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About The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1895)
THE AMERICAN A WEEKLY NEWSK. "AME1UCA FOR AMERICANS." We bold that all men are American who Swear Allegiance to the United KiaWs without a mental reservation In favor of the Pops. PRICE FIVE CEN7S VoLUMI V. OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, AUCUST 2, 1895. NUMBEB 31 MASONRY IS CUBA. Translated for the American Tyler From "La Gran Logla," Hahanna, Cuba, by uro. 11 Broad. loaenne Masonry Is not so easy as mtght be believed; its ends are bo dlf- iiue, bo oeauurul its results, v( n noble Its means, that it wcutf be in vain to pretend to Inclose Its spirit in one phrase only; whatever word, what ever idea with which we may wish to represent it, always results short, poor, Ineffectual and Improper. Ve thus see that the grand lodges of England, Scotland and France, and many other authorities on the matter amongst them the immortal La Fayette have pretended successively to give a clear and perfect definition of the Masonic Institution, calling it a "Beautiful sys tem of morality," an "Ancient and hon orable institution, composed of indi viduals of all nationalities, creeds and conditions." "An order whose polar star Is philanthropy, and whose prin ciples inculcate devotion and virtue and morality." " A "Knightly order which proposes the perfection of man." A "Philosophic, progressive and philan thropic institution that investigates the truth, studies morality, and exercises beneflcence."o Finally our grand lodije concisely designates it "An organic in stitution ofmorality." All these definitions are beautiful, meditated, and profound; but they do not fill the object of impregnating, so to speak, him who ingresses intoour in stitution with all the grandeur it en closes. For new Masons, for those who come to our lodges not knowing the philosophic language, it Is necessary to define Masonry in a more tangible manner. We have to avail ourselves of the multiple comparisons, we have to materialize the Ideal of the Masons. Many of these, seeing that the Grand Orient ot France (writes erroneously for certain on its banner the motto, "Equality, Liberty, Fraternity," can not be convinced that; Masonry should not take part in politics. Others, wit nessing the rude war already waged and still sustained lagainst us by cer tain potentates of the church who ex communlcatejfand curse us always as sociate in their tribucaUof conscience a religious idea with the ends of the in stitution, c There ' are brethren who, taking tb consequence for a cause, only see it in a society of mutual a'd. It Is sufficient to convince us tl at Ma sonry is not a religion, to observe that in its ranksthere is room for adepts of all religions, sects and beliefs; a phe nomenon that is not verified In the true religions, which systematically reprove one another, and mutually condemn each other .Masonry dees not adore any God, but admits His existence; un derstanding that there Is an unknown cause, asupenor to our o intelligence, which rules the worlds, aid designates it with the name of T. G. A. O. T. U., and dees not believe it necessary to render Him any other cult than the practice of good actions and obedience to the fixed, constant, and eternal laws, which emanating from Him govern the universe. OMasonryI"doeB not suppose ttheG. A. O.uT. U. keeps an ac- jut of the-actif ns of esch mortal to reward or chastise him; but that our happiness or misery proceeds from our selves according to the' good or bad in terpretations we give to the law of na ture; from whence we see that our as sociation opines that ihuman felicity is enclosed inwisdom. We'fsee, therefore, that Masonry, without being opposed to religions, has known how to take from them the only point in which"all are of one accord: the existence of a Supreme Being, in visible to our eyes from day to day in its totality. With that element, and relieved of the ligatures of superstition and fanaticism, Masonry goes forth in search of truth, i-whose discovery it hopes to realize 'confiding in human perfectibility. If "Masonry professed any political end, we should not see in the same temple the most lofty sover eign near the, modest worker, we should not see the monarchist by the side of the demagogue, or the haughty aristocrat near the rustic peasant. We should not witness reigning amongst such heterogeneous elements that fra- . ternal concord which characterizes our association. The felicity of the people is one of the ends of Masonry, yet, in stead of pretending to obtain it like the politic il systems, dictating