NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 18, 3 May 1900, Page 15

NEW ZEALAND : GENERAL.

A West Coast paper states that Mr. Gribben has received war3F that his son, Dr. St. Leger Gribben, left Edinburgh hut month for South Africa. He goes to the front as one of the surgeons of i hospital corps. The following letter appeared in the Auckland Heral&ot .April 24 over the pen-name ' Justitia ' :— One is often met with the cry, ' Ireland is governed similarly to England and Scotland ; why, then, should she be everlastingly protesting against her rulers 1 ' Is Ireland governed similarly 1 On February 14 last, just a little over two months ago, Lord-Chancellor Lord Justioe Fibzgibbon, attcK the Master of the Rolls were sworn Lord Justioes for the government of Ireland during the absence of Lord Cadogan, LordLieutenant of Ireland. The Right Hon. J. M. Meade and Sir R. Martin attended the ceremony, but because they were Roman Catholics they had to stand aside, and could not fill the office^ Questioned on the subject in the House of Commons, the AttorneyGeneral for the Chief Secretary answered : ' The facts are as stated. Under the provisions of section 12, of the Act, 10th George IV., chap, seven, Roman Catholics are legally disqualified from holding the office mentioned.' Though Catholics form the majority, they are prevented by statute from holding the office of Lord-Lieutenant, or his deputies, in their own country. A Scotch paper has called attention to the fact that on the very day that the Connaught Rangers stormed, on their hands and knees, the kopjes in Natal, under General Buller, all Catholics were ordered to stand aside from a jury panel in Connaught. A sum of money was some months sinoe bequeathed to a religious Order in Ireland, whereat a musty and antiquated old statute was unearthed, which the Court decided was fatal to the possession of the bequest by the Order. These anomalies, to a highly-sensitive people like the Irish, anomalies which brand them as inferiors and pariahs, are distasteful, and oertainly tend to embitter them against a Government which perpetuates such wrongdoings. While Irish Catholics redden with their blood the South African veldts, their faith is ostracised in their native land. The Coronation oath calls it idolatrous. _ Her Majesty and her advisers have much to 'wipe off the slate' in Ireland.

We regret to have to record that Canon Franklin had been for three weeks Buffering from a sharp attack of bronchitis. We are glad however to be able to announce that the Rev. Father is again able to resume his duties, and to continue the good work he is doing at Lyttelton. The rumour had spread that he was leaving the Colony and returning to Europe. We are glad to hear the rumour is baseless. The Napier Daily Telegraph of April 26 has the following in its town edition :— ' The Catholics of Napier, fas well as man? members of other religious denominations,* will be sorry to bear. tibat the Rev. Father Hickson has received orders to proceed to Beefton to take charge of the parish there. During the tune Father Hiokson has been stationed in Napier he has made himself very popular with all classes, his sociable disposition and keen interest in sports of all kinds bringing him into close touch with the public, and Reef ton's gain will mean a decided loss to Napier. Father Hickson expects to leave for his new home early next week.'