Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-27

seeking to regulate Immigration. Let US
see that under that pretence political lib
erty is not nullifed. A 81 years probation
for citisenship, as some Of our secret So
cieties now propose, would be . practical
denial of that citizenship to large majority
of immigrants who are our most profitable
producera
A Mystery Of Human Nature.
Thousands of volumes tell the rise and
fall Of the worlds secret societies They
have had q wonderful fascination for the
human mind In all ages, and some such so
cieties are powerful to-day. In their out
breaks they constitute periodical phe-
nomena in history, and they have afforded
the mental philosopher fruitful theme in
the attempt to discover the hidden mystery
in human nature by which they are propa-
gated and perpetuated.
"The origin Of such societies can be fire.
quently traced to the selfshness of human
nature and the intense desire to be boss
If not Of this character In their origin they
soon degenerate into It The Tammany
society, for instance, was one of the provi.
dent class in its origin, and one Of the most
exemplary of that class, with the broadest
possible charity. Tammany is still provi-
dent, and is possessed Of enormous means,
but the objects of its bounty are now chiefly
confined to the Executive Committee and
its dearest friends who have pull, and
they are all subservient to the will Of the
boss so that friction Is reduced to .
minimum in this political machine and har-
mony reigns supreme. This is now one Of
the strongest, perhaps the strongest, aud
most efficient models In its peculiar prov
ince, of q secret organization, but its germs
of dissolution are quietly fermenting and
the end will be worse than anarchy. am
now speaking on general principles and
without any special animus against Tam
many Hall, but a. it IL the most prominent
modern illustration of the subject in hand,
it would be bad judgment on the part Of any
writer treating your questions regarding
secret societies to overlook 1t.
IT trust that in response to your interrog-
atories I have now made 1t plain to you
that I do not consider it an advantage on
man to be q member of secret organiza-
tion."
Religious Leaders In Opposition.
Cardinal Gibbons, the first American to
wear the red hat Of Cardinal, is fat-foot-
edly opposed to secret societies of every
kind, as will be seen from his appended
letter:
81 do not approve of secret orders on
general principles. Ideem them most un-
Guestionably inimical to the spirit Of free
institutions They have been proven so BY
the experience of all nations With consti-
tutional methods always available, as they
are in this country, there can be no posi-
BILE excuse for the existence of secret orders
of any kind. I do not think it can be any
advantage to a man in social, business or
political life to be member of such an or
ganization."
Right Rev. Henry W. Warren, Bishop of
the Methodist Episcopal Church, seems no
more of a friend to secret societies than is
our Catholic Cardinal He expresses his
views AZ follows:
'sYou can best judge of my opinion of
secret orders by my own course in life. I
have belonged to several such organizations.
the Free Masons I do not be-
long to any of them now and shall never be- |
long to any secret society again save one,
which has only two members, namely, my |
self and my wife"
Hon. Charles F. Manderson, United STATES |
Senator from Nebraska, and one of the |
brainiest men In Congress, sends the follow |
ing letter:
."As regards secret societies, think the |
pros and cons about equally divided As to |
whether secret orders are right on general |
single individual has the |
right to keep his own secrets, why may not |
a number of individuals keep q secret or Sc |
crets among themselves collectively ? |
Orders, secret or otherwise, formed for |
social and beneficial purposes. certainly |
need not be inimical to the stability and |
permanence of our Government Emergen-
,ies might easily occur in life in which