Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1898-12-16

SPAIN.
Washington, D. c., December 15.-At
| meeting of the National Christian
| Citizenship convention a letter was
read from William Henry Roberts, a
prominent Presbyterian and secretary
of the Alliance of Reformed Churches,
on the subject of the church property
in our newly acquired possessions. The
letter says in part:
| I'm all these territories, acquired as
a result of the war with Spain, there
are large church properties which have
been under the control hitherto OF the
| Roman Catholic church as the estaD-
lished church of Spain and her colonies.
These church properties are claimed by
I the Roman Catholic authorities, but to
large extent with no show OF right.
| There doubtless are properties given by
will or direct personal donation under
the control of Roman Catholic church
authorities in Porto Rico and the
Philippines, but in addition to such
properties there are other properties,
especially church edifices, which were
paid for out of the public funds and
maintained at the expense of the Span
! ish government. The latter properties
| are the properties not of the church,
but of the people.
oil ot1sil
! where there are established churches.
Such churches in Spain, France, Eng
land and Germany are branches of the
State, and their edifices are erected and
expenses paid, out of the public taxes.
1t was because of this fact that when
| the South American republics became
independent of Spain the new rulers
| took possession of a very considerable
part of the church property. They
took the ground that the ownership of
the property was in the State and not
in the church. The same ground was
taken in England at the time of the
reformation.
westminster Abbey, London, was
once Roman Catholic place of worship
and is now a Protestant Episcopal
church, because the structure was paid
for by the money of the English ma
ton and the ownership was and is in
the English people.
"The ecclesiastical situation, there
fore, as it lies in many minds, is this:
the church property in Porto Rico and
the Philippines, being to large ex-
tent the property of the State, is not
rightfully the property of the Roman
Catholic church. The United States
government, therefore, should take pos
session of all church property, should
carefully determine what moiety of
the property actually belongs to the
Roman Catholic church as such, and
retain the remainder under its own
control for the benefit of the peoples of
the new territories.
II would not advocate that the
United States government should take
possession of church property in the
new territories, selling the same at
public sale and placing the money in
its own treasury; but do say that the
people of this new territory in each
of their cities and towns should have
an opportunity to determine what use
should be made of these church edifices.
They were built by money forced from
them by oppressive methods of the
Spanish government, and they are NOR
ally. and l think, legally, the property
of the inhabitants of these territories.
Let there be a vote, for instance, in
each of the towns and parishes of Porto
Rico as to the disposal of the church
edifices."