Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 5 November 1914, Page 21

Current Topics

If There Had _ Been a .Tunnel • j*v^« f -||p ‘Let us be grateful for one mercy,’ says, the.' Times military correspondent,:- writing at the time when the Bermans ' were pursuing ; their victorious ? career in, ’ northern France. ‘The international t financiers, doctrinaires, and lunatics who wished to fit us out 'with a Channel tunnel are silenced for good and all.’ The 5 advocates of the tunnel scheme retort; that the subway. , could have easily been blown up dm the English side if serious danger threatened from the French end; but to • construct a tunnel for the luxury of blowing it up again - seems, it . must be admitted, a somewhat fatuous * pro- ' ceeding. ' t , ■'• —— — iv ' , The Duty to Belgium r t V One of the finest features of the international public opinion evoked by the war is the world-wide and . whole-hearted 'recognition of the magnificent and immortal service rendered by Belgium. It is expressed on every hand, and in no niggard ; spirit. ji The passionate Utterance of Mr. John Galsworthy in the Daily News is but a- specimen many similar deliverances. ‘ Soft words,’ he says, * butter no parsnips. . The Belgians have. _ won immortal glory. They, are worth from us more . r than to be, told this, and the loan or .gift of ten millions . of money. The 1 prosperity in which the war found them wfe must help give back .to them; at the end. They have borne so much that anything we can do for them is too little. In the matter even of immediate relief they come as yet before ourselves. Our intervention, for strategic reasonsgood or bad—-has been impotent to save them any of the horrors brought on them by ' their - loyalty. s They have known hell at first hand; let their wounds ■ take precedence!’ . . s ~ Genera! Joffre and Politics /; Some time ago we referred to the sensational charges, made in the French Senate by' M. Humbert on ' ’ the eve of President Poincare’s visit to the Czar,, in -? which the speaker announced and deplored France’ un- :> readiness for war, and declared that forts were poorly constructed, . that there was no ammunition for the' guns, and that the boot supply for the’ troops was . short by 2,000,000 pairs. Although at the time these charges were taken seriously in most quarters, there seems some reason now to suppose that they were only partially, correct and bona fide. ‘Although M. Messimy/ the Minister of War, practically admitted the truth of f. these statements,’ say America, yet neither the German press nor / American ' officers '- give credence to them. There sis a suspicion that rt the real purpose of the speech was to throw discredit on General Joffre, who is untrammelled by Masonic influence, ;in the hope of replacing him by General - Sarrail y^rtv^tool-^of■ •? the -- politico-military bloc.’ ~ This statement - is- interesting -.= as throwing light on General Joffre’s alleged Masonic attachments. ■ln the character sketch ' of.\General Joffre; by the Times respondent in France which ' was cabled put to our dailies last week the following sentence occurred : 1 Himself a Republican and a Freemason, he is 4 surrounded ,v • by Catholics who are disposed to cavil at the present / Constitution,’ etc. v. In the light 'of the information supplied by America, it would seem that ' the French r,. commander’s connection with Freemasonry—if. there is any connection l at ail—is'^ 9 purely nominal out, and that ' he occupies i- his present : exalted position not be- ; cause of bdt in spite of the Masonic bloc. . IPolitical Sec-Sawing; The Member for Otago /Central , g I ‘ Even bad : men,’ says '. Spurgeon, in his homely l Jphn Ploughman’s Talk, praise consistency. When y|il to find a. man, he. has one good,point _ at .any. rate; but a fellow who.howls, with the and bleats with " the sheep, gets : nobody’s : good wordT ; read ; the other day an - advertisement about reversible . • V . - >. •!- ■, -•-?- - . iV'.’: ;'i. : 'J

