The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1908. COMMENT ON A TAPANUI TIRADE

New Zealand Tablet, 3 September 1908, Page 21

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1908. COMMENT ON A TAPANUI TIRADE

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HE general elections are. drawing nigh, and the various political parties interested therein are girding their loins to fight the fray, ekch according to its policy or conscience or lack of conscience—' .as it was in- the beginning.' With the merely political side of the campaign this journal has no concerns It preserves lhe x independence .that best

w ... aaorns a religious newspaper, and defines to allow itself to be flown as a^knotin the bedraggled tail o any political party kite. But there is one recurrent-phase-of electioneering in this Dominion that, when found, the Catholjournal must (like Captain Cuttle) in duty < make- a note on/ We refer to the efforts made by sundry credulous or mischievous individuals, and by two unpatriotic associations, to hound up - religious rancor against their Catholic -fellow-citizens by reprc^ senting them as an intolerably chuckle-Jieaded tribe, and as conspiring by sneaking and underhand- means to capture tho public service and make it a sort of annex of the Vatican, and' a State-aided bulwark of ' Popery.'- - Nay, it is even said or suggested by these good people that the new ' Popish Plot • has so far succeeded that the public service is ' stuffed ' with ' Papishes ' to an extent far beyond their proportion to the total" , population of the Dominion ; that, to secure promotion, you must be an adherent of the .' Romish • Church ; that State salaries are absorbed by the 'followers of the Man of Sin in' a measure that constitutes ' something 'like an official scandal •*

and, that it behoves all New Zealand electors to vote •yellow' unless they are prepared to wake up some -fine Monday morning and find the . wealth-holding six-sevenths of * the population In the thrall of the other seventh that are not; as -a body, so highly endowed with this world's goods.

* ' Such is, in general substance, the preposterous fairy legend which wide-awake and intelligent New Zealanders are asked to swallow on the approach of each general election. Samivel Weller's suspicions were aroused by the curious coincidence 'of the disappearance of a litter of puppies, and the. appearance of ' weal pies ' upon the dinner-table at ' the inn. ' And the suspicions of the free and irfdependent New Zealand voter might well be aroused by this curious coincidence': that these electiontime 'discoveries' of Papal chuckleheadedness are generally made by an underground association, the members of which bind themselves . by an oath, taken on bended knees and with the Bible in their hands, to do what lies iii~their power to. so far deprive Catholics of the benefits of the Emancipation Act as "to exclude them from parliament and municipal life. .The" legend about the scandalous predominance of ' Papishes ' •in our public service comes chiefly into evidence on the twelfth of July preceding the general elections. ■ During the following September, sundry anonymous writers of- letters to the. press get ' onaisy jn their minds ' about the heavy dose of '* Popery ' in the public service. ' Their anguish -increases— and so does the direness of their prophecies of woe — as the election -day. -approaches. .When it is over, they suffer a rather sudden- recovery, and the distressful condition of the public service no longer rides them- like a •nightmare until the : cixeling years bring another general election around. And then— da ■ capo 1 This year the customary anonymous September -lucubrations have been slightly anticipated. - An. article, said to be ' contributed by" Celt,'-'-' appeared in the Tapanui Courier. It was the- customary bit of post-July electioneering, differing from the ordinary run of such lucubrations only in its greater length and more intense ferocity. There is the clumsy pretence— which we have noticed in several other such productions and which will deceive no person of anything like normal mental acumen— to discuss the Home Rule question, which is dragged in apropos of nothing at all. The real and transparently evident .drift and object of the article is to hound up local passion against Catholics, in view of the approaching elections. The 0 article in question (which fills two long columns with quite a remarkably neat fit) is marked throughout by the bald illiteracy that the world expects as a matter of course in No-Popery fiction. It furnishes pathetic evidence of the unfitness of the • writer to discuss the Home Rule issue, . owing to his surprising ignorance of even the Tory side of the question. He merely asserts, in a very loud and angry voice, sundry shibboleths of the July .platform and of the No-Popery ' penny dreadful.' Of course no attempt was made to substantiate any of his assertions by proof ;. and of fifty-three statements of his examined by us, the bulk of them are false, and the rest not true. Some of these statements will be touched upon in the course of . this article. ' Others will probably be dealt with in due time in the columns of the .Tapanui Courier.

