The Irish standard., 1903-02-14
to work and depend upon themselves,

nuns.
''Mr. President, these Jesuits are
not there, as one of them told me. for
the love of the Indian. Old Father
Ravaille told me, lying upon his back
i'll that narrow cell, with the crucitiX
above him, II am here not for love of
the Indian, but for the love of Christ"
without pay except the approval Of
his own conscience. Ii you send one
of our people, Il clergyman, Il politi-
clan even, to perform this work
among the Indians, he looks back to
the hesh-pots Of Egypt. He has fam
lily, perchance, that he cannot take
with him on the salary he receives.
He is divided between the habits and
customs and luXuries of civilized life
and the sacrificing duties that de-
volve upon him in this work of teach
ing the Indians.
"The Jesuit has no family. He has
no ambition. He has no idea except
to do his duty us God has given him
to see it; and l am not afraid to say
this, because speak from personal
observation, and no man ever went
among these Indians with more in
tense prejudice against the Jesuits
than l did when l left the city of
to perform that duty.
MIR. President, every dollar you
give these day schools might as we'll
be thrown into the Potomac river un-
der ton of lead. You will make no
more impression upon the Indian chill
dren than if you should take that
money and burn it and expect it's
smoke by some mystic process to bring
them from idolatry and degradation
to Christianity and civilization. II
you can have the same system of
boarding schools supported by the
government that the Jesuits have
adopted after long years of trial and
deprivation, l grant that there might
be something done in the way of ele-
waiting this race.
"lf l have ever done anything in
my whole career in this chamber of
which am sincerely proud, it is that
upon one occasion obtained an appro-
priation Of $4,000 for an Industrial
school ut st. Ignatius, in Montana. A
few years afterward, in passing
through to the Pacific coast, stopped
over to see that school. They heard l
was coming and met me at the depot
with a brass band, the Instruments in
the hands of Indian boys, and they
played without discrimination Hail
Columbia and Dixie They had been
taught by young French nobleman
whom l had met two years before Mt
the mission, who had squandered the
principal portion of his fortune in
reckless dissipation in the salons of
Paris and had suddenly left that sort
If life and joined the company of
Jesus and dedicated himself to the
American missions. He was ain uc.
complished musician, and he taught
those boys how to play upon the in
II went UP to the mission and
found there these Indian boys making
hats and caps and boots and shoes and
Il blacksmith shop and carry
ing on mill and hcrding horses and
cattle. The girls and boys when they
intermarrying, became
heads of families as reputable and
well-behaved and devoted to Chris
tianity as any we can find in our own
states. They were Catholics. That is
Il crime with some people in this
country.
MIR. President, are we to be told
that secret political organization in
this country shall dictate to us what
we ought to do for this much-injured
race whom we have despoiled of their
lands and homes and whom God has
put upon us as an Inheritance to be
cared for? l accuse no senator here
Of any other motive than desire to
do his public duty. l shall do mine,
and l should gladly vote for an
to this bill infinitely
stronger than that of the senator from
Arkansas. would put this work, i'm
perative upon us, in the hands of
those who could best accomplish it, as
1 would give the building of my house
to the best mechanic, who would put
up structure that suited me and
met the ends desired. If the Catho.
lies can do it better than anybody else,
let them do it. If the Presbyterians,
the Methodists, the Congregationalists,
or any other denomination can do it,
give the work to them; but to every
man who comes to me and says this
is union of church and state, an
swer him, Your statement Is false up
on the very face of it, Instead of
teaching the Indian children that they
must be Catholics in order to be good
citizens, they are simply taught that
work is ennobling, and with the sense
of self-dependence and not Of depend
ence upon others will come civilization
and christianity. These are my feel
ings, Mr.. President, and l would De
glad If could put them upon the
statute books"