Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLVI, Issue 18, 1 May 1919, Page 14

Current Topics

Our Boys and Sinn i Fein, ~,...,,;...; ..-. . - ; A few little notes that we do not find cabled out by Harmsworth-George-Carson and Company may not be inappropriate. In Limerick during, the war some New Zealand and Australian soldiers found themselves in a . congenial company of Sinn .Feiners. ; .Sinn Fein songs were of course sung. A "Tommy'': officer ordered the singers to stop, in the name of D.O.R.A. Nobody took any notice of "Tommy." He. went to the barracks and brought out the British army. The Sinn Feiners advised the visitors to get away. But the visitors stayed and did their bit in good style when the impertinent officer and his men were in- no gentle manner ejected from the building. Later, when ''Tommies" broke loose in Dublin and attacked the Sinn Fein headquarters,, a number of Colonial soldiers again joined in the fray, . on the side of Sinn Fein, with such good effect that "Tommy" was not seen out of his den for days afterwards. As a consequence, it was represented that the presence of Australian and New Zealand men on leave was not desirable in Ireland. The boys were only honest in their purpose of helping- a persecuted small nation. Independent lads like ours have no sympathy with the hypocrisy which invited them to fight for Poland and to oppress Ireland. These little items, and the warm, cordial receptions that our Militarists do not get when they go to meet the returning men are just straws that show how the wind blows. The time will come when the Democracy of the Empire will isolate itself severely from the gang of Prussians, with their broken pledges, their torn scraps of paper, their lying promises, their mercenary jobbery, their protection and promotion of murderers. What a scramble of politicians climbing over the fence we shall then see ! The Easter Orange Easter is a feast, of joy and peace everywhere outside of an Orange Lodge. For some recondite astrological reason the Easter moon sets all the King Billians stark staring mad, and they gather together somewhere or other to convince the rest of lis that there are worse things than a civil war in a monkeys' cage at the Zoo. This year Ashburton was the rendezvous. When you recall that Mr. Nosworthy represents Ashburton you will agree that it is just the right place for the grand Easter panjandrum of the descendants of that select band concerning whose first coming to Ireland, Stewart, the son himself of one of the ministers who came over, writes: 'From Scotland came many, and from England not a few, yet all of them generally the scum of both nations, who from debt or breaking or fleeing from justice, or seeking shelter, came hither, hoping to be without fear of man's justice." And although the Ashburton political luminary said he was not an • Orangeman he made it clear that he was very much at home in the company of the descendants of that gang of which Stewart speaks. Nay, he made a speech at them. It was not _ a speech worth hearing for its wisdom or for its sweetness or light, but it showed that he is a homo unanimis in all the idiotic bigotry and all the retrograde politics for which Orangeism stands and that if it were safe for him he would probably attack every Catholic he meets in the street. However, as Catholics breed athletes, there is no danger that his bigotry will prevail over his common sense for the present. It ought not to be forgotten that with Mr Nosworthy and the Orangemen was also associated that kindred spirit whom Mr. Fraser denounced from the Bench as a low cad and who received for his dirty methods a castigation in Parliament such as no common criminal ever yet got in New Zealand. ~ They were all ■there; and it is easy to guess what sort ! of things they said and-did while the full moon rode above their intellectual heads.'' The press gave them a fair ? amount of prominence and we J are " pleased to say that we and

many ; others "enjoyed a n good laugh 1 over their - antics last week. ; ’ Barnum had a vogue 'in his day j ! Williamson has it how p but the L.O.L. is bidding. strong to be the most successful; serio-comic show that has ever starred under the 'Southern' Cross yet. ' The air’ of solemnity, the energumeiious gestures, the calm fatuity of the performers deceive many people and lead them to think that the whole thing is not a Joke, but as soon as it dawns on all that they are really only the King Billiam Mountebanks they will draw crowded houses in every theatre of the Dominion. Ah, well ;it is good that we can laugh in these strenuous times. But it has a pathetic side too. One cannot help feeling pity for the poor old things that forget they are men and Christians in their eagerness to throw back to the Zoo.

