various religions, including Hindoos, Mahomnicoaus, aud many others, but the oath makes no attack ou any of these ; it stacks only 7 the Catholic religion, which (was the religion of England until about three hundred years ago. his certainly i; invidious, but it is not the only foolish thing Kng'.aud does iu her troiPmoi.it; of Ireland. Jj’or tho last sixty years Eng kind’s greatest soldiers and her greatest administrators and diplomatist* have neon irishmen. Every battlefield on

which sho fought ran red with the blood of Irishmen, and yet until last Fit. i’airick’s Day it .van a crime for an Irish soldier to wear a little bit of shamrock on ihe occ yoon o f his n aiwiisl foiiivai, and ■ his barbarous onto still remains, aud makes their King swear on tho Bible that they are idolaters. Now, is not this tile height, of folly i No one gain? by it. It ia merely done to humiliate vlie Irit-U people. In his book on hb life ;:i India Ear) Boot ids shows that the

i:.o,se of the Indian mutiny was chiefly .no to a disregard fur the religious feeing.; of the people. Ail tli-it is past anil ~ouo now. Tho religious feelings of '.iidians are now most scrupulously t;

ddered, and anything that would offend n that respect is carefully avoided, it is .o throughout tho whole Empire, except it Ireland, and it is madness that it iliould not bo so there Mho.

.But, this docs not, ju tily the attack on His Majesty ilia lv ug. For imu Irish mm have every right to entertain (he highest esteem an.; regard, not as a matter of allegiance so much as because lo has always slnwu a very friendly disposition towards them. irishmen, therefor.., will, wherever they are, with fvoliugs of tho deepest regret read about dm vile attack made upon him by an organ of public opinion in their native country. As Mr Balfour said, there ia no question of principle involved, it in jures, instead of assisting, the cause of Home Huh;, it reflects on tho whole Irish mvTjii, and wo are glad to find that tho Irish members of Parliament did not try to justify it. Hut after all it is possibly the work of one or two hot-headed, hairbrained men, who knew not the mischief they were doing, and whoso ideas of responsibility tiro vague and unenlightened. Dnglishm;-)! will no doubt look upon it in this light as soon as tho sareuena conns down, and tho whole thing will blow over in tho course of time.

THE HON. JOHN McKFNZIE. No event has taken place in New Zealand politics for a long time which has given us greater pleasure than tho appointment of the Hon. John McKenzie tr. a seat in the Legislative Council, for tho reason that no one has over had that honor conferred ou him who more richly deserved it. This Colony can never repay the hou. gentleman for the great w.,rk ho has done for it, aud whatever honor is conferred on him will be only a very smr.ll recompense for his invaluable ioboura. No one can deny that under the present regime tho Colony has prospered, literally speaking, by leaps and bounds, aud no one has had a greater share in bringing that happy state of things about than the Iloa. John Me Keuzio. Wa do not desire to detract anything from the merits of other ministers, all of whom have rendered splendid services to ';ho Colony, but to tho laud policy of the /-ion. John Mo Kcnzie belongs the lion’s share cf their success. In the first place i; is with ut doubt, that policy which ha.-; beau mainly instrumental in keeping them in office so long. The people saw that the salvation of the country depended on settling the people on the land, they know that *o long as they kept the Soddou Ministry in power settlement would go ou, aud hence the secret of their nuparalelled prosperity. Hind settlement is altogether different from other items in the policy of tho Government. Evaryouo understands what it means, and what its effects will be. They conid bo deluded with spacious arguments ou finance and other matters, but no one can deceive them as to the good effects of the settlement of the people ou tho land. They understand tiiat just as well as anyone else, aud it is useless for anyone to try to mislead them. It is this policy which has been chiefly I instrumental in keeping the ministry in power so long, and thus enabled them to do ao much good in other respects. Now tho Hon. John McKenzie is the man who originated, elaborate:?, and carried out that scheme, aad it has been successful beyond the moat sanguine dreams of its moat enthusiastic supporters. lu no instance ins it failed. There may be instances in whi -h persona have forfeited their sections. Wo know of people who have taken up sections, took a

couple of crops off them, and when forced to comply with tho regulations forfeited them. These were people who never intended to settle on the land, or had not sufficient means to do so. ’That was no fault of the system, and it did not in any way detract from its usefulness, for in every instance there were several others ready and willing to take up the forfeited sections. Tho scheme has, therefore, bean an unqualified success, mid it is to the splendid manner in which it was initiated, organised, and administered by tho Hou. John McKenzie that we owe it. Ho brought to bear on it practical expstience, intense sympathy, aud honesty of purpose, a vigorous farseeing intellect, and a determination that it should not be spoiled by fraud. In

many instances efforts ware bn:- - : I > boar on him to relax his vigor, i.n administration, such as iu the Pomahaka, but neither fla tt-ry nor plau-iblo appeals, nor intimidation could move him. Ik knew be was right, and no inflm-uco coni., make him turn one step from tho p th of duly. lime has proved the soundness of his views We hear nothing of Porn ihaka now. Those who were endeavouring to make use of tho settlers there with the viaw (ft bringing discredit ou the system, are no longer iu politics, and tb.o people whom they were deceiving have long ago settled down contentedly to their work. Tor tho reason therefore that this colony c.ui never repay the services rendered by tile Mon John feJcKeuzA, we heartily congratulate the Government on having appointed him to the Conned. It ia perhaps tho only means they have of recoaimiug his work; it is nor, ail he do serves, aud our groat, hope, and trust, and prayer is tuat he will live long to enjoy it. 15y latest advice he has been improves greatly in health lately, and the trouble which was the cause of Ida illness has practically disappeared. da ho ia otherwise thoroughly found in body, n.<

well as in aiatl, it is quite possible we may again sen him halo and hearty, and even back iu hia old place as Minister of Lauda, tto is by no means an old man, being only between Go and (it- years of age. That is young for a man of his physique, who has livua a life such aa ho hay. At anyratc, wo c.vo pleased at his appointment, for no one aver entered tho Council who earned ills seat by giving better services to the c.dnny.