Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 9 August 1917, Page 14

Current Topics

The Decimal System Britons have a comfortable faith that in all crises they are sure to "muddle through" somehow: weight and gravitation have carried them through fairly often when if incompetency and stupidity had their deserts the end should have come. Carlyle used to say that the British attitude towards so reasonable a thing as the metric system was characteristic of the innate stupidity of John Bull, who could with perfect peace of mind pursue a course which he admitted to be perfectly ridiculous. Sometimes, after wasting some millions of men and money, he wakes up : often he does not. However there are signs that he is beginning to realise that even an old-fashioned person like himself ought to adopt the metric system in place of the present involved and wearying scheme which fetters his calculations. Nowadays every schoolboy learns the decimal system and knows how it simplifies calculations for the children of Italy, Germany, or France. Suggestions made for the application of the system to our coinage divide themselves into three main groups according as the sovereign, the shilling, or the half-pennv is the unit.

Systems Those who would retain the sovereign make the florin the unity, calling it 100 cents. The shilling thus become 50 cents, and sixpence 25 cents. The penny should be then increased in value to 5 cents., or 1.2 of our present pennies. The scheme which would make the shilling the unit should discard the sovereign, reckoning in half-sovereigns, shillings, and pennies, instead of in sovereigns, florins, and cents. It should also increase the value of a penny from 1-12th to l-10th of a shilling. It is urged that to adopt this reform would be an immense help to Britain in the commercial struggle after the war is over. Obviously if applied to the coinage it should also be adopted for weights and measures. Mr. Stead says that the present system means that a British schoolboy wastes 40 days in the year through wrestling with the present unwieldly system. But in certain schools we wot of as many weeks are wasted in the name of education.

Some Irish Statistics £ s. d. Annual over-taxation in 1896 ... 2,775,000 0 0 Total taxation in 1896 8,034,384 0 0 Total taxation in 1916 17/157!oOO 0 0 Taxation per head in 1916 ... ' '440 Since the war the taxation of Ireland has been increased D . h y •••' 6,322,000 0 0 Since the war the taxation per head has been increased by 2 8 11 Since the Union, Ireland has been plundered by England to the following extent : Over-taxation from 1801 to 1896... £ 300,000,000 Over-taxation from 1896 to 1916... 60,000*000 Absentee rents 1.000.000.'000 Total of which not a penny has ever been paid back ... ... £1,360,000,000 The Brotherhood of Man

Illimani nil a me alien urn pain, said the old Roman: and deep beneath the passing storms of hate and passion men are brothers when misfortune and hardship plough down to their elemental humanity. We recommend those who are busy winning the war by singing hymns of hate to read the following story from the trenches, told by S. Stapleton, in the Contemporary Review : —*

"Poor devil; unnerved by shell-shock,” was the comment passed as a wounded German was being carried out on a stretcher sobbing as if his heart would break. It was not the roar of the artillery and the burst-

ing of high explosives that had unnerved him but the self-sacrifice of a Dublin Fusilier, who in succouring him lost his own life. At the hospital the German related that on recovering his senses after being shot he found the Dublin Fusilier trying to staunch the wound in his shattered leg, from which blood was flowing profusely. The Irishman undid the field-dressing, consisting of bandage and antiseptic preparation, which he had wrapped round his own wound, and applied it to the German as he apeared to be in danger of bleeding to death. Before the two men were discovered by a British stretcher party the Dublin Fusilier had passed away. - He developed blood-poisoning through his exposed wound. The German, on hearing the news broke down and wept bitterly."

Mr McCahum on Hananism Our friend is having a rather rough passage in Parliament lately. A number of representatives evidently do not agree with the Elliotts and others who seem to think that Mr. Hanan is a success, and who make the welkin ring with their cheers everytime the Minister repeats solemnly, "The system must be maintained." The growing dissatisfaction with the performances of Mr. Hanan are in striking contrast to the loohsh chorus of approbation from those who do not care what becomes of the youth of New Zealand provided that Catholics get no fair play. Mr. McCallum called the attention of the Government to the unrest and annoyance caused to Catholics by Hanan sub servience to the people by whose grace he is in his present position, and to the unfairness of his treatment of Catholic children whom he penalised because of their laitn Very appropriate was Mr. McCallunVs remark that Mr. Hanan had little faith in anyone but himself However, Mr. Hanan is assured of office no matter what blunders he makes so long as. he panders to the no-Popery gang who are just as qualified to speak on education as he is to legislate on it. As far as one can see now he has absolutely nothing to recommend him except, that he is ready to sell the interests of the youth of New Zealand, not for a mess of potage, but for the favor of peripatetic gas bags. Every new day brings forth new proof of the sad state of morality and ignorance of religion in the country. What about these things? Eat and drink for to-morrow we die would seem to be the gospel according to Hanan

