The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-02-26
What PrlestCraft Did for Mexico

E9tlor Irlbune-Aitemptins TO answer
l.. Tullerrcz de l.ora. NcHIcan refugee,
anu labelling hIS letter .'llis i'slsi,ies .
w x. Harris cites much authority 10
SHOW the blessings ahowcrcd ttpou our
| sister republic by the Catholic church
and her priests.
lncidensolly he takes = niuc -, tbo
EcN' Thurston Brown, and would close
thc doors OF Unity hall 10 all rcligiouslv
ana POLITICALLY diseased minds. namely
thosa who hav" brains enough To think
Tor themselves and courage enough To
utter their honest thoughts The United
states Is supposed I" bc H land Of polii-
,chi ana religious freedom. and also Il
sort of asylum fer refugees. and there
should he roou for thcm hC"c 80 long
AS they are not OF the anarchist and Grim
There Is room in our broad rtnnsphcre
lor o9th De Lara and Harris "a f1uitcr
th"lr littls wings. and even Il poor hum
nle A1ruist Ike myself may venture al
times 10 be heard; bul as = rule tho
freedom of the press Is no, for us
From Tn" first the church In Mexico
mas pcen the enemy of thought aud lIb-
Crty.
Tho inquisition was introduced I'm l5s9
bN ne nrst bishop the bico1 Iunarroca.
ana other prominent rhUrchmCn. Xumnr-
roSa made himself immortal in infaniy by
turning ihH historical records OF !hc AZ
tees In tho initial IpquisitoTial auto-da-
le were burned twenty ono pesticnt
mM,herans CGrippa, Mexico OF Today.
In February. 1919. fernando Cortcz
sailed from St laGo for Mexico with i'm
sirucuons 10 omit nothing that would add
20 ,he glory OF tiud and OF his sovereign.
From the first landing OF Cortc% on the
American continent nc began his brilliant
career OF butchery for the sake of con-
NerlinS the h"athcn. Mexico had thirty
millions of natives. and they were better
red better housed and better clad than
they have ever been since. And there
were also three times as many of them
as there nrc TODAY.
'nrio los >,.l,
pcror. said: "AS VIC roueht under the
standard of the cross for tho true faith.
and The service OF YOUR hiGhncSS. heaven
crowned our arms with such success that
while mult,udes Of the inlidols wcrc
slain littlc loss WAS suffered by the Cas-
tilians'
In Cholula massacre was tho order of
inc day, followed by deaths . tho stake.
outrage. wholesale robbery. Death came
with the Spauards death and religion;
the natives were mad" scrfs, their fertile
lands wore seized, and "A wholesale sys-
tom of legalized robbery WAS established.
In the name OF religion tho deed WAS
done schools werc forbidden under the
plea that "it was ineXpedicnt for learning
to become general In America
Tho vanquIshed were converted and
baptized by force. AS the people grew
poor the bishops grew rich, The misery
OF the poor found It's counterpart in The
glory of the church. The church charged
an ineXoriblc fec OF S1n for marrying.
and the result was that most of the work
Ing people lNcd together IN state OF
concubinaSc.
In 1927 there were $50 converts and
monasterics in Mexico. Onc-tenth of the
products OF the country went to tho
clergy as tith7s. The estimated value Of
church property i'm 1850 was $500, 900. 0O0.
one-third OF the entire property Of the
nation
There were in the City of Mexico 5000
homes. valued AT $50 900 O00. OF which
the church owned more than one-haf.
The annual income Of the church in Mex
leo was $50. 000. 000, while that Of the
nation was only $4,000. 600 The clergy
OF tho city OF Pueblo held mortgages on
farms In that state alone TO the amount
OF $40. 900. 900
a church prosperous and powerful:
people hungry and In rags. That was tho
summing up Of three centuries.
The present constitution of Mexico Is
Republican. but 20 establish it required
two terrific contests with the reactionary
elements. ut the head of Which was tho
church. In 1856 began the war OF re-
form which ended in the cnntiscation OF
all church property to the state. and the
supremacy of the civil power.
Benito Juarez. a pure blood Indian OF
the Zapotica tribe the Washington OF