The Irish standard., 1898-05-21
STATEMENT is CONTRADICTED
Many Have Attained Prominence
in the United States.
HOLD THEIROWN EVERYWHERE
And Have Reached First Place in
Many Fields.

In recent address delivered before
the students of the University of Notre
Dame, Archbishop Ireland, of St. Paul,
said
Il say to. you in all frankness that
SO far our Catholic laymen In America
have not attained to the high positions
which it seems to me belong to them.
There are reasons, and I need not lose
time explaining them; I speak the
facts. But l say there is no reason
why the future Catholic laity should
not do their full duty and receive a
full reward for their labors. Today
where are the Catholic laity in the
halls of congress? They can be count
ed on the fingers of the two hands.
Where are the Catholic laity in high
government positions? Few are there
In our strange conditions we wonder
when one or two are discovered there.
Among the writer's of America
lions of readers are few Catholics. Let
us write down one hundred names of
the great men Of America. I am talk
ing now of power, not of moral good
ness. Let us write down the names
of one hundred men who have power
In America. There are few Catholics"
Archbishop Ireland must have been
sleeping of late, or he would not be so
pessimistic regarding the position
which Catholics hold in this country,
says the Michigan Catholic" At
the Catholic Congress of Baltimore
Mr.. Daniel Dougherty delivered an ad-
dress upon the station of Catholics in
this country, and their ambitions,
which, while 1t was very eloquent, has
proved exceedingly harmful, from the
fact that the keynote Of that address
was one of disappointment and regret,
because of the fact that out of the
small number Of men who have attain
ed the presidency of the United States
not one was Roman Catholic. 1t has
been the fashion occasionally since
that time for some of our public
speakers to enlarge upon this idea, and
to seek to breed discomfort by. elabor-
ating upon it, We suppose, as good
Americans, that if no Catholic has
been elected president of the United
States that it was not because none
has been presented whom his fellow
citizens deemed worthy of that honor.
BY the same token we do not recall
for president of the United States, and
to go little further we do not recall
that, within our own memory, any
Catholic politician has aspired to the
presidency Of the United States. Yet no
president, Gen. Grant alone excepted,
has acted otherwise than in the most
kindly and generous spirit toward his
Catholic fellow-citizens. But, If Arch
bishop Ireland cannot recall the names
Of men Of power in the United States
today, who are Catholics, it is not
very difficult for other people to do so.
Offhand, and without deliberation, not
few of them occur to us. The most
august judicial body in the world is
the supreme court of the United
States, and in it's very limited mem
bership, Mr.. Justice White and Mr..
Justice McKenna are both members of
our communion. In the senate, Sena-
tor White, of California, Senator NAL
lory, Of Florida, Senator Caffery of
Louisiana, Senator Murphy Of New
York, and Senator Carter Of Montana,
and perhaps, some others whose re-
ligious faith we do not know, are Cath
olics. There are, and always have
been, plenty of Catholics in the house,
although, as the majority of Catholics
are not Republicans, one cannot look
for so great a majority Of Catholics in
Republican house, as he finds In a
house with Democratic majority. In
active politics Catholics attain very
high distinction. 1t is only two COM
paigns ago since Chairman Carter, for
the Republicans, and Chairman Har-
rity, for the Democrats, were both Cath
olics, and it was only in the last cam
patgn, that the Democratic campaign
chairman was Mr.. Campau, of our
own state, the descendant of historic
Catholic family of Michigan. In the
great pivotal state Of New York, the
greatest politician of them all, Rich
ard Croker, is Catholic, as was the
man whose mantle he succeeded to,
John Kelly, and as are the great ma
5ority of his lieutenants. Surely, men
who occupy places in the supreme
court, In the senate, in the house, and
In the controlling councils of parties
are men OF power and here we find
Q fine bunch of our co-religionists in
places Of distinction. Perhaps Arch