Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 16, 18 August 1893, Page 1

Current Topics AT HOME AND ABROAD.

MEAN MAKCETJVBES.

The sight of tbe Catholic Chnrch seems to produce something of the came effect on our festive friend " Civis " that the sight of an angel produced on Balaam's ase. Tbe difference is, howerer, that that •sa talked sense. Whenever " Civis " tarns his eye on the Church forthwith he begins to talk nonsenße. But was our festive friend perhaps hard up for a topic? Had he, for example, exbaustfd his stock of classic learning ? Was there really no more of tbe morality of Cicero to which he could treat bia dazzled readers ; or had the immorality of Ovid completely failed him ? Had not every uncleanlyminded undergraduate in the community cocked his ears in the eager anticipation of learning the meaning of expurgated editions ? Nay, possibly tbe naughtier kind of schoolboys were turning over the leaves of the Latin dictionary in preparation for the feast. Let the prurient, nevertheless, keep up tkeir hopes. Same one else may pat oar pandit's learning to the test, " And faith he'll prent it." Meantime, is it really for want of a better theme, or, fit least, for want of something with which he may more excusably meddle, that oar " Civis " bestows his attention on the collection made the other Sunday in aid of the building fund of 8t Patrick's Church, South "Dunedin 1 Or is it in pursuance of the astute departure of the Otago Daily Times in making an indirect appeal to the no-Popery cry preparatory to the approaching elections. As much, indeed, seems implied in the forced allusion made by our clever friend to the Catholic education claims :— " Roman Catholics are the happy possessors of a grievance ; they imagine themselves robbed by the Education Act and persecuted by the heretical Legislature that maintains that Act in force. Hence their exemplary unity, zeal, energy, public spiric." Can anything be more stupid than such a sneer, made, save the murk, in explanation of the every-day fact that Catholics have subscribed towards the building of a church ? Verily, there is a difference : when Balaam's ass saw an angel, as we have Baid, the beast talked sense. Is it thought necessary, therefore, to smooth betim.s th« path for tbe feet of Mr No-Popery Allen, or some other favouri'e ? " Bishop Moran hag not lost the art of extracting money from his people." The feeble giggle that follows this off-nsively-worded sentence does nothing to pxcuse it. The matier, however, is hardly worthy of notice, except in so far ag it throws light on the not very creditable tactics for which the eiitor of our contemporary, the Otago Daily Times, seems to make himself accountable. Surely, whatever be the exigencies of the political situation, the respectability of his columns is in some degree compromised by his ibrowitg the*a open to remarks that are insulting to Dr Moran personally.

IMPEBFECT TIDINGS.

IMPEBFECT TIDINGS.

Fighting baß occurred at Samoa between the the followers of Malietoa and thoße of Mataafa. The latter seem to bave got decidedly the worst of it, and tbe chief himself has been removed in custody from the islard. As to the rights and wrongs of the matter, we know nothing of them as yet, and the chances are that we shall never hear them correctly stated. The question of religion seems to enter into the matter and that may settle it. Indeed, we are given to understand that one of the French missionaries, on applyicg to the consuls in the island with a view to obtaining conditions of peace for the Catholic chief, was snubbed by those officials, who accuse d the missionaries of neglect in permitting the outbreak, \f not of a positive part in provoking it. Thip, however, says nothing as to the true 6tate of the case, each accusations coming easily from non-Catholic or anti-Catholic Rources. We all know that Protestant accounts aa to anything in which Catholic priests are concerned must be received with some reserve. Fortunately cases sometimes occur in which we obtain Protestant testimony as to the doings of Protestant missionaries, and this may give as a clue to the general course of affairs. Btcently, for example, a Bine-book hae been published by

the Imperial Government, containing the results of an inquiry made into the Kanaka recruiting system, and from tbia we learn a good deal that is interests g f.nd instructive. Among the rest it ia stated, on the evidence of non-Catholic traders, that some of the missionaries carry on a brisk business in supplyirg the contending tribes of native! with ammunition for one anothei's destruction. On the other band, non-Catholic witnesses apeak highly of the sincere devotion of tbe French missionaries, to whom, however, they mistakenly allude, M Jesuits. The Marist Fathers, as we all know, are the missionaries in whose ban is the islands of the South Seas have been placed. That the Fathers have no fear of smelling powder when the necessity arises we are well aware. Tbe records of the Maori War, for instance, furnish sufficient proof of that. But btave men, and particularly brave priests, are the most earnest in their efforts to preserve peace, and we may be convinced that iv the present case also, whoever is in fault, the French missionaries are not to blame. Unfortanately , for our purpose, Samoa is not included in the Kanaka recruiting grounds, and Tience thtre is no likelihood there of a falling out of tbievee, which might lead to a wholesome unveiling of the truth. tVe must, therefore, chiefly depend on adverse sources for our information^ and, as we have said, tbe poeeibility is that we may be left, not in doubt, for we have no doubt on the subject, but wi'hout a fair state* meat of the matter.

