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About The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1895)
THE AMERICAN '6 A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER. "AMERICA FOR AMERICANS." We bold that all men are A Beriean who Swear Allgane to the Uniknl Slates without a mnul recurvation Id favor of the Pope. PRICE F1VKCKN IS VoUJMK V. OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FKIDAY. OUTOUEU 18, ltW5. NUMBKB 4 J I A ROMANIST'S OPINION As to the Relations Which Should Subsist Between the Church tnd the State. Seme Yerj Queer if Jiot Very Absurd Logic, Even Judged from a Roman Standard. We take the appended extracts from a paper contributed by Iter. David Mojes, D. C. L , rector of the Church f St. Den la, Ashburnham, Mass., to the New York Fneman's Journal. He says, at the outset: ''Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, has shown himself a wise statesman and a truthful relator of facta In bis recent letter upon the American Protective Association. The object of his letter is to show that that association has no reason for its existence any more than the Mafia of the Italians. But it may be well to go more into detail and show how futile are the arguments of those who would seek to prove that the Cath olic religion Is a menace to the state. The plain facts of the case will dem onstrate in the clearest manner that the Catholic church is the upholder of society and of the rights of the people. The principles taught by the church In Its solemn pronouncements and through its learned theologians and fatherr, whatever may to the degree of authority with which they are put for ward, are quite enough to convince in telligent non-Catholics that the church in its normal action must sustain the secular power r.nd consolidate its inde pendence. The religion of Catholics is not a menace to the state. THE CHURCH DENIES THE DIVINE RIGHT OK KINGS. We may observe in pasting that when Leo XIII. says that by the selection of the people the ruler is designated, but aot the rights of sovereignty conferred, his holiness means that the people are aot the ultimate source of power, but that those rights pass cn from God to the ruler through the medium of the people, whereas the selection of the ruler comes absolutely from the people. But no matter, so lone; as the pecple have the choosing of the person who , shall rule them, what greater gnarsrtty for the rights of the people and the re straining of tyrannical monarchs than these principles? And at the time when James I. of England e'aimed to have received bis power directly and abolutely from God, defenders of the per pie arose in the person of eminent tbeologims in Catholic countries to deny this Iheory a9 approximating too losely to theocrtcy. To reign by di vine ight both as to person and power, matter and form, and to preclude the people from cither election or resist ance by force of arms under any circum stances was what the Protestant king was aiming at. This, moreover, was the teechiog of the English universi ties which bad fallen under the in flu esce of the new religion at this identi cal period; and it wss a flagrant contra diction between belief and prac ice for the Pro'e3tant party to have contrlvf d the banishment and dethronement of their king, whom, in their delirium, they had supposed to be divinely ap pointed. The old Kaiser of Germany, in our own day, had a weakness, too, ou the subject of bis own divine and ir responsible person. He put the crown on bis own head on the occasion of his coronation to show the people that he did not receive his appointment from them. Even the present young man, Inheriting the traditions of his house, and not a bit behind his grandfather in his most unbounded presumption, has got some vague and ill-defined idea that he is superior to the constitution, and more than once since hi accession to the imperial throne he has come into disagreeable contact with the par liament of the nation. And what of Queen Victoria? Perhaps she has never given it a thought, but the dec trine of the divine right seems to be shadowed forth by tbe impress left on the coins of the realm, which declare her to be the Queen of the British by the grace of God, But not a syllable about the people. Anyway, it was principally since the Reformation that we find the divine-right theory advo cated, and almost exclusively, I should say exclusively, by the above party, and not by the Catholics. Very few kings since the reign of Moses have reigned by divine right, or by any spe cial and direct act cf the governing power. Moses stood erect upon Mount Sinai, crowned with a halo of light, and holding in bis hand the tables of the Law. lie ruled as the envoy of God, not cf the