Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 3 September 1914, Page 21

Current Topics

An Ambiguous Appeal Most of us ; have read of the advertisement announcing ‘ the sale of a piano, by a lady, with turned legs,’ and that of the advertiser who ‘ wanted a boy, to open oysters with a reference.’ These are, doubtless, pleasant inventions ; but there is plenty of genuine unconscious humor in the real • advertisements as they actually appear. As witness: An American exchange just to hand, in a call for funds for the extension of missionary enterprise, appeals as follows ;-t-

500,000 MAN-EATERS

of the SOUTH SEA ISLANDS (Oceanica) are clamoring for Catholic missionaries. Each donation forwarded to THE CATHOLIC PRINTING CO., Dubuque, lowa, will be acknowledged.

Here the suggestion convoyed, unintentionally but irresistibly, is that there is something of a famine amongst the man-eaters, and that they have a special weakness for Catholic missionary, which it • is the amiable desire of our contemporary to gratify. It is one of those things which, as Mr. Punch gently puts it, might have been expressed differently.

The Pope’s ‘ Great Work ’ at Venice

Most people will have forgotten-— if, indeed, they ever knew—tnat the late Pope was at one time a journalist, and was personally and actively engaged in the work of the Catholic press. Besides being editor and director, he was probably his own publisher, and was certainly his own * traveller’ and canvasser. There is a new house .near the Rialto Bridge, Venice, erected shortly before the Holy Father’s death, which is to stand as a unique monument of this phase of the great Patriarch’s work. A tablet has recently been placed upon it bearing a Latin inscription which means ‘ Behold the great work of the Pope at Venice.’ And the great work of Pius X. when Patriarch of Venice was . the establishment, support, and propagation of a Catholic paper, 11 Difesa. The house is the new office of the paper, which has had a great influence on Venice since its foundation. It is related that Pius X., or Cardinal Sarto as he then was, used to go about in a gondola from one,place to another, recruiting laboriously subscriptions for his new journal. . ‘ That journal,’ writes a correspondent of the Catholic Press Association, ‘penetrated everywhere; it overthrew the municipal council hostile to the Church, and set good Catholics in the place of atheists; it filled the almost forsaken churches and made Venice once again a Christian city.’ • *

That was before Pius X. became Pope. After his election, and only three years ago, he showed his unabated interest in the work of the Catholic press by writing these memorable words: ‘To publish Catholic journals and place them in the hands of honest men is not enough it is necessary to spread , them as far as possible, that they may be read by all and chiefly by those whom Christian charity demands r e should tear away from the poisonous sources of evil literature.’ . •

A Word of Caution

, The Conclave for the election of a successor to Pius X. of happy memory has, of course, set the cable man a-going, and the tongue of journalistic speculation aclacking. Speculation- is in the air; and the cables are supplying us with interesting if not always intelligent titbits'•of information. as to the most likely ‘candidates’ and , their chances. Most of our readers;, have learned by long experience to be on their guard against the inventive / genius and: riotous imagination of' the cable fiend ; but it is perhaps desirable that we should repeat, in . this connection, Sal warning that has already been issued- in ; our columns. Readers should ; note that all the statements regarding -candidates’ for the-papal

office are misleading., A candidate, according to dictionary definition, is ‘ one who proposes himself for, or solicits, an office or appointment:’ In this sense there are ‘no candidates for the Papacy.’ There is no nomination for the office of Pope. No Cardinal can (in the ordinary political sense of the term) ' propose ’ either himself or any other person. And the soliciting of votes for himself by a Prince of the Church would be such an unheard-of thing, such an outrage on ecclesiastical decorum, such an evidence of overweening ambition that it would o’ervault itself and deprive him of the support and respect even of his personal friends. The merits and demerits, and chances of various Cardinals form, naturally, a subject of some conversation and speculation among the members of the Sacred College within the guarded enclosure of the Conclave. But—apart from the extremely rare and unlikely event of a selection by acclamation or compromise the ‘standing’ of any Cardinal in reference to the Papal chair cannot be predicted, even within the walls of the Conclave, in any but, at best, a vague manner until one or more ballots have been taken. The Cardinals are solemnly sworn to support by their votes the persons whom, before God, they believe ought to be chosen for that exalted and responsible office, i They, moreover, realise the wisdom that finds expression in the old Celtic proverb; ‘Melodious is the closed mouth.’ They know how to hold their tongues. They, and all the Conclave, are under a bond of sworn secrecy. They are cut off from all communication with the outside world. No whisper, not a breath, of their deliberations can pass beyond the silent and guarded walls. And all the Conclave ‘news’ that comes to us along the wires on the ocean’s bed merely represents Dame Rumor letting her imagination run riot over the shadowy fields of speculation—wasting her ammunition on matters that, for the moment, are as much beyond her ken as if the Cardinals -were holding their sittings by one of the canals of the planet Mars.

