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New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 431, 15 July 1881, Page 15

The New Zealand Tablet to-day appears in an enlarged form. Four pages have been added to its size, so as to provide for the furnishing of additional information on many useful subjects to our readers. It is our design now that our space ad* mits of it to devote more attention than it has hitherto been in our power to give to matters of local interest — that is, connected with the colony generally. We also purpose to supply a page especially given up to the farm and garden. We trust that not only will the support bo far accorded us be continued in order to enable us to carry out our undertaking, but that our friends will interest themselves on our behalf by endeavouring to secure for us increased circulation. We are grateful for the favour shown to vi in the past, and we may promise that it shall always be our effort to deserve it in the future. A large and enthusiastic meeting of the Irish residents of the Ahaura, Grey Valley, was held on the evening ',oi the 29th of June, for the purpose of organising a branch of the Irish National Land League. The following officers were appointed : — Messrs. Michael Giskine, farmer, Totara Flat, President; B. Gough, Vice-President; H. MaGilL Treasurer ; Michael F. Gough, Secretary. There were twentyfive Committee members also appointed. The following resolution was unanimously passed :—": — " Resolved — That we the members of the Grey Valley Land League hereby pledge ourselves to cordially cooperate with Mr. Charles Stewart Parnell in his untiring effort* to carry on the agitation until justice is granted to the Irish people." •The branch to be called the Grey Valley Land League." Mb. Thomas Allan has been committed for trial on an Action for criminal libel against Mr. Massey, the Town Clerk of Dunedin, whom he has accused of effecting insurances on certain buildings to the amount of £1600, and then proposing to pay him (Allan) the sum of £50 if he would assist him in burning them down. An able lecture on " Christianity, Modern Science, and Evolution," was delivered in aid of the Catholic Literary Society, Chxjj**

church, on the 6th inst., by Mr. Maskell. The subject was treated in a lucid and comprehensive manner, and the lecturer met with loud applause. Thb Christchurcb Board of Education bare refused permission to the Church of England Ministers Association to give religious instruction at the Normal School during school hours, the Act forbidding such a step. Wb are unable to publish the lists in connection with the Dunedin •übßcription to the Land League Fund in our present issue, as one or two of them hare not been as jet sent in. Thb Maorieß of Wanganui prophesy floods and earthquakes. It is stated that China women are sold among their countrymen in Sydney by auction. How does this fall in with British institutions ? It was wont to be the boast that no slave's foot could tread upon the sacred soil. A movement is on foot at Ashburton with the object of establishing a Hunt Club for the district. A meeting of the ministers of religion has been held in Dunedin for the purpose of forwarding the interests of the bill for the suppression of gaming and lotteries. There was some sense spoken at the meeting, but there was alßo, as might be expected, a good deal of nonsense of one kind or another advanced. Something worse than nonsense was the attack made upon the newspapers in the statement that their proprietors supported an immoral and deleterious practice for purposes of private gain. It would be wiser and more in keeping with the character of men professing to act in the interests of the Gospel if they would, in their public utterances at least, abstain from insulting and calumnious remarks. The reference to the encouragement given to the gambling spirit by raffles held at bazaars was foolish, as was aleo the proposal to prevent the employees of places of business obtaining a holiday, now and then, on the occasion of a race meeting. Meantime, how would it be if ministers were to try and overcome the tendency to gambling by an energetic exercise of their ministry ? A restraining effect so produced would be infinitely more conducive to morality than any repressive action of the law. The Otago and Canterbury Hunt Clubs purpose to hold steeplechase meetings at a near date. Typhoid fever has been introduced into Ohriitchurch by means of milk sold off dirty premises. It will be remembered that the strange disease lately prevalent in Aberdeen was traced to a like cause. Some system of supervision for dairies seems to be amongst the things desirable. So successful have been the tactics of the Nihilists in ordering their condemned members to exhibit a religious attitude upon the ■eaffold, and so favourable the impression produced upon the crowd by such a demeanour, that it has been decided in future to carry out all executions in private. Oub contemporary the Otago Daily Times, with that dogmatic simplicity, or simple dogmatism, that so distinguishes him, lays down the