CATHOLICS AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 51, 19 December 1901, Page 2

CATHOLICS AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

THE CHARGE OF « STUFFING.'

The following letter in reference to the cry of the lodges and their mouthpieces that the public servioe of the Colony is being ' crammed ' and ' stuffed ' with Catholics, appeared in the seoular press of Dunedin on last Monday :—: — Sir, — For various reasons the result of the present election contest, whatever it may is of no particular interest to me. But when an unfair attempt is made to arouse a publio clamor against the Catholic body here, 1 conceive it my duty to say something in their defence, when this oan be truthfully done, as promptly as may be, and irrespective of the circumstances in which such an attempt has been made. An outory has been raised against the alleged scandalous preponderance of Catholics in the public service, especially in the railways and the post and telegraph departments. The local offices have been singled out for special reprobation in this matter. But, singularly enough, those whose duty it is to prove their charges by an appeal to figures and a count of heads have, with significant unanimity, failed to advance specific evidence in support of any of their various contentions. Pending the strangely delayed publication of detailed figures and facts by those who have raised this regrettable outcry against my coreligionists, the following results of a series of careful inquiries may prove interesting to your readers :—: — Catholics are one in seven of the total population of New Zealand. In the ohief Post and Telegraph Office of Dunedin and in the suburban offices there are only 28 Catholics in a total of 236 employees, or somewhat more than one in nine. Only one of these occupies a position above that of the rank and file. There is only one Catholic postmaster in all the 50 permanent post offices in the Dunedin postal district — that is, from Clinton on the south to Palmerston on the north and Cromwell on the west. In all Otago and Southland there are only two Catholic postmasters. There is no Catholic in charge of any chief post office in all New Zealand. The names of only two Catholics figure on the list of the first 40 highest officers of the Post Office Department ; and the first hundred, into which 1 am making inquiries, promises at least as low a percentage In the local Public Works Office there are only two Catholica (one a cadet) among 19 employee?. In the Railways (goods, station, and casual) only 1 1 out of 2213 — or less than one in 20 — are Catholics. I have quite failed to find the name of even one permanent Catholio stationinaster in all Otago and Southland, and have been assured that there is none. In the Government Workshops at Hillside there are 430 to 432 employees. Of these 34 (or, doubtfully, 33) are Catholics. This gives a ratio of lees than one Catholic to 12 non-Catholic employees. 1 find by reference to the D 3 classification list that 171 of the Workshop employees are permanent. Of these 12 (or at most and doubtfully, 13) are Catholics — that is, less than one in every 13. Of the non-permanent hands, only about one in every 12 is a Catholic There is no Catholic foreman or salaried official of any kind in the Workshops, and only one Catholic (or, doubtfully, two) in the whole establi-hment occupy a position above that of the rank and file. I have before me a detailed statement of the wages drawn by each of the Catholic employees at the Workshops. The highest — lls Gd per day — is drawn by only one of them, and the average wages of the whole number is ODly 7s 3d per day. With the one or two exceptions mentioned above, they are all wood-hewers and water-dra*ers>. And yet the Hillside Workshop? have long been pointed out as a pec m'.iarly fligrant instance of the stuffing of the public service with an outrage >usly high proportion of Catholio employees. I have solid grounds for believing that in the other three great centres of population in New Zeuland Catholic publio tervants are, both in the matter of relative numbers and proportionate pay, in quite as unfortunate a position a-i they occupy in Duuedin. Matters are even worse when we come to the lengthy ' official list ' of those who 'run' thegreit departments of ihy colony. I have elsewhere published som.'* astonishing figure-" in point, and am pursuing the inquiry into thi", and into the general subject of ' stuffing,' with sujh surprising pieliminary results that, it a commission ever comes to deal with the matter, I shall probably oa in a position to lay before it a muss of information that will, for a time at least, prevent the repetition of such a cry as has been raised against the Catholic body in Dunedin during the past two weeks. Thee who have made these charges, should, of cour=e, be ready with their proofs, anil I trust that they will publish them without further delay. For obvious reasons I shall, of course, decline to

waste time on lists, whether honest or bogus, that may be placed before your readers under the mask of anonymity. The whole question turns upon correct and complete name-lists of Catholic employees. I therefore request those who may publish figures on the subject to leave in your office detailed enumerations, name by name, of the Catholics in the departments or offices to which they may refer. I will call to your office at 10 a.m., and, if neoessary, at 3 and 7 p.m. on Tuesday to compare such lists (if any) with mine, and to arrange, if the occasion should require it, for the application of a simple and effective test that fhall speedily settle any disputed question that may arise as to the religion of any particular employe j. The several persons who are raising this regrettable sectarian cry may possibly decline to prodnoe the detailed returns asked for ; or they may purposely delay their production till such a time that it would be impossible for me to test them and to publish the results of such tents before polling day. That, however, is their own affair. In either event your readers will be able to draw their own conclusions an to whether this olamor is based on actual and accurate knowledge or is merely raised for party and sectarian purposes. I deal with the subject now. as I have dealt with it before, not because there happens to be a political question involved in it here, but simply because I cannot help regarding it as a wholly unjustifiable attempt to hound down and cast unmerited odium upon the Catholic body here. — Yours, etc., Editou'New Zealand Tablet.' December 16.