Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 9 April 1914, Page 34

Notes

v - ♦ ' 1 -:. A Correction - . ■ _ - - ... ; By, one of those accidents which, it is understood, are liable to happen in the best regulated establishments, the nameV Greymouth,’ 1 instead of Hokitika,’ found its' way into , the head-line of the report - appearing in.our last- week’s issue of the ■■ interesting and important function of the laying of the foundation stone ■ of . a -new Catholic Church at : Hokitika. The ■ body - of' the - report made’-* it clear "; that it was . Hokitika that was - making this important 1 step forward, so that, fortunately- no harm would’ be 1 done! The-fact that the staff has -r been working short-handed, - and also at double pressure 1 in order 1 to ■ overtake in - advance the three days /lost'' at Easter, 'is-the only explanation that - can , be given' as to how the ' error could have escaped, notice. 1 v /

A Tlmaru Controversy There has been a controversy—brief but conclusive —in the columns of the .Timoru lit raid on the ‘ Ulster ’ question. Under the. heading of ‘ The Ulster Crisis,’ a correspondent signing himself ‘ An' Ulster Scot,’ quotes the pernicious utterance regarding the Army and Ulster made by Lord Wolseley in 1893, and adds the following ‘ whoop ’ : - British soldiers at the present time cannot forget that when news of South African disasters was read out in the House of Commons the Irish Nationalist members jumped upon the seats in Westminster, and frantically cheered the slaughter of brave British officers and men by South African Boers. Can British soldiers and, officers now be expected, for the sake of these Nationalist members, to mow down the Ulster loyalists who will meet them as ‘Lord Wolseley says, “with shouts of ‘ God save the king?’ ” ’ * Upon which a correspondent, ‘ Sancho Panza,’ with a pretty turn for sarcasm, thus gives ‘ Ulster Scot his quietus: ‘<Sir, —“An Ulster Scot’’ has sounded a war whoop in yesterday’s issue of your columns. He starts with'slinging boulders at the Irish Nationalists during the progress of the South African war. He forgets to mention how they fought and died at Spion Kop and other memorable battles for British supremacy. He does not mention how Kipling sang their praises, how the late Queen honored them by having them appointed in her body guard and ordering that on St. Patrick’s Day all the Irish soldiers should wear the green. This is what these Irish rebels did when we heard little or nothing of Carsonites or “Ulster Scots.” We are told that over 100,000 of Ulster men are drilled and armed under Generalissimo Carson. For what are they in the field? Are we to look upon them as an army of Don Quixotes and Sancho Panzas ready to slash at old wind mills and broken gates ? or do they mean business? If so are they to be allowed to slaughter, to butcher, and demolish without opposition at their own sweet. will ? As Mr. Devlin said, if ever the Nationalists of Ulster were to arm and drill they alone would be able to keep them in their back yards without help from the rest of Ireland or the British Army, since they are the majority even in Ulster. Mr.- Dooley said the Boers did not fight fair by not coming out to the open to get shot. The Liberals are not fighting fair by sending police and soldiers to guard the lives and property of the Nationalists, whose hands are .tied. Everybody knows there will not be a blow struck, or a shot fired if the Carsonites, like Don Quixote, merely attack old windmills with antideluvian arms, but if they really mean to run amock there should be sufficient force in , the neighborhood to restrain them. No reasonable man surely can object to this.’ It is something like a fortnight since »‘ Sancho Panza’s’ - letter appeared, but not another whimper has been heard from ‘ Ulster Scot.’