Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 30, 24 July 1902, Page 1

Current Topics

The Melbourne Movement The prediction which we made a fortnight ago that the attempt which was being made in Melbourne to establish a new Protestant organisation would only bring about an era of religious strife and bitterness shows signs of being only too rapidly fulfilled. The proposed preliminary meeting, to which we then referred, was duly held and from the full repot tsjappearing in our exchanges we learn that it was marked by scenes of intolerance and disorder! iness that were most discreditable and were themselves a sufficient indication of the real motive and spirit that is at the bottom of this movement. Before the first resolution was proposed the Rev. Dr. Rentoul, one of the best known "leaders of Presbyterianism in Victoria, pointed out that according to the circular the meeting had been called to consider the proposal to form a league and asked whether he would be allowed to criticise the resolutions and discuss the proposal. The chairman's answer, and the account of the subsequent proceedings, may be given in the words of the Melbourne Argus whose report is as follows : The Acting Chairman : No ; this is a meeting of sympathisers' (Loud ' Hear, hears.') The Rev. Dr. Rentoul : According 1 to the circular, the meeting is called to consider the proposal to form a league. Will not t lose who oppose feuch a proposal be permitted to discusß it ? (Upioar, and cries of ' No, no.') The Acting Chairman . No ; the meeting is of sympathisers with the proposal. (Hear, hear.) The Rev. Dr. Rentoul • I claim my right to speak. (' 800-hoo. ) I have done more for Protestantism than any man here. (Cries of 1 No, no,' and uproar.) A Voice • You're a pro-Boer. (Cheers.) Chorus of Voices : Pro- Boer ! Pro-Boer ! Pro-Boer ! Another Voice : Give the man fair play. (800-hoo.) A Third Voice : Go back to Pretoria. (Cheers and disorder.) The Rev. Dr. Rentoul (gesticulg ting and endeavoring to make himself heard) We are citizens whether we are Protestants or not, and I maintain (Uproar.) The Acting Chairman rose, and both he and the Rev. Dr. Rentoul endeavored to address the meeting simultaneously. The voice of neither, however, was audible for some seconds. At length after further continued uproar and disorder Dr. Rentoul retired from the meeting amid loud cries of ' Hear, hear,' and ' That's right.' The same intolerant spirit was shown even to the speakers appointed to propose the resolutions whenever they ventured to make the faintest and feeblest admission in favor of Catholics. Thus when the Rev. Dr. Fitchett remarked that he ' did not blame the Catholics for exercising their vote accoiding to their lights ' he was, according to the A rgus, greeted with cries of dissent and the same reception was accorded to another speaker's apparently safe assertion that he ' knew personally good men among the Catholics.' In a word although the one or two well-known clerics who were present saved the meeting from utter disreputableness it was abundantly evident that the gathering was Orangeite through and through, and it was marked by the vulgarity, intolerance and rowdyism for which that discredited fraternity aie notorious.

The resolutions adopted at the meeting are, on the surface at least, sufficiently harmless. The first proposed by the Rev. Dr. Fitchett, was originally couched in these terms :—: — • That this meeting resolves to form a league for the purpose of meeting and counteracting the Roman Catholic influence on legislation and administration of this State, without in any way interfering with the Roman Catholic religious position.' After some discussion, however, the reference to the Catholic Church was struck out and the resolution was finally accepted in the following iorm - 'That this meeting resolve to form a league for the purpose of organising the Protestant vote and influence, so as to give them due weight in the legislation and administration of the country.' It was further resolved — ' That in addition to the signatories of the circular letter, all present who desired it might be enrolled as members of the league, and that an executive committee be appointed to draw up a constitution, and to suggest action with a view to secure large membership, this committee to report to a future meeting.' The only noteworthy point about these resolutions is the fact that in the first and principal resolution there is not a word about religious instruction in State schools, the very question which was supposed to be the origin and justifying occasion of the new organisation. If, as the resolution would indicate, it is only a general Protestant League that is required, this exists already in the shape of the Protestant Alliance and the Orange Society, so that if the alleged special reason for the existence of the new organisation is taken away, the organisation stands forth as a self-confessed exciescence or nullity. It is, as Dr. Rentoul said, as good as dead, and foredoomed to certain failure.