and modify ing laws, it expects to gain it enno bling and perfectingan, inculcating principles ofmorality, charity and jus tice, and saying in his ear: "We are all equal; we are all. brethren." Masonry respects the civil and political organi sation of the S country where it is worked, and limits itself to ministering to the government, citizens who, pos sessing soundt criterion, Juncensurable honesty, and-gentle passions, perforce will make the fpeople happy who elect them as tbeir chiefs. From the fact that we, as Masons, assist and protect each other should not be deduced that our association is one. of mutual aid the material and moral aid is not more than a very small part of our program- after offering to love our neighbor as ourselves. Why not, if we plaoe our selves and purse within his reach? Our charity does not assist only in help ing a brother in poverty, nor of teach lng the Ignorant; we occupy ourselves in addition to destroy odium, predispo sition and malevolence; fomenting In exchange fraternal love amongst the members of that great family called Humanity. We always unite science with virtue because we believe that a perverted wise man Is as pernicious as a virtuous Ignoramus the former is a tyrant, while the latter is only a fool. We deduce from what has been said that Masonry pretends to dignify the human race, impelling it to abandon vain preoccupations, and not to waste that rich treasure called "Time," and to follow the .path of progress, and on wings of science and virtue seek and discover the spring of human felicity which we Masons symbolize with light. That light, clear, infinite, and radiant, today only reaches us as a faint and growing crepuscle on account of a thick voil which occults it from our eyes. To break and sever the thick and exten sive cloud of ignorance, fanaticism and voice that binds and deprives us of beneficent rays of the sun of truth is the end that 'Masonry pursues. Its work is slow.ibut Its progress is certain one by one our institutions will break the chains which enslave man, wlthou' any further aid for such a rude task than morality, science, and virtue, these being the only means of gaining such a beautiful end. We have Been that Masonry without being a religion, a political system, or a relief society, participates of the disposition of the three; it can therefore be defined by saying that it is an association of free men, who fulfill the natural law, prac tice the religion of the conscience, and observe the politics of liberty, and pro pjse by noble and moral moans prompted by the light of human intelligence, to gain a knowledge of T. G. A. O. T. U. Let us compare Masonry to a pharos which, situated at the port of human felicity, serves as a guide to society in the obscure and stormy sea of existence. Since this light shone for the first time it has never been extinguished. It shone brighter, it is certain, In another epoch; today it is nothing more than the weak reflection of what it was in Cuba; but let us not take this passing decadence as a direful presentiment of death and destruction. No! Masonry is today just as alive as it was in other times; it exists latent in 1 he hearts of its sons, like the fire In the center of the earth, and thus as the fire from time to time makes its appearance in the form of eruptions and earthquakes, in the same manner Masonic ardor will recover suddenly all its strength and splendor as soon as our Institution runs the risk, fas soon as we awake those valuable brothers who as men to the end and wearied with fatigue have gone to strengthen their euthuslasm in a restoring sleep. We should let them slumber. We know they do not aban don us; let us Keep watch over them, so that when a sinister cloud covers the horizon of our aspirations we shall know how to- call those brothers, and they will comefcfilled with enthusiasm to engross our files and to fight by our side. We, who do not sleep, should limit ourselves at present to being sim ply sentinels always ready to give the warning voice. Let us look after our work and prevent the clouds from In vading our camp, and although for want of workmen the construction of the temple of truth does not progress as It should do, let us prevent at leaH the ivy from covering it, the thorns from obstructing the pathway, and pro cure that its ramparts may be seen from afar. A frozen blast of lassitude crosses the flld of our association tith ing our files; for sometime past we see not without alarm that Masonic activity Isidecllnlng very notably we see numerous brethren leave our sids why do they go? 3 Is there no labor for them? Is