Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 19 March 1914, Page 21

Current Topics

Catholics and the N.S. Wales System Another protest against injustice has been registered, and a fresh piece of testimony has been furmsned to the fact that Catholics have not approved and do not and cannot approve of the system which has been alleged to be working absolutely ‘ without friction ’ ana to be giving perxect satisfaction to all parties. Speaking at a presentation to Father Power at the Sacred Heart School Hall, Darlinghurst, on February 23, Mr. ii. C. Hoyle,' Assistant State Treasurer of Flew South Wales, declared that the education of the mind without the education of tjje heart was unsound and wrong in principle. Nothing but the education of the heart could make a true citizen, for true citizenship depended upon the knowledge of right and wrong, upon the knowledge of what belonged to them and what belonged to their neighbors, and, above all, upon the duty that every human being owed to the God Who created him and redeemed him. ‘ They could teach these things,’ he said, as reported in the Sydney Morniny Herald of February 24, ‘ nowhere else but in the school, and it was of no use men arguing otherwise. In his earliest years he worshipped, if he might say so, at the shrine of the Good Samaritan Nuns, and the lessons he' learnt from them in the school were as vividly before his mind to-day as when they were first imparted to him 50 years ago. /Is far as their means and their numbers would enable them, Catholics intended in go on as they had been going 1 to the bitter end in the matter of education, for they knew man must have God always in front of him, and they knew that if they inculcated into the mind and heart the only true germ of citizenship their country would be great,, prosperous, and pure. Unless a country were pure it could not be successful. A well-known Protestant of this city, who was opposed to Archbishop Vaughan and his efforts for the perfecting of the system of Catholic education, had told him (Mr. Hoyle) that ho sent his daughters to the convent to be educated, because they would know all that they ought to know, and at the same time they would be protected from what they ought not to know : they would only know what was good and pure in womanhood, what was good in modesty and refinement.’ This speaks for itself as to the dissatisfaction felt not only by Catholics but even by non-Catholics with the League system, and indicates clearly that such a scheme can never be accepted as a final and adequate solution of the problem.

Mr. Asquith's Proposals

So far as general Irish Nationalist opinion regarding Mr. Asquith's jn-oposals has as yet found voice it is entirely in line with the view expressed in our leading columns last week immediately on the publication of the Prime Minister's definite statement regarding the concessions. We held that the proposals would seriously cripple the Home Rule scheme from the very outset, that it would greatly add to its administrative difficulties, and that it would tend to accentuate and perpetuate the cleavage between Catholic and Protestant; and this is the view now widely held by Irishmen. One of the first cables to come to hand stated that ' an influential section of the Nationalists in Ireland dislike the concessions, as they believe they will involve formidable administrative confusions.' A further message intimated that ' all parties in Ireland are distinctly unfavorable to Mr. Asquith's offer.' A large meeting of Auckland Irishmen took a similar attitude, and unanimously carried the following resolution: ' This meeting, thoroughly representative of the Irish residents of Auckland, protests against the mutilation of the Home Rule Bill, and regrets that the concessions offered to the forces of anarchy and disorder are tending to the dismemberment of Ireland, and perpetuating dissension between Catholic and Protestant.' This prompt and resolution has been

cabled to Mr .Asquith. We believe the view expressed by Mr. T. P. O'Connor—that ' Ireland will never consent to perpetual exclusion, and that he would sooner lose the .Bill and go to the wilderness for another generation ' than accept such a proposal—will' be shared by the great body of Home Rulers throughout the world.

The concessions havo failed utterly to conciliate ' Ulster '; and if this was the object in view it is now clear that they might as well never have been made. The Times speaks of 'this mockery of an offer at the eleventh hour'; and the Unionist Standard arrogantly describes it as ' grossly objectionable.' The Orangemen will have none of it. ' Many prominent Orangemen/ says one of the cables, ' are of opinion that Sir E. Carson has gone too far in promising to accept the Government offer if the time limit is eliminated.' It is quite apparent that ' Ulster' and the Unionists are obdurately and absolutely irreconcilable; and that any further attempt at conciliation in that direction will be a mere waste of time. It appears to us that the only feasible course to adapt is that indicated by Mr. O'Connor. Mr. Asquith proposed that the Ulster counties should be allowed to vote themselves out of the scheme for a term of.six years; and he apparently contemplated that the question of their inclusion or exclusion should be re-opened at the expiry of that period. This, as Mr. O'Connor declares, will not do. ' The idea of temporary exclusion is equivalent to the Bill's provisions regarding reserved services. The excluded counties must automatically come under the jurisdiction of the new Parliaments after the transition period.' This appears to us to be the irreducible minimum of the Irish demand, and to afford the one and only way out of the present difficult position; unless, indeed—which would be even better—Mr. Asquith withdraws his offer of even temporary exclusion.

