SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR

New Zealand Tablet, 31 October 1918, Page 34

SIDELIGHTS ON THE WAR

GENERAL. What is believed to be the first soldiers’ sodality in the service and perhaps in the world, has been started at Camp Fremont, California by Rev. Joseph F. Moisant, chaplain of the 62nd U.S, Infahtry. He has received the approbation of the Holy Father. Polish newspapers declare that the population of the kingdom has decreased from 14,000.000 to 10,500,000 during the'war. According to an Exchange Telegraph dispatch from Copenhagen, mortality is increasing and great numbers of the Poles are leaving their country because of the rigorous conditions of life under the German rule.

Mrs. John Dibert, of New Orleans, has given 100,000 ■ dollars to the Red Cross for the financing of the Loyola Unit, consisting of 100 Sisters of Charity, all trained nurses. Ten of these Sisters arrived in New York lately, whence, with 90 other nurses, they will sail for Italy. The Sisters are from Birmingham, Ala. When the unit arrives in Italy, it will be divided into groups of ten, each in charge of a Sister of Charity.

Catholics must be wary about giving to certain funds for the care of French orphans (says an exchange). Sad to say, the prime object of some of these movements is to rob the Catholic children of their faith. Thus we read that the American Methodists have purchased near Lyons a farm to take care of 250 French orphans. It is to be controlled by the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions. Methodism has no footing in France, but is now trying to establish itself there by making capital of the orphans.

The Belgian Minister in London, Br. Moncheur, has transmitted under date June 20 the following communication to the Superior, Rev, Mother Lambertine, of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, which has branch houses in Willimaxxtic, Baltic and Taftville, Conn., U.S.A.: Madam, — have.the pleasure to inform you that the King of the Belgians has been graciously pleased to confer upon you the “Medaille de la Reine Elisabeth,” in recognition of the kind help and valuable assistance you have personally given to the

Belgian, refugees arid the Belgian soldiers during , the war. The insignia of this medal , will be forwarded to you in due course, through the , intermediary of this legation. , , * SECRETARY BAKER ON THE “LOYALTY”- ■■ BIGOTS. - Secretary of War Baker, in a statement recently issued, says: “In every locality we have a contemptible set of cowardly partisan politicians who cry “treason, sedition, anarchy, and pro-German against men who differ with them politically. The claims of Americanism and loyalty put forth by these narrow bigots are nothing more than false faces worn by traitors. Such charges convey to the German agent the information that the country is swarming with Kaiser worshippers, and is more dangerous propaganda than open opposition. In many cases our courts are being imposed upon by low-brow politicians who are taking advantage of the spirit of loyalty in this land to wreak vengeance on those whom they cannot meet honestly upon a political issue.’’ A SOLDIER’S WILL. A French soldier, Georges Ruel, of Fresnay-sur-Sarthe, made his last will and testament in the following edifying form : —ln the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, 1, Georges Ruel, of the 115th Regiment of Infantry, on the eve of going to the Front, declare that I belong to the Catholic Church, of which I wish to be a faithful son till my death. . If God should so demand it of me, I now make the full and entire sacrifice of my life, and I offer it for the triumph of the Church, my mother, the safety of n.y country and that of all those who are dear to me. What I have to bequeath I leave as follows, etc. Such is my formal will and my resolutions freely taken on this 24th day of April, 1917, mi the morrow of the feast of my patron St. George, under whose guardianship I place them, praying him to bless them and help me to be faithful to them. v - GENERAL FOCH’S PRAYER. L’Action • Gath clique of Quebec reproduces from the Me stager dr -Michel a “prayer for the time of war,” which was composed by General Foch, revised by his brother, who is a Jesuit priest, and published with the imprimatur of the Bishop of Puy. This prayer is thoroughly Catholic and very devout, and concludes with the words: “By the Blood of the Lamb, always alive and always being immolated, by the power of our faith, we implore Thee that all may do their duty in accordance with Thy will, that no one despair, that all things may be finally adjusted for Thy glory and the salvation of the greatest number of souls, by a victory which will be ‘ the victory of God.’ Blessed Joan of Arc, exemplar of faith and endurance, of courage and confidence, pray for us!” CATHOLICS IN THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY. A further statement of the number of Catholics in the Australian Expeditionary Forces has been obtained from the Defence Department by the Catholic Federation of N.S.W. Writing from Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, on September 13, 1918, Captain Mackintosh, for the officer in charge of Base Records, states that statistics which have been compiled to June 7, 1918, comprising 7.151 officers and 309,531 other ranks, show that Catholics form 19 per cent, of other ranks, and 9.8 per cent, of officers. These figures are for the Commonwealth, and no details are kept by States. The previous published record dated back to Max-ch 23, 1916. It covered 91,500 enlistments, and showed that 17.5 per cent, of other ranks, and 8.5 per cent, of officers were Catholics. r The Catholic population of the Commonwealth, according to the last census, was 20.6, and in 1914 was probably a little lower, owing to the shortage of Catholic immigration, so that Catholic enlistments, in

