The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-09-26

Gus ana QeIdmaJOTy CudIdCteI, ISACCI-
ing injuriously upon the character or
conduct of another, within the mean
ing of the Act of June Is, 1888, c. 394,
Sec. 2, p. 1861 of U. S. Compiled
Statutes.
Nevertheless, "The Menace" in the
copy which am sending you, adver-
tises this book as sold through the
mails at $3.50 a copy, and as book
sold by The Menace Publishing Co.,
of Aurora, Mo.
This wicked sheet, "The Menace"
in it's advertisement above referred
to, represent sanity ascetic, who,
during his priestly life, including, OF
course, his Pontificate, was bound by
the vow of chastity, not merely as a
white SLAYER" but as the Chief of
White Slavers.'' Could anything be
more vile, more base or more Infamous
than this?
Can you not see that the advertise
ment and inducement of sale of such
a necessarily vile, false, scurrilous
and defamatory book must needs not
only vilify, SANDER and insult the
memory of great, holy and good
man, but that the advertisement from
which | have quoted reflects most in
iuriously upon the character of the
Pope of the Catholic Church and is
calculated to arouse to passionate heat
the wrath of the millions of Catholics
of the United States who love and
revere the memory of their late Holy
Father, Pope Plus x?
I believe that in this publication,
"The Menace" and in the book to
which | have referred, l have called
your attention to things which are
clearly within your province and
which, in my opinion, violate both the
letter and the spirit of the Statutes
of the United States to which l have
referred.
And, Sir, while human decency
throughout the world stood, as it were,
silent and shocked and with head
bowed in token of respect and sorrow
at the death of the late, venerable
Pontiff, whose love for humanity had
broken his tender heart, within two
days of his death this is what "The
Menace" has to say of, him, near the
| foot of column 2, p. of the copy of
August %, 1914, which | am sending
| you:
"a press dispatch says that the
| Pope" (sic) "has hardly slept since
the war cloud arose in Europe. The
Pope" (sic) fought to get bit of Saint
AIMS shin bone and put under his
pillow"
The person who wrote the squib
above quoted possessed so little sense
of decency and propriety that he could
stoop to make sport of the tender
sentiments of human love and pity
which filled the heart of that noble
venerable old gentleman, Pope Plus X
when those very sentiments had brok
en- the Pope's heart probably before
the type was set which printed those
brutal words.
There is a limit to vulgar, despica
BILE, cowardly scurrility; think it has
been reached in the above, quoted
from "The Menace"
In thus attempting to make mock
cry of the venerable Pontiff in his
illness, what a picture the writer Of
those lines has drawn of his own
heart! The very name Pope" is de
rived from the Greek word which
means Father" and in very true
sense the late Pope was the Father
of all Christendom. To paraphrase
the words of Robert Louis Stevenson
in closing his open letter to the Rev
DR.. Hyde. in the matter of Father
Damien of Molokai:-Th man who
tried to do what Plus X did is my
Father, the Father of the poor, Cypress
ed and the suffering throughout the
world, and the Father of all goodness
and he was the Father of the person
who wrote those cruel, wicked lines
in "The Menace" if God had but giveT
the latter grace to see it.
The fact is, Sir, that the Catholics
of the United States represent APP
proximately a fifth of the inhabitant:
and citizens of the United States, ant
their right to worship their God il
their own way, free from abuse il
libelous. scurrilous and defamatory
publications, sent or advertised
through the mails. must be respected
/ am writing this letter to you anC
lay this matter before you with the
| request that you take proper steps tt
prevent "The Menace and the bool
referred to above from being SEN
through the mails of the United
States, and that you also call this mat
ter to the attention of the Attorne!
General of the United States, that HI
may see to it that, if the publication
of "The Menace and the book herein
before referred to and advertised il
"The Menace" and the sending of TIT
same through the mails constitute vic
lations of the Statutes of the United
States, proper action be taken agains
the publishers of said paper and o
said book.
l am writing this letter to you il
my capacity as a citizen of the Unitet
States, who is Catholic, and 1 pro
pose to have this letter published a
an open letter to you, and shall do al
in my power to see to it that this let
ter of mine receives very general Gil
culation, with a view to arousing no
only Catholic sentiment in this coun
try against these infamous publica
tons above referred to, but also t.
arouse public feeling among thos
of our fellow citizens who are not O
the Catholic faith but who respec
the law, abhor scurrilous, indecent an
defamatory publications, and who Low
decency. justice and fair play.
, Very respectfully,
3 PAUL BLACKWELL.
}. P. S.-Since writing the above
5 have decided to send the copy of 9Th
c Menace" referred to herein and tn
D copy of the book. "The Pope: Chic
e of White Slavers," to you by expires!
e and am sending them to you by el
: press today. You will notice that tn
: title "The Pope: Chief of White SlaN
# ORC - anpoorc IN tho n0vnr of fh