The Irish standard., 1898-12-31
CAN A CATHOLIC BE PRESIDENT

CAN A CATH c Lie BE PRESIDENT?
The Northwestern Chronicle, Of ST.
Paul, thinks that it is not impossible for
Catholic to be elected president Of the
United States, and stigmatiZes those who
hold a contrary opinion as weak
kneed gentlemen" 1t eulogizes the
Americans as the most liberal minded
people on earth, and declares that they
arc more free from racial and religious
bigotry than any people, either in an
cient or modern times. According to
our respected contemporary, it is the
Catholics themselves who are to blame
for being excluded from the highest Of
| fices in the gift of the American people
| We venture to say that few, il any, Of
it's own Catholic readers will accept such
statements as facts. The late Daniel
Gcugherty, the silver-tongued orator of
Philadelphia. entertained an opposite
opinion. In his grand Grafton at the
| Catholic congress in Baltimore, in 1889,
| he said on this subject:
"The highest honors of the republic
are denied us by a prejudice that has all
the force Of a constitutional enactment.
In integrity. intellect and accomplish
ments the equal of our fellows, yet it is
rare that exalted distinctions have been
rendered to Roman Catholics. The ex-
ercises Of our holy religion AZ a right
are denied in many institutions to the
m fnrip 1,n
and to criminals in prisons and peniten-
tiares. Though the rank and file of the
army and navy are largely of our creed,
yet the number of chaplains can be
counted upon the fingers of a single
hand. 1t is said Catholic Indians have
Protestant teachers. churches have been
burned, converts have been pillaged, and
libraries have been destroyed Political
parties of the past have sought to de-
prlve us OF our political rights; we have
been tools of Il foreign potentate and
unworthy to enjoy the name Of Amcri-
cans"
What the eloquent American Catholic
said nine years ago in the presence of
archbishops. bishops and laymen in
convention assembled, is true today
throughout the length and breadth of the
republic. 1t is nonsense to gansay it,
Does the Chronicle remember the oppo-
sltlon to Blaine for the presidency be-
cause his mother was Cathulic-to
Gen. Sherman. because his wife was a
Catholic? Does ii remember that in 1896
Bland. Of Missouri, was considered in
eligible because his wife and children
were members of the Catholic church?
Has it any recollection of Senator Ker-
nan. of New York, and Daniel w. Law
Ter, of Minnesota, when candidates for
states? Were they to blame for the
prejudice aroused against them on ac-
count of their religion?
Let the Chronicle editor seek an cleo
tive or appointive position of honor and
dignity in any American community
where Pedestrians are in the majority,
and he will soon be disabused of his
erroneous ideas respecting the broad
mindedness of the American people. 1t
was only the other day that jeremiah
Healcy was defeated for mayor of New
buryport, Mass, because Of his religion
The Daily News. of that city. a Repub-
lican sheet. edited by Il Protestant, says:
There is no use mint.ng words: the peo-
pie simply would not vote for a man who
did not bear the stamp of American par
cntage. however able lie was Alderman
Healey wa= defeated for the sole reason
of his religion. There seems to be a good
deal of the old Puritan spirit left in
Ncwburyport."
II we thought it necessary We could
fill a whole page to- show the mistaken
notions of our st. Paul contemporary
about the freedom of Americans from
racial and religious bigotry The fact is
that it is rare to find an American who
is absolutely free from narrowness and
intolerance. and 1.-The magnificent liber-
ality of the American people" exists only
in the vivid imagination of the strong
knecd gentleman who refers in the same
article to his own co-religionlsts in the
following reprehcnsible style:
"As a class they have rarely risen to
true understanding Of the more exalted
phases of American public life. They
may be found in every American COM
munity after elections in droves chasing
after the miserable official drippings of
politics. They have allowed their names
to be identified with the most revolving
forms of political corruption. and they
have given their sanction and support
to men of their own church in political
life, many of whom have been too de-
graded to seek social relations with de-
cent members of society, no matter how
humble in life"
We have no desire to enter into
discussion with a man who entertains
such sentiments about the Catholics of
the United States. who have never de-
manded official drppings of politics"
because they profess the Catholic creed.
Tho Chronicle prides itself on it's wide
circulation and high standing as an
American Catholic newspaper" Such
articles as the one under consideration