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DR. LISTON’S SPEECH.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —In the issue of Tuesday’s News. I note Mr. John Diggins has a contribution in which lie endeavors to portray Dr. Liston as a much maligned and misuhderstood individual. He refers in his letter to a statement made by Lord Fitz-Alan (a Catholic) anent the misdoings of the British in Ireland, and he quotes his words. But this is all far wide of the mark. What has stirred the blood and fired the patriotism of every loyal New Zealander in recent times has been the utterances of Dr. Liston. Archbishop Redwood, and Bishop O’Shea. These Catholic leaders have glorified the cause of Sinn Fein, have espoused the same and openly avowed themselves believers in the Sinn Fein creed. What does the Sinn Fein movement stand for? Loyalty to our King and Country? No. Did the Sinn Fein believers and apostles hold out a helping hand to the .nation in her hour of sorest need? No. Has that portion of the Irish people any record of their gallant fight against the greatest military despot the world has ever seen ? No. At Thiepval, where some of the severest fighting in France during the great war took place, stands a fine white tower—Ulster’s cenotaph to her dead, built on the site of the Ulster Division’s famous advance on July 1, 1916, dedicated to their imperishable memory by the Primate of All Ireland, the memorial chamber within the tower being unveiled by General Weizgand. Which of these two sections of the Irish, I ask Mr. John Diggins, does he stand for? Those who gave their best and noblest freely in the cause of real freedom, or those, who would stab our Mother Country in the back—aye. who longed, yearned, and prayed for the defeat of "our country and her noble allies. Acts such as these live long in the nation’s memory.

May* I, Sir, in conclusion, quote to your correspondent, Mr. John Diggins, and all those others who may (and there are many we know, who do) be followers of the ‘•Red” doctrine of sedition and abolition o-f all that maintains the very foundation of our national constitution and our most cherished ideals, the words of General Prescott Decie at a huge meeting of London Loyalists in the Irish Cause at the Queen’s Hall, London. “Men of England, men Of .Scotland, and men of Ulster, up and send these Sinn Fein murderers and their Bolshevik allies back to the Hell they came from.” Thank, God, Sir, we know that every Catholic and Irishman does not hold the traitorous views that have been so openly expressed in this country, but the feeling is beyond doubt, solid throughout this country. Yes, throughout our far flung Empire, that this stabbing in the back of British interests has got to cease, the cancer of sedition and Red revolution has got to be cut out, and the sooner those who uphold the utterers of certain recent speeches in New Zealand realise this, the better it will be for the peace, quiet, and prosperity of this . fair Dominion. —I am, etc., “FOR KING AND COUNTRY.” Inglewood, April 4.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —I have read with interest the correspondence in your issues of recent dates anent Dr. Liston’s little ebullition on St. Patrick’s Day, an oratorical flight which no doubt relieved His Grace’s feelings and certainly did no harm to the British Empire. But, hold! I am forgetting good old “Sub Judice.” His break has certainly fanned the flame of unreasonable and bitter sectarianism, and now Home Rule tor Ireland, the Catholic religion, and the P.P.A. are well mixed. Every New sfoalajider, not troubled about Old

World grievances, bewails the introduction of this sectarian strife into New Zealand, but the present controversy going on in the Press of the Dominion denotes that the shibboleths of the Old World are here. It now appears to be Orange plus P.P.A. versus Green. And it is a great pity. Protestantism, which is the accepted religion view of more than three quarters of our population, cannot be seriously regarded as endangered by any activity of the remaining quarter. The Pope is still in Ancient Rome, and has no intention of establishing a Spanish Inquisition in New Zealand. It is accordingly a matter for regret that genuine loyalty should attack the religion and not the disaffection of its opponents, as many are doing in the Dominion to-day. Disloyalty manifesting itself in enmity to the nation often escapes because men turn their attacks not on disloyalty, but on a form of religion with which it is accidentally associated. Catholicism is not antiBritish. By far the larger portion of the Allied troops who held Germany back upon the bloodily contested Western front were Catholics, and thousands of them were priests. Denominations counted for nothing there. Why then all this fulminating against th? disloyalty of Catholics? Anti-Roman ism appears to be the religion of many and I not Christianity. . Enemies to the nation which shelters them are to be j found in all British countries. Such l men are equally dangerous, no matter what religion—or unreligion they profess. Their religion is their own affair, their hostility to the flag which protects them is not. It is a menace, and deserves denunciation. To attack their private beliefs, however, weakens and does not strengthen the cause of union. Tire cry of sectarianism is easily raised, but it is not fair to say that Catholics as a body are disloyal. I am a Catholic, but I give plase to no one in my loyalty to the British Crown. I do not, however, appreciate the methods being used at present to belittle my religion. I like fair play. I would like to trespass on your space to say a few words to “Husband of a Catholic,” but fee], it would be a waste of space and powder. His statement about the lady communicant is utterly absurd, and indicates that some humorous “head” must have had his foot. Perhaps if “Husband of, etc.,” were to read Begbie’s “The Lady Next Door.” it would lift him out of his present crass ignorance regarding Ireland and the Irish. There is something woefully defective about the mental equipment of a writer who can pen such nonsense. It is his sort that keeps the devil of sectarianism amongst us. I shall be glad to hear from him again. Hoping this letter does not meet the fate of and thanking you in anticipation for a full run.—l am, etc., “SQUARE DEAL.” Opunake, April 4.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19220407.2.76.2

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 7 April 1922, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,093

DR. LISTON’S SPEECH. Taranaki Daily News, 7 April 1922, Page 7

DR. LISTON’S SPEECH. Taranaki Daily News, 7 April 1922, Page 7

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