Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 24 June 1915, Page 21

Current Topics

Mr. ; Redmond on Terms of Peace Last -week we referred to the serious danger involved’in a premature and merely patched-up peace, which would settle nothing but would ultimately lead to even worse horrors than those we are now enduring. Apparently- Mr. John Redmond fully shares this view. Mr. T. P. Trouper "pas contributed an article to some of the leading New York papers ,in which he quotes a number of opinions oil the question of peace terms which he has gathered from representative men. Amongst these Mr. John Redmond writes as follows;—‘ I hope we shall have no talk of peace so long as there is a single German soldier left on the soil of Belgium, France, or Alsace-Lorraine.’ And that is the man whom a Christchurch paper, having nothing better to do in this great crisis, spends its time in vilifying as ‘ unpatriotic.’

An Echo From the Past

Apropos of the centenary of the Battle of Waterloo, the Otago Daily Times has published as a supplement a four-page reprint of the London Times of June 22, 1815, , giving the Duke of Wellington’s despatch and the official bulletin regarding the great fight. The reprint also , contains a number of century-old advertisements, some

of, which make interesting reading. Here is one; ‘ Society of Ireland. To-morrow, the 23rd of June, 1815, will be held at the New London Tavern, Cheapside, the. Annual Meeting of the Baptist Society for Promoting the Gospel in Ireland. Breakfast at 7 o’clock, the. Chair is to be taken at 8 precisely. The .principal objects of this institution are to establish schools in .Ireland for teaching the native Irish language, and to employ persons to read the Holy Scriptures in Irish to their neighbors.’ Alas for Baptist dreams and hopes. The ‘Society of Ireland’ is now no more : and Ireland is still loyal to the Faith of St. Patrick.

The Advance on Lemberg The violent German offensive in Galicia, which last week received a. temporary; hold-up and check, has now been resumed ; and at the moment of writing the cables would seem to indicate that General Yon Mackensen has some prospect of fulfilling his promise to the Kaiser that he would be in possession of Lemberg by July 1. A refreshing feature of the Russian account is the candor with which it acknowledges the German superiority in the last six weeks’ fighting, and readily admits that the Russians have been very badly knocked about. 1 Some of the German troops engaged against our Third Army,’ says the Russian official ‘ Eye-Witness,’ were reserve divisions from the neighborhood of Verdun. The 'Austrians kept up a ceaseless, futile cannonade. They hardly placed one Russian battery, and their progress in range-finding was long and expensive. It was a different story' when the Germans undertook the initiative. The difference in accuracy between the Austrians and Germans was soon clear, and the Russian regiments suffered terribly. The right wing of the Russian advance in the Carpathians was outflanked, and had to come backward. Half a corps rectified its position without serious loss, but the other division had the greatest difficulty in fighting its way through, and lost heavily. The- Germans scored a big success in technique, and they wiped out a good number of lives.’ The reader has at least the satisfaction of knowing that he • is getting the truth—whether it is welcome or not — when a belligerent thus frankly concedes that his enemy s"has proved superior. *

One of the most notable things in the war has been the rapid alternate 'advances and withdrawals in the eastern theatre, and the Russian retirements have in most'cases well, served the purpose of the Grand Duke. It is hardly possible; however, to extract any such consolation from the present retreat, for the Grand Duke has been pushed rapidly back in the course of a few

weeks from a point within sight of Cracow to the position which he occupied precisely nine months ago. ' It must, to put it mildly, be somewhat disappointing and any other troops but the Russians would be liable to be seriously disheartened and demoralised. In the matter of supporting the trials of retreat, however, there is no army in the field which has a tradition equal to that of the Russian Army. The Russians have been so,accustomed in their wars to lure their enemy on, and so well trained in the art of drawing back to leap better, that their loss of moral, even in the case of a very real retreat, is almost negligible. It is no surprise, therefore, to be told that they are still firm, and determined to make a strong stand at Grodek and at Lemberg ; and we may safely take it that the statement is something more than mere empty talk.

