The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-06-08

the heritage of our people is to
preserved, a change must come in oil
emigration laws. A great, if not I'll
= greatest. menace to our institution
= and Christian civilization is the way
of emigration that is pouring in upo
: us from the East and West in on
2 continuous stream. In almost ever
i city this question is of primary i'm
portance, and no more complicate
) problem confronts US than the fttin
; of those people for the high honor an
duties of American citizenship and tn
bringing of many Of them under relig
J ious influences. That our church
: using every effort and is eminentl
qualified to cope with this problem, i
not denied. At every point where dan
ger threatens the issue is squarely met
and where the stream is heaviest WI
have three thousand teachers to Amer
icanize their children and over on
| thousand religions to minister to thei
| spiritual and physical necessities.
| Keen observers and thoughtful men
of unprejudiced minds recognize tbs
Catholic church to be the greatest
! moral agency in the land. 1t stands
an indestructible barrier against the
/ ltiCES VI evil w IAi4lu IleI DdIS oil SO-
| cial distinctions are burned away. The
| prince and peasant, millionaire and
mechanic, poor and lowIy, all stand
| equal within her fold, and her solicit
| tude for her children is instanced by
the immense army of devoted men
and women who, beneath her banners,
are laboring in every sphere of useful
ness for the common good.
The impartial student of history
cannot but admire our work and pause
amazed at our sacrifices in the cause
of education. In our private and pa
rochial schools we have over one mil
lion pupils and for their education we
annually tax ourselves twenty-one mill
lion dollars. In those schools our
legions of unpaid, unselfish and self
sacrificing teachers labor year in and
year out to inculcate the doctrine Of
love of God, and country, and fair and
honest dealing amongst men. Nor is
the aboriginal American forgotten, for
on the reservations, we have forty-four
schools with thirty-four thousand pu-
pills. Our educational burdens are
heavy, but we bear them without a
murmur. We believe it is laudable
work, one perhaps in which the weak
ling may fail, but the man of faith and
character keeps on, strong in welldo-
ing and the rectitude of an upright
life.
AS to the attributes of Catholic
charity where. | ask, in this great land,
is there any field of sorrow or suffer-
ing that is not ameliorated by the benef-
icent touch of Catholicism. Go on the
reservation, there the Indian will point
out to you our schools. hospices and
churches managed by Catholic clerices.
financed by Catholic laymen. Seek out
the most crowded hospitals, aims
houses and asylums, the Sister of
Charity is there to soothe and console.
and if war should come, she will be
found on the battlefield with the dead
and dying, amidst the hiss of bullets
and clash of steel Again, go into the
slums and byways. and there you will
find the highest type of Christ's teach
ings exemplified in Catholic charity,
and on these islands, do not the Sis
tiers of Kalihi and Molokai appeal to
all as being more than human? Do
not the names of Clement, Dutton and
Damien plummet the depths of hon
est hearts?
The American Catholic Federatio
stands prominently for Christian civil
ization for we hold that this form of
civilization opens up the only pathway
to genuine progress. We stand for
education and enlightenment, and civil
and religious freedom, for it is to those
agencies our wonderful expansion and
the advancement of our people is due
and we stand for equal trea tment and
fair dealing for the stranger within our
gates, whether his country's flag floats
over a palace or a hut. no matter
where the place of his nativity may be.
The Federation is an organization of
men who yield to none in love of coun-
try and loyalty to our flag, a love and
loyalty that have risen to every test.
Tt is an organization whose aim, as
shown. is the purifying of all public
institutions. and as such it deserves the
upnOrt of all good citizens.
The time, too, is opportune for such
organizations as ours. for the same
forces that wrecked the republics of
old are with US here today-bribery |
corruption and the political boss with |
his Machiavellian policy is at the
throat of our political Institutions |
whilst the greed for gold and power
Is not only shaking our financial in |
situations, but is destroying also the |
first principles Of Christianity.
l submit that no better record can |
be shown Of work done and being car
ried on, than we of the American |
Catholic Federation are doing. To |
Theodore Roosevelt. the greatest of |
American Presidents, is due the fact |
that today our people are filing many
and high positions. Federal state and |
Territorial with credit to themselves |
and benefit to our country, and our |
great President by his nobility of |
character in this and other things, is |
doing much to bring about the time
that all good citizens should hope and |
strive for, the time when will be real
zed the vision of that great and good |
nan, John Bright, who, fifty years ago.
speaking of our country in England's
parliament, said:
L see another and a brighter vision
before my gaze, it may be only vision
}ut I cherish it. see one vast confed-
grafton stretching from the frozen
North TO the glowing South, and from
he wild pillows Of the Atlantic to the
,almeT waters Of the Pacific main. and
see one people, one language, one law
md one faith. and all over that wide