Current Topies AT HOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 12, 21 July 1893, Page 1

Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

POLITIC AL JOTTINGS.

In the Financial debate on Wednesday Mr Swan, the Member for Napier, revealed himself as an opponent of party Government Ie is no f , however, clear that the hon Member will act as a followei of Mr O'Conor, the pioneer of the attack. He Btigmatised the form of Government in question as a great mistake that led to many evils. Mr Swan further explained that the surplus was due to the rapidly increasing export trade and the fact that products generally had kept up their value. The Government, he said, could claim no credit for it, Sir John Hall, moreover, Bhowed that the surplus did not really exist — at least to the amount stated by the Treasurer. A sum of £163,000, he explained, was made up by a balance from the previous year, and a sum of £83,000 was owing to a non-payment of interest. The true surplus, therefore, was only £38,000. The speaker maintained that the finances of the Colony were in a very weak condition. Referring to certain omissions occurring in the Statement relative to Native affairs, civil service insurance, local government, and other matters, Sir John declared the policy of the Government to be one of "Bhunt'» all through. He added an expression of regret for the manner in which the statements of the Premier were received. In his (Sir John*) part of the country, he said, they were called " Beddon'6 fairy tales," Th 6 hon Member became less playful, if not less polite, in defending the memory of the late Sir Harry Atkinson, from what he condemned as a very falße and scandalous charge — that, namily, brought by the Premier, to the effect that a statement made 14 years ago by Sir Hairy Atkinßon regarding certain liabilities left by the Grey Government had been a statement of " bogus liabilities " made for a purpose. This charge the speaker condemned as indecent and as lowering the position of the Premier to the level of that of a stump orator. He demanded either a proof or a withdrawal. — The Hon Mr Carroll, who followed Sir John Hall, dealt particularly with the prcnnsed taxation of the Native lands— speaking favourably of it, but pointing out the necessity for careful proceeding, and constantly keeping in view the welfare of the Maoris. The Northern Maori Member, however, eeems to differ materially from the Eastern representative of his people. He, for bis part, condemned the taxation proposal as betraying a design of confiscation. He declared it impossible for hiß people to pay taxes, protesting, also, against the restrictions placed upon them by bad land laws. Sir Robert Stout baa gone up to the House brim fall of cold water. But is it not consistently so ? Wind and water commonly go together. A water poet, Father Prout tells us, is a " poor creature in general." What kind of creature a water philosopher is we shall learn from Sir Bobert Stout. H-; baa long since taught us the worth of a wind philosopher. If the Wellington correspondent of the Otago Daily Times speaks the truth, Sir Robert has gone up to Parliament determined to keep their nos s, if not to the grindstone, at least to the ranniog-brook, or perhaps the water-butt. "'This Parliament, 1 Baid Sir Robert impressively and determinedly, ' has to face this question by vote before the Rouse adjourns ; if not upon the Bill at least upon a resolution.' " — There it is, then cut and dry, and no getting out of it. But not only is Sir Bobert relentlessly determined in the matter. There also is Mr Earnshaw. Mr Earnshaw, it seems has been huffed by the preference to his liquor Bill given by the Government to the Financial debate. He signifies his intention, therefore, we are told, to be rather more severe with their proposals than he would otherwise have been. Stormy times, then, aie before the Legislature. They have two ferocious wind-bags to deal with — a big one and a little one, and the subject iB cold water. Verily the combination should be cheerful. It iB much to be desired that the hope expressed by Mr Buckland may be realised — thit ia to the effect that the people should be given a knowledge of what the surplus realty ip. It is commonly said that anything may be proved by figures, but the it verse klso appears to be true, that nothing can be proved by them This, we find, ia almost invariably the case with the surplus, the Opposition plainly

