The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1918-04-06


Member, to viify any member of your church, but
to offer you and your associates proposition that will
rebound to your good that WILL if properly acted upon
make THE MENACE thing of the past and remove be-
yond question of doubt every bit of religious prejudice
if such there be, now held against you.
What we want to discuss with you is, we are forced
to believe, a subject which you very poorly
posted 1t seems incredible that fifteen million people
could be jealous in certain matters you if you
posted on what about to set forth. There
fore will not ask you to take word in the matter
but will refer you to an authority that you have never
before doubted and authority that is the only
worth considering either for you for u.s. in matters
affecting the issue at stake. In other words shall
ask you to take the word words Of modern popes and
not to trust to chance if you feel skeptica but
carry the matter to headquarters and read from books
printed under the imprimatur of your own herarchal
agents.
. To make the matter perfectly clear let assure
you that we mean no ofense to single individual
among you, but are merely stating unavoidable concu
sions based lifelong study of the Roman Catholic
political machine machine that each one of you who
are truly loyal to the church cannot fail to serve In
many instances without knowing it.
What adult among you but remembers when THE
MENACE was launched! How it Mortified you! You
were told that THE MENACE determined to deprive
you of freedom of worship and to interfere with your
region-and you believed it, and what is worse millions
of you still believe it. Really now doesn't it seem pre-
poserous that paper should ever consider it could live
in America twentyfour hours if it's aim to deny
any class their religious liberty? You must know that
we have no quarrel with your system because you
beads believe in holy water holy ground and such
other things Protestans have been doing very well
without In the first place have never asked for any
thing except loyalty to the Constitution in letter and
spirit and we would be in a nice predicament II we
sought countenanced thing that of ITSELF
is in strict violation of the Constitution.
If you have thought of it at all you have thought
it rather peculiar that certain OF your leaders were try
ing to procure legislation calculated to exclude THE
MENACE from the mails instead of answering our
charges Of not being readers of THE MENACE
and not knowing what being printed except told
you secondhand this did not occur to you as forcby
as it might But had you known that charges were
of purely political nature and that each one could be
proven false to just the extent that your eccesascs
able to produce proof to the contrary you would
doubtless have wondered if these leaders really feared
to attempt to dsprove the charges because they knew
in advance, that we were right
1t naturally follows that had you known what
we were charging and what your officials refusing
to meet in open discussion you would have had to
take stand either against the political activities of the
papal system against the Constitution of this repub
c We have courted congressional investigation into
the truth of charges pleaded for it in petition
to the Gath congress and would have repeated the
quest before the present body but for the fact that
hesitate to distract the attention of national
sembly from the winning of this for democracy
Your ecclesiastics claim that Roman Catholics are
war and if it is true it splendid tribute to the aity
but it has bearing prior contentious, except
that if you willing to spill the blood of your sons for
world democracy surely you will cooperate with US just
this once in the interest of naton nation that has
given the world the pattern by which strives to shape
its destiny.
Real democracy, of course means among other
things, government of, for, and by the people, This
necestates the guarantee Of free speech free press and
freedom of conscience freedom to worship in other
words 1t also lays down the principle of separation of
1 church and state.
That is the essence of democracy 1t conveys the
idea of justice and freedom, and all bow to the God
dess of Liberty who, with lighted torch, symboizes
mans right to free press and uncensored platform;
statue that says this nation shall bask in the light of
discussion both sides of every question and abide by
the decision of an enlightened majority.
Not one of you but says ~ will defend that prn-
cple of government with my feand yet, friend you
are in most unfortunate and contradictory position
for that principle is in direct opposition to the theory
upon which your church operates today. We say your
church when possibly should say your rulers and
politicians, but it applies to the church this far your
rulers maintain political machine for the purposs Of
gaining power which is used to operate in direct con-
i travention of our Constitution
Il Now we told you that we want to take you to the
highest authority in this matter and here it is
Is your ecclesiastical system in politics? Turn to
page 1893 of "The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo Kill
published by Benzger Brothers, New York. He defines
your duty, as citizens, thus;
'Wnere Cne cnurcn uOeS IlOC IOrDlQ part 1T
public affairs it is fit and proper to give support tc
men of acknowledged worth, and who pledge themselves
, to deserve well in the Catholic cause.'
t Now Leo had something in mind when he spoke o1
the Catholic Cause" and here it is, On page 1881
| "She 1.-THE Roman church, is the uphoder Of tfost
who are themselves mbued with the right way of think
I ing as to the relation between church and state"
Il On page 120, in dealing with the "Constitutics oa
States Leo speaks of democracy the result and nat
ural consequence of a amentable rage for innovation
and then points out what he dskes about democracy
as follows:
i "Thus, as is evident, State becomes nothing bu
a multitude, which is its master and ruler Anc
since the populace is declared to contain within itself
the springfield of all rights and of all power, it follow
that the State does not consider itself bound by any
kind Of duty towards God Moreover 1t believes that
not obliged to make public profession of any religion
or to inquire which OF the very many religions is tn
or to show to any form of religion special favor but
on the contrary bound to grant equal rights to ser