Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 18 March 1915, Page 21

Current Topics

A Purely Newspaper ‘Sensation’ Under the heading, A Nun Divorced,’ and the sub-heading, ‘ Strange Case in Melbourne,’ many New Zealand papers haVe published a sensational and grossly incorrect account of the facts in a recent divorce or rather marriage nullity suit heard at Melbourne. The account opens with the statement that ‘ A Roman Catholic nun was respondent in a divorce suit before Mr. Justice Hodges, in the Divorce Court at Melbourne on the 12th February.’ That statement is absolutely false. Before proceeding to give the facts on that particular point we may mention that the lady in question was at the time of the marriage a non-Cath-olic; that the parties never lived together, but separated the day after the wedding; that even in the statements made in the petitioner’s claim there was not the( faintest imputation of any sort of impropriety against the respondent; and that there was nothing disclosed derogatory to her character except her unspeakably foolish blunder in the first place in marrying any man ‘ in a spirit of bravado.’ For the rest, it only remains to be said that the lady was not and is not a nun ; and the petitioner was entirely in error in so describing her. In none of the letters put in as evidence did she suggest that she was a nun, or that she had any wish to become one. She merely stated what was the simple truth —that she had given up her position at the Girls’ High School, Sale, and had gone to Loretto Abbey, Ballarat, ; to teach German and mathematics.’ The sensational account of the case —based on the erroneous statement of the petitioner —which appeared in the Melbourne and New Zealand press evidently found its way also into the Queensland papers, and Archbishop Duhig set himself to investigate the facts, which he found to be substantially as we have stated them. In an interview with a representative of the Catholic Advocate, Brisbane, his Grace stated that he had been surprised to read the report referred to, and that he had immediately set to work to get first-hand information about the matter. Continuing, Dr. Duhig said: ‘As I surmised, the lady in question is not a professed nun, nor was she ever such. The mistake of calling her a nun rose, no doubt, through the fact that she was a teacher in a Catholic secondary school with the Sisters of the Order of Loretto, who have convents in Sydney, Melbourne, and Ballarat. The lady may have wished to become a nun, but if so she never got past the postulant or petitioning stage to be so. It is well known by Catholics that no one is professed a nun without being first personally examined as to qualifications by the bishop of the diocese or his representative. It is certain that in this case the lady would not have been admitted to membership in any sisterhood, and it is probable that the Sisters with whom she taught knew little or nothing about her private affairs.’ It may be added that the petitioner’s claim was for a divorce on the ground of desertion or for a declaration that the marriage was null and void on the ground of nonconsummation. Plain Speaking from Sir Edward drey Nothing could have been more tactful, and at the same time more plain-spoken and direct, than Sir Edward Grey’s handling of the situation arising out of that remarkable legislative achievement of President Wilson’s, the Ships Purchase Bill. The object of this measure, as is well known, was nothing more nor less than to enable the German ships interned in American ports to transfer to an American registry and calmly take the seas again under the Stars and Stripes—completely depriving Britain of the legitimate advantage gained by her superiority at sea. It was not to be expected for a moment that the Allies would tamely pubmit to such a flagrant piece of political hanky-

