The Irish standard., 1902-03-08
AMERICAN CATHOLICS TO BLAME:

SOAAAS
ing about the attitude Catholic Ameri-
cans have maintained for the last three
years toward the Philippine question.
1t is pusilanimous and disgraceful,
writes Father Lambert, in the New
York Freeman's Journal. INhe late
President Mckinley appointed a COM
mission who virtually exercise dicta-
torial powers in matters not only at
fecting the civil, but the religious life
of the natives of the Philippines. On
that commission there is not Il single
Catholic. When it's composition be-
came known there was no Catholic
protest.
The five Protestant commissioners
set to work to substitute goddess
schools for Catholic schools. Again
Catholic Americans were silent.
Gov. Taft and his fellow commits
sioners recommended that the Spanish
Friars, without whose spiritual admin
istrations five million of Filipinos
would he deprived Of the Sacraments
for generation, should be deprived of
their temporal goods by forced sales,
which the Protestant Commissioners
hoped would have the effect of COM
pelling the Friars to leave the Archi-
pelago. Once more Catholic Ameri-
cans were dumb.
Stories of all sorts Of sacrileges COM
mitted in Catholic Churches in THE
Philippines appeared in the American
press. And yet no adequate express
sion of horror ut these sacrileges came
from Catholic Americans.
Our brothers in the Faith, sons Of
our common mother, were trampled OH
as if they We're the veriest dogs
hanged, shot, tortured and in every
way treated as if they were not hu-
man beings-and we, their brother
Catholics, remained silent witnesses Of
these infamous wrongs.
1t remained for Protestant, Senator
Patterson, Of Colorado, to call the at
tention of the country to the fact that
if the Filipinos were Professionals in
stead of being Catholics, they would
not have been subjected to- the outra-
geous treatment they have been COM
PEELED to endure. AS the senator from
Colorado pointed out, the Protestant
sects from the Atlantic to the Pacific
would have been up in arms and have
made vehement protest which would
have been heard in Washington and
respected.
The Philadelphia Times shares Sen
ator Pattersons views, as will be seen
by the following comment upon his
speech in the United States senate:
There are senators who protest that
they would not vote differently than
they have done on Philippine affairs If
there were 100000 Protestants in the
archipelago instead Of 100000 Roman
Catholics. Their protests are too vehe-
ment to be convincing. The truth Is
that Mr.. Patterson shot home when he
suggested that If there were n strong
religious kinship between the mass of
the people over there and those Of the
dominant party in America, the gov
eminent policy would be less arbitrary.
The anger of Senator Spooner in the
debate on the Philippine tariff bill on
Friday illustrates again the pungent
proverb: 1T is not the nasty lies that
hurt; it's the nasty truths"
The Charleston News and Courier,
commenting in the same strain as the
Philadelphia Times, says:
Senator Patterson was right in his
initial statement, even though his col
leagues smiled. And that he was right
in his further declarations; that, If
these Christian wards had CHANGED to
be Protestant Christians, and If they
had learned their Christianity in the
sanctuaries Of the Methodist, Presby-
terrain and Baptist churches, and II
they were only as well founded in their
faith as they are today, there would
be such an uprising among those de-
nominations in our country against the
cruel, unconstitutional and relentless