The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1916-07-08
Free Press Defense League Calls Bluff of cowardIy
knights---Judge BiddIe Instructed to Protect
Miss Schoffen in the Courts or Otherwise,
to Establish the Right of Free Speech
Which Rome is Seeking to Destroy
IA PATRIOTIC COMMITTEE OF 1,5OO warn THE KNIGHTS
Former Nun Thrills Vast Audiences Many Churches With Sim
pie Story of Her LheArchbishop chrstes Official Organ
Attacks Miss SchofenATy Typical Exhibition of the
Catholic Brand Of Knight Errantry and Their Hatred
of Free Speech and Free Press

posedly free land 10 tell the story
OF her life while she faithfully
served the church Of Rome.
These three things; leaving her
prison, demanding pay for the years
Of eXhausting work as nurse, and
telling the story Of her life, will
appeal to normal democratic citi-
zens as perfectly right and proper,
but to intolerant Rome they are Of
fenses to be punished in every way,
that our land will as yet permit in
nocent citizens TO be prosecuted and
punished by a cruel anti-democratic,
politico-religious despotism. Hence
this defenseless woman who had
spent the flower Of youth and the
prime Of life in service of Rome
has been bounded and boycottci IN
erery possible Tdy by the subjects
Of a foreign sovereign Among the
despicable acts Of these papal hy-
phenates has been a systematic at
tempt, not only TO prevent her from
obtaining employment, but TO rem
der it impossible for her TO deliver
her message TO the world. In this
last outrage the same shameful tao
tics which were employed by the
subjects Of the pope, in st. Louis,
to prevent General Miles from hav-
ing an opportunity to speak before
the citizens of that municipality,
we're here in evidence.
Unhappily for the Roman Cath
olic "priestly" and "knightly" boy
cotters, and foes of our free institu-
tions, there are not many DR.. Boyds
in Portland, and there are many
Protestant congregations whose min
listers and trustees are not crareR
spirited time Ssrrers, who for fear
of the pdpdl boycott WOuld betrdy
the high trust, the sacred duty of
maintaining in their integrity our
Uitdl constitutional guarantees, and
so the well planned and determined
attempt of the foes of democratic
freedom of assembly and speech
measurably failed. True, the daily
press presented a humiliaiipg spec
tdcle in permitting one Of tie most
vital local news events of the week
to pass day by day unnoticed, while
Miss Schoffen was thrilling vast
audiences who packed leading
churches of the city, with her pa
thetic and deeply human story
While a large part of the city was
deeply concerned in this important
news event, the alleged news dis.
penS,rs Of the city Tere silent ana
tongue-tied.
Nothing DESTROYS the influence OF
a daily press like its failure to dis,
pense news in which the people are
interested. Nothing pdralyses 4
paper or robs Il of It's influence ik,
a censorship. The recent primary
and school elections in Portland
bear eloqent testimony of the slight
influence exerted by a press which
will not freely open its columns tC
vital news events and to the free
discussion Of all sides of every is
sue.
The Roman Catholic hierarch,
failed in its attempt to silence Mis-
Schoffen by preventing her from
speaking before the people of Port
land whose interest in her message
has steadily grown as the week
pass by, until at length politico-ec
clesiastical Romanism felt it mus
take public cognizance Of her anC
her work, accordingly this was don,
in two WAYS, the official organ O.
the Roman Catholic archdioces
published an extended attack anC
the Knights of Columbus appointed
committee of eleven to act fo,
Rome because her lectures wer,
obnoxious" to the knights.
Real and Bogus Knights
In olden times it pds the glor1
of the knight that he made the pro
lection of defenssless VomanhoOt
his special charge. The Romd'
Catholic kaishts Of tAs tOsatisu