The Home Rule Fund

A correspondent writes to us to suggest that as a counterblast to the £25,000 said to have been promised to the Ulster Indemnity Fund by some anonymous Australian, a special appeal be made to the patriotio workers of this country to subscribe a fighting fund to be sent to the Nationalist Party. If our correspondent has in mind real fighting, and not merely political fighting, he may make his mind quite easy—it is tolerably safe to say that in any serious sense of the word there will be none of it. As Mr. T. W. Russell, M.P., who knows Ulster through and through, said in his speech at North Tyrone the other day: 'Everyone knows that there is neither drilling nor arms in Ulster, and no more excitement about Home Rule than there is in England, and all the canards about amis and funds and marshalled hosts are airy figments intended to frighten the British electorate. There might be riots in Belfast, which could be easily stirred up at any time, but the Irish Parliament would have power to suppress them in twenty-four hours.' Mr. John Redmond, in a* recent address at Waterford, made a similar statement as to the actual facts of the case. * Men everywhere in Ulster and out of it,' he said, ' are quietly following their daily avocations, and neither in Great Britain nor in Ireland are the people disturbed or agitated at the awful spectre of bloodshed and of ruin which is conjured up to terrify them. The only persons excited are certain newspaper editors, certain special war correspondents who have no work to do, and certain British, and I am sorry to say certain Irish well-known ' calamity howlers,' whose one occupation and happiness in life seems to be to foretell disaster. The great body of the people remain qiiite unmoved. . . . There cannot be a war without two contending parties. Sir Edward Carson is never tired of saying that his ■ army ' is for defence, and not for attack. It will never be needed, for he and his friends in Ulster will never be attacked.' If. Home Rule is carried and there should later on by any chance be any attempt at fighting—as te which, we repeat, there is not the faintest likelihood or probability —the fighting would be purely a- matter between the British treops and the

‘ rebels ’; and the Nationalists of Ireland would have nothing to do with it, either one way or another. There is, therefore, no need of a * fighting ’ fund so far as the Nationalist Party are concerned. » With respect to the general political fund of the Party, it is at present in a particularly buoyant condition ; so much so that the trustees have issued a statement in which they say that as there is every ground for confidence that the Home Rule Bill will become law within a few months of the present date, it has been decided that unless some unforeseen emergency should occur the usual appeal for funds will not be issued this year. The response to last year’s appeal has, in fact, topped all previous records, and was the largest amount subscribed in one year for political purposes since the Home Raile movement was inaugurated forty years ago. The lists were remarkable for the universality of the response—as shown by the number of small contributions—and also for the number of Protestant subscriptions. It is the simple truth to say that there is no other political party in existence that can point to such sustained and generous popular support as the Irish Party. Of course, should anything occur to interfere with or to delay the accomplishment of Home Rule there would again be urgent need of funds. A special appeal would then be in order; and, needless to say, it would not be made in vain.

What the C.S.G. is Doing

In the Catholic Times of a recent date, Father Thomas Wright, one of the energetic secretaries of the Catholic Social Guild, gives a striking illustration of the splendid material which that organisation is discovering and developing amongst our Catholic people : 'To have discovered so many young men and women, as the growth of the Guild's study clubs shows, whose temper of mind and strength of character induce them to undergo the sacrifice involved, is undeniably a cheerful augury for the Church, as it is to the high merit of the Catholic Social Guild. Cast but a glance at the "syllabus drawn up for last year—its three courses in Political Economy and Social Science, Industrial History, and the social questions, Eugenics and Housing,—and you will at once perceive that the text-books and collateral works constitute a small library, hardly to be described as light literature. Now turn your gaze for a moment to a splendid concrete example of sacrifice. A miner and two schoolmasters, neither leisured nor unemployed you note, undertook to read for the recent examination in all three courses: and I ani glad to be able to state that the three have been successful in each department, and have the honor of being the first to win the Guild's certificate.' Such an item may well afford encouragement to our own young men and women who are taking up this interesting and valuable study.

Catholic Social Work in America in 1913

In America the organisation corresponding to the Catholic Social Guild of England is the "Social Service Commission of the American Federation of Catholic Societies; and it, too, is doing extremely valuable work in furthering Catholic social ideals and in disseminating Catholic views in regard to the social question. This Commission was initiated at the Columbus Convention in 1911. Its first conference was held at Notre Dame University the following February. Later on a written request was sent out to leading Catholics in all the professions—employers, labor leaders, legislators, social workers, and public-spirited men and women generally —asking their view of Catholic social service for the Federation. The responses were ample, and led to the formulation of a tentative programme and to the holding of the first general Social Service Conference during the sessions of the Louisville Convention of 1912. On this occasion, Bishop Muldoon urged a further extension of the literary' campaign of the Commission, with a view to reaching the large audience of the Catholic Press Association. Since then a weekly news-letter of two columns in length has been contributed by Father

Dietz (secretary of the Commission) to twenty-eight newspapers throughout America, by means of which the Catholic public is educated in social questions and given the Catholic view on all matters which in any way affect the social question. In August, 1913, the Convention of the American Federation of Catholic Societies was held at Milwaukee, representing three million members of Catholic societies; and special stress was laid upon the great possibilities of promoting Catholic social action through the Federation. The Federation was recommended to open a school of social science for the preparation of secretaries, organisers, and lecturers, offering short courses in social-economic and political history, Christian ethics, public speaking and journalism. The Social Service Commission has already published a series of nine useful pamphlets dealing with Socialism, Catholic Organisation, Trade Unions, etc. In all the large cities there are one or more social study clubs : and social lecture work—supported not only by the Federation but also by the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians—is developing to a remarkable extent. Throughout the country the Catholic body is gradually working up towards the ideal of definite action on the basis of a concerted social programme. As part of this programme, the Federation is actively promoting the interests of the ' Militia of Christ,' an organisation—established in 1910—of Catholic members of Trade Unions who undertake to maintain the interests of Catholicism a,t Trade Union meetings and to study social questions sufficiently to enable them to combat anti-Christian proposals in Trade Union councils. In Catholic circles in America, as in England and on the Continent, the social sense and social spirit are being diligently cultivated ; and unless they are to lag hopelessly behind, New Zealand and Australia will have to bestir themselves and fall into line. As soon as the coming general election is over, and our organisation is firmly on its feet, we hope the New Zealand Catholic Federation will take the question of social work seriously in hand.