showing that the conclusions shown quite as plainly by the Govern, ment are completely false. Perh»ps it is rather soft of us, for our own parr, to expießs a sense of confusion in this matter. But, then, we have an illustrious example. There is Mr Earnshaw who declares he will not discuss the Financial Statement because he iB not able. When geniuß liko that acknowledges itself at fault, what may not be excused to a mere Bcribbler? Were all our paragraphs worth even sixpence a line, we might still, under the circumstances, claim a free indulgence. Would it not, however, be quite as well for the constituents to whom Mr Earnshaw presen's himself for re-election to consider as to whether it might not be better for them to return a representative who is capable of understanding a document, on whose right interpretation and clear explanation the welfare of the country so largely depends ? All Mr Earnsbaw's genius, however, as we have seen, lies submerged in his cold water Bill, to which the Govern meat have refused a preference. Consequently. Mr Karnshaw'a temper, like sweet belle jangled is l( out of tune and harsh." He indignantly rejects the proposal which we are told be declares has been made to him that he should be dragged as a Bacchante in the gutter at the heels of the Ministry. He means to strike out an independent, though still a Radical, course for himself. Nay, more, he means to lay violent hands on the Government, and compel them to undertake the work of internal reform. And " internal reform," we admit, is a very proper expression. Whatever may be (ho external demonstrations it is the internal economy cf the toper that is, in fact, deranged. "Whilst he should for the rest of the session not act tha part of a blind buffer, he would make one to force the Government to take up the question of internal reform," Wo would particularly point oat to the intelligent composit t, inclined, perhaps, in this instance, by his very intelligence, to make a mistake, that ihe word we have quoted is "buffer" not "duffer" The Member for Waitotara, meantime, is much troubled in spirit because of the position in the House of Sir Robert Stout. He is indignant because the legacy left by the late Mr Baliance has not been accepted. While the Govern, ment ia without any head worth speaking of, he complaios, Sir Robert Stout drifts uselessly about, But wnile Sir Robert remains on those back benches where Mr Hutchison beholds him with such distress, the Colony is less in daDger uf p tying a legacy duty that might pos=ibly prove too heavy. Fin illy, it is rumoured that the Hon Mr Reeves is too little of a Cincinnatus to suit the needs of the Labour party, They demand, it would seem, a Labour Minister who should go buck to his manual work. The party, says the Daily Times' correspondent in effect, does not regard itself aa fully represented until the horny hand all ungloved and rugged lays hold on a portfolio. And, in fact, we should not be surprise! to find that " mak* believe " did enter in some degree into the composition of Mr Reeves in his character of the workiogman's friend. The instrument by which <n lieu of the Direct Veto Bill, Sir Robert Stout holds the noses of the Government to the water-butt takes the shape of a Bill to amend the Licensing Act. The Bill was in'roducod by the totally attaining X light on Friday, and will be read a second time on August 2<v\. It prov lies for a derision by ballot, eithpr that there shall be no lictnsea granted in a given district, or that they shall be reduced in uumbtr to one for every 7JO inhabitants. How the mystic iigurt.B have been arrived at we have jet to learn. T L e Bill also provides for the strengthening of committees by guaranteeing tb"ir members against any disabilities arising from an expression at any time of their opinion regarding the granting of licences. Mr Earnehaw has won the admiration of all the opponents of the Government. They are patting him on the back and declaring him to be a man of an excellent spirit, almost worthy to be a Conservative. Whether the hon Member, under the circumstances, nny consider it advisable to examine his conscience is a matter for bis own decision. Mr Guinness has been appointed Chairman of Committees, in room of Mr Rees, who has resigned bis beat. With regard to the appointment of a Minister to replace Mr Cad* man, bir George Grey has given his opinion to the Auckland correspondent of the Otago Duly Times that it 19 not necessary for a Native Minister to have any special acquaintance with Native affairs, " I have s«en more absolute ]uatice displayed by men who were not experts in Native matters,'" he said, " but who were actuated by a

tense of justice and equity towards all parties." This, perhaps, m.y not be difficult to understand, though the full explanation possibly belongs to the initiated, There are lively hours befcre the farmers if the noxious weeds Bill of the Minister of Agriculture becomes law. It will take them all their time to keep the inspector from coming in on their holdings and rooting away there at their expense. If they do not keep their land perfectly clean and fr«e from all the pests (hit, as it is, they are for the most part doing their best— »nd, in many instances, do doubt, doing their best in vain, to get rid of, the official in question may take np the job, requiring them, nevertheless, to pay the cost. We need scarcely remark, in passing, lhat such an Act, while bearing heavily on all land-holders, would make it quite impossib'e for ordinary people to retain in their possession land of wbicb they made no me, or from which they received no return. Besides all this, there are provisions for iaiposiog a fine on anyone who sells hay or corn, or any kind of farm produce, in which the seeds of weeds are to be found. The clean ßing of Crown lands, also, of which the particular district is to bear half the cost, may be added, and, on the whole, about as drastic a measure will be perceived as can well be imagined. In fact, it may as well be termed at occe a Bill for the eradication of farming in New Zealand. We may add that we have not ourselves ■8 yet seen the Bill, but it is bo reported of by the Christcburch Prest,

A NEBVOU3 BCBIBE.

