Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1914-01-31

OF sin and shame; they ordain them
ministers of bigotry and put them on
profit and share-making plan from
the beginning. These poor tools
and fools put their names to books
they don't write, and deliver awful
disclosures ITO Men Only" which
they did not and could not com
pose. If the ex-priest supplies are
not enough, it is easy to substitute
impostures. These are the field
agents and the advance guard of the
new bigotry.
No mans religion is ever dis
cussed in politics, or counted as an
element of fitness or unfitness, un-
less that man is Catholic, and then
the cry of Rome at the polls is
heard and the priest in politics is
denounced. When a Catholic mis-
sion is to be given, or a great Cath
olic demonstration to be held, hun
dreds of thousands of copies of the
vilest charges against the Catholic
church are spread just to prepare a
way for the messenger of peace, and
as fitting prelude to the celebra-
tion. When there is vote in Con-
gress to be taken on anything af-
fecting the church, you could steer
your way all over Columbia guided
! by dodgers, giving bogus oaths OF
+! priests, Knights of Columbus, hor-
rors of converts, etc. The most scan
! dalous business of the vampire press
is its unnameable attacks on the
Catholic Sisters There is no crime
of which they are not accused. There
is no degree of degration with which
they are not represented as familiar
There seems to be a special depart
ment of the vilifying business re-
served for nuns alone.
| This rapid glance at these various
waves of intolerance prepare us for
the incident that happened in Pitts
burgh. The combination of anti
Catholic lectures and sectarian jour
nalism had played such havoc with
the ordinary feelings of justice and
fair play that last fall the Bishop
of Pittsburgh called off the Holy
Name parade so as not to give an
occasion of a breach of the public
peace. / was in England at the
time of the incident, and l had the
/ benefit of hearing 1t discussed in
club and car, in public and private
meetings. The burden of comment
was not on the sectarian strife, but
on what had become of the famous
American constitutional principle of
! Liberty of Conscience" People
could understand the massacre of
Jews in Russia-there was no lib
erty of conscience there: there was
no religious principle involved. Peo-
pie could understand French spoila-
tion and confiscation, a political vote
was all that was needed to steal
I 5000, 5000 worth of church prop
erty. to empty thousands of pulpits,
! to forbid the administration of the
sacrament to the living and dying,
to Justify even the armed entrance
of cloistered womanhood, even at
the midnight hours; to drive to the
streets the daughters of France who
were even then praying heaven to
avert evil from and shower bless
ings on La Belle France. But France
has no constitution it has not prin-
ciple of liberty like ours, and the
action of its Government created
1 little surprise.
What do we Catholics want? In
the first place we want an aroused.
healthy, normal public opinion. We
3 want nothing more and nothing less
than the rights guaranteed to every
citizen under the constitution. We
ask for nothing that is not strictly
right, and we win submit to nothing
that is wrong.
''To bear an open slander is a curse,
But not to find an answer is much
worse"
We appeal to the public press. the
great maker and unmaker Of public
opinion Examine the justice of
our claim, and then give us even 4
share of that mighty support which
saved an innocent Jew from Russian
hate, and soon the vampire press
will be a thing of the past, only a
disgraeeful memory. We appeal to
our separated brethren who deplore
this unworthy attack on the oldest
of the Christian religions; some OF
the bitterest foes of anti-Catholle
bigotry are to be found in the pull
pits and in the pews OF our nom
Catholic friends. Those who are
sincere themselves give others credit
IOf sincerity. we nave IlSht "
ask the Government not TO put or TO
permit the vast machinery OF its
postal service to do the carrying
wishes of a reptile press. Could 1t
not frame and pass a bill for the
whole country making unlawful "the
writing, printing, publication, circu-
lation or distribution OF any false
statement, matter or thing purport-
ing 20 be the ritual. ceremonial or
ceremonies, or part thereof, of any
church, religious society, organiza-
tion or corporation, or any fraternal
beneficial or secret society, organi-
zation or corporation. and making
certain testimony In respect thereto
competent and making violation
thereof a felony, and providing pen
: atty therefor" This would be a
good appendix to the principle Of