The Evening Herald. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1873.

Wanganui Herald, Volume V, Issue 16710, 5 February 1873, Page 2

The Evening Herald. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1873.

The attention of bur readei's;was some time ago called to an article ; which had appeared in the Taranaki News,' upon' the question of Irish immigrants. lii reply to our strictures on what appeared to be aii instance of: intolerance, -rarely exceeded in its intensity, by anything previously espoused by any .portion of the press of this Colony, the editor, Mr Charles Brown,'has come forth from behind the anonymous, arid published his personal views, and history in relation to the subject. Mr Brown sajTS : —-"The leading article' on'"immigration " contained uv the" News' of the 28th "December, appears to have'aroused " the religious ireof some of its contem- " poraries ; to dispose of the charge of " bigotry that is made in the Wanga- " nui Herald, I make this statement " that the qiiestion may be considered "from its.i political £ ancL non-religious " aspect. I can say with ,an " Old " Catholic" iii"tii'eEondon'Times, " I havebeen baptise'dallomanCatholic, " and have,neyer a.b]ured-the jreligion " which my ancestors, jsrofessed,' and " which'my., native Irish,' mother,: still " eai-nestly -professes.;.: I .was, brought " up, in;, a, Roman Catholic country; " where no. form'of dissent, was, toler-r- ---" ated to its subjects, where non-confes- " sion and other reb'giqus.shortcomiiigSj •" were punished .by imprisonment, iii " the ordinary gaols, and where;it,was " a tradition that for political reasons

"•absolution..' was given in the G'athe- " clral to the conspirators for murder, " before murder was committed. And " it is my experience of the political " working of Roman Catholicism where "it was the religion of the State, " and Avhere it is not, that I deal with. " As a somewhat similar case, I quote " the Bishop of Waiapu : —' The East " India Company refused its sanction "to the location of missionaries in " India, under the plea that the exten- " sion-of Christianity was adverse to ■" the maintenance of British power, or " avouM interfere Avith commerce,' and " yet the Company was not accused of " bigotry for taking a political or com- " mercial view of the question."

Now what has this to do with the question at issue 1 It shows no more than that Mr Brown is a, gentleman of sincere convictions, and has had a remarkable experience. We cannot, however, associate the personal experience of MiBrown with the sentiments contained in an anonymous article. That article ' objected to Irishmen as colonists, though it was admitted that " the objections apply less to the protestants." We combated this by reference to the colonising history of Ireland. Then' we had the statement, made with evident approval, that the Superintendent of Ta,ranaki liad received an. application for labour, " one condition of which was that the immigrants were not to be Irish." Surely a very palpable instance of prejudice and bigotry ! The Irish were said to be combative, and to have " an,inclination to remain Irish." We pointed out that nothing was' more likely to prevent1 Irishmen becoming New Zealanders than legislation or custom. refusing : to give, them the same status as Englishmen or Scotchmen. If A\ re are to haAre a united country Aye hold as an incontrovertible first principle, that all creeds and nationalities must be equal in the eyes of the law and of the administration. This is a British. Colony.!, Great Britain and Ireland constitute one nation, as everyone is aware, and there is no legal inferiority on the part of any one of the Three Kingdoms.' Then, what a miserable disparagement it Avould be of Ireland, if the Government .'of this country Avere to instruct the Agent-General to make no arrangement for Irish-Catholic emigration to the Colony, the catholics forming four-fifths of the popiilation of the kingdom ! There are many Irishmen in the Colony iioav, many are arriving daily without assistance. Would the Irish portion of our population be willing to change their nationality to that of New Zealanders, Avlien they found the GoA-ernment placing the old Anglo-Saxon mark of degradation on their mother country 1 We think not; and that the very " inclination" to remain Irish, winch- the editor of the News adduces as a-reason against Irish immigration, Avould be implanted by his oAvn exceptional treatment of that people. That is, ''. the editor is-very sorry for the effect of a cause Avhich he would actively support ! . Mr BroAvn's analogy is as Aveak as his former reasoning was illogical. '' The East India Company refused its sanction to the location of missionories in India;" therefore, he implies, Aye. might refuse to introduce catholic navvies, or agricultural labor--: ers, without being anymore charged Avith bigotry than the Indian GoA^ernment Ayas ! The. analogy is bad, because catholics do not come to"this country to make converts of Protestants, but to benefit their condition ; Avhile. the Indian ■missionaries Avere sent out, not to benefit their condition (though some black sheep may have forgotten the injunction), but to convert the native inhabitants of India. The > political: bearings of the question we deal Avith only, and not the religious. ■' If Mr BroAvn were very well read in history, and had studied: ' it, he Avould probably not impute to Roman Catholicism, as a particular form of the Christianfaith, crimes Avhich could be more philosophically charged against the want of political education' iii the people. In Protestant liations, Aye have had Protestant priests Ayho were as blood-thirsty as Nana Sahib, Avho stopped short of no crimes, hoAvever dark the dye. How is it there is a thousandfold more religious freedom in France, than, in Spain ? The cause is Avel! known to the student: of history, especially since the author of the History of Civilisation in England has -written.' Would the late Archbishop'; of Paris have sanctioned the giving of absolution to " conspirators for murder before the murder was committed 1" Roman Catholicism, Aye believe, has no more tendency to persecute than' any other dominant faith, Avhere the political circumstances are similar. We have come to this: conclusion, not having "abjured." the Protestant faith, without airy religious bias, and only after having A'iewed the question from .all sides by / the ' light of history. We do not find that the editor of our contemporary has mended1 matters in the least, and we hope if he ventures further upon the ocean of religious speculation ,as applied . : to immigration, he, will see cause to abjure his untenable opinion, that the Irish because of their religious faith are undesirable as immigrants. '

