Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 8 July 1915, Page 21

Current Topics

The Papal Interview , -It may be presumed that after Cardinal Gasparri’s definite and emphatic repudiation of the Libert6 interview as ‘misleading ana inaccurate,’ and his further assurance that no more mischief-making journalists will be allowed to approach the Holy Father, we will hear no more of the matter. It is well that the Cardinal Secretary of State has spoken out, for the anti-clerical papers were getting promptly to work to weave a tissue ot fabrications around the incident. For example, an Italian paper, U Serolo, hastened to inform its readers and the item was cabled to the ends of the earththat Cardinals Amette, Mercier, and Bourne had written to the Pope, describing the difficulty of the position in which they found themselves owing to the effect upon public opinion of the Let Liberti interview, and asking to be allowed to deny the interview. There is not the slightest doubt that this was pure invention. The Secolo is a very popular halfpenny paper, published at Milan. It is run by rabid anticlericals, and has probably done more than any other agency to turn the laboring classes in northern Italy from the Church and from all the sweetening influences of religion. There is, therefore, not the remotest likelihood that Cardinals Amette, Mercier, and Bourne would be chasing this publication with information. In referring to the interview incident last week, we mentioned that the comments of the New Zealand secular papers on the situation had been very reasonable and temperate in tone. In this connection it is a pleasure to give especial commendation to the leader in the Christchurch Press of Saturday, June 26. This article frankly refused to accept the correctness of the reported interview, pointed out that Papal Infallibility had nothing to do with the subject, declared that it was quite unnecessary for the Pontiff to make an e.r cathedra pronouncement to assure the world that he thinks the actual crimes of Germany 7 foul and unchristian as his opinion upon such points might be taken for granted, and deprecated any attempt to involve the Pope in giving a judgment upon the war a view and attitude which was in every way eminently sensible and satisfactory.

Arizona Prohibition Some time ago we commented strongly on the highly unsatisfactory position which had arisen in Arizona as the result of a particularly crazy prohibition law which was some time ago enacted in that unhappy and apparently crank-ridden State. Either inadvertently or otherwise, the law was so worded as to make it a criminal offence to manufacture wine in or to import wine into Arizona for any purpose whatsoever—thus debarring, of course, its introduction for the purpose of carrying out the great central act of worship and sacrifice in the Catholic Church. Our very esteemed contemporary, the Sacred llcart lie view, assures us, gently and affectionately, that all the same Mass has not ceased to be said in Arizona. We hardly needed the kind assurance; as a matter of fact we stated, when dealing with the subject, that ultimately some way out of the bungle would of course be found. But even our reposeful contemporary will not, we presume, deny the following facts. (1) That the Arizona law, as it stands, prohibits the importation of wine for sacramental purposes. (2) That railroad companies are refusing to accept wine for carriage into Arizona, and that at least on© priest has had his order for altar wine refused on the ground that it could not legally be filled. (3) That Bishop Granjon has made application to the courts for an injunction to suspend the operation of the law so far as the exclusion of wine for sacramental purposes is concerned, but thus far without success. These are the facts ; and with due obeisance to our contemporary, w© frankly confess that such a situation seems to us to call for something better from a Catholic paper than an attitude of philosophic calm. We see absolutely no merit in a Catholic paper remaining placid and imper-

turbable while a Catholic Bishop is compelled to go, cap iu hand, to the law courts for permission to say Mass; and in our humble judgment there are no medals going for the Catholic defenders of the faith who have no protest to make against such injustice and indignity —to say nothing of the annoyance, uncertainty, and expensebeing inflicted upon the Catholic body. We won t go so far as to accuse our contemporary of fiddling while,Home is burning, because, in the first place, Rome isn t exactly burning, and in the second place, we don’t know whether our Boston brother is addicted to the fiddle. We hope he is not for as a working journalist, he has doubtless, like the rest of us, already enough to answer for. But we do think it is a mistake to adopt a look-the-other-way policy when extremists are riding a hobby to death, and, incidentally, are riding rough-shod over the religious rights and liberties of Catholic people. We are specially interested in the Arizona development, because we have been threatened with a precisely similar trouble in New Zealand. We repeat what we have previously said, that this, is one of the cases in which prevention is better than cure. We have no desire to see our New Zealand Bishop's going from court to court, and incidentally piling up heavy lawyers’ bills, in order to secure the right of their priests to obtain wine for the celebration of Mass; and we think the best way to prevent such a misfortune and humiliation is to speak out to our people clearly and plainly and strongly before it is too late. Here, as always, fore-warned is fore-armed. For Catholics, the danger of even a temporary interference with the celebration of Mass is not a thing to be tamely endured or lightly thought of ; and much as we admire our excellent contemporary, we fail to see that it has the slightest ground for self-complacency, or for patting itself on the back, at being able to remain inactive and unmoved in such a contingency.

