The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-03-28
BARRED FROM THE CANA
DIAN MAILS.

Some time ago the Menace an
nounced, with a great flourish Of
trumpets, that it had made ar
engagements to issue special edi-
ton for circulation in the Domin-
ion of Canada. The home of this
new venture was to be Aurora, a
small town near Toronto, Ont. This
British edition was to serve a pur-
pose similar to that which the
parent publication is trying to full
fl in the United States, namely, to
rescue the benighted Canadian
people from the domination of
Rome and it's Hierarchy.
To this end, application was
made to the Canadian postal
authorities for the usual second
class privileges allowed to reputa-
BILE newspapers. But when the
postal authorities realized the pur-
pose which the new venture was to
serve, they decided that it was
unfit for the mails, and the Post
master General OF the Dominion,
through his secretary, sent a COM
munication to the publishers in
which they were informed that not
only the British edition but its
American prototype as we'll was
denied the privilege Of transmits
sion through the mails.
The following is the text Of the
letter:
SIR
I beg to acknowledge the receipt
of your letters of the 9th and
28th of February last, making an
application for statutory privil-
eyes for a newspaper entitled
"The Menace" British Edition)
published at Aurora, Ontario. In
reply I am to say that as The
Menace published at Aurora, Mo-,
has been placed on the list of
newspapers the transmission of
which by post in Canada is pro
hibited, the department is not in
position to favorably consider
your application. I am, sir,
Your obedient servant,
A. NJ. THORPE, Sec.
The Canadian postal authorities
notified the postal department at
Washington Of it's action and the
latter sent the following communi-
cation to the Postmaster at Auro-
ra, Mo-:
Postoffice Department.
Second Assistant Postmaster
General.
Washington, March 9, 1914.
Postmaster, Aurora, Mo-:
Your attention is invited to the
following extract from a letter of
the postal administration Of Can
ada, dated February %, viz:
IT have to inform you that the
Menace, a weekly paper publish
ed at Aurora, Missouri, has been
placed on the list of publications
which are prohibited from circula-
ton by mail in Canada, on account
of it's offensive contents.
Please cause the publisher of the
paper in question to be properly
informed respecting the matter
and such action taken at your
office as will prevent the accept
ance of copies of said paper for
mailing to Canada.
(Signed)
JOSEPH STEWART,
Second Assistant Postmaster Gen
eral.
Both letters were printed in
The Menace. Commenting on the
fact that the second of these, an
official communication from the
Postal Department in Washington
to the Postmaster at Aurora, ap-
peared in that paper, the Bulletin
of the Central Verein, very per-
tinently asks: Chow did this off
cial letter come into the possession
Of 'The Menace, and, if the Post
masters of Aurora sent it to that
paper, by what right did he do so
By what right did he surrender to
the Aurora sheet an official COM
munication coming from one post
master and going to another? ?"
Such a breach of official etiquette
should be investigated.
Every intelligent person, wheth-
er Catholic or not, will commend
the action of the Postmaster Gen
eral of Canada in refusing to
transmit through the mails such a
disreputable and mendacious sheet
as that published in Aurora. His
action, barring not only the Bri-
fish edition but the American edi-
ton as well, deserves the highest
commentator from all who are
not actuated by sectarian bigotry
The action of the Dominion post
al authorities suggests the ques-
ton: If The Menace is unfit to be
accorded the privileges of the Can
adam mails, why is it that the
American postal authorities are
unable to nrevent it from ENJOYING