Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 33, 23 August 1923, Page 18

Current Topics

Catholics in the United States According to the Official Catholic Directory for 1923, there are 18,260,793 Catholics in the United States, that is about one-sixth of the total population. There are 22,545 priests, or one for every 810 of the laity. There are 6,406 Catholic parochial schools, attended by 1,922,420 pupils. The following table illustrates the growth of the Catholic population, relatively to the total, during the first sixty years of the last

Bellarmine and American Independence Among the books preserved by Thomas Jefferson in the Congressional Library at Washington was a copy of the Patriarhia, in which Robert Filmer defended the divine right of kings against Bellarmine. Wellthumbed by Jefferson was the following extract by Filmer, which gives a summary of Bellarmine's teaching: • , "Secular or civil power is instituted by man." "It is in the people unless they bestow it on a prince." "The power is immediately in the people." "The Divine Law hath given this power to no particular man." "If the positive law be taken away, there is no reason why, among a multitude, who are equal, one rather than another should rule over the rest." "Power is given by the people to one man or more." "It depends upon, the consent of the people to ordain over them a king, council, or other magistrates. "If there be a lawful cause the people may change the kingdom into an aristocracy or a democracy." Filmer calls these principles "popish" doctrines. One Algernon Sydney was beheaded in England in 1683 for defending the right of the people to depose a king. But the principles of Bellarmine, which were also those of Suarez, Soto, Molina, and Cajetan, were good enough for the framers of the great American Constitution, which said expressly, echoing Bellarmine: "All men are created equal." "Governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed." "When any form of government becomes destructive of their ends, it is the right of the people to abolish it; and to institute a new government." The Conquest of Scotland While people like Joseph McCabe are earnestly trying to persuade their audiences that the Catholic Church is dead and a thing of the past, disqualified for life by ex-monks and other such impartial umpires, we find that the Presbyterians of Scotland are of a different frame of mind. Their trouble is that the Church is too much alive and that they are losing ground in their own land while those awful "Romanists" are sweeping all before them. "The Irish are upon, us!" is their cry. "Save us from being annexed, overwhelmed, crushed out and crowded out by those people from the Sister Island who never denied their Faith to please British Kings An effort is made to stir up the No Popery, spirit and a report has been issued by a committee appointed for the purpose of considering how to deal with "the incursion into Scotland of a large Catholic vpopulation within recent years." The report complains that there has been a great exodus of the Scottish

