Cardinal Logue

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 22, 4 June 1908, Page 22

Cardinal Logue

' Truth is like gold ', says Douglas J enrol d ; ' a really wise man makes a little • of it go a long way. This principle seems to be adopted to a considerable extent by writers on the American • yellow ' press, especially in the matter of ' interviewing ' strangers. Elsewhere in this issue we -have quoted, in point, the verdict of the ' Bendigo ' Independent ' (Victoria), in connection with the ways and wiles 'of American interviewers, in so far ,as they may have , affected the recent cable message in which Cardinal Logue is made to predict the approaching dissolution of the British Empire. The Very Rev. "Dpah^Tiielan, Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, tells, I ' m the same connec-" tion, an amusing story ol •an experience that is by no means uncommon in the United -States. He said in. a" . recent -discourse :-» ',"-■- • .*:,/ ' There were two eminent ecclesiastics who, to his (the- speaker's) knowledge, -had < had the experience of the American reporter. One of them travelled across America, and landed in a certain town about 9 o'clock

in the evening. He declined- to see a- reporter whocalled, but to his amazement found two columns in one. of the papers next day. In that -""interview " the prelate was set out as having expressed"' in the , strongest- possible terms his approval of the views of this particular paper and its policy with regard to the roads in that district ! The Bishop was very indig-" nant,"and wrote a' letter to the "paper, demanding" a retraction, but the next day it was announced in the paper c that the editor had received from the Bishop a letter more strongly emphasising the points to which the paper had been calling attention for some time.' The Tasrnanian ' Monitor ' opiiies that some enter-" prising interviewer of- the ' yellow" ' press may possibly have projected into Cardinal Logue's mind some such views as were expressed by Mr. Cavling, the editor of the . leading Copenhagen newspaper, _who recently returned through America from a long tour "in. the ..Far East. Mr. Cavling is described as ' the confidential adviser of the late King of Denmark, and one of Denmark's leading diplomatists '. He is credited with having spoken as follows:— 1 India will in all likelihood be the battle ground of the most sanguinary conflict ever waged between the white man and the man of a darker skin. . . I am preparing a book upon India in which I predict the overthrow of British power in that' country within the next five years— at least before five years have elapsed the revolution will have begun. . . The Hindu millions, aided by the deadly rigors of their climate, would form a force with which England would be unable to cope.' India, as we know", has been figuring largely of late in ' interviews ' (real or bogus) and in set articles in the American press. Whether the positiqn is as serious as is stated by them, we know not. There seems to be a great deal of unrest there since the RussoJapanese war ; and a cable message in last week's daily papers states that ' the highest Indian opinion holds that the seriousness of the crisis is imperfectly appreciated in England, and that the Viceroy ought to be given a free hand in regard to what he deems to be necessary measures.' As regards Australia and New Zealand, the stories of rebellion and restiveness put into Cardinal Logue's mouth are wholly without foundation in fact.