The record-union., 1891-09-24
FULL TEXT OF THE PLATFORM AS
ADOPTED
Morehouse of Missouri
Commits Suicide by Cutting His
Throat With Pocket-Knife-Th
Rush for Lands in the Indian Coun-
try Completed Without Serious
Trouble.
Special to the RrcoRD-Ux1oS.


row will De exclusively for priests, and is
to be held in private. 1t will, tits thought,
be the most important of the series, as
one at which the question will be settled
whether the widely commented upon
clerical union" will continue under the
leaders that have given it fame or will
select new chieftains. The principle
work III which the laymen participated
was in voting q unanimous approval of
the platform, the framing of which was
guided largely, if not altogether, by the
| clergy.
Replies to invitations to be present at
the congress were read tonight from a
long list of prelates, including Arch
bishops COrrigan, Ryan and Riordan and
Bishop McIuade Of Rochester. Arch
! bishop Corrigan stated that the reason for
his absence was Ignorance Of the Ger
man ianguage.''
Almost breathless attention was given
to Cardinal Gibbons reply 10 the invita-
| ton. He wrote: while prevented by
important engagements from being pres
ent, beg to assure you Of my deep in
tereSt in your proceedings. / regard the
German element as the most important
faction in the development of our coun-
try. AS citizens and as Catholics, they
H.. L
! have no doubt the deliberations will be
marked by aliegianceto the Holy Father,
and by a sense of moderation for which
| your countrylnen are noted"
| An interesting paper on general topics
was read during the evening.
The platform was presented tonight.
Like all portions of the proceedings it
! ative translation prepared by three of the
most prominent priests in the congress:
1--WE, Catholic Germans of the United
| States, assembled in the fifth congress,
| offer first a most devoted affection TO the
supreme head of the holy church; ex-
! press gratitude for the Holy Fathers bless
! ing, and promise anew and for all time
fllial devotion and unfailing fealty. With
delight this congress mbraces the oppor-
| tunity of pointing out publicly and dis
/ tinctly our position on the so-called Ro-
| man question of temporol power of the
| Pope, deeming it our sacred duty to make
! this public declaration and encourage
Catholics to fearlessly defend these rights.
AS free American citizens we will not
| tolerate any interference with the free ex-
preston of our views on this extremely
important church matter. The false sup
/ position that 1t is inoppOrtune to discuss
openly the Roman question in our
| country could only be explained by a
want of courage in showing our truly
| Catholic convictions. The entirely free
exercise of the highest apostolic power is
| intimately connected with the welfare of
| the entire church. 1t is necessary to Sc
cure and accord that freedom in it's full
| meaning OF the word.
1.-The Pope's recent excellent encyclicals
on most important and burning topics,
especially on the condition of labor, have
! proved sufficiently that the entire free
dom of the Holy See would be of the
greatest importance to society, suffering
| already from many ailments of the pres
| ent century. With confidence we leave
it to Divine Providence by what means
the restoration of papal independence
will be brought about by secular power,
| In the meantime we will never cease to
courageously sustain the Holy Father.
every one to strive with all legal and
! legitimate means to regain the freedom
| due the successor of st. Peter.
For the reason that political circum-
stances have prevented the adoption of
| said resolution in Europe, since we are
| not hampered by political prejudice and
| intrigues, we believe our country the
| proper place for holding such congress-
AS Catholics. we consider it our duty to
| adopt the resolution of our brethren in
Europe, believing that the time has come
when an international congress can con-
vone for the purpose of aiding the reStora-
ton OF the Pope's temporal power. No
time for holding sach congress could be
more opportune than the occasion of the
Worlds Fair at Chicago in 1893 We sub
NIT this for the consideration and appro-
val Of all our brethren in the Catholic
faith, our Bishops, his eminence Cardi-
nal Gibbons OF Baltimore, and our Sover-
eign Pontifi', Leo XIII.
I'VE offer the Holy Father the SINGER
est thanks for his excellent encyclical
! on the labor question, as faithful children
OF the Catholic Church. We believe it
! superfluous to state that we shall use all
! our efforts to execute practically the
J principles therein laid down. and secure
them recognition by the public at large.
! believing them to be a solution of
this most important question of the day.
/ Liberty, based on natural and constitu-
tional rights of educating our youth, is
boon which we demand, and we most
! emphaticaliy protest against every inter
! ference with. that liberty by unjust legis-
| iation. We declare that education, with
out a religious basis, can be but pro-
| ductive of evil results. We protest.
| therefore, against every interference of
! parochial schools, and especially con-
| denim the so-called 'Poughkeepsie' plan.
! IN which religion has been made a side
! show, and hence can have little or no
! religious influence in education.
"We demand full right and liberty to
/ retain, without interference, our German
| mother tongue, together with the Ian
| guage of our country. AT the same time
| we protest most emphatically that for
! this reason the cry of foreignism is raised
against US, and that attempts are made at
| denying equal rights with other Ameri-
| can citizens. Our hopes for the future
are based on central union of German
young mems societies, so successfully
| brought about in Pittsburg.
I'VE reiterate our confidence in and at
! tachment to the reverend Bishops of the
! United States; protest against all attempts
/ to encroach upon the rights of Indians in
! the selection and practice of their re-
! ligion; protest against, in the name of
! liberty and justice, any attempts being
made to Withdraw from the Indian
! schools the support of the Government
under the hypocritical plea of supporting
| public schools. inasmuch as there is
! hereby an openly declared opposition
against Christian education, and espec-
/ tally against the Catholic church,
The platform closes with a resolution of
! regret at the death of late member of
the German Reichstag. Herr Windthorst.
and pays tribute of gratitude to his
memory, and pledges all to profit by his
example in upholding and defending the
great principles for which he manfully
/ contended.
The Utah Commission.
! CHICAGO, Sept. %. The Utah Commits
| sion consisting OF ex-senator Hin