THE PREMIER AND CATHOLICS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIV, Issue 36, 31 December 1886, Page 15

THE PREMIER AND CATHOLICS.

§N another column will be found a correspondence between Sir Robert Stout and Bishop Moran. This correspondence, it is evident, is n>«t yet concluded, and for this reason we abstain from entering into its merits. The facts, however, of the case may be stated. On Sunday last, in the Lyceum, Sir Robert Stout, as president of the Preethought Association, made the attack on Catholics to which the Bishop refers in his first letter. In this letter Dr. Moran asks Sir Robert to give his authorities for the statements he had made. Sir Robert's reply is now before our readers^ so also is Bishop Moran's rejoinder, in which His

Lordship contends that the authorities referred to by the Premier fail to establish his statements. Thus the matter stands at present. But it is obvious that the matter cannot be allowed to rest here. It now devolves on Sir Robert Stout to show how his authorities prove his statements. The Bishop asserts that they do not, and as His Lordship, according to the rules of logic as well as of common sense, is not called upon to prove a negative, Sir Robert Stout must prove his statements by positive arguments, or confess that he has calumniated Catholics and their Church. We shall look forward with some interest to the end of this correspondence.

Lynch as deacon, and the Rev. Father Vereker as sub-deacon, at 11 a. m. The cathedral hud been decorated for tbe festival by several ladies of the congregation, and the tasteful manner particularly in which they had adorned the sanctuary and the pillars of the aisles with wreaths and festoons of foliage and flowers gained general admiration. The crib, also, which had been erected in the baptistery, opening into the north aisle of the church, was beautifully arranged, and formed the object of devotion to large numbers of the congregation throughout the day and the succeeding week. His lordship took occasion, before delivering ashort sermon on the feast of the day, to thank the ladies who had so skilfully performed the pious labours alluded to, as well as the choir, to whom, he said, the Catholic community were indebted not only for the fine music rendered by them during the present ceremonies, but for their valuable services extending over several years. The music during the celebration of High Mass was quite worthy of the high reputation of the conductor and organist. Herr Benno Scherek, and thf choir of vocalists whom be so ably directs. In the morning at the first Mass the choir of the Dominican nuDs did efficient service, and sang with exceeding sweetness and in a very devotional strain. We are glad to see that our respected fellow-citizens, Mr. and Mrs. Bunbury, of Dunedin, have returned in good health to tbe Colony by the s.s. Rimutaka, just arrived. We bid them cead tnille failthe. It is gratifying (says United Ireland of November 6.), to be able to chronicle an " Irish win," at the entrance examination for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeon*, held at Glasgow last week. Out of twenty-eight cxndidates for admission foul Irishmen competed, and succeeded in beading th; list of successful competitors, the firs* place being awaided to Mr. W. H. Maxwell, of Dundalk. Mr. Maxwell is the son of Mr. Joseph H. Maxwell, chairman of the Dundalk. Town Commissioners, a thorough-going Protestant Nationalist. Sheriff Ivory and his policemen, soldiers, and landlord bailiffs ("writes tbe Glasgow correspondent of tbe Dublin Freemcui Of November 6.), have just overdone it among the crofters in Skye. Public opinion is rising in indignation against their acts of cruelty i " The apprehension on Friday of a woman with a baby a few months old at her brp-i«t,an 1 a numerous young family at home, was," a Scotch paper says, "an act of downright barbarism. Assuming even that she was one of the worst among the Amazonian deforcers, it was a piece of unmanly and wan ion cruelty to drag her off to Portrce jail in her weik condition and wi'h her heavy material burden^. Such an incident as • Lis in iy leriify, but it assuredly does not teach High, landers, or for that matter Lowlanders, much respect for the law which sanctions it Sheriff Ivory, on whom the blame must rest, has earned the distinction of perpetrating, in tha name of the law, oneof the most uD-Biiti^h bits of tyranny conceivable in this age of human, itarianism." A gontleman who signs himself "An Ofßvr," writes on the subject to aGI isgjw journal ■— -•' The repo.ts from Skye by your correspondent accompanying the expedition against the islanders show the conduct of the officials to be worthy of Nana Dhundo Punt ; otherwise Nana Sabib, of Cawnpore. I was engnged in suppressing the Indian mutiny from its beginning to its close, and saw many gad sights during that eventful period, but I never saw or heard of anything that has so shocked me as the cruel-hearted brutality sho%v towards women in poor health, old feeble men, r.nd young children by the myrmidons of the law in Skye described by an eye-witness — your correspondent." The following reputations made by Sir Kedvors Bulier probably go far to account for the disposition shown by many Irish landlords to grant reductions in rent : — With regard to the attendance o police at evictions in Kerry, further impoitant particulais have been ascertained. Isot alone must there be ten days,' notice of such eviction given to the police authorities before the force required will be granted, but full particulars as to each case must also be submitted. For this purpose a requisition form bas been supplied to the Sheiiff ) ou which applications will be made. No \erbal applications will be entertained, and the printed document has been, devised so that the matter might he submitted through Tralee headquarters to Si r Redveis Bulier at Killarney. The requisition form opens with the day on whiGh tbe eviction takes place, and then the following queries a~e to be answered : — Name of landlord, agent, and tenant. Name of the townland in which tbe tenant resides. Number of acres in his holding. Yearly rent, poor-Uw valuation, and the amount owed by the tenant. Number of police required. Hour at which the party are to start, and point at which they are to assemble. The document must then be forwarded to General Bulier at Killarney. General Bulier will next direct the sergeant of police in the district where the evicted tenant or tenants live to collect information as to the condition and circimstances of the tenant, and to supply such other particulars with reference to the case as the sergeant's knowledge of the tenant and the place might suggest. On the facts ascertained depends whether or not police will be supplied lo protect the sheriff in carrying out the eviction. As to whether the state of England's relations towards foreign countries has had anything to do with Lord Randolph Churchill's

