Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 29 April 1920, Page 14

Current Topics

Who Won the War? V Some time ago it appeared that 1 America • won the war and captured the spoils. Now it seems that Japan and the. Argentine made even "a 1 better thing out of it than the United States: Recent statistics show T that while Canada, Germany, Italy, France, England, Holland, Switzerland, Norway ." 'and Sweden 1 are 'paying dear for a dollar's worth at present,' exchange with Spain is almost at par, while for the Argentine and Japan it is at a premium. The following figures are

interesting:

Spain, which the old Tory, slave-driver, Lord Salisbury, once counted out as a dead nation, is now prosperous in comparison with the land of Orange and Jewish profiteers. Japan and the Argentine are in the happy position of being one better than America. England, Germany, and the rest might be described financially as "also ran" just now. Why worry? Isn't paper plenty ?

Prohibition in the States

A priest who arrived recently from the United States tells us that the clergy there are put to no end of inconvenience by the red-tape rules and regulations which regulate their supply of wine for the altar. It is only a small thing compared with what would happen here if Prohibition were once passed and we were left depending on the mercy of a Government too ready to bend its knees before the howling dervishes of the P.P.A. If Prohibition ever does pass those simple people who depend so confidently on promises so often proved worthless will deserve, the execration of the community for the way in which they play into the hands of our enemies. But, in spite of the fact that Ave were almost caught napping last time, we do not believe the good sense of the community will ever allow the tyranny of Prohibition to interfere with right reason and. liberty in New Zealand. The trouble the clergy are put to in America is not the only disquieting feature about the state of things there under Prohibition. The Bulletin recently told us that barbers were doing a good trade in a certain State, selling bay rum to thirsty customers. A consignment of wood spirit was held up at a small town and the tins were emptied and refilled with water. -The local hospital was filled with D.'T. cases, and there was a large business for the undertaker for weeks after. But the worst case was where a few gallons of embalming spirit were stolen and poured down thirsty throats instead of being used on the corpse. These are only a few of the things we may have amongst us here if the people are foolish enough to allow a noisy crowd of impertinent people to dictate what a man may eat or drink. We often wonder why the Prohibs. never dream of doing anything so useful and meritorious as trying to check the immorality and the juvenile crime in the Dominion. " Of course, it would be too much to expect them to start a movement to keep people from wasting money on millinery and Ford cars that cost three times their value.; _ One of these days they will probably start a movement against smoking, racing, card-play-ing, bazaars, regattas, athletic sports, and what not. It is about time the common sense of the people started m earnest against them/ "., ; .~ .•; ,,,,., ,; :.;,

A Lesson in Geography; ;: - The following table shows how much revision our former knowledge of geography . requires in ;. order to bring us up to date nowadays. While Protestant England managed to have Protestant Germany left intact, Catholic *= Austria was .broken up, as were also the Russian and Turkish :territories.i; ; Including Asia Minor and Arabia", 41 new political entities are shown, and another—lreland—will soon -join them.. :'hm

'..'-/. - "/>■...':'>: .-:■-*•<<'~:: ..;• Jei Area. Si Popula- Form of '■■• : j••;■ •:'!■' rrcjiov^Sql miles. : tion. Government.' Poland ~..r ...-. 135,000 36,000,000 Republic

Turkey in Europe ... 10,000 1,900,000 Undetermined Anatolia, Asia Minor 145,000 5,000,000 Undetermined Armenia, ' Asia Minor 75,000. 2,500,000 Undetermined Mesopotamia, Asia Mr. 143,000 2,000,000 British admin. Syria, Asia Minor ... 37,000 1,000,000 Undetermined Palestine, Asia Minor 16,000 500,000 Britishadmin. Kingdom of Rejaz ... 96,500 300,000 Kingdom ; V Nejd & Hasa, Arabia No data No data Emirate - - Jebel Shammar, Arabia No data No data Emirate •-'•■

Queen of the Home

It is a true saying that marriage either T makes or mars the man. It is like all proverbs a generalisation which covers a multitude of instances while having its exceptions. There are men, no doubt, whom nothing can make except a miracle of grace, and there are also men whom nothing— speaking mar. On the one hand we might quote another old saying to the effect that you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; and, on the other, Horace reminds us that there are just and constant men who can uphold their manhood although the ruins of the world come crashing down about their shoulders. These are the exceptions. The rule is that a bad wife makes a man miserable, desperate, careless, drifting, and not seldom unfaithful ; and that a good wife makes a man everything; he ought to be if he is to fulfil her ideal. In America, at present in this country, speaking of those , outsidethe Church, divorce has so eaten into the heart of society and so cankered the community that marriages are prone to be made as lightly as they may be broken by the consent of a set of infidel statesmen but among truly Christian people marriage is not, to be lightly entered upon' seeing that it cannot be dissolved as long as both husband and wife live on this earth. Pagans and semi-pagans may do as they will, but -; for , Christians the law remains what Christ made,it when he said "What God has joined let no man put asunder;??? Therefore, no Catholic girl can, afford to ,vrush blindly 1 into a life-long union on which so much depends, temporally and eternally. - Marriages that depend on passion may turn : out well ' but ;; they rarely do:, i in most

