The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1916-10-28
MORE INSTANCES OF THE ROMAN
CATHOLIC BOYCOTT and MOBOCRACY


last evening" vas vel attended by q rep
ressuiative aadisnos. IL vas the frst of
. eourss of tAres lectures By Augustus
Conrad EkhOlm, Of Atlantic City, y. J.
given under the auspices Of the American
Eduoationh Socisty. Great interest was
shown In the lecture By all Who were
present last evening" Who listened with
Wrapt attention for an hour and q half
10 Mr.. Ekholm's discourse, frequently
applAuding his remarks. The sub
iect Of the lecture last evening was
"Dcspotism, Democracy and Destiny. :"
The lecturer said; "The trouble with
Europe today is that the so-ealled Chris.
tian nations Of Europe have failed 20
remain true 20 the principles Of Christ,
and now the rest Of the world IL looking
on In AmaFcment a. the so-cAlled Chris.
tian nations Of Europe are engaged In
the herccst and most savage attempts at
destroying each other known 10 history -
Mr.. Ekholm was very outspoken In
favor Of the free American schools. lie
saidi "We have many things 10 be
thankful for in this country. We have
many institutions Of merit, but I want 20
say with q great deal Of emphasis God
bless our public schools. We will not
have become worthy Of the name Amer.
leans until we see 20 Il that every child
brought up under the Stars and Stripes
10 guaranteed the privilege OF a free
school education under state control 20
which be or she Is entitled"
The notice given in the Herald
was similar TO what a wide-awake
newspaper would publish as part Of
the days news when an able address
is given on any great live question.
Far more extended notices are con-
tinually appearing from ocean to
ocean in the daily papers reporting
lectures by knights Of Columbus
and other Roman speakers who crit
icise our public school system, our
patriotic American organizations,
and our loyal press.
The notice given in the Herald
was merely a brief, newsy digest OF
the lecture, just what an intelligent
American would want to know, and
yet this exercise Of the right and
this important function Of the
editor instantly called into action
censorship by the priest Of the
church Of the Inquisition and the
Index. Here is a report Of what
actually occurred as given by Mr..
Ekholm. 1t is Of value as being a
glimpse behind the scenes showing
what is going on all over the land
in Rome's war on the freedom Of
the American press-a war by which
the hierarchy has already to a large
degree established the Index in our
newspaper offices by means Of threat
Of boycott and other characteristic
Roman methods to intimidate the
publishers of our papers. Here is
Mr.. Ekholm's description Of what
occurred in the newspaper office:.
1t was while I was visiting in one OF
the newspaper Offices in Shamokin the
following incident occurred. was In an
inside Office talking to a newspaper en-
ployee as q man entered the front oficC
and commenced Immediately 10 severely
upbraid the newspaper management for
having published an article regarding the
lecture ] had given the evening previous
There was only a thin board partition
separating the room l was in from the
front Office and the communicating door
was open so / could not help but over
hear the conversation. After storming
away for several minutes and giving ut
terance to bold threats calculated to in
timidate the paper TO refrain from pub
fishing any future favorable articles
about my lecture course, the priest threw
down typewriter article which he in
sisted should be published. . That
the priests scheme to intimidate the
Shamokin papers from giving any further
publicity TO my lectures worked out sue
cessfully became evident when the papers
which had promised TO publish lengthy and
comprehensive notices about my second
lecture failed to publish a single line
after the priest had made his rounds OF
the newspaper offices and exploded his
invectives.
Black Hand at Liberty's Throat
The priests letter which was pub.
lished was one Of those character.
istic communications from reckless
and autocratic representatives oi
the Roman hierarchy to stop al
criticism Of Rome and her politica'
activity no matter how Just or
truthful, as an 'insult to Catholics
Here, as is always the case with
such communications, the distin.
guished lecturer is characterized a,
an Ignorant man" or a ''bigot.'
Mr.. Ekholm Immediately penned q
courteous letter, proposing to debate
every point which the priest ques,
toned. He offered to debate these
questions with the priest or any
representative Of the hierarchy that
might be selected, in order that the
truth or fdlsity of the allegation,
might be established. This of course
was exactly what Rome did not de.
sire, and it is needless to saw that
the proposition was not accepted.
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