The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-06-09
Catholic Thought And Opinion
By REV. JOSEPH F. DoNNELLY

0 GldY Eum-anQ H4A o1 tltS Duroeu is carried by the Catholic citizens of New York City in addition to carrying the same burden of taxes as that carried by every other citi- zen of the City.
 Now what is true of New York is proportionately true of almost every large city in America, and we must justly say that most ilon- Catholics acquainted with the facts recognize the contribution made by the Catholic Church to the cause oS education in our country. But the figures are even more arregting in the light of the new tax proposals suggested recently by advisors of the Treasury Department.
 REQUESTS TO CHARITY
 AND EDUCATION
 America today is very tax-con- scious. We recognize the necessity of taxes and more taxes and we sympath!ze with the efforts of the Treasury to raise the enormous revenue now necessary. One of the more recent suggestions of the De- partment however is most danger ouS for 1t has as its direct object gifts to all charitable and educa- tional institutions, whether secular or religious, such as schools, hos- p!tals, orphanages, homes for the aged, the blind, the friendless, etc.
 Now to speak only of our Catho- lie institutions, though the same is true of most similar ron- Catholic institutions, practically all of them are operated through voluntary charitable bequests, none of them large and most of them too infre- quent. But small as these bequestS are, they are a God-Send to these institutions which would in many cases cease to exist and in all cases would find 1t most difficult to make ends meet should these bequestS be discouraged, as they certainly would be by the proposed Federal law.
 AND A HIDDEN DANGER
 Furthermore, lurking beneath the proposal to limit deductions for be- quests to educational institutions, Catholic educators see "desire to take over more and more control over the finances and policies of the independent schools" The Very Rev. Hugh O'Donnell, President of Notre Dame, described the certain group" who devised the proposal as "a little band of astute secular iSts who in the name of expediency would destroy the right of the in- dividual."
 In the crisis of a changing world we must not neglect to protect free- dom at home while we crusade to establish it abroad. We must pro- test against a Stat!S1n which would bring Americas private educational institutions under State control as in the Nazi-Soviet style. This threat to private and independent schools in America has been in the air for some years now and the war might be the opportunity long sought by innpious hands.
 The Jesuit review America also sees "the real danger" hiding be- hind the financial aspect of the P40A%O0CV 4csW ta&S" b14C AGAl8Gx U1 b4tG octupus of bureaucracy winding it. self more and more around the whole independent school structure our magnificent Catholic system for which we have spared no sacri- flee, included" And the author states that the educators alone car do little to stop the measure from being enacted into law, ''but knowledge of the scheme and op- position to it from educated lay men may result in the scheme be- ing definitely abandoned"
 The measure should be protested It is threat to our charitable in- stitutiong. It is a threat to the Constitutional freedom of our Catholic school system. Further more it is likely the beginning of the move long advocated by the en- en1ies of all religion: the un- American proposal that not only bequests to religious institutions. but that all properties of all de- nominations be taxed.