Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-05


result of incomplete and insufficient
laws which Il was necessary to rev Sc X
IT was desired to preserve from ruin
within the next Guarte century the
:. eater part Of the churches m France.
". BRAND charged up the responsibility
to the Catholics who In rejecting the
law OF separation had inttrd cted the
profting by advantages which tle law
assured TO them. Aocor ding TO NJ Bar
res it was not only Catholics. but Prot
estants also. who criticised the new
eSine With bitterness. This obsei walton
may he reinforced by the statement hat
non-Cathoiics in France are not neces-
sar'ly Protestants, hu. on the contrary.
in the great mator tv of cases, Tree
thinkers and avowed deists.
There were two systems devised by the
law. One was to leave a church in
charge Of Catholics. the
Different other was TO give It TO the
rrn, commune to maintain. II
the former system had been
adopted the maintenance OF tie churches
would have been the affair of Catholics.
But the latter system prevailed. with the
actual result.
Complaints had been made to the
government that priests had denounced
from the al ar certain journals and
had thus prevented their circulation.
And to these complaints NJ. BRAND had
replied:
The law did not permit the prosecu-
ton of the certain acts mentioned. but II
there was abuse shown. government
won d intervene"
AT this point NJ Denys-Cochin inter-
vened in the discussion. and after por-
traying in somher rolors the present
situation of the priest in the church, he
said: And it is thus that Catholics arc
now asked to maintain alone these
churches. from which they may be
driven out tomorrow"
bishops and priests" remarked NJ.
CharmeS. were formerly denendents OF
the state. but now they are citizens. as
to the journals or Journalists whom
they alta K Certainly the press Is a
great power, brt II Is not yet state
within a state What II a press syndi-
cate should prosecute the bishops? We
live in a period whore we may expect
ANYTHING. and should he surprised ct
nothing"
NJ Charmes returns to tho r,asterrv
and effective sreech IF NJ Parres. which
is doubly imrortant. because II may
have been enc Of the prin inal argu-
ments Of the opro 'it'on arainst the
continuance Of the BRAND policy. NJ.
Rarres did not wish snscial'" = defen Y
the fine churches. Their beauty alone
might cause them to he preserved. al
though they Were in danger. NJ Pnrres
would plead the "ause Of the modest
dained churches. whose attributes for
favor were that they were the places
Of spiritual life for the people.
Man had commenced to comprehend
that science. which for moment had
pretended to suffice for
Sciences all our wants, notwith-
D.c: standing its admirable
Doneie'y' progress. satisfied. In
deed only a small part of himself. and
left the other anxious and troubled.
And NJ. Barres cited Auguste Conte and
Stuart Mill. masters of positivism. who, in
the last years of their lives. constructed
chapels and oratories, where they sought
the moral complement which was lack
ing in their science.
What" asked NJ. Barres, would be
the result il churches Disappeared"
M BRAND did not deny the evils OF
which Mr. Barres complained; he con-
tented himself with undertaking the best
he knew how, to parry the attack ana
in such way as to reassure the con-
science OF the chamber, which was visib1y
touched as it has seldom, If ever. been.
NJ. BRAND recognized willingly that the
church for Catholics is the necessary
instrument indispensable to their cult.
1t was. then, necessary for them that ii
should be preserved and that justice
should be rendered to the republican
party that it had been so inspired.
NJ. BRAND spoke at length of the num-
Der OF churches classed as historic monu-
ments which had been preserved and the
classification had not been terminated.
But the question asked by NJ. BarTes re-
mains unanswered. TIE village churches,
whose only interest was in the religious
cor hinl, hax mt cd yhof
was their safeguard? NJ. BRAND express
ed the hope that associations would be
formed Throughout France to maintain
them, and that the movement to accom-
plsh that object would become irresisti-
Bile. Catholics added NJ. BRAND. should
renounce the policy of appealing continu-
ally to the state in place of taking upon
the arrangement of their own
affairs.
In the chamber NJ Georges Berry vigor-
ously attacked the General Confederation
of Labor, and demanded its
Attack on dissolution NJ Lairolle. q
new member. deputy from
AoooA' Nice, ably and eloquently
NJ Berry. The c. G. T. had
gone outside of its role as labor party.
had become anarchical. anti-patriotic, and
had committed numerous crimes and mis-
demeanors; it had become insupportable
to everybody. even to the unified social
lists, who had defended it because they
were af"ai and they were right to be
afraid because they would be one of its
first victims. The c. G. 7. should be dis
solved, and when that was done there
were many who, il they did not utter a
cry of relief aloud. would utter sigh OF
relief in secret. But for the moment the
c. C. T. was quiet and confident. and If
t was not so before NJ Brands discourse
It was so afterward. NJ. BRAND. it Is re-
called declared that he could not dis
solve the c. g. T. because it was impos-
sibe to prevent an association. He said:
You may attack a man, but the associa-
ton never
NJ. BRAND is optimist in character, and
believed that the best remedy against the
:. G. T. was to leave the matter to time
hat time would not fail to liberate the
from the tolls Of despotism
VIII oh he declared to be "a tyranny TIE
most odious and the most brutal" and
which the workmen themselves felt was
NJ. BRAND felt tina. the policy
IF ''!aissez faire-let things alone-wss q
'orm of punishment which. although not
by a tribunal. had neverthe-
ess all its force"
1t was objected that the workmen would
De glad if the government would give
hem aid in escaping from the despotism
# the G. q. T., but NJ BRAND maintained
he contrary.
The optimism of NJ. BRAND carried him
successfully through twenty months Of
what must be classed as a mastery ad-
n. But he succumbed confess
ng his failure, and he has left the door
II the republic wide open to a vast sea OF