New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-10-10
AKED ANSWERS VAUGHAN
Baptist Pastor Says Catholics
Are Losing Ground.
CITES CENSUS STATISTICS
Disclaims Any Ill Feeling for
Catholics-says Methods of
Computation Differ.

At the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church iast
night the Rev. DR.. Charles + Akeu' inc
minister. took as his topic The Bubble OF
Catholic Success-Rome the Reientiess zoe
Of Liberty.
DR.. Aked said. in part:
Il am animated by no i'll feeling toward
Roman Catholics I stand on the broadest
e-round not of tolerance, for toleratlon II
an intolerant and intolerable thing but OF
cooperation, inclusiveness and friendship.
Il cannot imagine myself joining III
crusade against the Roman Catholic
Church. l have no desire to see protestant
and Catholic contending with each other
except as each tries TO be the better Chris
tan of the two Before the service closes
I shall ask YOU 20 join me in singing the
battle hymn of the Roman Cathohc Church'
written by famous priest, Faith OF Our
Fathers Living Still
But Father Vaughan's sermon ana
speech contained so direct challenge TO
Protestants that. with the kindllest feel
iugs in the world and in that spirit Of
frank speech in which Father Vaughan
himself excels, d reply may be permitted.
Sheltered Behind Quotation.
Father Vaughan did not himself assert
that Professionalism is decayinS. He shell
tered himself behind a quotation from an
alleged report of a statement by a certain
BishoD Sellew. Of jamestown, n \. This
gentleman is not a bishop OF the Episcopal
Church nor of the Methodist Church. He
belongs TO a small and relatively insignitl-
cant denomination called the Methodist
Protestant Church. denomination which
has fewer than 10000 members
1T is unlikely that Bishop Se1Iew ever
talked such nonsense, though l have not
seen any Reputation by him Of the report
Father Vaughan quoted this report with
unholy slee. And he commented in his
own farnboyant way. Promptly taken TO
task by the Presbyterian clergy of this
city. the father replied that he did not
mean that Professionalism was decayins- in
point Of numbers, wealth, education. CT
ganization or any Of the outward signs Of
vitality and power.
He referred 70 it's decay as a spiritual
power capable Of building I'D a spiritually
minded people. This is, of course. vastly
different thing from what he was sup
posed 70 mean. And it is perfectly clear
that on Sunday Father Vaughan cannot
have been SO entirely obliYious of figures
and material things as on Tuesday he
thought he had been For almost in the
same breath he recited with swelling pride
figures showing the numerical increase of
his own Church, which he thought re
bounded to her credit
Very little effort Is needed 70 prick this
big bubble of Roman Catholic success in
the United States Of America.
The Census Figures.
There arc, according to the census re-
port of 1900, the latest available, twelve
million Roman Catholics in this country
about as many as Methodists and Bsptists
combined. This is not very startling
fact 10 begin with
THE Roman Catholic Church baptizes
the infant newly born. Consider the su-
perb organization Of the Church Think
OF its age-long care for the child Think
of its imperious insistence upon baptism.
You may he sure that few children escape
baptism through lack Of care on the part
Of the priest. The census report has de-
Quoted rs per cent from the total returns
so as 10 exclude children under nine years
old. but it includes all baptized persons
over nine
The Baptist figures, on the other hand.
include only those who have received bap-
tism by immersion upon their own DELHI
crate choice after conversion and the ac-
cnptance of Christ. IF BaptistS swept
into their census figures all those who
constitute their congregations and all the
mem hers of their families over nine years