The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-10-24


slandering the Knights of Columbus
at Mankato, Mimi? What was the
nature of the case2 What was the
name Of the judge who sentenced
him? What sentence DID he uet?
The following is reprinted from The
Catholic Bulletin of August 6:
The fact is thay the trial at Water
vile, Minn.. vas a most sensational
one Irop-I. many points of view. 1t was
presided over by Judge George ].
DRESSED. The district attorney who
prosecuted the case was Francis ].
Hanzel of Montgomery, prosecuting
attorney for lie Sueur County, who
was assisted by Attorney Hessian of
LIE Sueur The defendants were repre-
scented by Owen Morris, of st. Paul A
Jury was finally selected, and it is of
more than passing Importance and
matter of qualification to the order,
as it is compliment to him, that
the Rev. Thomas Billing, the resident
Methodist minister of the town, was
chosen on the jury and was not chal-
lenged by the complainant, and as the
result showed, must have voted with
the other eleven men to convict the
two defendants. Another fact of
singular interest was the appearance
of the Rev. H. E. Chapman, the pastor
of the local Congregational church, as
witness for the prosecution in the
matter of publication.
The surprise of the trial to the
Knights of Columbus themselves and
to all those whose curiosity had
whetted their appetite to learn some
of the secrets Of that great order,
was the calling of two of the Supreme
Officers as witnesses. The first was
the Supreme Physician, DR.. E. w.
Buckley, of st. Paul, who testified in
effect that Mr.. Lawless had received
initiation in the Fourth Degree under
his direction as Master. Upon cross
examination DR.. Buckley was asked
as to the nature of the oath admin
istered in the Fourth Degree, and
most emphatically denied then, as he
did in answering subsequent ques-
tions of the defendants counsel, that
the order had any oath in any part
of it's ceremonial or degree work He
freely admitted that the order had
pledge or obligation which is admin
istered to candidates.
William J. Mckinley, of New Haven,
Conn.,, Supreme Secretary of the
Knights of Columbus, also testified as
to the nature of the obligation, as the
off Rot - -trrs1 81
scripts and of all matters pertaining
to the ceremonial of the society. He
placed copy of the obligation in
evidence and it was made part of the
records of the trial. He emphasized
the fact that the Knights of Columbus
that no member was asked to take
more than an obligation which any
gentleman might take. Both DR.. Buck
ley and Mr.. Mckinley testified in no
uncertain words that the bogus oath,
which was the subject matter of the
prosecution, was, neither in letter nor
in spirit, a part of any of the cere-
monial of the knights of Columbus in
any of it's degrees.
1t is unnecessary to go into the
recital of the other evidence in this
case. Suffice it to say that the de-
PENDANTS made no attempt to establish
the authenticity of the bogus oath, but
threw themselves on the mercy of
the court and tried to show that there
was no intentional libel on Mr.. Law
less. The jury returned verdict of
guilty, which was read by the fore
man, Rev. Thomas Billings, and the
court imposed a Jail sentence of
thirty days without the option of a
fine, on each of the defendants, from
which, we understand, they have
taken an appeal.
Here is the obligation of the Fourth
Degree above referred to:
Il swear to support the Constitution
of the United States.
81 pledge myself, as a Catholic
citizen and a knight of Columbus, to
enlighten myself fully upon my duties
as citizen and to conscientiously
perform such duties entirely in the
interest of my country and regardless
myself to do all in my power to pre-
serve the integrity and purity of the
ballot and to promote obedience and
respect for law and order. | promise
to practice my religion openly and
consistently, but without ostentation,
and to so conduct myself in public
affairs and in the exercise of public
virtue as to reflect nothing but credit
upon our Holy Church, to the end that
she may flourish and our country
prosper to the greater honor and glory
of God"
Does the Pope wear the number
666 on his garments?
No In the Apocalypse or Revela-
ton (XIII, 49,, we read: Here is
wisdom. He that hath understanding,
let him count the number of the
beast. For it is the number of
man and the number of him is six
hundred sixty-six." This beast was
seen by st. John in vision; he was
TO speak blasphemies against God
and to make war upon the saints,
and to be adored by those whose
names are not written in the book of
life. Enemies of the Church and of
her Supreme Pastor. especially since
the time of Luther, say that the beast
iC mono 0fhor than tho Tofhn1io