We are willing to make the most generous allowances for the " unconscious error and for the credulity which at times represent Catholics (so to speak) as a mixture of fool, knave, and demon, and trick their priesthood out with (figurative) horns and tail and cloven hoof. The delightful simplicity of the writer of the article in question — or his bold contempt for the intelligence of Tapanui -readers — may be sufficiently gauged by his statement that the ' leading churchmen ' of ' the Church of Rome ' in Ireland ' worship-the Pope and want- a prince of their own body enthroned as King of Ireland.' W.e are likewise twice treated tea rehash of the bogus interview with ; Cardinal Logue in New York. -But the ; putstanding feature of the article ' contributed by -" Celt " ' is the more than Mahomedan ferocity of its abuse of Irish Catholics, and especially of the Irish Catholic priesthood, who arc"*treated to furies of rough invective, and made (of course without- any attempt at proof) the cause of - their country's poverty and discontent and unexampled decay. We think we can fairly claim to have waded through more of the 'literature' of the Orange lodges than, -perhaps, any 'brother ' of the order within the- seas of Australasia. And with all our vast experience, of that terrible stuff, we are free to confess that We have 'seldom come across anything marked by more deplorable mendacity, bitterness, and all uncharity than the pretended article on Home Rule that blistered two whole columns of the Tapanui Courier* Recognising the lengths to which

honest fanaticism may drive some men, we nourish no unkindly personal feeling towards those convinced enthusiasts who openly pour waterspouts of abuse on ' Popery"? fronf'the July platform. . But it is difficult to believe in the good-^faith and 'honor-bright' of the assailant ' who attacks. like the armed' burglar, with' a mask upon his face, and who (as" the Rev." Mr. Hewitson said recently in EJunedin) fires at you from behind a hedge of anonymity. From such Ishmaels,' the character of no man and ho woman is safe. Our Parliament- has passed its verdict upon _the anonymous accuser ; our courts of justice (through Major Keddell) have denounced him ; the Bruce County Council recently scourged him ; the social usage of every Christian country ostracises him as a coward ; nay, even the Emperor Trajan, who- tortured and slaughtered" Christians on a vast scale, yet had enough manliness in his pagan heart to" refuse to tolerate, . against his victims, the. slings , and arrows of the masked accuser. . ' Literary- roughs '- is the epithet flung by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, the genial- Poet of the Breakfast Table, against the anonymous newspaper or lampoon accuser. - And (says Dr.. Maurice Francis Egan) k At is understood " in good society -that a man who writes a letter which he is afraid to sign with- his own name, would lie or steal. And,'- adds he, ' I believe "he would.' Dr. Parker (Congregationalist), of the City Temple (London), attributed anonymous accusations to" ' either impudence^ or cowardice.' The great Tory statesman, Disraeli ' (Earlrßeaconsfield) also had a fine contempt for" the masked assailants that volley accusations in the newspaper press.- 'We can -only view with contemptuous" levity,' said he, 'the mischievous varlet who pelts us with mud as we wallc along, and then hides behind a -. dust-bin.'

Of the multitude of variegated and unproven assertions made in the article- contributed by " Celt " ' we have forwarded, for vpublication in the Tapanui Courier, a first communication dealing with the following : (1) The alleged undue preponderance of Catholics in the public .service ; (2) the statements that, the _- ' Romish ' Church and ' .priestcraft ' are the causes of Ireland's poverty and discontent and depopulation and decay ; and (3) the question of crime in ' the most distressful country.' Other issues will be raised by us in due course, should a discussion ensue in the columns of the Courier.

(1) One of the enlivening ' wisdoms ' of Sancho Panza runneth thus : ' Let .every man take care what he talks, or how he writes, of other men, and_not set down at random, hab-nab, higgledy-piggledy, whatever "comes into his noddle.' Even the least reputable citizens — whether they wear or don't wear masks — "are rightly expected, as a matter of "elementary justice, to .take the trouble of making careful and extended inquiries before making statements in a public print "calculated 1 to raise the red devil of sectarian distrust -and hate among, a peaceable, lawabiding, and God-fearing population composed of persons of many creeds who are living together in mutual esteem' and good-will, in a pleasant and prosperous rural community. But the Masked "Man of' Tapanui unfortunately preferred to proper "investigation the random, hab-nab, higgledy-piggledy method in its- deplorable tirade. Our distinguished friend, Mark Twain, says in; 'his Joan of Arc : ' There is no sense In forming an opinion when there is no evidence to- form it on. If you build a person without

.bones in him, he may look fair enough to the eye, but he will be_ -. limber aria cannot stand up ; and. I consider that evidence is the bones "of an opinion.' " Our excitable— not to say hysterical— Tapanui friend forgot to put the bones— that is, the evidence — into the sweeping opinions which he uttered- about things and persons ' Romish,' in language that. was so frequent and painful and free. For him, random and unsustained assertion stands - for evidence, and alleged gossip is ' confirmation strong as proof

of- Holy Writ.' His -gratuitous assertions throughout in regard to trie ~ ' Romish I Church (he habitually uses ttie offensive theo-

logical slang 'Romish') are amply met by . gratuitous denials -•■.and &, call for proof. His statements in "regard to the ' Romish * Church and the public service are, furthermore, dealt - with in the following challenges : Let him furnish proof — to the satisfaction of 'a committee to be jointly chosen by him (or his repre-.-sentative) and us — of the following statements: (i) That the proportion N of Catholic men in the police force is the result -of '.religious' influence ' being 'brought to -bear on State app_oint,ments*.; and (2) 'that, to get place and quick promotion, -a man must be a R.C We deny that these statements are. true. If, however, they are proved to be true (within a reasonable "period, to be determined by, mutual arrangement)^ to the satisfaction of our mutually chosen tribunal, we will — as a penalty