LOYAL TJLBTEB

That is a crusher 1 We allude to a pamphlet , which we have received from Melbourne, and wbic.h, under the title, " The truth about Uleter," gives us. the substance of two lectureß recent'y delivere 1, respectively, at ( Northcote and Brunswick, by the Rev Philip O'Doherty, M.1i.1 A., a. priest belonging to Derry, but now on a visit to Victoria. The pamphlet simply leaves not another wori to be said on the subject, It ie as clear, conclaiive, and pithy a?, for ins'unce, one of Father Tom. Burkes lectures in reply to Mr Ffoude. The writer begina with the plantation under Jamea 1., making us acquainted with the nature^ and tbe motives of the men by whom it was carried out, as well at with the character of the immigrants Betted by th m on the plundered lands. " Time and again, ' he goes on to say, "it has been asserted that Ulster is the most wealthy, most religious, most tolerant, and mostcrimelesß of tbe four provinces of Irelan-i." These four assertions, the writer considers in detail, mure tbau effectually disposing of every one of them. As to the wealth of the province, he deal with a statemeQ 1 made by Mr Goscben in the Home Rule Debate of '86. He tak^s 'ha country under all the incoinj tax issessoients, and shows irrefutably that Ulster occupies an inferior place. For example, "Taking Ireland county Ly county under all the momi 1 tax assessments you will find Mea'h leading wi'h its £12 7s 10 1 per head, aod Down, tbe first Ulster county on the list, occupying only fifteenth place, with its £6 Is 10d assest-ment per head." "Again countyby county under Mr Goschen's schedule (representing professions end trade?), you will find Dublin leadirg with its £1D 14s 4 J per head, ( , and Antrim, Londonderry, Down, and Armagh — Mr Goachen's predominantly loyal Ulster— occupying respecively second, seventh, twelvth, and seveDteenth places." A 9 to the condition of the farmers, of the province, tbe writer quotes from the address delivered la»-t march by the Rev Mr Armour of Billymoney, Goun>y Antrim before the General Assembly of'the Presbyterian Church — a report of which we published. With regard to education he quotes from tbe Oenaua Report of 1891. "A. table," he says, " gjyaß tha progress in each decade since 1841. In that year Ulster, natutfatty, at - having been so largely favoured, was in advance of tbe other provinces, but it is now out-dntanced by Leinster and Muns'er, and if Conr aught remains true to its past record, it will be ahead of Ulster at the next census." Tbe second assertion is that Ulster is tbe most religious province in Ireland. ' If religion consist in smashing opponents' heads," answers the writer, " I do not dispute the pre-<eminence of Uhter.' 1 He cites abundant proof to establish the claim. The third assertion is that of the tolerance of the province, and here also the writer refutes the statement. Last, but not least, comes tbe fourth assertion, that cf the cnmelessnes') of the province, " Ulster," says the wii er, "bad for generations tbe protection of a legalised teoan'-right, which, till 1870, was unknown in the other . provinces, and by reason of that protection it has been largely fret