Spreading the Light In Dunedin we are going ahead. Here is a church notice worthy of Elliott : GREAT HYMNS FROM HISTORIC SOURCES BREAKING THE PAPAL CHAINS ORANGEMEN AND PROTESTANTS AND ALL WHO LOVE THE TRUTH, COME' Of course no Catholics need apply. What a pity! In that abode of light and sweetness one would surely learn many tilings not found in the Bible or in any other book ever written by a man who imbibed the elementary lessons of the Bible. These people have a new Bible. The old Bible foretold persecutions for the Church : theirs tells them how to persecute it. And there will be surely sidelights anent the doings of the "Jesuit Spy Gerlach," who, we are told, is in the South of Ireland. As it is also said that he is a friend of the Kaiser's we fail to understand why he is not staying with the only ot<her friend the Kaiser has in Ireland, Edward Carson, gun-runner and traitor. These things will pay as long as there are fools in the world, and rem, quocumquo vwrfo rem is the motto: get the money anyhow, and what matter how. Orangemen and Protestants ! Dr. Rentoul's remarks on the Orangemen should be enough to make any self-respecting Protestant run from an Orange Lodge as from a'mad bull. No Catholic ever stigmatised the bigots and blasphemers in such contemptuous words as did this dignitary of the Presbyterian Church in Melbourne. A North of Ireland Protestant once told us that his best reasons for not being an Orangeman were that he had too much respect for himself as an Irishman and as a Protestant. We wonder what he thinks after the late

exhibition of mephiticology under the aegis of King Billy! : '

The Censorship of Picture Films In reply to a deputation which ..waited on him recently, the censor admitted that there was indeed good reason for the protests made against the general tone of picture films on exhibition in the Dominion. In matter of fact he said that he considered that only a very small percentage of the pictures submitted to him were fit to be shown. It is a deplorable state of affairs that he allowed to pass and be produced very many films which in his opinion deserved condemnation. There can be no question whatever as to the fact that the censor did not do his duty. He said that the pictures were allowed to pass on account of the financial loss prohibiting them would have entailed for the managers and promoters of the shows. In other words, he allowed temptations of a gross kind to be placed in the way of the young for the sake of the purses of the men who were responsible for introducing such filth into the country. A more shocking proof of the lack of true Christian principles in the bureaucracy of New Zealand would be difficult to imagine. If the pictures were not fit to be shown—and the censor said they were not—no reason could justify their exhibition. Christian parents are well aware of their obligation to safeguard their children from temptations which might lead them into vice. No good parent would be justified in allowing books of an immoral nature to lie within reach of the children for whose souls he is responsible. It is attested unmistakably by serious men of all classes and creeds that many of the pictures shown are positively scandalous. It is also certain that such productions have been numerously attended by young people of both sexes : and we have known instances in which respectable men left the hall in disgust, while girls and boys remained to applaud. It is as sinful for a boy or girl to be present at such spectacles as it would be to read an immoral book. It is also as sinful for the parents to permit them in the one case as it is in the other. Whatever the censor does or does not—and we have seen that his view of his duty is not by any means that of a Christian —parents will do well to examine their consciences as to how they have been doing their duty in this matter. Apart altogether from the moral aspect of the question, it is worth while mentioning that grave objections to picture-shows exist in the minds of many people for purely physical reasons: it is said by persons in a position to judge that the eyes and nerves of children who have acquired the picture habit are as a rule impaired. However one looks at it, the matter is one that demands the serious consideration of parents who love their children.