A Modern Battle

Late cable news (Tuesday) indicates that a severe engagement is progressing to the south-westward of Mezieres; and the friends of both sides will doubtless wait impatiently for the announcement of some decisive result. It is quite possible that in this respect both may be disappointed. "For in the ‘ planned battle ’ of to-day two , things appear to be fairly certain ; first, that the contest may extend over several days; and secondly, that even then it may be, and is even likely to be, the case that neither side may gain a victory— at least in the older and decisive sense of the word. The celebrated ,Liebert puts the matter in a few words : ‘ln the past battles were ended thus : the field was ours, the enemy turned in flight ; the command to pursue was passed from flank to flank, and this crisis put strength into weary limbs : instinctively horses were spurred, all thought only of drawing the greatest possible profit from victory, of causing the enemy even greater loss. Now- matters are very different.’ How different the case is to-day, in view of the destructiveness of modern fire and of the vast space occupied by 'the contending armies, may be gathered from the picture of a modern battle drawn by the French. Captain (formerly Professor)- Nigote. The picture is, of course, only approximate, and the ‘impassable zone’ has already proved to be not quite so impassable as was anticipated ; but on the whole the description will enable us to form some rough image of the sort of thing that is going on ■ between the Germans and the allied forces in northern • France. ' ■■■&. > : , %• *5 t .' : -. . ■ * - . I .‘The distance is 6600 yards from the enemy. The artillery" is in position, and the command has been passed along the batteries to /“give fire.’’ The enemy’s artillery replies. x Shells tear up the soil and burst; in a short .time the crew of every gun has ascertained the distance of the enemy. Then every projectile discharged bursts in the air over the heads of the enemy, raining down hundreds of fragments and bullets on his position.

Men and horses are overwhelmed by this' rain of lead and iron. Guns' destroy one another, batteries are mutually annihilated, ammunition cases ’‘are emptied. Success will be with those whose fire does not slacken. In the midst of this fire the battalions will advance. ‘ Now they are but 2200 yards away. Already the rifle bullets whistle around and kill, each not only finding a victim, but penetrating files, richochetting/and striking again. Volley succeeds volley, bullets in great handfuls, constant as hail and swift as lightning 'deluge the field of battle. The artillery having silenced the enemy, is now free to deal with the enemy’s battalions. 'On his infantry, however loosely it may be formed, the guns direct thick iron rain, and soon in the position of the enemy the earth is reddened with blood. The firing lines will advance one after the other, battalions will march after battalions ; finally the reserves will follow. Yet with all this movement in the two armies there will be a belt a thousand paces wide, separating them as if neutral territory, swept by the fire of both sides, a belt in which no living being can stand for a moment. The ammunition will be almost exhausted, millions of cartridges, thousands ,of shell will cover the soil. But the fire will continue until the empty ammunition cases arc replaced with full. Melinite bombs will turn farm houses, villages, and hamlets to dust, destroying everything that might be used as cover, obstacle, or refuge. Tho moment will approach when half the combatants will be mowed down, dead and wounded will lie in parallel rows, separated one from the other by that belt of a thousand paces swept by a cross fire of shells which no living being can pass. The battle will continue with ferocity. But still those thousand paces "unchangingly separate the foes. Which will have gained the victory Neither.’

In his Work, La Bataille dc Vesles, Captain Nigote says plainly that modern battles may last for three or four days or even for a fortnight. In the case of the present fierce clash of arms if the Allies succeed in even holding their own, that would, of course, for all practical purposes, be a decisive result. The immediate aim of the Germans, as has been sa often explained, is to deliver a smashing blow at France ; and,failure to accomplish this spells virtual success for the Anglo-French forces. •