from agrarian outrage*. Still the eUtenent of Lord Londonderry's agent before the Deron Commission (1813-5) has been often verified. 'Ton would have a Tipperary in Down, if you attempted to carry oat a curtailment of tenant-right.'" There had been Oak Boys and Hearta of Steel, and the Presbyterian farmers had also objected to the payment of tithes and Grand Jury exactions. "Mr Barry O'Brien, io hii ' Filly Yeati of Coooeaaioas to Ireland ' (vol 11., pp. 68-9), told from official records what happened when an absentee proprietor, the Marquis of Donegal, had refused to renew expiring leases unless fines to the amount of £100,000 were paid. The tenants being unable to pay, were ruthlessly evicted, when tbey formed themselves into Insurrectionary bauds, maiming and ham -stringing cattle, burning and firing into houses, extorting money and arms, and not stopping even at murder in their riotous career." The writer also quotes more recent evidence to a similar state of things ; for example :— " In 1852 the Gouty of Armagh was described before a Committee on Outrages aB terrorised by a ' system of intimidation, which made it almost impoß■ible to get evidence, a regular sworn system being amongst the people to obey the agrarian code of laws.' " Mr Hamilton, Crown solicitor for the Northern Eastern circuit, the writer adds, gave evidence before the Committee that " murders were almost invariably committed in the broad day-light," owiog to ths "sympathy* felt with the assassins, and the consciousness that "nobody dare inform against them." Lord Boden, again speaking in the House of Lords in 1852 relative to Monaghan, Armagh, and Down said that there had existed for a long time a confederacy of the people which M recently brok* forth iD to some of the most cruel acts which have ever stained the history of any country," In the Queen's speech, too, of March 15, 1852 certain portions of the counties Armagh, Monagban, and Lonth were mentioned as " marked by the commission of outrages of the most serious description," The writer goes on, in reference to a claim as to the law-abiding condition of Ulster, recently made at the Albert Hall meeting in London, by Dr Alexander, Anglican Bishop of Derry, to quote a list of outrages committed at the Bishop's own door. "An organised attack on the City Hal!, necessitating the calling out of the military, when Mr Dowse was addressing the electors, who subsequently returned him by an overwhelming majority ; loosening coping-stones on City Walls in anticipatioa of a Catholic procession passing through the street immediately underneath ; placing a large jar of gun-powder, with a fuse attached to it in Bt Augustine's graveyard timed for an explosion when a Catholic procession would be pawing that part of the city ; throwing a bomb-shell aaaongt t a Catholic party holding a social re-union in a hall immedia' ely adjoining the Protestant cathedral grounds ; seizing and holding by aimed force tbe City Hall after the usual deposit money was paid by the Nationalists, who had invited Mr Dawson, Lord Mayor of Dublin to lectnre on tbe franchise ; dynamite explosion which, occurring on 8t Patrick's night, was charged against tbe Nationalists, but was afterwards traced home to a Unionist registration agent wtn fled the country," "And," adds the writer, "there is the abounding fact that for this long catalogue of deadliest crimes only one parson was brought to justice. In fact, the magistrates and police bad looked on calmly whilst the assassins in the City Halt were dealing out dea'h to the Catholic crowds beneath." Bat we have quoted sufficient to show our readers the value of Father O'Doherty'a pamphlet. Everyone should read it, and make himself acquainted with what the cry at to the perfections and merits of loyal Ulster is worth. The writer concludes as follows :—": — " lam an Ulster man to the spmaj marrow, lam pron iof my native province, because it is the pro. vince of Hugh O'Neil', Bed Hagh O'Djnnell, and magnificent Owen Boe ; and is the province as we!', of the Protestant patriots, the United Irishmen, and of John Mitchell, John Martin, and Isaac ButtThe influence that made the Normans more Irish than the Irish themselves still survives. The spirit of the Volunteers is not dead bat sleeping, and Ulster will be yet, as it was of old, tbe etrorg right arm of Ireland. But with all my love for that old Northern land, and all my hopes for its future, I cannot admit, for the facts are too eloquent against, its claim to a monopoly of wealth, religion tolerance, and crimelessness."

POLITICAL •HWTINGB.

Mb Seddon seems to have taken np the gauntlet flmg down by Sir Bobert titout. Hia motion, a' least, on Wednesday nigh^, to report progrißß for the purpose of delaying Sir Bobert Btont'i Bill on til the Bill he himself promised had been introduced teems to have had such a meaning. The Bill proposed by the Government, we anderatand, is not of so extreme a n&tare as that of Bir Bobert Stout — ■wbicb, in tarn, is supposed to be some modification of the direct veto. Mr Seddoa's pledge, however, that it would give general satisfaction was somewhat rash. Had he qualified his state. neat by limiting it to rational people, no doubt he would be safe bat be seemed to lose sight of the wild contingent, whose restless and unreasoning energy makes them so formidable, and on whom Bir Bobert Stout relies almost wholly for success. Sir Bobert Stout, we need hardly lay, makes use of this prohibition cry to advance his particular interests. Of the valae of his arguments generally we find a fair iortauM in the debate in question. " They were told," he said,