Oub light and cheerful friend " Nemo " of the Dunedin Star has been driven positively frantic by Colonel Fox's report. Poor fellow, he had been wont to go to bed with the confidence that be should not wake in the nigbt to find the foreign invader about to cut his throat. Colonel Fox, however, has undeceived him, and the consequence is hysterics. •' Great Leavens I " he cries, " what an awful set of duffers to occupy the position of defenders of the country." " Heavens above us," he cries again, " I would rather trust to so noaoy sheep to defend us. Men, officers, uniforms, everything false and rotten." Our light and cheerful friend, we may add, is quite determined that there should be a radical reform. Theee QDtrus' worthy corps shall be disbanded, and a few permanently paid men employed to keep guard in their pace. Then once more he may wrap himself nightly in the blankets without fear. "Fight an enemy?" he shonts, "not a bit of it." But then, you see, there was no enemy to fight. Even less subs'aotial perhaps than, for instance, Mrs Besant's skin of a ghost, is the fearful vision of the penny-a-liner's night-mare. Finally, our light and cheerful, though rather badly frightened, friend, recommends that the disbanded men be hired out to farmers to frighten tbe birds. He says their efficiency in that capacity would be immense— and we take his word for it. Far be it from us to dispute with ona who, apparently with justice, claims authority to pronounce, for example, as to wfat forms tbe terror of the gooae-pond, or disturbs the laughing-jackass in the recesses of the forest.

HABDLY NECEBSABY.

Eut, in fact, what is the hope of maintaining in the Colony an efficient body of Volunteers? In the old world wars and rumours of wars are common. The people are familiar with such traditions, and the possibility of a call to take the field do^s not seem altogether extravagant, or beyond the re^ch of comprehension. It is comparatively easy, therefore, to sustain the spirit necessary to keep tha m«n together and animate them in the performance of duties thit in themselves must needs be irksome. There are, moreover, reviews and field days, at which all that is distinguished in the land looks on, and to make a good figure in which is of itself an end of gome importance, Here there is nothing of the kind. The youth of the Colony are but little accustomed to tales or thoughts of war, acd. on the contrary, are by training as well as by nature inclined to regard it as something far off from them and b'longing to a distant past and another world in which they have to personal concern. The pub ie takes but little interest in the "Volunteer displays. On one occason, for instance, wh nan especially grand event was arranged for, the commander of a man-of-war, whose evolutions were to form a chief feature in the day, treated the men »i h undisguised contempt, and v?ry little waR heard of the matter in the way of complaint or indignant expression. On the whole, therefore, it would saena that VjluiteerLjg in the colooy malt be carried out under difficulties, and, in some sort, aa suffering from the depression of the traditional wet blanket, And is it necessary ? Experience proves that it is scarcely practicable, and, indeed, we fiad little to reproach in a half-hearted conduct on the part of men called upon to perform irksome duties, ar what must appear to them a great waste of time, and with no use ful end in view. We do not believe, moreover, that the perpetual maintenance of ■neb a force is necessary. If the alarm of war were given, that would be a different thing. As we have said before, when a war with Bnssia seemed to threaten, the men came willing'y forward and acted for the time being with ardour. A few weeks at most would be nil that was necessary for drill and to put the force in righting

order. There was, for example, no great Volunteer force in the United States when the Civil war broke oat, and yet how long did it take to raise an army there to be surpassed in no European kingdom ? What seema advisable, therefore, is a nucleus of trained men in all the principal centres and the fortification of the ports. If, in addition, corps or clubs were formed for rifle practice, and guns and ammunition were furnished by Government for the purpose, either gratis or at a reduced rate, so much the better. What sharp shooting can do against »n enemy has been proved by the Boers. Against a population ready with the rifle and having their ports well defended, a chance invader could effect bat little, and, if a more serious war threatened, there would be fall time to call ont Volunteers and prepare them for the field. While, meantime, there ii nothing bat an indefinite suspicion of what may possibly occur at some time or another before the end of the world, which seems, as a general rale, to be the feeling of the colonial public with regard to war, it must necessarily be impossible to aroase or sustain the spirit needful to make a Volunteer movement successful. It is, moreover, extremely doubtful as to whether the existence of such a spirit is at all desirab'e or likely to promote the work of progress and the advancement of civilisation. We, therefore, for our part, are not inclined to advocate the revival of a system that has been tried and found wanting, and on whose revival no great interest seems to depend.