Petain According to the French papers Petain differs from most other generals in that he is a master of strategy while they rely on tactics only. Petain never concealed his opinion that the Allies made a terrible blunder in the beginning of the war when they failed to profit by Moltke's astounding mistake. Moltke did not occupy the coast of Belgium, thus leaving his flank unguarded before his drive into France. "Moltke will be dismissed for this," said Petain at the time. The Allies won the battle at Ypres as a result of this blunder of Moltke's, to which , according to Petain, may be traced the German failure. Then came the blunder of the Allies in not saving Antwerp. Moltke gave every opportunity to the Allies to keep Antwerp : Petain is said to have shed tears because they were too stupid to do so. French should have hurled his whole force into Belgium, but he did not do so because there was no head or tail to Allied generalship, and independence of commands and of commanders resulted in failure. It was about this time that, according to French papers, Joffre had something to say anent the conduct of military affairs by English generals. Brilliant and meaningless victories were won, but there was no strategy. And there, according to Petain, lay the

root of much disaster and failure. . Every serious mistake that was made might have been avoided if Petaiu’s views had obtained the hearing they deserved. -But as in England a group of bureaucrats once plunged the country into unnecessary debt and slaughter by disregarding the expert advice of Butler, so in France a big price was paid for ignoring the warnings of this military genius. But he was a good Catholic.

Ulster Bluster Again In its editorials the Dunedin Star has been a consistent supporter of the claims of the Irish people for self-government. Consequently we were surprised to read in last Thursday's issue certain notes by a regular contributor in which the old, old story was repeated that the Irish people ought really be grateful for the numerous acts of tyranny, breaches of faith, extortions of revenue, and murders for which they have to thank a foreign government. "Carel Cross" sets forth the orthodox Orange views in all their original ignorance. As the devil cites Scripture he quotes Bernhardi as a text for his inanities. We know how an appeal to Bernhardi as an authority on any other subject would be received by the gentleman in question. But anything is good enough for the Irish! "Prejudice," says the Duchess d'Abrantes, "squints when it looks and lies when it talks." Therefore, when a writer speaks of 80 per cent, of the Irish people as ."a section of the Irish people" we know what to expect. Listen to this display of up-to-date darkness: "It is just in the last year or two that intelligent Americans are learning to discount the mendacious charges of oppression made by a section of the Irish people against British rule, and to open their eyes to the fact that the government of Ireland to-day is one of the most free and generous in the world. ... I sometimes think that it would be well if the British Government could get a commission of representative men from the Allies to conduct a thorough investigation into the affairs of Ireland," and so forth. *

A "section of the Irish people" howls forth its inspiration. How like the bluster of the beings who talk of Ulster as if it were one juicy and homogeneous orange, and who are in terror of letting Ulster take a majority vote on self-government, knowing as they 'do that Ulster returns a majority of Nationalist Members of Parliament in spite of all their tactics. We are not aware what standard "Carel Cross" sets up for the intelligence of Americans, but for our part we think Mr. Wilson, Mr. Roosevelt, Cardinal Gibbons, the President of Harvard University, and Judge Parker are well qualified to speak for intelligent Americans and lately they have spoken pretty plainly on the subject of the rights of the Irish people to govern themselves. And when a paper like Current Opinion speaks out as it did last month about the oppression that is going on in Ireland under British rule at present it seems to us that the intelligent Americans of whom "Carel Cross" tells us must belong to the devoted band which would be prepared to welcome the Kaiser's rule rather than give Ireland her rights. If Ireland were as free and as prosperous under English rule as we are assured she is the fact remains that she is robbed of her birthright of nationhood; and whatever "Carel Cross knows, he knows nothing about the spirit of the Irish people if he thinks that food for their bodies will satisfy their souls. Like many others he is incapable, evidently, of realising that it is not by bread alone a people live. *

A generous Government forsooth ! A British Royal Commission found in 1896 that the annual overtaxation of Ireland was at the rate of TWO AND THREE-QUARTER MILLIONS of pounds sterling. Then the taxation was at £1 15s Id per head. Now it has gone up to £4 4s. The total amount extorted from Ireland by “a generous Government” is, on the finding of that same Government, now almost £300,000,000. And instead of making any effort whatsoever to repay a penny of it the “generous Government” has

increased the extortion from £1 15s Id to £4 4s per head of the population. This is another evidence of what point of view notes on Irish affairs by “Carel Cross'" are written from, and with what a scrupulous regard for truth. As to his pious wish that the Allies would take a |hand, what more does he expect than what has been done. Messrs. Wilson and Roosevelt, the Premier of'South Africa, the Premier of Canada, the Australian Government, Russia, and France have called on England to give Ireland her rights of selfgovernment, but the people who speak like “Caret Cross" writes, say still that a majority of Irishmen must be oppressed to please them. And the “free, generous Government" maintains the system of tyranny which makes England a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.