"that if the Bill were carried they would lose £60,000 a "year in lioenoe fee*, bat 2$ millions were spent and absolutely wasted every year in the degradation of the people." Bat did Bit Bobett Stoat really mean to Bay that the whole of these two millions and a quarter came out of the pockets of drunkards 1 If so, he mast look on drunken ntM as rather closely allied with ready money. Still let as admit that, aader the circumstances, a, statement of the kind comes fitly from the lips of the speaker. Is he not, in fact, busy in hatching on*, for the pattern of mankind the " soaring bnman boy," and must he not be permitted to do a little clacking over the job 1 To make a mere nothing of £60,000, besidts, ii consistent in Sir Sober t, << d the expeaae," has always been hie motto. Indeed, it was conspicuous also in that glorious peroration. " I exceedingly regret,' be said, " that in a former Parliament Ministers' salaries were so much reduced,"— and again—" Yon will have to pat men in the Civil Service, the best all round that tht colony can produce, and to pay them well." Evidently Sir Robert can find nee for even a considerable portion of those two and a quarter millions to be saved by prohibition — considering, too, that he insists upoa enlarging the functions of the (State, and consequently increasing proportionally the number of the well paid civil servants. He, besides, who himself aspires to head the Ministry, should know what a Minister's services are worth. Farther, has he not been instrumental in the appoint* meat of several of the civil servants, the best, in their way, no doubt, that the colony could produce, and well paid also, if we understand aright f Certainly Sir Robert Stout did not perorate, however brilliantly quite without meaning. All bis effort was not spent in clacking over the incubation of a superior race. " Wbat," he asked, " will make the nams of this colony great ? It will be ita breed of men and women I " Truly the policy of the State is to be as Sir Robert describes it, a policy of " experiments.' Bat are the grounds on which Sir Robert Stout bases his claim to make such a change quite beyond the reach of dispute ? "We stand," be says " in many ways in the front rank of nations, and for this reason : that we are not encumbered with privileges, we are not encumbered by prejudices, and we are, therefore, free to make experiments." What, nevertheless, of the privilege of which the speaker was even then availing himself — that is the privilege to talk rank nonsense? Such a privilege, we should say, would form a very great encumbrance in making any experiment likely to have a useful result. As for prejudice?, how, fur example, can these be disclaimed by a community among whom a shameful prejudice is made use of in plundering and oppressing one-seventh of the population ? It is barefaced impudence to deny, not indeed the existence, but the prominence: of prejudice in a community, where, for example, every now and then, particular ends art soaght and gained by raising the No* Popery cry. No privileges I No prejudices I Was the speaker perorating brilliantly or openly laughing in the faces of his hearers f Sir Robert, however, as we have said, haß some ideas that are not purely philosophic. While awaiting the arrival of that superior breed — those Bwans to be produced, by his particular system of incubation, from goose eggs — he takes rather a common- place view of things and does not quite despise the ordinary shrewdness of the unimproved species. Even in his glorious peroration, traces, as we have seen, are quite apparent that, in his character of aspiring Premier and actual patron and protector of civil servants, Sir Robert baa method in his motto of ' D the expense." It is ominoss, meantime, though in makes Mr Seddon'a boldnesji all the more marked, that the Government had so small a majoritytwo only — in tiie division oo the Premier's motion, fourteen of their followers having voted against them. Where, in fact, are the wits of the Liberal party 7 Was not the pronounced support given in this matter by Mr Scobie Mackenzie to Sir Robert Stout as against Mr Seddon of itself safficient? Mr Mackenzie, we are told, declared that, being a " rebel " himself — and if the word were " trickster " we should admit its truth— of the two Premiers he favoured Sir Robert Stout. Necessarily he did and does. Had he nor, indeed, heard that glorious peroration, and wbat man with an ounce of wit could fail to perceive its meaning ? Mi Mackenzie's smartness nobody can question. Of course be perceives that the country would speedily fathom the meaning of a Government of experiment having for its far off end the production of a superior race, of swans from goose-eggs, as a pattern to the world, but for its immedia'e means the higher pay* mtnt of Ministers, and the increase and higher payment also of the civil aervans. The Conservatives would have a walk-over in no time. Necessarily Mr Scobie Mackenzie prefers Sir Robert Stoat, Sir Robert has all but accomplished the wreck of the Ministry, and that of the Liberal party will be his task ere long. Mr O'Conor has got co far with his scheme for the abolition of party Government as to have the second raiding of hia Bill for the Referendum rejected by no very great majority. The Referendum, we may expl, in f r the benefit of the uninitiated, means that on tbe deo sion of a stated majority of tho House any given Bill should be referred to the people for tbeir direct vote. Nothing of the kind baa bo far been tried in British politics, though, as Mr O'Conor points oat, the principle exists in connection