there anything in actual Masonry which displeases them? Our law prohibits us from asking he who leaves us hisgreasons for so doing; but nobody prevents us from trying to dis cover the ocause of so many withdraw ing. Without having the pretension to state that we have easily found the key to the enigma, we will advance the hypothesis ithat the retreat of our brethren isdue to the little severity generally observed In the admission of candidates, and the facility with which the degrees of Fellow Craft and Master Mason iare acquired. This tol erance brings us as an immediate con sequence the formation of imperfect brethren; who badly understand the object of the institution, and who pre tend to conduce it by distinct paths from the one it has up to the present followed. The old Masons, the dear defenders of the institution, do not agree with the tendency observed to substitute quality by quantity, nor can they permit that our march should be Inclined toward distinct ends from those which from ancient timet Ma sonry has laid down, hence those in tegral brethren, always true to their principles, and remembering their ob ligation, prefer to retire rather than to provoke schisms and discord. If the evil expressed is due to the cause indi cated, it Is very easy for us to conjure the danger let us strengthen the difli cultles offered to the ingression into Masonry; let us double the exigencies to advance and exalt, let us abase, if it Is necessary, the ritual; let us multiply the session of instruction, making the Entered Apprentice and Fellow-craft work and thus we shall keep the curious at a distance, and tire the in dolent, and although less numerous, we shall be stronger and worth more, Louis Dediot Penrith, N. S. W., June 20, 1895. CATHOLICS OK l'YTIlIANSl The rope'sSecret Order Decree to be Strictly Enforced. ' The Catholics of Kansas City who are members of the Knights of Pythias have taken no united action regarding the papal Pythian decree, which was read in the eighteen Catholic churches of this city during the morning ser vices last Sunday. The decree is written inLatin, but was translated into English In order that the congre gations might understand its import It condemns the Knights ot Pythias, Odd Fellows, and the Sons of Temper ance, an eastern 'order. The right of any Catholic to become a member of any of these three orders la denied, and Catholics who have joined any of them are given the alternative of renouncing the church-: ori the order. Catholics who refuse to abide by the decree will be denied the sacraments of the church, and in the event of death their bodies cannot be buried in consecrated ground. The decree was promulgated several months ago by the Roman i congrega tion, composed of cardinals and high dignitaries fol the church. It was signed by the pope and then became a law, binding upon every Catholic In the world. So far as known, no Catholic in this city is a member of the Sons of Tern peranoe or the Odd Fellows, but it is estimated that about 100 belong to the Knights of Pythias. fcSome of these will undoubtedly renounce the church, but it is expecUd that the majority of them will cling to their religious faith. Obedience to the? decree of the Holy See Is earlyj inculcated In the minds of Catholics, and' it is seldom that they oppose any order, no matter how harsh or severs rit may seem. When the CatholicB joined the Knights of Pythias it was not an interdicted Older, and so the decree of the pope is In the nature of a retrospective daw. Theyhad paid many dues and weie entitled to Insur ance, all ofjhlch will be lost If they obey the i"decree.t.On this account, many of the JPythlan Catholics an nounced, wben the I decree was first made public, that they would Ignore it. The reading of.the decree in this dio cese was delayed for many months in the hope that its terms might be modi fied so as ito exempt thc6e Catholics who had joined the condemned orders before thej decree was promulgated. Rome refused to change the decree, and so last Sunday Acting Bishop J.. J. Glennon ordered it read in every Cath olic church in the diocese. 