But though the organisation as an organisation must fail, the bitter and offensive spirit shown at its inception may, and probably will, work much mischief. In the first place it has, as Dr. Rentoul said, effectually killed for a long time to come the hope of getting any practical solution of the problem regarding religious education in the State schools by means of a kindly large-minded arrangement with the Catholic Church. In the second place, its inevitable tendency is to still further separate Catholic and Protestant, to divide them into two hostile camps, and to give a serious set-back to the growing spirit of mutual charity ard good-will. The whole movement is entirely opposed to the spirit of true citizenship, and it certainly ought to be, as it no doubt will be, heartily condemned by intelligent laymen of all classes and creeds.

Scotchmen and the 'Sabbath.' It was, if we remember rightly, Max O'Rell who defined a Scotchman as a man who ' keeps the Sabbath and everything else he can lay his hands on'; but however much the latter half of the definition may still apply, the amount of truth in the former portion of it is a fast diminishing quantity. In the matter of Sunday desecration the Scotland of to-day is, according- to the Edinburgh correspondent of the Otago Daily Titties, in a very bad way indeed. In his last letter to the Times this writer gives a woful account of his countrymen's falling away from grace in this icspect. 'Scots,' he declares, ' who revisit their native land after a prolonged absence speak

of this as one of the things which strike them most. Tramways and bicycles have probably done more than any other ' things to break down the old order of things. Now, also, we have Sunday bands and concerts, a beginning in the opening of museums on Sunday, and engineering operations reserved for that day. The Dunoon Town Council has withdrawn its opposition to the calling of a Sunday steamer, which had led to fierce conflicts for two summers. The Paisley Town Council has just given formal leave to ice cream shops to be open for a number of hours on Sunday. Brakes full of pleasure-seekers traverse the streets of Edinburgh even while people are flocking to church in the forenoon. Scarcely a minister in the land raises his voice against these innovations, for the good (or bad) reason that ministers led the way in the matter by extensively using cabs on Sunday. In Edinburgh many of them now use the tramway cars, which are cheaper than cabs ; though a few of them are still sufficiently shamefaced to use the cars only after dark. It is clear that an entire revolution of public sentiment is in progress, and is making way not only steadily but rapidly.'

Whatever may be said or thought of Scotland's present condition, there can be no doubt that in the past the Scotchman carried his regard for the ' Sabbath ' to ridiculously extravagant lengths. We have all heard of the drunken Scotchman who when asked by a lady to oblige her by whistling for her dog that was some distance away, hiccoughed out, ' Wumman, do you no' ken this is the Sabbath.' Dean Ramsay, in his Reminiscences of Scotch Life and Character, gives many entertaining and at the same time authentic instances of the Scotchman's almost superstitious regard for his ' Sabbath.' We quote a couple of the shortest of these, which may be taken as fair specimens. An English artist travelling professionally through Scotland had occasion to remain over Sunday in a small town in the north. To while away the time, he walked out a short way in the environs, where the picturesque ruin of a castle met his eve. • He asked a countryman who was passing to be so good as to tell him the name of the castle. The reply was somewhat startling — ' It's no the day to be speering sic things ! ' Still more entertaining is the following story supplied to the author by Lady Macneil. Her henwife had got some Dorking fowls, and on Lady M. asking if they were laying many eggs, she replied, with great earnestness, 'Indeed, my ddy, they lay every day, no 1 excepting the blessed Sabbath.'

Absurd and ridiculous as are the ideas of Sunday observance implied in the foregoing- no one who admires the strong moral fibre of the Scottish people can \iew wiih am thing- but regret the disappearance ot ihiii rfiui b-cherished 'Sabbath.' However grotesque their extreme S -tbb'itanan views may have been, their Sunday was at lea^t a clay of complete and genuine rest, and in these days ol overwork and high pressure that is itself a great boon. Curious as it may at first sig-ht appear, there can be little doubt that the tradition of strict Sunday observance has played an important part in moulding the Scottish national character, and it is every way likely that the change which is now taking place will in time have an appreciable effect on the moral and spiritual life of the people.

