Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-11-09

licly his religious belief. The demand
for a statement of a candidates re-
liSious belief can have no meaning
except that there may be discrimina-
tion for or against him because of that
belief. Discrimination against the
holder of one faith means retaliatory
discrimination against men of other
faiths. The inevitable result of enter
ing upon such practice would be an
abanHJnment of our real freedom of
conscience and reversion 10 the
dreadful conditions of religious dissen-
sion which in so many lands have
proved fatal to true liberty, to true
religion, and 10 all advance in civiliza-
tion.
To discriminate against thorough
ly upright citizen because he belongs
to some particular church, or because,
like Abraham Lincoln, he has not
avowed his allegiance to any church,
is an outrage against that liberty of
conscience which is one of the foun-
dations of American life. You are en-
titled to know whether man seek
ing your suffrages is a man of clean
and upright life, honorable in all his
dealings with his fellows, and fitted by
qualification and purpose to do well
in the great office for which he is
candidate; but you are not entitled to
know matters which lie purely be-
tween himself and his Maker. If it
is proper or legitimate to oppose
man for being a Unitarian, as was
John Quincy Adams, for instance, as
is the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, at
the present moment chaplain of the
senate, and an American of whose
life all good Americans are proud
then it would be equally proper to
support or oppose man because of
his views on justification by faith or
| the method of administering the sac
| rament, or the gospel of salvation by
| works. If you once enter on such a
career there is absolutely no limit at
which you can legitimately stop.
So Much for That.
So much for your objections to Mr..
Taft because he is a Unitarian. Now,
for your objections to him because
you think his wife and brother to be
Roman Catholics. AS it happens they
ara not: bat if they We're, or If ne
were a Roman Catholic himself, it
ought not to affect in the slightest
degree any mans supporting him for
tAe position of president. You say
that ''the mass of the voters that are
not Catholics will not support a man
for any office, especially for president
of the United States, who is q Roman
Catholic | believe that when you
say this you foully SANDER your fel-
low lcountrymen. do not for one
moment believe that the mass of >cul
fellow citizens, or that any considera
BILE number of our fellow citizens, car
be influenced by such narrow bigotry
as 20 refuse TO vote for any thorough
ly upright and fit man because he
happens to have particular religious
creed Slch a consideration should
never be treated as a reason fol
either supporting or opposing can
didate for political Office. Are yol
aware that there are several state.
in this union where the majority o
the people are now Catholics? l shoult
reprobate in the seyerest terms tht
Catholics who in those states Cor il
any other states) who refused to vot,
for the most fit man because he hap
pened to be Protestant; and my con
demnation would be exactly as sever
for Protestants who. under reverse,
circumstances, refused to vote for ;
Catholic. In public life | am happ
! TO say that l have known many me-
\ who were elected, and constantly re
, elected, to Office in districts wher
the great majority of their constit
= luents were of different religious BIZ
e lief | know Catholics who have fo
v many years represented constituencie
{ mainly Protestant, and Protestant
g wno have for many years represente
n constituencies mainly Catholics; an
). among the congressman whom kno'
/. particularly we'll was ope man {
h Jewish faith who represented di
trict in which there were hardly an
d Jews at all. All of these men by the
X very existence in political life refut
r thu slander you have uttered agains
s you- fellow Americans.
n Believes RepubIic VIII Endure.
ol | believe that this republic will el
dure for many centuries If so ther