cases they . bear out the .saying, Marry in haste and repent'; at leisure. Prudence, foresight, prayer, good advice are needed by those who contemplate marrying, and ito close one's eyes wilfully '4 to warnings will; inevitably bring calamity, instead of blessings. In the--words of the Pope, a Catholic woman should be the Queen of the Home. If her reign is to be a happy one what qualities does she not need? If she, is to preserve; fori: all time the esteem and the love of her husband how estimable and \ how lovable must she not be? If she will have unswerving loyalty and tireless devotion must she not be a -queen more than in name alone? ?!< And to become all these things is surely not the work of a moment, nor the effect of one good resolution, nor- the result of mere chance. Long preparation, sound training in virtue, good home influences are the only insurances that will guarantee to any girl stability in the possession of the royal jewels which a wife [ should wear at all times, in sickness and in health, in riches and in poverty, in joy and in suffering and sorrow. Long preparation ? Discipline in virtue? Sound home influences? A man may travel many a .weary mile before he finds them all combined towards forming the character of the girl of to-day; for such things are much rarer now than they were in' the generations that are gone. We are told that some girls do make a great show of preparing for marriage bytaking a few «ooking-lessons. There are still some who have been prepared from the cradle by the lovinocare of a good old-fashioned mother. But what do the majority do, we wonder How many of them take any.care that they are instructed in Christian prin-ciples-so as to become fit to instruct others in the future? Or put it this way, How many Catholic girls are prepared to 'become a source of edification and enlightenment, _ instead of a scandal and a stumbling block to perhaps a non-Catholic husband? There are some, but how many are there? Here are two other old sayings: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world, and Like mother like child. Collectively they mean exactly that the future of the community depends on the sort of mothers that are found in the homes of the nation. On the parents of to-dav depends the fate of the people of to-morrow-ana on the mother especially. Consequently, the one indispensable dowry for a girl is faith that will light up her home religion that will be her strength virtue that will be her regalia and Christian love that will be her sceptre on her throne as Queen of the Home!. Science and Faith Phniw thG CUS^- of th ° Se who wish to discredit the Churchy to urge that men of science and learning have no faith. With a splendid disregard for fair nlav and or ar Huxley has to say about the Church and triuml ff ,f U ?y h ™ to say about the Church and triumphantly draw the conclusion that only ignorant neonle of the MacCabe type, who, owing to the ignorance of of the MacCabe type, who, owing to the ignorance of the reading public, are able to make a livi fg bvTenre senting as true science even the forgeries of I £t honest German professor, long discredited by fe who are searching for the truth and have no ulterior object in view. We are told what atheists have to 4v about, the Church; we are not always told how SI honest the atheists were. The storv nf w i/T senting to them as facts what were nnlv * e i Jie put before the public. When Tvnda P vt T " D °? others are quoted we are not toW li, and while the protesional^aS" are fOT S ott «'. were of, ; their -own invention are