To -Abolish Tipping Probably there are very few countries in which the tipping system operates within such narrow and restricted limits as in New Zealand yet small as its vogue is, it cannot be denied that it is generally felt to be a nuisance. It is not out of motives of meanness that the public dislike the system —it is partly because of The annoying uncertainty as to what is to be considered the proper amount of gratuity in a given case, and partly because of the tyranny of the custom, which compels you to give whether you have received any real quid pro quo or not. Of these two factors, the first is undoubtedly the most troublesome. If you see a beam of surprise pass over the face of the recipient, you know that you have been a fool, and have given twice as much as he either expected or deserved. If on the other hand you fall below his anticipation, he will cast on you ‘ that look which the boldest flinch from.’ No self-respecting citizen likes to be placed in a dilemma, in which, with the best of good will, he is liable to come out as either a fool or a niggard ; nor does he find it pleasant to have to go through the torturing anxiety confessed to by the young man in Candida. Candida asks him, with the sympathetic inflexion of voice which would wring confidences from a stone, why he had looked so haggard and worried in the cab. ‘ I was thinking,’ is the answer, ‘ what I ought to pay the cabman.’ The public, we repeat, are generally speaking perfectly willing to pay a fair thing for services rendered ; but they would infinitely .prefer a fixed and stated charge to the present haphazard and uncertain system.. * Nor can it be pretended that the system operates otherwise than injuriously on the recipient, making him truckling and mercenary before payment, and quit© possibly rude and impudent afterwards. It is therefore very much to the credit of the New Zealand Cooks’ and Stewards’ Union of Workers that its representatives should have made an earnest appeal to the Arbitration Court to disregard tips in fixing the minimum wages for stewards; and it is satisfactory to note that the Court has sympathised with the aspirations of the Union

in .this direction, and has made a definite attempt to abolish the system of tipping as far as possible. At the sl *ggestion of the Stewards' Union representative, the Court, in the new award which is to come into force on August 2, has made it a breach of the award to accept a tip from a passenger. To meet the situation thus created, ■'the Court has increased the wages of first class stewards by nearly 50 per cent., and those of second' class stewards to a still greater proportionate extent. This increase will, of course, be duly passed on to the passengers; but the travelling public, as we have already indicated, will not be likely to object to the new arrangement, even if it does mean a slight increase in the fares. Even with the new enactment in force, it will no doubt be a matter of some difficulty entirely to kill the objectionable system : but in view of the fact that the steward will now receive an adequate wage, the passenger who has already contributed his share in the shape of an increased passenger rate need have no qualms in resisting the silent and subtle pressure which may still be brought to bear upon him. The only circumstance in which some slight hardship may arise is the case in which a passenger, through sickness, may require some special service and attendance; but doubtless ways and means will be found of overcoming this difficulty. The new award is certainly a commendable experiment; and its operation will be watched with no little interest.

A New Louvain The Pope has shown, in a very graceful and unequivocal way, his deep sympathy with the unspeakable wrongs of which gallant, little Belgium has been the victim. According to a message from Rome, which is published in the Home papers, his Holiness has announced his desire to start a movement for the formation of a new University Library to replace the famous collection, the destruction of which must ever remain an indelible stain on Genua conduct of its earlv campaign in Belgium. In order to form the nucleus of the new library his Holiness has ordered that copies of all books printed for jthe Vatican, together with whatever literature can be spared from the Papal Palace libraries, shall be forwarded to Cardinal Mercicr for this purpose. The movement has also received valuable assistance from the Governors of the John Hylands Library, M anchester, who have decided to give practical expression to their ‘deep feelings of sympathy’ with the Louvain University authorities in the ‘irreparable less’ they have suffered, by a gift of books from their duplicate stock, which has gradually accumulated through purchases in bloc of large and special lections. A first instalment of 200 volumes has already been offered and gratefully acknowledged by Professor A. Carrioy on behalf of the Louvain authorities, who speaks of it as ‘ one of the very first acts which tend to the preparation of our revival.’ As the University is at present a mere heap of ruins, these volumes, together with any others that may be.forthcoming, will be boused, classified, and catalogued at the John Hvlands Library till the dav comes for them to be transferred to their new home. In addition to this, the Librarv authorities have invited other libraries and private individuals to join with them in presenting suitable books to Louvain, and undertake to receive and bouse such gifts, and to keep a register