A SCURVY TBICKSTEB.

" Catholic," indeed 1 A pretty •« Catholic." a fellow who uses his pen to back up the tissue of calumnies and lying inventions published in the Woodville Examiner, and to which we alluded in our last issue. A fellow whose scurrility surpasses even that of the virulent Orange paper referred to, and whose letter would disgrace the columns of any paper having the least pretensions to respectability — would, indeed, not be admitted into the columns of any such paper. This " Catholic " tell a us that he attended a Catholic school for 9 years, and has been interested in Catholic BChools in til parts of New Zealand for the last 15 years. Who ia he, then ? Some schoolmaster, par hasaid, who has misbehaved himself, and now seeks for vengeance in a tissue of foul abuse ? But let as give him the benefit of the doubt. His next sentence gives us reason to question this statement :— " Let good people not be surprised," he says, "if I state the 9imp'e trutb, that the Catholic clergy don't want State aid unless they could break down tbe National system completely. Grant them payment by results to-moruw, and see all they would lose, and see how little they would gain."— The man who writes a ptlpable untruth in one case is not likely to scruple respecting falsehood in another. We may, therefore, venture to disbelieve that this correspondent koowß anything at all about Catholic schools. And, indeed, he contradicts himself . He writes again regarding godlesa schools :— " Well, I can only say I have seen a good deal of them in New Zealand, and I cau challenge any man to compare them with thereligiouß schools of hia youth."— Au interest for the last 15 years in the Catholic schools, and a familiar acquaintance at the same time with the godless schools ara hardly compatible. For tbe credit of tbe Catholic teachers, it may be assumed that this man has never belonged to their body, but haa simply drawn for his Catholic experiences on tbe fdtid stones of his imagination. Whatever be the cause of it, and probably the cause is that the man is an Orangeman, tbi<3 writer betrays a complete state of rabies where Catholic priestp are concerned. Here are samples of the manner in which he speaks of them— samples quite sufficient to secure for his letter from any respectable editor an indignant rejecion, but quite en regie in the columns of an OraDge rag :— " This cry about godless schools that is got up now and then," he writes, " is always started by a few greaßy gentlemen who want to work off some political Bwindle on tha people, and ' godless schools' is found to be a high flavoured trail that throws people off the scent." Nothing in done, he tells us, to keep Irishmen out of the public houses, or girls and children from the godless factories. "No floly Church looks on complacently while greed and selfishness drag down the innocent and the helpless to godless dens of infamy. Holy Church has kept this earth so free from foul cvi's that there is nothing left to attack bat the pubic school. She must rescue those little children who have to bend over their school booka a few hours a day for five days a week. Just think of it, and you will easily see that all the nonsense and shuffling is carried on just to gain political influence and throw dust in the people's eyes." " The Catholic parents of New Zsaland," he writes again, " are everywhere satisfied with the State schools. It's the priests who always wants the Catholic schools. They help to keep the people divided, and they set the Catholic people "Agin the Government," and the people are foolish enough to quarrel over t'le division of their own cake, while the cunning baboons devour it under their very eyes, solemnly muttering all the time about fairness and justice and fairplay, assuring the people that if it was not for the great baboons there would be no way of deciding an> thing, or of giving anyone justice on this earth." This coarseness nejds no comment. But lee our readers mark how remarkable is the agreement between this falsehood, %" The Carolic parents of New Zealand are everywhere satisfied with the State schools " and

