Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 30 October 1919, Page 14

Current Topics

European Affairs "' .. ' V :' • '', / //The British Lie .Factory, has issued a list of alleged Irish .outrages. It has said nothing v about the murders committed by policemen and soldiers. ~ x The whole list ;faked and all as- it was—for three.years is small compared with , the list of r moral offences we might make out? for little ; old New Zealand ..for, the I same time. And as for London's'little total ! U! By the way, one of the alleged outrages took place in the West, where a whole county was \ taxed as a consequence of the killing of : a magistrate. : Mr. ij Figgis, a western Protestant, 1 hinted, plainly . that (1) , no Nationalist was guilty, (2) -• that the Government knew who was guilty, (3) and that the killing had a moral (immoral rather) cause. We are now able to state that we have reliable information that Mr. Figgis was right. The man was killed by the person most affected by the "moral" cause/and the said person was in the pay of his Majesty's Government. But the Irish people had to pay all the same. And, once more, that is British Justice. The publication of the silly list to which we have just referred looks as if another big push was in contemplation by Muckpherson. Germany. —The Bauer Ministry was looked on at first as r a stop-gap for the signing of the Treaty, but it still lasts. It depends for its stability on the Social Democrats and the Centre Party, between which there is at all times a possibility of a split on the question of religious education. Herr Bauer tries to hold the mean between the two extremes. He warns the supporters of the Kaiser that an attempt at restoration would be met with war to the knife; and to the Independent Socialists he points out that the socialisation of industries must be effected gradually and not by the means tried in Russia. Herr Erzberger, Minister of Finance, has presented a statement as to what must be done to provide means to pay for the war expenses: £1,500,000,000 must be raised by annual taxation—--000 of it from new sources, among which are a tax on ■business turn-overs and a tax called "the imperial sacrifice to needs." :> : : ' Russia. —The half-dozen wars raging in Russia might be fought in the dark as far as we are concerned. To get anything like a clear notion- of how things are going is impossible. The English promoters of antiBolshevism see to that. 'Still it seems that all the successes are not on the side of the Allies. Admiral Kolchak's defeat has been attributed to the vacillations of his Allied supporters, who gave him their good wishes and little besides. The Bolsheviki have been held up in their march westward, and the Poles are eager to send an army to drive them back. In the northern territory where British - and Russian troops acted together it is said that a Russian regiment went over to the Bolsheviki, causing the loss of an important city. The intervention of the Japanese is -not in all quarters regarded as purely humanitarian, and they are suspected of having .an interest of their own in Russia's future. All the atrocities are not on the side of the Bolsheviki, as we shall make clear one day soon. It is rumored again that Lenin is willing to retire and that he finds himself unable to handle the situation. A more ominous rumor is that there is a possibility of an agreement between Germany, Russia, and Japan. It may come to nothing. But if it does?' ,>[.' Italy. —One note here will do. Owing to the depreciation of the German mark and the Italian lira Italy * can buy an article from Germany for about a third of the price charged by England. One can see at a glance how this is likely to crush Germany and boom .England's markets. The Italians are sure to enjoy paying 100 lira to England when they could get off by paying 30 to Germany for boots for the family. And I many' other , nations will s no " doubt imitate them in their . generosity towards John Bull./, What did you say? -.- /. ' r - *"' . ~ ............

