Irish News.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 21, 12 June 1902, Page 9

Irish News.

ANTRIM.

Five new appointments to the city magistracy are announced (says the 'Belfast Weekly'). No Catholic citizen is among the number Nor has any Catholic been appointed for sc\eral years' past. This fact speaks for itsell ti'uinpeL-LoiiguLtl

CORK. Getting Rusty.

Opening the business ot the Cork Borough Sessions, the Recorder, addressing the Giand Jury, said ho was really beginning to apprehend that he was getting a little rusty m his knowledge of Crown law m the city of Cork, he had so little to do in it. Ho congratulated them on ha\ ing so little to do at the sessions. The cases to go before them were few in number and light in character There were, in fiact, only four — one of those was for wounding, another for larceny, one for malicious injury tio property, and one for uttering "base coin. He did not think any one of those required any special instructions.

Holdings Purchased.

The tenants on the estate of Captain Digby Wright, in the neighborhood ol Skibbereen and in Caheiagh, have been for some time negotiating about the purchase of their holding\ and with the aid of his Lordship the Most Rev. Dr. Kelly, Bishop of the diocese, have succeeded. Some few years ago the Townshend estate was about being sold. This was a very extensive area, and the tenants waited on his Lordship and expressed to him their desire to purchase out their holdings. He immediately took the matter m hand and worked for months unceasingly, with the result that the tenants were made peasant proprietors The people of the district are delighted that his Lordship has been .tgam successful, and that the tenants on the Wright estate are now in the same position as the Towushend tenantry .

DERRY.— A New Altar.

Thero has just been erected for the Right Rev. Monsignor M'Faul, PP , Waterside, a high altar of rare beauty. A pleasing circumstance in this connection is that the popular and widely-esteemed parish priest has been able to get e\ery pai t of the work dono by Irish aitists.

DUBLIN.— Death of a Priest.

The death is reported of the Very Rev. Father Slattery, Finglas, County Dublin, m the s'Jth veai of his age.

Death of Major Blount.

Major Blount, a gentleman well known in Kingstown and neighborhood, dic<J on April 17, to the deep regret of a large circle of acquaintances He win the youngest son of Mr. Michael Henry Blount and the Hon Mrs Elizabeth Blount, of Mapledurham, Oxfordshire. Maior Blount belonged to one of the oldest and best-known Catholic families m England At an early age he obtained a commission in the 20th Itegiment, and was engaged m acti\e service during the Indian Mutiny ; he also saw service in China For several years he was a member of tho Kingstown Urban District Council. Tho funeral took place from St . Patrick's Church, Monkstown, to Dean's Grange Cemetery.

KFRRY. -Extremely Satisfactory

Addressing the vJrand Jury at (ho opening of the Tralee Quarier Sessions his Honor County Com t .Judge Shaw ?'\id — 1 am happy to be able to tell you that your business is \etv light,. There are three indictments to go before you, and they are all against the same man In other respects, as far as I can ascertain from competent authorities, the condition of the district is extremely satisfactory.

LIMERICK.

In a recent issue we (' Catholic Times ')stated that the charge of intolerance brought in England against the Catholics of Limerick by Dr. Long, the so-called ' medical missionary,' had been repudiated by Mr. Li. (iibson, a Limerick Protestant, from whom Mr W A. Me Knight, of Liveipool, had sought information on the subject Since then both Dr. Long and Mr Kobertson, the Proliant" Rector of St. Munclun'P, Limerick, ha\o attempted to defend the system of proselytism carried on by this agent oi the Irish Church Missions. The defence has, howe\ cr, been a perfect fiasco. Mr. Gibson, who is not merely fearless) and straightforward, but a gentleman of high intellectual ability, has left them in a helpless plight. We regret much that want of space prevents us from publishing his powerful exposure of the methods adopted by the Irish Church Missions, but even from a few sentences our readers can judge of the force of his arguments. He writes • ' Dr. Long asks what he has done that I should make such charges as 1 do against him and the LC M. I will tell him. He started a free dispensary — very good and noble if ilom> 1 o relieve suffering , but as soon as he got Catholics going there he began to talk to them against the doctrine of their Church That I call vile. Then he libels the Catholics of Luncriek, saving they persecute Protestants. That is abominably false. How many Protestant doctors piactisu in Limerick and are esteemed by their Catholic patients? He sa,\s I am in a pugilistic mood, and he does not appreciate this fighting Yes, I always am in a fighting mood when I hear friends whom I esteem and lo\e slandered, and I am quite sure he does not like this fighting in the open with one who is intimately acquainted with both sides of the question.' It may be taken for cr.uited that) in future the proseh ti-^ei s w ill a\oid contio\eisy with Mi. Cibson