coats: |he tailor who v sells them must be making a :i fefortune.f Consistency is about -as scarce f in ; the world as musk in a dog-kennel.’ .The commodity 'is certainly never over-plentiful with politicians; and the supply s appears to have' entirely given. out in the case of Mr. Ryf Scott, member for Otago Central. ; We have . not the pleasure of a/- personal ‘ acquaintance with . that gentleman, and we should- be sorry Jto- do ! him an injustice, 1 but his utterances on the Bible-in-schools question -leave us no option but to conclude that he is, : politically,-somewhat of the weathercock persuasion, , ready, and willing to turn with the wind. - Here are the factsand our readers shall judge for themselves. Statement No. Iby Mr. Scott-on the Bible-in-Schools ’ | ~ .•'■■'• Question ' ..*• House of Representatives, Wellington, Ist July, 1914. - . Bible in State Schools. " . J. ? S. Mulholland, Esq., ; , ; ... - / Ranfuyly. - r Dear ?Sir ,— am. in receipt of yours of - June with reference to proposal to take a referendum cm the above subject. , ' ~. "' '. . t f- ' r ' s'• In reply I am personally opposed to the Bible in - State . Schools, but am not opposed to a -referendum being .taken provided the question to be submitted is of a simple and direct nature. •; / n . 1 cannot support the Bill now" before Parliament. ''4iM ’ V •• '‘ Yours faithfully, . (Sgd.) R. Scott, M.P. >- Statement No. 2 by Mr. Scott on the same question: House of Representatives, ‘ ; a rrfs s' - # sS4v> ? s ■K* i t Wellington, 1 ■, --'■£% y §* _ 18th July, 1914. J.. S. Mulholland, Esq., Hon. Sec. Ranfurly Branch N.Z. Catholic Federation Dear Sir, —I am duly in receipt of yours of the 13th ■ inst. conveying _to~ me a copy of a resolution, passed: by your branch of the N.Z. Catholic Federation, and in reply I desire to state* that though personally opposed to | Bible-reading in State schools, ,1 am in favor of a plebiscite being taken, and shall support the second reading of the Bill now before the House. ‘ c | \ I am, yours faithfully, -.; - \ ■■■ /.•> .-.-. I (Signed) R. Scott. \ It will be noted that little i more than a fortnight elapsed between the delivery 'of these flatly contradic- - utterances. What happened in the ~ meantime i what strings were pulled pressure brought to bear to' " cause the v ihember to execute this sudden and Humiliating somersault—jit is not our- business at present to inquire. In adverse report on 4 the Religious Instruction in Schools Referendum Bill presented by the Education Committee, and of the overwhelming majority- by which that report was endorsed by the House, it is possible that Mr. Scott, realising that public opinion and the big battalions are not on r the side of the League, may execute yet another change . of front, and when election time comes range, himself : once again against the Bill. By that time, jhowever, such a decision will doubtless be regarded as too late, fSni»Hjg#|it electors want then' not marionettes, to represent them. - . ~V % - ,C. : 7 ‘ : \ » t : • A Cable -g Mare’s Nest ;■ • „ . -* gv ’r : ; V On the whole, the cablerriggers have been too busy to ? spare time f6r the usual 'number : of inventions about' the doings of ‘ Rome ’ . and .‘ Roman *■ agents in connec-| tion with the war; but it was too much to expect that*. we should altogether escape their Kind attentions, arid! the story of at least one mare’s nest has been wired |o| the uttermost ends tof the earth. Jrlt? appeared in burl . dailies of ; September 9, in the form of the following cab|e| from Milan: ' Signor Marconi, by means of his Ihtfivl controlling apparatus, discovered that a high-power* religious Rome, capable of transmitting and r receiving radiograms . to and from the world’s principal long-distance stations.