race to America and the Dominions, compelled by- the economic pressure of the Irish race. From. 1881 to 1901 the increase of the Irish population in Scotland was nearly twice as great as that of the Scottish population, and from 1901 to 1921 the increase of the Irish population was six and a half times as great as that of the Scottish population. Allusion is made to the alleged disinclination of Scots to work alongside and live among Irish, and it is predicted that the great plain of Scotland, stretch- , ing from Glasgow in the west to Dundee and Edinburgh, in the east, will be soon dominated by the Irish race. . The Ambitious Irish. The report also refers to the Irish gift of speech, aptitude for public life, and restless ambition to rule, and it anticipates the rapid permeation of the whole of Scotland by an alien people. The General Assembly is to be asked to urge the Government to appoint a Commission to inquire into the whole situation. The report states that there is no complaint of the presence of the Orange population in Scotland, as "they are of the same race and faith as ourselves, and are easily assimilated to the Scottish population." The Scotsman, in a leading article, is dubious regarding the report. "More proof," it says, "than is here produced seems required of this alleged incapacity of the Scotch nation either to assimilate or to withstand on its own ground the industrial impact of the Irish invaders. Most Difficult. "Undoubtedly, however, the Irish population hang closely together in politics ? - as well as in religion and customs, and present a special and most difficult problem in all the localities where they muster in force. By Irish is not meant merely people born in Ireland. It would even appear that the number of residents in Scotland of Irish birth is diminishing—it was 205,000 , in 1901, over 174,000 in 1911, and is put down as 170,000 in 1921. Obviously this only makes more difficult the problem of ' Saving Scotland for the Scots ' without doing injustice to the Irish living in the country the great and growing majority of whom have been born here and may, therefore, claim to be part of the nation." "Dry" Ships The American Supreme Court's ruling, that no ships with liquor on board, excepting what is required for sacramental and medicinal purposes, shall enter American waters, has been met with protests from several foreign Powers. The three vital sections of the regulations are: "Section 2. Any merchant vessel arriving in port with liquor not classed in these regulations either as cargo or sea stores, but claimed by the master to be "•*- held for non-beverage purposes, or with wine claimed to be held for sacramental purposes, but without a permit or certificate authorising its possession under the national Prohibition Law, may be allowed to retain a reasonable quantity for such purposes until the master has had fair opportunity to obtain either a permit or a certificate of medicinal need, or otherwise satisfy the requirements of the Prohibition Law and regulations. "Section 8. No merchant vessel, domestic or foreign, may lawfully carry as cargo within the territorial waters of the United States any liquor for use for beverage purposes. "Section 10. It is unlawful for any United States or foreign merchant vessel within the territorial waters of the United States to carry or possess as sea stores any liquor whatever for beverage use." Commenting on these, the Philadelphia Ledger says-: ~ "There are bound to be complications. We are ... I interfering with the rights of the world's travellers, r Our domestic legislation is 'being used to ■ dry up the -' seas. We are hindering the shipping of """the world. The interests involved are so great that only an international conference may hope to smooth out what has become a serious international situation." The Month's view, as a Catholic review, is the following . ..«

"Unable to prevent the sale of liquor in their own territory, the Government of the United States, acting on a decision of their Supreme Court and by a singular and unprecedented stretch of prerogative, intend to make the attempt on the territory of other nations. For that is the plain English, of the declaration that by virtue of the tyrannous Prohibition Law no foreign vessels can enter American ports with strong drink on board even though it be sealed against consumption. It would seem that the judges who gave that decision are aiming at bringing the Eighteenth Amendment into still further disrepute with a view to its repeal, for a. more intolerable and unnecessary invasion of national rights can hardly be imagined. . , Testimonies vary as to the success of the Prohibition amendment in effecting its purpose, but' all witnesses agree that its enactment has proved demoralising to a degree. Catholic moral theology regards it as an unjust infringement of human liberty, and considers that no moral obligation to observe it, vi legis, arises, although to obviate the scandal of an open violation of law, and because no rights of conscience are involved, men are counselled to obey it. But no obligation of any sort attaches to the new Supreme Court decision and we trust that all sovereign States will combine to ignore it. . . Meanwhile the civilised world will mark with astonishment the growth, in. what is supposed to be the country of freedom, of- State tyranny and intolerance." The Month's sane criticism recalls Dooley on "The Return of Flanagan." Flanagan, on his way home to U.S.A. was telling a poor down-trodden victim of Russian tyranny of the freedom in the land of liberty. But when the customs officers boarded the boat at "New York, confiscated his roll of Irish frieze-cloth, broke his quart of potheen, and charged him half a dollar on his blackthorn, his first words to the joyful Mrs. Flanagan, who waited for him on the wharf, were: "Stand back from me, Missus. I'm a Rooshian for the remaindher of me days." The Menace of Asia Guglielmo Ferrero remarks that, by every requirement of good logic, a great nation, on emerging victorious from a great war, ought to instil into its subjects greater fear and respect. But after the Armistice, Afghanistan rebelled against England, and in 1919 came a war of which Europe knows only the result—a treaty renouncing England's claim to the protectorate, recognising Afghanistan's complete independence, and giving her right-of-way, without restrictions and control, into an Indian port. Then, during the war, India was fairly quiet, but when peace came nationalist agitation began, and it seems that neither concessions nor repressive measures have been able to check it. Of other parts of the East he says: "Though torn by revolution, China has demanded restoration of her territorial integrity and her sovereignty. She has even managed to cancel a number of rights and privileges granted to the great European Powers and to Japan. "In 1919 England succeeded in establishing a protectorate over Persia. The treaty, which placed the government, the administration and the Army of Persia under British control, gave rise to savage recriminations and jealousies in Europe. There appeared to be nothing to prevent its enforcement, for Persia was disarmed and could no longer count on Russia for support. Never-' theless, the treaty remained a dead letter and has since been abandoned. "Politically, Egypt is Asiatic rather than African. During the war, Egypt patiently endured the protectorate proclaimed by Great Britain toward the end of 1914. As soon as the war was over, she demanded her independence so vigorously that Great Britain was forced to give in to her on many vitally important points. "Mesopotamia is no longer quiet. Practically everywhere, the native populations are rebelling against the system of mandates imposed by the treaties of peace. The Arab state erected by the British for use against Turkey, and more or less against France, can not be

