THE TABLET,
A W eekly Newspaper an d Review .
DUM VOBIS GRATULAMUR, ANIMOS ETIAM ADDIMUS UT IN INCCEPTIS VESTRIS CONSTANTER MANEATIS.
From the B r i e f o; H is Holiness P iu s IX . to T h e T a b l e t , June 4, ihyo.
V 0 L 0 9 1 »
3028.
L o n d o n , IVIa y 21, 1898.
price sd., bypost s^d.
[R eg is tered a t t h e G e n e r a l P o st O f f ic e a s a N ew spaper.
Page
C hronicle of th e W e e * ’
Imperial Parliament: The Irish Distress— Monday’s Sitting— The Value of Wei-hai-Wei— President Kruger's Address — I h e South Norfolk Election— Mr. Chamberlain’s Speech— Its Effect Abroad — Resignation of the Spanish Cabinet — Its Reconstruction — The Progress of the War—American Repulses in Cuba—Death of Mr. Gladstone— Street Nuisances —The Good-will o f Japan . . 793
L e a d e r s :
Mr. Gladstone . . . . - - 797 The Centenary of Vasco da Gama 798 The Royal Academy . . . . 799 Fra Girolamo Savonarola . . •• 800
C 0 N T
Page
Notes
. . 80
R ev iew s :
Hindu Manners, Customs, and
Ceremonies . . . . 80+ Characteristics from the Writings of Cardinal Wiseman . . . . 805 Picturesque Dublin, Old and New 805 French Self-Taught . . . . 806 Royal Academy Pictures.. . . 806 New Object Lessons . . . . 8o5 The Recent History of Uganda . . 806 C orrespondence :
Rome (From Our Own Corre-
spondent) . . — — — 809 News from Ireland _ — 811 News from France......................... 812 News from America . . . . 813
E N T S .
L e t t e r s to t h e E d it o r : Page
Savonarola . . . . . . . .8 1 4 Methods o f Controversy . . . . 8x4 Catholic Private Tutors . . . . 814 A Warning . . . . . . . 814 Catholics and the Education Ques
tion ................................................... 815 St. Edmund's House............................816 Sir Henry Irving at Archbishop’s
House
.. .. . . . . 817
The “ Veneration of the Cross" .. 818 The Zambesi Miss'on . . . . 819 Books of the Week . . . . . . 819 O b it u a r y ........................... ... 820 Social and Po l it i c a l . . . . 820
SU PPLEM ENT. N ews from t h e S chools :
Religious Instruction in Board
Industrial Schools . . . . 825 Questions in Parliament . . . . 825
N ews from t h e S chools (Con
Page tinued): The Training of Teachers . . 8¿5 Technical Education . . . . 826 The Maintenance of Denomina
tional S c h o o l s ........................... 826 The Conference of Catholic Col
leges and the Holy Father . . 826 N ew s from t h e D ioceses :
Westminster ........................... 826 Birmingham.. ............................827 Clifton ......................... . . 827 Leeds ....................................... 823 Nottingham.. ............................828 Argyll and the Isles . . . . 828 Ritual Jn the Establishment . . 829 Catholic Evidence Lectures at Ken
sington ....................................... 831
* * Rejected MS. cannot be returned unless accompanied with address and postage.
CHRONICLE OF THE WEEK.
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I r i s h d i s t r e s s .
.
the Governm ent refuses to deal
IT is not a little unfortunate that a “ «*? sympathetic manner with the real distress which, discount the reports as they may, undoubtedly exists in Ireland. Mr. D illo n took advantage o f the opportunity afforded by the discussion o f the Irish Estim ates in Committee o f Supply to call attention to the condition o f the people in West Mayo. H e declared that whilst many were within a short distance o f starvation, the landlords persisted in exacting their full rents frcm them, and he hoped that the Ch ie f Secretary would endeavour to deal with the distress in an adequate manner, and at the same tim e in a more humane mood than he had hitherto displayed. T h e discussion then drifted into an attack on the now famous “ cham pagne” speech made by M r .G . Balfour, whohad the unwisdom to declare that he meant what he said. A n attem pt was made by Mr. Carson to lift the level o f the debate from mere personalities to the real question at issue. So far as he could gather, there was no general exceptional distress at the present time, but in certain districts c f the South and West he believed that the distress was o f a most exceptional character. A t the best o f times, these poor people lived in a distressful condition, and had only an existence, and what they were crying out for new was only that they m ight be allow ed to have that mere existence. It was not easy to suggest remedies for chronic distress, but they must deal with immediate necessities. I f distress existed, even in parts, was the H ouse of Commons to say that it could do nothing ? In these districts they could not satisfactorily work out the scheme that the local rates must contribute relief before the Government would help. I f the distress continued for any length of time, it would create more ill-feeliDg towards the English Governm ent than any amount of politics could ever do. Mr. Gerald Balfour entered into a loDg array o f figures to show how largely the reports o f the distress had been exaggerated. In this task he fell foul o f Mr. W . Redmond, who, disgusted with the whole thing, stamped out o f the House, declaring his hatred for the “ beastly English.” Mr.
N ew S e r i e s V o l . L I X . , N o . 2 , r t f .
T . P. O ’Connor, Colonel Saunderson and M ajor Jameson all afterwards testified to the existence of distress, and MrDavitt made a suggestion which it is hoped may be taken up. H e pointed out that the present distress and the relief o f it was only a small question as compared with the application o f a permanent remedy. I f one-tenth or one-twentieth o f the money spent during the century in temporary relief o f recurring famine had been applied towards a permanent rem edy the difficulty would have been solved at once and for all. T h e natural rem edy would be to give these people, instead o f their excessively small patches, enough land to cultivate to enable them to have a variety o f vegetables, as had the small cultivators in Holland. H e suggested that the C h ie f Secretary should consider the advisability of a scheme to buy out the landlords in these districts, behaving fairly to them, and putting the land at the disposal o f the Congested Districts Board, for them to deal with it for the benefit o f the people now occupying it. T h e debate went somewhat storm ily on after this, and when the Committee divided Mr. D illo n ’ s motion was defeated by a majority o f 77. On the order for the second reading o f this B ill, Mr. P . O ’B rien having explained its provisions, Mr. Johnston said the object o f the statutes which this B ill proposed to annul was to prevent Jesuits amassing property in this country, and he felt bound to object to the second reading. T h e B ill was put down for a future day.
Things were somewhat quiet in the House
— Mo n d a y ’ s o f Commons on Monday, though a good many s i t t i n g , questions were asked betraying the uneasiness into which the national mind has been thrown by recent ministerial utterances. T h e re is a not unnatural anxiety on the Opposition side o f the H ouse to traverse the foreign policy o f the Government on the Foreign O ffice V o te , but there seems as yet to be no agreem ent as to the topics to be discussed. Mr. Y erburgh wants to re open the discussions on the Chinese question ; Sir Charles D i lk eh a s a wider ambition, and desires to prove the general incom petence o f the G overnm en t; and when Mr. Balfour declared his readiness to discuss either the larger or narrower issue Sir William Harcourt suggested that, in his opinion, what the H ouse and the country would prefer would be a debate on “ the Birm ingham foreign policy o f the Government.” A fte r that Mr. Davitt wanted to know from Mr. Chamberlain if he was correctly reported in the words he had used in regard to Russia, but he was quickly called to order by the Speaker. A fter question tim e the H ouse went into Committee cn the Irish Local Government Bill.
