Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899 | View Entire Issue (July 5, 1895)
H A MiH.FR I O A lJ . THE AMERICAN aWrrd al lti)t nvtwd-clmw manor JOHN C. THOMPSON, oit. W. C. KKM.KY. BuIbh Maaator. t'CBUPHKD WriCKLY BY THE UEEICAH PUBLISHING COMPAST, 1M Howard Ptmskt. Omma, N. THE AMERICAN omOKU. IMS ilowr.1 fliwk Omaha. NpB. K.m V, HI Mal Htrwt, Ko tty. MO. Koom a, 124 lwant Randolph UtU tUl- MAlll. r- flf.OO a lf-. f rlotly In -lilcanw. PATRIOTISM and sacerdotalism can not be allies. HOW doe It come tht all the agltat ort on the police force are Protestants? WHAT U Simwater going to do with hit three candidate for county treas urer? OUR patriot fathers, who made the Fourth of July the most unique and significant natal day In all history, contemned kingcraft and priestcraft alike. EVERY pap-suoker that bows before the throne of Governor-Mayor-Dictator Rosewater is all right for present pur poses; every one else is a "howling dervish." The papal flag should never be per mltted to be displayed, even on special occasions, on the soil of the United State. It Is the symbol of foreign subjection. MUCH good work has been accom plished toward the upbuilding of Americanism In Piatt City, Mo. Keep at it, boys, and push American prin ciples forward. There were three testa whloh Thomas Jefferson applied to the as pirant tor publlo office: (1 ) Is he hon est? (2) Is he loyal? (3) Is he capable? No Romanist could pass the ordeal. The Fourth of July is one of the great Americas days which Romanists never heartily honor. It is an occasion on whloh the Stars and Stripes are ex alted and the papal standard abased. Genuine AmerltSns, every soul of them, discountenance the recognition, In any mannqr, of the Irish and papal flags, which signify rebellion and treason against the Government of the United States. We are "Indebted to Rev. O. E. Mur ray, A. M., author of "The Singing Patriot" and "The Black Pope," for the use of the handsome outs which adorn the first page. See the adver tisement of his books in another col umn. Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Rose and their son Glenn leave to-day for Delavan, Minn., to be present at a family re union of Mrs. Rose's brothers and sis ters; the first occasion on whloh they will all have leen together in twelve years. After the names of the officers who were discharged had boen read, Godola remarked to Moetyn that he did not know that he was an agitator. Mostyn remarked that It was always neoessary to let out some good men with the bad. WE have been askod regarding an nouncement of candidates tor the next election. The American will print no candidate's advertisement for office who will not receive the support of the patrlotio orders. We will champion no cause but an American one, and are not for sale to any candidate. Mr. Simwater remarked before his citizens' meeting that he had supported the candidate of the A. P. A. in the past under the impression that the movement would be short-lived, like the old Knownothlng movement, but Instead of that, it was gaining ground every day, and was spreading over the state at a rapid rate. This is a great admission from the greatest enemy the order has in the state. New Yorkers have set a good ex ample by forcing the Italian flag to be taken down when it was floated abovi the Stars and Stripes, In a camp of the dsgoe. If foreigners cannot respect our flag when In this country, they should be loaded aboard ships, by the authority of law, and returned to their own country. These disgraces are too frequent in the United States. If these foreigners will not respect the flag of our country, they will not respect the laws, and would be a dangerous lot in osse of war. The Bee has classified members of the A. P. A. into "howling dervishes" and another class which has not yet received its designation. Knowing that there are 8,000 members of the order in Omaha, and a large sympa thetic vote beside, It has found out, too late, however, that there must be a split somewhere, or it will fail in re turning the Roman hierarchy to power, But the Slmwaters started In wrong, They have attacked the order as un constitutional, and abused every man and woman who professes Its principles, and they will find out before they get through that the people will resent it at the ballot-box. THE ONLY CHURCH PARTY. There should be no mUtake made. There 1 but one church party in the city of Omaha or Douglas county, and that is the party championed today by the Slmwaters, which the WorUl-Herald humorously terms the "Sacred Order of the Three Eds." Prior to the ad vent of the A. P. A., that church party, under one guise or another, controlled this city and county, through the as sistance of the Kd Slmwaters. It Is a notorious fact that when the Roman church party held the whip-band In Douglas county, It was almost impos sible for a Protestant Republican to be elected to office; but when the Repub licans nominated John Rush, the junior Ed. Slmwatur, or any