law on the Bevised Version. He says people hare got to put up with it whether they like it or not, and that it is overwhelmingly probable that " in nine cases out of ten the learned revisers are right." — But what of the tenth case when the Word of God is in question 1 Man liveth . . . by every word of God. Our contempory, however, does not mean to discard the Authorised Version altogether ; it is to be retained as a check upon " mere literal and verbal critics " who are to be chastised into submission to scholars by the confusion Into which they will be thrown on making a comparison of the two versions. Nevertheless, wo shall see how the enforced relinquishment of their private interpretation will agree with our " Evangelical " friends. There will be confusion certainly, but w« doubt as to how far it will result in submission. The stock-owners of Rangitikei and Manawatu are very anxious that a company should be formed for the exportation of meat and dairy produce from Wellington to the Home markets. The project seems a reasonable one, and we shall probably er« long see it carried into successful execution. Meantime the experimant made of sending cheese to London by the Orari has proved a failure, but the success that has elsewhere attended on such undertakings conclusively proves that this must have been owing to some deficiency in the apparatus rather than to any impossibility of accomplishment. The fact that meat, and even butter, can be safely carried to the other end of the world is now established beyond question, and it only remains for the conclusion arrived at to be extensively availed of. A failure hero and there must not exercise any deterrent power ; nor must any weight be attached to calculations respecting the danger of glutting the Home markets and causing a scarcity among ourselves. There will always be sale for plenty of good food in Europe, and to supply it must of necessity benefit all class-.-s of people out here The only olasa likely to lose by the matter are the landholders of the United Kingdom, but that their rents should be reduced is not an all-important obstacle, or one that need meet with much consideration. If they don't like it, let them emigrate. A LKTTEB in another column recommends the Catholics of the colony to turn their attention to the aecemity that exists for All those

among (.ham duly qualified to haTe their names entered on the electoral roll. The matter la a serious one, and no Catholic qualified for the franchise can neglect it without incurring the blame of at least a stupid carelessness. A meeting having for its ends the settlement of the people on the lands of the colony has be?n held at Palmerston. The meeting condemned the granting of pastoral leases of large extent, unless in very remote places, or in the case of land absolutely unfit for agriculture. It recommended that more stringent measures should be taken to prevent " dummyism" and appointed a committee to watch the interests of settlement in Waikouaiti county. The rabbits are still as lively as ever, and the war of extermination against them goes on — without, it would seem, much hopes of success. In some places the skins are being sold and fetch about a shilling a pound. It is said that settlers in the north will before long be able to follow the branch of industry referred to with great ease, as the rabbits are making their way through the Forty-mile Bush, and are likely to thrive famously on the open land beyond it. The return lately published of the imports and exports for 1880, when compared with that for 1879, shows to the favour of the colony. The value of the imports for 79 was £8,374,685 and that of those for '80, £6,162,011, which Bhows a decrease of £2,212,574. The exports for 79 amounted to £6,743,126, and that of '80 to £6,352,692, showing an increase of £609,566. The Taranaki Herald gives an account of the meeting held lately at White Cliffs between Mr. Parris and the Natives from Mokau. A good deal of the conversation that took place is interesting and instructive. Here is a passage that we find so — Te Huria is the speaker :—": — " When the Gospel came, and the Natives were released from slavery and returned to th«ir own lands, we did not know that with the Gospel came the law. Why did you take land that did not belong to yon 1 We received the Gospel, not knowing that it and the lav^ came together. You concealed that from us ; now the law has taken the land." The Maori, then, we learn, have, like their betters, a taste for the Word without price, and also, like their betters, are doubtful as to its value when paid for. But, indeed, they are not the first people who have learned that where the Anglo-Saxon bears the Gospel, his law follows speedily in its wake. The Christianity that the " missionary nation " spreads abroad is that alone that goes with its own people when they enter upon the possessions of those races their advance has exterminated. The Maori have proved no exception to the general rule. Another instructive passage is the following from the lips of Mr. Parris :—": — " We are not the only ones that take