•& 'VV‘4v/-b«7iov»- />:£•«? ij*w •*' inn?, 'iabri* Hignor Marconi informed the Government, who .raided the premises, “seized 'the apparatus, and demolished the station.’t. The cable appeared in much ; the same form in -thy English papers, , and , the f correspondent of the JJaily Chronicle added the following remarks on his own account • ; * Seeing that Italy, like most other .countries, : exercises , a the right sof fi reserving f control; over .wireless telegraphy, in her own country, it is easy to understand how.;.at so .critical a period as the present, „a J recurrence pf this sort of ; abuse ,on the part rof 'a conventual , instil tution is calculated to proyoke drastic measures against religious congregations as a whole.’ ‘Si;,.:. ..... SI 77 • ■ .V' : The : exposure of this interesting ; little figment—supplied by other English papera-ds complete and conclusive, and it. is dynamite to , the amiable suggestion as to the .necessity for': ‘drastic -measures’^against- the religious congregations.. : The very slender foundation of fact on which the .fairy-tale about the influential religious Order ’ was- built up is thus told .by the Rome correspondent of the Daily Newsc ‘A; clandestine 1 wireless installation has been discovered on the terrace of a German pension here. Two students were arrested, and they confessed that they had . intercepted messages from the Eiffel Tower.’ v Signor. Marconi had 'nothing whatever to do with the great ‘discovery’ which the cable so xnagniToquently attributed to him-r-so at least may be judged from the statement made by the head of- the . London office of the Marconi Company. Speaking to arepresentative of the Daily Telegraph Mr. Godfrey Isaacs .said the story had been brought to his notice, but not officially : ' He- knew nothing about it> through the company, and regarded the statement as exaggerated, his reason for that view being that a . station of the power stated would require such high aerials that they must haVe been- observed. Secret stations . had been discovered and dealt with, and it was possible-that, the report in so far as it related to an installation was correct.’ In- other words, an installation of relatively inferior power was,; possibly, discovered-, but -f t I had nothing to do with any religious Order, influential *r, or - otherwise. This picturesque addition ,to the. ; narralive, and the association of Signor Marconi’s name with the story, were merely a piece of journalistic embroidery on the part of the: correspondent. » Needless to say, the cable agency has not thought it worth while to transmit a correction of the utterly false statement for the dissemination of which it made itself responsible. T. If Paris Were Besieged v- I rThe British retreat from Mops, rendered necessary'' as we now learn, by the failure of the l French left to hold' their own, concluded oh , August 26, arid by : September 8 the German invading force'Lad penetrated to within 17 miles of Paris. .. All the. indications . pointed’ to an immediate attack on the capital; :i and Home papers of about that date are 1 -filled with speculation as to what would be' the outcome and probable’ effect upon the war if Paris Were besieged. It would seem unquestionable that the moral effect of ; the fall : of the : capital—at :least in inspiriting the Germans if not in weakening the Han *of the defending forces--would be very/' considerable ;; but ; the ' general consensus 'of expert opinion as expressed *in the English papers is to the' effect that the attempt to capture Paris would be attended with . enormous difficulty, arid ’ that even if 1 sue-, cessful ‘it would , merely be an incident—a regrettable one, of .course,' but having ‘ no deciding inflrience on t.<eultimate issue of the struggle. ' l : ‘ *<a: ■ .x; wbac-riff Vmi f * , ■ ■ .'■■ : ■' on h V; ‘ We 7 are • still resisting doggedly,; g ,§ajd |f7Qlemenceau • in, the : Daily Mail, . and c have ma^y^ troops in reserve for the big battle, that will follow / this one.,* The ; Germans cannot invest ParisA : Ite/ : ; ia, too vast. And its ( defence , will: i be; assisted by-the armies jnow fighting on the Oise seventy miles away, Th© fortifications of Paris are by jxp means the feeble defences they vwere in- 1870. .•.qFjo^our|j^iipl^ ; station on the summit of the Eiffel Tower, we i eau-control the movements in ; co-operation ‘ of our armies in the . provinces