trusted. Native hatred of European domination is too strong. "But the greatest surprise has come from Turkey. At the end of 1918, Turkey seemed to have been annihilated. The Treaty of Sevres not only snuffed out the Ottoman Empire but all Islam in so far as political and military power were concerned. Turkey has since regained Smyrna, Constantinople, and her independence, and the Calif at© is more fanatical in its hatred of Europe and Christianity than before." In a word, Asia is everywhere rebelling against Europe at the very time when Asia is becoming Europeanised, we are told. Not only European and American weapons, but European and American ideas and doctrines, are'being.turned against Europe by Asiatics. The Egyptians echo the preachments of President Wilson. The new Calif, sword of Islam and defender of the faith against Christians, is elected by universal range. A parliamentary republic, patterned after the French Republic, invites Europeans to get out of China. "How are we to explain this strange contradiction V asks Professor Ferrero, who answers the question thus: "After their victory, the Allied Governments, backed by public sentiment, committed a strange blunder. In all great human alliances; wars, revolutions, victories, defeats—there are advantages and disadvantages, gains and losses, factors active and factors passive. The statesman must foot up his accounts and subtract the passive from the active factors. This we have all of us failed to do. And so we have forgotten that the Russian Empire no longer exists. "The Allied victory, was'complete in the West, but not in the East, where an Allied nation was crushed and overthrown. Though Italy, France, England, and America destroyed Austria and Germany, yet Austria and Germany, before their defeat, destroyed Russia, And there lies the cause of all our disappontments in Asia. t "If the credit and the power of all the European nations, Great Britain included, have dwindled in Asia, it is because the power of Russia has collapsed. In 1914 Europe was a unit so solid that even the bitterest antagonisms served as a source of strength. Russian power and British power seemed to beand partly were —rivals in Asia, English, French, German, Russian, and Italian influences competed everywhere and resisted one another, yet the very conflict enabled them to sustain one another. "Why did France and England wield so much authority at Constantinople until the close of the nineteenth century ? Because Turkey was afraid of Russia. Why did Germany then increase her influence there to the detriment of England and France ? Because France had formed an alliance with Russia and because England had occupied Egypt. What sentiment drove Japan into an alliance with England ? Fear of Russia. Why was China so accommodating in her attitude toward such remote European Powers as England and France Because the Muscovite Empire was treading on her toes. As long as the Russian giant, up there to the north, threatened all Asia there was an Anglophile party in Turkey, in Persia, in Afghanistan, in India, in China,' and m Japan. Of two evils, the lesser seemed preferable. And England's strength was in exact ratio to her weakness, for, from the military view-point as well as geographically, she was less redoubtable than Russia. "But when Russia fell, no one could any longer endure what had until then been the lesser of two evils. The Anglo-Japanese alliance broke down. The Ameer of Afghanistan stood out for complete independence. In India and China the desire for independence blazed up afresh. In Persia, England could find no support whatever for the Treaty of 1919. The Angora Assembly was able to build up a new Army. The Treaty of Sevres has remained a dead letter because Russian power was essential to its enforcement. If the Army of the Tsars had still dominated Asia the Angora Assembly would have had neither the-time nor the means to do what it has done."

