Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-06-08
THE IRISH CATHOLIC
Emigration scheme Will not DO
The Bishops Ought not to Bur-
den Themselves with Secu-
lar Enterprises - Arch
bishop Hughes's
Advice.

New York Herald: SIN the observations
which we think it our duty to make on this
scheme, of which several western Catholic
bishops are the authors, and some well known
Catholic laymen in this city-Mr. John Kelly
and Mr.. Eugene Kelly among the mum Der
have made themselves patrons by liberal sub
scriptions, we must begin by concedlng the
great benefits of judicious emigration. We
do NOT dispute or question that there are
thousands of laborers in our eastern cities
whose condition would be improved by
emlgrf.dng to the agricultural regions of the
west. But we must, nevertheless, regard
Bishop Spalding's scheme as visionary.
In the first place, we respectfully suggest
that nothing could be more lll-tlmed than
stock company or business enterprise under
the management of Catholic bishops while
| the great scandal of the venerable Archbishop
PurcelPs debts Is still so fresh, and an effort
is about to be made for raising money to
compound them by paying fifty cents on the
dollar. Considerable Catholics have reason to
lament that this terrible warning makes so
little impression on other western bishops.
The true lesson of Archbishop Purcell's dis
tressing and most humiliating embarrass-
| ments ls that it is unwIse and perilous for the
higher Catholic clergy to engage In any pc
cuniary transactions outside OF their neces-
sary functions as administrators of the church
property committed to their Immediate
charge. Archbishop Purcell's gray hairs
are brought down In sorrow to the grave by
his misdirected benevolence IN acting
as the custodian of the savings of
the faithful. The Catholic bishops are so
overhurdened with duties that they cannot
give the requisite attention for the successful
| discharge OF voluntary private trusts. We
cannot but regard it as an alarming symptom
that at the very time when an appeal Is
| making to the church to assist In compro-
| fering creditors there Is preached IN this city
great scheme, gotten up by other western
| bishops, not dissimilar to the dreadful pit
into which the aged archbishop of G ncinnati
has fallen. Until this great scandal is healed
| it looks like tempting Providence and brav1Dg
| public opinion for Catholic bishops to assume
| responsibilities which do not belong to them.
| When so present and so fearful a warning
produces no effect it is not surprising that
Catholics In this diocese seem to have for
gotten the lessons of not very remote past.
We presume that every Catholic of this city
who has made q subscription IL ard OF
this emigration scheme has in his house the
| collected works of the late Archbishop
| Hughes, whose great intellectual yigor and
rare administrative capacity must always Sc
| cure for him one of the brightest pages In the
! history of the Catholic church in America.
| His sentiments on Catholic emigration to the
| west will be found stated with his usual de-
cision and visor in the second volume of his
| collected writings. He was most unspar-
| ing opponent of things which he thought it
| his duty to oppose. Ia 1857 a scheme almost
! precisely Ike the present was broached In
| this city by Catholic priest FROM the west
| In a public address, which set forth its adj
vantages IN glowing colofs. AT the conclu-
sion of the address there arose In the midst
| Of the audience a graye-lOoking gentle
man, who began to speak IN retu-
| tatiou of the lecturer. At first he was not
recognized, but after few sentences the au
| dience perceived that they were listening to
! the well known voice of Archbishop hughes:
! We Will not wound the senslbliItles Of
| Bishop Spalding by making quotations, but
we refer all interested to the published re-
/ port of that denunclatory speech. If we are
not mistaken, it will be fouEd timely and
| wholesome reading. We advise the Messrs.
| Kelly and Fathers Douelly and Ducey, who
have subscribed one thousand dollars each
| for this new emigration scheme, to read that
| trencdant speech Of Archbishop Hughes.
GOrdOE On Southern School Books.
Senator Blaine referred the other day to the
| textbooks IN use in all southern schools, de-
nouncing them as violently partisan and sec
tional In their teaching. Mr.. Blaine should
! have known better, and Senator Gordon
| states the facts for has information IN the fol-
lowing pertinent language: Tine fact oil
sectional school-books was well-known north
| as wei as south during tno war ana snOFJlY
after its close. No use IN disgusting that, for
it is perfectly weli-known. What we want
to know and have known Is the latest history
of the matter. It is simply this: General
D. Fl. Hill, of North carolina, kept on
| printing and circulating among his
own schools and at his own private expense
series of school books which kept
on intoxicating these sectional doctrines
While they never reached the children of the
south generally yet many of us thought the
principle was radically wrong, as the wal
was over, and We combined to stop 1t. You
will be surprised to hear that Horace Greeley
WAS one of the principal movers in the enter
prise Of roofing out such books from all Sec
tons of the country, and he heartily gave US
the weight of his great influence. What we
wanted to do was to supplant the old book;
with the university series prepared by the
| University of Virginia that contained nothing
whatever sectional or political, and we have
succeeded Mr. Blaine, like the rest of them
goes back a dozen years for his illustrations
l venture to say that ne cannot find one such
school book to-day in the hands OF any south
ern child, and we have two million using
books every day"