spite of many annoyances, are practically on the mark. A large proportion of the first enlistments consisted of recent arrivals from England, which would account for a reduction in the percentage of Catholics. We Catholic Press) are not aware of the details regarding the various Protestant denominations, nor are we concerned about them.! But we should think that the presence of nearly’ 60,000 Catholics in the Australian forces abroad would be sufficient inducement to the Government to prevent the circulation of slanders against Catholics in the Commonwealth. POILU A MODEL SOLDIER. ' An appreciation of the poilu which the war has more than justified was made as far back as September 1905, by General J. Franklin Bell at a dinner given in Paris by the American military mission, of which he was the head, sent to observe the autumn manoeuvres of the French Array. This fact is recalled in a recent issue of the Petit Journal by a high French officer who signs himself “General X .” “In this beautiful country,” General Bell is quoted as saying, “we have admired so many things that it is difficult to say what must be admixed the most. For my part the respectful but cordial and friendly sentiment professed by the French soldier toward his superior has impressed me profoundly. It is in terms of affectionate respect that he addresses himself to his generals and his other chiefs. Everywhere he manifests the desire to please his officers. “His intelligence, always alert, is one of the characteristics of the French people. The greatest efforts are obtained from the French soldier without its being necessary to have recourse to severity. His indefatigable energy and his endurance have filled me with such admiration that I deem him worthy of a special tribute for so many fine qualities. “It is, therefore, a great honor for me to drink to a-man always willing, always in a good humor, singing, when he is hungry, carrying a horse’s load and marching more quickly than a horse, and contented even without hay or straw if none is procurable. “I drink to the health of the French private soldier.” Ten years later, on the banks of the Somme, General X says his poilus brought to him a German colonel they had captured with a dozen other officers and about 500 men. lie questioned the colonel, who was from Wurtemberg, and asked him for his impressions. “I have just observed, while crossing your trenches,” said the German, “what familiar relations exist between your soldiers and their officers. One would think that in your army there was no discipline. How can you win with such a condition of things 1” “It would have been easy to answer him since 1915,” continues the writer, “by simply evoking the glorious names of the Marne, the- Grand Courrone de Nancy, the Yser, immortal monuments to the glory of our soldier and his intelligent discipline. But one does not try to convince a German of what he cannot understand. Facts themselves have difficulty in doing this.” “Four years of the hardest kind of warfare have brought tlx© most striking confirmation of General Bell’s judgment at the grand manoeuvres. It is because the American, a man of high ideals and moral

discipline,' was capable in peace times of judging thus the French-soldier that his sympathy went out to him in the most critical moments at the beginning of the war. It was because he understood him / that he was drawn '' toward him by affinities .that were' quickly created on the field of battle,-where both, in the same ranks, illustrate that intimate confraternity, that fusion of hearts, which are the first conditions of success. * ’ - he German, a man of theoretical absolutism and brutal discipline the discipline of the. fist and the smash in the jaw’—is surprised by the enigma which his inaptitude at psychology prevents him from working out. Another officera Prussian—taken prisoner in Artois exclaimed in front of us; ' Ah ! if we had your men!’ and stopped, thoughtful. He realised the fact, but stopped before the problem-.” TRAITOR TO THE STARS AND STRIPES. Rev. R. H. Bready, pastor of Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Pontiac, Mich.-, U.S.A., recently? characterised as disloyal any support given to the proposed amendment which aims practically to abolish parish schools. “Any one who helps that cause,” said Rev. Bready, “is helping the Kaiser just as much as though he were in the German army firing a gun at his American brothers. The amendment is aimed chiefly at the Catholic and Lutheran schools. Any one who trios to stir up Protestant against Catholic in these days is a traitor to the Stars and Stripes.”. The minister urged unity of all, at least until the war is over, and said he understood representatives of the amendment were in the audience. “If you are,"’ he added, “you are in the same class as German spies and worse, if you are seeking to divide good American citizens.” THE FRENCH MISSION TO AUSTRALIA. Two gracious instances, perhaps hitherto unrecorded, of the chivalry and courtesy of General Pan, head of the present French Mission to Australia, occurred on the Mountains recently, during the visit ol members of the Mission to those regions. The first was as follows: Whilst at Mount Victoria the distinguished General, perceiving the presence of two Sisters of Charity from the Convent of Mount St. Mary’s, Katoomba, alighted from his car and, going up to the religieuses, stood before them at the salute, whilst he testified to the admiration and homage of France to the great Order of nuns to which they belonged for the noble aid they had rendered, and the devotion they had displayed, to suffering humanity upon the battlefields of France during the present titanic conflict. Commandant Andre endorsed the remarks of his illustrious chief, and the short scene formed one of the most touching and picturesque incidents amongst several which have characterised the visit of the Mission to Australia. The second instance arose out of the action of one of the pupils of the convent already mentioned, who, having taken a snapshot photograph of General Pan during his visit to Katoomba, sent a copy of it to him, and received in reply a very courteous letter, acknowledging her little act of hero-worship.