'Thedlocesa extends as far east as Glasgow. Rev. Father Glennon was asked how he intended to enforce tho decree. Would he investigate, aud after discov ering thei Catholics who were members of the condemned orders, refuse them admission to the church and recourse to the sacraments? Father Glennon smiled, and said he did cot intend to do anything of the kind. It was a matter, he said, between every Catholis and his own conscience. Disobedience t) the decree would be a sin, and a Cath olic would Be In a rather anomalous po sitioa if he deceived his pastor in order to approach the sacraments. Confes sion is a necessary preliminary to the sacrament of communion, and if a Catholic were a Pythian the fact would necessarily come outat confession. Ab solution, ot course, would have to be refused him in that event. As the mat ter stands, the doors of the Catholic church in this city will not be closed to Pythians, but If they are conscientious they will not be Catholics only visit ors. Kansas City Star. Recalled Stormy Times. "Well, that looks natural," said the old soldier looking at a can of con densed milk on the breakfast table in place of ordinary milk that failed on account of the storm. "It's the Gail Borden Eagle Brand iweused during the war." a sew corscm Junior Order of TBited American Mr rhaairs (trowing la Wyoming. Cheyenne, Wy., July 25. Editor Tk American: 1 am pleased to re port the formation of Winona Council, No. 2, at Buffalo, Johnson county, Wyo ming, July 9, Itttt, with the assistance of Bros. A. D. Kulley, J. 1. Councilor of Washington No. 1, and J. Carge heimer, vice-councilor of Washington No. 1. The officer for the present term are: Councilor, Joseph Rumann; vloe-oouncllor, John U. Sage; junior past councilor, Dr. Park Holland; as sistant recording secretary, W. E. Hathaway; (iiimnlil nrtiry, 7. U. French; treasurer, M. S. Mead; record ing secretary, Charles Taylor; outside sentinel, Charles Tamer; inside senti nel, William Miller; conductor, 7.acb ary Taylor; warden, E. B. Mills; chap lain, John Kinney; trustees, E. M. Short, W. W. Morgaridge, John Southard. This council was instituted upon the petition of twenty six of Buffalo's lead ing Americans. It will be a great power for good, and the men selected for'bftioers indicates that the prospector for Amcrloanl-im, like the prospector for precious metals, will find the rich est veins where it was least expected a find could be made. .There are doubt less many rich deposits of Americanism that await the enterprising prospoctor. Such a strike has been made at Buffalo, where Bro. Relmann bo happily took the Initiative. The membership of the new council are zealous and enthusl astic,rand it will be many months be fore Winona No. 2 will close In due form f Thout having conferred "virtue, liberl ind patriotism" upon some wor thy eiuVn. Bros. John Kinney and CharleB Kinney, father and son, are among the charter members. It has now been demonstrated that the State of Wyoming contains poople who glory .in the name American, and who realize; the propriety and neces sity of joining heart and band for the protection of American institutions and for the propagation of patriotism, and who will shed their blood or sacrifice their lives, if necessary, in defense of those principles which lie at the foun dation of the American Republic. We ploJg j to each other fidelity and loy alty to the Stars and Stripes and the little red school house. D. A. Hastings, Deputy National Councilor of Wyoming. The Tnpul Power Will Die Hard. Those who suppose that the papal power In American politics can be easily put down will doubtless be dlb appointed, for that haughty, crafty and despotic power will not be surrendered without a mighty struggle. But so long as there is a good prospect of success the papacy will, of course, be mild and apparently loving and friendly, but In wardly hidden and running in all Hb operations; but it will do all it possibly can to create Ill-feeling be tween nations or a conflict of some kind, If possible, in order to direct the attention of the American people from the patilotlo political Issue. But if this cannot be done, I am not sure but it will excite riots in different places, leading to bloodshed and murder, with the same end in view. In the war of independence, the Tories of this country who opposed the war were as injurious to the American cause as was the British army. So now in this country, today, some of the party politicians, heads of departments and would-be office-holders who sym pathize with the papal hierarchy, seem to be willing, thoughtlessly or other wise, to sacridce our free institutions, or even the life of the Republic, upon the altar of party success, and they are more of an obstruction to the patriotic cause than is the papacy itself. Now, whether the death of the pjpal power in this country shall be hard or easy, sudden or lingering, die It must; for American patriots will never per mit, under any circumstances, the pope of Rome to rule or direct the politics of the Republic, and wherein he has al ready obtained political jurisdiction, It will soon be wrenched fr m