Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 14 July 1921, Page 14

Current Topics

Fablegrams Again Last week our honorable day-lies told us that S\r JameS Craig had refused to attend the conference called by de Valera, and a few days later we were told that another effort was to be made to get him to come, there are two statements of which the plain meaning is that Sir James was invited to attend the conference. On Friday morning we are calmly told that Sir James was never invited at all. When we consider that a poor day-lie editor, in some cases, has little or no education bfeyond what he is able to get from the cables we ought not be puzzled about a lot of things that seem puzzling. The cable-education surely (explains why some of the blue-pencillers begin a leading article on one side of the fence, towards the middle, climb on the wire and totter a while, and, filially, trail their coat-tails on the other side of it.

Forgery We are always reluctant to use the word forgery. We know it hurts the feelings of the local Piggott and of the sympathetic editor who protects him. So it is just as well to say that we here refer only to Greenwood's forgeries. Hear what the Nation and Athenaeum has to say regarding these choice specimens of the Canadian bounder's Kultur :

The extraordinary thing about the Government's forgeries is that they are in many cases so unskilful. Ihe forged Bulletins” which have been issued from some purlieu of Dublin Castle ever since the offices of the genuine “Bulletin” were discovered and ransacked, have been so ludicrously unskilful that they were de--1 tected almost at once. When you forge a letter from a man it is well to have regard to his style, his manner, and his habit of thought and speech. The Irish Bulletin has at least been marked by dignity in style and an avoidance of extravagant statements. The forged “Bulletin” shows no trace of these qualities. On the contrary it is distinguished by a singularly vulgar tone and a ridiculous exaggeration. In other words the writer, instead of copying the spirit of the documents he is trying to imitate, has copied the spirit of the Minister he serves. For our_part we believe that the time has come when Members of Parliament should refuse to accept the word of Ministers on Ireland, or to treat them as if they could be presumed to present a true and fair account of the situation there. JVTr. Mosley’s questions have shown that the Prime Minister dare not deny that he and his colleagues set to work the disreputable forces which played such havoc in Ireland. A Government with such a crime on its conscience cannot afford to tell the truth. For if half the truth were known, it would lose a good deal more than its office." Amen, say we. For if the Kaiser deserves hangmg for what his soldiers did in-Belgium, surely Lloyd George and Greenwood deserve even such punishment as the disreputable forces they set on have inflicted upon innocent Irish people. But they won't hang. Greenwood may one day be made the scapegoat of the Welsh scoundrel, but Lloyd George has made money and that makes him, notwithstanding his crimes agamst humanity, a respectable British gentleman. What amp he is! One day he breakfasts with Cardinal Gasquet; another he appoints an Anglican Bishop a third he receives Communion in an Anglican church; a fourth he preaches in a Baptist temple; a fatth he gets a nice contract for his father-in-law • a sixth he is in the middle of a Marconi scheme As of his money, of himself it cannot be said; Non olet.

The Strike The cables announced recently that the strike was settled. They did not tell- us that it ended in a victory for the miners but, reading between the lines one sees that it was: a victory to the extent that Lloyd George had -to as* for £10,000,000 to smooth matters over. N -r: doubt he will the laurels, and no

doubt our day-lies will accord them to him. At the same time we have now little doubt that he was the very person responsible for the strike and for the loss it entailed to England. That England should lose millions and that industry should be dislocated is a very small thing to him compared with ‘ keeping his As readily as he lies to keep it, he would starve millions in order to strengthen his position. Mr. Smillie recently accused the Government of combining conspiring ratherwith the capitalists for the purpose of smashing the Miners' Federation, and in that Lloyd George had the assistance of Welsher . No. 2, Mr. Thomas. Mr. Smillie contends that a 'document was sent out at ' the end of last year, leading the miners to believe that negotiations between themselves and their employers were to be opened up for the purpose of coming to an agreement of a national character, and that the question of profits should be dealt with nationally. The volte face of the Government which later determined not to listen to any demand for settlement on a national basis is characteristic of Lloyd George and his friends. But there is even stronger evidence of foul play. On November 23, a month alter the issue of the previous document, an urgent and confidential letter was sent to Mr. A. G. Strathie Secretary of the Coal Merchants' Association of Scotland, saying, amongst other things: “I have been specially asked by the President of the Federation in London to bring before you the importance of immediate replenishment of stocks throughout the country Stocks should be built up as far as possible even by securing coal which is not quite suitable for your purpose, and held well in hand until March.” Mr. Smillie asked Sir Robert Horne about this precious document. As is usual in such cases with Government officials, Sir Robert said he knew nothing about it _ LaterT' he explained that caution was necessary and it was prudent to make provision on account of the coal shortage of the previous winter. Mr. Smillie then asked Sir Robert since when did winters begin in March. There was no reply, of course. “Can it be true, says the New Witness, “that the Government has been plotting all this time with the mineowners to bring about this lock-out in March ? Every new document unearthed, every new lie they tell every new explanation they give, points to* .it It seems pretty evident that when the Government offered tie national settlement which the miners are now demanding they were merely ridding themselves in Ocl b L of a burden which the men then inopportunely placed upon them that they might have six months to prepare themselves for the crash they were arrangf°7, that I , t has come tlla J are paying the daily 1 k«M° h ame l ke P ° or Korkin 'J man • Purple crimes authors^ 6 mUSt S ° oUer or later be traced to their

