The San Francisco call., 1896-02-16

ened man who had been at the head of the Roman
church for many years, and by no human prooa-
biliry could he do thing which would work such
injury the Catholics well the rest of human
ity. (This pretended encycical has since been
proved and Acknowledged aforgery.) But my argu-
ment was in vain. WAS taken TO the chief cler-
gymen i'll the village a Presbyterian and n Meth
odist; both were fu OF fear and hatred toward the
They sure that the order 10 kill and burn had
gone forth.
And SO in many towns and villages Jour
neyed, fodpd this quaking fear. In many places
men were arming themselves with Winchester
rifles; many preachers never spoke in public with
out tanning the flame; A. p. a. lodges were rap
Idly Initiating new members and lurid literature
Louisville, Chicago, Omaha and Kansas City was
being gent outSbroadcast.
For year ] have endeavored to find proof that
| the Catholic church in America was armng and
drilling men. countenancing such actions, as so
boldly stated by the leaders in the A. p. A. in
many cities 1 have been given permission to
1 search every part OF couvents, monasteries and
| churches where arms were said TO be stored. In
| vain has been my search. have used all methods
known detectivesIto find any Catholic in possess
! sion of orders to maltreat his neghbors. No re-
! quest suggestion or hint showing desire to
| iniure Protesants have ever been able to trace
TO Catholic priest, bishop or other di gnitary.
And it is now the conclusion of all unpreiudiced
men who have Investigated the matter that the
letters "encyclical - ''bulls' and orders which are
being printed IN A p. A. papers and purporting to
| come from the Roman Catholic church are flag
! rant forgeries.
The a, p. A seeks to spread 'hate. 1t thrives by
| fear and its only weapon is untruth. This broad
cast sowing of ialsehoods is doubtless done by men
who are thriving by t politically and financially,
and the real victims are the people who believe
these outrageous stories, subscribe for the papers
and pay dues to be initiated into the A. p. A.
! lodges Yet whenever any one has taken up pen
to try to stop the insane panic he has been greeted
| as "Jesuit hireling" Occasionally, however, we
get clear note of protest from such men b. o.
| Flower, Washington GLADDEN. and David Swing
men who have SO placed themselves on record In
the past that their attitude toward Rome cannot
| possibly be misunderstood.
| IN CALIFORNIA.
Tr,f &c Cfofa nf o1if fba 49,
| was used and with much. success. The first ]
| heard of ii was from Fresno, where it was dis
| tributed during school election to influence
| voters against one of the candidates who was Q
\ Catholic At that time the encyclca1 was
published in the Monitor December 10, 1892,
| together with a complete refutation. But the
A. P. A. cared little for refutations. The next
time ] heard OF it was in this City. 1t was dis
| tributed at the lectures of DR.. York, whose
| speeches were afterward reported in the local
A. P. A. organ. Bishop Montgomery informed
me that well-dressed and apparently intelli-
! gent man had come to him with the encyclical
and said: ''Surely you are too good man TO
the slightest doubt about the authenticity OF
| the document. His only hope appeared to be
| that the Bishop was not as bloodthirsty as the
Pope.
THE PAPIsTs ARMING.
To back up the commands given out in the
| encylical it was assiduously whispered in all
! the councils that. the Catholics were arming.
| All over the country the word was sent that
rifles had been consigned to father such and
| and such one. One of the most widely cred
| tied of these canards was that case marked
| .'mass wine' and addressed TO Bishop Spaldine
] had been dentally opened by the customs
inspector at Peoria and found TO contain guns.
The customs inspector was overwhelmed with
letters from all parts of the United States and
Canada, and was at last compelled to print a
circular saying that Bishop SpaldIng had not
received a package through the Custom house
for three years. and that never had he received
such consignment as that mentioned in the
A. P. A. papers.
LOS ANGELES.
This report about arms concealed in churches
and secret drillings OF Catholics was not un-
known in California. An incident which was
reported in all the daily papers may be re-
membered by your readers. Ex-Governor
Sheldon was making an A. P. A. speech in Los
Angeles. He stated that there were arms con-
cealed IN the basement of the cathedral. A
Catholic gentle man present, named Donnegan,
produced certified check for $1,000 and Of
Tered to pay 1t over ii arms should be found,
and asked that committee be appointed to
search the cathedral on the spot. The ex-
Governor refused to accept the test, but the
| Lord alone knows how many times ne repeated
the old story afterward.
SAN FRANCISCO.
Here in San Francisco arms were located by
mem bers OF the A. p. A. at various times in the
Old Mission, in the basement of st. Ignatius, in
the cathedral and at st. Charles. The boys of
the League of the Cross seem TO have caused
the patriots much anxiety One rattle-brained
old idiot named Nichols saw about thirty of
them on ShotWell street going through their