Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1918-09-28
Opponents of the Daily Prayer Bill
Baked Over This One
Word.
Menace and Christian Science Mon
itOr Find IL Stumbling
Block.
The Fight Seems to BE Entirely Too
Petty to Deserve Serious
Consideration.
INTRODUCED BY PROTESTANT.

The Christian Science Monitor
has gotten into excellent company;
il is engaged in a fight in which
the Menace is playing an active
part. the fight against the "An-
gelus" bill which has passed the
Senate and is awaiting sanction in
the House of representatives; a
bill which asks all the people to
pray each day for one minute for
the success of our cause in the
world far on the stroke of IL al
midday. Neither the Christian Sci
ence Monitor nor the Menace can
force itself to recognize the pro-
Driety of this bill which requires
the saying of prayers for the pur-
pose and at the time designated,
although they do admit that petition
to Almighty God is most desirable
and most necessary for the success
of our cause. The stumbling block
is the word "Angelus" which is
contained in the bill, and the fact
that the time designated for the
daily prayer is the time set for
Catholics for the daily act of de-
votion. The argument advanced
against the bill is that it is sup
posed to be a piece of religious"
legislation, that 1t savors of "sec-
tarianism," and that it is said to
be sponsored by Roman Catholic
ISM"
Whatever the origin of the bill,
there can be no objection to it in
principle, for who will contest the
Dropriety of setting aside one min
az A,axr fn Inf. ~
be a valid objection to the hour.
versally considered the point of di-
vision in the business, the working
day. 1t is the time when most
generally men pause for the lunch
hour and when families congregate
for the midday meal. The hour
and the motive then are appropri-
ate; there remains but the question
Of the "sectarian" character of the
bill. In this conneation it may be
well to look into the life of the
man who introduced the bill in the
United States Senate, in order to
see whether he might well be
termed an agent of the Roman
sts."
This man is the Hon. Henry l..
Myers. Senator from Montana.
Throughout his life the Senator
does not seem to have been unduly
influenced by Catholic agencies. On
the contrary he has acquired his
early training in non-Catholic in
situations, his religious belief is not
Catholic and his society affiliations
are anything but Catholic. Accord
Ing to Who's Who in America
(191S-1919) Myers was born in
Cooper county, Mo-, on October 8,
1862. He was educated in private
schools, at Cooper Institute and at
Boonyille Academy. He practiced
law at Boonville and West Point
from 1885 to 1898, and at Hamil-
ton, Mont. from 1893 on, In 1896
ne married Nora s. Doran, of Ham
ilton, Mont Myers was Prosecuting
Attorney of Ravilli county, Mont,
from 1895 to 1899; was member
of the Montana Legislature 1899
1903: served as District Judge of
the Fourth Judicial district of Mon
tana 1907-1911. Myers is serving
his second term in the Senate, the
first having covered the period
from 1911-1917, while the present
term will expire in 1923. The SEN
ator is a Democrat, Presbyterian,
Mason, a member of the Knights
of Pythias. the Elks, the Eagles.
the Modern Woodmen.
Surely the Senator from Montana
is not a man to be easily suspected
of serving as a tool for the hated
Romanists. Still the bill is charac-
terized by the Menace as an at
tempt to demand that the whole
people observe the Roman Catholic
Angelus at noon each day." and the
same paper adds that I'VE can not
refrain from protesting against a
one minute Roman Catholic propo-