The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1914-12-03


lished to admit of further argument.
The Times Union evidently labors
under the delusion that whatever
Rome or the Vatican may try to die
tate with respect to America and
American politics, must be swallowed
without word of remonstrance,
much less without a masterful re-
buke to the insolent interference
with the will of a fire people
To summarily cast a vote at the
polls in any American election, ex-
Guiding from office all who exhibit
a faint of Romanism in their poll
tics, is no act of war-it does how
ever indicate lack of confidence in
candidates whose allegiance must be
thereby divided between duty to the
American Republic and the mandates
of a foreign ecclesiastical power sub
sisting on the religion of pious and
faithful people, while thus abusing
that religion. We deny votes of con-
fldence to this or that political party
for much less reason-why should
we be criticised for using the ballot
to keep our public offices unspotted
from Roman Craftsmanship? To de-
ny man office is not to war upon
hlm-eVen if defeated for Office his
rights will be sacred under a coun-
try capable of thus protecting it's in
tegrity, and if any man is so zeal
Gus in medieval conception of re-
ligion as to fOrsWear his American
independence and birthright that he
may follow the lead of the Vatican
in all things, why, that man is not
fit for office in America, because he
is not FREE and would not accept
freedom; but the Times-Union and
all the world knows that such a SER
vile Zealot as we have just described
will be safer in America; have a
larger measure of respect for his re-
ligious faith, and greater oppor-
tunity in all we'll doing, than in any
other land or under any other flag on
earth! He will find friends of other
religious faiths; he will find work,
and enlightenment, and charity. and
plenty, and good willard all these
things his without grudge, so long
as he keeps his clannish dogmas out
of politics and refrains from trying
to make America Catholic;" but just
here we stop, and SO must the papal
clansman-he is unfit to entrust with
office here while in such a frame of
mind and attitude toward American
freedom and institutions. Our one
and our inalineable remedy is the
secret ballot-and we have chosen to
use it, and will use it more freely
and with more discrimination in flu
ture!
The battle of ballots, since you
VIII have nothing but ''war," is
on-we are going to clean up Ameri-
can politics bit, and Guardians of
Liberty is to all true Americans a
more beautiful term than knights of
Columbus even, or Hibernians, or
any other foreign designation, pretty
though these undoubtedly are: if the
latter may be advertised ad -libitum,
We insist that we have not been
guilty of blasphmy if it leaks out
that society known as Guardians
Of Liberty, did such good educational
work that four Roman Catholic
clansmen, who this fall aspired to
carry their plan into American poll
tics while we elected them to office,
have been rejected at the polls be-
cause we have no confidence in their
ability to leave their dogmas behind
we can get other officers unspotted
with foreign allegiances whatsoever.
Don't worry, people-the defeated
will have the benefit of better rule
with personal safeguards than we
would have had, had the election
gone the other way-thats why we
did if No in hi billions wero even