THE TABLET. A Weekly Newspaper a n d Review .

DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMÜS ÜT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.

F rom ike B r i e f o j H i s Holi?iess P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , J u n e 4, 1870.

V ol. 90. No. 3000. L ondon, D ecember 1a, 1897.

P r ic e sd., by P o s t 5% d .

[R e g i s t e r e d a t t h e G e n e r a l P o s t O f f i c e a s a N ew s p a p e r .

C h ro n ic le o f t h e W e e k !

Page

Allen v. Flood—The Charge 01 Breach of Faith : The Private Telegrams— Treatment o f the Native Matabele — The Long Lives of the C lergy-Photography in Colours — Agricultural CoOperation in Ireland— The Catholic Press in India and the Tilak Case— The Engineering Dispute — The Dreyfus Scandal— Lord Rosebery and the London County Council—Is Our Coal Supply Giving Out? —The Frontier War — Mr. Dillon in Dublin— The German Emperor a t K ie l—The Epidemic at Maidstone . . . . 957 L e a d e r s :

English Catholics and the Index 961

CONTENTS

L e a d e r s (Continued):

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The Ministerial Crisis in Ita ly . . 962 Catholics and the Universities . . 963 N o t e s . . ... - . — . . 9 6 7 R e v ie w s :

The Life and Times of Cardinal

Wiseman . . . . . . . . 068 Recollections of Aubrey de Vere 970 The Last Things . . . . . . 971 Lives of the Saints.. . . . 978 The Oxford Debate on Textual

Criticism . . . . . . . . 978 More Christmas Books . . . . 978 Wetherleigh.. . . . . . . 979 C o r r e s p o n d e n c e :

Rome :— (From Our Own Corrs*

spondent) . . — — — 973

C o r r e s p o n d e n c e (Continued):

News from Ireland

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_ 975

News from France . . . . . . 976 L e t t e r s t o t h e E d it o r :

The Greek E ta . . . . . . 977 The Anglican Mass . . .. 977 Warning to Priests, Religious and

Others . . . . . . . . 977 Memorial to Sir Charles Hallé . . 979 Calumnies Against Priests and Nuns 979 The Church and the Antipodes . . 980 Monasticism .. . . . . . . 982 Christmas Appeals . . . . . . 982 The Late Mgr. Witham . . . . 983 Books of the Week . . . . . . 983 O b i t u a r y . . . . ... . . 983 So c ia l a n d P o l i t i c a l . . . . 984 l

SUPPLEMENT. N ew s from 'th e S c h o o l s :

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The Universities Education Board 989 Ratcliffe College Feast . . . . ggQ St. Margaret’s Industrial School,

Mill Hill, N .W . . . . . 990 Convent Education . . . . 990 The Northern Counties Educa­

tion League ............................990 N ew s from t h e D io c e se s :

Westminster . . . . . . 990 Leeds 993 Nottingham .. ............................g93 Plymouth . . . . . . . . 994 Portsm outh........................................994 Newport . . . . . . . . 994 Glasgow . . . . . . ... 994 Catholic Evidence Lectures . . 994

Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.

CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.

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a l l b n v. f l o o d .

OME time in the year 1894 two shipwrights accustomed to do ' both wood and iron work were employed by the Glengall Iren Company. It came to the knowledge of the defendant, Flood, that these two men had formerly, in another yard, been employed to do iron work, He at once reported his discovery to the union o f boilermakers, of which he was an item. The Union rules require that men who have done iron-work shall not find employment by doing wood-work. Accordingly, Flood formed himself into a small but influential deputation, and waited upon the foreman of the Glengall Company. He explained that all the boilermakers would leave work unless Allen and his companion were dismissed. The foreman listened and obeyed, and the two men were turned adrift. Allen then sued Flood for having maliciously caused him to be deprived of his work. A t the trial of the action brought by the shipwrights Mr. Justice Kennedy left to the jury, among other questions, these two : Did the defendant maliciously induce the Glengall Company to discharge the plaintiffs ? Did the defendant maliciously induce the Company not to engage the plaintiffs ? The jury answered, “ Yes ” ; the Judge gave judgment for the plaintiffs. In the Court of Appeal three Judges upheld this decision, and ultimately, an expression of opinion having been invited from the other Judges, six sided with the Court of Appeal and two, Mr. Justice Mathew and Mr. Justice Wright, dissented. A t last the final decision Of the House of Lords has been given, and six of the Law Lords declare that the two Judges were right, while three agree with the Court of Appeal. The result is that the opinion of eight Judges prevails over that of thirteen, and the methods of Mr. Flood are justified to the world. The line of thought which runs through the judgment is clearly indicated in the following words of Lord Herschell: “ It is certainly a general rule of our law that an act p r im a fa c ie lawful is not unlawful and actionable on account of the motives which dictated it ” : instances to the contrary are exceptional or misunderstood. On this point Lord Watson speaks to the same effect; putting crime aside, “ the law of England does

N ew Series. Vol. L V III ., No. 2,315,

not take into account motive as constituting an element of civil wrong. . . . The existence of a bad motive in the case of an act which is not in itself illegal will not convert that act into a civil wrong for which civil reparation is due.” Referring to the class of acts which the adherents of the opinion of the Court o f Appeal cited as instances in which motive is deemed an essential element, he points out that they are cases of conduct which the law generally regards as illegal, but which it excuses in exceptional circumstances for reasons of public policy. The Lord Chancellor’s reasoning is based on the right of the plaintiffs to follow their calling unmolested. This, in the view of Lord Herschell, conceals a fallacy; it either states a useless truism or is an unwarrantable extension of individual rights. “ In my opinion, a man cannot be called upon to justify either act or word merely because it interferes with another’s trade or calling, any more than he is bound to justify or excuse his act or word under any other circumstances, unless it be shown to be in its nature wrongful, and thus to require justification.” The law is now settled, and it leaves a free hand to both sets of combination— to the federations among the employersas well as to unions among the men. I f the views of the Court of Appeal had been upheld, a new weapon would have been placed in the hands of the trade unions with which to meet the federated employers who sought to enforce their demands by means of lock-outs. The law affects both parties equally, and certainly eliminates a great element of uncertainty, and leaves less to the caprice of a jury. I f an act lawful in itself could be made illegal because it might be supposed to have been done out of an evil heart, the pitfalls for both parties would be many. Of course the law against intimidation and terrorism remains unaffected by this decision.

The Government, since the accusation bR™AEc™ i°xF„:

d by Mr.

THE p r i v a t e Morley in his speech at Arbroath, last t e l e g r a m s . September, have been charged over and over again with a breach of faith in the construction of the Chitral Road and in reversing the decision of their predecessors in office. There was nothing in the Blue Books to support this charge, but Sir Henry Fowler pointed out that private telegrams had passed between himself and the Viceroy of India in which the Indian Government had been clearly warned against the alleged breach of faith. These telegrams, at the request of Lord Elgin, have since been made public, and instead of conveying an opinion or a warning on the matter, simply