SLANDER ON THE ABBOTSFORD CONVENT

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 33, 17 August 1905, Page 4

SLANDER ON THE ABBOTSFORD CONVENT

Further developments (says the Melbourne ' Advocate ') have taken plate in connection vwth the case of the girl Ella Laughton, whose declaration containing a number of charges against the Sisters of the Good Shepherd was published in the Orange journal, the ' Watchman,' by Mr. T. A. Rogers, and was witnessed by T. A. R , J.P. Our readeis will remember that, in our issue of July 1, we madq a complete exposure of the falsity of that declaration, and commented upon the many suspicious ciicumskmtes connected with it, notably the fact that the mvstenous T. A. R , J P , evidently desned to conceal his identity under the initials mention© i We showed that T. A. R., the justice of the peace who signed the declaration in his magisterial capacity, and T. A. Rogers, the chief rcpiesentativc of the virulent Orange 'Watchman,' wete identical, a connection m itself sufficiently suspicious to suggest the bogus an 1 untruthful iMtuie of the charges. In our issue of July X we gave t'.ie de, lai atio'is of both parents of the 'gul Laughto'i', vvlwjm si I" declared to be dead, and the whole iabne of ialsihoc-d and conspiracy was completely destroyed. 1 p to that time, and for some weeks latei , the Laughtun gul was harbored by the ' good Orange sister ' who, in conjunction with T. A. R, had engineered this shanuf!l tiansaction. Within the past few days Lautv'.iton leturned to her parents' home, aad some additional particulars have been disclosed, which show how industi lously the parties concerned ha"ye worked out the plot It appears that the ' good Orange sister ' who sheltered the Laughton girl, and Lepb her from her parents' home, is no other than a Mis Ihekinan, who made herself so conspicuous at the Y.P I) \ -cum-Oiange Society meeting which took place at Collmgwood on July 22, at which she put forward a number of

♦ METHODS OF THE ORANGE LODGE

Slanderous Statements against a com cut, and which, we may safely affirm, arc as gross a tissue of falsehoods as those which she was instrumental in 'having published m the 'Watchman' It appears that the girl Laughton, aficr absconding from the com en I, was induced to enter Mrs. Ilickman's.home, and that the latter piously ejaculated that ' her prayers were answered, as she had got a girl from the convent at last.' The next st^p was to put certain leading questions to the girl, and then to in,voke the valuable aid of T. A R., J.P. With such an ex'pei ienced assistant, little difficulty would be experienced in turning out a spicy bit of ' copy ' for T. A. Rogers and the readers of the ' Waichman.' On Wednesday last our representative interviewed Mrs Laughton, who was accompanied by her daughter, at the office of a Melbourne solicitor. The girl, Ella Laughton, seemed penitent for all the annoyance sihe had caused her paients, amd for the wrong done to the nuns at Abbot sford through her misconduct. She pleaded, in extenuation, that she was ashamed to return home after leaving the convent, and that most, if not all, the statements made by her about the nuns were suggested to her by carefully pointed

questions. She further declares that she told Mrs. Hickman the nuns never ill-treated her, but, on the contrary, were always kind to her. The following |/rief Statutory Declaration made by the girl was taken down in presence of her mother, Mrs. Gohlspink, and our representative, and was declared before Mr. James Ormond, J.P. :— I, Ella Laughton, of No. 4 Tyrone street, North Melbourne, in Victoria, do solemnly and sincerely declare—(l) that the statements made by me to Mrs. Hickman about my treatment in the convent are untrue, and such statements were made by me in reply'to questions put to me by the said Mrs. Hickman. (2) That I was not aware that I was making a sworn declaration when I signed the statement in the presence of Mr. Rogers, and neither he nor Mrs. Hickman explained to me that it was a sworn declaration. (8) That Mrs. Hickman, in addition to what is contained in such declaration, asked me how the nuns treated me in the convent, and did they not lock me up in a room and strap m«, tat I informed her that they treated me well, and gave me plenty of food, and never locked me in a room, or used the strap, and that I left because I wished to, get a situation. (4) That on the day on which I went to Mrs. Hickman's house, the said Mrs. Hickman said to her husband, ' What So you think? My prayers have been answered ; I have got a girl from the convent.' (5) That I have been in Hickman's employ up to the 2Gth July, 1905. And I make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the provisions of an Act of Parliament of Victoria, rendering persons making a false declaration liable for wilful and corrupt perjury. Declared at Melbourne this 2nd day of August, 1905, ELLA LAUGHTON.

Before me

JAMES ORMOND, J.P.

It is not improbable that further steps will be taken in tins matter, for it is impossible to permit this, shameless conspiracy of slander to continue without making some effort to bring the guilty parties to account. These cowardly defamers of those pious ladies Who have given up their lives to the work of reclaiming the fallen and destitute creatures that abound in the city, have found, by experience, that those whom they most shamefully malign never think of defending themselves. But surely it would be a reproach to the manhood of the community if such infamies were permitted to be perpetrated with impunity. We therefore hope that the exposure of those vile conspiracies that have been made m these columns recently will rouse public opinion, and that decent people of every creed will join in denunciation ot deeds that are only worthy of a band of assassins.

Another Slander

It is only a few weeks since (continues our Melbourne contemporary) we exposed an Orange slander in reference to the A'bfyot sford Convent, but no sooner is one slander lefuted than another one is concocted. This is the essence of Orangeism. Lies and slanders, often and well, are its mottoes. The slanderous statement, of which we now complain, was made at the meeting of the Protestant Defence Association at Collingwood, when, according to the ' Argus,' Mrs. Ilickman stated that a girl, whom she would not name until a sworn declaration was obtained from her, had volunteered information conveying imputations against the manner in which a certain convent— Abbotsford— was conducted. The girl had stated to her that she had been beaten with a buckled strap, and for three days locked in a room where there was no bed, and fed on bread and water.

In a letter to the ' Argus ' Mr. J. Fitzgerald called upon the officials of the V P.D.A. to bring forward some c\ Hence in support of the accusation, or in the interests of truth and decency withdraw it. To tins the president of the association replied that the accusation was made by Mrs. Hick-man at the meeting, and that the ob/ligiation of substantiating it rested with her. In a further cornnumication Mr. Fitzgerald reminds the president of the P.D.A. that ' if there is to be no responsibility in the circumstances, any irresponsible and malicious person may speak the thing she or he will, and mali\g|n a groat charitable institution without being brought to task. From the press reports of the proceedings it may be fairly inferred that the statements made bad the association's encouragement anri approval, as they became public through the channel of the association, and were not discountenanced by the chairman, and there is, therefore, an honorable obligation on its part either to disavow or to disprove the allegations made.'