CEBICAN,
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER.
"AMERICA FOR AMERICANS." We bold that all men are Americans who Swear Allegiance to the United SUWs without a mental reservation la favor of the Pope.
PRICK laVKCENIS
Volume V.
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY. DECEMBER 13, 1895.
Number 50
T
CONVENTS AS PRISONS
A Daring Protest by Hudson Tuttle,
a Fearless Thinker.
Terribly Significant Statement-Should
be Bead and rendered bj American
Freemen.
If a man telle the truth, will bis life
be In danger? Perhaps, yet the truth
must be told, though iti way to pub
licity be in tracki of blood. I have
read the literature of the A. P. A. 'a,
and aa far as It goes sympathize with
their endeaor to have these who love
liberty better than religion, in office;
yet I have felt that they were working
for impractical generalizations while
they let the practical go by unnoticed
Especially my thoughts were turned in
thlg direction when, in writing the
"Secrets of the Convent," I consulted
the official Catholic Directory of the
World. Turning to the United States,
I found that our country, which we
fondly believe is the home of freedom,
was divided into provinces and dio
ceses, with arbitrary subserviency to
the demands of the Romish hierarchy,
with the exactitude that a conquered
country would be parceled out by the
conquerors.
There are thirteen provinces, divided
into dioceses. The parish priest is
obedient to the bishop of his diocese,
who reports to the archbishop of his
province, who reports to the American
pope, who is the head and front of Ro
manism in this country and taker of
the tribute It pays its religious con
queror. A tremendous power; the
best disciplined on the earth 1 A gov
ernment within our government,whIch
might, without a moment's warning,
hold the secular portion in chains.
I turned to the enumeration of con
vents, and found, after a good deal of
vexatious search, that the number was
given at 1,405. The number of victims
they contained is not fully given.
Alive as Ljwas to the horrors of one
"holy institution," the fact that I must
multiply the awful details fourteen
hundred and five times was overwhelm
ing! That the reader may more fully un
derstand the subject and arise to a com'
prehension of its magnitude, I will give
the following details from Sadlier's
"Catholic Directory," official organ of
the church.
Convents in the United States, and
diocese In which located:
Arch-dloceie of Baltimore, comprising all
counties In Maryland west of Chesapeake
Bay 31
Arch-diocese of Boston 41
Arch-dloc.se of Cincinnati, comprising all
counties In Ohio south of 40 deg. 41 min. . .11
Arch-dlocese of Milwaukee, comprising
southern Wisconsin.... 22
Arch-dlocese of. Chicago, comprising all
Illinois north of the south side of White
side aod Kankakee counties. 76
Arch-dlocese of New Orleans, comprising
Louisiana between latitude 29 deg. and
31 deg 30
Arch-dlocese of New York, comprising the
city, several surrounding counties and
the Bahama Islands 58
Arch-dlocese of Oregon 10
Convent of St. Mary, Portland, has 85
professed sisters t novices, 7 postulants J
Diocese of Sacramento. Cal 10
Diocese of Salt Lake, Utah 7
Diocese of Ban Antonio, comprising parts
of Texas and Colorado..... 6
Diocese of (Savannah, Ga 9
Diocese of Scranton, Pa 22
Dlocfsa of Sioux falls, S. D .... 4
Diocese of Springfield. Mass 24
Diocese of Bt. Augustine, Fla 10
Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn 17
Diocese of Syracuse, N. Y 16
' Diocese of Trenton, N. J 32
Diocese of Vancouver's Island, B. 0 1
Diocese of Vlncennes, Ind 3
Diocese of Wheeling, W. Va 4
Diocese of Wichita, Kan 4
Dlocese-of Wilmington. Del 3
Dlocess of Winona, Minn...: 9