people. God not only gave power to the Hebrews to govern society, but, intervening by a special and supernatural act of authority, He laid His hand upon their leader, con stituting hiui their king by divine righ'. His tight to command was given him from above, amid the con vulsions of nature upon that holy mount. Tbe scene is sublime. But God has not vouchsafed this favor to the cations. Angry at their departure from His law, lie stems to have withdrawn Himself into the dark, Impenetrable cloud which surrounds Hi throne, and to have committed the forma ion of secular governments to the p ople. DEMOCRACY MOST CONUKMAL TO CATHOLICITY Jeffdrson must have studied the ori gin of civil power in the fathers and theologians of the church, or must have taken a few bints from Arch bishop Carroll, before be entered upon the great task of drawing up the Dec laration of Independence. He may have pondered over Blackstone and have searched the archives of Europe for the most liberal treatises upon con stitutions and the formation of states, but nowhere would be find the rela tions of ruler and subjects and the essential principles of authority and liberty so scholastlcally laid down upon the basin of Scripture than among the theologians of the Catholic church. A nd now, having disposed of so much in a cursory way sufficient, however, to arouse in the minds of our opponents a suspicion that true Americanism lies with ub we would observe that there are principles which express abstract truths which have never been realized, nor ever will. There are countries which profess the Catholic faith and where all are spiritual children of the pope, the head of the church. There are countries where canon law has been the basis and sprit of their secu lar legislation, and where for certain disciplinary concessions the peopie have bound themselves to the church by spiritual treaties called concordats, and so forth. Now, to take these countries as a sample of what Catholics demand here, where the state is based upon the natural law. and is bound by no spiri tual allegiance, is simply absurd. Besides, when we come to examine things closely, we find that there is very little, apart from the terms of special agreement which Catholiccoun tries were free to make, claimed by them, which all denominations, no mat ter how strenuous they might be for state control, would not claim here. The ' churches in Atcer'lca consider themselves empowered to defend the Christian religion from all attacks and from everything that would sully its purity, whether these attacks come from individuals or f om the state. Ministers who are sentinels on the watch-towers of Israel will not hesitate to condemn unjust laws on the side on which they offend against morality. Such laws, they believe, have no intrin sic claim to their obedience, and if their resistance is passive it is because they should not disturb public order, which is a paramount consideration. In the governmentof civil society the Christian ruler should conform to the moral law, natural or revealed; that is, In his public acts he should do nothing that is contrary to the good of religion or the salvation of souls; nothing which would interfere with the obedience which subject owe their church and to God. This is both claimed and admit ted, we would imagine, on all sides in America. Moreover, it is guarranteed by the constitution. Liberty of conscience, under the re straint of the national law upon which every civilized government is founded, is the best and only legitimate form of policy in oi:r present conditions, in which we are divided immeasurably in matters social and religious'. If, by a fiction of the imagination, we supposed the world to profess one faith, to have one thought and one preference for the truth and for tbe visible organ through which it is manifested, then we might seek to realize a higher ideal and de light in using lawful means to keep up this marvelous and almost unearthly communion. But we are losing our selves in supernal abstractions which have no practical utility. So long as we have different faiths around us, we have obligations one towards another, and these involve the exercise of char ity and forbearance, and a recognition of mutual rights in our public manners and in the enactments of the state. This is the rule, also, for Catholic coun tries where other communions are found, and where the unity of faith is broken. The American Government is based on the natural law. This a divine law, for it is dictated by God through the ordinances of nature. Having thus its foundations securely laid, it allows the development of the positive law of re ligion upon this unchangeable basis, protectirg all alike and securing to them the fullest