We agree with Mr Hare's plan of minority representation, .though we-mighthave some hesitation in, .say,ing ; that .England was in the political state when she should adopt it. The principle,, however, is fair, and will grow iiifavour' as feudal' and' aristocratic barriers'are removed. We apply it to the •lection to-morrow, and do so without any

regard as to which men are fittest to be elected. Mr Hutchison, it is said, is the nominee of a minority of the constituency. In fact we are told lie can poll 100. The majority want all their candidates returned, and they consequently place them on a "ticket." We Avill suppose that the majority number 200. In this case if the majority Avero combined enough to adhere to the " ticket," we should have one member for every 07 electors of the majority, and the .100 electors composing the minority not represented at all. This destroys the fairness of the cry of "unanimity," since every individual elector of the minority has as great a A'oice as every individual elector of the majority. They should plainly say " unanimity " of the majority, and death to the minority! With regard to voting for the interests of Wanganui in the Council, the representative of 100 is as likely to vote for those interests as the representive of 07, or the one-third of a delegation of a 200 ticket.

In Dunedin Burn's anniversary this year will only be marked by a supper. The Caledonian Society are offering- prizes for the best recitation by boys from Burns poems. Grapes thrive at Ooromandel. The question of wine-making is being mooted. From our exchanges, we gather that the visits of sharks to the harbours round our coasts have been more numerous lately than has been known to be the case for many years. According- to the local papers, anyone resident in Auckland who keeps a spring cart, even if only to drive himself about in, lias to paint his name on it, and get a license. No license is required to keep a carriage. Some idea of the value of quartz reefs at Inangahua may be gained from the following extract from the Grey Argus :—" The shareholders in the Golden Fleece Quartz Mining Company,lnangahua, after deducting all working expenses, and leaving a balance on hand, divided at the rate of £440 per full share as the result of the last crushing." Miller, a rope manufacturer in Melbourne, has in consepuence of the rise in Manila hemp rope and New Zealand flax, raised the price of rope £2 per ton, and cordage £1 2s.1

Wallis, a bookmaker, has been warned off the Melbourne race course for two years, and expelled Tattersalls for offering a bribe to a jockejr.

Mr Thynne has been induced to come foi-Avard for the Manawatu, although he had' signified his intention of not contesting the seat.

The Wellington Independent made a curious blunder in copying portion of a paragraph from this journal relative to a meeting of the Wanganui Cricket Club committee to discuss the letter received ■from the match committee in Wellington. The first and last portion of the resolution carried at the meeting are inserted, but twolines containing the reason why the Wanganui cricketers declared assisting are left out. By copying only the bare refusal to assist, without inserting the very substantial reason given by the Wanganui Club, is exceedingly unfair, aud would tend to widen rather than heal the breach that appears to exist betAvaen the two Clubs.