the resolution subsequently passed by the Orangemen of the North Island — " That we, asOrangemen, are satisfied with the present system of State edacation," And, in short, it is as an Orangeman generally, and an Orangeman too of an exceedingly low and ferocious type that this " Catholic " writes. There is more of the same sort in this letter — ribaldry to which it in uuuecessary for us further to refer. We have done enough to show once more to Catholics the kind of tactics that are employed and the kiod of people who are enlisted to do battle against their rigbts. The attempt is now not to deny the justice of our demand, as we have pointed out in our issues of the last few weeks. — That expedient has been tried and has failed — and now a fresh effort is being made. This fellow, for example, tells us that he had a drunken school-master at Home— as, indeed, we might have conjectured— from which the conclusion iB to be drawn, according to that dominie's apt pupil, that Catholic schools in New Zealand are good for nothing. ' Feeble creatures," he says the religious teachers are, " who go into monasteries to shun life's battle "—a charge, we may remark in passing, that would never occur to a Catholic. And yet the pupils of the religions teachers in every part of the world head the lists of the competitive examinations. The attempt now is to pTove that Catholics do not want Catholic schools Bnd to pereuade Catholics themselves that they are inferior. But such palpable falsehood must necessarily prove a bop? vain as it is forlorn. We have, however, said enough to show the nature of this man who, over the insulted name of " Catholic," presumes to appeal in the columns of a violent Orange organ to the Catholics of New Zealand. '• Let Catholics," be conclndee, " remember that they are New Zealanders, bffected by every law that's passed. Let them understand that they simply disfranchise themselves by voting for a measure that's not going to be passed, and that would give them no relief if it was. Let them observe that they nearly always vote against their own interests on public questions." At best this man is evidently a disgraced schoolmaster — seeking a paltry revenge, and proving by his action bow just was the sentence passed on him. The probabilities are, nevertheless, that he has never had any claim to I

call himself a Catholic, but is an Orange rowdy capable of any ; anti-Catholic trick required of him. If we have noticed his letter at all, it is to hold up to public view the kind of tactics that are now being brought to bear against the Catholic claims, and more especially to warn Catholics of the kind of men into whose hands they play when they turn traitor against tbeir faith and vote for tbe supporters of the godless schools.

ODDS AND ENDS,

Ouh contemporary the Southland Times proves to demonstration, at least where he is himself concerned, that the Home Rule Bill is being unconstitutionally forced through the House of Commons, that it :a hardly likely to pass the House, aod certain to be rejected by the Lords. The Lords, he says, in effect, must reject it — first, to apare the Sovereign the onus of doing si, and secondly as the true representatives of the democracy. Our contemporary's theories, we admit, are very pretty and quite learned. The mischief of it is that, as not uncommonly happens, they are not quite in accordance with facts. For example, icstsad of a deeire to spare Her Majesty on the part of the opponents of the Bill, they are now actually engaged in an intrigue to throw the burden on her and induce her to recall her long abandoned prerogative and dissolve Parliament of her own motion. The manner in which the House of Loids shrinks from the contest lying before it, and to which, right or wrong, it is believed to be pledged, is thu9 most clearly manifest. Its Members have certainly perceived the temper of the times— the full significance, for iostance, of that great meeting hold the other dayia Hyde Park. The delegation of the English workingmen to Belfast, moreover, Bpsaks eloquently of the attitude of the English democracy. But our contemporary, in his calculations as to the descent of that majority of Irish Protestants who oppose the Bill, also differs essentially from high authority, Lord Salisbury, for ins.ance, as we have lately seerj, recognises their especial claim to support as resting on their descent from English and Scotch settlers planted by the strong hand in the country, Nor was it of these later Bettlers that it was said they had become more Irish than the Irish themselves.