his polluted hands by the patriotic ballot and placed under the control of true Ameri cans, where it really belongs. The International Protective Asso ciation will probably hasten the death of the papacy as a political power in all the earth, for the order will not permit It, when driven out of one place, to flee to another; for in all countries, except where the papal power is abso lute, it will in the near future surround the "old man of the Vatican" on all sides, and even in strong papal states it will have a tendency to encourage the patriots, though in the minority, to assert their God-given rights to break the galling chains of papal despotism with which they have been bound so long. The more thoughtful of the papal hierarchy are now looking with gloomy forebodings Into the future never before. They oo plainly that unless they can succeed in disrupting the A P. A., which they are trying to do by urging some to join the order under false pretensions of loyalty, on purpose to betray it, or weaken its influence In some other way, they muitt of necessity submit to the Inevitable. But we ven ture tho assertion that tbe American and International patriotic order can not be wrecked by their political enemies, but that they will continue to steadily grow In political influence and power until our land shall be delivered from the galling yoke of papal des potism. J. G. P. Stole the Flags. A dispatch from Boston, dated July 17, say: There was considerable excitement in the vicinity ot Berkeley street and Columbus avenue at 2:30 thl morning, when a watchman at tho Yuuth'i Com panion building discovered several young men tearing down the American flag from the People's Teraplo. Throwing up a window, tbe watch man discharged a shot from his re volver to attract tbe attention of a po liceman. Several officers responded to the report and the young men took to their heels, followed by a policeman. During tho chase several more pistol shots were fired to bring the men to a stop, and finally two of them surren dered. At station 5 they were booked Joseph and Theodore Duoett, brothers, aged respectively 20 and 22, who claim to live at 20 Cazenove street Four American flags, 9 feet by 6, were found In their possession, and are supposed to have been stolen. The young men claim to have been born in tho British provinces. What their object was in stealing the flags could not be learned at tbe tlmo. This morning the two men were ar raigned and pleaded guilty, and wore sentenced to one month each in the house of correction. No evidence was offered and the men had no explanation to give. They had no counsel. ' Alto gether the men were charged with the larceny of nine flags. People's Temple, where the flag thieves were discovered, is Rev. Dr. Brady's church, whero many patriotic meetings have been held recently. A lilt of Sarcasm. Tbo Intolerance of tho A. P. A. is very sad. Everybody regrets that such bitterness of bigotry should poison the sweet fountains of our national life. Indeed, the only compensation for its existence, if compensation there can be for such a calamity, is the zeal for kindliness and charity which it has Hroustd by way of opposition. When did the secular press ever teem with si'ch encomiums of Christian charity and universal tolerance as now? Is it not beautiful to behold this spirit of anxiety for tbe amenities of life, this solicitude for gentleness and fair deal ing, where once was tho discord of po litical strife and the dishonesty of par tlzan spirit? And how very sad that any should dare to suggest that the zeal of the press Is not altogether dis interested or that the quality of its mercy is somewhat strained. Who that knows the character ot the aver age newspaper can doubt that these many editors who feel called upon to rebuke the Intolerance of the A. P. A. have departed from their wonted greed and truculence, and have espoused the cause of the abused Romanist through a spirit of disinterested charity which will rot be repressed? And is not this a spectacle to melt the hardest heart? Pacific Bapti.4. Fire Due to a Faction Fight. Rochester, July 17. The parochial school connected with the Church of the Holy Cross at Charlotte was burned this morning. