Commonwealth Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 30 March 1922, Page 30

Commonwealth Notes

VICTORIA. Speaking recently on the Irish question Dr. Mannix said his policy, at all events, was to let the Irish people judge for themselves. He had not rushed in to congratulate anybody or to sing a “Te Deum,” and he had not sent congratulatory cables to the other side of the world. Wellmeaning people had done that, and he had no fault to find with what they had done ; but he was not prepared to follow their example. Why had he not sent cablegrams to Michael Collins and to Eamon de Valera congratulating them on the signing of the treaty? Because, in his opinion, the treaty was not what the Irish people had set out to achieve, and it was not worthy of the sacrifices that Ireland had made. (Applause.) The treaty, such as it was, did not really satisfy any man in Ireland at present. (Applause.) He cared little for the opinions of those who differed with,him. Michael Collins and those who signed the treaty said it was not a final settlement; it was a payment on account. (Laughter.) It was the sort of payment on account to be taken for what it was worth and let the future look after itself. (Applause.) The Irish people would see how the future was going to be shaped. The Irish representatives had signed the treaty —with a pistol held to their heads. He did not mean that Lloyd George held a loaded pistol at their heads, but the Irish representatives signed the treaty because they believed they could not get for Ireland what she was entitled to, and they feared, if they failed to affix their signatures, that Ireland would be overrun by the “Black and Tans.” It was under the threat of force and violence that the treaty had been signed. The Irish representatives did not fear for themselves, but they were loth to see Ireland plunged again into a horrible warfare, and they signed the treaty very unwillingly. Whatever other people might think of the treaty, he could not reconcile himself to sending congratulations to anybody. (Applause.) It was because he believed the treaty had been signed unwillingly by the Irish representatives when a pistol had been held at their heads that he had refrained from sending congratulations. (Applause.) There were people in Australia who regretted the divisions in Ireland, and no one regretted the divisions more than he did. Division in Ireland had been the cause of a great many disasters in that country, and it had probably prevented the Irish people from achieving much sooner what had come about recently. However, he admired those who stood consistently for principle. He liked a man, when he said a thing, to stand to it and never go back on it. (Applause.) Therefore, his sympathies were with those who did not pretend to be satisfied with the treaty, and who were not prepared to sing Hosannas even if the Irish people accepted it. (Applause.) If the Irish people were going to get everything possible out of the treaty, who would be responsible for it? A great many people might claim the credit, but in his opinion the credit would go to de Valera and to those who kept a watching brief for Ireland.

NEW SOUTH WALES. The Very Rev. Father M. J. Ryan has been appointed Provincial of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of the Australian Province. Father Ryan succeeds Father Perkins, whose term of office expired in February last. The new Provincial is the second Australian priest to hold that office. Father Ryan is a native of Paddington, Sydney, and received his education from the Marist Brothers, St. Mary’s Cathedral, and the Jesuit Fathers, Riverview, where he matriculated with honors. He was ordained in 1912, and, after professing Sacred Scripture for over two years at the Sacred Heart Monastery, Kensington, the “Alma Mater” of the Australian Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Father Ryan was appointed to Queenstown, Tasmania, where, he held the office of pro-Superior for some years, after which he was transferred to the mission staff of the Fathers. He has been very successful in each sphere so far, and he is sure to reflect credit on the new and highly responsible office imposed upon him. The Very Rev. Father P. Treand and the Rev. Father M. D. Forrest are Consuitors to the new Provincial.

His Grace the Archbishop, when speaking at the St. Patrick’s Day celebration committee meeting in the Chapter Hall, the other day, referred to Ireland, and said that he had received a letter by the last mail from a personal friend, who was fully acquainted with the position of affairs there. The writer, in the course of his remarks, said that great changes have taken place in Ireland. The English army will soon be out of the South of Ireland, but will be kept in the North to encourage Orangemen to remain out of the Free State. The treaty has been received without enthusiasm. Although the vast majority of the people are in favor of it, still there was great disappointment, and the demand for complete independence will continue to grow. There is very little bitterness between the political parties* Rev. Father Sheehy, of Wollongong, has taken Up duties at the Springwood College. Rev. Father Dempsey, of Lithgow, has gone to Wollongong to replace Father Sheehy. Rev. Dr. Nevin, of Manly College, has returned to Sydney, after spending a delightful holiday in New Zealand and Melbourne. Rev. Father Griffin, who was recently transferred to Brewarrina as successor to the Rev, Father Beehan, is now an inmate of Lewisham Hospital, Sydney, where he is being treated for an internal complaint. The Archbishop of Sydney was to have officiated at the ceremonies connected with the additions to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Waratah, on March 25. On the following Thursday his Grace was to proceed to Brisbane, to assist at the blessing of additions to St, Stephen’s Cathedral.

QUEENSLAND. His Grace the Archbishop returned from the West after an extensive tour, in the course of which he visited Charleville, Cunnamulla, Augathella, Langlo Crossing, Adavale, Roma, and Dalby. At Cunnamulla, on Sunday, February 19, he blessed and opened the beautiful new school for the Sisters of Mercy. Heretofore the Sisters had been rising the church for school purposes, and suffered all the inconveniences connected with such an arrangement. The new school will give ample room for all the children. There is a large central hall where the senior classes will be taught. On the eastern end a large glass room is provided for the infants, and on the western end two rooms for special classes. The space underneath the building will be much frequented by the pupils, as it is both lofty and cool, affording a delightful shade from the summer sun. The Archbishop was driven from Morven to Augathella by Mr. James Allen, of Allendale Station; The party was accompanied by Mrs. and Miss Allen. En route his Grace called at the Clara Creek Hotel to visit Mr. Sylvester Hayes and his daughter, who have spent many years in the lonely vest. He received a most delightful welcome from this genial old Limerick man, whoso intelligent daughter he found had read almost everything worth reading in the best current literature. It is rare to find anyone knowing by heart Francis Thompson’s “Hound of Heaven,” but that was only one of Miss Hayes’s literary achievements. Lunch was partaken of at “Allendale,” which the Allen Brothers, through their grit and industry, have turned into a kind of earthly paradise. It certainly is refreshing to find so truly a Catholic home in the Queensland bush. In no part of Ireland could the Archbishop expect a more hospitable welcome than he received from those two splendid specimens of Australian Catholicity—Mr. and Mrs. Allen. Their bright little children promise worthily to follow in their parents’ footsteps. On the morning of Thursday, February 16, his Grace, assisted by the Rev. Father Molony, confirmed 21 candidates.