American Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 27, 26 October 1888, Page 3

America n Notes.

A delegate from the Scottish Home Rule Association is now in the States. This gentleman whose name is McNaupht and who has been appointed honorary Colonial Secretary of the Association has come with the object of gaining the sympathy and obtaining the aid of Scotchmen settled here for the ends the Association seeks. He says it is the intention of the party he represents to contest every seat in Scotland at the next general election, and to make this possible for them they need a sum of £100.000, which they hope to raise by the aid of the masses, the ir expectations from the classes being very limited. Mr. McNaught answers the objection brought against their undertaking by English Liberals, who are afraid of losing in Parliament the " noble Liberalism," as Mr. John Morley

calls it, of the Scotch members, with tbe answer that it is intended that Scottish members should Btill take their seats in the Imperial parliament to deal with Imperial matters, but that affairs purely JSnglish should be left to the sole management of Englishmen, who Dest know what they themselves want. •' If England chooses to be vv 7™7 ™ <? Eayß> " then let her be Tory -" There can no doubt that Mr. McNaught s object deserves the sympathy and aid he seeks for, If, moreover, the struggle for Irish Home Kule, now at a fateful crisis, did|not occupy the whole attention of Irish-Americans, the scotch cause might reckon on their very active support, as it already Has their sympathy. Let affairs in Ireland once be settled and Irishmen everywhere will prove their gratitude to Scotland for the aid sne has given to them in their necessity. Even as it is they may be relied upon to give such help as it lies in their power to give— but so as to avoid any imprudence or division which might injure their own cause, and inevitably that of Scotland as well. But we wish Mr. McNaught all success in his tour and his undertaking generally

A great sensation has been caused in New York by the burning down of the Convent of the Sacred Heart, an immense building Standing on an estate of some ninety acres between 127 th and 135tb SSSv *i- ? & l e took p]ace at a ver y inopportune time, there being 250 ladies of the Order assembled there for the annual retreat It was caused by the carelessness of some plumbers engaged on the cupola, and was discovered about two hours after the men had left their work for the day. Besides the nuns in the building, there were a number of young lady boarders who were spending their vacation there. But so excellent was the management of Mesdames Jones and Duffy, the Superioresses in charge, that not only did all the inmates get safely out, but a large quantity of the moveables in the convent was also rescued from destruction. The building was, fortunately, insured almost to the full amount of its value. Although there has been a good deal of inconvenience, therefore, the loss is comparatively trifling.

Herr Bandmann, the actor, has returned from Europe boiling over with indignation at the treatment he denounces as given him in England. Plots, combinations, and even conspiracies, he says, were formed against him, including among their members even the brightest ornaments of the stage. Herr Bandmann says he valiantly witnstoodall; but the final straw that broke the camel's back was the packing of the Opera Comique, on his appearance there, with four hundred myrmidons employed to kick up a row. Then, says the victim, " I gave it up." There is still balm in Gilead, however, for although Herr Bandmann as an actor has met with a catastrophe, as the proprietor of a ranch he has had a success. He has imported from France seme valuable stock for his business as a horse-breeder, with which, for the present at least, he retires into Montana. It is well, then, occasionally that a man should have two strings to his bow— and if he has the consolation of believing that it was tbe supremacy of his genius that led to the failure of the one, while he betakes himself to the cultivation of tbe other, his position is more enviable still.

Eegret is felt everywhere at the sad news that Mrs. Harriet Beeeher Stowe is dying, She has reached the advanced age oE 77 years, and her record is an honourable one. Her great work, that of rousing tbe indignation of the civilised world against slavery, and virtually giving to that system its death blow, must make her name immortal, and if in other respects there are imperfections to be marked in her career, who can claim a wholly unblemished reflection of his life in the mirror of truth 1 The good deeds done by this lady are now present to the minds of all, and by them alone will her memory be deservedly distinguished.

Mr. Secretary Bayard has again earned the gratitude o£ England. Behring sea has now to all intents and purposes been thrown open to the unrestricted trading of British sealers, and that notwithstanding the fact that the seal fisheries have been leased by the Government at a very considerable profit. The promiscuous, unregulated fishing of privateers, besides, involves the inevitable destruction of the fisheries, for the se-ils are timid and wary animals, and may easily be frightened away from their haunts. Mr. Bayard, nevertheless, on the pretence of making things plain for the Fisheries Commissioß, issued such orders that, during the season, the poaching schooners nave carried on their depredations under the very nose and within sight of the American authoritiep. What makes the matter appear all the more pusillanimous is that the Canadian Government were by no means so considerate, but, all the time, kept a rigorous watch over American fisbing vessels. Mr. Bayard's conduct will probaoly have an effect on Mr. Cleveland's chances of re-election to the Presidency.

