Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 24, 1 July 1925, Page 47

Irish News

PLEA FOR. PEACE IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS—HEROES’ , REQUIEM —MR. DEVLIN ~.' AON -IRISH * UNITY.— TUNNEL.—ENCOURAGING REPORT.— pr-k?'/'' 1 * of government:' ‘*- "

'\ Speaking at Ardee his Grace Most Rev. Dtr: O’Donnell made an earnest plea for an , .. <2l Ito bitterness .in public affairs. The ; A i |hbishop was a prominent figure in a pub- ; lic i procession of the Blessed Sacrament in ' the streets of the town on a recent Sunday,' on ; the occasion of ' the close of 'a Retreat and the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the local" Sacred Heart Confraternity. , Up- • wards of 3000 people participated in the procession, which marched four deep from - - the 1 church to the grounds of Ardee,House. ■ demesne, reciting the Rosary and at inter- , vals singing. hymns to the music of the local • - brass band. The streets were lavishly decorated. ' , ■■' Addressing the gathering in the open prior to Benediction, his Grace said that the , < members of a confraternity who keep its rules - and live up to their professions as ; ' Christians were, a position to aid religion in .many ways. Banded together, they had :■ ■ r i .'■ n ■ . 1 ■ ■ : . - ■y. ■. ■ .. a.: powerful. influence in repressing practices that were a'- menace ~to the observance of God’s Commandments. An active Confraternity could - do much to exclude evil literature, discourage the pernicious habit of betting, and confine amusements, within the ~, limits of moderation and decency. ; Its influence was ; a safeguard'for the youth, of a i, parish especially. ' . : > ; • There was one public service of the great- • * est importance that ; the Confraternities i: could do much to promote, and that was the removal of the bitterness, rancor, and hatred that so often disgraced public life. V' in the sodalities men of every rank, section, and - political complexion stood together !in the spirit of brotherly love, and that was the spirit that should permeate all their'relations in life. It did not mean that they ; should speak ,of one another as angels, but it certainly did mean that they should not speak of., one a they as demons. ; '“ltany of our.people are far from perfection,” said his Grace, “they fire, thank God, , ;^'stilh further from reprobation.” There was V plenty of room for difference of opinion, and .difference even of principle, ’, in ‘ temporal matters. . He urged them to practise the gospel, of fraternal charity. .He appealed to - the members to make a noble effort to, estab- \ ; lish the reign of good-will among all sections of . the, people. ' ' ’ ' v • * * ; A Requiem Mass for the repose of the souls ' of the men who died v for Ireland in the ■- Insurrection’ of 1916 , was celebrated in the : • Garrison ' Church, 'Arbour Hill, Dublin,- at .-m o’clock on Monday morning last (says an exchange, under date May 9). Most ;of the ’" members ¥ the Cabinet, the Bail and , Seand'd, the Judges % of ' the Supreme Court mud of the High Court, the chiefs of the - ' and-Civil' Service,; and mariy of the tny and -Civil deceased Volunteers were tives of the deceased Volunteers were ’: . • Bent. : A commemoration ceremony at the I *, gf»ves"took place after the' Requiem Mass.

Three years' ago, two ' years ago, y and even n a year-ago, many would be. inclined to say that the men of. 1916 died in vain and that, all ;■ those ; who ? died in the ; subsequent struggle died in vain. The country had, like Greece in Lord Byron’s, time, come to be regarded as the land they saved in vain. But to-day that feeling has passed away, please : God, never to return.' There is a spirit of hope and buoyancy’ now :in the country that dispels all the: fogs of the ~ re- 1 cent past. The country has already turned, the corner and is making • good, f Fort this the men of 1916 will be forever remembered with Igve and admiration and with gratitude. / • ' • ’’ • ■' : 1 . : ,■ • ■ ' / ■ ■ ' .' ; ; ; Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., speaking at a -banquet in his honor in Dublin; offered advice in regard to “Ulster.” The Boundary Question, he said, would not be settled by the Boundary Commission. No matter how favorable the decision of the latter in regard to the inclusion of additional areas -in y the Free State, there would still be a big and very important element in “Ulster,” whose grievance would be quite as urgent as those of their compatriots who had been transferred across the new border. The first ; thing to be done, he proceeded, was to bring" about Unity and to create a good atmosphere, to bring home to the masses of the people, of all shades of politics, the knowledge that unity was as essential for the North as it was for the South. ' - v « . * • •* ■ .■■■ / The project for the building of a tunnel under the Liffey from the . North Wall across to Ringsend is now well advanced. Tenders, are being considered these - days, and the work, will probably begin before - the summer is half . way through. This tunnel will do much to develop that portion of the city and prevent congestion' at many points along , the north side of the river. , ... . /V ■ • • « / The following paragraph from ’ the report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General on the accounts of the year 1923-24 speaks for, itself. He states:—-“During the year 192324 the financial administration ; of, the public services showed a steady - improvement ~ as compared with the previous year.” That is the year while the civil war was on. Dealing with the Army vote he states; “Paying officers and • their staffs have become more experienced, better accounting machinery; has been provided for the adequate vouching of claims for supplies, stores, services, etc., and a settled. Army organisation has contributed to .the general progress.” The report for the year ended on the 31st: March last will show still further improvement. ; . • • • . There is just one point in connection with present Irish expenditure that : has ; never been sufficiently stressed or put before" the people here or before the Irish people abroad. The cost of ’ running the country in the time

of the British yis > compared with the coat; :..,‘p-w —.• iyv i v. *•», 1-*, ,•( .-, ys.: /•>■/.*« •*♦■'j.w .7 i■* j.t. •' \'y -•/* -t . of running that portion of ; the country -now in the -Saorstat, and as : the figures -'•.are-; higher there is too often the assumption • that native government. has been , a , failure- inas■much as it has been here shown to be waste-’ ful and extravagant. Of; course, there has', first; of all to be an allowance made for the relative value *.of money ndw and in 1914. The purchasing power of money to-day in. comparison with . 1914, is in the ratio of 100 to 185. - The non-recurrent expenditure this year is . estimated at'. £26,000,000 odd. That £26,000,000 to-day would represent an , expenditure of about £14,000,000 in 1914. Part of the increase in expenditure and staff is ' accounted for by the fact, that work that! was formerly done in London or Birmingham! is now done . here. The Post Office Savings, Bank business, the business of the Stationery Office, the head office work of the' Customs and Excise, and various other offices are all now transacted here. The great increase has ■ been in the Land Commission Staff. These are employed in surveying and dividing up , the large tracts of untenanted land and in the preliminary work connected with that; /There is a. loss of a million and a half in the working of the Post Office. Our sparse population accounts for this. The establishment is one of those things inherited from Britain. It , was one- of the %v advantages of the Union. The Old Age Pensions Act is another arrangement not altogether suited to Ireland. The four millions expended on primary .education is a legacy ; from the ; British.' There , was not an adequate return for the inflated salaries paid ; in, the;-time .of - the foreign regime. These are three items inherit# from the British, and it will be a.: slow.process, to fit them in with our actual needs. None of these losses can be cut to any great extent; in a year or t,wo. Mr. Blythe said’recently that with- , in a reasonable period the Post Office must ■bo; made pay : its way. : y WM