of that Ilk, the Democrat running against them were defeatod. Why was this so? Because the Romans, under the directions of their priests, voted as one man for every Roman, no difference on what ticket he was running. When Rome was in power, the city and oounty treasuries were looted. Witness the Douglas addition blunder under Sim water and "Honest" Dick O'Keeffe's regime, the retalnlng-wall job, the Thirteenth street grading contract, the rotten block pavement, and the sewer system near the Linseed Oil Works and Sherman avenue, the last of which stood as a monument to the incompetency of Andrew Rosewater, who is now city engineer, by the grace of E. Rosewater vioe Bemla, until a rain came and washed it out. And Ed. Simwater, Sr., was not Ignorant of the rascality of the oounty hospital deal. He knew personally that there was crookedness there that the citizens were being robbed of thousands of dol lars; yet he never raised his voloe against "Honest" Dick O'Keeffe, and, what la more, has not to this day. When a man will allow the county treasury to be looted without raising his voloe against the jobbery, and without writing a line against suoh un lawful work, and gives as an excuse that the publication of the facta would defeat "Honest" Dick O'Keeffe for a re-election and O'Keeffe was always Instrumental In giving him the job of printing the delinquent tax-list at three prices we say, when a man re mains silent on such a subject, does he suppose the people will follow his lead for a reform in politics? The man who consorts with boodlera, and refuses to expose them because suoh an exposure will defeat a man who would be useful to him, la not the proper man to head a movement for reform in pol'.tlcs. Nor Is the man who has been the spokes man or the paper that has been the mouthpiece of the only church party that has ever existed in this city, oounty, state or nation, the proper man or journal to decry a movement suoh as the A. P. A. The church party in Douglas oounty and In Omaha Is that fostered by the Roman Catholic priests through their seoret societies, and championed by the senior Simwater. Don't forget that BE ENTHUSIASTIC. We doubt much whether a man or woman in all this land can be found who will not agree with us on the proposition that there should be a greater preference shown, in musical circles, for strlotly American music, particularly In our theatres, academies of muslo and at all gatherings where It Is the purpose or the intent of the gath ering to In any way awaken a love for our country or its tacred institutions. We have been present in places of amusement when the orchestra has played "The Star Spangled Banner," and have been In the act of applauding, when we discovered we were alone in spired by the sweet strains of that se lection. Since then we have thought that possibly there were others in the audience similarly Impressed and equally as anxious to give vent to their feelings, but from a spasm of modesty or through bashfulnes allowed the op portunity to show their appreciation to pass unimproved. To our way of think ing, there should be no hesitancy on the part of any citizen to start the ap plause when "The Star Spangled Ban ner" or any other tune equally as dear to the American heart Is being played. The average audience which assembles In this city is proverbially cold, and there Is no doubt but what if there was more enthusiasm manifested when a national air is played there would be a better appreciation of the work done by the actors. These thoughts have been suggested by the following item from HJunsey's Magazim: "Patriotic citizens are congratulat ing themselves upon the popularity of Antonin Dvorak's beautiful and Inspir ing 'New World Symphony,' and are anticipating with pleasure the same composer's cantata, 'The American Flag,' now being rehearsed by the New York Musical Society, under the con ductorshlp of Frank Doesert Mean while a custom which, it seemed to us, was particularly calculated to stimu late the patrlotio and emotional in stinct of the nation is gradually slip ping away from us. We refer to the practice followed for a time In all the theatres, the country over, to play a national air at the close of each per formance. "Munsey't recently sent a circular letter to theatrical managers in several of the great cities of America, asking the question, 'Did or did not the public take kindly to the national air while It was being performed nightly at your house? From the answers received we learn that The Star Spangled Banner1 was banished from the repertoire of the theatres' orchetra in some cases be cause 'there was no demand for it'; in others because 'the wopie got tired of it'; or, again, 'because of apathy shown by the audience.' One or two manag ers claim that the practice was looked upon as 'a species of Anglomania' which ought not to be encouraged. Another says, in substance, that it struck him as sacrilegious to play the national an them at the conclusion of a purely far