not only with onr local bodies, but also with joint-stock companies. In Switzerland, however, it is an insti ution of the State, and Mr O'Ooaor claims we believe with truth, that it works there admirably. We do not know, as we write, whether Mr O'Conor had the ■up port of Sir Robert Stoat, If not, he showed himself but little grateful for the services rendtred him in Inangahua. There, indeed, Sir Robert was served by the lion as no man ever had been served i before since the days of the far-famed Androcles. But would it be consistent in the author of the glorious peroration to try back to any old world State for means to be used in doing the work of the patent incubator? Does not New Zealand stand in the first rank of nations, the mother of a vigorous race par excellence, a whole people of "soaring human boys," the pattern of mankind? Is nnt the j clacking of her great incubator, Sir Robert Stout, in short, sufficient for her ? Here, at least, is a suggestion aa to an aspect of politics in Switzerland, that Sir Robart Btout, notwithstanding bis unprejudiced condition, can by no means consistently approve of. We quote from a chapter in whicb the historian Freeman speaks of the delight with j which he had personally witnessed the assembly of the people of the Catholic canton of Uri to frame their laws and appoint their magietrates for the year. The chosen day was Sunday. " Rut deem not,' says the writer, •' tha*, because the day of Christian worship is chosen for the great yearly assembly of a Christian commonwealth, the more direct sacred duties of the day are forgotten. Before we, in oar luxurious island, have lifted ourselves from our beds, the men of the mountain!". Catholic and Protestant alike, have alreaiy paid the morning's worship in God's temple. They have heard the Mass of the priest, or they have listened to the sermon of the pastor, before some of us have awakened to the fact that the morn of the holy day bJM come. And when I saw men thronging the crowded church, or kneeling, for want of space within, on the bare ground beside the open door, and when I saw them marching thence to do the h ghett duties of mtn and citizen?, I could hardly forbear thinking; of the sayiog of Holy Writ, that ' Where the Spirit of the Lord i°. there 19 liberty.'" Decidedly there are privileges and prejudices among thiq

Swiss people of which hT Hobtrt Stout could not at all approve, ' But, as we bave ea.d, we do not yet know whether or not he gave Mr O'Conor his support. The Electoral Bill has pa?ft:d the Lower Chamber and now remains to be dealt with by the Couocil. It contains a clause giving the franchise to women, and there the doubt comes in. It is feareJ. in short, that the Council may still be guided by the common sense that has tbtico saved the Colony from this miscbievouß •' experiment." 1 It is even suspected that some five or six of the newly appointed Councillors nny help to swell the adverse msjori'y. An attempt has further been made to implicate the Ministry, Mr Seddon being accused of insincerity in tne matter, ntid of au i'jten ion that the Bill bfculi be thrown out. Mr W, Hutchison w-u U to know what righ tie n^w y appointed Member? of tho L^is'ative Cmncil hive to thu- b- a h except that of doing what they are told. That, howevei should hardly seem a d frbult matter to an bon Memb r wbosj cm Ing motive of political life 13 to do what it pays him to do ACCORDING to the Sptaker the fracas 1 1 th ; II 1 se IRISH of Comroocs was merely a manifest a iuo of the j GLEANINGS. f-puit th it ha 1 b^en abroad fjr aom-; urao. Ti.e ; testimony cf the Speaker, moreover, i-> all ttx* \ more valuable since it wlB giveo b< f >rehand "Th; bad tempt rof Unionist speakers and newspapers," he says, "the bid tempi r of Unionist drawing rooms and dinner-tables, and. we fear we muv ad-'. the bad temper of sjme Unionist la lies' are distinct phenomena ot the tima which certainly c*ll for observation and criticism. It must be humiliating enough '0 the Unionist party to recall ihu faot th it for years its fortunes were fojoded upon fraud, forgery, au 1 slaadir of the most outrageous kind. But we must recdl the (act to its rec llection, because it was duiing that period of hallucination, that the ri"gn of ill-temper, of bitter an 1 viol nt language, of yen jrnous lrjMnu iti m and nccusa ion, bega->. We do not sty ih it the ill-temper his bjen confine Ito oae aide. Lt woul 1 hivo bjcu impo - Bible thus to confine it. Both arlie9 have something to re^re'. s m>

thing to atone for, in connection with the controversies of the p«ft six years ; bat it is not to be forgotten that it was by the Uoiontttl that tbia moat un-Bnglish and ud justifiable method of conducting a public controversy was introduced." Apropos of a statement recently made to the effect that Scottish sympathy with Home Bale was due to the feeling of enmity entertained against the E-itftblinhmont by the members of the Free Church the following protest ottered a little time ago at a meeting of ministers of the Established Church seems suggestive. The speaker was the Ray C. 0. Macdonald of St ClementV, Aberdeen. " They had, no evidence or proof," he said, " that the Roman Catholic Church would establish a religions ascendency and dominate the members of Parliament in the Houae of Commons ia the Legislative House— If I they looked to France — if they looked to Italy itself — did they fin 4 I that the Roman Catholic Church had the power to dominate the, ] legislators of the country ? He believed that it was beyond a doubt that the very act of Mr Gladstone in giving Home Rule to Ireland would develop free poli'ic <1 life, and that that free political life would do more to bring Eoman Catholicism into accord with °the Bpirit of the times than any other action they could possibly conceive." Mr Macdonald's sentiments, moreover, were hailed with applause by a considerable section of the Press, As the construction of railways is just now a very important question of the internal policy of New Z°aland, any plan bj which such works may be carried out must be of interest to up. A letter taerefore, recently published by the London Star, and in which Sir Thomas H. Qrattan Esmonde gives a graphic sketch of such a plan, I contains valuable information for us. It also incidentally throws 1 light on the manner in which the government of Ireland is generally i carried out under the existing stite of things. Let our readers consider how such condttionF, whether as applied to the construction of [ railways or tho management otherwise of public affairs, would suit. the people of New Zealand. The railway is a light railway, and the 1 correspondent gives it as a typical case of en abuse which he and several of his colleagues have been unsuccessfully trying to amend ;— •' It is name 1 ' The Tralee and Dingle Light Railway.' It runs .from.