liberty consistent with the natural principles which underlie its constitution. This liberty is claimed by the ministers of the gospel a-d is asserted not merely in their direct ac tion upon their own spiritual subjects, but in warning the state to keep off lU sacred domain and rtfraln from enact ing laws that wi uld contra voce it tbe slightest degree tbe laws of that divine code of which they profess themselves the guardians: There are more thin Mr. Parkhurst valiant and fearless de fenders of Christlani'y . Politicians miy say thai rome of them bave gone too far and have entered upon the domain of politics. It may be so; but all of them, we believe, aimed at the spirit ual well-being of the community, and claimed the prerogative, as spiritual ministers, of judging the extent of their own spiritual jurisdiction. The crimes reprovej may havo bad a temporal end, and were, in this respect, social or po litical, but this did not prevent thete ministers from looking upon these same crimes under another aspect, and In their relation to the law of God. These very crimes, without ceasing to bo tem poral, became thus spiritual, and as such fell under the moral supervision of those who had been ordalr.eJ to tbe ministry and to the preaching of tbe word of God. What more do American Catholics claim? And, we may ask, what more do they claim even in Catholic coun tries, where we will suppose a higher and more normal alliance exists be tween church and sta'e? Tho Catholic obtains very little mora by virtue of a treaty, and by the filial subjection of the state to the church, than what all ministers claim and obtain in America, namely, the free and unimpeded exer cise of the Christian religion. CHUKCH'S RELATION TO THE AMERICAN STATE. The Catholic church is divinely com missioned to tjach religion and pass upon the morality of actions, in the hope of eternal life. She is supreme in spiritual matters, and, moreover, is the judge of the limit) of her own spir itual jurisdiction. It does not belong to the civil power to define the rights of the church and the limits within which it shall exercise them. This is a proposition which we hold, for tbe contradictory is condemned in the Article XIX of the Syllabus. The po sition of tbe church here is unassail able. But the church, while adhering to this as a principle, and protecting her dogmas, as well as the spirit of them, with jealous care, observes a yn- dilatory pilicy toward the state, and aspires to a most perfect harmony in matters of discipline. Now, while this is the case, the American people claim that the statj shall not enact laws in opposition to their religious belief, or in any way in fringe upon their liberty of conscience. Both recognize the divine law, positive and natural, to bo of a higher order, and maintain their right to judge of spiritual cases In their own sense, yield ing obedience to unjust laws for the sake of general discipline and peace. Conscience here makes a decided stand. They do not, especially In matters con nected with the profession and practice of religion, accept every enactment from the state without remonstrance, simply because it comes from the state. The e are limits to the state's jurisdic tion imposed upon It by the natural law and by the religious clause of its immutable Constitution, and the people will finally see that it does not trans gress. And yet the church is conserva tive and a support of order, for she urges her subjects to obey the laws, not simply for a purely natural reason, but for a supernatural reason, in which we see the superiority and excellence of the Catholic system of morality over the grosser and more selfish motives of the system taught by Horbert Spencer, and, strange to say, advocated by sev eral ministers of the gospel. But while the church inculcates obedience to the general order of things, she lays down the conditions upon which a law should be possess intrinsic value, and of itself be lit to command obcdienc3. She com mends the early Christians fcr resist ing, in the spirit of martyrdom, a law ordering them ti sacrifico to the gods, which was manifestly opposed to the divine law. Tne law had no Intrinsic force, and they were to obey God rather than man. We trust the defenders of the right of conscience and the admir ers of Christian heroism will unite with us in giving due credit to the church for the advocacy of such doctrine?. Conscience has its rights, and 0113 is that it be at least a moral judge, as suredly for those outside our commun ion, in the relation between the state and themselves on the subject of relig ion, and this whether the stato for the time being is the judge or not. If they did not claim this they would assimi late themselves to the pagan