Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 27 September 1906, Page 22

Notes

The Seddon Memorial It looks as if a good deal of the steam has leaked out of the movement for a National Memorial to the late Mr. Seddon. Golden opportunities seem to have been let slip. And memories are short and feelings soon lose their glow in these days of rapid movement. ' The General Committee,' says the ' Otago Daily Times,' ' instead of asking for funds and of promptly effecting local organisations for the purpose of receiving them, contented itself with inviting suggestions. Of these there have been many, some of them such as will readily recommend themselves as sensible and appropriate. The General Committee has itself submitted two proposals. One is that the memorial should take the form, originally suggested by Mr. Tripp, of Wellington, of the establishment of scholarships for the youth of the Colony on lines somewhat similar to those on which the Rhodes scholarships are established. The other is that a New Zealand Technical University, of which the site would almost necessarily be in Wellington,^ should 'be founded, a/nd that in connection with it a system of free scholarships should be instituted.'

Here and now, while the matter is still in the suggestion stage, we . venture the earnest hope . that the National' Memorial may take a shape which will secure the cordial co-operation and good- > yj.ll of .every section of people in the Qolony. We may as well frankly express our strong suspicion of both the proposals that have emanated from the General Committee. .Are the proposed scholarships to be (and we assume that they are) limited to pupils of / the State schools ? .If they are, then we venture the earnest hope that no Catholic in New Zealand will contribute so much as the value of a brass button to the proposed Memorial. If it is to take the form of spholarships, as proposed, let it be clearly and expressly declared that these scholarships shall not foe bound up with a condition which, on grounds of conscience, would prevent Catholics, or the members of any other denomination in the Colony taking advantage of them. We do hope, however, that the tional Memorial to the late Premier will not take a form that would create heart-burnings. But Catholics, at least, however much they may honor the memory of Mr. Seddon, cannot be expected to contribute towards a Memorial that would have for them these two unfair results : (1) to increase the cost of our competition with the State school system, which we are also compelled to maintain ; and (2) to provide for other people's children educational advantages which Catholic children, for reasons of conscience, cannot share.

In France The mayor is the autocrat, the gilded Bumble, of the small French towns. He enjoys— and in these later years too often exercises*— a power of annoyance and persecution such as is happily unknown^ in countries where lodges do not rule in camp and counciltable, and where free institutions have legitimate play. The mayor of Sainte-Cecile (Vaucluse, France) is an active Freemason and religion-hater. Some time ago he issued a decree forbidding external manifestations of religion within his tiny realm. His behavior towards the parish priest of Sainte-Cecile will give a sufficient idea of t<he sort of civil and religious liberty that now prevails in France. Here are some of the sentences pronounced against the priest by M. Manivet, in the local police court, at the instance of the mayor : '1. For having, " alone," in front of Ms church, "in his cassock," " his hat -under his arm," called for cheers for Christ, for Religion, for France, for Liberty (" Vive le Christ," etc.), 24 hours' imprisonment. 2. For having, according to custom, accompanied the ohildren to first Communion from the chapel of Sainte-Cecile to the parish church, across the little square between them— 2l hours. 3. For •having, on the Rogation days, proceeded to the rural crosses, reciting his Breviary, his " surplice on his arm "—72," — 72, hours.' The latest sentence passed upon'the priest was five -days' imprisonment — for having -dared to perform a commonplace duty to Iris flock.

The new Law of Separation against which Catholics are now in " "battle-array— seems to be smiting heavily the Protestant denominations. ' For a century and more,' says the ' S.H. Review ', ' the Protestant Churches of France have been supported by the State. Now, that the law of separation has done away with that support, many Protestants are averse to putting their hands ioi their pockets for contributions to keep the Churches alive. -The Rev. C. W. Wendte, in the " Christian Register," says that the pastors,- the church committees, and the women , oi , the parishes, go about the cities and towns seeking out the Protestants and trying to induce them -to enroll themselves jj,s such. The work , has not resulted profitably y^r even promisingly. The sum the synod. needs for -rare^ coming year is 43,600 francs (£1760). It is thus far assured of only 12,187 francs (£487).'

The Quackery Bill • Hansard ' No. C, of the second session, 1906, is before us. It contains a report of -the debate on Mr. Hornsby's Quackery and Other Frauds Prevention Bill. There is hardly a dull line in it, and we could well wish that it were distributed in every household in New Zealand. For obvious 1 reasons, some portions of the debate are scarcely quotable here. We may, however, be permitted to reprint \ few warning tit-bits. Mr. Hornsby loquitur :— ' For several years prior to 1892 there were exposures of a horrifying nature in this Colony, and medical men, whose names I shall not mention, discovered in the rooms of innocent but very foolish girls pamphlets which were issued by these blackguards and sent into this Colony. These girls had these pamphlets in their rooms. There was a tremendous outcry at the time, and that was what decided the late Mr. Downie Stewart to bring in and pass through the Legislature the Offensive Publications Act.' Here is a glimpse into the wiles and ways of the oily-tongued ' cancer- curing ' fraud :—: — ' Not long ago in this province a charlatan paid a visit to two unfortunate people who were dying of cancer, and said he could cure them. He administered to them an application which is perfectly well-known to the medical fraternity, which drives the complaint inwards,. The unfortunate people paid him, I believe, in one instance £20, and in the other £\25. These people suffered the tortures of the damned for weeks and weeks, and then died a miserable death '. * One of the matters insisted upon by many of the speakers was the wholesale intimidation and blackmailing that are carried on by advertising quacks. Many of these, having once got hold of their victims, ' take very good care ', said Mr. Major, ' never to let them go again while there is a drop of blood in the shape of money in their pockets '. Intimidation and robbery (said Mr. Poole) are ' going on in a wholesale fashion '. Mr. Hornsby gave, as a typical instance in point, the case of a young lad who fell into ' the clutches of a scoundrel who advertises in a large number of papers in the Colony a* the present moment ' :—: — ' This villain got huto touch with the lad, sent him medicine — which, of course, did him no good — and when the young fellow ceased to correspond with the vampire — when he did not reply further to his communications—hie received a letter threatening to expose him to his father and friends if he did not send so much money 'by return of mail. He had already sent £10 to the scoundrel, who wanted £10 more. The alternative was exposure. The lad came to me and told me ■his pitiful story. He had not any money, and he did not know where to get any. I said : "You give me that letter, and I will deal with this gentleman so that you will not be troubled any more by him ". . . . I took the letter to my solicitor, who wrote that person such a letter as closed the correspondence. We have never heard from that person since, and this lad has not been again troubled 'by Mm. But how about those lads who have no friends to go to ? How about those who are afraid or ashamed to say anything '! 'Some of them are tempted to steal and so get into trouble, and some of them go into the lunatic asylums. There is evidence, Sir, that the victims of these harpies to-day are to be found in the mental hospitals of the Colony '. Other and still more heart-riving cases of blackmailing and terrorism were relates during the debate. This sort of thing (said Mr. Hornsby) 'is going on every day in this Colony. The blackmailer . knows no pity. He pursues his victim, even though he drives him'to a lunatic asylum or the grave. And I say this, from a knowledge of the fact : that when one of them has done with his victim, and squeezed all out of him he can, he passes his letters on to another of the fraternity, who comes at the victim from another direction, and threatens him with all sorts of pains and penalties, and with exposure, if he does not send along some money.' We reprint these extracts from ' Hansard ' as a warning to our people, and especially to our young people, to keep out of the grip of the ■ variegated infamy that lies beneath the serene, plausible, and brazen-faced audacity of the advertising quack.