cical performance. "In some houses, it seems, The Star Spangled Banner' la still being per formed once in a great while. In a few the leader of the orchestra who In nine cases out of ten is a foreigner is permitted to select the muslo at pleas ure. Only one theatrical firm has the courage to say that the practice should be revived. At one prominent metro politan playhouse, however Palmer's It hat never been dropped, and the manager declares that it will not be dropped while he remains in control of hit theatre. "We think thatfhe practice Is a commendable one, and deserves greater encouragement than it seema to have received." WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISS." We have often marveled at the gulli bility of the average Romanist, but we are in doubt as to whether we shall ever again waste any of our valuable time In marveling at Roman supersti tion, after having spent sufficient time to peruse a newspaper clipping whloh some very kind friend saw fit to send us, and one which you, no doubt, will find after reading to be as amusing as we found It to be. In times gone by we have read the fairy tales published by alleged Roman Catholic newspapers In relation to cer tain miraculous cures that they claim have been effected by a visit to a spot which their church has seen fit to de nominate a shrine. We have been re galed with highly colored aooounts of the marvelous oures which blindly Ig norant Romanists have hastened to de clare were directly traceable to a pil grimage to one of these shrines. It hat been but a few years since the newspaper columns were teeming with aooounts of the marvelous and extraor dinary relief obtained by the halt, the lame and the blind who went on a pil grimage to one of these fabled shrines In France, or to a rival shrine in Ger many. Until recently the Old World has had a monopoly of the shrine busi ness. But America cannot long be de prived of a good thing, or a money making thing, and those Old World resorts have not proven a money-losing venture a thing that the local priest hood has not been slow in discovering and In Imitating, as may be readily seen when one recalls the attempt of a oertaln Pittsburg priest, now deceased, to perform the regulation miraculous cures, after having his altar bedecked with cheap tinsel and tin-foil, so as to deceive the faithful into believing that they were worshiping at one of the rlohest, from a spiritual as well as a worldly point of view, altars in Amer ica. His parishioners foolishly be lieved that he was possessed of powers not possessed by an ordinary mortal; that he had the power of relieving the suffering of afflicted humanity if they would but come and believe In his power. We have heard also of the shrine in New York State and of those in Canada; of the one located in a northern state not a thousand miles from Wisconsin which have been vis ited by the faithful whose early piety had brought on certain ailments not mentioned in polite society. We have beard of cures alleged cures from them all, but from not a single one of those old shrines have we seen pub lished a circumstance that will in any way compare with the report published in relation to a new, and soon to be popular, shrine In Ohio, which has the distinction of being the only recognized pilgrimage church In this country. It is located at Carey, and a dispatch from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, says: "It is only a small frame structure in a quiet village, and yet it is the most distinguished Roman Catholic church in the United States a church where in the most miraculous cures have been effected, where prayer has relieved pain, and simple faith cured suffering humanity of diseases which had baffled the best medical skill. This is the prized distinction of the Church of Our Lady of Consolation, at Carey, twelve miles north of this city. It is the only pilgrimage church In the United States, and as such it is recognized by Pope Leo. In other words, it is a shrine where the lame and sick come from all parts of the land seeking relief; and, strange as it may seem, in many cases finding It Its wonderful healing power is supposed to be vested In a fac simile of the famous statue of the Holy Virgin and Child at Luxemburg. "When the foundation of the church at Carey had been laid, sufficient money to continue the work could not be ob tained, and the foundation remained as an eyesore to the villagers for some years. Finally, Father Gloden, of Ber wick, took the matter up and succeeded in raising sufficient means to complete the edifice. At the request of some of the congregation, he went to Europe in 1875, and, securing a piece of the orig inal statue of the Holy Virgin and Child, had a fac simile made and brought It to his home in Berwick. Arrangements were begun for a grand triumphal march from Berwick to Carey. Over one thousand people formed In line, and with twenty maidens marching In front, bearing the sacred statue, the procession started. When