THE COMING SESSION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 62, 4 July 1874, Page 5

THE COMING SESSION.

Before this is published, the Session of the General Assembly for 1874 will have commenced. What have we to expect from its deliberations? Three questions, no doubt, will be discussed, we dare not say, will be finally disposed of. It is not in the nature of Colonial Legislatures to settle anything,, though they are always pretending to settle everything, even the land question, which is still, unfortunately, except for capitalists, as great a problem as ever. These three questions are — Education, the Land, and Immigration; As- to the last named, we shall say nothing more to-day, than that so far, Immigration, all things considered, has not been grossly mismanaged j and that the Agent-General has not incurred the serious responsibility of establishing. Popery in- the Colony by his administration of the scheme. The Land question is still the stalking-horse of Colonial politicians, and is likely to continue such.. There will be a debate, perhaps more than one, on the subject ; and there will be an unanimous expression of a desire, even a determination, to settle the people on the land. And in view of the approaching general election, hon. members will be warmly demonstrative, and fervently eloquent in denunciation of the shortcomings of the past, and most earnest in resolutions of good behaviour in the future. The pantomime of the canvass and the hustings .will be rehearsed several times in the House of" Representatives, Time* without number hon. member*

without an exception, pledged themselves to secure the people's land to the people. But these pledges remain unfulfilled to this day. True, land has been sold pretty extensively— Otago lately disposed of one fine block of 45,000 acres to one capitalist, a— millionaire ; and Canterbury, not to be. outdone in establishing, even in the infancy of the Colony, an exceedingly rich landed aristocracy, has sold Kundreds of thousands of. pounds' worth of her best land, to wealthy runholders and other capitalists. Meantime the people who are hungering for land, that they may cultivate it, so that it might feed men instead of beasts, cannot get a rood. To be sure, now and then, and here and there a spurt is made, as in Otago, whe-e a few acres are offered on deferred' payments. But the value of the spurt may be estimated from the fact, that in very many instances, for one section there are ten applicants. . Still, there are millions of acres of the Waste Lands of the Crown, paying a few pence an acre, and enabling a few -to amass wealth at the expense of the many. But who are principally to blame? Why the people themselves who have the remedy in their own hands, and yet allow themselves, to be jockeyed out of their rights by a few clever, scheming politicians. The electors themselves are most to blame ; they have the power to redress their grievances, and they neglect to do so. It is hardly to be wondered at, tben, that they find themselves deceived and wronged by the very men who so charmingly wooed and won their sweet voices on election days. Though we regret the deception for the sake of the community at large, we certainly cannot entertain much sympathy for the dupes, so often warned, and, alter all, so often victimised. If the electors at the next general election would send their present representatives about their business, and entrust their destinies to new hands, something might be done. But there is not much hope of this. Clap-trap and beer are as yet, we fear, too powerful. Then there is the vexed question of education. Mr Vogel will, no doubt 3 introduce to the consideration of legislators his rejected Bill of last Session,— the Bill' which has been rightly designated " The , Duplicity Education Bill," which takes away with one hand what it bestows with the other ; which settles nothing, and enables Provincial authorities and Councils to perpetrate the greatest injustice. The only effect of this Bill— as, indeed, of all laws establishing secular education—will be the destruction of Faith, which according to all deep thinkers, from Comte to John Stuart Mill, is^the ruin of civil society. In the present Parliament, Denominationalists are powerless. Madness has seized the hour, and is running riot. The voice of reason is unheeded for the •present. It is our duty, therefore, in common with all who value religion, and believe in Christianity, to take note of the doings and tayings of modern Pagans— the Seculaiists of the age— lest by our help, connivance, or neglect, we make ourselves in any way responsible for the re-election of these men. Tile Catholic who votes for a Secularist incurs a grave responsibility indeed.

We have lately heard a great deal in denunciation of a Catholic block vote, and threats have been freely used. We have been told that such a proceeding on our part will lead to reprisals, and that no Catholic candidate will be returned to the next Parliament. Well, what then ? In such an event shall we be worse off than we are at present ? How many real Catholics are there in the present Parliament ? How many genuine Catholic* would have the ghost of a chance of being returned for any constituency iv all JNew Zealand? Let echo answer. Men who, whilst calling themselves Catholics, disgrace the name by disloyalty to the Church, disobedience of her laws, contempt of her warning, and disrespect of her ministers, might have a chance of electiou here and there • but no Catholic who practises his religion, and is loyal to the Church, dare even stand on any hustings in the Colony What, then, can we lose by fidelity to our principles ? Nothing, that we can see. But, on the other hand we can gam a gret.t deal ; we can, by manfully acting up to our principles, gam the respect and sympathy of honest men of all classes and religions, and rid ourselves of the incubus of worthless men m the garb of Cathodes. Suppose a man, calling himself a Catholic, but who never enters a Catholic Church never receives a Sacrament, never stauds up for a Catholic principe who— on the contrary— goes about like a poor, paltry coward amongst his non-Catholic friends, whining over the tyranny of the Pope, the unreasonableness- of the priests, their want of knowledge of the world-above all, of Colonial politics, and raises his hands in horror at the bare' mention of the name of that firebrand— Bishop Moean ; suppose, we 'say auch a mau should be returned for a constituency, of what

r S V ™£ at lm P° rtauce > would such a return be to us Catholics t Why such a representative would be a disgrace to us our opprobrium, a scandal to all ; and, depend upon it, before long, as he has already sold his religion, honor, and mannood for the poor honor of a seat in a Colonial Legislature, so he would soon sell his constituents of all denominations! No; let Catholic voters rest assured they cannot possibly lose anything really worth having by being men, and true to their S! ; ,fr °V,'* he Other Land > they cannot b «t'gam a great deal that is well worth having.