The herald., 1896-10-20
His Letter and Its Influence on
the Catholic Vote
CATHOLIC LAYMAN'S VIEWS
Hon. Zach Montgomery Answers n
In Detail
McKinley's Election Would Mean the
End Of Liberty-Who Has Dishon-
ored the Supreme Court?

Editor Herald: Nearly everybody has
read the recent partisan letter of Arch
bishop Ireland, or Citizen Ireland of ST.
Paul, wherein he declares himself for
Mckinley for president. The under
signed, being a humble layman of the
same church as the archbishop, has
(probabaly on that account) been re-
peatedly asked his views, both as to the
merits Of the letter and to it's probable
effect on the votes Of Catholics at the
coming election AS to the effect of the
letter arising from the simple fact that
it's author is an archbishop, my opinion
is that it may influence few very igno-
rant Catholics. who know as little of the
teachings of their religion as they do of
their rights and duties as American citi-
zens. but that as large class of cores
pondingly ignorant non-C Catholics will,
because of the letter, vote the other way.
Certain 1t is that no well-instructed
Catholic will pay any more heed to the
arguments of the letter than he would
to the same arguments if they had en-
anated from the authors distinguished
coworker Col. Bob Ingersoll. Indeed
Col. Ingersoll's opportunities to study
and understand the question are far su
perior to those of Citizen Ireland. Arch
bishop Ireland very we'll understands
that when he assumed the duties of an
archbishop, he contracted with his God
to care for and, in certain sense, to
stand responsible for the salvation of all
the souls within his spiritual jurisdic-
tion. He also understands that that
God who intrusted to him the care of
these souls values each one of them more
than he valued his own life, and more
than he values all the riches, honors and
pleasures of this earth. Hence that
momentous question: What doth it
profit man to gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?" Imbued with a
deep sense of this tremendous respon-
sibility, is it reasonable to expect that
Archbishop Ireland can faithfully dis
charge his whole duty to every soul
within his spiritual jurisdiction and then
have time to spare in which to sufficient
ly study and understand politics to
become political leader Were
Archbishop Ireland even gifted with all
knowledge, human and divine, still 1t
does not seem to be compatible with the
existing nature of things for one hu-
man brain to properly run two such gov
ernments as the kingdom of God and this
vast republic of ours.
The devil once proposed somewhat
similar project to our Savior himself
and was told to begone. And so ought
Archbishop Ireland to have told Mark
Hanna or Ingersoll or whichever one of
the DEVILS imps was sent to him on this
infamous business.
Col. Ingersoll who has no care for 9TH
er peoples souls, and very little, if any,
! for his own. has had plenty of time to
study partisan politics in all their dark
and devious windings. and the probable
| tiles are that Citizen Ireland, having no
| time of his own to study these matters
| has adopted the views either of Ingersoll
Hanna, or some other equally accom-
plished master of the dark and dirty
arts of Hannas partisan system of pol
itics.
This, and this alone, can account for
the strained and unreasonable construc-
tion that Citizen Ireland places on sew
eral planks of the Chicago platform and
for his unwarranted and unjust, not to
say most uncharitable, assault on the
Democratic standrd bearer.
AS regards Citizen Irelands attack
on that part of the Chicago platform that
criticises the supreme court decision de-
claring unconstitutional the income tax
law, it is evident that Citizen Ireland
has not had time to study the question.
That whole case turned upon the constitu.
tional definition of the two short words,
direct taxation" The unanswerable
dissenting opicion of Associate Justice
White in this income tax case, supported
by a vast number of authorities, proves
beyond all question that for 100 years all
three departments of the government
namely, the president. the congress and
the supreme court-had given to those
words such definition as would author
ize congress to impose a tax upon in
comes. This construction began with
presidents, congressman and supreme
court judges who had themselves taken
1ao 1;rr n,,% lit, h.
ton, and who must have known, if any
body did, what they meant by the Ian
guage they used.
Under income tax laws, as forcibly
stated by Mr.. Justice White, hundreds
of millions of dollars had been collected"
from the pockets of the people, every
cent of which ought now to be refunded
if that construction was wrong. But
there was no serious thought of denying
the constitutionality of an income tax
law until 1894, when, in order to relieve
few men of large incomes from their
just share of the burdens of government
! and throw the principal weight of taxa
tion upon people of little or no incomes,
it became necessary to find an entirely
new constitutions. meaning for the
words, direct taxation" And then it
was that five out of the nine supreme
| court judges took it upon themselves not
! merely to call in question. but absolutely
to deny and defy the concurrent voice
of all the congresses, all the presidents
and all the supreme courts that had con-
trolled this government from the days
of Washington down to the days of
Cleveland. Now, how is it possible to
respect and honor these five judges for
condemning and overturning all the de-
cisions of the supreme court from the
| formation of the government. backed
by the concurrent judgment of both the
| other departments of the government
without throwing discredit and dishon-
| or not only on that illustrious tribunal,
but upon the whole framework and his
tory of the government itself?
/, No man can so dishonor court as an
incompetent or wicked Judge; just as
no one can so dishonor his church as
bishop or archbishop who, in disregard
| of the teachings and traditions of his
church, will come down fpom the sanct-
uary and join band of notorious bood-
| lers, to aid them in carrying an election,
| by supplementing the corrupting power
of their gold with the influence of his
| godly robes.
And the only way to defend, In the one
case, the honor of the court or, in the
other case, the honor Of the church is to
condemn and expose the shortcomings
of such judicial or church official, and to
draw the line of distinction between the
I