Ireland In Ireland the Sinn Feiners are still waiting hopefully for the Peace Conference to make it clear that there was some truth in the war aims for which the Allies called on men to go forth to meet death; the hope that English statesmen have any honesty or truthfulness has long since been dispelled, but relying on the imperative calls which the American States individually and the United States Congress have made, on President Wilson to vindicate the right of that small nation whose children formed a huge proportion of the American armies, the Irish people are confident that England will be whipped into humanity just as Prussia has been. In the meantime England is carrying on the same old policy of frightfulness in Ireland. What we were told was done by Prussia in Belgium is actually done by England in Ireland. Every means is tried to drive the people to desperation. Justice, humanity, truth, and morality are outraged by English officials. The people suffer in silence knowing that such a state of*things cannot last and that the God of Justice will avenge them yet. A well-informed writer tells us in a private letter: "One thing is certain, the present situation in Ireland cannot last much longer. Only we at home know the things we have seen and heard since 1916. Talk not of Prussianism and militarism ! 1 tremble to think what may happen. There is a Timit to human endurance. You cannot imprison a whole nation. Dumb-driven cattle can cause trouble at times. Maddened men are not amenable to reason. It would appear as if the law against cruelty to animals does not apply as regards cruelty to human beings in Ireland. No wonder Lord French got sick of the atrocious business." This is how England, the mealymouthed champion of small nations, the hoary calumniator of all her foes, whose diplomacy is a thing of scorn and whose word is worth less than any scrap of paper, is now keeping her war pledges. And in so doing she is hastening her destruction. Her crimes in Ireland have set America aflame. The freemen of Australia, and New Zealand who were ready to join hands with Sinn Fein in kicking the cowardly Tommies off the streets of Dublin will want to know why Prussianism which they fought to destroy should still be a monopoly of English Tories and Orange robbers. The blood of Sheehy-Skeffington, the blood ;of the women and children who were murdered at Batchelor's Walk, the blood of the Dublin girls found murdered with English soldiers' buttons in their dead hands, the blood of Thomas Ashe and of every other victim of British brutality in Ireland, is calling for vengeance day and night. If the Peace Congress does not give Ireland her rights the Irish all over the world will never rest until the criminals are punished exactly as the Prussians were for no greater crimes against small nations. For, Ireland there may be bad days ahead if President Wilson is not true to his pledges but for England the days to come will be days of dark and shameful, tribulation in the mills of God if the

Congress does not do something to remove the heritage of hate from the hearts of 25,000,000 Irishmen and Irishwomen all over • the world. ’ Ireland asks . : merely that England , keep her own pledge. Axxd it seems that I to keep her word or to be true to a scrap of paper

is just the thing that England , cannot do now or ever. Over and over, her statesmen have confessed that English rule in .Ireland is based -on fraud ,and , tyranny ; it is admitted that the Act, of ..Union was the most disgraceful , transaction known.,in history. .. But in, all England there.does not seem .enough honor to make restitution, or enough sense of shame to remove the stain for which that Act stands all through, the years. The republican party is strong in Ireland to-day, because England made it strong.. The tone of the Irish papers would lead one to .think that nothing' short of complete separation would now be accepted ; however, we know what we are saying when we assert that there is still time for a settlement on the lines of. Colonial Home Rule. There is still time, but at any moment it may bo too late.

Ireland’s Wealth

For the oppression and plunder of Ireland a hundred excuses are alleged but not one argument. We are told that, the Irish, who govern other countries and

who command the armies and navies of England, arc not able to mind their own business; we are told that

the Empire could not. do without Ireland, which was precisely the sort of reason on which Prussia violated Belgium; we are told that Ireland is too small to be

safe, when we know that no fate that could possibly happen to her could be worse than the unbearable

British tyranny which she has to endure; and, lastly, we are told that Ireland is too poor to support herself and that she is really, an object of charity for John Bull. The painful, shameful lies of English politicians and English pressmen are without end; and of them all no one is more absurd than the lie that Ireland,

which is robbed and plundered by England, is too poor to support her own people. The following statistics may throw a little light on Ireland’s capacity not only to support herself but to feed her hungry and rascally neighbor besides:

Value of food and drink stuffs imported into and retained for consumption in Great Britain from the undermentioned countries.

Millions £ Millions £ Country. (1915) (1916) Ireland 46 ... 59 U.S.A. 82 ... 116 Argentine 46 ... 36 Canada 27 ... 41 British India ... 22 ... 20 Denmark ......... 20 ... 20 New Zealand 16 ... 18 Netherlands ... ... 14 ... 13 Australia ... ... 12 ... 10 Russia ... ... 8 .... - 1 In 1916-1917 Ireland's average export to England was —■ Live Cattle (Number) 889,000 Live Sheep ~ .. 700,000 Live Pigs" „ 239,000 Butter (cwts) ... 720,000 Eggs ~ ... 1,380,000 Poultry „ 290,500 Bacon ~ ... .v. ... 1,080.000 Oats ~ ... ... ... 1,700,000 Potatoes „ ... 3,460,000 '"lreland," says The Hallway and ' Shipping Journal, "grows more food for Great Britain than for herself. . . ''.'"' She is in an increasing degree an essential base for British food supply. . . . She

consumes one-fourth her own cattle; the rest are for

Great Britain.”

