The Irish standard., 1896-06-13


The las ofsctTil and religious liberty, now
being sasailedl by one Of the most treason
able organizations which ever cursed
Amer lea 1! 5:ls a
There IS always qualification for the man
who advocates a theory, It matters moi
how unreasonable 1t may be, proysdsa II
does not: tead to destroy the rights and
liberties Of others. "A man may be hon.
est and still advocate the most unreason-
able doctrine Of silver or OF gold, but no
man can be honest or q good loyal Anerit.
can c!t;zan who antagon.zes the constitu-
tion and conspires IN secret against the lib.
critics and rights Of his fellow citizens
The conclusion, then, Is evident to every
sensible man that the existence OF conf
sp.racy Ike the A. P. A. Is menace to the
republic. In such a crisis the duty of Cath
olic, JeE and Protestan. is clear. FIRST
the political atmosphere must be purified.
So long as an oaDh-bound league pledged
to nullify a provision Of the constitution is
In existence, neither Catholics nor Protest
ants can mistake their duty. There Is no
qyuestfon as to the inability OF the conspir-
ators to do harm themselves, but they may
form an alliance in certain places go as to
have 1t said that they are strong at the bal
lot box. Weak minded men are always
AFRAID Of the. mysterious, and we found
that not a few men Of small cal1bre IN con-
gress were almost frightened into oonvul-
sions when the spectre Of the A. P. A. in
the shadow Of night invaded one OF the
committee rooms and threatened to play
havoc with the honorable gentlemen un-
less, tho orphans were refused their daily
bread. No sooner had the creaking bones
Of the demon sounded in the lobby than
q hundred Or more sworn representatives
OF the people were willing to bow down
and kiss the skeleton hand and promise to-
send starvation to every Catholic orphan
asylum and the tomahawk to the homes Of
tht 'rontiersman If the ghost would only
go way and permit them to draw five
thousand dollars per year and their quotas
of seeds and books, and all for nothing.
Little did the L:ntons and the Hainers
care whether or not the Indians reapsed
into barbarism and once more go forth
to murder, burn, and pillage. Rather
than have them become citizens through
Catholic influence, they were willing to
have the Western sky illumined by the
glare Of burning dwellings, and the waters
of the rivers again dyed with blood.
In view of the danger to come through
the A. P. A and from the coward.ce Of
politicians it becomes the serious and SOL
emn duty of every loyal American citi-
zen to at once resolve and put aside all
other considerations and destroy the con-
spiracy. During the days of the civil war
many things were done under plea of
military necessity that would not have
been done in time of peace, so, that men
today r;lk,abandon their party standard if
lit Is not 4cleansed Of all taint Of corruption
by the A. P. A.
When the conventions have been held
and the platforms adopted the candidates
VIII be expected to speak out in no unnnis-
taxable terms. Then the truly loyal Will
take their position beneath the banner of
the constitution and vote only for the party
and for the men who are known to be
above suspicion.