Surely, if our contemporary states the democratic doctrine truly, " that the goveroment of the people, especially in matters of the higher importance, should ba by the people, and not by a chance majority," it must seem clear that the government cannot, with any pretence of consistency with the democratic doctrine, be carried on by a chance minority, and that basing its chief claim on a foreign descent. Our contemporary, besides, has hardly inquired into the nature of the Parliamentary majorities by which many very important measures have been passed. Figures, they say, can prove anything, but never have they been pressed into a worse argument than that of our contemporary, who would persuade us that the true spirit of a democracy ia shown by the advantage to ba taken by greater numbers in England and Scotland in defeating justice) and perpetuating oppression in Ireland. If the British Constitution lends itMlf to anything of the kind, the sooner it is altered the better, and, for our own part, our faith in the jastice of the democracy leads us to believe that, should such alterations be necessary, they will certainly be made. An argument, however, that recognises the Houbc of Lords as the hope of the English and Scotch democracy, and in thorough sympathy with it, seems hardly worthy of consideration. The tb«ory, as we have said, may bs very pretty and quit* learned, but the facts are not in keeping with it; Our contemporary's demonstration, therefore, except for himself, fails in a very important point. The effects of the edacation of the period have recently received a further illustration in a case that took place at Mound City, Mo. The St Louis Republic, a secular paper, reports it as a caae in which " Mark Twain kills a boy." The case was one in which a lad who was shot, and mortally wounded in attempting to commit a bnrgtary, proved to be one a body of ten who had formed a robbers' league, taking their inspiration from Mark Twain's tale of " Tom B»wrer." "The boy," says the Republic, " who was shot is dead of the wound and if the Coroner's jury returns a true verdict it will be that he came to his death at the hands of Samuel L. Clemena who killed him for A certain sum of money obtained by the sale of a demoralising and vicious book, the said book having for its purpose that demonstration of the theory that no man can be really good or great without having been a

raoat extraordinary ruffinn and blackguard in his youth." The Republic recommends »ny father who finds the book in question, or any other book of the kind, in his huuse to throw it behind the fire. "It ia a worse thing to have in the bonse," says our contemporary, " than a Bnake or a tarantula.". Apart, however, from the danger of teaching a boy to read without at the same time making an effort to instil into hia mind those principles that may induce him to turn his art to a right account, or at least to avoid making a mischievous use of it, there is reason to doubt as to whether the secular teaching of tbe day does, in fact, confer the benefits which many people are so ready to attribute to it. Tne public schools of the Uoited States, for instance, are commonly held up as examples of all that such a system need be or can attain to. Here, nevertheless, are the fruits of experience. We quo'e from The Summary, also a secular paper :—": — " We know of an instance | wnere a merchant advertised for a stenographer, had fifty applies* tians for the position, and, after examining thirty-eight, found only four who were competent. The tbirty-four failures were due to the lack of knowledge of the English language." " The reason why we have so many partially ignorant young men and women amongst us," explains The Summary, " ia, that tbe public schools (which the majority attend") attempt too much and turn out pupils who know { nolhing thoroughly. The pnblic schools will have to retrace their stepp, give up fads in edncation and coma down to just plain hard pan before tbey can impart a thorough education in any particular branch." But if this be the ca«a where the system exists in perfec* tion — what may be the Btate of things in a country where it is les 8 fully developed 1 We are pleased, meantime, to find that steps have been taken to prevent an evil to which we recently referred, that is, the transmission through the post of publications containing immoral and obscene matter. Our special reference, as may be remembered, was to a paper published in another colony, and which had bepn insultingly addressed to one of our subscribers. The Post Master General is to be congratulated on the order issued by him, and it is to be hoped it may be thoroughly enforced. But ia not the necessity that existed for i

alio suggestive as to tha tastefl which if they are not formed, are at \->.- not materially in'r.-i by the e location of the period ? How muoa <> f that exfravaghi ' ■duca'i>n grant, on which cenain of our co t'-mp rarics have bee latMv congratulating themselves and the public in general, is in f .ct, expended io the repression of such tastes? Hurchy any very considerable sum, or possibly tne order issued to the postal officials would not have been necessary. " An effort is being made to found a university in Ireland for Bomnn Oathoiic women, and a fund of £25,000 is to be raised for that purpose."— We should like to be told all about it. We have clipped the report from the Otago Daily Tines. And, by the way. our contemporary the Napier News expresses himself surprised that we do not learn off by heart every word that the Daily Times publishes. Some few weeks ago, it seemß, we overlooked a sub-leader in our Dunedin contemporary, and afterwards, making a mistake as to inverted commas, quoted a passage of it from tht News as if it were his own. This amused the News, and, further, surprised him, as we have said. For our own part, we are not particularly amused at the matter, and what would surprise us would be to find that, highly as we appreciate our Dunedin contemporary, we had actually committed his paragrapha to memory. To err is human, to forgive divine. We hare done our part ; we trust our contemporaries will severally and jointly do theirs. We shall try in future to make the Daily Times accountable for his own stupidities, and not to father them on anyone else. Still we are conscious of a slight feeling of satisfaction that we laid hold of tht paragraph alluded to — even through a medium. Better late than ever. — The Daily Times meantime, does not use inverted commas in quoting the report alluded to — and yet we are sire be has quoted, not invented it. If he had only invented it we should beg of him to give us all the particulars. Naturally, the matter has a very special interest for üb, and it excites our curiosity all the more ■ince we find no mention whatever of it in the Irish papers. Who then, is making this effort ? Where is the university to be founded ? — and, above all, what will the " Boman Catholic women " do with their degrees wben they have gained them ? We should recommend them to found a very learned and very closely cloistered religious

