Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 8 May 1919, Page 14

Current Topics

Irish Affairs a, -r : -.;--A j ! 6 ; '^^'^ : ' • From v a recent Glasgow exchange we take the following passage, which will give lis some idea of how sincere England was when she set forth to free small nations: ' - '■; ■■■■''•■>•■■."< : ----;v ■ r . , ' v '' -v •<■■■• -• ■■"■■•- v v TO KEEP DOWN THE IRISH. Tanks are being sent to, Ireland .wholesale. '" ~, Armored motor cars are there by the hundred. Soldiers are being poured into the country. Aeroplanes, artillery, cavalry, and I all kinds of modern warlike equipment are being despatched there. We have not heard as to-poison gas, and other such devices —yet. • :• BUT NO DOUBT THESE WILL ALL COME IN GOOD TIME. ; .For, forget it not, Liberty and Justice and the rights of small nations, and the self-determination of peoples, are things upon which the Huns of this land have set their hearts. ' "j ; '' WHERE THE BRITISH FLAG FLIES, LIBERTY IS ASSURED—TO THOSE WHO FLY THE FLAG! Is it any wonder that the "Diggers," the "Aussies," and the Americans who went to Ireland were always ready to make common cause with Sinn Fein, against the British Government 1 Is it any wonder that the Russians are asking what does England mean to do in the case of Ireland, and that an Indian told an American audience recently that he could speak for his own countrymen in saying that the cause of Irish freedom was the cause of the freedom of the world ? It is clear now that the Peace Congress will be a rank failure and that as soon as it is over England shall have to go to war against a small nation unless English politicians either learn or are taught how to keep their pledges. Whatever be the action of the Congress at Paris with regard to Ireland one thing is certain Sinn Fein will never again submit to slavery worse than the oppression- of the Russians under the Czar. And surely, if the people are driven to rebellion by injustice and cruelty that madden them, the Americans who owe so much to Ireland and whom Irishmen helped in a past day to break their own fetters will not tolerate the extermination of a noble people. Some Notes on the Recent Polling A writer in a Christchurch paper, feeling aggrieved that Prohibition did not win, expressed himself freely as to the dirty tactics which marked the recent contest. He was quite right. We hold no brief for the Trade, but we cannot help saying that some of the tricks of the other side which came accidentally under our notice could not be described by any milder word than dirty. We met casually more than one person who was an avowed opponent of Prohibition and whose name was struck off the roll, during a brief absence from home, by some impertinent Prohibitionist. A certain person —we almost said gentleman unthinkingly—visited a certain Catholic institution not a hundred miles from Dunedin. He got from the Superior the names of the inmates, leaving her to believe that his object was to have them put on the roll. Later, an opponent of Prohibition asked if they had been enrolled and was assured in all good faith by the too trustful lady that they had. But the person who took their names took very good care that he kept them in his pocket and not one of them -was enrolled as a result of his dirty if clever dodge. Undoubtedly the Christchurch writer was right: the contest was dirty his friends have good reason to hang their heads for shame, if they are capable of feeling shame. It was brought also under our notice that many persons refused to subscribe on Anzac Day in Christchurch because the soldiers voted against Prohibition. :: There you have'thei narrow-minded bigotry of the wowsers clearly illustrated. Nobody must

