Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-10-22
4 PRELA7E'S COUNSEL
One Of Americas Great Catholic
Leaders is Opposed to
Organism.
ARCHBISHOP iRELANO'S LETTER
The Chicago Platform Declared to
be a Threat Against So
cial Order.
ARCHBISHOP iRELANO'S LETTER

The letter of Archbishop ireland, writ
ten not as a prelate. but in his private
capacity rs a citizen, cannot fail to carry
weight with multitudes of voters of his
W faith. and it is good reading for
everybody. He does not lay special
stress upon the financial plank of the
Chicago platform, but upon it's declara-
ton relating to the federal authority and
the integrity of the Supreme court. The.
archbishop points out in unmistakable
language the revolutionary character of
that platform. He says: 1.-THE move
ment which had its expression in the
Chicago convention and which now seeks,
by means Of popular suffrage, to en-
throne itself in the capital of the ma
ton. is in its logical effect against the
United States: it is secession" He
quotes the frank announcement of arbi-
trary interference by federal authorities
In local affairs and observes: I'm these
words there Is the old secession doctrine
that states are independent of the ma
tional government at Washington: there
is the annulment of the Union; there is
notice served upon the flag of America
that outside of the District of Columbia
1t is without power of self-assertion or
self-defense." And again, "The plat
form of the Chicago convention threat
ems the country with destruction of social
order, with lawlessness and anarchy"
On the question of government by in
junction, the archbishop tells the people
Of America that 1.-THE palladium of
American liberties is the supreme court
Mt Washington, the counterpart of
which in majesty and in power to en-
force absolute justice, does not exist
among the nations of christendom.
And now a convention speaks of the SUI
prem court as it may be hereafter con-
STUFFED, intimating unmista kably the in
tention. if the party represented in that
convention comes to power, to SO consti-
tute the courts as to make 1t ~insensible
to the stern voice of the law, and re-
sponsive to the passing whims of politi-
cal parties"
The archbishop sees in the platform a
sectional and guarded expression of so
cialism. The convention of Chicago sis
the international Of Europe, now TAX
ing body in America. = The war
of class against class is upon us, the war
of the proletariat against the property
holder. No other meaning than this can
be given to the appeals to the common
people, to labor, to the poor and down.
trodden. and to the denunciations
against psutocrats and corporations and
money grabbers and bankers. Many ad-
herents of the movement do not per-
ceive its full meaning; but let them be-
ware, they are lighting torches which,
borne in hands of reckless men, may
light up in the country the lurid fires of
q commune"
Archbishop Ireland thinks that the
pamphlet of Archbishop Walsh Of Dub
lin on bimetallism has no bearing what
ever on the situation in America" and
against the Chicago platform. Free
coinage, he says. twill give us money
worth in the commercial market of the
world, a little over half its nominal
value. Legal tender COM
pelling mel to accept against their win
markets Of the world, is rank injustice"
He is absolutely convinced that the
laboring classes will suffer the most of
all from free silver c~oinage?" With re-
spect to the farmer, he %pertinently asks,
"Will. they not receive a higher price
for their products? Maybe a higher
use is It to have a dollar instead Of a
half dollar, if the dollar can purchase
no more than the half dollar.
= The best market for the
farmers's product is his own country,
and If his own country is impoverished,
if factories are closed, If laborers in
cities are penniless, the farmer will re-
tceive but little for his harvests." He
Iscorns the absurd explanation Of our in
dustrial and financial troubles by refer
ring to the ''crime of 1873" and says
that 1T is the great fallacy Of the day
TO be ~attrtbuting our hard times to the
gold standard" He thinks that '.under
the silver standard we will have much
causes of hard times today is the agita-
ton for a radical change In the currency
Of the country"
Like all other men who think upon
this subject seriously, Archbishop ire
land comes ut last to consider the ethical
aspect of the question, and asks: ''Is It
honest to try to pay debts with half the
tracted them? That the great
American nation will, a. a nation. de-
clare to the world that It will now make
a law compelling it's creditors to be sat
isied with half, or a little more. OF the
money they loaned to it, and 60 on record
in the eyes Of the world % a broken
down, bankrupt repudiating nation, it 10
Holding these views. which are fully
and carefully elaborated In this letter.
which IL too long for reproduction here,
II IL not surprising to hear him saw: II
k1tand by the platform and the presiden-
tial candidate Of the Republican conven-
ton ut st. Louis. I am opposed ia the
platform and the presidential candidate
81 the Democratic convention at Ohica-
The following are the closing para
graphs Of the archbishop's letter:
Here II the popular argument IN