order— an exaggeration, in fact, of the sepolte vn-< . Sj long, however, as the proposal exists only in the columns of the secular Press we need not trouble ourselves much about it. And, indeed, we doubt as to whether it will ever exist elsewhere. At the annual meeting of the Otago Central Rsilway League, held in Dunedin last week, Mr Vincent Pyke announced that he was about to leave the town and would not, at Last for many years, be present at another meeting. Mr Pyke traced the movemeut for the construction of the line from its commencement, when, in 187G, he himself first saw the cecessity for the work. The maj irity of the people in Danedin, he s<ud, knew nothing about the country, and did Dot trouble themselves about it. The Members for the city had voted against it. The late Government, added Mr Pyke, had robbed them of money which should have been spent upon the line. The present Government had given them more, in proportion to their means, than they ever got before. The speaker, in conclusion, expressed his belief that, to secure the completion of the line, now that the garden wall had been crossed by it, a constant hammering would still be necessary. In supporting a vote of thanks to Mr Pyke, Mr Dennieton referred to the benefits to result to the League from his re-entering Parliament as a Member of either of the Chambers. Mr Barron pointed to the competition at the recent land sale for land on the proposed line as a sufficient proof of tbe profit to accrue to the State from tapping the country. Mr Gore described the district as one of the most suitable places in all New Zealand for small settlement. The completion of the line to a paying point, he siid, would bent fit the whole colony. The vote of thanks was carried by acclamatijn. The child who cried for the moon was spoken of, when we were young, as a very spoiled and foolish urchin. Things take many a change, however, as the world grows older. That child now seems to be regarded as very wise and reasonable. There is, for example Mrs Besant, of whom, it would seem, we are for some time to hear a good deal, preparatory, no doubt, to her visit to the colonies That lady ixplains, in «.ff ct, \>>r failure to understand the infinite natuie of God, as the key to her pres^m positio . She cried for the moon, struggled to possess it, and, not succeeding turned to other follies. 11 Worst of all puzzles," she writes, '• was, perhaps, that of tbe exis-

tence of «vil and of misery, and the racking doubt whether God could b« good and yet look on the evil and misery of the world unmoved and untouched." And what is now her solution T Eventual annihilatioQ which, for all she or any one else can tell, may be worse than all tht evil and the misery of the world prolonged even to eternity, for no one can tell what annihilation means, or has facnlties to understand it. Mean f ime. the lady busies the mind that rebelled, because it could not comprehend the infinite, with her grotesque imaginings of re-incarnation, her " kama-loca " with its shells or skins of the " Egos"— the skin of a ghost !— and other absurdities of tb« kind. The child who cried for the moon consoles itself by playing with rubbish. We are too much used to tales of ghosts and apparitions now-a-days, to be much surprised at the statement made the other day at Ohristchurch by Madame Antoinette Sterling, that she had seen her deceased husband. The gentleman in question, as no doubt most of our readers are aware, had died the week before last at Adelaide— in conseqnence of which the famous contralto cut short her concert tour in New Zealand. Ghosts, however, are now almost as common as ordinary people, and what Borne years ago was looked upon as mere superstition is no longer so regarded. The " pisberogncs " we used to laugh at have become phenomena for the examination of the scientific world. The stories, we suspect, may, nevertheless, at best, be traced to a ferveut imagination. The lesson deduced by Madame Antoinette Sterling from the apparition related by her was that there was no such thing aa death, and it was for the purposa of impressing this upon her hearers that she told of her experience. But Madame Antoinette Sterling, though a very charming songstress hardly appears to be a very sensible woman. Several of the utterances, at least, reported of her seem remarkably foolish, We do not suppose the lady was accountable for the wording of her advertise- [ ments, but did it not seem a little inconeiu'ent to represent her aa of the people and Bingiug for the people, at a charge of five shillings a head ? Not that we complain of the charge, which for an artist of such eminence was reasonable, but aa aristocratic audience need hardly be charged much more. We are sorry for Madame Bterlini?'-