Tralee to D n^le, a distance of some 30 miles, through a picturesque m uataia rgioD. a region huh -rto unknown to tourists, ibough by no racan« uiworthy of their attention ; for, if sportsmen, there art streams tumbling from the mountains to the sei. in which very good rir ing is to be had ; or, if ot an iquarian turn of mind, the district , is rch in Mrctcological wealth — f oji the beehive cells and the oratory of Galleru3— a wondrous s^one edifice built Home 1,300 years . ago an 1 absolutely perfect to this day — to the ogham stone*, the ancient crosses, and the graceful rums of the early Cbrinian monastery of Klmicbedar. From tne gloomy fortress overlooking Snrrwick Harbour, with its trag'C memones of the Spanish wars t to the fivrJ of Coos-a-Wudigh, whence — as the legend Las it — St Brendan sailed to the discovery of America centuries before Columbus. The Atlantic bathes the rock-bound boast. Its waters teem with fish. Bat the local fishermen are too poor to fit out boats large enough and strong trough to reap the ocean's harvest, and that famous institution, the Irish Conges'ei D stneta Board, is (oj busy doing nothing to help them "' This hor. built under the Tramways Act of 1883, the writer cxp'am^, has a capital of £120, U00, paying an interest ol 4 per cent , of which one half is gaarantee Iby the Treasury, 90 long 1 as the line keeps running, but otherwise to fall on the ratepayers, by ', whom tin other half is guaranteei in perietuity. The line, (here* < fore, pays its shareholders and its rfficia'p, but not its working , expenses. The explanation, s^y? the corresponded', is that the ratepayers, who have guaranteed the 2 per cent, interest, on the paid np capital of the Company, are also bound to make good any loss incurred in working (he line, the result beina; an annual tax of some 2* 3 1 in the £on their pior law valuation, In addition there are la«r expenses ana compensition for irjnriep, and when damages are gran ed, the raUpiyers, not the Company, must p.y them, Such, io fact, are the , tff c a ot a law that "no Parliament would pos-sibly pass for any country except an English Parliament legis ating for Irel *nd." " But I may be told," adds (Sir Thomas Esmonde, " that the ratepayers are responsible for this sta'e of things, They cho-e to have the railway made, they guaranteed the interest upon it, and having had tb« I railway made it is their business to see that it is properly managed.

To thlg I auawe? ihat the ratepayers, as a body, have had no more to say in the making of this railway through their baronies than they would bare had to the making of light railways in the moon, and that they have little more— if anything, Iteg — to say to the management of this railway than to the management of that other one in Uganda. The Tralee ani Dingle Light Railway is the child of the IfUh Board of Works and of the County Kerry Grand Jury. These aagnit bodies between them planned the line, passed the line, or had it passed, and pledged the credit of the West Kerry ratepayers to pay for if." Here, then, is a case which we recommend, first, aB an example to those districts of New Zealand which are particularly interested in the construction of railways. Let us say, for instance, Central Otago. We recommend it alto as an illustration of the state of things generally existing in Ireland, and for straggling against whose continuance some people look upon Irishmen as perverse and unreasonable.

ODDS AHD ENDS.

Oub contemporary the Marlboroagh Daily lime* of the 3rd mit h&a rather a remarkable leader on the fraoai in the House of Commons, First, we remark that oar contemporary looks upon English fair play m hardly in accordance with bonny play. " The closure," ba lays, " does not rait the English mind, and when a measure has to be forced through by its aid no success can be anticipated." When, tievertitleu, a measurt had to be shut out by its aid, it suited the KhgHflh mind perfectly and its success was admirable. The cloture wap introduced to make a weak body, struggling for justice, ■till wtaker. If, as applied to better end?, to overcome a powerful opposition against justice, it does not suit the English mind, the fanlt would Mem to b« in the mind and not in the measure. The conoluion, in fact, would seem to be that the mind referred to had something in ita nature of the bully. We may hope, nevertheless, that it ii the Unionist, rather than the English, mind that is so •ffeoted. Our contemporary goes on to give some particulars of some of the Members named in the cablegrams, giving a chief place to Mr I. P. O'Connor, "Tay Pay," as they nickname him, although no Irish-

