The San Francisco call., 1898-08-10

DTS Home. This we know to be untrue
 l am sorry to enter such categorical de-
 nial, but facts are facts, and when ladies
 run up against facts even their venerable
 age will not save them from disastrous
 consequences.
 The open letter enters a general denial
 of the A. F. A. proclivities of the mem
 bers Of the society, and adds: The po-
 litcal opinions of the executive board
 have nothing to do with Its good will to
 the sailor" I am obliged for the admis-
 sion. In the eyes of the author of the
 open letter Apaism is a mere political
 opinion and in no way prejudtcial to the
 Htical opinion to swear solemnly on
 Bible and crucifiX to deprive Catholics
 of their daily bread, to hound Catholic
 men out of employment, to prosecute Catholic women, to starve Catholic chil-
 dren. This is a pleasant political opin- ion indeed, and one most advantageous to the Catholic sailor. l thank the au-
 thor of the open letter for the admis- sion. It alone would justify all my asser- tions.
 But it may be asked has not the so ciety elected some Catholic members since the Monitors protest and does not this ac- tion remove all cause of complaint? l have been informed that two Catholic la dies have lately been made members of the society, but such representation is no guarantee whatsoever of fair treatment. They are hopeleSsly in the minority and now that the society has got the lease, they may object all they please without effect. We have to judge the future by the past and when the Supervisors gave the lease to the Ladies' Seamen's Friend Society they deliberately handed over public property to an association that had proven itself thoroughly Sectarian in the past and that now gives no effective guar antee that it will not be as thoroughly sectarian in the future.
 Cb) NOT A CHARITABLE INSTITU-
 TON.
 The open letter has made so much of the nature of the institution that l am compelled to make a few statements on this side of the question.
 l. The open letter asserts that $30,OOO was expended on the buildings by the so- ciety. The public Is led to believe that the members of the society contributed this sum. The members of the society did not contribute 30000 cents during the forty years they have held the property. Whatever money was expended on the in the ordinary course of business, and was only a tithe of what under other management would be devoted to the
 9 In the year 1887, when the home was in the hands of the same society, an in- vestigation was held by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics into the condition of men working on the San Francisco water front and on board of investigation distinctly denies that the l Sailors Home Is charitable institution | It reads as follows:
 "An institution known as the Sailors | Home, under the control of the Ladies Seamen's Friend Society, has been estab- ished at the old United States Marine purpose by the Government. Although l clean and well kept and conducted on | temperance principles, it is not charita- Dle or benevolent institution, as its name | would seem to imply. It is simply board ng-house, with charges similar to other boarding g-houses."
 sum to a society to run a boarding house | the Supervisors are guilty of gross injus- | tice. They might as well donate the city | on Fifth and Market streets to ! some enterprising hotel-keeper to run a | hotel in opposition to the baldwin. The | difference is this-the sailors have hLtle | political power; the uptown hotel-keepers can keep even a Supervisor in awe
 3. The open letter grows rapturous | over the sailor who leaves port rejoicing | that his expenses at the Sailors Home | Labor Commissioners report tells a diff | ferent tale. In one year @ sum exceeding | S1300 was paid to captains of vessels as l commissions for the collection of these | very bad debts" and over s1400 was paid | 10 runner whose business it was to
 steer" sailors into the home of this | 10 wonder that the old society was anx- | ous to retain its grip of this gold mine
 These observations, MT. Editor, will jus | ify the stand that I took in the matter If the elease of the Sailors Home. I believe | n the first place that 1t is sectarian in and I believe in the second | )IdCe that the SOClely IS HOI duHllIliSleIeu IS a charitable or benevolent foundation
 should not be worth my salt If I did not | protest with all my might against pol 1 cy which Puts my coreligionists in in an Tatn fn ,lic sailors of this port are humble men, without influence, without wealth. 1t is ioubly my duty to speak for them and | lefend their cause.
 II. THE SUPERVISORS.
 Now I come to the question of the Su- )ervisors, question of far more impor- ance than that of the Sailors Home. lou will no doubt have noticed MT. Ed tor, that in the discussion which the open etter occasioned a person named Clinton md person named Britt made them The former by a mysterious dispensation 'f Providence is a doctor, and the latter, IS punishment for our sins, is a plum 'er. Britt, who combines the aspect of a loodlum with the manners of a plug-ugly, vas of opinion that the Monitor should 'e treated with silent contempt. It Is a. pleasure to me to have earned the con empt Of the Hon. MT. Britt, silent or otherwise. It is too awful to contemplate he depth to which I had fallen had I nerited his commendation.
 Clinton considers that the charges of he Monitor. are false and have been ,haracterized by gross misrepresenta ion. His own character, he said, had been attacked, and he wished to be placed light on the record I take particular pleasure, MT. Editor, in placing the hon 'rable gentleman right on the record. He l 'n me. Once upon a time he blundered nto an assault on the Monitor and his experience then did not tickle his vanity ike the coward and the bully he waited ntil he thought l could not address him md then dressed In the petticoat of Nancy k. Cooper and the bonnet of Anna 1cAnney he stalks forth with the broom tick, seeking for sweet revenge
 In this whole miserable controversy of he Sailors Home he has acted and voted with his eyes open. Deceived by his yo- iferous protestations of superior virtue
 took care that he should be warned in ime as to the nature of the deal which vas to be consummated. But warnings | we're lost where other influences held sway 1e has no excuse. He has deliberately to bigotry; he has deliberately etrayed the trust he swore to the consti- ution; he has deliberately exposed him elf to the public view, an idol with feet f clay and face of brass, sham phiian- hropist, a sham ~atriot and sham re- ormer.
 Two years ago, MT. Editor, an associa- ion was rampant in this town which troye to prescribe men and women he- ause of their religious beliefs Against hat association l strove with ali my because l considered it's pro- rarnme not only a menace to the Cath He people, but treason to the constftu- lon It is not for me to decide now ;hether ali my methods, all my savings nd doings were without blame, but this