'disagree" with them. Even the boys who went away to risk their lives for them must not dare differ from them. And in more than one case offensive expressions concerning the soldiers, were used by Prohibitionists who were not fit to wipe' the soldiers' boots. 1 The soldiers' voting made one j thing v, clear: the ! virile and sound manhood of the Dominion is against i a narrow-minded and tyrannical interference with the just; liberty of the individual; the men who went away because they were led to believe they were fighting for the freedom of small nations made it quite manifest that they were going to have no part with those who would by an act of sheer tyranny impose their will on : a minority. Emotional women, wowsers, and a small section of honest, people who were unfortunate in being in such company were on one side; on"the other were the soldiers, and judging from the soldiers' votes, the manhood of the Dominion generally. The fact that the soldiers' vote came late and was published separately is something to be thankful for. It has, as : the'. Australian press "'observed, thrown a very clear light on the nature of the voting and given heart to those who through thick and thin stood for freedom. Speaking for ourselves, we opposed Prohibition because we deemed it our duty as Catholics to do so, and further because we hold that it is tyranny to curtail rightful liberty by a count of heads. Once again we say that we hold no brief for the * Trade and that as we were ready to fight for Continuance now we shall be ready in the future to fight for every reasonable and lawful reform. In reform, wisely and justly promoted, lies the golden mean which we hope to have an opportunity of advocating before long. The Trade is not guiltless; the profiteers are criminal ; the people who culpablyand there are suchhelp to bring misery on some homes are as dangerous as if they were plague-stricken. It has been said that the laws on our Statute Book at present would if rightly enforced go far towards remedying the evil, and we believe there is much truth in the contention. Surely, by upholding the laws the Government could do much to lessen the harmful results of intemperance; surely there is room for greater vigilance on the part of the guardians of the peace, and for exemplary punishment of malefactors. And if such means are tried and found ineffectual there is still the untried remedy of State Control. As Father Keating says in the Mai-ch issue of The Month, "the common Catholic teaching is that total Prohibition is lawful only when necessary to cure a practically universal abuse of alcoholic liquor, or to conserve national resources in a great emergency." As a War Measure it was tried in America; to say that the evil is universal here is unfair and untrue. P.P.A. Logic The orators of the P.P. Ass are great friends of ours. We are not joking. When the people who tour the country attacking Catholics are so devoid of reason, so bereft of-shame, so far removed from common sense that they drive sensible Protestants to desperation and make honest men protest that they are utterly ashamed of belonging to the same sect as the spouters,- they certainly help our cause in the same proportion as they alienate all fair-minded and honest citizens from their own. Still we are told that the P.P.A. lectures are "attended by weak-minded bigots and by curious persons whose self-respect is not strong enough to keep them from even remote association with the horsewhipped traducer of the dead. And surely only the very weakminded could sit out a lecture which has neither reason nor logic to recommend it, of which the sole motive is to stir up sectarian hate among the citizens... Once upon a time it used to be told to such audiences that Catholic schools were inefficient and that they .were far behind the State schools; it used, to be urged that no aid should be given them even from -the taxes of which Catholics are defrauded by the New Zealand Government; But the time soon came when that lie could serve no longer and when it became very evident to everybody who had the. average use 4 of reason[that our schools were far more • efficient < than the ~. State

schools...„ Even a Minister- of .Education.'.like ours could not blind himself •to that . fact, however much he .pro* tests that he is, blind.. The cry i for, a time has been that the , Government must, not give any aid to Catholics, and, now the motto is that r those j poor teachers who work for the love of God and who in their poverty have put the pampered State schools to shame, just as their, pupils have beaten the State : school pupils out of the field in athletics, are, blacklegs and scabs because they work ; for a small pay! "Don't give them a fair pay. . Make ~ them starve. . ; '«, Then call them scabs." Such is the argument of persons who should be very good judges of.what.scabs and scallywags are in truth ! A non-Catholic who attended the latest meeting held in this district said to us next day: "The usual crowd was thereadmitted, by ticket -to a coward's lecture. You people need not worry. . There are too many decent people in the Dominion for it to be led by a hired mudslinger who will hang himself if you only give him the rope." . That is the proper attitude for us. Let no Catholic go near the meetings even from curiosity. Let- nobody ; take tho slightest notice of the wretched hireling's .efforts to earn his dirty gold by outraging the law of Christian charity. Our schools will flourish even more than ever because of the attacks and mudslinging of such tools. Our Church is too big and too great for anyone of lis to concern ourselves about what a professional gutter-rake has to say. And when the last word is said the very fact that no more respectable creature than the defamer of a dead woman is the man selected to speak for the P.P. Ass. is the highest compliment that could be paid to us. The justice .and the righteousness of our cause arc made, manifest by the enemies that rage against us. By the Otago Daily Times, May 5, we note that the cultured and gentlemanly P.P. Ass. spokesman met with a slight opposition at Port Chalmers. He delivered the same NoPopery tirade as he had poured forth on Dunedinites a few days previously and called for the extermination of Catholic schools. Then the Rev. Mr. Whyte, of Port Chalmers, moved a resolution directly contrary to the "gentleman's," proposing that every encouragement should be given by the Government to the religious teachers who are trying to save the youth of the country. Mr. Whyte's attitude is a sign that the serious and thinking members of the Protestant Churches recognise the need for schools in which the eternal principles of God's Law are taught. It is also a sign that the few uneducated and irresponsible clergymen who- stand side by side with the hired lecturer are in opposition to the spirit of their Churches and people. We wonder how many more parsons will have the courage of their conviction to imitate Mr. Whyte. • Irish Congress in America American papers just to hand tell us of the greatest hosting of the Gael ever yet known on earth. In all the big American cities the Irish people and their friends assembled in thousands to express their determination that the oppression of Ireland must end for ever. The meeting at Philadelphia was specially notable for the fact.that the resolution was put by the venerable Cardinal Gibbons, who came before the immense concourse of free citizens to demand freedom for the land of his fathers, which, after this war, alleged to have been waged on behalf of small nations, still quivers in the grasp of a tyrant. Eminent men of Church and State spoke to the resolution. Remarkable addresses were delivered by Archbishop Dougherty of Philadelphia, Archbishop Mesmer of Milwaukee, Bishop Shahan of the Catholic University, Bishop Gallagher of Detroit, Bishop Carroll of Helena, Bishop McDevitt of Harrisburg, :Bishop Allen -, of Mobile. Jewish Rabbis, Protestant.; clergymen, distinguished Federal . State and city officials also took part in the demonstration: ; Delegates" attended,- from every State and from Canada, one and all firm in their intention to secure for Ireland the right of freedom for. which* America's men fought. The following was the resolution read by Cardinal Gibbons l^'\;7 r 7^ r^T^^^ =^