resignation or not it would be vain, in the present state of oar information, to speculate. It is, however, evident that the withdrawal of thf troops from Egypt betrays a very mortifying position for those in whose hands the government is placed, and more especially for a Cabinet inheriting the traditions of the Tories. Nothing but the strongest pressure from abroad acting upon the conviction of weak* ness could have brought about any such movement, and it may almost be looked upon as an irrevocable step in England's abandonment of the leading place hitherto claimed by her among European powers. Continual occupation, if not decisive annex ation , was too palpiV 'y a necessity for her to admit of any doubt as to the motives of the Government in giving way. The god Terminus never made a retrograde movement under more sinister circumstances, short of actual defeat. There are evidently different opinions even in England about Mr Dillon's action in Ireland. We find the following for example, in Truth :— " The Tenants are upon the very eve of victory, if they don't spoil their hand ; a victory complete, crushing, and final. Nothing can carry landlordism over this winter if the tenants will only stand firm. The Government itself (as is shown by the action of General Bulier in requiring ten days to ' enable police enquiries to be made ' before protection is given to eviction parties) is beginning to take fright. The advice given to the tenants by Mr. Dillon and United Ireland is the best imaginable. What I like about these Parnellites is that they are so eminently practical and business-like. Mr Dillon says to the tenants : — ' Meet and settle what you can pay. If the landlord won't take the reduced rent thus offered, let him go without it, and let a fund be banked in the names of trustees to meet the necessities of any tenants whom ha may he so foolish as to evict.' This is sense. This is business. If Irish ' agitators ' had always talked like this, Ireland would have got her ' rights ' long ago —or, rather, she would never have lost them." It seems that some of our canny well-to-do folk who appreciate fully the advantage of educating their children at the expense of the community generally may plead in excuse that they do but follow the example of other rich people in Scotland. The Very Rev. Provost Munroi for instance.speaking the other day in Glasgow threw some light on the subject :— " Previous to the existence of the Board, the sons of gentlemen well able to afford the high fees were educated in private academies, grammar schools, etc. ; but now the Board educates therm prepares them for entrance to the University, indeed, at tlve expense of the poor ratepayers, whose sons never get the chance of acquiring a knowledge of Greek, Latin, physics, and Continental languages." — And that is just the kind of thing that is going on among ourselves. The absorbing topic of interest during the week has been the resignation of Lord Randolph Churchill — its causes and results. The chief motive for Lord Randolph's action is said to have been a difference between him and Lord Salisbury as to local Government, — and there is also some rumour of his unwillingness to have anything to do with the army and navy estimates which he regards as excessive and uncalled for. The result, meantime, appears to be % complete upset of the whole Cabinet, and the necessity for an entire re" construction of the Ministry. But if, as Mr. Chamberlain declares Lord Randolph's resignation proves the triumph of Tory principles the formation of a coalition Government as proposed, with Lord Hartington for Premier, seems impossible. The upshot of the matter will most probably he the return of Mr. Gladstone to power before the year has entered very far upon its course, and the near approach of success for the cause of Ireland.

Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge having stated that Ireland was mined by Freetrade, Hon. P. A. Collins, in his able speech at Gloucester, Mas 3., last week advised Mr. Lodge to read history, and he will find that " It was not Freetrade that ruined Ireland ; it was no trade at all. In the eighteenth century England tried to crush out everything but agriculture. Even a skin could not be tanned in Ireland ; but in 1782 the Irish soldiers placed at the mouth of their cannon, ' Freetrade or ' and England quickly granted Freetrade to Ireand. For the next eighteen years, until the act of union was passed, Ireland was more prosperous than she has ever been before or during the eighty-six years since. The reason Ireland is poor is because she is taxed to death. She has been ruined by absent landlords, which neither Massachusetts nor New York could stand any better. Nobody makes anything out of high taxes, except perhaps the man that gets the taxes." A Liverpool correspondent reports the death in the workhouse of that city of James Brophy, who was arrested on a charge of taking part in rescuing the Fenian prisoners in Manchester, when Sergeant Brett, of the police force of that city, was shot. On the night of the rescue Rrophy and half-a-dozen others were captured in a beer-house off Fontenoy Street. They were so completely surprised by the police that they offered little or no resistance, and were taken to Manchester for trial. The proprietress of the beer-house swore that Brophy was in her house at the time the attack was made, and he was set at liberty. Brophy, however, it is alleged, used to boast of the part he took in Fenian enterprises. About a fortnight ago, Brophy, who occasionally went to sea as a fireman, became delirious from, it is stated, drink, and was taken to Brownslow Hill Hospital, but it was found impossible to save his life, and he died in the presence of a priest, an inquest being held afterwards.