More White Gloves.

His Honor J udge Adams opened tho Kaster Quarter Sessions ;a Kathkeale. Mr William Beauchamp, Clerk of tho Crown and Peace, said that m the unavoidable absence of tho High Sheriff he had much pleasure, m presenting his Honor with whito gloves, as theie was no criminal business for disposal llisilonor said ho was glud to learn that the western portion of the county was in such a peaceable condition and so fteo from, crime

WATERFORD. '

The proprietress and editor of the 'Waterford Star ' ha\c been seized wth summonses requiring them to attend a special Crimes Act Court The summonses are as follow — 'Whereas, a complaint has been made to me that, between the Ist. day of No\ember, 1901, and the 16th day of April, jou, the defendants, m a certain newspaper called the 'Waterford Star,' at W'aterfoi d, m the county borough afoiesaul, being a proclaimed disti ict under the pro\isions of the Ci immal Law and Procedure (Ireland) Act, 18H7, did wrongfully and without legal authonty, unlawfully use intimidation towards John lMcOrath, .John Mchonery, Patrick llickey, David Itarr.v , and Kdmond I'owcr, respectn civ, in consequence oi then- having done acts wlmh thi'V had a legal right to do — namely, to use and occupy, as tenants thereof, lertain fauns of land situate in the County Wateifotd, from which tenants had been evicted ' The chaiges ai - e fr, lined on repoi tfi of League meetings (hat appealed m the 'Star' r l he issuing of (he suninionses had excited me.it local interest, espicialU in the west of tlie county and m the city pioper.

GENERAL.

Gaelic Revival. The country seems so have responded generously to tho appeal of the

<1 Gaelic League for funds. The collections carried out during the ' Iri6h Language Week ' produced about £■1500, the metropolis having contributed some £500 of that amount.

St. Patrick's Day in South Africa

Despite the distractions of the war tho Irishmen of South Africa celebrated the Irish National Festival •with great enthusiasm. From a Capo Town paper wo learn that the local Irish Associations held a banqueti on March 17 nt which tho Rev. Dr. Welch presided There was a representative gathering-, including the Major and many public men. Greetings were received from the Irishmen of Maritzburg, Durban, Diamond-fields, Kimberley, Port Al-i fred, Somerset, Maf eking, Mashonaland, Laurenco Marques, etc. It will bo noticed that theso messages camo from nearly every important centre in South Africa, so it is evident thati Irishmen are pretty well scattered over these districts. During the evening a number of patriotic speeches were made, the principal speakers being the Rev. J. J. McClure, Advocate Upingtou, and General Macnamam. The Irishmen of Kimberley postponed their celebration of St. Patrick's Day in consequence ot tho sciious illness of Mr. Rhodes

Catholic Truth Society.

Tho Catholic Truth Society of Ireland has achieved a marked measure of success since its inauguration a few years ago. To such an extent has the work developed that the committee of management has been compelled to obtain more extensive premises that those hitherto occupied. No. 27, Lower Abbey street, where it is now located, is a fargo and comrnomous building, admirably suited to the growing requirements of tho Society, which has much hard work to accomplish in ousting the pernicious literature which is spread broadcast throughout the land, and supplying the public with good, wholesome leading instead.