panky; and an intimation was despatched to Washington that the United States would become involved in a serious controversy with Great Britain, France, and Russia if it purchased and operated interned German and Austrian vessels, as proposed under the then pending Bill. A written statement to this effect was sent to Secretary of State Bryan, and is summarised in American papers now to hand. Great Britain, as the nation with which the United States has had occasion most frequently to discuss maritime questions during the war, took the lead in conveying to the United States a clear warning as to the view which the Allies would take of the contemplated action under the pending legislation. Sir Edward Grey informed Secretary Bryan that the British Government would not look with complaisance on the purchase of the interned ships by the American Government. In the British communication on the subject Sir Edward indicated that a mere commercial transaction, such as was involved in the Dacia case, was not to be confused -with the larger issue of a general release of German and Austrian vessels through their purchase by a Government. He went much further and suggested that the purchase of ships would be intimately related to ilie question of neutrality. He asserted the British view that if a neutral Power intervened in the course of a war with the result of relieving one of the belligerents from the consequences of the military action of the other belligerent, such intervention in effect would be of an unneutral character. , * The British communication did not mention the United States Government or the pending ship purchase bill specifically, but its purpose and application were clear. The British Government was prepared to hold that the United States would commit an unneutral act if it turned out on the seas under the American flag the German and Austrian vessels then penned in American ports as the result of British superiority on the water. Purchase and operation of these ships in the view of the British Government, would be an act offsetting an advantage which the British had won in the war and would be resented as such by his Majesty’s Government. This view was endorsed by the French Government. France had not had occasion to discuss the issue with the United States, but early in the war it took action quite as unmistakable in its meaning as that of Great Britain. Ambassador Jusserand notified Secretary Bryan that the Admiralty rules adopted by the French Government two years ago would be enforced during the war. These rules instructed French commanders to seize as enemy vessels any ships which had been transferred to neutral registry after'the beginning of hostilities. This notice by the French Government has never been modified, and these rules are in force to-day, thus insuring the seizure of the first interned vessel sailing under the proposed plan which encountered a French cruiser, and thus absolutely justifying the capture of the Dacia as lawful prize. Though the Russian Government is not in a position to act on the seas to any considerable extent at present it was made known that it was in entire accord with the position of the British and the French, and that all three Governments did not intend to look quietly on while action of the United States Government relieved the enemy of one of the misfortunes of the war. Altogether, it was made perfectly clear that there would be serious trouble if the Stars and Stripes were hoisted over interned German ships; and under* the circumstances it is easy to understand why President Wilson’s pet measure was quietly and unostentatiously dropped. German Women and the War It has often been said, as an argument against granting women the franchise, that'they would be weak and timid and would vote for a peace-at-any-price policy in time of war. The indications, so far, in the present war hardly confirm that anticipation. In France, in England, and, as we know, in our own oyer*

seas Dominions, the women have but one thought the comfort and well-being of our troops; and one determination to work for them and to encourage and inspire them until an honorable and lasting peace has been achieved. Precisely the same spirit animates /the women of Germany, and it is the simple truth to say that they are heart and soul with their men in the field, and are bravely supporting and sustaining them in the heavy and hopeless struggle in which they are en g a g e d- Not only are they knitting socks and mittens and every variety of comforter for the men at the front, but they are also, in increasing numbers, acting as tram conductors, booking-office clerks, accountants and cashiers, and as level-crossing guards on the rail- _ It is generally understood that their help is to be utilized also in getting in this year’s harvestunless, perchance, the war should be over by then. Some idea of the activity and self-sacrificing spirit of the German women may be gathered from the statements of a Daliu Mail contributor: ‘ The woman is a great feature of railway station life in Germany at present. At every large station on the lines used for troop traffic there are long tables with refreshments and cigarettes and flowers and picture post cards for the men going to the front or for the wounded and sick returning. The Red Cross women in charge of these open-air buffets do everything in their power for the men. Even at lonely little frontier stations in East Prussia I have seen poor women, thinly clad, rush out in the cold rain with hot coffee, soup, and bread for the soldiers.’ * Unfortunately they have imbibed also the spirit of hate against England and her Allies which has been so sedulously fostered amongst their men folk. Women, when they let themselves go, are notoriously good haters; and the German women at the present time are giving themselves up without reserve to white-hot detestation of their enemies. The Paris paper, IS Eclair, in its issue of December 24, reproduces from the .Journal dr Roue, the translation of a letter found upon a wounded German prisoner; and it illustrates not only the holies and fears and anxieties which fill the hearts of the German women, but also the fierce and passionate hatred with which, they are inspired against the enemies of the Fatherland. We translate from /, ’ I’d air : Hamburg, 24th August, 1914. My dear Johan, — It is a long time since you have given me any news about yourself, but it is doubtless impossible to write, otherwise you would certainly have given some sign of life. How are you, my Johan? I certainly breathe a hundred times a day a prayer to Heaven, that lie would be pleased lo let you return safe and sound, as also the others who are dear to us. My brother-in-law lias received a bullet in the right arm, in Russia, but that will not be serious, for he” has already despatched to us a letter to-day. He writes to us with great confidence that in eight days the war will be concluded in the East, but he has no idea, of what is passing in the West. How numerous are our enemies! The victory must be ours, for so much noble and innocent blood cannot be shed in vain. An indescribable fury possesses mo on the subject of the war. I would like to spring at the throat of every Frenchman and of every Englishman, and to strike my fist in his face, those base dogs. Also at the Russians, half-savages, and also the Japanese, with their slits of eyes. What splendid valor to fall from all sides upon a single empire ! That is what the crew call an honorable war; it is pure treachery. And meanwhile we — the women and young girls—can do nothing. We must remain inactive, and wait in anguish and uncertainty, which may become an insupportable calamity, but we can do nothing. Willingly would we endure everything, privations and work. Tim main thing is that wo should find ourselves,' and that will be. my Johan, T know. It cannot be otherwise, you will return as you went. My thoughts which are over with von, will encompass you everywhere. Now adieu my Johan, God protect you and bring you home again,—-Your Helene, ’

