The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-23
TAKEN TO TASK BY IRELAND
ARCHBISHOPDIS NEGOTI-
 ATIONs WITH VATICAN.

Catholic Affairs the Business of the
 Pope, Not That of Irresponsible
 Church Organizations or Newspaper
 Editors.
 St Paul, July 22.-Archbishop Ireland in an interview with a representative of The Associated Press to-day reviewed at some length the progress of the ne- gotiations conduced between Judge Tatt and the vatican, and took to task cer- tain Catholic organizations that had assumed to question the fairness Of the administration toward their co-religion- ists. The archbishop said:
 "Yes, the news from Rome is quite satisfactory and, I am sure, quite cor rect. Private advices coming to me from the most reliable source confirm, in all respects, the dispatches given by The Associated Press. The sovereign pontiff and other Roman authorities are delighted with Governor Taft personally and with the negotiations in course Of progress between him and the vatican Reports sent out by the correspondents of certain London papers to the effect that the pontiff was displeased with the commission of cardinals appointed to treat with Governor Taft were abso- Iutely unfounded. As stated in this mornings dispatches from Rome the pontiff assured Governor Taft that he was most satisfied and happy at the re- suits so far obtained and that he was confident the negotiations begun in Rome would be the starting point of complete and satisfactory solution of the question under discussion. This statement sums up in the most exact manner the situation as. the vatican views it, and as it really is.
 'That the negotiations have not yet reached final conclusions and are to be transferred from Rome to Manila is what might have been expected from the beginning Governor Taft is in hurry to return to the Philippines and could not prolong his stay in Rome and. on the other hand, the problems to be solved are so complicated, especially from the vatican standpoint, that time in the work is of prime necessity. The vatican and Governor Taft came easily and quickly to substantial agreement; the question for the vatican, is what practical methods are to be adopted to put the agreement into execution. With a little time certain matters, now seem- ing to offer great difficulties, will be made by quiet, skilful touches of pontl- ficial diplomacy, to work themselves out without friction or excitement; and so, when in Manila final conclusions are to be reached, things will have been ripe and will turn out all right. This is the vatican method of proceeding; it is wise and prudent method. MT. Taft understands the matter and leaves Rome thoroughly satisfied and hopeful. He carries away with him the pontiff's statement that the negotiations begun in Rome will prove to have been the starting point of a complete and satis- factory solution of the questions at issue, and that much he considers to be quite sufficient for the moment. There can be no doubt that the active cooper ation of the vatican is now secured to the American government in it's task of pacification in the Philippines and that in the results to come the administra- tion at Washington will have ample reason to felicitate itself for having sent Governor Taft to Rome.
 And now it is to be hoped there will be among certain classes of Catholics in America a cessation of movements and declarations such as we have had re- cent occasion to hear regarding relig- VI, pope teaches those Catholics to trust the American government as they seeming ly have been heretofore unwilling to do. In his conversation with Governor Taft he expressed the highest esteem for American methods of treating church matters and remarked that he had more than once pointed towards the United States as setting an example well worth copying.
 His words ought to signify something to those who profess to take him as their leader and guide. At any rate the direction of Catholic affairs is his busi- ness, not that of irresponsible church societies or newspaper editors; and when he informs Catholics that any one matter is in his hands, they ought promptly to step aside, and allow him to have charge of it. The question of religion in the Philippines is now forml ally his own; and it should be consid- cred as such. A few there may remain who will still believe that they have a better understanding of it than he has and will insist on telling him how to handle it; but such as those are few and at least it will be clear that they hold no brief whatever from the Catholic body at large.
 "The agitation, such as it was, in cer- tain Catholic quarters did no honor to those who participated in it. As is now proven, they spoke and acted without due knowledge and certainly without proper regard for the government of their country They should first have been absolutely certain that injustices had been done to their co-religionists and, next if injustices had been done. they should have sought remedy for them by appeal to the proper officials before raising in public irritating clam ors. That in the vast alterations made in the Philippines, by the transfer of / the islands from Spain to American sovereignty, serious complications were sure to arise in religious matters. as they did in social and civil matters, was naturally to be expected; as 1t was a1-