legisla tors of ancient Rome, who maintained the law was just because it was enacted by the state, not that tho state should enact a law because it was ju-t. The world has made progress since then. Those ideals of state perfection, such as we read of In the Christian constitu tion of state', that admirable encycli cal and exposition of Cathollo princi ple, are of couise more perfo t than lboa represented by tbe nations; but. viewing the condition of things. It would te inoportunu, unjust and Im proper to force the realization of these Ideals, even If it were Id our power to do so. The present pope, in tbe "Im mortale Del," has declared hi prefer ence for a more practical separation between church and state, when their union, through tbe harassing persecu tion of ittiJel governments, becomes the occasion of so many evils. The adoption of tbe less perfect and a de viation from the Ideal sometimes cre ate a government more perfect in the concrete, and the only one that should be chosen. A government of this kind can alone exercise tho functions of one, and that in a manner conducive to the end for which It was brought into ex istence namely, that of maintaining order and promoting temporal happl noss. Jhston Vibtt. THEY WOKE I.OMJ COATS. Priest Heading a Itig Procession In tcrcepttd by Government Cavalry. CITY ov Mexico, Oct. 9. -There Is much excitement I ere over tho viola tion of the law fct-biddlng public relig ious demonstrations, on the part of 2,000 pilgrims from Puebla, who marched into the town of Guadaloupe with baar.ers and carrying large bronze crucifixes. Priests, wearing the pro hibited long black coats and chanting litanies and religious bymns, accompa nled them. The procession was inter cepted by Prefect Velasquez on horse back, accompanied by a squad of cav alry, Mho demanded that tliepi'grlms take off their religious budges and furl their banners and that tbe priests take off tbelr clerical coats. Father Yermo, a Spanish priest of Puebla, who com manded the procession, was arrested for Infraction of tbe nf jrtn laws and Gned f."0 and admonished not to repi at the offense. Pre'ect Velasquez crdered gendarme to stand guard on the Inside of the great church of Guadaloupe, which measure was protested against by Bishop Placarte, but without avail. The gendarmes entered the church, where the priests requested they should remove their hats, Out Velasquez or dered his men not to uncover their heads. "The liberals say the church is as much a public place as any theater, and nowhere in such places do gen dtrraeB take off their hats, even in the presence of the president of the repub lic. Among the American prelates here to attend the coronation fetes are the archbishops of Santa Fe and Cin cinnati and the bishops of Ogdens burg, Dallas, Uharlo.-ton, Brownsville, Natchez, Covington, Indian Territory, Columbus, Springfield, Tucson, Galves ton, Nashville and Vlncennes; also the Archbishop of Quebeo. MORMON Sl'ECTElt ONCE MOKE. Old Priesthood Dabbling in Polities and Utah Tern Up. Salt Lake, Utah, Oct. 12. Per haps this city and territry, with all its troublous times when the fight was on betwe :n the Mormons aid tho ad venturous "Gentiles" who entered the territory, has never be in aroused by a political sensation as it was by that of to-Jay. On Monday last, at the meet ing of tho Mormon Priesthooda soci ety thaf., at one time, was as secret as the Masonic order), the presidents at- t3mpted to discipline Moses H. Thatche r and R. H. Roberts, nominees respect ively for United Stat3s senator and member of Congress on the Democratic ticket, fjr not having consulted the old oligarchy for its consent to do so. This was in the face of several previous pro- nunciamcitos that the Lord gave to tho first presidents no 'divination of political qucjtion?. 1 Several circulars to that effect bave been publicly issue!, and some werj used to secure tho pas sage of the last enabling act through Congress. In an interview, published to day, O. W. Powers, chairman ot the Democratic central territorial commit tee, has stated that, while Thatcher and Rjb :rts are apostles in the church, Demecrats nominated them in good faith, with the understanding that the union of caurch and state had been abolished in Utah. This is not all. He has called a mooting of the Djmocratic territorial com nitloe with the implied but not stated purposo of calling the state convention together and with drawing tho nominations already made. When this is done a fight is to bo mado against the adoption of the constitution on which Utah expects'. to be admitted as a state. If the Mormons rally to the support of the constitution aid adopt it, then the matter will be carried to Washington. Many leading Republi cans are taking part with Judge Pow ers, who was the leader of the old Lib eral party in Utah. C. E. Allen, the Republican nominee.Ior Congreis, was; "cheek by jjwl" with Powers In those trouhl.ius days, and many predict that be will co-operate on the political lino of anil Morm n against Mormons. It will bo a re'igiju. nut apolitical, fight. m 9 m 1 - i. I, V. A. 