ANOTHER SIGN OF GROWING POWER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 53, 2 May 1874, Page 9

ANOTHER SIGN OF GROWING POWER.

A daily Catholic journal, to b 3 called " The Monitor," is about to make its appearance iv London ; at least so it is reported on what appears to be good authority. Should this prove to be the case, it will undoubtedly mark a memorable era in the modern history of Englmd and the Cntholic Church. Somo short time ago, the 'Fall Mall G-a^etts ' and ' London Times' wore scandalised at the very freo m inner in which the Cithohe journals in London were advancing the claims oi Cit holies to equal political rights. They hinted pretty broadly that C ilholies had better keep quiet and dr.uv in their horns a little,, else it inigut Inppen that the penal laws might possibly be revived agaiust themBut it is too lite now to try to arrest the progress of Catholicity by mi} such means. The growing power of the Catholic periodical press, aevinced by flic p"opos,ed establishment of a, daily London Catholic journal, would be sufficient of itself to prevent any attempt to reprint ihe progress of the C.ith >lio Church in the United Kingdom by pen.i brufutes of any kind, if even there were not other strong reasons again*, such attempts The fate of " The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill " might b< a naming even to Bismarck. But the very fact of such a thing beio, hiuted at by the ' Pall Mull G-.izotte' and the ' London Tunes ' Ji ny how formidable they think the Catholic party in England is now bj coming, and how hopeless ere long will be any attempts to cop j with by ordinary means. If Catholics were what their enemies are so c v r e\ to make believe tney are — tyrants who wish to monopolise all power and to lord it over their neighbours Dy any means, however niiquitiouj then Protestants might reasonably be excused irom attempting cite the public alarm on witnessing such striking proofs of Catholu progress in England and elsewhere, as are now seen. But the dayi* gone by when cither Catholics or any other party can long retain pjnt by vi.just means. We claim no exclusive privileges. We merely wm s Catholic subjects and the Catholic Church to be iree. It is because we are for ever being misrepresented, in our principles, in our conduct and designs, by the press, that we suffer so much wrong at the haudi of our fellow-citizens —many, or rather most of them, are just men, ariwould not wrong us intentionally. The newspaper press in England since the Reformation, has been labouring day by day — we may b,ij hour by houi — to place every thing relating to the Catholic Church anc her children in a false light. We need not tell how well they havi succeeded in that base purpose. The public n<ind has been poisoned

against us. From the Reformation up to the present time there has been nothing like a Catholic middle class in England, and, therefore nothing like a Catholic periodical press. The Protestant press had every thing their own way. Catholic people, at home and nbrond •were by them held up to public susp-'cion. or odium, or ridicule • the' Pope himself being often the villain ; and for this there was no remedy It paid the press to abuse and calumniate Catholics, and they were abused and insulted accordingly. They could make no reply In a somewhat similar way, though not to the same extent, Catholic* have been wronged in the British colonies. But all this is changing for tho better. In England there is now a growing Catholic middfeclpss It was sufficiently numerous to support four weekly metropolitan news paper* , for 50 years back, up to the present time, with' several Monthlies ; and it would appear that it is now sufficiently numerous to support one daily journal besides. The impartial portion of the English pubhc, ot all creeds, will now lmvb an opportunity of reading true and authentic intelligence on Catholic affairs, and of learning what, the political principles and designs of Catholics really aro. They will have this opportunity not merely at intervals of a week, or a month but daily, and this is a great matter. It, is the constant and d.iily repetition of caiumny and misrepresojitation against us by the Protestant press which has done us so much mischief When men ee<) thi-i^s however incredible and false, daily repeated for years or generations' they come at last to regard them as gospel truths, ft is thus that many Protestants have from their cradle been persuaded to believe the most monstrous falsehoods regarding their Catholic neighbours and to receive them without doubting. In England, Catholic journalism has not hitherto been » paying business. But for tho public spirit and zeal of a few Catholic noblemen and gentlemen, and one Catholic lidv a convert to the faith, some of the Catholic journals in England could not have fought their way as they have done to their present position of influence and usefulness. In these colonies the like newspaper cress is but in i* infancy. Yet, by tho generous support of the Catholi<population, it may be reasonably hoped that it will overcome its present difficulties, and la due tune take up a respectable position amene its competitors. My impression is we ought t 0 have no Catholic newspapers m the strict and exclusive sense ol the wcrd, but only newspapers under such a just direction as will do full justice to Catholics as well as other clasps m the State. When a newspaper assumes a Catholio name, and harps so constantly on purely Catholic questions, its influence on tho public irmd generally must be greatly impaired