half the distance was traversed, the sky became overspread with ominous clouds. The lightning flashed and the thunder roared. The multitude was about to scatter in confusion, when Father Gloden exclaimed: "Let the procession proceed; there is no danger." At this juncture a strange thing oc curred. Immediately above the pro cession the clouds broke and a streak of sunlight appeared. While nothing but blackness prevailed to the right and left, and while rain fell both sides of the procession, not a participant re ceived a drop of water until the statue bearing maidens entered the church, then the storm broke and the rain fell in torrents. This sounds very much like fiction, but there are hundreds who can vouch for lta truth. "It would take a page to narrate all the miraculous cures which have at tracted widespread interest. Every week Father Mlzer hat calls for admis sion to the church, to say nothing of the many letters he receives. Every year, on the fourth Sunday after Easter, ceremonies styled the Patron Feast are begun at the church. A general pil grimage occurs, and those who have received relief or favors from the church return to it and render thanks." RECEIVED HIS POUND OF FLESH. The people of Omaha have not been slow to catch onto the outrageously un fair treatment accorded the police who were discharged from the force last Wednesday afternoon. Men have been discharged from the force against whom there is no suspicion of wrong-doing; men have been dis missed against whom no charge of in efficiency can be sustained. There hat been no charge of chronic Infractions of the rules lodged against those men, no charge of disobedience of orders or of neglect of duty. Then why were they discharged? The Shy lock had demanded his pound of flesh, which was the discharge of tome of the most competent men on the force. We believe the people realize that Mr. Rosewater is In desperate straits, and that he intends to weight the po lice department down with political ad herents and sympathizers of the Roman Catholic church, who will stand ready to sustain any overt act. The people are to be congratulated for having secured the passage of a law whloh will eventually put a stop to suoh high-handed proceedings. It will make It Impossible for any man and we include Rosewater in the cate goryto trade and traffic in positions of trust on the police department, or use the force to further hit political ends. SHOULD BE ASHAMED. We understand that the American Eagl hat not been Issued for some two weeks. It is a shame and a disgrace for Americans to allow one of their pa pers to die because of non-support. This does not apply to one paper alone, but to many which have fought for American principles when many of you were afraid to be known as members of a patriotic order. Why do you not stand by these papers? Why do you not give them your hearty support? If you did that, in a little time you could build them up, so that they would be the leading papers of the country. It seems you would rather go to sleep and not heed the appeals of the patriotic press. Words fail to express the con tempt which loyal Americans have for many members of the patriotic orders for their selfish inactivity. Have you considered that if every member of the order in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., would pay for one year's subscription in advance to some good patriotic journal, you would (by each lending a hand to the paper) have a dally paper started before the expira tion of twelve months? If patriotic papers die, it is your own fault. If you will not support a weekly paper and build It into a dally, you would not support a daily paper. What will you do? THE DAY WE CELEBRATE. There Is probably no people except the English, who are more undemon strative than the Americans. In that respect we are becoming thoroughly English. The time was not so very long ago that to celebrate the Fourth of July was regarded as much a duty as a pleasure and old and young vied with each other in their efforts to make It the most notable day of the year, but of late Americans have gradually de parted from that custom and the cele bration of the Fourth of July has been turned over to the small boy, who has made life a burden to all save himself for at least 24 hours. True, we get out "Old Glory," and run it up on a pole, and string yards of bunting around our porches, and after we have done all this we imagine that we have fulfilled our duty to ourselves and our country and retire for the remainder of the day to our offices or loll around the house In a vain effort to get a rest. That Is our new brand of patriotism And to whom are we indebted for It? Certainly not the "boys" who wore the blue; nor to those who sought to estab lish two governments where one had boen and where but one exists to-day. Then to whom are we Indebted for this Insipid patriotism? Some one la cer tainly responsible for its presence; but who? It Is the Romanized foreigners who have until