San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-04-19

to the English cabinet ministers
tried to show what an excellent
thing 1t would be to have a proper
understanding between King
George III and Pope Plus VII. He
called to witness the fact that in
the recent unfortunate rebellion in
the American colonies against his
majesty, 1t was Protestant colonies
that rebelled while the Catholic
colonies OF Canada remained faith
full to his majesty. With this histori.
cal testimony what do you think
of the Jesuit organ, the Civilta
Catolica, which said that what the
people really need and want is
bread and the catechism? Now
how long, how many thousands and
tens of thousands of years would
it have taken these teachers of Jes-
uitism and advocates of despotism
who believe that the mass of men
only want bread and the catechfsm,
to build up such a country as ours?
The same things have been written
in this very country in Catholic
newspapers. 1 believe with all my
soul that il there were no public
schools in this country, there would
be exceedingly few parochial
schools. Why? Because these
Jesuits who believe that the
masses Of men do not really need
education would practice what they
preached and would not think 1t
necessary or advisable to raise
money to support their little
schools. Why should they, IL they
believed as so many of them do,
that the people could save their
souls better without education,
for the less they know the less
they will be responsible? They
have said that it would be better
for the children to grow up like
savages on the street, under the
guidance of such fanatics, only this
side Of insanity. Priests have goad.
ed themselves, and priests largely
have been whipped and cudgelled
by their bishops aud the congrega-
tions, still more Indifferent, have
been scourged and goaded and
kicked by these pastors into keep
ing the parochial schools, simply
to keep children away from the
public schools. Well, what is the
real point? The real true griev.
ance is this: There is not enough of
their religion taught in the
schools; they desire to have the
children under their control in
such ways and times and places,
that while receiving from their
cradle to their adult manhood and
womanhood a little education,
they shall always be under the
dictation of the priest. Not merely
must religion be taught to those
children at the proper time and
places, but it must be taught In
the same room, within the same
hour or two, ON the same day by the
same person as astronomy and bot
any and reading and writing and
arithmetic and English grammar,
sld all that. It is the desire on the
part of the church to control abso-
lutely the secular education Of the
world. Have they the right to do
so? 1 say most emphatically, no
Let your children grow up like
savages on the streets rather than
60 to these goddess schools. What
a monstrous sentiment. Are these
children to grow up on the streets
to be thieves, prostitutes and
idlers; to grow up like savages?
For what? In order to keep them
nominally in the Catholic church.
The only real danger is that the
politicians Of all religions, or no re-.
ligion at all will actually pander to
their prejudices because OF the
supposed political influence of the
Roman ecclesiastical machine. This
talk about the immortality of the
public schools is a brutal, bestial
columny upon the American peo-
pie. Who are the children that fill
these schools? They are your child
rem. Who are the teachers that
are filling these schools? They are
your daughters, your sisters, your
wives, your mothers, your cousins,
your flesh and blood. IL these
schools are schools of wantonness,
then you are an utterly debauched,
degraded people; you are past sal
walton. What is the actual fact?
1t is that probably there is less
immortality in public schools than
parochial schools. Why? Because
there is more intelligence, more
decency and purity in the public
schools; there is fresher air; there
are better rooms; every thing is on
a larger and more dignified and
decent scale; there are fewer pu-
pills to the class, the teachers
are better qualified and are chosen
from a much larger constituency of
excellently we'll educated young |
women and young men. They are
paid respectable salaries, so that |
the positions are desirable and we'll |
bred people of good families are