The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1917-02-10

0uSV bVAVhuSS
free democracy stands for. Free press, free
speech, right of assembly and the separa.
tion of church and state, are by them
termed instruments of the devil. Our free
public schools are stigmatized as Goddess,
as sink holes of sin and as breeding places
for crime and immortality. All Of these
safeguards of our republic, the Roman
hierarchy would utterly destroy, and, sub
stitute in their stead government by the
pope OF Rome They would replace liberty,
equality and fraternity with superstition,
Ignorance and tyranny. Much applause.l
You know what that would mean without
me telling you. 1t would mean q return to
the crime, the cruelty, the persecution and
the horrors of Martin Luther's time. Are
we SO cowardly and so base as to allow
this to be done? If not, our duty is plain
and most imperative.
Righteousness of Our Cause
The principles of the patriotic movement
are so wise, so good, so lust, so tolerant. so
eternally right, that every honest heart and
conscience must of necessity indorse and
approve them. They are the very founda-
tion of our government. Without them it
cannot endure.
Let US enumerate these principles; free
speech, free press, the right of assemblaoe,
the free public school system, separation of
church and state, public money prohibited
for sectGrian purposes, freedom to worship
as conscience dictates and over all, loyalty
to our oaOn nation and undying opposition to
interference IN our affairs By any foreign
prince, po1UeT or potentGte whatsoever,
Nothing grander was ever devised by hu-
man mind. Tremendous applause.]
Issue Political, Not Religious
I do not hesitate to say that he ,uho Is
opposed to these fundamental principles of
oar free democracy is a TRAITOR TO HIS
FAMILY AND A TRAITOR TO HIS
COUNTRY. [Great applause,l further
proclaim that no such man ought ever be
allowed to vote or hold any Office of profit or
trust in city, county, state or nation.
Do not allow ignorant or designing peo-
pie to obscure the issue by the cry Of Ire
ligious prejudice" There is no question OF
religion at stake, the whole matter is DO
litical and goes to the very life Of the ma
tion itself. '.f
We grant to the Romanist the right to
worship as he chooses and we wish to ex.
ercise that right ourselves. Yet it might
not be out Of place to say that we think it
most outrageous and demoralizing prac-
tice, for unmarried men, often times when
intoxicated, to ply girls and women with
foul and suggestive questions, in secret and
apart from parents, husbands or friends.
To the average man 1t would appear a
monstrous doctrine, that pope, cardinal,
bishop or priest-claiming the power to re-
init sin-will allow, or claim to allow, poor
dead souls to remain in purgatory (what-
ever orlwherever that may be) suffering the
torments Of the damned, until the friends or
relatives of the suffering soul pay for pray
ers to relieve the suffering and send the soul
on to eternal bliss. There Is something so re-
pugnant in such pretense that it makes one
shudder. Hotc far removed is such MUM
merry and mockery from the plain and
simple faith taught By Jesus of Nazareth?
If you should ask my opinion as lawyer
upon such method of getting money, |
should say that whoever gets money by such
means is guilty of obtaining it by false and
fraudulent pretenses and should be handed
over to the officers Of the law.
But with these and other practices Of the
church of Rome, the patriotic movement
does not in the slightest degree interfere.
If the Roman Catholic church and its ad-
herents think such things wise and good, SO
be it.
It is only when the hierarchy seeks to
make America dominaptly Roman Catholic,
By substituting Roman rule for our free
democracy, that we call halt. That the
attempt to destroy our republic comes under
the guise or pretense of religion only makes
it the more hateful and the more to be
dreaded.
The Over-Shadowing Issue
The political issue raised by the hierarchy
the substitution of monarchial govern
ment for our free democracy--has raised an
issue that to the patriots, is broader and
deeper than any political party. This issue
is broader and deeper THAN ALL POLIT-
ICAL PARTIES. Upon its settlement will
be determined for generations to come, the
question Dhether ignorance OF enEghten-
nent shall erist, suhether oppression or jus
tice shall prevail, whether priest or people
shall rule.
Possibly it would be worth while for US
to briefly scan the history of our country
and determine whether there is justification
for our complaint against the hierarchy.
Pertinent Historic Facts
Our ancestors came to America to escape
religious persecution In Europe. But IL took
centuries of oppression and cruelty to breed
the spirit that animated them to cross the
Atlantic and seek land where they Could
be free from the sanle enemy Of mankind
that we now have to oeal with.
In order to insure freedom from the Ro-