A Priest's Description of the ' Souffriere.' The British island of St. Vincent, which, along with Martinique, has been the scene of the recent volcanic eruptions which have shocked and appalled the world, belongs ecclesiastically to the Archdiocese of Trinidad. Of late years Catholicity in the island has been handicapped by the great scarcity of priests, and has not made the progress which has marked some other parts of the archdiocese. In 1 8S9, according- to the Missiones Catholiccv — the official Propaganda hand-book — the number of Catholics in St. Vincent was 3120, with six churches and chapels, four elementary schools, and 455 school children. The current issue of the hand-book does not give the statistics of the Catholic population of the island, but according to it the number of scholars has gone down to 320, whiUt those in the other islands have greatly increased.

Some interesting' descriptions of the mtural features of the island are given in a series of articles which appeared in the Illustrated Catholic Mission*, a few years ago : ' Among the islands of the West Indies,' --ays the writer, ' there are many larger, but none, 1 think, moie beautiful than the inland of St. Vincent, lying between those uf Santa Luci.i and Grenada. . ... Ido not agree with thos- who think thii J imaica possesses more natural beauties than any of the Wcbl Indian islands. I have seen both, and more of Jamaica than of St. Vincent, and, in my opinion, the latter is far ahead of the former.' After referring to his own visit to the Soullne-e, ' the extinct volcano, which in days gone by wuiked terror in tin h-arts of the inhabitants,' the writer quotes the fJlowm^ \l\ld description by Father Colhonay:

' Picture to yourself/ says he, * a large round opening sunk on the summit of the mountain to the depth of 400 feet, and of the same diameter, with a sulphurous lake at the bottom, and you will get a faint idea of the crater of St. Vincent. This gigantic cauldron is surrounded by great rocks which bear the marks of the flames.' There is a desolation reigning around which adds materially to the awfulness of the scene. This grand sight certainly made a greater and deeper impression on the good father than on a worthy English materfamilias, who could only exclaim as she beheld the crater : 'Why, it's nothing but a great big 'ole.' She might possibly have entertained a better opinion of the ' great big 'ole had she lived at its base in the year 18 12. Or, as everyone will involuntarily add, •in the year 1902.'

The American Labor Market, A few weeks ago we referred to the important resolutions adopted by the Irish Bishops in connection with the emigration question, and to the common-sense warning they gave as to the risk which Irish young men. ran in rushing off to America, as times were at present in that country. Their Lordships' warning and advice has been officially endorsed by the Superintendent of the New York Labor Department, who has addressed to the Irish Catholic a weighty letter on the subject. We give one or two extracts from the letter, which is interesting as giving an official and authoritative account of the present condition of the labor market in America.

' The recent proclamation,' writes the superintendent, ' issued by the standing committee of the Catholic Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland upon the question of emigration to America and the economic condition of Ireland is very timely. That part of the document dealing with the labor market in America is true to life, and is certainly not over-colored. Many a young man becomes a wreck here simply because he is too proud to return home and have to tell the people that he could not make out in America. It is to be regretted that the average Irishman coming to our shores has no commodity to place on the labor market save that of manual labor. Of this there is more than enough in our northern and eastern cities. People having such labor to place on the market to a great extent seldom leave New York. With reference to common labor, it is monopolised all through the east by Italians. They are willing to work for a lower rate than any other ; they can actually live on the refuse of the average Irishman's table or on the scantiest kind of fare, and under social and economic surroundings repugnant to any other race. Starting from New York to work for a contractor, they carry on their backs, in their bags, a supply of bread which will last them perhaps for two weeks or a month ; arriving at their destination they will sleep in huts hardly fit for beasts to dwell in. The fact of the matter is, no Irishman could compete with them at all in this line. Now, as for clerks and such like they are a drug on the market. At present you can get good clerks and book-keepers for actually less than laboring men earn. It is to be hoped that the people at home will be governed by the advice given them over the signatures of Cardinal Logue, that they willstay at borne and build up industries in their own country by consuming products of home production.'