paraded as s authorities. ■ Faith, is a, gift of God. __■ As it is a , divine virtue it is not in our power to attain it by our; own efforts. s >.And when a man has the gift: it is the rule that, the more he studies and the more learned he:'-becomes^ stronger^his;.faith! grows. On the other hand, ;.a;man who .has no faith does not get it in the laboratory unless God gives it to him. And when as in the case of Huxley or Haeckel he'prostitutes his learning to attack; faith, it is not likely that a miracle will be wrought in his favor. Therefore "a Tyndall remains an unbeliever, while a Pasteur declares on his deathbed that his simple Breton faith is his only hope and consolation. It is not true that the foremost representatives of science believed that science and faith are incompatible. It is true that the very greatest scientists have been devout Christians and firm believers. Keinke says that the old, simple formula, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator* of Heaven and Earth, "does not cling to theistic scientists like an egg-shell from the time of unsophisticated childhood faith. This conviction has been professed by the most discerning natural scientists of all ages." "Just because I have thought and studied," wrote Pasteur, "I remained religious like a man of Brittany, and had I thought and studied more, I would be as religious as.a woman of Brittany.'"' (Revue des Questions Scienlifiques.) It is a fact that among scientists, as among business men, there are many unbelievers. It is also a fact that some of them dishonestly try to make out that they are unbelievers because they are scientists. They seek for public notice, they advertise themselves, they are taken up by those who love to spend their money in financing the MacCabes and others who wish to rob the simple people of their faith. And all this is- done in a thoroughly discreditable and dishonest way, to which no true scientist would lend himself. The fallacy of such literature as the P.P.A. distributes may be thus expressed: Some scientists are atheists ; therefore science and faith are not compatible. The true statement of the case is, on the other hand : A majority of the most eminent scientists are believers, therefore science and faith go well together. Needless to say, the fallacious statement is the one paraded and pushed, while with no creditable honesty the true case is suppressed. Here we have but another characteristic illustration of the methods used to attack the Church. And, from an impartial point of view, the fact that false history, false science, and falsehoods generally are the usual weapons of attack is a splendid argument in favor of that great spiritual society which continues immune against all such puny efforts of her enemies. Two maxims are being constantly verified: Great is truth and it shail prevail; and no less obvious is it that The truth begets hatred. * • An Orange Ne Temere Case In James Winder Good's excellent volume, Ulster and Ireland, there is a shrewd and exhaustive study of the psychology of the Carsonite of Ulster, which is well worth reading. The book is brightened by anecdotes which throw a flood of light on the soul of the Orangeman. For example, it happened that after a violent No-Popery tirade by that civilised product of Ulster and Militarism, Colonel Saunderson, a veteran arose in the body of the hall and said that whatever the Colonel might think, the speaker had a poor opinion of Cromwell. "What's your objection to him?" asked the gallant warrior. "Well, you see, Colonel, he gave the Catholics the choice between Hell and Connacht:". "My friend," retorted Saunderson, solemnly, "did you ever see Connacht?" The author quotes a story that Tom Kettle used to tell with his usual gusto: An Orangeman was called I as a witness to the peaceable disposition- of a friend. "What sort of man was he?" asked the counsel. "A quiet, decent man." ' "Is he the sort of man who would, break windows?" "No man in ;; the world' less likely." "Is he the sort of man you would expect to find at the head of a mob shoutving ' 'To * Hell with the,Pope'?" n Witness,. with f great emphasis: "No, certainly not. Jamie was i never a re-

Ugiousj man,." Now, these religious persons—descendants of the scum of England and Scotland, planted in Ireland for the ; Machiavellian purpose of a tyrannical Government, skilled in the " choice fof its tools—had - their own troubles. '' As late as 1840 the Orange saints were themselves* subjected i to * the ■} domination ; of the Established Church, and that variety of Protestantism knew at times how to ; chastise/,them with scorpions. Swift scoffed at the Presbyterian .as /'an; angry cat," and .Dissenting,..Ministers used, to be haled to prison and fined for preaching in their own meeting-houses, by the heads of the Church which paid Swift. Moreover, the Ascendancy Protestants fined Presbyterian elders for living in sin because their marriages, had not been solemnised according to the rites of the Established Church. In the eye of the law such persons were regarded as living in concubinage and their offspring as illegitimate. As late as 1840 an Episcopalian was arrested and put on his defence for bigamy. He put forward the defence that his first marriage had been solemnised in a Presbyterian Church, while the second, was celebrated according to the rites of the Church of England. The Irish Chief Justice, in pronouncing the first marriage invalid, declared, "the law of this country does not recognise the orders of the Presbyterian Church, because it is not episcopal and conformable to what the Act of Uniformity had made law." This view was confirmed by the House of Lords, where the Bishop of Exeter denied that "there was any Presbyterian Church in Ireland at all," and said that if any body was so called it was in violation of the canons. Then the row arose. There were warwhoops on both sides. Bishops and moderators had a royal Donnybrook. For four lively and happy years they fought it out in church, conventicle, and tintemple _ And at last an Act was passed legalising Presbyterian marriages. That done, the Orangemen happily settled down to fight among themselves and to .sing through their noses: Behold how good it is and how becoming well Together those brethren are in unity to dwell. Who knows but that in the incident we have related is to be found the origin of the present-day Orange madness at the sight of the words Ne Temere ? The people who suffer from "a settled hallucination and an annual brainstorm" run amuck still if you whisper Ne 1 emere. They have not the remotest knowledge of the meaning of the legislation of the Church, but they have heard from some local Smite-'em-Barebones that 'it has something to do with invalid marriages, and they never stop to ask for a right explanation. A chorus as of Swift's angry cats on a roof at night is raised, and the welkin rings with the pious hymn, "To Hell with the Pope."

