The evening leader., 1918-11-06


camps, a preparation entirely made
quate for the responsibilities which
they must face, and face alone, in
France. If we are to build up a self
reliant body of chaplains we must
make preeminent their position in the
training camps of the United States.
Moreover, the existence of the camp
pastor institutions increased the diff
Guilty of recruiting men of the first
rank as army chaplains. The very
fact that clergymen could identify
himself with great undertaking,
without making sacrifices and with
out giving up the personal freedom
involved in accepting a commission,
made it all but impossible to obtain
the kind of personnel which the army
needs for its chaplains. =
The results of the order are already
apparent. The commissioned chap
lains, feeling the responsibility for
spiritual conditions among the troops
has been centered in them, are per-
forming their present duties and pre-
pairing themselves for great opportu-
mites on the battle front in a new
spirit of devotion and enthusiasm. An
increasing number of excellently quail
flied candidates for chaplaincies are
coming forward, including, as was ex-
pected, many of the younger men who
have been serving as camp pastors.
In brief, the government is seeking
an orderly, just way to make provis-
ion for the religious needs of the men
of all denominations. The chaplains
are chosen in as close ratio as possible
to the number of communicates of the
| several faiths in the army, and they
are assigned in accordance with the
relative number of each denomination
in a given camp. Inasmuch as the
chplains may now be assigned to posts
and camps, as well as to regiments
and other units of troops, it may con-
fdently be stated that the number of
soldiers who will be deprived of the
presence of clergyman of their own
faith is so small as to be negligible.
This brings me to the second point
which | wish to make.
In one of the issues of the "Watch-
man Examiner" you say editorially:
eff our Protestant boys can have no
spiritual advice other than the army
chaplains, why should the Roman
Catholic boys be permitted to have
their priests minister to them in the
halls of the nIAights of Columbus p
This is complete misconception of
the situation. The Knights of Column
bus occupy in relation to Catholicism
the same place which the Young
Mems Christian association occupies
in relation to Professionalism. No priv
ileges are allowed the knights of Co
lumbus to carry on religious work
which are not allowed the Young
Mems Christian association. Under
the same camp pastor order, the cler-
gymen attached to these societies are
not debarred from the camps, nor arc
they forbidden, because of their pro-
fessi0n, to take part in the religious
or devotional program Of their organi-
cations. Indeed, they can do anything
which their fellow workers who are
laymen can with propriety do, al
though it is the desire Of the war de-
partTnent, for the reasons that I have
enumerated above, that men in this
position shall not perform exclusively
ministerial or priestly functions, ex-
cept upon the invitation of some COM
missioned chaplain and with the ap-
proval of the commanding officer. The
charge which you specifically make
that Roman Catholic priests are well
coined in the camps, while Protestant
pastors are excluded, is therefore abb
solutely untrue.
Similarly misleading is your state
nent that the clubs of the Knights of
Columbus are Roman Catholic church
es in sense that the Young Mems
Christian association buildings are not
Protestant churches. It is true that
in some Of the Knights Of Columbus
buildings in the camps there are al
tars behind rolling partitions for reli-
! gious services on Sunday. In every
Young Mems Christian Association
:, building, however, there is a platform
and movable lectern used for reli-
gious services on Sunday, as BELTS
such services in a protestant church.
| am sure you will see that the sus-
picions and charges to which you have
! given currency in your paper are
without foundation. The order in
question was carefully considered be-
foe promulgation, and as chairman of