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of the jani tor, John Cronin, and his sister Nora, both of whom are In the employ of Father Fitzgerald. Officer Denlso of the Charlotte police states in his affidavit that he saw Cronin coming away from tbe building just be 'ore the fire was observed. The officer and others pursued the man, and he dashed into tbe priest's house. The offiser went in and Cronin's sister Nora put out the light so that Cronin es caped. There have been two factions In the church, and several incendiary fires in the village have been attributed, by one side, to the other faction. A. P. A. In England. A test question was put to the Eng lish "Liberal" element the Roman party In England to vote a small sum toward building a monument to Oliver CROMWELL. This was a "test." The resulting opposition of tho said "Liberals" in Great Britain to that "test" bu been the fall of the iConebery administration and the "landslide" op position. Vrily, the British A. P. A. active Protest aot aiwoclatlon caugh t the "priest" napping that time, and exposed bis disloyalty under his pro fession of loyally. Who was a greater liberal to England than CROMWELL? And yet these modern Liberal have put on CROMWELL'S cloak to down his liberalism. It I said that Amer ican A. P. A. Urn has spread to all countries where Romanism ha a foot hold, and the people are being awa kened to the dangers of Romanism. It looks as though the papal power were doomed to destruction. People too tho folly of temporizing with Romo. People now understand that "A house divided against Itself cannot stand." Feupie disbelieve the divinity of popes. Peo ple believe In the divinity of man, all men. A. P. A.lsm is "vox popiiH" y whero, In all lands and among all peoples. Hurrah for the A. P. A.I N. A. List. A It right Inspector. The Vittshurg JHnpatch report tho following Incident as having occurred at a recent election in that city. This election Inspector 1 a fair sample of the Irish olit!oian In Lowell: At a down-town voting precinct a resident of the ward came to vote late, lie was dressed in working clothes, and looked Indeed like a Hungarian, judging by hi swarthy and smoke- begrimed face. As be stepped to the window to put in his ticket, the In spector, an Irishman with a rich 1 rogue, asked: "Name plaze?" The man gave his name and address. How long have yez lived here? Eight years. Whero were yez born? Missouri. Missouri! Have yez ever been natu ralized? Tbe matter was explained satisfac torily, a big laugh was given tbe ln sjKictor, and the man's voto taken. Sized np Wrong. Congressman Doolittle of Washing ton, who Is now In Japan, has been air ing his Americanism in a very silly fashion. When the emperor recently passed through Yokohama, Doolittle procured a long flagstaff upon which he flxod tbe Japanese and American flags. Thus fitted out be went to the depot, and when the royal train came In Dcolltt'.e and his big flagpole were the most conspicuous objects in tbe pageantry, the silly flag-bearer em phasizing his conspiculty with a dis play of nntics which exasperated the United Slates naval authorities in at tendance. Tbe Japanese seemed to re gard it as a good joke, however, and it is rumored the emperor will decorate him fur his silly performance. Daily Exchange. The liter Slavery or It. One has only to consider what effect would be produced by the Prtsident of the United States, the Queen of England, or 'even the Emperor of Rustia issuing an order forbidding bis people to become Masons, Knights of Pythias, or Odd Fellows, to realize the utter slavery Into which the min ions of tho Pope of Rome have fallen. It takes one's breath to think that in this day of intelligence, of world-wide Intercourse and boundless opportunities of knowledge, that men should be found so degraded as to permit an Italian impostor to address them upon such a subject, much less to command their ebedience. Louisville, Ky., Free dmi's Banner. Shaking Up the Dry Bones. Worcester, Mass , July 22. We will parade in Boston on July 4, 1896, not with 5,000 but 25,000 patriots in line. The occurrence of last Fourth opened the eyes of many erstwhile weak, spineless Yankees. Boston pa pers always go in strong on lawlessness In the western cities, and it came home to the Hub with peculiar pungency. Thousands of Jr. O. U. A. M. flyers have been scattered over the state. Several new councils will soon be insti tuted. Lynn Dealers Boje-otted. The Catholics are giving Lynn citi zens an example of their system of op pression. Two respectable firms, W. F. Talbott & Co. and John Patterson, have been boycotted for selling the Standard and American Citizen. Young Irish hoodlums hang around in front of the two stores to insult people going in and out, and denounce iu vilo terms everything American. bmetll Herald. Some Jr. O. U. A. M. Statistics. Over 2.000 councils in United States, with a membership of over 200,000. Twenty-eight state councils. Order represented in every 6tate ex cept Vermont and New Mexico.