The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-08-17

Of Frenchmen to provide substitutes for
the concrete proofs Of devotion and
generosity which have been accumulated
for fifteen hundred years.
The. motives prompting the French
Government to facilitate an accommo-
dalton OF the interests Of Catholicism to
the Separation law were no less patent,
and they are still In force. 1t is true
that II the law were defed the consider
able outlay for the stipends Of the ex-
isting Bishops and priests would be
saved to the E%xchequer, and that the
Socialist and Jaoobin supporters Of the
Sarrien Ministry would view this re-
trenchment with c~omplaoency, not to
say exultation. But what would the
Government do with the Church prop
erty which 1t would confscate2 The
mere attempt to take an official inven-
tory Of the contents Of churches caused
formidable riots In several parts Of
France; what would happen II churches
held in v~eneration for ages were sold
and used for purposes grossly and obi
ously secularf Would not such provo
cation cause widespread and violent
outbreaks OF resentment that might
eventually assume the proportions OF q
civil war and require the coeroive exer-
else Of the Governments whole military
force2 Is 1t possible that a far seeing
statesman like M. CLEMENCEAU, the
present Minister Of the Interior and tho
real head Of the Sarrien Administration,
can overlook the possibility that no
soone would the French army be pre-
occupied with the suppression Of inter-
nal disorder than a cloud black with
menace would rise on the eastern from
tier Of France2 No doubt the bloc, as
the dominant Radical Socialist combi-
nation is called, obtained a tremendous
victory at the last appeal to the ballot
box, and may deem itself ~unshakably
intrenohed in power for some years to
come; yet 1t would dissolve like a snow
ball in August il the outcome Of its
religious policy should be a precipitate
drop in the price Of Government securi-
ties. To American observers 1t seems
incredible that enlightened politicians
would not gladly avert the danger Of
far reaching commotion by a small con-
c~ession, such as authorizing every cult
ural association, composed Of Catholic
laymen, to be presided over by q clerical
appointee Of the Bishop Of the diocese.
1t may be said that duty to principle
forbids such a compromise. Well, there
are several kinds ofduties, but one would
think that for a French Republican the
most essential Of them all was that OF
UNFOLDING a republican regime. Beyond
a doubt it was the memorable war made
on Catholicism by the Jacobins in the
closing decade Of the eighteenth century
that rendered possible the subversion Of
free institutions by NAPOLEON. Those
Frenchmen must have short memories
who, behind an organized and universal
dissertation Of the ~sanctuaries, cannot
Q looming the man on horseback.
With a man so president and sagacious
as M. CLEMENcEAU at the helm, praoti-
cally, Of the State, we cannot but believe
that civil war will in some way be avoided,
especially II 1t be true that the Pope has
left various loopholes for a compromise.
and that the ingenuity with which the
text Of the encyclical has been made
ambiguous may prove more embarrass-
ing for the Bishops than for the Govern
ment. It seems that Plus x. has virtu-
ally RELOCATED to the Bishops the task Of
devising a modus viuendi, and as they
will have until December II for the pur-
pose we may for the present assume that
the French clergy win somehow manage
to keep their church buildings and their
stipends.