man in the world pronounces either of the letters ia such a manner. But, on the whole, there is nothing to find fault with in the account given, partly by quotation, of Mr O'Connor, Our contemporary, however, began by an implied rebuke to the English mind ; he ends by one expressed to the Irish temper. Mr Gladstone, bo says, may find that the " Irish have got to learn and govern their individual tempers before they govern a nation." The conclusion, aa we see, iB aa sasy one, for it ia always easy to talk nonsense, but it is not contained in the premises, in which not only the Irish but the English and Scotch element ii also included. As their apology to the Honse has proved, Mr Logan, the Scotch Member for Hat borough, and Mr Fisher, the English Member for Fulham, were the chief offenders! and, in fact, the Timet mentions both of them. Our contemporary, moreover, makes a comparison that plainly shows the folly of his conclusion. M The whole of the proceedings," he says, were more fitted for the N B.W. Parliament than for any other that exists in a civilised country." Our contemporary, we may remark in pacing, has apparently never heard, for example, of ctrtain Continental Parliaments, bat how would the proposal sound to deprive New South Wales of self-government became of the tempers of her legislators ? Our contemporary's leader, therefor^, as we have said, is rather a remarkable one, but not because of the soundness of its arguments. In fact there was a lively scene in the French Parliament a few weeks before the row in the House of Commons occurred. It did Dot, indeed, this time quite arrive at fisticuffs, but that seems to have been • fortunate accident. The balderdash of accusing any people of being too hot tempered to govern themselves is manifest. Here, in tact, is the account of the matter as given by the Paris correspondent of the Liverpool Catholic Times of June 23 :— " As soon aa it was known that M. Clemenoeau was to speak on Monday afternoon the couloirs of the Palais-Bourbon became deserted, and the Chamber filled rapidly. It was a packed assembly, notwithstanding the degree of tropical beat with which Paris was afflicted that day. Those outtide were hoping that a storm would break and clear the air. It broke inside instead, and over the head of M. Clemenceau. He was assailed by MM. Deronlede and Millevoye with epithets such as "liar," "coward," and ('charlatan," epithets which, by the way, he

freely turned upon his adversaries in the midst of a speech in itself powerful. All seemed against him to a mas, including his own party the Members of the Extreme Left, while the President of the Chamber was only able to feebly call to order bis interrupters Deroulede and Millevoye, knowing that if he bad recourse to more stringent measures the spirit of the Chamber would have been against him. To the fierce Clemenceau, who professes to accept the Bevolution of 1793 en bloc, the f ' unkindeet cut of all " the other day was that M. Deroulede, after insulting him, refused to fight with him. The questors of the Chamber were in waiting at the foot of the Tribunal in tbe event of these excitable Frenchmen bfing led to do each other bodily harm." Monsignor Satolli, io recently congratulating the Rev D, 8. Whelan, editor of the Water* Watchman, of St Louie, on the silver jubilee of his paper and of his editorship, spoke a word also with respect to the Catholic Press generally :— " May the well-deserved honour and just pride of the anniversary," wrote his Grace, " be aa encouragement to yourself to continue in coming yean the noble work to which you have consecrated your pen, an encouragement tot your colleagues of Catholic journalism to persevere in the hard bu glorious path where yon lead. Thongh the divinely-ordained means of bringing truth to the minds of men is the ministry of oral teaching, yet the Press 1b another way vouchsafed in these latter centuries by Providence, not less universal, and scarcely less potent. It has, perhaps, this advantage over the pulpit, that tbe journalist addresses a wider audience than the priest, and through the printed word reaches thousands who seldom or never come within sound of the spoken word, Moreover, tbe Press speaks a language always accom. modated to the mind of the day ; subject matter and place do not impose on it the restraints that hedge in the pulpit ; yet the preacher, too, with all respect for the divine truth he haodler, may speak to the living century go as to be understood." Tbe article on tbe French army, from which we gave rather copious quotations a week or two ego, told us nothing of the religious dispositions of the soldiers. The writer, however, being known as a good Catholic, the feeling expressed by him towards