The Kaiser’s Dream

v Speaking at the great patriotic - demonstration in Dunedin last week, the Rev. Father Coffey— by the way, by common consent, made the happiest speech of the evening, —adventured the. somewhat bold opinion thdfr Britain should have attacked Germany 10 or 12 years ago. That is, perhaps, putting the date a little early; but certainly it is very remarkable, on looking back, to note how often and how, clearly the British Government was warned of the *Kaiser’s machinations, and of his ceaseless scheming to bring about the domination of Germany and Austria in Europe. We have before us, for example, an article which appeared in the London Daily Telegraph in January, 1911, written by Dr. E. J. Dillon, who is universally admitted to be one of the best informed and most reliable of Continental publicists. Nothing could be plainer or more emphatic than his statement of German ambitions, and of the danger which threatened the peace and well-being of Europe. Foremost among the marked tendencies of the year’s international politics/ he wrote, ‘ is the strengthening of the Triple Alliance, or, say/ rather, of the Militarist Syndicate. Never since its creation '-was that 'League of Powers more formidable -or/more compact. ‘ During the year which is just flowing into the gulf of eternity Austria-Hungary and Germany have been welded into one community for all military, naval, and diplomatic purposes. They are no longer two States, but one. It is hardly an exaggeration' to ’ affirm that the armies of the Hohenzollerns and the Hapsburgs;are to-day as closely knit together in their principal aims, their strivings, their spirit; of-good fellowship, as those of “ Austria ' proper and ! Hungary. Yet two - years have not gone by since peace-loving diplomatists, eager to prevent war without resorting to' force, set themselves

tho task of detaching Austria-Hungary from Germany, and felt sure of compassing their aim!’ ‘ This ' fusion of the two great central States of tho Continent is without doubt the most far-ranging political event there of the century/ continued Dr. Dillon. l lt marks a vast stride in tiie direction of the realisation of the Kaiser’s dream of a Germanised Continent, presided over by the chief of the house of Hoheuzollern. This ambitious scheme has to mi/ I-no id edge been cherished and brooded over by II dhehn 11, for at least fourteen years... And during that time he has moved every /ever to set . aside the hindrances to its execution ; he has espoused causes which were obnoxious to the bulk of his subjects, in the hope of making a little headway ; he has resorted to force, to suasion, and to strategy in turn, for "the purpose of clearing the ground for the building up of this gigantic fabric.' But failure dogged his footsteps until the last quarter of the year 1908, when his adversaries played into his hands and enabled him to make a- sequence of brilliant moves, which have led to the signal victory of 1910/ ’

Dr. Dillon s account of the situation was borne out, at the same time, by the London 'Times and by the semi-official German paper, the Cologne Gazette. ■ ‘ If the year 1911 opens without any features of immediate menace in the international situation, the keynote of that situation is being sounded by the German semiofficial press in no reassuring tone,’ said the Times. ‘ That German newspapers should exult in the dominant position which the German Empire at present occupies is perhaps not unnatural, but it is somewhat ominous to hear so responsible an organ of the German Foreign Office as the Cologne Gazette boast that Germany’s rise to “the top of the revolving wheel of fortune” dates from the decision “to throw the German sword into the scale of Austria” at tho close of the Near Eastern crisis in the spring of 1909/ As for those in other countries who would still build disarmament castles in the air, they were told point blank by the Cologne Gazette writer that the secret of diplomatic success' is ultimately military power,’ and that ‘ success is reaped only by him who has the courage at the decisive moment to stake all the forces at his disposal without reserve.’ The Times went on to point out that, grave as were her own internal preoccupations, Britain could not afford to encourage the belief which, according to its well-informed Vienna correspondent, was gaining ground abroad —namely, that, since the death of King Edward and the Constitutional crisis, Continental Powers can ‘ make their calculations without immediate consideration of British policy, as England is too much absorbed in her own affairs to play an active part in Europe.’ ‘We do not believe (it added) that at present there is any more reason for suspecting British policy of indifference to the interests of our friends on the Continent, than for suspecting ,their policy of indifference to our interests. But we are certain that, if suspicions of. that sort were to become prevalent, events would not be slow to occur which would soon put our indifference and theirs equally to scorn.’

Such suspicions undoubtedly did become prevalent —particularly on the heels of certain ‘Ulster’ developments— the prediction of the Times as to the practical results which would follow—has been fully verified. Fortunately the Kaiser and his ‘ war lords ’ have been completely astray in their calculations. As Mr. Balfour happily expressed it in a speech in the House, of, Coin- ( mons on the occasion of the Moroccan crisis: ‘lf there be any observers or critics outside these walls who have counted upon our differences and our absorption in the bitter home disputes of the moment in the hope that they will make easy a policy which under other circumstances they thought this country, might object toif there are any who suppose that we are .wiped'out from the map of Europe because we have our own differences at : home, it may be worth while saying, for the benefit of those whom it may concern, that they have utterly mistaken the temper of the British people and/ the ■patriotism of - the Opposition, whether the Opposition he drawn’ from one side of -the House or from the other

side of the House/ That was the temper and spirit of the British people then; and that is the temper and spirit of the British people to-day.