Belfast Recruiting Methods Some time ago a correspondent forwarded to us a copy of the Dublin Evening Ecus in which was reprinted from the Derry II eekly News a story so incredible that we did not feel justified in commenting upon it until the astounding statements it contained were definitely confirmed. The statement of the Derry Weekly News was to the effect that Mr. P. J. Kelly, of 8 Cottage row, Rosemount, Londonderry, seeing that engineers were wanted in the army, offered himself as a recruit. He was accejjtcd and proceeded to Belfast. From that city he was sent on to Antrim, where ho went through his trade test as a stonemason. Having received his kit he returned to headquarters at Belfast. Here an officer in a large room put a series of questions to him, the answers being written down. When Mr. Kelly was asked what was his religion, ho replied, ‘ Roman Catholic.’ 1 1 thought so,’ explained Hie officer, drawing his pen through the entries he had made. ‘You must go back to Derry,’ added the officer; ' there is no vacancy here.’ Mr. Kelly was astonished and asked questions. He was told that he could remain in Belfast only by changing his religion. His appropriate reply was that he would not prove a faithful soldier if he were unfaithful to his religion. - This remarkable story has now been authoritatively substantiated. ‘ The action of the officer as described in the Derry Weekly News,’ says the Liverpool Catholic Times, was so extraordinary that we have deemed it well to make enquiry of the editor ourselves, and we are assured by him of the truth of his statement.’

-Jilt. would seem, moreover, that the case of Mr. P. J. Kelly is not an isolated one. In a letter written by Rev. J. J. McGTiade, P.P., Limavady, which appears in the Derry Journal of April 21, it is stated that the enrolment of Catholic recruits as Protestants is not a novelty in Relfast. Father McGlade complains that two Catholics from the district, brothers named Kane, aged respectively fifteen and eighteen' years';' ‘ were received with open arms into the Ulster Volunteers in defiance of military age regulations and enrolled as Protestants.’ When the boys returned home; on holidays, at Easter, they denied that they had entered themselves as Protestants, and the parents naturally are indignant, insisting that the elder, who is now of military age, shall be transferred to a Catholic regiment, and that the younger, who is still under military age, shall be restored to them. The general facts in these cases seem to be beyond question, and Mr. R. Dawson Bates, Secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council, openly acknowledges that Catholics who seek to be enrolled in the Ulster Division are treated as ineligible. The action of the Ulster Unionists in thus enlisting a division of troops on the distinct condition that only those of a specified political faith and a defined religious creed are to be admitted, is clearly ultra vires and in contravention alike of army tradition and regulations. The matter cannot and will not be allowed to remain where it is ; and representations are being made for an official investigation, and for the prompt suppression of the Ulster Unionists’ bigoted and high-handed tactics.

Bible-In-Schools * Unity* - When Canon Garland was conducting his .New Zealand ; campaign he again and again asserted that even if the Bible-in-schools agitation failed, the movement was well worth while because of the wonderful way in which it had brought the Protestant denominations together, and had helped them to understand each other’s point of view and to realise how completely they were at one on all the great fundamentals of their Christian faith. It was a favorite theme with the organising secretary, and he waxed warmly eloquent upon it in his addresses to the synods and conferences of the various non-Anglican bodies. United services were everywhere held ; Canon Garland frequently preached in Presbyterian pulpits and we were led to understand that the unity and harmony prevailing among the Bible-in-schools denominations was most edifying and beautiful to behold. But, alas, the boasted 1 unity ’ has proved to be a very fragile and superficial affair; and the beautful bubble has been punctured at the very first touch, . . - .... ; - *

