San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-04-09
WAHRENBERGER VS.. SMITH.
Denies Smiths Charges and Quotes a Man
Who Died Over 600 Years Ago.

Dan ANTONIO, Tex, April o, 10.
To the Daily LIGHT:
When / first saw in yesterdays
LIGHT that Mr.. f. P. Smith had
again tempted fate by exhibiting
himself before a discerning public
in the merciless exposure Of cold
type, L confess that L INDUCED in
the momentary hope that at last
he had concluded to favor us with
something in the shape of reason
and argument instead of stale
calumny and abuse. The disap-
pointment l experienced after care
fully and painfully wading through
his communication to the end, 1
leave your intelligent readers to
imagine. He does not not even
ask any more questions. He begins
by pointing out that l have APP
parently, paid no attention to his
Quotations by Rome" as he
phrases it, in his refreshingly
original way, and proceeds to
launch a few more Of them at my
devoted head. 1 must admit that
in my last letter l bestowed upon
them the charity OF silence,
mainly out Of consideration for
the editors space. But there
are certain things which age
cannot wither, nor custom make
stale; these same quotations, or
most of them, r in that category,
and L felt that they would keep.
Let me now hasten to assure Mr..
| Smith that so far as his "Quota-
tions by Rome" are concerned, his
"hour of crisis" is not yet passed,
nor is his "day of destiny" over.
A careful examination of the eX-
tracts, quotations, ETC., published
by the A. P. A. in general, and by
Mr.. Smith in particular, shows
that they all come under one or
the other of the following three
categories, viz:
/. Extracts, ETC., so garbled
that the intent and meaning are
utterly perverted.
2. Extracts, ETC., quoted or
rectly, (perhaps) but attributed to
pei SOhS liz IcNtl utlClCu UIlOlls
3. Pure inventions.
To the first category / assign the
alleged concordat between the
Roman see and the republic of
Ecuador; the extracts from an al
locution of Plus TX and the pope's
syllabus; all cited in Mr.. Smiths
former letter. Also extracts from
the Boston Pilot and Catholic
World, and the alleged decree of
the Council of Lateran given on the
putative authority of Bishop
Foley these latter appearing in Mr..
Smiths letter of April 9Th. 1 dis
pute the accuracy of each and all
of these, and as the burden of proof
rests on Mr.. Smith, 1 now call
upon him to substantiate his state
ments, if he can, by original docu-
ments or reputable authorities,
with specific names and dates for
their proper v~erifcation.
To the category of pure inven-
tions / consign the following, cited
in Mr.. Smiths last letter, viz mo
oaths are to be kept if they are
against the interests of the church
of Rome. Oaths which are against
the church of Rome are not to be
called oaths, but perjuries." Both
purport to be taken from Corpus
Juris Canonici Leipzig ct 1889. 1
call upon Mr.. Smith, either to pro-
duce the book, or to prove its exis-
tence and that it is written, compi-
led or published by Catholic author
ity.
The next Quotation by Rome" 1
find it so utter and transparent a
fraud that even an A. p. A. might
blush to attempt to foist it
on an intelligent public. eff the
pope should curse the government
Of the United States every consis-
tent orthodox Roman Catholic
would thereby be absolved from
his oath of allegiance to the gov
ernment.-St. Thomas of Aquinas
Vol. " page 81, 81 etc.
When 1t Is remembered that st.
Thomas Aquinas died in the year
1874, three hundred years before
lne VI aIleIlCd, duu I'VE
hundred years before the existence
of the United States, 1 find it diff
cult to characterize such a state
ment as 1t deserves without ex-
ceeding the limits Of controversial
courtesy. This l will not be
tempted into doing, however strong
the temptation. L am content to
leave 1t to the candid and fair
minded people Of this city to Judge
what must be thought OF the cause
which resorts to such methods to
attain its ends. Are your Catholic
fellow citizens to be deprived Of
their civil rights or denied the