But Professor Ferrero finds that aspiration for independence is reinforced in Asia by another sentiment — hatred of European civilisation. Many Asiatics* knowing Europe well, call us barbarians. That is Tagore’s opinion. Also, it is the opinion of Ku HungMing, who was educated in Europe, and Professor Ferrero quotes him as observing: “It is clear that if civilisation is to be rescued, Europe must find some principle on which to base authority—that is to say, a moral basis for power. But where can the Europeans find such a principle? Only in China. Confucianism not only makes excellent men, it makes good citizens. Its keystone is the great Code of Honor contained in four words, £ Ming feu to yi,’ meaning, ‘ The great moral value of authority.’ Only this code can save Europe from anarchy.”- Many Europeans will smile at this, predicts Professor Ferrero, but they ought not to, he adds, and goes on to remark, “That same question vexed the conscience of Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century. But the issue was not clearly seen. At the decisive moment in the struggle between quantity and quality, Europe failed to realise how much it was sacrificing to wealth and power. Europeans imagined that they were going to win a new perfection, loftier and more admirable. To-day the Asiatics see clearly the horrors as well as the splendors, the vices as well as the virtues, and the faults as well as the greatness of Europe and America.

"What a chapter of history is beginning in Asia! The greatest, the most complicated, and the most tragic of all problems is to be solved there. During the last few centuries Europe has been unconsciously evolving a blind demigod possessed of formidable power, but not knowing how to use it— a demigod now creating, now destroying, now with elation, now with indifference. This blind demigod, yesterday the admiration of the world, has become obsessed with a mania for destruction and is beginning to be a terror to the world. Where shall we find the remedy that will give this demigod eyes and teach him its strength rationally and for ends recognised as legitimate by the moral consciousness ? Shall we find it among the oldest races of Asia, who* lived under wiser and just laws when Europe was still altogether barbarous?"-' If Asia succeeds in appropriating the weapons and the science of Europe and in retaining the loftiest portion of its ancient civilisation if it succeeds in harmonising perfection and power, quantity and quality, then, thinks Professor Ferrero, Asia will become a new model for the world. "While Turks, Persians, Chinamen, and Japs come to Europe to study engineering and chemistry, or to buy our guns and explosives, Europeans may well seek to discover the secret to which Ku Hung-Ming refers and which seems to enable Chinese civilisation to last forever. If the Chinese have the secret of an everlasting civilisation, that alone will be worth more than all our inventions."

- Bit of History

After the close of the Crimean War some Sisters of Mercy returned to England in a ship which carried a number of soldiers. The commanding officer asked them to share the triumph of the troops by walking at the head of the regiment from the ship to the barracks. As they passed along the crowd that had gathered to cheer the soldiers began to hiss and groan at the religions, whereupon one of the men became so angry that he sprang from the ranks and called upon his comrades to defend the women who had cared for them so devotedly. Every man in the regiment took a threatening attitude, with his gun levelled at the crowd, and serious trouble might easily have followed. The commanding officer then stepped forward, and in a few strong words explained all the nuns had done for the suffering army. The hissing quickly changed to cheering, and by the time the barracks was reached the nuns were the unwilling centre of a tremendous ovation. From that day to this the Sisters of Mercy have been revered and loved in London.

Catholic Total Proportion Year. Population. Population. of Catholics. 1808 ... 100,000 6,500,000 1-65th 1830 ... 450,000 13,000,000 l-29th 1840 ... 960,000 17,070,000 l-18th 1850- ... 2,150,000 23,191,000 1-11th 1860 ... 4,400,000 31,000,000 l-7th