The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1914-05-02

Rome has spoken, Rome has
acted, and Rome approves the act
As stated in these columns last
week, Priest Jansen, Of Elkhart
Ind, defined the will Of the pope
and the purpose Of Rome when h,
advised the dupes Of his faith e
"use a little muscular Christian.
ity" on such as criticise his al
legged church. "a little muscular
Christianity applied at the right
time and place is better than ar
gument" is the language credited
20 Jansen by the Elkhart paper
that reported his sermon. JUS
one week later a gang Of Denver
hoodlums kidnapped Rev. Otis l.
Spurgeon from his hotel in that
city; and, after beating him
brutally, left him TO die. The
criminal and murderous deed was
logical 10 Jansen's preaching
and now the Romish press in.
dorses the mob, clinching the
charge Of The Menace that the
teaching and practice Of the Ro
man Catholic church is un-Chris
tian, brutaliEing, un-Americar
and a menace TO American insti,
tutions.
The New World, Of Chicago
which bears at its head the bene.
diction Of the pope and the bless.
ing Of Archbishop Quigley, under
date Of April IL, hands its read.
ers the following;
While We do not eondone the acts Of
the persons who, through mistaken real
committed the assault upon and Abduc
tion Of the Rev. Otis Spurgeon, q Prot
estant minister, at Denver, Colorado
there nevertheless remains the fact thai
the authorities seem TO have been lacking
In the performance Of their duties anI
are 10 aoms degree responsible for th,
unfortunate occurrence. This man Spur
geon would appear 70 be a frebrand, 20
ing about the country stirring up re
hgious bigotry and hatred. He wa,
engaged In q propaganda Of vicious cal
umny and gross mendaeity against the
Catholic priesthood, and Il was the duty
Of the authorities, a. eonservators Of the
peace and Of law and order, 20 have
prevented him by force II necessary. Tho
officers Of the law In Denver and every
where else throughout the country would
do well to bear IN mind the time -honored
adage: can ounce Of prevention /,
worth ton Of cure"
How refreshing how illuminat.
ingl According to this the real
offenders were not the bowling
mob, but the victim and the DO.
lice. The police were at fault be-
cause they allowed a man from
Iowa to deliver an address in
Denver. Sifted down to its es.
sence, a Christian minister and
American citizen from Iowa has
no rights which the hoodlums OF
Denver are bound to respect. That
recalls a similar opinion, Of his
torical consequence, in which Ro-
man Catholic Judge Taney, of the
United States Supreme Court, de.
cided that a negro had no rights
which the federal courts were
bound TO respect. Taney's motor
ious decision in the "Dredd Scott
case" was reversed by the court
of final resort, the American peo-
pie with muskets in hand; and we
dare say that the exalted opinion
Of the pope, so expressed in his
Chicago organ, viii be reversed
as soon as the American people
pass upon it.
The police Of Denver had no
right, under municipal, state or
federal law, to prohibit Mr.. Spur
geon from speaking in that city f;
and this declaration Of Rome s
official organ only reveals the ar
rogant intolerance Of Rome in its
assumption that every opponent
should be suppressed. It was the
natural thing for the pope's own
to chide the Denver police for al
lowing Spurgeon TO speak, for the
police of that city are Romanists
and under q Romish chief. It
seems that they did not obey the
letter of Roman law any better
than they upheld the spirit Of
American law. When the pope
gets things to going Just right in
be cities of his American domain
iobody will be allowed to speak
without his august permission.
fhe police will stop the speaking
Iefore it begins, and the mob viii
Tot be needed to do its peculiar
Fork after the speech is made.
he New World does not "con-