VSo there .we are! Our poor deluded country is “useful’ ’to Great Britain. What is useful to Britain

British statesmen will hold as surely as the Kaiser’s armies trampled Belgium unless compelled to do what is right by superior force— only argument that appeals to John Bull. Truth, justice, honor, “ f are words he does'not understand. : By calumny, by' perjury, by treachery of the' lowest kind he has ; acquired his “useful” possessions and bythe" same means ho IOUJoU ..<> ■ wjKT-l-'*- ~,f I ati. V-Sfi • il.l -Vr*.* . (Ufi. •.'iiu-J'

will strive to hold them ; .until the day comes when the pirate is punished.' s ?"' T ; ! v -<' . >- : - ; ~ How the War Affected the Church It is too soon yet to speak with any certainty of the ultimate results which the war will have for the Church we can" only look at the'facts as they are at ' present and make a sort of profit : and loss estimate! of -the good and evil /as they appear externally. The whole world lost, and the" Church was not exempt from the sorrows and the sufferings .'■ of the last four years ; but while we are in doubt that the whole world gained much or little we can have no manner, of'doubt that the Church's gain was very considerable. In the first place let us cast up roughly the losses. The Church has lost more than half of the five million men killed on the western fronts, for of the western nations engaged more than half were Catholic. In fact with the exception of Prussia and England the rest were all Catholic until America, with, however, a large percentage of Catholic soldiers in her armies, came in. In addition, millions were also lost through hardships and privations and other causes incidental to the war. Serious too was the loss of so many priests. Prance compelled priests to carry arms and thousands were killed in active service. In addition, among the stretcher-bearers' and Red Cross workers in the armies of the Powers that had more religion than the ' French Masonic Government there were large numbers of priests killed in the discharge of their duties. Not a few sacrificed their lives while acting as Military Chaplains. The loss of so many priests has been a severe blow to the Church, and in particular the foreign missions will suffer from the scarcity of the French clergy, for from that devoted body came in the past the vast majority of those who were inspired to go forth to preach the Gospel in distant lands. Before the war, it is estimated that about ten thousand priests and four thousand Brothers were withdrawn from the foreign missions by the French-Government and compelled to serve at home or in the East. The war found more than eight hundred German priests engaged in foreign missionary work. Most of those were interned or otherwise put out of action —often, as we know now, with a considerable amount of what British people with such sweet simplicity call-Prussianism when it is done by others. A bishop of the East has declared that it will be fifty years before the Catholic missions recover from the loss sustained. Another loss came about through the cutting down of funds devoted to the maintenance, of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, an international society of French origin. For the last four years the contributions of France, Germany, Hungary, Austria, and Belgium have almost dwindled to nothing. These losses have already been felt in all their severity. In a little while the Church will begin to feel the results of the serious interruption of the ecclesiastical training of thousands of young men so badly needed every year to. replace those who have fallen or grown old in the labor of the vineyard. In many parts of Europe ecclesiastical seminaries were deserted and silent during the past four years. Other dangers are the. attempts of the French Masons to compel, the defenceless war orphans to attend atheistical schools, and the hate of Christians for each other so sedulously fostered — even by those whose office and calling ought to have taught them other things during the war. The lies about Hunnish atrocities, the , forged, fablegrams, the denunciation of the German people, as if they were any more responsible for the crimes of their rulers than we are for the murder of Sheehy-Skeffing-ton, will all help to make Christian-charity colder and religion weaker for years. to come. Loss of faith, spread of immorality, disregard for law and , authority are other evils from which the Church must suffer indirectly although, her own children are the least affected in these ways. . Against, these .losses there are certainly" great gains to be considered. To many the sorrow and suffering ofthe war have brought God.nearer. To many of the soldiers especially religion has a..new' meaning and

jT».« $$ I’Tnnsji ****. • the Sacraments a hew value. In France the revival of religion has A been extraordinary, and, following the noble example of their Generalissimo," the men were proud to r be seen - kneeling at their prayers as, in the far-away days of their childhood. The heroism of the French priests' helped greatly to 1 bring about this change; and no doubt the influence of. A our, own chaplains was also felt for good. The revival in the trenches reacted on the homes and in one way or another many people in : different countries began to find in prayer and union with God a'consolation and a strength long unknown to. them. ;"" Not the least of the good results has been the dissipation old prejudices and* the breaking down of the barriers of bigotry carefully maintained in .the past by venal politicians! -It is too soon yet to weigh the gain against the loss. At present we feel the loss most, but who will deny the increasing purpose towards final good in the future years