g£y ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS ■ > ;,.; Ne Temere Decree does not say that v such ; a.marriage is an illegal marriage. That is what P,P.A. parsons say ~it ;' says, which is a very different matter. .^K/¥ ; !%•/ "'' '■■■■-■-£'*■ 7 OHO. yS"-""..? Mick. —We heard all 1 those old', yarns ' about "the different; i? heights; of cheek, imagination, and so forth. W They' :;":' have not even an academic interest for us. But if you want. a new one -take this and depart in peace :. "What is the 1 height of swank?" "To wear big "gloves driving a Ford and ' think you. are a motorist.". P.J.M. —We notice that paper. It only 'wants* •<■'■'•'•" notice. ; As ■ for,. its -editor, he once made ay speech in Eltham in which he-said that the Tablet attacked - ■.' the Salvation Army Homes. We promptly denied it., ■ He ■- came again and said" he had in his possession ■: a copy; of the N.Z7 Tablet of March 15, 1918, in which tho attack was made. We offered a i .gift,.of v ....£lo to the Red Cross if he would produce that copy. It has never been claimed and it stands still. , That iis enough about that gentleman. / To say a word more would be superfluous. : But for the:further confusion, of the person we say that no copy of the Tablet ever ■ published bears the date given by this reverend P.P.A. editor. ■'.»'.'. .- .." ■.. ..'_'; ~.-',' ' ; ., --•;>/", .": Gael. —The trouble is -this:; We are Christians...,- We be- .. lieve that . there are such things .as virtues and vices.. Wo hate sin and we try to imitate. Christ. Therefore our outlook on life is altogether 'different • from''that of the British politicians' and pressmen who lie S like devils, who sell their souls for gold, who tear Nip' treaties, who profess that there can be no question of conscience when interest is at stake. who make a mockery of the ten Commandments, who give the liq to their hypocritical psalm singing and their: Puritanical Sunday-school whining. We are different; and thank for it. We are satisfied to put honor and truth and justice first. "We have made sacrifices to provide for our children schools where they will be taught these things. Catholics are Christians,'-and the rest—with few exceptions — shopkeepers by 'religion. ■ >*,-.,-r .. ■• ~:<'; •„ ■•>.■.

Unit Rate in Depreciation value. cents. or rise. Canada ... 1.00 .9100 - 9.0% Germany .2382 .0210 -91.2% Italy .193 .0763 . -60.5% France .193 .0939 -51.3% England ... 4.8665 3.8000 -21.9% Spain ... .1930 .1925 - 0.3% Argentine .9648 .9800 .+ 1.6% Japan .4985 .5025 + 0.8%

Czechoslovakia , ... 60,000 13,000,000; Republic ;- 0 r;. Jugo-Slavia ...... 85,000 10,500,000 , Kingdom v ..,- Ukrairiia 215,000 30,000,000 Republic "■■V..^ Esthonia ... 7,300 1,750,000 Republic"" ;;**'* Livonia ... '• "... ; 17,000 1,650,000 "Republic ! '•': Courland ... • ... . 10,000 600,000 Republic *•-'-"'■ »' Letvia : 9,000 1,500,000 Republic isi: Lithuania _ .... 90,000 10,000,000 Republic White Russia ... 140,000 . 5,000,000 Republic...... North Russia 275,000 400,000 Military Gov. Rus. Fed. Soviet Rep. Undet'd Undet'd Soviet Rep." Don Rep. ... ... 63,000 4,000,000 Military Gov. Kuban Rep ... . ; ... 36,000 3,000,000 Republic -^ Tauride Rep. - 23,000 1,800,000 Republic ; ; Terek Rep. ...... 28,000 - 1,300,000 Republic ,;.i;v Tatar-Bashkir Rep. ... 175,000 9,000,000 Military v , Yakutsk Rep. ... 1,000,000 . 400,000 Military ...: Rep. of Siberia Undet'd Undet'd Military _ r 11 Rep. of Georgia 40,000 "2,500,000 Republic Rep. of Turkestan ... 400,000 6,500,000 Military Eastern Karelia 68,000 ? 250,000 Military "-"••"■'' Finland ... ... 125,000 3,500,000 Republic '• Murman Region . 35,000 100,000 Military. ... German . Rep. 175,000 60,000,000 Republic.,., Rep. of Germ. Austria 28,000 10,000,000 Republic '..''.;. Hungarian Rep. 32,000 9,000,000 Soviet Rep. Rumania ... 110,000 12,500,000 Kingdom

A sir, Arabia ... ... No data No data Prmcipate Yemen, Arabia ... No data No data Imamate ».\ .-, . Koweit, Arabia ... No data No data Sultanate Oman, Arabia ... 82,000 500,000 G.Br.&France Ireland ... 32,000 4,250,000 Hun •