ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON

New Zealand Tablet, 18 October 1906, Page 14

ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON

(From our own correspondent.) October 13.

, Ihe Rev. Father Holley, pastor of Blenheim,- has been in town during the past week for the purpose of canvassing the Thornton parish in aid of the Cathedral fund. . The mission for women, ' conducted by the Redemp•I s * *> th ' ers -at St. Joseph's during the past fortnight, is to be closed on Sunday afternoon. The attendances throughout have been exceedingly large and in the evenings the church .space was taxed to' the utmost. The mission for men will be ..opened on SunOft Thursday evening the members of St. Peter's Anglican Young Men's Club were entertained at a games tournament in -St. Patrick's' Hall. At the conclusion of the evening honors rested with, the Catholic t,^'- vI 1S y" efc an ° the * of many similar social functions between these two clubs" that have been arranShiS?/?" 1 and the feeling of good fellowship s 0 manifested is a matter for congratulation. ♦tw^m Sist ? r .? oE Mercy celebrated on Tuesday* last the silver jubilee of the .Rev. Mother of their coinmuna Vl. v ly ass was celebrated by his Grace the 4t£? 1Sh v P> Mas s at 8 o'clock, by the Ve*y Rev Father Keogh, and solemn High Mass at 9. o'clock, o an f^ Father Lewis, V.G., -wasJcW■brant, Rev Father Kimbell deacon and Rev, . FatherMoloney subdeacon. ,The Rev. Mother received from -the £»« v!S H °irphAVsi rph AV5 a va ? uable g° ld chalice for .the were LonTj' + ? ther P»*«»J? for «» altar and table were given by the several schools and branch houses. m tbe evening a very entertaining concert was eiven ihe^vent pupils 3 : 0111 ' th ° "I" 18 beinS Co s tri butldDy

The debating tournament, initiated some time ago under the auspices of the Wellington Literary and Debating Societies Union, was concluded on. Friday evening in the concert chamber of the Town Hall, before a large audience. r l he two teams, who had been so far successful •in all their contests, were those of the St. John's .and the Catholic Young Men's Clubs, who accordingly had the honor of appearing in the final contest for supremacy. His Worship the Mayor, who- -takes- a very keen and sympathetic-- in t'erest in - matters of this kind, occupied the chair.. Mr.- GK 'Hunt, an able and impartial judge recently arrived . from Home, was arbiter. St. John's CluT) was represented bX Messrs. Armitt, Redgrave, and Murphy, the three gentlemen who- had won honors for their club on . the previous occasions. Messrs. Casey, Kane, and Morah upheld, the 'honor of the Catholic Club. The subject of debate was "That the trend of New Zealand legis. lation was • not conducive to the growth of a strong nation.' The affirmative was led by Mr. Casey, the negative by Mr. . Armitt, Messrs. Kane, Redgrave Mo-ran, and Murphy then following in the order named. ' Our representatives endeavored to judge the effect of New Zealand legislation from the -mental,- material n and moral aspects, each speaker- dealing, with >a distinct heading. They contended that the labor legislation of - the past decade did hot produce a • real benefit; tlie : rise in wages was only nominal, that -as the cost of living was increased, the purchasing power of wages was not any higher. A- very strong argument, advan1 cod on our, side was that, with respect to- the "demoralising effect of the divorce laws, which tended to - weaken and destroy the whole social fabric. The St John s representatives - failed to meet our case, they" made, -the fatal mistake of ignoring altogether the arguments adduced by their opponents and setting up a case ot their own. Our men persisted, however in . keeping them to the point, and claimed that, if their opponents were to succeed, they must first of all - destroy the case as set up by the affirmative. There was ho doubt that while fluency. and eloquence were displayed to a greater extent on the side- -of our opponents, our men . excelled in the matter of advancing _ argument and in real debating power. The judge, in a very able criticism of the methods employed . explained the lines on which he had proceeded!,, and amidst great applause announced that the^ verdict' was in favor of the Catholic Club. The marks assigned to the several speakers were as follow :— St John's— Mr Armitt 72, Mr. Redgrave 60, Mr. Murphy 86 • general arrangement 12; total, 230. Catholic Young Men's Club-Mr. Casey 72, Mr. Kane 63, Mr. Moran 82 • general arrangement 15 ; total, 232. It is hardly necessary f to add that we are all very proud of the victory ' achieved, and Messrs.- Fitzgerald, Casey, Kane, and Moran, -who have - represented the club in the several contests, deserve the heartiest congratulations on' the success that has crowned their efforts, • This is not however, the only honor that has come our way We can excel in the physical as well as in the mental aspect On Saturday last the representatives of the club, Messrs. P. Fitzgerald, M. Mulcahy, and J H ' and M. Prendeville, succeeded in winning the harriers teams race. A social function in honor of these victories is to be held in the clttb rooms next week