The Social Plague ' ' , - - ; ; ■b /Some time ago a friend • told us how shocked he was ■to hear a returned warrior convict/himself 7 of having been demoralised by his . experiences £ at the Front. Evil communications had to; such ian extent corrupted him that he had the audacity and the effrontery to say that the theology of the Church should be broadened to meet the exigencies .of modern life,- as if any conditions or circumstances could ever change by a single iota the prohibitions of the Law -of f God. Principles become lax, no doubt, when on© is in close association with those whose standards of morality . are those of animals and are ready to set reason and religion aside in the pursuit of their pleasures ; . and it is one of the great evils of the war that -so many weaklings will almost certainly be-demoralised by their ; experiences and by their associations. That life in camps, where religion is made so little of, tends to foster, immorality is beyond all question. Matters of this kind are now and then discussed, but those who are responsible for the protection of our soldiers have,a habit of shirking their duty and evading their responsibilities, and little or nothing is done to combat the evil directly. It seems indeed that pagan principles have such a hold on our rulers that it is looked on as inevitable that vice must exist among soldiers, and the nation seems v to take the matter very easily. Not one of those who devoted their lives to pushing such secondary reforms as Prohibition or the abolition of gambling seems ,to realise how much better it would be if their surplus energy were concentrated on such an essential problem as the social plague which is working such havoc among us. Our Government’s attitude is. distinctly culpable and it is high time that the conscience of the people inspired such a protest as would bring those responsible to their senses. There is no use saying that nothing could be done. Nothing is done, but much might be done. In this matter it were well if the authorities profited by the example of the United States, where from the first the Secretary of War has taken measures to safeguard the men against unnecessary temptations. Those who have an intimate knowledge of, the conditions amid which our men were placed would have done well to imitate Mr. Baker, who asserted his determination not to establish any camps in localities where clean conditions could not be assured. Mr. Daniels was not less determined that the Navy should be protected, and when people of the old school told him that his ideals were too high and that his standard was impossible he replied: “You may say that the ideal raised is too high, and we need not expect young men to live .up to the ideal of continence. If so I cannot agree with you. - It is a duty we cannot shirk to point to the true, ideal of chastity, to a single standard of morals . for men and women.” Mr. Daniels sets his face resolutely against the immoral co-operation of those who would provide prophylactics instead of attacking L the root .of the evil, and he does not hesitate to tell them in plain words that such provisions are immoral as they tend to foster the spread of vice by a false guarantee, of s immunity. The subject is not a pleasant one, but , the magnitude of the plague is so great that it is foolish to shut one’s eyes to the harm it is doing to pur country. How terrible that harm is and how , the good name 5 of our country is suffering through it has been brought home to most of us long before now. Yet what has,-been done? We have heard some of our chaplains speak with sorrow on the subject and- they do not conceal their conviction, that our authorities were criminally culpable for their supineness in this , matter. We know that as a rule fidelity to , their religious / duties is a buckler to our Catholic men, and that the good become even better through their trials. But ; it. is painful to contemplate how many go under in the conflict, and how many there are for whom it were a thousand times better.that they had never been born. It is a terrible thing to rob men of the knowledge > of > God . first /and. then, to place them -in circumstances in which -religion alone is security. ; Nor is it any consolation to ; know that ten times , more terrible ; will be the . account rendered one day :by those who;/guilty j

h Sinn Fein and Protection ■. ■->&?: ?&?. it'tyC?/.. .„>* r j Sinn Fein took tie stand that it was the duty of the Irish : people ; to give preference to Irish goods. This did not mean- the exclusion of foreign competition, but the support which should makethe-native manufacturer equal to meeting foreign competition. :' It meant that the people should not pay ;a; higher profit to an Irish manufacturer, but that they should: not stand by and see him crushed ; by mere weight of -foreign capital. If c the Irishman could "produce an article as cheaply as :; a foreigner he should not receive for it a higher price, but if for want of capital and resources the native could not meet the foreigner it was the duty of the 'people to accord protection to the Irish manufacturer. The ' Protection movement was primarily designed to give back to Ireland her manufacturing arm and -to enable her in time to meet competition in any market; it was not designed to enrich manufacturers because they -were Irish. It was decided that individuals-. must learn to look on protection of Irish industries as a national duty. The scheme was to be worked through the County Councils and the Harbor Boards. Irish manufacturers were to be stimulated to activity, and Irish-American capitalists were to be invited to help the movement. The people were educated by the Irish press to demand Irish goods and to take no others when Irish were to be had. In a little time we saw— nearly 20 years —people everywhere wearing Irish clothes and using Irish bicycles and Irish machinery, smoking Irish tobacco and striking Irish matches, while they refused to write except on Irish-made 'Pper. In this we saw the first practical proof of the soundness of the revival movement. The clothes may have been dearer but they were twice as good as the shoddy; Pierce bicycles may have cost more, but they wore out three of any English make; aid the Irish vellum notepaper had a distinction and a quality that made it worth buying. It was practically proved that if the Irish goods were dearer it was because they were better, and thus actually cheaper and more economical in the end. Irish elective bodies were taught to proceed on similar lines. Harbor dues were advised to arrange the incidence of port taxes so that they should fall heaviest on imported manufactured goods. The Dublin Port and Dock Board were compelled to publish an annual return of the foreign goods imported in the city by the sea, and the tables opened the eyes of the people to the true economic ruin towards which they had been travelling. Hitherto England controlled through her agents most of the Boards and Sinn Fein warned the people that they must take over for themslves every Irish Board in order to make the working of the scheme a success. The General Council of the County Councils was to prepare a survey of the whole country with a view to the full development of all its natural resources.. The fact that Ireland could produce nearly 200,000,000 tons of the finest _coal in Europe, and that the Irish seas and rivers abounded in fish of great value and variety was well known, and it was equally certain that the development of industries in these directions was deliberately obstructed by English influences. English coal came into Ireland, English fishing fleets came on the Irish "coasts and carried away annually tons of fish which Irish hands might have caught and sold but for the general paralysis of Irish industry. Sinn Fein aimed at making known to Irish-Americans who had money to invest the resources of the country, and proving to them that Ireland was worth encouraging and in this way providing immediate employment for Irish laborers. Already, Irish-American has shown the example needed, and to-day in Cork the Ford Works are able to turn out motors and tractors cheaper than any English" firm. Irish hands make the machinery on Irish soil, and thousands of pounds every week'find their way among Irish families that never before knew what it was tot get a decent day's pay for their toil. We have tried to give a general idea of the Protection scheme advocated by Sinn ; Fein. There will be always discussions as to the merits of Free-Trade? and Protection; and the supporters of each will always be right:

