Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-03-26

ment to the people of the State of
Maine because the people themselves
by nominating Governor Brewster tn
run upon this as his outstanding is.
sue, by his nomination have demanded
that this Identical amendment be SUBJ
mitted to them to be voted upon.
In view of, and perhaps to alIav
some of the effects that some of the
lli-consldered remarks that have been
MADE have created upon Your minds
curing the last year or two, | wish to
olrect your attention to the historical
development of this proposition, some
thlng as to the historical basis upon
which this amendment rests. The two
distinctive features, the two funda-
mental things that America has con-
tributed to the civilization of the
world is the doctrine and the appIica-
ton of that doctrine to its political
aftalrs of total and complete separa-
ZION OF church and state, and the es-
adjustment of real nationwide pub
lie school system. Those are two dis
tinct contributions which America has
made to civilization.
AS to the separation of church and
state. 1t was matter of slow growth.
All things affecting national move
ment, all things affecting the growth
of civilization have been slow. The
evolution of our political system has
been matter of long and slow growth,
beginning away back of the town
meeting in the German forest. before
me Angles and Saxons came over to
England, developing up from the
county courts which were merely COM
posed of groups of representatives
from the towns to the county courts,
then 70 tho &c or;@
lsh Empire, and the general prelimi-
nary development that has gone on
since then, the gradual growth of the
rights of the people. one long ster,
was made when the Magna Charta was
granted, after the struggle with the
tarons, until coming down along the
course We have the Bill of Rights and
the Petition of Rights Coming over
to America we have the Declaration
OF independence Of the United States.
All these matters, speaking generally,
had been gradual growth of the
public rights, of the rights of the reo-
pie as against king-craft on the one
hand and priest-craft on the other
For 125 years previous to the Dec
laration of Independence, during all
the formative period of our colonial
government, of our American govern
landed at Philadelphia or Baltimore
or Boston but what contained from
one to fifty or q hundred refugees
who were fleeing either from one side
or the other from conditions under
which they were suffering due to re-
ligious persecution. There was at
that time no difference between the
Protestant and the Catholic. When
the Catholics were in power they
hutchered the Protestants; when the
Protestants were in power they turn
ed around and butchered the Catho-
lies. There was no difference between
------------------- and John Calvin,
but gradually during all this time
there grew up in the public mind
among our colonial ancestors the spe-
cial conviction that the only way to
manage this religious business was to
have total and complete separation
of church and state, the conviction
that religion should ever remain a pri-
vate matter untouched by our politi-
cal institutions and should not he med
died with by our political powers, and
should not be mixed with out political
affairs.
Every one OF you who have read the
Colonial Letters, and / presume most
of the senators here are familiar with
them, know that this was the settled
conviction of all our public men, that
there should be n total and complete
separation of church and state. All
the discussions in the CCnstitu
tional Convention OF 1857 indicate
that they were agreed upon that
point. When that constitution was
framed. the original draft of which
was largely in the writing of James
Madison. there was put into the sixth
article of that constitution. our Fed
eral constitution. this line NO re-
ligious test shall ever be required
for holding office under the United
States" That was intended to make
complete the separation of church
and state. because it had reference
to the Religious Test Act in England.
and to the Religious Test Act in
Massachusetts. and you all know
that for n matter of two hundred
years in England nobody could hold
public office unless they were a MEM
Der of the Established Church; and
in Massachusetts for more than
eighty years nobody could vote in
town meeting unless he was a men,
Der of the Congregational Church.
That line put into our Federal con-
stitution was intended to make COM
plete separation of church and state.
and at that time they thought that
it did accomplish that purpose. Then
when an endeaVor was made to have
that constitution ratified by the
several state conventions there was
an immediate uproar. The people
of the several states said You have
not accomplished what you set out
to accomplish: you haven't done
it; YOU haven't any restraint
restraint upon tie various chur-
ches; YOU haven't accomplished what
you thought you were accomplish
ing" And those of you who are
familiar with the ratifying conven-
tions know that there is nothing and
never has been anything so exciting
in all our American history as the
proceedings attending the ratiflca-
ton OF our constitution. There has
been nothing so long continued and
so exciting and such continuous
discussion as that which related to
the ratification OF our Federal con-
stitution by the several conventions
in the various states. In those Va
rious states they only ratified by a
narrow margin in many of them. In
one state it was ratified by a margin
of only two votes, and in another by
Il majority of only six votes; and
they would not have ratified at all,
and it couldn't have been done at
all unless under a gentleman's agree
ment when Hamilton and Madison
agreed that if they would ratify that
they would fix this difficulty in the
very first session of Congress, and
they would make sure that there was
, total and complete separation of
church and state, and they ratified
under that gentieman'S agreement.
Madison was u gentleman and Kept
his word. and he did start at the
very first session of Congress an
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