, It has happened quite simply and suddenly, in connection with the fitting up of the hospital ship which New Zealand is providing for service in the Mediterranean. It was part of the duty of the Minister for Defence to appoint chaplains to the ship ; the Imperial regulations provided for the appointment of only two chaplains, a Catholic and an Anglican chaplain and the Minister announced that he intended to adherp to th« Imperial instructions. Then the trouble began. Presbyteries met and passed hot-head resolutions of protest; Dr. Gibb sent a fiery letter to the papers; and ultimately a Presbyterian deputation waited upon the Minister —all to protest against a few Presbyterian soldiers being left for a very few days to the ministrations of one of those Anglican brethren with whom Bible-in-schools Presbyterians had but lately proclaimed their close sympathy and alliance, and one of whom had during the previous twelve months been a frequent occupant of Presbyterian pulpits throughout the Dominion. The Minister for Defence explained that the Imperial instructions were quite definite on the point that only the two chaplains indicated should be appointed; that though called a Hospital Ship, the Maheno would really be a carrier ship, carrying wounded from the Dardanelles to Egypt and Malta ; that the wounded would be on her four or five days, or six or seven at the outside that no soldiers except the wounded would be travelling on her : that those on board who desired it could have the services of clergymen at either of the frequent ports of call: and that she would not necessarily be restricted to carry! New Zealand wounded, but might carry English or French or any of the Allies’ wounded. It was all in vain. The deputation denounced as ‘ an abuse ’ and as ' absurd and almost insulting ’ a regulation which left Presbyterians to the ministrations of an Anglican clergyman ; and in the end the Minister promised to go behind the regulation and make a special Presbyterian appointment. We do not in the least blame our Presbyterian friends for seeking to obtain what thov consider proper spiritual attendance for their men ; but after this we will laugh the laugh incredulous when we hear any further talk about Bible-in-schools ‘ unity.’

The Need for Men It is almost a part of the religious creed of the average Englishman that no matter what emergency may come, ‘ England will muddle through ’ ; and the serious and thoughtful English papers arc finding it a difficult task to awaken the people to the fact there is a decided limit to England’s capacity in that direction, and that the country is up against a crisis in which a blind reliance on this ancient superstition will certainly lead to disaster. The London Times, which is neither panicky nor hysterical, is particularly outspoken in its denunciation of the past, present, and apparently prospective lack of preparedness of a nation which has so much at stake. Writing shortly after Neuve Chapelle on what it bluntly called ‘ The Recruiting Muddle/ the paper remarked : 1 The experience of Neuve Chapelle,

which has been so incompletely explained to the nation^ has shown us a glimpse of the magnitude of the demands likely to be made upon us. We have to undertake in common with our allies the task of driving the Germans out of Belgium and Northern France, and that task, which itself is only a beginning, has not yet been begun. - Although the number of men now .under arms in these islands is extraordinarily ' large/ 'it must be quite , clear that we have by no means enlisted all the ' men we shall want. Just now there is a lull in‘recruiting. The agonised advertisements and imploring posters issued under the auspices of the Government are sufficient indications of that fact. The Govern- * ment will not give the nation facts. It offers instead a series of vague, humiliating appeals which are becoming the mockery of our neighbors and neutral peoples and of the enemy. Until an organised, frank, and courageous attempt is made by the Government 'to r degd with this problem of recruiting, our prospective require?, ments in war will not be satisfactorily met.’ In a more recent issue just to hand this sober-sided paper to the matter, and with the utmost earnestness again impresses upon the English people the need of more and more preparation if the struggle is to be successfully sustained. ‘ From Flanders and from the Dardanelles the same lesson stares us in the face-— the lesson we have so constantly sought to inculcate, the lesson that we are still behindhand in our efforts to face dangers and difficulties, unsurpassed in our long history. Our- melt have done magnificently, our men from home and our men from the Dominions and from India. But we want more and still more men to make good the wastage of seven several campaigns—of which one is the most costly ever known. The casualty lists tell their own story to all who have eyes to read. The consumption of troops is immense, and it is certain to increase rather than to diminish.’ The Daily Mail, not less outspokenly, stresses the same point. ‘ln this battle we are fighting for our very life. Defeat at Ypres would bring the Germans to Calais and Dunkirk. It would bring England to the bitterest extremity of peril. Does the ‘nation understand?’ And again it says: ‘The country is in danger. It can only be saved by every conceivable effort. Every conceivable effort has not been made so long as the Stale hesitates to take the recruits whom it needs by orderly and regular methods, of law.’ It is quite within the bounds of possibility that some form of compulsory service may ultimately be introduced into Great Britain ; and it is more than probable that the real purpose in forming a Coalition Ministry was ,that the responsibility and odium—if odium there should be — would be fairly shared by both the great political parties.