The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1913-04-12

OF the taCt that the Catholic press has
left nothing unsaid that would have a
tendency 70 fasten us 10 the Socialist
movement in the eyes OF the public.
That this fact has been known 10 us
for some time. we reproduce herewith
an article from n special circular mail.
ed from this ONCE January 25th. last.
which discusses this phase OF the
enemy's attack and deals with the
question as clearly as We could do Il
here. This circular was mailed TO the
thirty thousand men on the Firing
Line, and the article In question is as
follows:
OUR ANSWER TO THE CATHOLIC
PRESS.
We believe that every honest reader
OF the Menace will agree with us
when we state that We have tried
from the first 20 be absolutely
frank with our constituency Many OF
our readers have written US that 30 far
as they were concerned 10 mattcred not
who we arc or what we are, politically
or religiously, Just so we continued TO
deliver the goods" and produce the
same kind OF paper we have been pro-
ducing since the initial number. This
ter, yet, at the same time. IL is perfectly
natural that our great army OF friends
and admirers should be more or less
curious about the personnel OF the stan.
who conceived the idea OF such a pub
lication. etc. In fact, hundreds OF such
have paid us personal visits, have met
Ind talked with US, have inspected the
plant and have. without exception. gone
away more than satisfied with their
visit and with n renewed determination
TO redouble their efforts in our behalf
and do all In their power TO aid the
circulation OF the paper and increase
it's power and influence.
Notwithstanding these facts the Ro-
man Catholic hierarchy and the Catho-
lie press have long since realized that
they had met In the Menace an enemy
more than worthy OF their steel. and as
result they have not hesltated 90 re-
sort 20 any method OF fraud. deception.
or infamy. when they thought by 80 do
ing they could In the least embarrass or
hamper US in our work or bring the pa
per or its publishers into disrepute be-
fore the public.
Following this lead. we have observ-
ed from the outset that IL was their
opinion that nothing In the world
would hurt us worse than TO make you
believe that we were allied with the
was primarily a Socialist publication.
Just why they think this we do not
know. And II we did choose 20 be So
ciaiists in politics. which we do not all
happen to be, what difference would u
make with you so long ae we kept the
Menace non-political7 Is our constitu-
ency not tolerant3 Would they not
political opinion we wished Is Il not
for the right TO do these very things
that we are each and every one fight-
ing9 Is this not a right guaranteed
us under the constitution
The absurdlty OF these charges is
apparent 20 any one who gives them a
single sober thought The Menace
could no more be a Socialist paper than
II could be q democratic. republican or
prohibition paper. The Socialists have
their press, and the other parties have
theirs. end We propose that those who
oppose political Romanism shall have
theirs. and we defy any sensible reader
In the universe TO read our columns and
refute our claim that we have kept the
faith.
But the Romanists evidently 90 not
take this view OF IL. At least they have
left no stone unturned In their efforts
to make US appear as Socialists. They
hire and maintain q press bureau which
does nothing but forge out lies about
the Menace They are set In type and
every Catholic paper In the country Is
furnished with these cold storage" ar
ticles You have seen them and know
what they are.
Many Of the Catholic papers through.
out the country have gone 80 far as TO
state positively that the Menace was
owned by the same parties who own
the Appeal 70 Reason. Notwithstanding