Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1873-10-18
Vhe Irish Catholic Union at Al. I.UH.S.

Rr,nluiiris were adopted that the dcpnahc
ATTITUDE Of the government towards religion Is
the rcsul; If abandonment of Gud' ) will; t!la:
! the present Imprisonment of the Pope Is the
cni,sulnnaion Of hrlli-h conspiracy; that we
| protest against the prosecutions ui liuSsa
! that morality. religion, stbrlciy ard honesty
are safeguards against national dcgcncracY;that
! secret societies AMI other dangerous aSS''ca
| ti,us ui men untaught IN principles of religion
| and bent through tUrtuous ways on purely ma
| ,rri,I ends, are suhvcr,ivc of social order and
| fatal to faith as il is destructive OF the morality
| If Catholics: that i Catholic is not true to his
country If false to the chulci; that education 10
be effective must be religious; that the present
syS:cu oil public schools ignoring all supernatu-
raj authority, and making God, first know
ledge, the last thing to be learned, Is curse to
our country, aud u fJa1 gate Of atheism and OF
<eusuaIity and OF civil, social and national clr-
ruptlon.
\ long and spirited debate cnsuc! OF the last
resolution.
Mr. Kelley, Of Virginia, thought the rcSoIu-
ton should be rcc1ulDltted 10 the con.lEiiice,
with instructions to modify il. II. was, by
virtue of his Office az mayor 81 Richmon1,
president vi the board Of public schools. lie
had been elected mayor by u constituency which
was about eighty per ccnI PlUtc.tant. Inc
| Bible was not read III the s:i:Utjs In Richmond,
aud he had the assurance Of the boar! that 10
religious instruction was taug lt in them. lie
was not ir sympathy with the resolution, nor
could he vote fer it without S'ultlfylug himself,
which he did not propose 10 do.
Father phclali, of ST. Louis, dcleudcd the
resolution and said: I'VE have nothing to do
| with Richmond Or Its schools. Ii religious III
structiuu was excluded trom thcm, as Mr. kel-
Icy said, they were the most otJcctlonabIc OF
all schools The public men Of America were
educated iu the public schools aud were exhl-
billions OF the system, aud they were the most
corrupt and dishonest OF auy country ID the
world. Men can steal in this country with iul-
punty, provided the amount Is large enough.
That the children of the country 20 heels over
head to the devil must be attributed to the
education they receive 10 the public schools,
which does not fiji them for the temptations OF
the world In these schools mcn of science are
honorcd and cuugIZcd, but the name Of Jesus
Christ is not allowed to be mentioned With
reverence These children turn out to be learn.
cd horse thieves, scholastic coun;crrltS, and
we'll posted in all schemes Of dcvlltry.
Mr. Hurley. of Pennsylvania, denounced the
resolution, 4, il contemplated the uulGn o.!
Church and State.
President Dwycr said the RESOLUTION meant
no such thing, aud he did not wish such an I'M
preston to get abroad. lie advised that the
resolution be changed 81 ;S TO ,lmp!y favor
Catholic schools.
Mr.. Harley proceeded. and said the Catholics
had gained great victory in driving the Bible
out OF public schools.
Father Graham ,iuterruping, said tie Church
did not drive the Bible out of the schools. The
purpose was to put III them the correct version
Of the Bible aud the Catholic catec!liSu..
Mr. Harley. Exactly. Now | ak you, il 1t
just or ri ght that We should introduce cur Ca
thoc ctechi>m amcng Protcstauts, V hen We
will Dot allow Professionals, who arc III the ma
iority, to use the Billie in public schools.
Mr.. Chance, Of Delaware, thought this was a
fling IN the wrong direction. They might favor
Catholic schools, but they should not denouucc
Protestant schools.
Father Butler, Of Kansas, thought the reSo-
luton went too far |, should rot be forgotten
that the public schools Of this country had serv-
cd as model Tor Catholic parochia! schools and
10 that respect had done good. The main diff
ference between them was one Of religion onl y.
Father Phclan again spoke, aud said he
thought the delegates from the east had not
studied this subject enough. He frankly con-
fcSscd that Catholics stood before the country
as enemies OF public schools. and the reasons
therefore should be stated lie considered that
those reasons were embodied in the resolution.
They must say that thcy would As soon send
their children into pest house, or bury lhcm,
as let them 20 to public schools They were
assured that they would lose faith. They were
afraid that the child who left home in The morn
ing would come back with something in its heart
Us black as hell.
Father Mangin said the public school system
is Il uuisauce. The words in the resolution are
none too strong.
Mr.. Chance moved to rccommit the rc>oIll-
ton with Instructions to report one itvnrlng
Catholic schools, which was carried.
The following substitute was reported Tor the
education resolution
That the system OF State education how cs
tablishcd in most Slatcs BY its failure to pro-
vide proper religious instruction tor the young,
and its cughtcning the head to the entire ne
glect of heart culture, meets with our unquall
fed reprobation; that it unjustly taxes 4 large
class of our people, who cannot without danger
to the faith and morality OF their offspring avail
themselves OF its advantages.
The resolution was adopted unanimous ".
\. NJ. Kelley, Of Richmond, was elected pres
ident, and Marliu j. Griffin, OF Philadelphia,
secretary.
| Tho onuvoutinr thrn ,1i ,urnpl