The Irish standard., 1913-07-05
NO CATHOLICS MAY
TEACH IN SCHOOLS
North Carolina Board of Commis-
sioners Make Most Rdicu-
lous Ruling. 49,
Beniehted. Bigoted officials of Char
lotte. That State, Grossly
Misinterpret
Americas Attitude and Refuse An.
pointments to Teachers Who
Are Catholics. ra.2

The town Of Charlotte. N. e. h.x
gone a long way towards the goal Of
attaining the unenviable distinction Of
having men In public ofiice who know
less OF the spirit of our American nrin.
capies than any other public servants
IN all this broad land. From the
News" of that city we learn that \
spirited meeting was held last week.
OF which the following is the account:
F"siiIade Of oratory.
After fusillade Of oratory from cit.
liens unexampled in the annals Of the
city boards. eulogizing in turn tn
catholic church, denouncing religious
olgotry. and pleading for toleration.
declaring that their proposed actioI
would violate tl1edr oaths of off1ce. tha
FEDERAL and state constitutions render
themselves liable to prosecution for
mlsdemeanor, would be an insult to
Southern manhood and bring contume.
~ on Southern chivalry. the board of
school commissioners retreated behind
closed doors at midnight last nirht
and by secret ballot voted not ia
re-elect Misses Helen and Mary Cliff
lord as members Of the teaching force
Of the city graded schools onathe
Ground that they are members. of the
Roman Catholic church. Thee 'votsssgs W. u =
10 tos6. ~! &.5e /, ;.5s',
Never In the history of Charlotte has
such meeting been held. 1t was at
tended by 100 citizens of all faiths who
overf1owed into adjoining halls and
corridors. And rarely have such Spec
linens OF oratory been heard here all
in defense on the position that no
discrimination should be shown. Lit
tie did the school board realize on the
previous Tuesday night what a hor,
nets nest it was mourning when 1t
postponed action one week.
Church and School.
The position assumed by the school
board was that the Roman Catholic
church is opposed to the public school
system; 1t was charged that 1t was
seeking to destroy it. Resentment was
aroused by the fact that most Catho-
lies patronize parochial schools, there
being only about seven Catholics, It
was said, In the city schools. They
took the position that since Protast-
ants would not be considered as tsach-
ers for Catholic schools there should
be no Caholics in the public schools.
A retort to this argument was made
by DR.. J. S. Clifford. brother Of the
Misses Clifford to a questioner, who
asked whether the Catholics would
consider Presbyterian as a teacher
In O'Donoghue Hall. u4.
II don't believe one would accept q
position as teacher there" replied the
physician. THE Sisters teach abso.
lutely without salary"
This evoked some laughter. s.s
There was applause again when Col
w. r. Henry answered Mr. J. J. VIII
liams.
will you ten me-" asked Mr.. vii.
liams. what our foreparents came
here from the old country for?"
"They came" said Col. Henry, lin
search of that which these ladies are
demanding-religious liberty
Session Begins.
After the calling of the roll the re-
port OF the teachers committee was
called for and Mr.. w. L. Nicholson,
chairman, handed this to Clerk wearn
who read the list of those whose cleo
ton was recommended. The name Of
Misses Clifford were included.
For 20 minutes then parliamentary
skirmish was fought. Commissioner
Brown moved the tabling Of the report
for the present. until the citizens who
were there in battle array could bs
heard. The mayor ruled that to table
it would be to shut off debate. and
Major Tomlinson moved the adoption
of the report. He was seconded by
Mr.. J. D. Mccall. Mr.. Browns motion
was seconded by Commissioner sttN-
we'll. Mr.. Brown maintained that to
adopt the report would also effectively
forestall discussion. He made it clear