WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 8, 13 June 1884, Page 17

W ELLINGTON.

(From our own correspondent.) June 9. THE ordinary monthly meeting of the local branch of the Irish National League was held at the Boulcott street rooms on Monday evening, 2nd instant, at eight p.m. The President was in the chair. The attendance at this meeting was very limited. The names of ten new members were added to the roll of the branch. The secretary reported that he had received a communication announcing the formation of a sub-branch among the workmen on the railway works at Porirua, and, requesting to be affiliated to the Wellington branch; on the motion of the President this was granted. Discussion of the adjourned motion, " That Mr. Redmond's lectures be printed and distributed so as to disseminate a knowledge of the Irish question " was resumed. After various suggestions had been offered, it was at length considered that the funds of the branch would not in its present state justify the expenditure that would be required. However,t.in order to take a step in the right direction, it was resolved and carried that the secretary procure three dozen of the Leagues' publications for distribution in the various settlements in the district. It was decided that as the branch had no special designation or patron, it should henceforth be known as the " Parpell " branch, subject to no other branch m the Colony being similarly designated. A committee was nominated and appointed to frame general rules for the guidance and carrying on of the business of the '.branch, • those at present in force being merely, provisional rules. It was here remarked that it . was to be regretted that the New Zealand members of the executive council of the League appointed at the Melbourne Conference did not interest themselves in the welfare of the branch, either by suggestions as to rules, etc., or more generally by stimulating the branch by their counsels and good wishes and keeping up a bond of communication between the various branches of the League in the Colony. The question of registration of Catholic electors by the branch, was brought^ up and was warmly spoken to by all the members present.- The absence of any organisation for the purpose in the past was commented upon, and it was shown here from the want of a proper marshalling of their forces at election times, the strength o£ the Catholic party was far from being so effective as it otherwise should have been. The advantage of cohesion was manifested at Home, and more especially in the English boroughs where the Irish vote was becoming a great factor at all elections, municipal and political. An energetic committee thereupon volunteered, their first duty being to effect a thorough overhaul of the electoral rolls for the various city constituencies and outlying electoral districts, and Bee that the name of no resident Catholic was omitted therefrom. Thisrcommittee agreed to meet weekly, as it was deemed that no time ought to be lost, in the face of the present condition of political parties, and seeing that a dissolution was imminent. Some choice Irish readings, historical and humorous, which were deservedly . well applauded, brought the meeting to a close. I should like to see a better attendance of members at these monthly meetings of the League. Though the branch has a fair muster-roll, it cannot, however, count upon anything like the number of members it should, considering the Irish population here. The objects of the League commend themselves to every Irishman, and, in the absence of any local Catholic Literary or Improvement Society, the branch ought to commend itself to every Catholic. I say, therefore, no Catholic Irishman, at least, ought to be outside its pale of membership. Everyone joining the branch, besides inculcating a spirit of Irish and Catholic brotherhood, may calculate upon gaining some information or enjoying some amusement at these meetings. — The members of the League deserve to be congratulated for their timely and decisive action in the matter of registration of Catholic voters. There is no doubt that some such step was much required here, as a great many Catholics, chiefly young men, either born in the Colony or fresh from the " Old Sod," who ought to be on the electoral roll, are not so. They_ are careless on the subject themselves, and unless some association undertakes the task, i.e., fill up and lodge the necessary application, it will be neglected. In view of the amalgamation of our city constituencies, it behoves the Catholic body to see that every one of their people is in a position to exercise his electoral rights. The combined Catholic vote will, in future, exercise more weight and influence than heretofore. As Catholics we can only obtain redress from our manifest grievance under the Education Act, by agitation, and by making our power felt at the hustings, where we can punish our old enemies, and favour or support, as the case may be, ourfriends or pronounced advocates of our cause. A change in the existing system of State education is very certain in the near future. The New Zealand tax -payer cannot much longer stand the drain at that very sensitive part of his person, his pocket ; the system is notoriously extravagant, and he is now beginning to realise the fact that he has been paying too dear for his whistle. A few of our statesmen have already declared that the result has not at all justified the expenditure ; that the country cannot go on educating its youth as heretofore, and that, beyond, perhaps, a certain elementary course, parents must pay for the education of their own children, if they wish them to luxuriate in the higher standards. The matter will in all probability come up in Parliament, after the next general election, at the furthest. There has been in the past a very decided reluctance on all sides to tamper with that very pretty toy, the Education Act, and this perhaps has been the greatest obstacle in the way of the Catholics obtaining redress, but a different spirit is now abroad. When a breach has once been made in the Act, as (ssuredly it will in the line of cost, we, Catholics, must he prepared t ith our strength to also effect an entrance. While the matter of registration of Catholic votes is now fresh, it would be well if those who are taking a more or less active part in it<were to follow it up by the formation of a permanent Catholic political association. The advantages to be derived from such an institution, would be' that, being permanent, it would have a standing committee whose duty it would be to periodically supplement the

electoral rolls, by the names of all new arrivals and others becoming qualified, and in addition exercise a vigilant scrutiny at revision times. Such an association would on the eve of any election, if it could_ not run its own candidate, decide, which of the candidates standing for the vacancy were most deserving of the Catholic vote, and direct the Catholic voters accordingly. In this way alone can the Catholic block vote, be properly utilized. It would not then be split up and trifled with, as unfortunately it has too often injthe past. It speaks volumes for the efficiency of the Manst Brothers' Schools here that at the recent Civil Service Examination for tne, whole Colony, one of their pupils, named B. J. Gormley, successfully passed the -junior grade.- Of all the Wellington candidates, this boy was the only one that had been entirely educated at a primary school ; all the others were pupils of the Wellington College. The local Orangemen displayed, to their hearts content, their foible of loyalty, on the substituted Queen's Birthday holiday, 26th. May. Their demonstration on this occasion took the form of a pic-nic at MacNab's Gardens, Lower Hutt, where they proceeded with their "sisters and their cousins and their aunts," in a Bort of procession, arrayed in their badges, and headed by their tawdry flag. They were escorted by a band to which the air of " Boyne Water," was something very new, if one could judge from the very indifferent [ and discordant manner in which it was performed. The procession was a regular rag-tag and bob-tail affair, the respectable members of the body, at least if there be any such here, were conspicuous by their absence,