Current Topics
The Lesson of the By-Election At the second ballot in the Grey by-election/ held last Thursday, Mr. Michel,"'who'headed the poll at the first ballot, was defeated, and Mr. Webb was returned by the substantial majority of 635 votes. The significance of this second ballot is so obvious that it is hardly necessary to point it out; and it only remains to hope that politicians and political parties will take tne lesson to heart. When the supporters of a political candidate adopt, as part of their election methods, not only personal vilification of the Catholic candidate but also deliberate appeal to bigotry and sectarian bitterness, it is time for Catholic voters to hit and hit hard. This the Catholic voters of Grey have done; and, as we have said, we hope the lesson will not be lost on those whom it most concerns. Catholics and Catholic candidates ask for .nothing but fair play and the much talked of ‘ square deal ’; and the individual or the party which gives them that can count with confidence on getting the same in return. As to Mr. Michel, it will take him all he knows to live down the ‘ bad blood ’ and ill impression left by this most unpleasant and embittered contest. An American Lie Factory Some short time ago we made some comments in these columns on an American no-Popery ..gutter journal, called the Menace; and we have read from time to time in our American Catholic contemporaries some fairly vigorous denunciations of the publication. But all that either we or they have said on the subject is a mere ‘ circumstance ’ to the way in which the Menace production is lashed by some of its Protestant contemporaries at its own doors. Here is a sample from the January issue of the Iconoclast, a non-Catholic paper published at Chicago, 111. It deserves to go on record if only as a specimen of powerful invective and invective that is all the more powerful, because it is employed on the side of truui and justice. ‘ As I write/ says the editor, - there lies before me a great pile of Walker’s paper —The Menace —reeking with slime, slander, and falsehood. Tley are filled with.lies about priests, lies about Homes of the Good Shepherd, lies about the Knights of Columbus, lies about nuns, lies about the “Little Sisters of the Poor,” lies about Bishops, lies about Archbishops, Cardinals, and Popes, lies about Catholics in general and Catholic politicians in particular. Big lies, little lies, foolish lies, insane lieslies livid with malicelies beslime-d by ignorance lies shameful and shameless —lies black, blue, green and speckled—rotten lies—bare-faced . liessingle, double and triple-jointed lies—lies distorted and twisted liesold and newadulterated and unadulterated lies lies born of hate, prejudice and bigotry—domestic and imported lieslies borrowed, stolen, invented and created by the genius of mendacity, together with every other species of damnable lies ever known on earth or in hell, and all employed by Walker for the purpose of deceiving honest Protestants and making them hate their Catholic neighbors and friends!’ Freemasons and the Army Some short time ago the Belgian Government issued a regulation definitely forbidding the officers of the army to belong to the. Masonic organisation. The reasons advanced for this much-called for action were the sufficiently obvious ones that in Europe the Masonic Lodges are active political clubs, and as such are no place for officers of the army; and that they are, moreover, secret oath-bound organisations, working, in Continental monarchical countries, against the existing constitution and ■ social institutions which the army is sworn to defend. An officer joining them takes an oath, therefore, which not only may come into open conflict with his military oath, but which is entirely opposed to the whole aim and spirit of that oath. Amongst the official Masonic documents quoted in the Chamber of Deputies in justification of the Government's action by the Belgian Minister of War was a
significant one which recommended a strict observance of secrecy as necessary from the military 'point of view, and illustrated this necessity by a reference to the late revolution 'in Portugal, which took the outside world completely by surprise but which- had been confidently expected by the initiated who had been fully informed of its preparation in the . Portuguese Lodges. It closed with these ominous words / / ‘On '.the day when our unhappy country shall be delivered from the tyranny that opppresses it, shall we also have the satisfaction of saying to ourselves that Belgian Masonry has been the chief artisan of the liberation of the nation?’ If Belgian Masonry is sworn to conceal the plots against the Throne and Government which the army is bound to defend, it is obv’ous that the soldierMason is left with no alternative but to be either an oath-breaker or a traitor. Under such circumstances it is clear that the Lodge is no place for soldiers, much less for army officers. ♦ - - It is an agreeable surprise to find .that the same truth is beginning to dawn upon the authorities even in lodge-iniested juaiy. Speaxing recently before the Italian Senate, the Italian War Minister, General Spingardi, made the following unexpected declaration; ‘ i am convinced that it is not only desirable, but that it is a matter of duty, that no member of the military service should belong to a secret association ; and I wish that this public manifestation of my views shall be taken as a warning by all who have doubts on the subject.’ These words, we are told, ‘ were received with loud applause, which was renewed when Admiral Cattolica, the Minister of Marine, expressed the same views on behalf of the /Navy.’ Still more remarkable and significant was the way in which these Ministerial declarations were 'endorsed and emphasised by/ the Italian press. Referring to these two utterances, the Rome correspondent of the London Times says: . ‘ Secret associations, notably Freemasonry, have played a very important part in Italy'in the past: the Freemasons are still to-day believed to exercise a widespread influence in public life; that they should be publicly banned, without a single voice being raised in their defence, would show that their day of usefulness is recognised as ended, and that the confidence of the great mass of the public in its institutions, in the Throne, in the Army and Navy, in religion, has been strongly renewed. The statements of the two Ministers have only been emphasized by the Italian press, which warns officers against entering the ranks of Freemasons, and calls upon those who are already members of the association to leave it at once.’ If only France would learn the same lesson, a new and brighter chapter in her history would be begun. . Archbishop Carr on the Bible Lessons Scheme Of the writings and utterances of his Grace Archbishop Carr it may truthfully be said, as was said of the classic writer of old, that he touches nothing which he does not adorn; and most conspicuously is this the case in regard to his Grace’s pronouncements on the subject of education. His latest utterance on the question is a fresh illustration in point. On Sunday, July 13, a new wing of the Christian Brothers’ College at North Melbourne was blessed and opened by the Archbishop ; and in the address delivered by him on the occasion his Grace contrived to pack into quite a modest compass a very fine vindication of t he Catholic Church’s opposition to the ill-considered, unjust, one-sided, and, as the speaker called it, ‘ hybrid system of mixed religious instruction ’ now advocated by the Bible in State Schools Leagues. At the outset his Grace brushed aside the pretence that the Bible lessons to be administered by the teacher are, or can be, really unsectarian and undogmatic in character. ‘By way of excuse/ he said, ‘for this backsliding (of the clergy), we are told that the religion which State school teachers will be asked to teach will be unsectarian and undogmatic religion. This palpable evasion is set aside by the words of Mr. Balfour, when introducing the Education Bill of 1902. “Do not,” he said, “ let us frame our system so as to produce the fantastic illusion that there is such a thing as Undogmatic religion." 1 o o o
But his Grace was able to correct and ; refute a still more inexcusable and culpable misrepresentation. In Victoria, as -elsewhere, the advocates of the ‘ Australian ’ system show themselves amazingly unscrupulous in their methods of propaganda. In .New Zealand, Canon Garland has tried to make it appear that the late Cardinal Moran practically approved of the New South Wales system, and . that the Catholic priests of that State freely and fully avail themselves of the opportunity which it affords of giving religious instruction in the public schools. In Queensland—and in New Zealand also — Bible League executive circulated the absolutely false statement that the Catholics of Tasmania were reconciled to the system and accepted it as ‘ a happy solution of the education difficulty. In South Australia, when the intended campaign, is inaugurated there, some Truthful James of the move- , ment will doubtless solemnly assure the public that the League proposals have the warm approval of Bishop Cleary! In Victoria the name invoked is that of Cardinal Gibbons, who has been repeatedly quoted by the Bible League as having approved in America of a system of mixed religious instruction precisely similar to that advocated by the League. On this point Archbishop Can- was able to furnish first-hand and absolutely conclusive evidence in the shape of a letter from the Cardinal himself, from which bis Grace quoted in the course of his address. We reproduce the letter in full;—‘ Baltimore, March 19, 1912. My Bear Archbishop, letter of February 11 hist. is just received. X beg to say in reply to your question that there is no system of mixed religious instruction in our common or public schools. The Protestant ministers have at various times endeavored to introduce some system of religious instruction, but their efforts have not been successiul. Our constitution forbids ail interference with the religious beliefs of the people. No system, of course, of religious training could be devised which would be satisfactory to infidel, Jew, Protestant, and Catholic. Hence the ministers have always failed in their efforts to introduce religion into the schools. We are opposed to the introduction because the tone of such religious teaching would generally be anti-Catholic. In regard to the book which is referred to in your clipping, I beg to say- that it was a compilation of narratives, mostly biographical, selected from the Bible. It was intended for pious reading, and the Bishops who recommended it had not, I think, the intention of recommending its use in the public schools. Believe me, dear Archbishop, your faithful friend in J.C., 1 * J. Card. Gibbons. ‘ Most Rev. Dr. Carr, ‘Archbishop of Melbourne.’ This shows quite clearly that Cardinal Gibbons has never shown any favor to such a system as that suggested by the Bible in State Schools League ; and as the misrepresentation is quite likely to find its way into New Zealand we Have thought it just as well to lot our readers know exactly how matters stood. The Y.M.C.A. Again A recently appointed travelling secretary of the Y.M.C.A. is at present carrying on a campaign for increasing the membership of the institution in New Zealand ; and in his tour of the South Island is distributing broadcast a leaflet which declares that amongst the new members recently enrolled in a North Island township are included ‘ eight Roman Catholics.’ We are making inquiries as to the truth of this statement, and as to the circumstances attending the enrolment if it took place of the alleged . Catholics. In the meantime it 'seems desirable that we should once again sound a note of warning to parish priests and to our Catholic young men as to the absolutely sectarian and Protestant character of this organisation. We have no desire to disparage the institution, which is doubtless capable of doing much good amongst the sections of young men for whom it is intended. But it should be clearly understood that the Y.M.C.A. is a strictly Protestant and sectarian
organisation. We have before us an official andauthoritative copy of the rules of the association obtained from the secretary of the Dunedin branch. It is perfectly true that, according to these, nominal xpem- I bership—entitling to use of gymnasium, baths, etc. — r\, is open to ‘ any man of good moral character.’ Such ■ members, however, unless they comply with the limitation nereafter to be mentioned, are excluded from all office, and have neither vote nor voice of any sort in the carrying on of the institution. The real membership— membership which extends beyond the pool table and the shower bath, and which involves, as all true . membership does, participation in the working of the institution— strictly limited, and limited on a sectarian basis. Section 3of rule 2 reads thus:— ‘ (3) M-en who are members in full communion of evangelical , churches, who are 18 years of age and upwards may become governing members of this association. Only governing members have the right to vote and hold office.’ The definition of evangelical- churches,’ as given by the association itself in the Form of Constitution adopted at the Portland Convention (United States) in 1869 is as follows: ‘We hold those churches to be evangelical which, maintaining the Holy Scriptures to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice, do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (the only begotten of the Father, King of kings and Lord of lords in Whom dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and Who was made sin for us, though knowing no sin, bearing our sins in His Own body on the tree) as the only name under heaven given among men whereby wa must be saved from everlasting punishment and unto life eternal.’ From this it is clear that Catholics, High Church Anglicans, Jews, Unitarians, etc., are excluded en bloc from representation on the active membership of the institution. Not only so, but even nominal members of the Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Baptist, and other evangelical bodies, who may attend and contribute to the support of their respective churches but who are not in full communion with them, are also absolutely debarred from vote or voice in the management of the association. * We have before us ample evidence that the Y.M.C.A. is not only Protestant in its constitution, but is at times offensively anti-Catholic in its propaganda. Twenty-third Street Men, according to its official description, is a four-page paper ‘ published occasionally at 215 West Twenty-third street, New York, by the Twenty-third Street Branch, Y.M.C.A.’ It circulates, we are told, among the 3615 members of this local branch and among thousands of other members in New York City and elsewhere. Under the title ‘ Quotations from the Writings of Authorities on South America,’ the issue for November, 1909, of this representative publication contained the following : * Millions m Brazil look upon the Virgin Mary as their Saviour. To them Christ is practically numbered among the Saints.’ Then came the following statement: ‘The Superstition and Idolatry ’ of these millions in Brazil ‘ are hard for a North American to undertsand. They aro hinted at by an inscription which I copied from the pedestal of a Statue of Christ on the Cross, in Santiago, which translated read as follows; “By permission of the Archbishop of Santiago, an indulgence of eighty days which may be applied .to the dead, will be granted to anyone who will say an Ave Maria, or the Creed before the Statue of the Crucified Christ.” Who will say that Protestant schools and churches are not needed in such a Country, where the highest ecclesiastical authority grants indulgences to any dead scoundrel whose friends will say a “ Hail Mary ’’ before a stone image of Mary’s Son.’ With such evidence before us, supplied by the organisation itself, it is not \ necessary for us to, point out that the Y.M.C.A. is no place for Catholic boys who wish to retain their selfrespect bv not seeking admission to a society - which excludes Catholics from its executive offices, and which even goes out of its way to ridicule and insult their faith.
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New Zealand Tablet, 31 July 1913, Page 21
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2,706Current Topics New Zealand Tablet, 31 July 1913, Page 21
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