recently held all the offices worth holding, and who have thought more of celebrating the alleged birth day of a mythical saint than of doing the slightest thing to commemorate the greatest act In our nation's history. Tbey have turned out on St. Patrick'! day. decked with their green ribbons and yellow-fringed regalia, as proud as peacocks, but when some citizen hat suggested that the Fourth of July be appropriately celebrated they have neg lected to move until It was too late to accomplish anything, when they de clared the people would not stand the neoessary expense or devote the amount of time necessary to make the celebra tion a success. And the people have been satisfied with this lame excuse. So It hat gone, year after year, until some hardly know why the Fourth of July it celebrated in a manner different to other dayt. Those Romanized for eigner! have had a double purpose In bringing the National holiday Into in nocuous desuetude. The first was to bring the holidays set apart and author ized by the church into greater prom inence that the people would eventu ally look forward to the saint dayt of the Roman church as days which should be celebrated to the entire exclusion of all National holidays. Another object they had in vlsw was to make holidays so numerous that people not under the direct control of the priesthood would tire of them and grow neglectful, even of the National holiday. We have celebrated New Year's, a month later attempted to honor the birthday of Washington, then that of St. Patrick, a month later Arbor day, then Decora tion day, the Fourth of July, Labor day, Convention days, primaries, election day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and what hat been the result? A half hearted celebration of all save St. Pat rick's day and Labor day. Such holidays have tended to weaken the sentiment in favor of the day that should be celebrated, above all others, by Americana, and we suggest that pa triotic American citizens see to it that the Fourth of July Is celebrated in a fit ting manner hereafter. There is need of a more pronounced and aggressive Americanism, not alone In politics but In every walk of life, We need a more pronounced Americanism especially on the anniversary of the signing of the declaration of independence, and unless we have It, the generations that will follow us will feel none of that pride which animated Americans and caused them to march for mlles through the boiling hot sun to the strains of "Yan kee Doodle" played on fife and drum by Inexperienced musicians, yet ardent and enthutlastlo patriots. We need a revival of those days when every man, woman and child planned for weeks to celebrate, and looked forward to the National holiday with feelings akin to reverence. Unless we have such a re vival patriotism will soon be at Its low est ebb, and when the tide turns those foreignlzed Americans will have to stand aside and make room for the new American who will live for others as well as himself. Let us drop all holi days except Washington's birthday, Decoration day and the Fourth of July. Them let us celebrate with true pa trlotio zeai. The re-election of Secretary Glllen was a foregone conclusion, because he has made a practice of attending strictly to his otlicial business and keep ing hands off the business of others. Omaha Bee. And still Mr. Glllen was re-elected by a school-board which has been held up to the publlo of Omaha by the Bee as being opposed to everything that was commendable and good. There Is one thing of which the Bet, does not seem to be advised, and that is that Mr. Gillen's professed principles do not permit him to approve the attacks of that paper on the A. P. A. The Sim water aggregation has been deceived in Mr. Gillen, or some one else has been, and we expect that he will now get on one side of the fence or the other. Young America Bound to Have His Own Way. Council Bluffs, July 4. On a grass plat near an open window sat three boys, 7 years old, engaged in an argument as to how they should spend the Fourth, and each wanting his way. The discussion waxed warm, and finally Jack B strikes his fist on his knee, saying: "My pa's a lawyer, and he says when people don't do as he says, he'll make 'em; so you've got to do my way." Gene says: "Well, but my pa's mayor, and when he says a thing's to be done, he makes 'em do it; and you'll do as I say." Be jumps to his feet, with arms extended, spread eagle style, and says: "Huh, who cares for your lawyer pas or your mayor pas? My pa's United States marsual, and can lick the whole possyl And you've got to do as I say." The Bupreme court of Connecticut has decided that church property used for business purposes is taxable. Paroch leal schools where pupils are compelled to pay a tuition fee are used for busi ness purposes and therefore should not be exempted from taxation. LoweU Herald. (iESERAL MITH DEAD. Once f'rvhlbitioB Candidate for Presl oVat and arrwly XIm4 Gemination for Vice-President the Ticket