"The cmiditiotS: of xilreland, whichl'4s) the > direct result of the deliberate action of the English Government, is an international scandal and a constant menace to the. world's peace. So long as England holds Ireland by'military force and-denies her right to, selfgovernment f the Irish people, will continue to .assert their . rights , by every means in their ;'f, power. ~,., A I state of war exists between England and Ireland, which in the interests of the peace of the world, the Peace Conference cannot ignore, and President Wilson's great task of establishing permanent peace will not ■- be l completed until the Irish question is' settled on the principle of 'self-determination, to which he has unequivocally committed himself and the United States in behalf of all small nations of the world." • " : '.-"-■ <"."ts}>c<fri This resolution is but an echo of others passed, not by Irish meetings, but by the State Parliaments and by Congress, all calling on the Head of . the American Government to vindicate before the world the honor of America which pledged herself to make the world secure for . all small nations no . matter whose selfish interests are crossed. And surely in the face of such a mandate we cannot doubt that Mr. Wilson will bring the British Huns to heel just as he did the Prussian Junkers. England to-day stands for Prussianism in the world. Her plutocrats and her bigots are the last menace to freedom and to the rights of man. America is determined that no special treatment shall be accorded a malefactor and an enemy to the world's peace that had grown hoary in crime before the Hohenzollerns ever darkened the political horizon of Europe. It may be bad for Ireland in the days to come if England leaves the Conference Without having the Irish question settled, but it is not hard to see that the consequences for England may be even worse. One thing is certain, there can be no friendship between America and England until Ireland is safe, and there may easily be open enmity. The Huns are stupid, but to risk that is a degree of stupidity that even they might be expected to avoid. In conclusion we quote the powerful words of prayer which Archbishop Dougherty recited at the meeting: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, to shed light oh our minds, that we may see the path of right; and to strengthen our wills that we may follow it. Gathered together in behalf of a downtrodden nation, we implore Thy blessing upon its children; both upon that remnant of them still dwelling on their native soil ; and upon those countless others, scattered over the face of the earth , whose hearts cling to the land of their birth or home of their forefathers. What people have served Thee as the Irish Race? In the day of Ireland's prosperity and pre-emin-ence in learning and holiness, her missioners carried the light of Thy Gospel over Europe, from the highlands of Scotland to the plains of Lombardy. The pick of her youth peopled Thy holy places in lives of self-effacement. _ During the centuries of -. persecution the flower of her children emptied their veins of their blood .: as martyrs of Religion. Others were ruthlessly cast forth from their homes and the choice lands of their country were parcelled out to their foes. >■..:-.-..■' The boon of education was forbidden them and then they were mocked by their oppressors as ignorant and uncultured. c ... Like wolves their priests were hunted down in the fastnesses of the mountains, and a felon's price was set on their heads. y, .-.!■■•'• -.y . ■ '■,. •.....: , : ; r Laws, penalising, them with racks and ropes, r were enacted to terrorise and crush them. u ._-.,■ 3- : , \ yan "? n .. The bread was i taken from ~ the mouths,, of | Irish children and their; strong men died of starvation by the roadside. .- ■■.:.;/: .■:. .:':S' yly- ■.,■;,-,: -,yiiawtr The roof was pulled down from over the heads of their aged by the myrmidons of absentee landlords : - y :\ Combined tyranny .;, and want drove j them in myriads to the four i corners of the earth.,?.,-,-;,, ;: . ,;.,a ; " But 1 wherever they have roamed, as outcasts, they have witnessed to Thy Faith and out of the savings of

their sweat and toil ,they- have- dotted the surface of' the globe with temples! to Thee. '■;* & How long, O Lord, |is Ireland to suffer! For centuries she has been nearest to the cross of Thy crucified Sou. .We pray that having, like Him, been fixed to.the wood of the,cross, like. Him also she may be raised by Thee from the dead. Amen.