The following regulations of the New Zealand University have been approved by the Governor in Council: —That one thousand .pounds (£1000) be appropriated for the establishment of twenty (20) Scholarships, to be awarded for proficiency in one or more of the following subjects:—l. Classics; 2. Mathematics; 3. Physical Science; 4. Modern Languages, other than English History and English Literature. That there shall be one scholarship in each of the above mentioned branches of study of the value of seventy pounds (£7O) and that the remainder be of the value of forty-live pounds (£45); and that the tenure of each scholarship. be for the term of the University course. That the balance of the three thousand pounds (£3000) be appropriated to the payment of the incidental expenses of the Council. That these regulations come into force on the 13th day. of October, 1872..

Mr Bunny's prospects (says the Post) of success in the Wairarapa are cheering. A correspondent telegraphs to us that at the public meeting held at Featherston last night, a vote of confidence in Mr Bunny was carried unanimously. Mr 0. Pharazyn's speech was a decided failure, as is not surprising when we learuthathe condemned the whole' action of the Provincial Government. Mr George Beetham, on the other hand, who came forward as a supporter of the Government, Avas well received. MiAndrew Avas present, and got a severe castigation from the Provincial Secretary,'

A member of the present Government has laid down the principle that Resident Magistrate's Courts should be " self supporting." Need we tell our readers that this diabolical doctrine has emanated from the Minister of i ustice, the Hon. M'r Bathgate of Bank of Otago celebrity ! " Self supporting '\means increased fines, the subjection of the principle of equity in the Magistrate's mind to the question of making the fines meet his salary and court expenses, and it means the violation of his most sacred oath. / '

A telegram lias been received from the Secretary of tlio Wakefield Cricket Club

stating that as the "Waimea steeplechases take place on the 13th inst;, the \Vakeneld cricketers, many of whom are connected with the management of the vacea, could not visit "YVanganuithis month, but intended playing the match some time in March. We shall be glad to welcome the Nelson cricketers, and feel sure our local club will endeavour to emulate them in the hearty manner in which they entertained, and generally kindly treated, the Wanganui team during their succesf ul visit to Wakefield.

Humour with her busy tongue hath it that some change is contemplated in the Resident Magistracy at Patea. Our authority though not official is good, and we should not be surprised to find that Major Turner is restricted to the duties of his Inspectorship. The Ministry have descended so low as to correspond with subordinate clerics. This was only natural after the system of espionage which had come into force. We fail to see that the Hon. Native Minister has done much by his visit as yet. The only visible result being tlie increasing of certain reserves from one or two thousand acres as laid down by Mr. Worgan, to five or six thousand acres, and the littering of a good deal of the usual party political twaddle which every peripatetic minister thinks it necessary to drivel whenever a chance can be seized that can by any pretence be called a pathetic occasion. We do not imagine he Patea and Wairoa people ■•will be delighted with the proposedjrehabiltiation of their old opponents. But as we understand Mr. Middlemas was closeted with the Native Minister for three hours yesterday, it is probable that important modifications of policy have been initiated. We do not think Mr McLean has strengthened his own hands or benefitted the country by his recent arrangeI ments. Mr. Finnimore sold to clay by auction, 5 shares in the Wanganui Steam Navigation Company at £2 ss. each. j Mr James Findlater is announced as a candidate for the representation of Wangaehu in the Provincial Council.

At the R.M. Court this morning, the assault case of Drury v. Williams was gone into, but judgment reserved till Friday. An application by Mr Oakley for transfer of licence from the Ship hotel to the Phoenix hotel was granted. A similar application by Mr. Littlewood for a transfer from the Phoenix hotel to the Ship hotel was adjourned for one week, in consequence of the licence having been mislaid.

Boating appears to be flourishing in Wellington. The Post says:—lt is pleasant to notice the strides in advance that are being made by our boating clubs. The " Wellington " have built an excellent shed, capable of giving house room to half a dozen of the longest racing gigs used in this harbor, and they have added to their fleet two handsome outriggers, with the newest, improvements by Salter. The " Star" Club has also been moving in the right direction. They have built a second shed, imported three new boats, and now possess a fleet, we believe, of ten, that would do no discredit to any part of the Colony. In this way between the two clubs, a sum not much, if airy under £500, been expended within the past few months. This speaks well for the attention paid by the young men of the city to athletic sports, and for the influence with which interprovincial racing has upoii local boating. ,