of the names and addresses of the donors. There is every reason to hone that (lie movement will be widely taken up, and that (he civilised world will unite to show its reprobation of the stupid vandalism by which Belgium has been robbed cf its intellectual and artistic heritage.

In the review Zr n 1 nilblnl / ftir Hi idiot hek iresen some German intellectuals have attempted to explain and excuse the deplorable act which has inflicted such an irreparable less upon Belgium, and upon the whole world of letters and of art. The substance of this defence is an attempt to blame (he officials of the Library of Louvain for not having been present to point out to the soldiers the value of the collectionswhich otherwise would certainly have been spared ! Like the other

excuses which have been put forward, this attempt quite fails to carry conviction and Monsieur Burger, director of the Amsterdam Library, has replied to it in very conclusive fashion in the Dutch review If el Hoek. ‘Can it be, possible,’ he asks, "that after all these months the directors of this German Review are unaware of the horrible scenes of massacre and pillage that go to make up the crime of Louvain? No one will credit that. Rather shall we say that their ignorance is merely a sham—and a monstrous and clumsy sham ! I will not waste time in refuting this vile insinuation, which the official and well-authenticated accounts of the outrage on Louvain suffice definitely to dispel. It is now acknowledged by all right-minded men who are not prejudiced and do not refuse to seek and admit the truth—“(l) That the fire in the Library of the University broke out sudden/// after eight days’ peaceful occupation of the town by the German troops; (2) that the fire broke out during the night of the 25th of August, when all the Library premises were closed and the residents were forbidden to leave their houses after 7 o’clock in the evening ; (3) that that night of the 25th of August was unquestionably the first night of fire, pillage, and massacre. We know the unhappy fate of the unfortunate people who fell into the hands of the drunken soldiers that nightas also during the days and nights that followed. I saw the ruins of the Library again eight days after the fire, and even then 1 was only able to look at them from a distance and at considerable risk. Broken pillars, an impassable heap of bricks, stones, and beams smouldered in the fire which slowly consumed thousands of volumes between huge portions of dangerous and threatening walls: that was all that remained of the majestic building known as the Halles U uivcrsitaircs, and of the rich treasure it contained. In the streets o? the ruined and deserted city, where the soldiers were completing their work of pillage, and further on even into the country, leaves of manuscripts and books Muttered about, half burned,

at the mercy of the wind.’ As we have said, the movement for restoration is being keenly and eagerly taken up, both in Belgium and out of it : and scholarly Belgians cherish the fond hope that ‘ The Halls of Louvain will rise again from their ashes,’ and that 1 they will become, as in former days, the centre of a school of learning of which the glorious past is a guarantee for the future.’

Some Lusitania Echoes English and American files just to hand contain the definite statement that both the British Admiralty and the United States officials have certified that the Lusitania was not armed — so that the one ground which might have afforded a technical pretext for the submarine attack on the great liner has been shown to be non-existent. The fact that the Lusitania carried contraband of war in the shape of some five or six thousand cases of rifle cartridges would have justified the seizure and if necessary the sinking of the ship—but only after passengers and crew had been given an opportunity of escape. The points at issue between Germany and the United States, and the American replies thereto, are admirably set forth in a summary given in the New York Sun. The German contentions are given as they were disclosed in Germany’s reply to the American Note on the sinking of the Lusitania. Here is the Sim’s summary: ‘ Germany asserts the Falaba’s action in summoning aid caused the submarine commander to torpedo her before all passengers had escaped. . ‘ United States holds that no potential menace to the submarine justified causing the death of the American passenger Leon C. Thrasher. ‘ Germany says unjustified attacks on neutral- ships are due to carelessness or suspicious acts of the vessels concerned. ‘ United States holds that on Germany rests the responsibility for not making mistakes. 1 Germany charges that the Lusitania was armed. ' United States has officially declared the Lusitania, left New York unarmed.