'a as a Dynamic Agency In 1'oiitlra. From all accounts, tbe A. P. A. ticket bas won la Nahvillu, Tenn.; tbe Amer icans eh c i'd a mayor and a majority of the city councilman. There were only two tickets in the field the Demo cratic and tbe ticket of the element In favor of good government. The Re publicans, scenting danger from tbe fires of patriot Urn which were ablaze in all sections of the city, and recogni zing tbe determination on tbe part of tho better element to end the Rum, Roman and Ring rulo which for years has domineered over the people, very shrewdly refrained from entering tbe race From the telegrams sent out to the Romanized press, it would appear that the excitement and fueling were so Intense that tho big up-town saloons closed their doors early on the evening of election. Tho truth of the matter is, that tho tough element bad begun to realize that tho laws would be strictly enforce 1 j int as soon as Mr. McCarthy should take his seat; and they commenced to practice some of the forms which in a few days they will be compelled to observe, whether it suits them or not. The name Mc Carthy is a very familiar one, and is met with very frequently in politics; but It must not be confounded with the variety that is acting as mayor of Le nient, 111., or the "Buck" McCarthy secies that infests Chicago's Stock Yards region. As tho Nashville Mc Carthy bad tho backbone to run for mayor on the A. P. A. ticket, there is no doubt but ho will have the nerve to enforce, without fear or favor, tho laws as they are. "Equal rights for all, special privlles to none." Chicago's mayor was elected on the Republican ticket on false pretenses. Ills claims to Intense Americanism were wordy "works of art" before election. Ills acts were boautlful specimens of Ro manismafter election. To the Ro mans be gave Kent and 12,000 positions In patronage. To tbe Americans (when the Itomans had all been supplied) he gave 32 positions of trust in the shae of jaiiltord, laborers, Watchmen, and scrubwomen. His motto appears to le: "No rights for any but Romans, all spe cial privileges for the Irish." The larti.ao press endeavors to throw as imieli ( dlum as possible upon the vic tors in Nashville, claiming that the letter class of Republicans voted with the Democrats, while tbe negroes voted with the A. P. A.'s. It Is only a few short years since tho Republican were claiming that the Democrats in the gouth were intimidating and driving the colored voters from tbe polls, and that it was not safe for a man w th a black skin to be seen near tbe voting booths on election day. Tbe G. O. P. has always laid claim to having bein the party to free the negro, and were very much concerned about tbe welfare of their colored friend. But now thing have changed; the colored man has profited by expe rience and by the educational advan tages which under the Constitution be is permitted to share equally with his white brother. And, moreover, being quick to think and to act, be has per ceived the band of Rome in the politics of our country and the danger to eur free institutions from all plotting and scheming Jesuits and popish emissa ries, and has accordingly worked and voted with the Americans. When he was a slave, with nothing but his soul to save, the the Roman Catholic Church did not bave any time to waste in di recting his steps toward the golden stairs; but, once ho wa free and began to receive tho price of his hire in the coin of Uncle Sam, tho holy (?) mother church was in an agonized frame of mind to devise ways and means to save his soul, and Incidentally to save some of his dollars for tho pope. As the col oreJ vete is getting beyond control of tbe oRic. -seeking politician, "the ring'' has concluded to throw him overboard. It is only a few days since that the Republicans in Louisiana formed tbe White Republican League. This goes to show the high esteem In which the colored voter at the South is held by the Republican party; and, as the Demccratio party had always declared itself opposed to the colored man, t here was only one thing for him to do, and that was to attach himeclf to the A. P. A. an organization which knows nei ther birth, place, race, nationality, creed, party, faction, or previous con dition of servitude. The decision of the supremo court of Nebraska in the case of tho Omaha tiro and police board; the matchless reign of the Americans