The New York herald., 1873-07-10
THE CHURCH WAR.

The Meeting OF the Wards Island Com-l
mtttee OF the Commissioners Of Emi-
grafton. -
The Church question on Wards Island Is fruit-
full theme for the present Board Of Emigration
Commissioners, and every meeting Of that body
seems to warrant q passage OF arms between the
rival champions The meeting Of the Wards Island
Committee at the verplanck Hospital yesterday
morning was made the scene OF the latest encounI
ter. There were present Commissioners Stephen
son, Quintard Lynch and Starr. After the transact
ton of some routine business which was the osten@
sible reason for convoking the meeting MrStephenS
son, the chairman called the Rev. Mr.. Schmidt the
Protestant minister the island to elicit any fur,
tner Information possible regarding the proposed
that he believed In the doctrine OF Luther and as
serted that Father Prachensky the Catholic priest
had abducted three or four children Of ProtestanS
mothers, with the intent to place them in CathOlid
schools. Mr. schmidt desired to be permitted to
following interrogatories then followed In tha
Mr. Lynch-Q. Do you attend to the SPIRITUAL
wants of all-Unitarians, for instance who wish ia
remain such Do you minister to tfeir spiritual
wants ? A. do not bsieve that Unitarian can
g; Il Catholic wanted tq die q Protestans
hidden by the rules Of the instttuuon JbY me to
attend those VINO have abjured their religion
Q. Do various denominations In the institutiona
together : A. Yesi but cannot give any In
' Q. Do dinerent denomination, Worship torether
In the United States' A. Yes; but know OF onlJ
few instances. ~ |'a ui9l9
The Rev. Father Prachensky was called and
denied that he had ever attempted to make any
proselytes. He had not attended Protestant5
only IN cases where he had been sent for and
In such cases he had never refused. He
could not administer any OF the sacraments 70 any
person without the consent of that person, or un.
less he was satisfied that the penitent desired ia
become Catholic. The three children whom he
abandoned by their mothers and he assumed caro-
OF them at the mothers requests 1t Is fact that
nearly all OF the women who give birth to children
on the Island are unmarried Many strive ia
starve their children to death, and not unfre.
quently try to get rid OF them in other ways They
Father then reiterated that he took the children
merely as an act OF charity. Z"
tional facts were developed. The COMMITTEES ad.
journed until next Tuesday. when there VIII b
another church matinee at Castle Garden.
WHY wali.ch Discusses . Few Points
er Made by Ex-Secretary Casserly.' .a
NEW YORK, July O. 1873.
To THE EDITOR or THE HERALD
II request once more the privilege of using your
columns 1t is mostly ior the purpose OF expressing
through the same, my sincere thanks to ex-Secre.
tary Bernard Casscrly for the frank admission Ia
his letter Of the 6th instant "that from his knowi<
edge Of the temper Of the Emigration Commits,
sioners, he fully expected a determined effort
would be made at their meeting held on purpose ia
discuss the annual report strike out from 1t tha
word Catholic wherever 1t was used in reference to
the chapel, and that the sen ment OF the majortty
OF the commissioners present at said meeting ap-
peared TO favor the motion OF MIR. Kaufman, ia
strike out the words for the Catholic inmates, after
the word chapel" This admission seems to justify
the conclusion that at that state OF the proceed
inRs. the Commissioners were not In harmony ON
the Cnapel question.
Mr.. Casseriy preiaced this acknowledgment by
per OF the Board by being present when the oues-
ton was canvassed by both the anti-CathOlic and
the other Commissioners did not enjoy the same
privilege, and Mr.. Casserly had, therefore, the adI
vantage over me of knowing the plans and tactics
OF the other Commissioners This may explain how
embracing all special reference to a Catholic
chapel wherever IL occurred in the re-
saa now Of MI ssseT the
felt astonished that neither l, '.in INV we'll
known known - fury against Catholics and theis
Kauimann, raised any further objections againsS
the rest OF the sentence page 10 as read 6y the
Secretary. may state hereby that had noticed
on previous occasions that tae secretary could read
az well rom memory as from manuscript.) Aften
s at a%te had away he must
and lew remarks made by Mr Lynch should have
peen sulclent to silence so persistent an oppostS
casions 1t is therefore, pardonable in him to glory
over The apparent carelessness ON my, and what ha
a showing sSn az ns he Ss should allow coS
missioner Lynch TO use this inadvertance as ar&
sepon the pocy Of prcynr
Catholics out OF the general fund with money I'd
erect church for their exclusive use. As to Mr.
Casserly's remark that ample opportunity waa
afterwards given to correct any pretended mis>
takes, by his sending within two or three day2
ssssrt sat reserved % one ana Ss.
saw a copy Of tho revised report until IL was puh
ushed Very respectfully WILLY WALLAoE.