■ Sinn Fein lias had no chance yet to work out ' thoroughly .its plans in this direction, and it will s take a generation of experiment ""and discussion V before * a programme is . clearly fixed. That Sinn Fein - is7on the right lines is best proved by the success it has already had in its limited field of action. The real test of the ' improve- • ment brought about during the past two decades is seen in the fact that already strong opposition has developed among those who would ' like to go on exploiting Ireland as - they did 'in -' the past. -Sinn Fein ’ captured the people before the war, and- already Irish industries were ! booming. • The ’ 'demand for foreign articles decreased rapidly, and just as rapidly the jealousy of the British manufacturer became manifest. We have recently seen how the English tried in every way possible to prevent Mr. Ford from establishing? his works in Cork, while they had no objection to have him start in England. ; ; A little farther back when a German line of steamers was to call 1 at' Queenstown, English shipping firms begged their cousin the Kaiser : ' ; to interfere and to give preference to his dear- English cousins. He did. All the legal and political machinery was set in motion to prevent the establishment of the tobacco industry; and no helping hand was held. out to Ireland by the pure-souled and unselfish merchants of England. In spite of the bitterest opposition the industry succeeded and those who- were at first martyrs to patriotic duty shortly were enabled to smoke an Irish tobacco in an Irish pipe with perfect enjoyment. There was opposition to the establishment of the industries when they were once in being in place of the opposition there was fraud and dishonesty to attack them. Honest Englishmen had no scruple about getting their agents to sell in Ireland Brummagem goods* stamped with the lying words Irish Manufacture. When the fraud was discovered Sinn Fein designed a special national trade mark the use of which was permitted to manufacturers who could prove that their goods were made tin- Ireland. The sign agreed on was a scroll device representing the Collar - of Maiachi, surrounded by the words, Deantha in ■ Eirimv (Made in Ireland). The Irish trade mark became the test of value in Ireland, and there were thousands of men and women in every country who ’boasted that every stitch of clothes they wore was made in Ireland, from Irish material, by Irish hands. Gradually the people began to recognise that tweeds such as were made at Blarney and elsewhere were worth wearing by Irish people, that Poulmounty woollens , and flannels were warmer and better than any in the world, that Irish carpets and rugs were worth their weight in silver, that it was not' for nothing that the best judges in Europe awarded prizes time and again to the makers of Irish point and crochet laces. It became evident to us all, even in the early days of the movement, that Irish goods were worth protecting and that it was true . economy to protect them. The enthusiasm that arosein this sphere alone had other good results. It led the people to recognise the fact that they had a Nation of their own, that they were no British shire, and that their race was destined for higher things than to be purveyors to vent Garden Markets. Out of it grew a better knowledge of Ireland and. a greater interest in her history, her language, and her resources, and also a new conception of. the ideal of patriotism, higher and nobler than was dreamt of by the political failures who had wasted so much good time and good money in pleading to deaf ears in Westminster for Irish rights. The Irish adopted and made their own of those words of List: “Let us only have courage to believe /ini a great national future, and, in that belief, march onward. Above all, let us have national spirit enough to plant and protect the tree which will yield its richest fruits in the fuure generation.” ; f !/.•//;''■