i°for^d dC tS27 the S T.° f £l ° t0 any Public Charity that *c «noT Z I • may " desi g nate « To this challenge we addtr^J t o\ h m"^ be " er C ° Ver the Positi °" «' C^Z m regard to the -public service. We invite the Masked Man represented ,n the public service of the Dominion above their IT(TV: tOt t P ° PU , latson; and « that they draw (a) sallr ani (b) wages above their proportion to total population We will accept proof of these statements in regard to the pubHc anT? M J c /° Ur Chlef CCntfeS ° f Urban P°P U ' atio "' or - Otago, Sf NoS T,' 7 in P anterburv ' or « the South Island, or tn the North Island, or Tn both Islands. On proof of these propositions, as above, we will pay over, as above, the- sum of ;620 to a public chanty to be designated.

* • Our readers will remember the. result- of 7 scries of specific change. <*a similar nature, issued by us, through the O g o Darly Tunes, to Mr. Earnshaw (a local candidate for parlfa- ' mentary honors) during the. election campaign of iooi The chaHenges-, although repeated and pointed.'and covering specif ?a£ T WC Z WISCIy) dCCli " ed - ■ But lhe^ resulted £ talung of a creedal census of th G public service, name by name, of the whole Civil List, in ,90,, 90 , and ioo 2 , by the N Z TaM.t TTioJ iT d Ti of C|l ' eful a - nd co ~- -o P tLl a wrth full local knowledge. Our census -attracted keen attention not -one in New Zealand, but also in Australia. The net res^ ° all came to- th» : that, whereas Catholics were one in seven of the population, their numerical, strength in the public se^ce was not one in seven, but between one in nine and one £ ten , that, m the matter -of salaries and wages, they drew no one pound n' seven, but only about one pounlin every 7o U 'rt cci to fifteen of the total amounts paid under these heads. W Tare not called upon here to express any opinion in regard To the convichon, widely prevalent among Catholics in the public vice, that their creed is, to a very real extent, aba co U , treatment in the matter of promotion. Thai prolonged and conscientious census, name by name, did leave in ZfmZ 5 something more than a suspicion that- there is at least one pat ticular creed which, both numerically and in the matter of pay is represented in the public service well beyond its pro . portion to the total, population. And that creed is not the Catholic. That, however, is not a matter on which we o a y others can claim to have a grievance. For, in the first place we as cit.zens are more concerned for the efficiency of the public service than for -the mathematical gradation of its creedd components. In the second place, we are aware tha th ere ,s here and there in the public service, a sort of ■ follow-my-le7de ' tendency. In the third place, we must assume-until evLnce to * the contrary is forthcoming-that such preponderance as mav\ exist in favor of the non-Catholic -creed referred to above, was brought about in a perfectly proper and legitimate way. And finally, we are satished that the adherents of the creed in queservan" C> " * * hfUl W «^ Uent dass ° f

There are as our old colonist readers are aware, certain Departments that u P to a certain period, might almost have . P w l r o f OV B e Ldon: *"" *" *"* *« ™ d "*»_*» ' ' Turk, Jew, or Atheist, May enter here, but not a Papist.'

Even still (as our census amply showed) Catholics are surprisingly rare in the Departments referred to. We are not how- ' ever, prepared to suggest that this is in any- way due to any 1 anting policy of conscious exclusion. We prefer to believe that Catholics have not found the atmosphere of • these Depart- - ments congenial. The police force presents (though, for Catho- "! hes to a far less extent of late years) another instance .of ? folow-my-leader.' At a critical -period in her history, New - ; o^ r^ thdr finß Physical *"»«*• deemed to constate an almost ideal police. It was, perhaps, not ; altogether- a mere coincidence that no Irish or Catholic police' l man was^implicated" in the sensational scandals that shook the force in Dunedin a few short years ago.

clett ha H ! , f bhC Shpkds ' were P recisely those whose Cathol H" a l6ading Part ln the wlld clam °<- gainst Catholics , n the -public service. .It reminded one of' the p<£ pocket who ,„ order to divert the attention of the pursers from h,mself joins in the hue. and cry, and cries < Thie ' or whth f• ■ A SimHar ° fficial — --NewZealSdL for which we have repeatedly called-would lead to som6 extremely interesting resu lt s . But. one of these results woukl assured.y,be demonstration that, in relative numbers and^ more in relative pay, Catholics in. the public "service are a below then- proportion to the population of this Dominion -

We propose 'to deal in our next issue with sundry other assertions of the tirade of the .Masked Man of Tapanui. -On" of these wi Ite the fee-faw-fum -fiction that, -the '.RomW -Church - and pnestcra t ' are the cause of>the poverty, discontent, 2 population, and decay pf Ireland. - -