°* Prance. .; The in no way i desperate, aL though- the Germans; have , invaded France. * The- mil?. a .?y .correspondent .of the London Times, recognised - as one of the most reliable of the expert authorities, stresses the same point as to the tremendous difficulty which the Germans would probably experience in reducing present-day Paris. ‘ The, new . Hire of works,’ he writes, makes Paris almost - a fortified.'province. It embraces in -the defended area Enghien, Argenteuil, Versailles, and the forests of Saint-Germain and Bondy. The perimeter is over eighty! miles. Starting from the north, there are in succession Forts Cormeilles, Montlignon, Dimont, Montmorency, Ecouen, and Stains forming the northern group. To the east there are Forts Vaujotu-s and Chelles. ■ Between the Marne and ' the . Seine come Forts Villiers, Champigny, Sucy, and.Ville-n?e-nt-Georges. To the south is Fort Palaiseau, while the hills from Palaiseau to Chatillon are crowned by the various batteries which are shown on the map. On the west stand Forts Villeras, Haut-Buc, St. : Cyr' and Marly, with the numerous batteries which are also shown. If Paris, is invested the line held by the enemy will be not less than,7loo miles .in : length, and. if this line is held in, the same relative strength as in 1870 no fewer than 500,000 men will be required, to occupy it. Such numbers will so materially weaken tlie German Armies that it is possible that on this occasion the •Germans. will select one section of the defence, the capture of which will . enable them to bombard the capital, and bring up against; forts selected for, attack the heavy howitzers which played such havoc with Liege a PM. ; Namur. We must assume that by this time supplementary defences have been constructed in. the intervals between the works, that all buildings which, interfere with the fire of the works have been demolished, that obstacles have been accumulated, and that inundations have been prepared.’ A former German Chancellor, Count Capri vi, who was admittedly competent in military affairs, long ago recognised that any future reduction of Paris would take either a very large number of .men or a long period of time— perhaps both. ‘ Supposing,’ he said, in the course of the discussion of a new military law in the Reichstag, ‘ the French Army were beaten, and retreated behind the walls of fortcresses, then in order to enclose the present fortifications of Paris we ; must have at our disposal eighteen army corps, in addition to corresponding reserves. It is very probable that .the siege of Paris could now be carried on from one point only, but the example of Sevastopol shows that for this a. whole year, , might lie required.’ V„,-..7.'7'7,7-7 7 . ; .* ■ ; - : ■ ; With all respect to the experts, it must be said that the- results arid experience of the war ap to date suggest that a heavy discount must be ..made on all predictions as to the- length of time which , a given fortress or fortified' town will be . able to. hold ; out.; - After Namur . and . Antwerp, even - the experts 7 cannot be (allowed.7.to dogmatise. They are on safer, ground when they declare that the fall of Paris, if ; it did take place, would tie a mere incident in; the struggle this on both patriotic and military, grounds. . The patriotic ground,, is staled by M. Clemenceau: ‘And however desperate the situation were, ..you' may tell people in ; England with the . certainty of / truth: that France s will fight on ' and :; on until this attempt to establish tyranny in Europe has been completely overthrown.’ And the : military ground for refusing; to concede, that the fall of Paris .would have any final significance is aptly seated by the London Times*: ‘'Should i the German troops - . ultimately make good : > their-advance, and; come ; into touch with the .defences of the capital,7their ;1 difficulties will then be only beginning. Moreover, we may be ; certain, that t an ,attack upon Paris 7will -. never for < a moment , be permitted to decide the fate of France. 7 The French have an immense , and mobile army in the field. Great 4 Britain can , an endless stream of reinforcements to their ' ai4,7m any suitable direction. The Jure of Paris shoul , c tjus time- lead to ;the undoing of the foe,, fo^inev^^agarn will x France .stake : hen futurh upon armies shut bib# fortifications.’ As. it ' happened,, the attempt on Paris was never made. On the morning

of : September 8, instead of commencing' the attack on the capital, the army of invasion swung round in a south-easterly direction. The battler of : the Marne followed ; and I ’ from that day onward the German army has been; steadily retracing its • steps. ; ' ■ - "'■■■ '■ -.)• r.-,.T ■ • ■ - : ; ■- ijj - ,■