The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-06-19
MEXlCO'S DEBT TO CHURCH

"The Mexican revolutionists have
called themselves liberals when in
point of fact they were socialists.
They have claimed that they sought
to establish religious liberty, when
in point of fact they have sought to
establish an atheistic tyranny" Mr..
Byam declared. .-,.
Regarding Mr. Lind's statement that
the Catholic Church opposed public
schools" Mr.. Byam said:
"The opposition of the Church in
Mexico to the government schools was
not to those schools as such; that is,
as government Institutions The oppo-
sition was, first, to the government
prohibition against church schools,
and second, opposition to the atheis-
| tic teachings of the government
schools"
Judge Kearful asked Mr.. Byam
| whether he found any opposition on
the part of the Catholic Church to the
! public schools in this country.
MY observation of the position of
| the Catholic Church toward public
schools in this country has been that
| the Catholic Church is not opposed
| to public schools per se-that the
| Catholic Church wants its own
schools Mr.. Byam answered.
John Lind's Ignorance Shown.
Mr.. Byam cited several instances
Of Mr.. Linds ignorance of Mexican
history. One example given by the
witness was typical.
Mr.. Lind states on page 7, of his
pamphlet (The Mexican People) that
the laws and records of the court
were set down and kept in picture
writings which were in use (by the
Aztecs), and that some of these rec
ords are still preserved in the Ma
tional Museum.
eff Mr.. Lind knows of any precon~
quest law records either in the Mexi-
can National Museum or elsewhere,
he has made a momentous discovery
whose proofs he has neglected to re-
VEAL" said Mr.. Byam.
In the course of his testimony be-
fore the committee, Mr.. Byam paid
|
sionaries, who have helped to spread
false stories about the Catholic church
in Mexico.
william Butler missionary, went
to Mexico in the early 70's," Mr..
Byam said. "Some twenty years later
he wrote book in which he repeated
many of the old calumnies. In clos
| inn rlz ho cif nv
by telling of the alleged discovery in
Pueblo of thirteen mumified bodies Of
victims of the Inquisition who had
been buried alive. Mr.. Butler himself
claimed to have been present at the
discovery of the thirteenth body. To
prove his assertion he published a
photograph of four of the alleged vic
Tins.
"This picture has been his undo
ing Mr.. Byam resumed. "The mum
mics shown in the photograph are
easily identified as those of some Do
minican friars whose remains to the
mum Der of thirteen Were discovered
in 1861 in the burial vaults of their
| convent in Mexico City. They died,
like good Christians, in their beds.
"In it's entirety. Mr.. Buffers state
ment is absolutely and utterly false.
How close a scrutiny of the balance
of Mr.. Buffers book might stand may
be left to the imagination. Neverthe-
less, Butler and his ilk have helped
largely in the moulding of American
opinion about Mexico and the Next
can people"
Expedients Of Protestant Missionaries.
Mr. Byam gave an account of ex-
periences he had with two Protes-
tant missionaries-one in Guadalajara
and the other in Tabasco. According
to Mr.. Byam, the missionary at Quad
alajara said that when it was neces-
sary for any reason to show that he
had a congregation he was accustom-
ed to send out the Mexican servants
of his household with small coins that
they might hire their friends and rela-
tives to appear and act temporarily as
a congregation"