‘ Germany charges that the Lusitania was a British auxiliary cruiser. ‘ United States holds the Lusitania was a British passenger ship, not engaged in the service of the British Government at the time she was sunk, but operating only in her normal capacity of merchant service between New York and Liverpool. * Germany charges' that England ordered British merchantmen to attack German submarines.

. ‘ United States holds that only evidence that the Lusitania did attack a submarine would make this contention admissible.

‘ Germany declares herself unable to regard British ships undefended British territory. ‘ United States holds that the laws of humanity and nations forbid attacks on neutrals and merchant vessels on the high seas.

‘ Germany charges that the United States law was violated by the presence of explosives on the passenger ship Lusitania. 4 United States holds that the American law regarding explosives on passenger ships never applied to rifle cartridges. ‘ Germany invites the United States to end submarine operations by obtaining a change in British trade policy. ‘ United States holds it cannot bargain in American lives or the rights of humanity.’ * The swift and ruthless destruction of innocent human life in this great ocean tragedy must have been a horrible business; and English exchanges describe many moving and pathetic incidents. The following, for example, is told by- the Cork correspondent of the Sunday Herald-. —‘ One mother lost all her three youngchildren, one six years, one aged four, and the third a babe in arms, six months old. She herself lives, and held up the three of them in the water, all the time shrieking for help. When rescued by a boat party the two eldest were dead. Their room was required on the boat, and the mother was brave enough to realise it. “ Give them to me,” she cried; “ Give them to me, my bonnie wee things. I will bury them. They are mine to bury as they were mine to keep.” With her hair streaming down her back and her form shaking with sorrow, she took hold of each little one from the rescuers and reverently placed it into the water again, and the people in the boat wept with her as she murmured a little sobbing prayer to the great God above. But her cup of sorrow was not yet completed, for just as they were landing her third and only child died in her arms.’ The following from the London Times is typical of what must have been an all too frequent experience of the friends and relatives on shore. Describing the scene at Liverpool of the landing of the survivors, the Tunes correspondent says: —‘I saw one elderly woman, with her shawl hanging from her shoulders and her gray hair in disarray, advancing slowly through the crowd, calling out, “Is Dan Daly among ye? Dan Daly the fireman?” She was a mother seeking distractedly her son. Clutching by the arm each member of the crew she encountered, she would meaningly ask whether he did not know Dan Daly the fireman, but none of them knew him. At last she came upon a fireman who did know, and I heard the decisive answer which shattered her hopes. “ Dan is gone, ma’am. He was down below at the time.” Throwing up her hands with a gesture of despair, the mother turned aside to lean over a packing case for support while she wailed and wailed in sorrow.’ * Courage, calmness, and unselfish devotion to duty in time of danger have become so traditional with the Catholic priesthood that it is in no way matter of surprise to find that Father Maturin, the distinguished convert and eminent preacher and writer, crowned a deeply useful and spiritual life by a hero’s death. The London Tablet gives the full particulars. ‘ In Dublin is a lady’ survivor who owes her life to his self-sacrifice. He put her into one of the boats and then stood back upon the deck, perfectly .calm and collected. Just as

the boat was pulling away he caught sight of a baby child. There was just time to pick her up and throw her into the lady’s arms, with the words, “ Try and find her mother.” And to her joy she was able to fulfil that last injunction of the dying priest, for on'the quay at Queenstown was the baby’s mother, landed from another boat. As long as there were boats to be launched and life-belts to be served out. Father Maturin worked hard for others. And when no more boats could be got away he was seen standing quietly on the deck, white as a sheet, but as calm as if he were in his study at Oxford. To the last he was giving absolution to his dying fellow-passengers and doing all he could to keep them calm. By nature he was exceptionally nervous — sailing he wrote to a friend in London saying how anxious he felt about the coming voyage but when face to face with actual death he was one of the calmest men aboard the ship. A week after the catastrophe his body was washed up at Orookhaven. His face was perfectly peaceful. He had made no attempt to divest himself of any of his clothing, and he wore no life-belt. Evidently he realised that there was no possible chance of being saved. His body was taken in a tug to Queenstown, where it was robed in Mass vestments and carried in procession to the church amid the fervent piety of a Catholic people.’