DR. LISTON’S SPEECH.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 April 1922, Page 2

DR. LISTON’S SPEECH.

FULL TEXT OF LETTER TO PREMIER. “CATHOLICS LOVE THEIR COUNTRY.” BISHOP’S “FRANK REGRETS.” Wellington, April 7. The Prime Minister (the Right Hon. W. F. Massey) received yesterday • atternoon the following letter from Dr. Liston, Coadjutor Bishop of Auckland, in relation to the statements said to have been uttered by him at the St. Patrick’s Day gathering at the Auckland Town Hall. Mr. Massey had nothing to say about the communication further than that it would have to be considered by Cabinet. The full text of the letter is as follows:“St. Benedict’s, “Auckland, “April 5, 1922. “The Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey, ' Prime Minister of N.Z. > “Sir, —I feel that I owe • a duty to my fellow-countrymen make a statement at the present moment regarding my recent speech, and it seems to me that the most fitting way to approach them is through you, Sir, the head of the Government hi New Zealand.

YIELD TO NONE IN LOYALTY. “I have been described as ‘disloyal,’ ‘a disturber of the peace,’ etc. Those who know’ me set down that description of me as incredible, and for my own part I cannot accept it for one minute, for I yield place toino one in love for this beautiful country, New Zealand, in which I was bbrnj and, my loyalty to the King. Insofar as any reported remarks of mine should have led those who do not know me to think otherwise of me, I quite frankly regret my share 'in the misunderstanding, and I trust that when the people of New Zealand, and especially Auckland, come to know me better, they too will think of me as my friends do. “If I touch upon two points. Sir, I think that the attitude of the Catholic people in New Zealand, as well as of myself, towards the institutions of the country will be better understood.

PATRIOTISM A SOLEMN DUTY. “Firstly, the Catholic Church lays on her children a, solemn obligation to love their home, and to honor their parents. Like to that, is the command she gives to them to love their country and to honor their King. To no one, be he priest or layman, does she leave this a matter of free thought or free choice. Patriotism is not a ■ mere opinion which a man may hold to-day and discard to-morrow; it is a duty, and a solemn one. “I speak in that matter as a citizen of New Zealand, no less than a Catholic bishop. The church is the motner of my faith in things eternal; New Zealand is my country, the protectress of my liberty and of my fortunes on earth. I could not utter one syllable that would belie either my church or my country, and when I assert, as I now solemnly do, that the teachings of the church are in thorough harmony with the interests of my country, New Zealand, I know in the depths of my soul that I speak the truth. “That Catholics in New Zealand have carried out this obligation of loving their country, their generous part in her children’s toil and sacrifice is honorable proof. During the past eighty years their work of hand and brain, their sweat and blood, have played no mean or grudging part in the building up of this fair young land.

“Loyalty, however, does not preclude me or anyone else from striving for the betterment of any part of the Empire, and, in this respect, I find myself in the distinguished company of His Majesty the King, Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Asquith, General Smuts, the Anglican bishops, the Nonconformist leaders, and the greater number of the representative newspapers of the Empire in calling for a change in the hitherto bitter relations between England and Ireland. I rejoice that much has been done in that direction, and I pray that •,n a short time the promise which more recent events have borne will mature *nto a perfect and a lasting friendship between the two countries.

“THE HAND OF FRIENDSHIP.” “This brings me, Sir, to my second point. 1 dwelt on this point in my speech, and intended it to give, and it really did give, the key to that 'speech, but it has been almost completely overlooked in all the subsequent criticism of myself. What ] said, and what I gay now, with all sincerity, is this: In spite of the all too unhappy past, Irish people at Home and abroad, and their sympathisers, are both willing and eager to hold out the hand of friendship. The very first to strike this note were the bishops of Ireland to a man, and the one amongst them, who was often denounced , the out-and-out extremist, has the treaty which binds his country to the Empire as the very gift of God. “With his views I am in hearty agreement. The most noteworthy of the Australian bishops have proclaimed —and I re-echo their sentiments from my heart —that there is imperative need of reconciliation and friendship between hitherto conflicting classes and countries. Like ourselves Ireland has now her future in her own hands. It would be idle to deny the existence of difficulties, but it would also be the act of despair to think that these difficulties cannot be overcome. Ireland’s friends desire nothing better than that the obstacles should vanish as speedily as possible, and leave the way open to complete reconciliation between North and South, the Free State and England. This will give us in the words of the now famous treaty the union, under His Majesty the King, of Ireland with the Commonwealth of Nations known as the British Empire. “May I conclude by saying that I feel satisfied that my clergy, who in their loyalty to me have expressed their sympathy with me. will cordially -agree with the views I have expressed irT this communication. “I beg to remain, sir, “Your obedient servant, “(Sgd.) JAMES M. LISTON. “Coadjutor Bishop of Auckland.”

THE SPEECH IN QUESTION. In a speech at the St. Patrick’s Day concert at Auckland, Bishop Liston said his parents were driven from the country in which they were born and in which they would have been content to live, because their foreign masters did not want Irish men and women

peopling their own land, but wished to use it as a cattle ranch for the snobs of the Empire. He was a native of New Zealand, and loved his country. They could not say that Ireland had got all she asked for and all that her sons had died for, but she had got the first instalment of her freedom and was determined to have the whole of it. (Applause). The omnipotent Hand of God had made Ireland a nation, and while the grass grew and the water flowed there would be many to fight, and even die in order that God’s desires might be realised. It seemed to him providential that the man who had faced the difficulties and carried them so far was there to see that, the rulers of Ireland were not duped by England. He referred to the men and women who, in the glorious Easter of 19145,. were proud to die for their country, murdered by -foreign troops. They could not forget these men and women, but in order that their dream about Ireland might come true, they could forgive.

PROTEST BY ELTHAM ORANGEMEN. At the last meeting of members of the Eltham Branch of the Loyal Orange Lodge the ' following resolutions were passed. (1) That this Loyal Orange Lodge, No. 20, reaffirms its great principles of unwavering loyalty to King and Empire and deplores the rfecent utterances of Dr. Liston, Roman Bishop of Auckland, also his defaming the loyal British soldiers by calling them foreign murderers, and at the same time exalting the disloyal Irish rebels of the 1916 Easter rebellion as heroes and martyrs. Siich insults to the loyal citizens of New Zealand can have no other motive for their purpose than sowing seeds of disloyalty and endeavoring to cause the disintegration of the Empire. ((2) That His Worship the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. Gunson, be heartily congratulated on his loyal outspokenness. (3) That we note with pleasure the action of His Majesty’s New Zealand Government in instituting proceedings against Bishop Liston for alleged sedition.