The Church and the Kaiser: A Hint to Germany As might well have been expected, the publication of the full text of Cardinal Mercier’s Pastoral has made a profound impression in England. In a great world crisis one of the disappointing features of which is the moral poverty of the leaders of men, the utterance is welcomed as showing that there is at least one ‘ who can make his voice heard above the fray to remind us of the rule of something higher than mere force.’ This is the tribute paid to the Cardinal in a very remarkaole article which appears in the Manchester Guardian signed L.T.H.’ and entitled 'From Ambrose to Mercier.’ The writer is presumed to be Mr. L. T. Hobhouse, the well-known professor of London University. After pointing out the failure of the thinkers, the literary men, and the men of light and leading, amongst the non-combatants, to sound a clear note on the rights and wrongs of the war, and to give a lead to public opinion, the writer continues: 'But if there has been throughout the world no one who could thus put himself above the combatant nations and compel them to listen to him, there has been one man among the combatants who has spoken out for* his own people, and by sheer moral force has compelled the world to listen, and will, we may well believe, win a large measure of redress for the sufferers. Cardinal Mercier is not only a man of learning and of high personal distinction, but he has the advantage of great position in an international Church which commands the loyalty of a third or more of the German people. His denunciation of the treatment of Belgians is by far the weightiest indictment that has yet appeared, and it will travel all over the world. Every German in America will know, and every German in Germany will know that they know, of this shame. Nor can the German Government seek to stifle Cardinal Mercier without making matters worse lor themselves. His pastoral has gone forth, and the indictment is on the record. No suppression of the witness will now avail.’ Mr. llobhouse is evidently quite clear that Cardinal Mer s action and utterance will live in history; and ho places the Belgian Primate on a level with one of the greatest and noblest figures in the long list of the Church’s heroes. In thus withstanding the tyranny of overwhelming temporal power Cardinal Mercier, he says, 'is only the latest—not, we may be sure, the lastin a very notable and honorable company of prelates.’ His action recalls to this writer the incident of St. Ambrose defying the Emperor of Rome, and forcing him to do public penance. The people of Thessalonica having given offence by murdering the commander and some officers of the Gothic garrison, the Emperor Theodosius, the last great ruler of the undivided Empire of Rome, had ordered a general and perfidiously arranged massacre by way of revenge. Several thousands of both sexes and all ages were slain, and a thrill of horror ran through the Roman world. Mr. llobhouse quotes a long passage from Gibbon, which describes how St. Ambrose stopped the Emperor from entering the famous church at Milan when he would perform his devotions. ‘ lie was stopped in the porch by the Archbishop, who, in the tone and language of an ambassador of Heaven, declared to his Sovereign that private contrition was not sufficient to atone for a public fault or to appease the justice of the offended Deity,’ writes Gibbon. ‘ Theodosius humbly represented that if he had contracted. the guilt of homicide, David, the man after God’s own heart, had been guilty not only of murder but of adultery. “You have imitated David in his crime; imitate, then, his repentance,” was the reply of the undaunted Ambrose. The rigorous conditions of peace and pardon were accepted, and the public penance of the Emperor Theodosius has been recorded as one of the most honorable events in the annals of the Church.’ It was not until after a delay of about eight months that Theodosius was restored to the communion of the faithful.

Mr. Hobhouse draws the moral of the Ambrose and Mercier incidents, and throws out a pointed hint to the German ecclesiastical authorities. ‘ We know that in every country ministers of religion ask themselves anxiously why faith is declining. Well, the leaders of <he German churches just now have a magnificent opportunity for arresting the decline. Let the Germans see one of their ecclesiastical authorities ordering the Kaiser out of church until he will make good the wrongs of Belgium, and they will very speedily be convinced that a religion which can so. inspire its leading exponents must at least command respect. Respect is not the same thing as belief, but in religion there can be no belief without respect. Cardinal Mercier has won the world’s respect. He has also shown every Christian minister the simplest and surest way of re-establishing his religion in the minds of men.’