The Irish standard., 1907-01-12
charge that has been made that the

CnurCn mas violated 1tS agreement Ill
| any way or has interfered with the
functions of the state or counseled dis
breach, not Of one syllable of the con.
| cordant, but of some one or other Of
! these organic articles.
Therefore, ask this question Of ey-
| cry fair-mnded Americana:
"After' you have signed u contract,
| are you bound by additional centradic-
tory or Objectionable clauses injected
into that instrument without your
! knowledge or consent and against your
| repeated protests:
Socialism First Step.
! The days of the commune saw
churches sacked and burned, and
| white-haired priests stood against the
walls and shot. That was the temper
of the socialists toward the church in
1871. They do not deny that it Is un-
changed today, but declare that the
decisive conflict of the. twentieth CEN
tury is to be between the dominance
OF their economic doctrines and the
survival OF the Catholic church as the
archtype OF conservatism and individ-
! ualism.
The socialists gained practical con-
troll Of the French government a CEN
tury after the signing of the concordat.
Waldeck- Rousseau forced the passage
of the law of associations. This placed
the various religious orders under the
control of the French parliament and
permitted their suppression and expul-
sion from France. 1t also provided
that the decision in each case must be
a judicial one, based upon inquiry into
the merits of each application for the
governments permission to exist.
1t was harsh law, but most of the
congregations prepared to obey it.
Combes. who succeeded Waldeck- -Rous :
seau, received applications for authors
zation for 1880 establishments.
Great System Of Catholic Schools.
These included teaching organiza-
tions, eight of which had no less than
22S,523 pupils, surprising the number
in the state schools, placed therein VOL
UNFAIRLY by the parents OF France.
Asylums for orphans and waits,
schools for the blind and for mutes,
homes where 250,0OO aged and infirm
persons We're supported, were among
the applicants.
And all of these We're founded, fur
nished and maintained by Catholics
only and without any contribution
from the state.
These splendid educational and ele-
! mentary institutions We're not the pro-
ducts of subsidies from government,
but arose from the voluntary offerings
of millions of the faithful who through
long series Of years made great sac
| riflces that these might live.
| What the people thought Of the con-
gregations is proved by the responses
of 1871 municipal councils, whose opin-
ions were asked.
or these 1,l47 were in favor of the
congregations. 545 We're against them,
and 179 made no answer.
Submission to the law was not
| wanted by the socialists. Against the
protests of Waldeck- Rousseau, the
author of the law. its provisions for
separate Investigations were abund-
oned; evidence was neither taken nor
heard; all orders were grouped into
three categories: votes We're forced
upon these groups collectively and the
| congregations were expelled.
But throughout this action the justi-
fication of his course by Combcs was
based upon the assertion that the mo-
nastic orders weer not protected by
the provisions OF the concordat. This
was a mere subterfugc, for as late as
1901 this treaty was appealed to by the
chief assailant OF the church as the
sole lawful basis for the actions OF the
government toward the church.
Tho Issue Of Honesty.
The deeds OF 1905 shall summarize
briefly:
The French government declares
that the concorlat shall no longer
exist. 1t undertakes to break treaty
without consultation with the other
party to it. 1t undertakes to annul a
contract.
That cannot be done without Il rea-
son. No lack of consideration is al
legged. No denial is made that the bar
! gain. was equitable to the French gov
| ernment. No accusation is made that
any clause OF that contract has not
! been rigidly observed by the Church.
But this is only the beginning. The
government does not say: Il cancel
this mortgage aid return the principal
| because | refuse to nav interest