It is reported that the New York Freeman's Journal, a newspaper that.in the hands of its late proprietor and editor, Mr. McMaster, was second to none in the whole world of Catholic journalism and which, since that gentleman's much lamented death, has been ably conducted.on the same lines, has been purchased by Mr. Patrick Ford. If Mr. Ford, as no doubt he will, conducts the Freeman's Journal on strict Catholic principles, and as ably as he has always conducted the Irish World, always a most able newspaper and of late years as admirable in every respect as it is able, Catholic journalism will still be brilliantly represented by it. Mr. Egan, who had for some time been engaged in a prominent position on the Freeman's Journal has recently been appointed to a chair of literature in the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, a position which he is exceptionally qualified to fill. It is probably in consequence of this that the sale of tha newspaper in question has taken place.

Mr. John Fitzgerald of Nebraska, President oi the Irish National League of America, has issued a strong appeal for aid towards the defence of Mr. Parnell against the Commission, and in his action m Scotland. Mr. Fitzgerald brands the Commission as having the sole object of evading an inquiry into the authenticity of the forged letter,

and screening the proprietor of the Times and their friends in the Government from the punishment due to them. He states bis belief, a very probable one, that the Times will be aided by secret service money, and points out the necessity of supporting Mr. Parnell, who he says, fights not his own, but the battle ot the Irish people, against such odds.— But nothing more than thin Commission hat served to call out the feeling of the States generally on the matter, and several of the leading newspapers, even those having no special connection with the Irish cause, have opened subscription lists in aid of the defence fund. There has never been a case in which the attention of the world has been more forcibly drawn to the proceedings, and, whatever may be the mind of the judges, it will be hard for ihem to act aa partisan?. Their doing bo, under the circumstances, would be almost aB much a triumph for the Pamellites as the decided overthrow of their accusers. Meantime it is urged that Mr. Fitzgerald's appeal should meet with a generous response.

General Harrison is very pronounced oa protection and the exclusion of pauper labour. He identifies both measures, as he says to profess an anxiety to exclude pauper and Chinese labourers is very inconsistent, if, at the same time, tho6e making it, by supporting Free Trade, consent to briDg the American workmen into competition witb cheap labour at a distance. From this as well as from the competition near at hand of European paupers and Chinamen, be declares himself determined to protect the American people. A point on which the General is undeniably sound is that of the inviolability of the home. " The home is the best," he says, "asit is the first, school of good citizenship. It is the great conservative and assimilating force. I should despair of my country if American citizens were to be trained only in schools, valuable as is their instruction. It is in the home that we first learn obedience and respect for law. Parental authority is the type of beneficent government. It is in the home that we learn to love, in the mother that bore üb, that which is virtuous and pure." He claims for the Republicans that they have been the especial friends and protectors of the American home.

The rejection by the Senate of the Fisheries Treaty hts given satisfaction to all but the pro-British faction, who place English interests first and American last. The New York Times, for example, which is the principal organ of this party, did its beat to secure the ratification of the Treaty by a threat of consequences, even resulting, it said, in war. To avoid this danger, the newspaper in question did not hesitate to propose a complete surrender of the fisheries. Fortunately, however, so cowardly a spirit did not actuate the majority in the Benate, nor does it exist in the country. The true nature of the Treaty is now apparent to all reasonable men, and it meets with general condemnation. It is felt that by its failure a humiliating and mischievous position has been avoided.

«t<»psThe President's Message to Congress, demanding powers of retaliation as a consequence of the failure of the Fisheries Treaty, and as tbe only means of checking the offensive action of Canada, has been universally applauded. The discussion of the matter itself, and of the manner in which it was received in England, has called out some very remarkable utterances. Among others, General Butler, speaking at Boston, dwelt especially on the danger snggested of bringing on a war with England. The English Government he Baid, were too wise to be whipped into a war with the United States. The stoppage by the States of their exportation of cotton would destroy the Government, and the stoppage of the exportation of wheat would starve the people. Tbe General, however threw some doubt on Mr. Cleveland's sincerity and alluded to his demand for retaliation as possibly an electioneering measure. He added that a British warship would be welcome to bombard New York, as about one-third of the buildings in that City belonged to London Insurance Companies'. More remarkable still were the speeches made in Congress during the debate on the Ketaliation Bill introduced by Mr, Wilson of Minnesota, in which the threats of the London Standard that Canada had British cannon at her back were alluded to. This threat was treated with pronounced derision. No gun-boat, it was said, for instance, would have time to reach American waters before Canada was part of the United States. The echo of the first gun discharged would not have ceased to reverberate before the President of the greatest republic on earth would salute Charles Stewart Parnell aa the President of the youngc3t republic. A war with America would mean the loss of India to England, and the verification of the saying that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity — with a good deal more to the same effect. But although it may be urged that a good deal of such talk ia Yankee brag, or belongs as a matter of course to the Presidential contest, or has some other particular application, still it must be evident that it is not altogether without its suggestiveness or wanting in its sting. In neither o( two countries, bound to one another by bonds that were completely indissoluble, could Buch speeches be made, or listened to with applause.