in Detroit; the elec tion of an American on the Democratic ticket in Indianapolis, the home of Ilenny Harrison; and now the election of an entire A. P. A. ticket In Nash ville, baa surrUtd and astonished sonic of tbe "big booses" In both par ties, and, from tbe activity tha differ cot committee are displaying, it is very evident that they are endeavoring to find out "where we are at." Tbo reports from Indlanaolis on Sunday Indicate that the town was never so quiet and orderly la it entire history. Tbe saloons obeyed tbe laws, as It was understood the new mayor meant busi ness, as bis first ifflolal act was to dic tate a loiter to the actingebief of police instructing hlra to enforce tbe law with out quibbling or tbe exhibition of any favoritism or partiality. Rome's prns-s may endeavor to cast reflections upon the negro who ha the courago to stand fur Americanism, but they are absolutely silent concerning the time when (In ISO!) Pius IX. sont bis blessing to Jeff Davis and tbe south ern confederacy, when the (Htpu's Irish fell over each ether In their esgernoss to get in tho front ranks of thoso de serting from the Union army and Moo ing to Canada. Then It was that tbe colored men, in defense of tho Union army and Old Glory, went to the front, and "the colorod troops fought nobly." Abuse of tho A. P. A. and the ne groes will not change the rosult right will triumph In tho end; and tho boys in Nashville have taught Romo a lesson that si. e will not soon forget. Ajax. How Did tar rapacy ilti There! It seems ktrange how tho Roman Catholics, numbering only about ten millions In this country, can exercise such a controlling influence and power In polities. He-nee, Id view of this comparative smallness of numbers, many who have not given particular attention to this subject do not believe that the Republio is In sny danger from papal Influence, and that tho A. P, A. organization should not be encouraged. But the better portion of our citizens, who keep up with the times, know full well that declarations of tbe order are no exaggeration of the fact that the papal power has already ereatly endangered tbe perpetuity of the Republic and its free institutions. But the question arises in the minds of rxany thoughtful men, How did the papacy get t here? How came It possi ble for it 'to obtain such controlling power In the eit'os? Wo answer that the conscienceless politicians gave them this power for the sake of the un'ted Catholic voto one instance of which we will give ti show bow It Is done: We are credibly Informed by a promi nent A. P. A. cf Memphis, Tonn ,tbat, although the papists have been greatly In the minority in that city, yet just b'.fore election the priests go around and demand of the prospective candi dates for election 80 per cent, of the appointive offices to bo under priestly control in case tbo said candidates are elected, for which guaranty they should have the Roman Catholic vote. Hence, under this arrangement, tho papists soon have 80 per cent, of the police force, fire department, and other branches of tho civic service, b -sides securing for Roman Catholics the ma jor portion of positions in the publlo schools. Now, this instance of priestly diabolism and Romanized party cor ruption is a political eye-opener to every one who wants to tea and who will give his attention to the subject. And no one can suppose for a moment that this is the only instance of the kind, for doubtless the same course has been practiced for years in all cities, which explains the profound mystery In the mind ot many how it is that the papists can manage to secure the con trol of almost the entire police, the teachers in our schools, and other city officials; and we hardly know which are the most deserving of our disgust and utter loathing the intriguing prie-ts, the corrupt and Romanized politicians, or the papal hierarchy who inaugurated such a bold and successful plan to bring the great cilies of this country into subjection to the j apal power. However, this course of conduct will s:wn be stoped. The political power of the American Protective Association and kindred associations will in the near future destroy tije priestly power in politics and relegate to the rear the miterable politicians who have turned traitors to their country and fill their places in the cities and throughout the country with true and loyal Americans, who will free the nation from papal bondage and from every vestige of the political foi torints of paaa Rome. J. G. P. Yonng Mothers Should early learn the necessity of keeping on nar.d a supply ef Gail Borden Eagle Brand Condensed Milk for nursing babies as well as for general cooking, it bas stood the test for 30 years, and Its value is recognised. 3 . .... a