Notes

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 6, 6 February 1908, Page 22

Notes

National Defence IThw 1 Th w' t ; ar(l i naKArObfeiShop Of Sydney evidently holds with Washington, that preparedness for -war -is one of the most eiYectual means of preserving peace .A man that makes a sheep of himself is commonly fleeced and a country that is unable ; to protect its .borders may expect to find the stranger's .flag flying in time-above-its soil.- 'I hope', said Cardinal Moran, recently, when opening a school at lapping, ' that the blessings of peace will long continue to be the 'heritage of Australia, bMt we cannot close .our eyes to. the dangers that may Imperil us from .time to time, and it- is >the timty of. Australian citizens ,to -equip -themselves for any future dangers:' It, will -not do to commence -to prepare when the tempests of war .fall upon -Australia.' We -must be prepared in time. There is. an > old saying' that' "if we .wish .to preserve peace we imusf prepare 'for war." .Keadlness for '.war tis the best preservative of peace. ' In" 1 one respect the people must te -equipped to know .their rights, and on the other hand they -must -be equipped to defend those rights, ..-either against domestic enemies or those .who assail them-from .without '. . AM on the grounds both of ..patriotism .-and -of * discipline^ extended his cordial approval. -to the v cadet •.movement. »* " i ' ' ~ - - "jj As Others See Us ' „-.-Sir -• John- ?Madden,-' Chief "JuHice -of Victoria, rmusf have done <#. -good v deal ' of 'skipping ' -during' his -re- - cent tour 'in, the -Norths Island.' ; .For he. confided to a representative -of the • Utag'o Dailyj Times ' that he was

disappointed- therewith. The soil (said lie) did not look productive ; ' the scenery" was &rarad, but seemed barren, and the earth appeared good for nothing but docks, _, weeds, thistles, and- " Prince of Wales' feathers", which flourished in abundance '» And finally, he. -wondered at first how ' such an eminently* sensible man '' a"s therlate Mr. Seddon could have named- New Zealand '-God's < own country '. Sir John's sweeping statements furnish —for a lawyer, too !— a curious example of the dangers of hasty generalisations and of judgments passed on a very imperfect knowledge 'of facts.- Not to mention other places, the Victorian Chief Justice must . have ' skipped ' the' teeming fields, the deep grass, the sleek flocks and herds, the rich harvests, «-ne laden- orchards of Ha,wke's Bay, the Wairarapa, and Taranaki. Sir John, however, discovered- ' Gods-o wn country ' in' the rich farming and grazing lands of Canterbury- and Otago. And he is lost in admiration, of" those beautifully clear streams, runnels with flat" banks, gradually' falling to the sea from perennial snows V A Registration Board In good cause or in evil, the pugnacious Withering- . ton in the old story fought doggedly on. He met his match, however, but even then, though:' fighting a lost and wrong-headed cause, he cut and hacked and ' slashed, away on his stumps, even after his -' pegs ' had been smitten off. Of such a kidney is, apparently, the actingch.arman of the Teachers' Registration Board, in Victoria. He fought long and fiercely to penalise the Catholic primary and sub-primary schools of Victoria by forcing upon, them a programme for the training and examination of their teachers which was far more diffi- - Cult and exacting than that which was devised for the State schools. 'What' we said -the Archbishop " of Melbourne, 'Is to have a programme which will 'keep us fully abreast, of the State school system, and at. the same time give' us protection from the fads of, araiteur. educationists, apply a commion test to our teachers' and the teachers of the State schools, and save our schools from the injustice of being used for experimental purposes.' This ' perfectly reasonable and. simple request,' as the Melbourne ' Age ' termed- it, was liouted with insults by the Board, under the tactless guidance of the acting-chairman. The- fact that their action met with the clamorous approval of the Orange Grand' Lodge ought to have had a sobering effect upon the enthusiasts of the Board. Happily, the matter was to some extent taken out of their hands. A conference was arranged between- representatives of the RegistrationBoard, the School Board, and the Archbishop- r pi . Melboiirne^ "The Premifsrj (Mr.j BJcnt) presided. |tnd ■ the upshot was a victory all' along the line for the Archbi hop. Even th 3 acting-chairman of the "Victorian Registration Board realised at last that the time had, come for even a" Withering! on to ' hands-up * ' andr surrender. And thus a long and (on the part of the Board) extremely bitter struggle has reached the consummation that lovers of fair play had all along devoutly— wished.