The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-07-16
TIE GEGHAN BILL.

AN ACT to secure the liberty Of conscience
in matters Of religions to persons mprls-
oned or detained 10y authority Of law.
SECTION l. Be It enacted by the 6~Ii-
erQL ASseDtJlg IF the St0te IF ohio, That
as liberty of conscience l. not forfeited
bv reason of conviction of crime or by
reason OF detention III any penal. re-
formatory, or eieemOSynary Institution,
or any house of refuge. work house. jail
or public asylum III this State, 10 person
in any such Institution shall be COM
PEELED TO attend religious worship or in
structions of any form which = against
the dictates of his or heT conscience;
and it shall be the duty Of every direct
or, trustee, superintendent or other per
son having in charge any such instltu-
ton, 10 furnish ample and equal facial
ties to all such persons for receiving the
ministTatiOns of the authorized clergy
me-. of their own religious drEGuiiia-
UionS or persuasiouS. under such reH~ou-
able rules and regulations ~ the tru--
tees. directors, managers or superimte end
cnt shall make. But no such rules shall
be so construed as 20 prevent the clergy
man of any denomination from fully
administering the rites of his denomiua-
ton to such inmates, provided such
ministration shall entail no expense on
the public treasury.
SIC > This act shall take eiFrct after
its passage.
GEO. II. CONVERSE,
.Sptdktr ef tie HoHSt a Epr,>,isdsttr,s.
ALPHONSp HART,
Presiieat gf he Senate.
Passed March Both, 1875.
(See Ohio Laws Is7', page I52.y
The foregoing is the GeSiian Law in
full. For the passage of this law the
author, nor the party in power in the
State, can find no excuse whatever.
There was no prctense that any clergy
man of reputable standing of any one of
the hundreds of religious denominations
i'll Ohio had not perfect freedom to hold,
OH proper occasions, religious services i'll
any one of the public institutions of the
State, or To impart at any proper time
such religious instruction Us he had TO
give. This was admitted by the hum
dreds of Catholic lobbyists at Columbus
when UlIr biit wis TI5USs'-ri. HTtIy, then,
was it passed II no necessity existed for
it, why pass Il law itt once 50 odiuus to
nine ouC OF every ten citizens of the
State.
We answer, simply because the Cath
Ollie priesthood appeared at Columbus,
and demanded this law as Il means
whereby they could be clothed with pow
er to enter the different Orphans Homes
of the State and select out the children
of Catholic parentage and prohibit any
Protestant, either clergyman or layman,
from teaching such child in religious
matters That the priest might go TO
the penitcntiary and select the Catholic
convict from among the hcretics there
confined and teach him exclusively III
religious faith This was Il concession
to the Catholic Church OF a power never
exercised or asked by any other church
in Ohio. Why do they wish this power
do you ask. Because iight, it is feared
would ALLEVIATE the convict or the or
phan child away from the infallible faith
of Rome, and therefore this church must
carry with il the sanction of n State law
to prohibit instruction from Protestant
teachers. Aud yet this law is called ''an
act to secure liberty of conscience in
matters of religion to persons impriSon-
ed or detained by authority of law" 10
Is Just He TcGci,e. 1t should have been
called ''the act to give the Catholic
priest power to control the conscience
of convicts and orphan children in mat
tcrs of religion, and to empower him to
prohibit any but Catholics from teaching
such convict or orphan child i'll refer
ence to religious belief" We insist that
this is the real scope of the law. 1t is IA
dark page in the history of our great
State, put there by tine Democratic par
ty to secure ''the solid Catholic vote
of Ohio for the Democracy at the clec-
ton this fall" The party was promised
this ''sOIid vote" if it would pass the bill.
and for this reason, and for the reason
that it las general tendency TO yield
to any demand the Catholic Church may
make upon it, 10 gain control of the
public institutions and public schools of
the State i'll the interests of that church.
Thus trading the power Of the State for
the votes of the Church, il passed the
bill and made it u law. 1t is not neces-
sary to say that not q single Hs-publican
voted for it, and that as soon rs the BE
publicans can get . chance they will
repeal it. The Representative from this
county, Mr. Barnett, voted for it, and is
now up fer reelection. We shall se,, If
the Democracy of Richlard county will
indOrse the law, hy clcrting Barnott --
NaR&fGid Hcrdii.
And the Representative from this
county, WM MCKINLEY, voted for it,
and is now moving heaven and earth TO
secure a denomination, and he Is likely
70 succeed. But his election will be- an
other matter entirely.