Aid from America.

Mr J Redmond a few weeks ago received fioiu the treasurer of the United lush League in America £1000 on account of the New York suliscnpiiom;, and £.-)00 from Philadelphia, m addition to £1000 alread.v acknovv ledged.

Proclaimed Districts.

There is considerable speculation (sa.\s i he ' Belfast Examiner ') as to the motives of the Government in piocla mimg the cities of Cork and Waterford, because, as a matter of fact, there has lately been less political activity theie than m any city of Ireland, with the exception perhaps of Deriv, whilst m both cases tho nidges have lccently been 'presented with white gloves.' The Chief Secretary explained in his speech a few evenings ago that the step was taken with a \ icw to stopping boycotting. but cv eryone knows that the real ob|ect is to facilitate tho collection of rents There is not in the County of Cavan, for instance, a single case of boycotting, but there is controversy between the tenants on (he Moiiey estate, and the syndicate to whom Loid Moiiey sold the property over the heads of the tenants

Mr. T. W. Russell on Coercion.

In (lie debate m the House of Commons on t lie lenewal of the Crimes Act in hel.nid Mr. T W. Russell said he must admit that after having sat 17 ,\ ears in the House, and hearing many discussions on the Crimes Act, he had ne\er seen a step taken by the Government as this one with apparently so little cause. The Chief SecieUirv had gi\en Ireland a pretty clean lull, which, m tact, would be a prM(v clean bill for any country. In "Maidi last there were, according to Ins statement, HOI persons box cot ted ; but when the Crimes Bill was introduced into (he House in 1887 they numbered more, than .1001. lie was perfectly clear that this movement

on the part of the Government was the employment of coercion itself. The Chief Secretary talked about English newspapers publishing articles about Ireland, and very properly condemned them. Where did these papers get their information from ? He would tell the right hon. gentleman that the main factor in this huge erection of false information had been the ' Daily Express ' in Dublin, owned by Lord Ardilaun, one of the landlords who has been pressing this course upon the attention of the Government. There had been an agitation to bring this about by an extreme section of Irish landlords and no one else. As the representative of a purely agricultural constituency he had not received a single request to support the movement. He understood that the district of Dowra,' where Lord Morley's estate was situated, was under proclamation. He regarded Lord Morley as a most estimable gentleman, and incapable of doing anything harsh or wrong. His Lordship was asked to sell his estate, and negotiations went on for a long time ; but the tenants woke up one fine morning, to find that the estate had been sold, not to them, but to a syndicate of land agents, who were now enforcing thQ arrears which spread over eight or nine years. The fact was the Government were making' war upon the Dowra estate, and this proclamation was issued on behalf of this syndilcate. Naturally the tenants would regard the proclamation as war 'against land purchase. If Coercion Bills would have cured this Irish question it would have been cured long ago. When he said that he was Ttold that the Irish people were irreconcilable," that it was a case of the horse-leech over again, that if they gave them one thing, they would forthwith ask for another, and they got nothing but discontent and disloyally in exchange, he answered in the words of Mr. Bright, who, replying to them, said that he had a belief which never could 1 c shaken in justice. So had he. He believed in tho Union, as thoroughly as any member in the House, and had done more than most to maintain it, but the House ought not to deceive itself. It ought to face the '"oercion prt hlem in solemn earnest ; it would then see how little it would cost to settle it, and in settling it t.he Government would rid themselves of half ihe trouble the House and the country were involved in. He spoke as a Unionist representative of an Ulster constituency he was not afraid to face. He begged and entreated not) the Government, because his words would have no weight with them, but the House of Commons, . that great assembly which was the master of Governments and everything else, not co allow this question to simmer on until they had got into another land war and another land agitation, and until they were compelled to do in haste what they might well do at leisure.