his brothers in the ranks seemed suggestive, and we might, therefore, gather that, at least, bo pronounced hos'ility to religion was general. Probably the presence of the seminarists may also not be without its wholesome effect. We find, besidts, that in a town in Britany, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, several young soldiers took part in the procession of the Most Holy Sacrameni, and in incensing the Altar of Repoae. It is, meantime, reported that the Archbiihop of Aix has uttered a protest against the present Government, not, indeed, against the Republic as such, in whose favour the Pope has again expressed himself, but against the manner in whicb the country is actually being governed. The Archbishop is represented especially as demanding a change of the military laws. Some of the public functionaries are said to have been indignant at the action of the soldiers referred to, and their attitude possibly gives ua a clue to the situation. We do not suppose there is any use in our trying to warn the people of the colony as a whole, and, nevertheless, they are narrowly concerned in the matter. It behoves us, however, once more to remind our Catholic readers of the tru« source of the godless schools as now established in this colony, that is the secret societies of Continental Europe, in whose Lodges such Bchools were chosen as the sure means of destroying Christianity throughout the world. Of the fruits of the education to be given by such schools a striking instance bas just occurred in Italy, where the director of a bank has been sentenced to ten years' penal servitude tor misappropriation of tbe money entrusted to his care. The bank in question is the Bank of Naples, and the defaulter was the manager of its Roman branch. The Biguificant feature of the matter is, however, that the unhappy man, as transpired on his trial, had been merely the tool of others, and ihose otherp, whom he carefully screened fiom justice, are confidently stated to be members also of the secret sects. " Thie," bays the Liverpool Catholic Timet ia alluding to the matter, " is no mere prejudiced speculation of a Catholic journal, but a simple fact which may be found stated In any of the London papers having an Italian correspondent." "Tbe Pope," continues our contemporary, "solemnly warned the whole world years ago of this secret, anti-social, financial, and anti-religious confederacy, ani even acute Benjamin DieraeV

declared that Europe vu honeycombed with secret associations which were an imminent danger to society. Both spoke with ripe knowledge." Bat one of the chief of these societies, that is the Grand Orient of France, ia openlj established among up, and, as we have said, their chosen engine, tbe godless tchool, is in fall play carrying out the work for which they intended it. To cry this aloud to the colony is to speak to deaf ears, bat Catholics, at any rate, should be f ally on their guard. A very serious rumour prerails with regard to a verdict returned at Sydney, ia a case in which a man had been kicked to death by a band of youog ronghf, known, in local slang, as a " push." The verdict was one of manslaughter, the jury being said to have been prevented by tbe fear of reprisals on the part of the " pushes " from returning one of murder. Bat each a notion aa this, if it gain ground, must tend to anything rathei than to make the town in question a safe place of residence. Jurors, in short, giving way to such a fear would deserve the severest reprobation. For the credit of the citiaeni, it is to be hoped the rumour is not well grounded. The education vote in Queensland, we perceive, has been cut down by something ovtr £40,000, The claims of godlesaues 0 , nevertheless, are quite as noisily upheld io that colony as they are among ourselvei. Statesmen, however, if they are not wiser, are at least more hardly pushed. Still we do not know that the promise of prosperity, said to be marked just now in New Ztaland, will authorise tbe advance that certain zealots advocate. Indeed we suspect that here also retrenchment must sooner or later be adopted. We see from a Western Anstraliaa paper that the Catholics of Perth have held a meeting to protest against any interference with their schools by an amendment which it is proposed to make to the Education Act For 22 years, it is stated, they have been in receipt of aid from the Government, and the results are declared to be most satisfactory. Jealousy of their schoolp, indeed, is attributed as a motive for the proposal for a change. We perceive also that the ■tate of things in the colony alluded to contradicts that argument advanced among ourselves against the Catholic claims, to tbe effect that a grant to our schools would set all the other denominations moving in the Bame direction. It eeems that in Western Australia, notwithstanding that the Catholics have received Government aid for 22 years, the other denominations have remained contented wih the Government 6chools, doing little or nothing at their own expense. A strong stand will be made by the Catholics of the colony in support of the existing system of payment by results. The Auckland Herald, we perceive, has also taken advantage of the row in the House of Commons to air his notions of British fair play. A correspondent signing himself " Justice," pertinently replica to him as follows :— " The fracat you attribute to the introduction of the cloture, which you say ia a ' wrong procedure.' When this 'gag' was applied by the late Government to pass a Coercion Act for Ireland, robbing her of her constitutional rights and liberties, you did not aver it was a ' wrong procedure.' Again, like Lord Salisbury, you will persist in making this Home Rale question a religious one It is not so. The majority in Ireland carrying it on is certainly Catholic ; on the other hand, Btlisbury finds strong support from tbe English Catholics, whose influence at Rome be and his party use for party purposes. The Unionists, thiough Norfolk and Co, seek the aid of Romp, and then in the most bare-faced fashion rouse the Protestants of the North by warning them against Rome. Compared with this Punic perfidy is child's play." — As to private individuals who take the opportunity of gaining a little additional notoriety and to one or otber of whom the correspondent also refers, we should be inclined to let them have their say without interference. It pleases them and it can do nobody else aoy possible harm. — Verbum sap.