naljffwi “° t -, the *77 tmie that the I >ress has been S i° 0 d r r 7 6 a lock ‘° Ut as a strike > and it seems tbfwm e t day ' leS 4-u re aS a rule as read T to calumniate the workers as they are to condone the murders of women and children , in Ireland by Lloyd George’s and 8 ’recn 611 7 , *7® workers lea common sense math ne g of lSe 7 a r the press is part of the political machine of capitalism ? Pressmen and politicians in our day have sunk to the level of hired liars. What an avocation for human beings!

Ireland a Nation One grows weary of refuting constantly the maltion US ofth served f out by our daydies for the consume. „ ™ 0 ! It SeCtl °- 1 ° f the population denoted by the generic term “fool.” Of all the ridicupus excuses made that which pretends to contend It • r f j 18 not a naton is easily the most silly It is refuted even by the very people who use it; for time and again they say that Ireland is so much a nation that she is two nations, They are like the man who sees two candles in his postprandial reverie? Z ays there are two, and he stretches forth a hand to f raßp 0116 there is no one there; so he concludes there is no one anywhere. So, the day-liar says there a™ two nations in Ireland. As a proof of ' it he lays

his hand where he thought he saw agnation in the north. It is not there; and' so, he concludes there isn’t one in the south either. Another proof that Ireland is not a nation is that a certain horse-whipped calumniator of'dead women says so. A third is that Lloyd George, a truly honorable Welshman who rules England, appoints Anglican bishops, and sings nasally at Baptist services, says so. Of course it, is immaterial that history teaches us the contrary, and that England has always recognised the fact. The incident at the Council of Constance, when England was admitted among the nations because her king claimed to govern the ancient Irish nation, means little when contrasted with the word of the hired calumniator or the expert Marconi rigger. - Just before England organised the Rebellion of ’9B, England recognised by a solemn Act of Renunciation the right of the Irish nation to govern herself by her own laws for all time. That too does not count beside- the authority of a s hired P.P.A. slush-slinger, or of an illiterate Colonial day-lie editor, or of David of Wales whose father-in-law got the building contract for the “Dope” factory. But perhaps they who attach such importance to David’s words might like to hear some of them quoted on the subject. Here are a few:

Writing— writing, mind,in the North Wales Express, February 19, 1881, David Lloyd George deliberately said: “I believe it to be a fact that history does not afford one example of a nation persistently complaining of an alleged grievance if there be no legitimate cause of complaint, that is, so far as dealings between man and man and nation and nation go. And yet, this is what the Irish nation has been doing for scores of years, if not for centuries.” These are the words of David Lloyd George in his sober senses. He confirmed them later. To the South Wales Liberals, February 4, 1898, he said:

“There is the great argument of Irish nationality. A separate nationality means distinct sympathies, aims, capabilities, and conditions, and there-* fore ought to be accompanied by a separate legislature.”

Perhaps one might say that as he grew richer he grew wiser. Well, what about his solemn pledge to the dead Irish soldiers that at the end of the War Ireland would get her rights as well as Belgium and Poland That he may have become a more expert liar we grant : that he grew wiser time will prove to be false: the harvest of his deceit is surely at hand now. But he said something else that is worth recalling. In the article in 1881, when dealing with Ulster he declared: “If the opinions of a minority are to outweigh those of the majority, it is not only a subversion of the established rule of government, . . .. but also a subversion of all reason as substituting for it something which must therefore be unreasonable.” When he wrote the foregoing words, he was a d-working man who had ideals and a conscience. He had not sold his soul for gold : he had not learned to betray his friends with as little compunction as he learned to lie ; he had not been challenged to say how much he got for making a Minister of a man charged with trading with Germany during the War; he had not been called a liar by more than one honest Tory noble.

Under Massey Mr. Parr’s ridiculous twaddle in his letter to the school children has been further exposed by an account of the misgovernment of Samoa under New Zealand’s flag, which recently appeared in the Brisbane Daily Mail. It is bad enough to be told that we have muddled the matter, but when we consider how our press and politicians denounced German rule for five frothy years, what are we to think when we are told that the rule of New Zealand is ten times worse than that of the But'such is the ignoble policy of concealment and, of hypocritical make-believe that a Mr, Parr can, in face of the facts, calmly sit down

and write his rubbish for the consumption of children, to fill whose minds with falsehoods is hardly less than criminal. “It lias been maintained by many thinking people,” says the Daily Mail , “that the granting of mandates by the League of Nations for New Zealand to govern Samoa and for Australia to govern New Guinea must result in disaster to the islands concerned, ami the discrediting of the prestige of the white man in the eyes of the natives.” Think of that! The contrast between German rule and ours likely to discredit the white man in the eyes of the natives! Surely no harder saying could be imagined. But the details bear it out: “A special correspondent who has lived the greater part of his life in the South Seas writes from Samoa:— 'Things here are in a terrible state. Waste —waste everywhere. To talk of exploitation by the Germans is really n sacrilege. The German Governor, Dr. Solf, used to say that his foreign office was sending out too many officials for the administration of the country, and that in spite of his strong protests. Yet he never had more than forty-four men. New Zealand, has 131/ officials all drawing exaggerated salaries , and all claiming allowances ’ The above remarks indicate that the squander mania which has characterised Australia and New Zealand has been extended to the new territories, and the countries will be called upon to pay for the scandalous waste which is being imposed upon them by the very countries whose duties it is to show a paternal interest in the islands, instead of regarding them as centres of exploitation.” * Ruinous Taxation. v

