The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-01-27

and made himself first conslil. lie begai
| mt once to evolve order out of chaos
The same mind which organized tho uni
veraitles. the judicial ana fiscal systems
and created the civil and penal codes
| set to work TO regulate tho relations be.
tween church and state. He drove Q
hard bargain. He entered into con.
| tract which, criticize as you will, has
| witfstood attacks through seven sepn
rate regimes and has lasted for one hun.
| dred and four years. as n inodus vivend
! In France between church md state.
| Napoleon did not enter into this In.
| ternatlonnl contract with any desire
| 10 benefit tile church, but simply to aid
| himself in his general plan of restor-
! Ing order and government in France
BY It no recognized that the natio,
had despoiled the church out of vast
property belonging to It. no matter
how acquired. This having beer
largely disposed of or nationalized the
to 1t, and for that. as part considera-
ton for the theft. m annual budget
was to be passed UP to pay the priests.
pastors and others connected with the
church. q sum In the nature of n per-
petunl annuity. AS time passed Gone
hundred years is long time), the
French government grew to regard the
uuu5eN LUZ tluICII puscS Ilolt III
the nature OF gift than anything
else, or n salary such as was paid to
the public servants for service rem
dered. Such was not Its origin. The
concordat. though a hard bargain, was
all right, but while the Pope lived ZIP
to the contract the republic did not.
! shall not discuss the gross violation
of the liberties guaranteed the church
by this concordat, and the extreme
oF {1,a nr WI n
tho religious orders were driven out
of France and their property taken,
but will at once discuss the act of
separation passed In 1908. and which
has Just gone into effect.
Quotes Mr.. Watson.
Mr.. Watson snys. ~If tho Catholics
of France accepted the new laws OF
the republic and put them into opera
lion. they would occupy substantially
the same position as that occupied by
the Catholics OF America
This, of course he has not attempted
to prove. and his ipse dxit neither
establishes the truth of the assertion
nor shows great familiarity with tho
subject.
First. In gross violation of the con-
tract of 1901 (the pledged faith of the
the act of separation sup
pressed payment of the annual budget
guaranteed as consideration for the
quit claim on the part of the church
to that portion of the property taken
during the French Revolution and then
held by third persons (Article of the
act of separation.)
Second The legal representative Of
the various religious establishments,
by Article 4, must assign. transfer and
surrender all title TO the church prop
erty, both real and personal. to Ger
tain committees called ASSOCIATIONS
or worship associations, to
he established according to law. and
whose duties are defined in the act
Third. It appropriates for the benefit
of the state that portion of the prop
erty of the church not encountered by
plous endowments subsequent to the
declaring that such prop
erty shall revert to the state. (Arti-
Gle o.
Fourth. 1t sweepingly announces
article 10 that the buildings,
churches. etc. which had been placed
at the disposal of the nation. and
which, in pursuance of the law of Ger
minal, year X, serve for the public
worship or for the housing of its min
listers, together with all appurtenances
and furniture, at that time turned over
to the religious associations, shall re-
main the property Of the state.
Elftn. Inc law GOES away Win az
control or management of the church
property by the bishop, or the church
boards of trustees. but declares that In
their place shall be substituted special
worship committees or associations
(Article 49,, and by Article 20 the law
has formulated rules regulating the
manner In which worship shall be con-
Quoted. and providing for the manage
ment supervision and control OF all
churches and the worship therein. These
committees. called in the act worship
associations shall not be less than seven
nor more than twenty-five. The law is
silent as to the method of the selection
of these committees, their term OF Office
or their removal from Office, but they are
subject TO the supervision OF the Coun-
Gil of State. a changeable political body,
dependent upon the party in power.
Misconstrues Article.
The New York Tribune, misconstruing
Article Is. says: THE government asks
tho various churches to organize respon-
sible bodies under the civil law. just as
all other corporations have done or are
doing and the church refuses whereupon
tile government proposes to enforce the
law by taking possession of the churches,
Just as it would take possession of the
poraton."
Now, this is untrue in the one vital
point that the government has not asked,
nor does 1t allow. the church to have any
voice In organizing the committees or
worship associations. The religious or
carnations have no voice in the selection
of this worship association, ana neither
the bishop nor the parish priest has any
control in church affairs or management.
This worship association collects all reve-
nues of the church and dlsburses the
same, and, IN word, determines every
question concerning church finance and
discipline.
rlls act, ironically called an Act OF
Separation of Church and state, brings
the church and church matters imme-
dately under the control of the state, as
will be seen, The law goes on to recite
Gas is set forth in my second heudingl,
that all church property is to be turned
over to these dissertations legally cstab-
lished In conformity with the general
regulations of the form Of worship which
they desire 10 maintain" which the