With Lincoln. Washington, D. C, June 29. Gen eral Gra n Clay Smith, who was once the Prohibition candidate for president, a war veteran, and in recent years a well-known Baptist pastor of Wash ington, died at bit home in northeast Washington, at 12:56 o'clock this after noon. For several months he had been In poor health, and over a fortnight ago a malignant carbuncle began to develop on the neck. It rapidly In creased, and, despite the efforts of hit physicians, blood poisoning set in. General Smith's condition had been very critical during the week, but there was a noticeable gain yesterday, which gave rise to hopes of hit recovery. A collapse occurred, however, shortly be fore noon today. The patient began sinking, and the end soon came. All of the Immediate members of the family were at the bedside. General Smith came from a Kentucky family, which hat been noted for lta staunch adherence to the Union. Hit father was a member of Congress from that state and occupied several other prominent publlo positions. Green Clay Smith was born In Richmond, Ky., July 2, 1832, to that he lived to be a little less than 63 years of age. He was named after his grandfather, Green Clay, a member of that great Clay family that produced one of the earliest of America's famous statesmen. Hit first military experience was In the Mexican war, he having enlisted at the age of 15 In a regiment of Kentucky cavalry. He served one year, and then returned to Lexington, Ky., where he entered the Transylvania University, from which he graduated in 1850. He then studied law, and graduated from the Lexington Law School In 1853, after which he formed a partnership with hit father In the city of Coving ton. He was school commissioner from 1853 to 1857. During the bitter strife that preceded the civil war, Green Clay Smith took a strong position In favor of the Union, and in 1860 was a member of the Ken tucky legislature, In which capacity he spoke and acted against secession. In 1861 he enlisted as a private In Colonel Feley't regiment for home defense, and served three months. He was then ap pointed to the post of major in the Third Kentucky cavalry, and directed to recruit a battalion. When this work was done he resigned. He was ap pointed colonel of the Fourth Kentucky cavalry in February, 1862, and was tent to the front under General Rosecrans. He saw a great deal of active service, was wounded at Lebanon, Tenn., and was made brigadier-general of volun teers, June 11, 1862. He was then as signed to the Fourth brigade of cavalry, under Rosecrans, and was compli mented in public orders for his gal lantry in a cavalry battle with General Forrest, in which he was victorious. He was later b re vetted major-general. While In the field, General Smith was nominated for Congress as a Re publican, and resigned his military commission December 1, 1863, In order to take his seat in the house. He served two terms In Congress. In 1864 his friends presented his name to the Baltimore Republican convention, which renominated President Lincoln, and to which he was a delegate, as a candidate for the vice-presidency. There was a severe contest between him and Andrew Johnson, and Green Clay Smith was defeated by half a vote for the nomination, which eventually caused Andrew Johnson to become president of the United Stales. In 1866 he resigned from Congress to accept the appointment of governor of Montana, tendered him by President Johnson, and he served in that terri tory until 1869, when he entered the ministry, and was ordained and became pastor of the Baptist church at Frank fort, Ky. His effort was to withdraw entirely from public life and devote himself to christian work, but having become greatly interested in temper ance reform, he received the unani mous nomination for president from the Prohibition convention at Cleveland in May, 1876. He received a popular vote of 9,522. General Smith continued in the min istry, but for some years devoted him self to evangelical work. In 1890 he was called to the pastorate of the Metropolitan Baptist church, in this city, and made himself unusually popu lar with the local Baptists. Despite his falling health, he participated In the Washington conference of the Baptist churches last autumn, and, though considerably more feeble, he was quite active in making preparations for the southern Baptist convention, held ia this city some weeks ago. He did not lose his Interest In military matters, notwithstanding hlsj religious inclinations, and in March, 1891, he was chosen to be department com mander of the Union Veterans' Union of the department of the Potomac, and was re elected the next October to serve a year. In this capacity he was prominent among those who made ar rangements for the annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republio and of the Union Veterans' Union, held in this city in September, 1892. He had been mentioned at times as a pos sible occupant of the office of commis sioner of pensions, 1 0U'