The correspondent goes on: “Since New Zealand has taken possession here the duties have been raised from 121 to 15 and 22£ per cent. An export duty of £1 a ton on copra and £2 on cocoa has been imposed, besides a lot of special licenses and taxes. The natives pay more for the privilege of living under New Zealand flag, and they see many white men coming to Samoa with families every month to idle their time or to be employed uselessly, or on some job which a native could do as well, and be happy for £3 or £4 a month. It looks as if we were so near the end of the tether that if the electors of New Zealand could realise the truth they would themselves baulk and refuse to go ahead.” Good, easy man! it is little he knows of the invertebrate condition of our New Zealand electors. The Daily Mail comments: “The above statements illustrate in the most practical way how Parliaments composed of men who are utterly ignorant of the real situation in the islands are bringing them to the verge of ruin.”

Contrast with German Rule.

The correspondent goes on to say; “Dr. Solf governed wisely and well 42,000 warriors with half the present revenue, and carried out great works, building all the now existing public buildings . and the bridges and roads; and his successor, Dr. Schultz, actually had a replete treasury when New Zealand landed at Apia. . . All that was done out of half the revenue collected by the present administration, while providing a • more efficient rule over a ' quarter more inhabitants.”

How Natives Fare Under the Union Jack.

Mr. Parr told the children some lovely fairy tales concerning the benefits of living in the British Empire. He forgot a few things. He made no mention of the rather singular fact that the natives often decay rapidly under beneficent British rule. We Irish people are not likely to forget, even if Mr. Parr has forgotten his Irish blood and certain other things with it. The Irish race dwindled away from 8,000,000, to a little over 4,000,000, people as a result of half a century of beneficent British administration—or as some people prefer to call it, exploitation. Samoa is going the same way under the rule of the Orangeman from Limavaddy. The Daily Mail says, wifh reference to the last paragraph quoted: ■■ 1 The reference to the quarter more inhabitants refers to the outbreak of influenza whiclfNew Zealand failed to take even reasonable precautions to prevent being introduced, and which carried off one-fourth of the people . i

Here we pause- to reflect that an infected ship came to a New Zealand port simply because it had on board Lord Limavaddy and Sir Joseph Ward, and we further realise how grateful we ought to be for being alive at all. The article concludes thus: “Without an almost immediate supply of cheap laborers the plantations of all foreigners will go back, to the bush. Matters in the immediate past have been so mishandled and the value of island products have so declined that without financial aid the planters cannot now repatriate the coolies they have and introduce new ones.” . There is the interesting story of conditions -in Samoa under the rule of the Orangeman. It was told by the Brisbane paper which we quoted and duly recorded in the New Zealand Times of June IT, of this year. Just contrast that with Mr. Parr’s paternal “tosh” directed at the youth of the Dominion. Is it any wonder that what is called education in New Zealand is what it is? Between the gas attacks delivered by the hireling day-lie supporters of Masseydom and the deliberate fooling of the people by Minis-ters-at-the-will-of-the-P.P.A. New Zealand is certainly in a parlous state. We'wonder if we are any worse off than Samoa? Our rulers won’t tell on one another. Mr. Massey denounced all and sundry who said we were in a bad way, and then knelt down and made an open confession of the fact himself before going for his holiday at our expense. And, of course, the noble army of day-lie men had no word to say about his moral .and political somersault. The Remedy. It is consoling to think that a remedy for all this- has been found. All that is necessary now is to bow down before the Union Jack and say ten times every morning: “There is no misery; there is no trouble; there are no murders; there are no Black-and-Tans; there was no Amritsar; there were no lies; there were no broken pledges to the dead there is 1 no frightfulness; there is no kidnapping of children : there is no brutal ill-treatment of men who love their country; there are no lying pressmen and no lying politicians ; there are no Ministers who sell themselves to Orange bigots; there are no massacres of Catholics by Orangemen, under the Union Jack. The Anglican Bishops are dreaming ; the editors of the Times, of the Nation, of the New Witness, of countless American, French, and Italian papers are dreaming when they say that no Prussian crimes in Belgium were as bad as the crimes done at the connivance or instigation of the British Government in Ireland. Mr. Parr says so and he knows!” And so, poor, poor schoolteachers, and poor, poor children, learn to bury your heads like Lord Limavaddy’s ostriches, and grow up into a noble people that any sort of sham politicians will readily be able to fool altogether and all the time. Ah, we are a great people! Mr. Parr says so.