bereavement, eorry also to have missed hearing her sing. Her story of a ghoßt however, with tbe conclusion she derived from it iB to be taken for what it is worth — hardly more, that is, than other foolish sayings reported of her. Ghost stories, in fact, are a drug in the market, and have become extremely tiresome. We may probably conclude that the 12th of July has passed by in Ulster without anything more than usual — rather a surprising sta'e of things, if the recent visit of Lord Salisbury be taken into consideration. No violent attacks on Catholics, however, are reported. The grpat demonstration of which we are told, was a gathering of 100,000 penple in a suburb of Belfast to hear a speech from the Bey Roaring Kine. Of what it was that Dr Kane said, the cable does not give us a very lucid account. We, however, conclude that the Bey Roarer's exhortations were to the effect that his bearers should maintain thsir defiant Bpirit, and keep their weapons ready for the bloody revolution that lay before them. It was possibly the enjoyment of this by anticipation that saved the beads of their Catholic neighbours for the time being. We may be persuaded, at any rate, that it was nothing in the Gospel of peace as preached by the fuming Doctor. Let us, nevertheless, be thankful for small mercies. It would actually Beem that no unfortnnate girls had their bair dragged out, and no men were beaten or kicked by a mob outnumbering them many times. So long as the Oraogemen confine themselves to bluster there is not much to complain of. Their swear, ing is hot, indeed, but it does not burn nor blister. But this seems some confirmation of the suspected falling off in ardour of the House of Lords. The rumour that an attempt was being made to foist the burden upon the Qaeen evidently had such 'a signification. The Peers, it would now seem, are not anxiously on the look out of their own accord. Lnrd Salisbury, we are told, requests them to attend in tbeir Chamber during the last week in August, to debate the second reading of the Home Bule Pill. Lord Salisbury evidently dees not share the expectation of our contem[orary the Southland Times that the Bill may possibly be abandoned in the House of Commons. Nay, he seems to fear lest its rejection by the House of Lords may not be looked upon as a complete certainty. Tbe Peers are probably more on the alert as to

the sigEß of the times than has been generally supposed. After all, if they reject the Bill, it may be in a manner but little in accordance with the indignant scorn bespoken of them. Mr Gladstone, also, we perceive, has not heard anything of that University for females which, as we are told, some one or another is making an effort to establish in Ireland . Mr Gladstone, in referring to an amendment to retain the representatives of Dublin University in the Irish Parliament said he hoped Universities in future would attend more to learning and less to politics. This, however, hardly falls in with the pretensions of the female franchise. Universities in future, we should say, would have a good deal more to do with politics. A University for women only would necessarily in itself be quite equal to any Parliament. Parliament means primarily a place for talk. Of course it would be a Parliament, and Parliament and politics go together. No, Mr Gladstone had ctrtamly heard nothing of that University. It is to be regretted that Mr John Deaßy appears to have conducted himself in anything rather than a becoming manner. Mr Deasy has been fined £25 fora common assault on a servant girl, and in consequence has resigned his seat in Parliament. We prefer to reserve our comments on the matter until we have seen the full particulars of the case. Another case that needs a further explanation before we can understand its merits is that of a scene in the House ia which Mr Sexton was suspended for the sitting, Mr Sexton's offence was apparently the perfectly true charge that Mr Broderick the Member for Guilford, was impertinent in calling the Irish people an impecunious and garrulous race. Mr Sexton refused to withdraw his expression uu!e«s Mr Broderick apologised. He also protested against the interference of Mr Milman, clerk of committees, which he stigmatised as malicious, Messrs Healy and McNeill supporting him Finally, however at the request of Mr Gladstone, he retired, but it will probably be found that he was justified in his indignation — if not in his resistance. That the Irish people are poor, nevertheless, is unfor'unately too true, and in this respect the offeneiveness of Mr Broderick's words was evidently in the manner in which they were applied. But manner can express any degree of insult.