The Washington herald., 1911-05-14

When the Spanish war began American
care Tor enlisted men when in camp and
IN the field and on battle ships and in
yards was poor indeed when compared
with the homes the social and other
work done by English people for their
ENLISTED men. One outcome of the war,
hacked by the association. has been pro-
vision for American enlisted men COM
parable with that afforded by England
and Germany. Miss Helen Gould, Mrs.
Russell Sage. and others had conspicu-
Gus parts in it all, and still have.
The Great Code of Canon Law.
Catholic bishops of the United States
will receive near the end of June the first
part of the new Code of Canon law, per-
haps the greatest single enterprise OF
Pope Plus Y. This first completed part
will deal with impediments to the mar.
riage tie. There have been published
heretofore some findings of the commits
sion, but these were in the nature of ex-
periments, the aim being to ascertain
how each decree works out before 1t is
put into permanent form. So wide in
scope is the codif1cation undertaken by
the Pope's direction that II is expected
that forty years will be required to COM
plete it. The commission is large and is
working at the task to the exclusion of
other duties. During the centuries there
have accumulated a large number of
laws. Codifying them and translating
them into the languages with which the
church most deal It a prodigious task
The subjects covered include the entire
administration of the church on its legal
side, especially relating to central admin
tstration. An important part, however,
relates to bishops and parish priests
their trial and removal A part of inter-
est to the United States Is the canon on
bishops and their election or appoint
ment.
Cardinals Reduced to Forty-nfne.
The Catholic college of cardinals has
now the smallest membership recorded
in centuries and the smallest proportion
of Italians ever known. The traditional
membership is seventy. and by the re-
cent death of Cardinal Vavicchioni it is
reduced to forty-nine. It is three and a
half years since any cardinals have been
created, and 1t is likely to be a year be-
fore a consistory is called whereat alone
new cardinals are proclaimed. A dozen
of the forty-nine, and especially of the
Italians, are Ineffective by reason of ad-
vanced age. Cardinal Oreglia, the cam
erlengo, being eighty-three this coming
July. Twenty-eight cardinals are ItaI-
ians. twenty-one the non-Roman world.
Cardinals Moran, of Australia: Gibbons,
Of America. and Logue. of Ireland, rep
resent the English-speaking races. France
has three, Germany two, Spain four,
Austria six. and South America, Bel
gtum, and Portugal one each. The late
Patriarch of Lisbon, put out by the revo-
luton some months ago, now lives in
strict retirement. The curia, the cardi-
nails stationed In Rome for work In the
congregations and other general admin
istration. Is crippled for lack of numbers
The cardinal who has just died, a men,
ber of curia, gave active days at seventy
five years of age to congregations of the
consistorial, sacraments. council, both
branches of propaganda. index rites and
studies. and on the commission for the
codification of canon law. the last named
exceedingly onerous and important.
Catholics Pushing Social Service.
A social service institute, just held In
Paris by social experts in the Catholic
Church. and with the hearty approval Of
the Pope. was successful far beyond ex-
pectations. Even the United States and