land after war. When the Waikatos came where were you, and what became of the land ? When they went to Ngamotu they took the land. When the Maoris went to (he Chatham Islands, what happened there 1 (Mr. Parris gave several other instances.) Therefore, do not say we have not previous example of confiscation amoi gst your own people." But it might be pleaded a civilised people, the civilised people par excellence, as it is often at least implied, should hardly look for a precedent to the customs of savages : they are not urged on their behalf with dignity. The reference of Te Huria to the Gospel was not without its severity. One of our northern contemporaries thinks it would be an ex* collent thing if the Mormon Elders should convert the Maories and induce them to emigrate to Utah. The Government, he says, would profit by assisting the emigration with ships and money. This it th 6 true British policy — let the obstructing people " move on," to the devil if they will, but let us have the land at any cost. Neveitheless, let our contemporary have a little patience ; he will find the land come in aIL in good time. There is no need of the Mormons' aid ; sound British Christianity can do all that is required — the law, as Te Huria says, knows well how to accompany the " Gospel " in such cases. The Wellington Ewning Post thinks there may be some danger of the Chinese Bill's not receiving the royal assent, and bases the opinion on the reception here of a London telegram announcing the intention of the Imperial Government not to " take any steps to modify the existing treaties with China, so as to enable the Australian Colonies to deal with the question of Chinese immigration." New Zealand, however, "as in duty bound," we have no doubt will, under any circumstances, remain true to its gushing loyalty, and receive even the adverse sentence with not only equanimity but pleasure. Has not the Imperial Government still the right to make whomsoever it will masters of its territory ; it has always claimed and strenuously exercised such a right. One of the ugliest things that has for some time come to the surface is that connected with the telegraph clerks discharged owing to the late strike. It was hardly an unpardonable offence for men to try and prevent the breach of their privileges, and a burdensome addition to their labours ; it certainly was not an offence that should have shut them out from all future right to earn a livelihood anywhere. And yet that, it seems, is what our Government judged it to 1»e. Their na»en were forwarded to the Mighbemißg cßleaiev so

that when they made application for employment there they met with a peremptory refusal. It is a miserable affair. The Avrora of Rome has a paragraph strongly in praise of our contemporary the Illustrated Catholic American published in New York, which it especially recommends to the heads of colleges and school*, for the instruction and amusement of their pupils. It is, indeed, a most excellent Catholic publication, full of interesting matter, and beautiful illustrations. Its circulation is now universal, and deservedly so. We learn that Monsignor Kirby, the venerable rector of the Irish college at Rome, has been consecrated Bishop of Lita in partibut infideliuni. We trust that, notwithstanding the advanced age of the J Bishop, he may still for many years survive te enjoy the honour the Holy See has thus conferred upon him. j A move is teeing made in Southland to push forward the construction of the railway from Invercargill to Fortrose. The first j section of the line, that of Seaward Bush, has been already surveyed, and land for its construction, almost capable of meeting the cost, has been reserved. The Southland News says, on the subject :— " What is wanted is that this scheme, flo fraught with benefit alike to one of the finest districts in the Middle Island, to the town of Invercargill, and to the port of Southland should not be allowed to stagnate, but should be pushed with all the energy of which we are capable. There could be no more favourable opportunity than the present, tha district being represented by four Government supporters, whose united efforts ought to be sufficient to obtain for us this bit of justice." The diamond is certainly a sparkling and attractive gem, but still we doubt whether the powers of its attractiveness exercised from some unknown position under the soil of South Africa could move six members of the Dunedin police force to go in search of it unless some motive nearer home were also in the ascendant. And yet it would appear as if no service could offer more halcyon days than that of the Dunedin constabulary. Its members are in a great degree marked by a rotundity of form that even in the streets it is impossible to pass without a certain feeling of gratification, as if one were in the presence of the most exemplary results of good nourishment and a contented mind. There is also in some instances an expansireness to be remarked about the region of the heart that seems to denote an unusual growth of that organ of the tender affections. On the whole then, judging