SHONEENISM IN PRACTICE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 45, 16 November 1922, Page 26

SHONEENISM IN PRACTICE.

10 THH EDITOR. Sir,Apropos of your frequent and apposite references to the coming general election, I propose with your indulgence to refer to a. few facts in connection with the last. One of the Auckland constituencies selected as its Parliamentary representative one, Mr. J. S. Dickson, whose only claim to prominence is his close, connection, with Mr. Howard Elliott • and the Protestant Political Association. As a matter of fact when the House of Representatives thrilled with indignation at the slanders cast- by Elliott upon one of our saintly dead, this gentleman made no secret of his sympathy with the man who had been publicly thrashed by the dead nun's brother. Mr. Dickson and his friends have repeatedly boasted that he sits in Parliament by the largest majority polled by any Parliamentarian in this country. .Certainly his majority exceeded 2000 votes, and your readers will be surprised to learn that he received a substantial measure of Catholic support! Itwill be obvious enough to anyone who studies the figures that such a plurality could never have polled were it. not that Mr. J. S. Dickson, the personal friend of Mr. Howard Elliott and avowed representative of the Protestant Political Association, received hundreds of votes from people whom they revile as "superstitious* Romanists The figures of course tell their own tale, but I have frequently visited Auckland since the election, and having seen and beard things for myself, have no hesitation „in stating that Mr. Dickson is persona grata with not a- few in the North who proclaim themselves Irishmen and. Catholics! Under these circumstances it is not surprising that Auckland was able to produce a quota of shoneens who,, when the furore about Bishop Listen's speech was at its height, did not scruple to attack their Bishop in the public press! Another illustration of shoneenism in practice was afforded by this city of. Wellington. Some weeks prior to the general election Mr. Howard Elliott announced by means "of an ''interview" published through >the sympathetic v medium of the local Liberal organ, the New Zealand Times, that ,Mr. Semple's election for Wellington South was an affront to Protestantism and that no means would be left to unseat him at the general election. Moreover, the Leader of. the so-called Liberal Party, the late Mr. W. I). S. MacDonald, publicly announced that there were certain Labor extremists to defeat whom "the two great political parties" had combined. In due course a certain Colonel Mitchell announced himself as an Independent candidate for ..Wellington South. Under .the circumstances a. man whose head was no bigger than a, door-knob could see that Air. Mitchell was the Reform-Liberal-Welfare LeagueP.P.A. candidate. That he Mas supported by every rancorous bigot was r quite- evident and notorious. • Certainly Mr. Mitchell proved himself a dexterous politician, for he disclaimed all sympathy with the P.P.'protested that lie Mas a supporter of Sir. Joseph. Ward, ( that he..was proud of his many Catholic friends, • etc., ", His protestations were palpably false and' could be believed only- by those' 'who

wished to be deceived. ,In due course Mr. .Mitchell was elected, and now mark what followed. When the Massey Government, prompted by its . chaplain,' Mr. Howard Elliott introduced its amendment to the 'Marriage Act; Mr. Mitchell came out in his true colors and trooped into the Lobby along with his- friend and colleague, Dickson, ill support of the Bill! For this he was iii due course publicly . congratulated by the Protestant Political Association, and one wonders now how proud his Catholic friends are of Mr. Mitchell! The Marriage Amendment Act, 1920, is a futile, ineffective, and contemptible piece of legislation, and personally I would have preferred complete indifference on the part of the Catholic body to the deliberations of the partisan Parliamentary Committee to which it was referred. That the Act is a blank failure, that it is incapable of enforcement, that it is in every way beneath contemptall this is beside the question, however. Its purpose was to insult the Catholic community, but the humiliating fact remains that the Mitchells and the Dicksons who voted for it are the elected representatives of no small section of Catholic voters! Evidently the Woman of Three Cows has left a numerous posterity in this country for shoneenismor should I say "respectability" or snobbery? has laid hold of not a few of the Catholic community, and it is as well perhaps that your readers should be made aware of the fact. I am, etc., P. J. 4)' Regan. Wellington, November 10. . • ."