from appearances, which are the only grounds we have to rest upon, we should say the Dunedin police force must be above all things amiable and happy. Unless, therefore, there is some cause of dissatisfaction that escapes the public gane, it must really be in pursuit of the " rich and rare " that our constables are gone. We clip the following from our contemporary the Sydney Express: — "So the 'revised version of the New Testament 'is out at last. As a matter of Bcholarly criticism there is no harm in pointing out that the source from which the ' authorised ' version has been ' corrected ' is a corrupt one. Tke Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome, though merely a version, is the only authentic edition of the Sacred Scriptures now extent, as the Old Testament was collated with the Greek Septuagint at a period -when that venerable version was pure and uncorrupt, and the New Testament was compared with the genuine codices which are not now in existence. At the time of the Reformation' then it was absurd to talk of going back to the ' original Greek ' for the genuine Septuagint perished in the Alexandrian library, and the ancient codices only existed in mutilated and incorrect copies. All sound Protestant critics prefer the Vulgate before the ordinary Greek text whenever the two differ, because the oldest and best manuscripts agree with the Vulgate, which is a proof that the latter represents manuscripts which arc more accurate than those which were used to form the Greek text. As for the Hebrew version, having been almost entirely left to the Jews for about 1000 years, it was in a most corrupt state at the time of the ' Reformation.' ) So both the sources of the Protestant Bible were corrupt to begin with, and their own scholars toll us that their translators ' made the text of Scripture jump up and down to suit their purpose.' The only way for our Protestant friends to secure a correct translation is •ither to avail themselves of the labours of the colleges of Douay and Kheims, or to translate the Vulgate anew for themselves. It is reported that an outcome of the late earthquakes has been a volcano in the Tarariia Ranges. The report needs confirmation. The cases of fatal accident reported for the week are those of a man at Oamaru smothered by the fumes from a stove in hia bedroom ; of a girl at Christctnarch burned by her clothes taking fire while she was asleep near the hearth ; of a man drowned in attempting to cross the Waihopai river ; and of a miner killed by a fall of eaith at Kyeburn. Furtheb progress is reported of in connection with the Irish Land Bill ; nevertheless, the measure seems to be a long time under consideration. Abundant opportunity for action has been allowed the landlords, and it must be evident now to everyone that the establishment of the Land League hai proved a vital neceoityfbrthe

protection of the people. Without its opposition the landlords could have provided for the evil day to come by driving oat their tenant* wholesale. The Italian Government have added to the burdens of their unfortunate country a loan of £30,000,000 at 5 per cent. There will now be a nice opportunity for the further enriching of officials, while the taxation of the unhappy peasantry will be largely increased. How long will the people endure it ? MB. Ptke has given notice of a Bill to amend the Education Act. The Bill is reported to provide for the extension of the benefits of the Act to private schools conducted in accordance with it, and that all schools so conducted, and showing an average attendance of 25 , shall be entitled to a capitation allowance equal to that granted the Government schools. Mr. Pyke is further moving in connection with miners' rights, the fees for which he proposes to reduce to ten shillings. Mb. McShane, of Winchester, sold eighteen head of bullocks on Wednesday, in Dunedin Cattle Market, at an average of £12 per head. The Tunisian troops sent against the Arabs of Sfax refused to act There is a lesson to be learned from the conduct of these barbarians as we should consider them, in declining to aid the French against their fellow-countrymen, that people who boast of more enlightenment might profit by. The example, it strikes us, might well pat to shame the Irish Constabulary. The committee in connection with the entertainment held on Wednesday evening desire to apologise for the absence of Mrs Angus and Miss Hill on that evening. Through illness they were unable to render their assistance as promised. To those ladies and gentlemen who kindly assisted the committee beg to tender theix warmest thanks. A SAMPLE of mottled freestone from Mr. McCaffrey's quarry near Queenstown, shown in the Dunedin Exhibition has attracted much attention. The Government intends to provide for resuming nominated immigration. The reductions and removals in the police force have altogether ensured a saving of £60,000. The saving, however, when compared with the £300,000 a year expenditure due to centralism is not worth speaking of ; and the police force has been notably weakened, a matter of considerable import.