Diocese of Louisville 11
Diocese of M anchester. N. H 17
Diocese of Marquette, Mich 13
Diocese of Mobile, Ala., and West Florida... 8
Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles 7
Diocese of Nashville, Tenn 18
Diocese of Natchez, Miss 6
Diocese of Natchitoches, La 10
Diocese of Netqually. Wash 21
Dloceseiof.Newaik, N. J. sisters 1,0001 81
Diocese of Ogdensburg, N. Y 16
Diocese of Omaha, Neb 5
Diocese of Peoria, 111 4
Diocese of Pittsburg, Pa 74
Diocese of Portland, Me 6
Diocese of Providence. R. 1 26
Diocese of Richmond, Ta 2
Diocese of 'Rochester, N. Y 5
Diocese of Dubuque, comprising northern
Iowa 10
Diocese of Duluth t
Diocese of Erie. N. Y 15
Diocese of Fort Wayne, Ind 80
Diocese of Galveston, Texas. 4
Diocese of Grand Rapids, Mich 33
Diocese of Green Bay, Wis 5
Diocese of Harrlsburg, Pa 24
Diocese of Hartford, Conn 39
Diocese of Helena, Montana. 1
Diocese of Jamestown, N. D 4
Diocese of Kansas City, Kan 17
Diocese of St. Joseph 4
Diocese of La Crosse, Wis. 8
Diocese of Leavenworth, Kan 8
Diocese of Lincoln, Neb 13
Diocese of Little Rock, Ark... 12
Arch-dlocese of Philadelphia, Comprising
the city and ten counties 20
Arch-dlocese of St. Louis, comprising all
Missouri west of the Charlton Uiver 21
Arch-dlocese of Su Paul, Minn 14
Arch-dlocese of Ban Francisco 11
Arch-dlocese of Santa Ke. comprising New
Mexico, Donna Anna and Grant counties
excepted 8
Diocese of Albany, N. Y 39
Diocese of Alton, comprising southern II
llnois 40
Diocese of Belleville, 111 36
Diocese of Brooklyn, comprising Long
Island, N. Y 13
Diocese of Buffalo, N. Y 45
Diocese of Burlington, comprlsiog the State
of Vermont , 15
Diocese of Charleston, comprising the State
of South Carolina 2
Diocese of Cheyenne, comprising the State
of Wyoming 3
Diocese of Cleveland, comprising northern
Ohio 18
Diocese of Col ambus, comprising Ohio
, south of 40 deg. 41 mln., bounded by the
Scotlo River on the west 4
Diocese of Concordia, Kan 1
Diocese of Covington, Ky 26
Diocese of Dallas, comprising 108 counties
of northern Texas 13
Diocese of Davenport, Iowa 34
Diocese of Denver. 3
Diocese of Detroit, comprising the Lower
Peninsula of Michigan south of Ottawa,
and other counties 35
Vicariate of Idaho 4
Vicariate of North Carolina, ... 3
Vicariate of Indian Territory 6
The geographical boundaries of each
of these dioceses cannot be given for
want of space. A few of the first-mentioned
are outlined, to show with what
exactitude the whole country is mapped
out and covered, even to a minute lati
tude. The number of sisters or nuns in each
convent is only partially stated, and
evidently an attempt is made to make
the matter obscure. Taking the dlocess
of Brooklyn, comprising Long Island,
at random, it will be found that the
twelve convents have from six, the
lowest, to 210, the highest, of Bisters,
novices, or postulants. The average of
all is sixty nuns, or those preparing to
become such.
In evidence, and to make the subject
clear, the following list is given:
Convent of the Visitation, 209 Clinton
avenue, Brooklyn Mother M. Philo
mena Darphin, superior. Professed
choir sisters, 26; professed domestic
sisters, 6; out-sisters, 6.
By rescript of His Holiness Leo
XIII., March U, 1883, the confraternity
of the Guard of Honor of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, already canonically es
tablished in this convent, was erected
into an arch-confraternity as the head
center for the United States.
St. Francis of Assislum Convent of
Sisters of Mercy, 273 Willoughby,
corner Classon avenue, Brooklyn
Mother Mary Stephen Salter, superior.
Professed choir sisters, 26; novices, 7;
postulants, 3; lay sisters, 12.
Convent of the Sisters of Charity,
Congress street, near Court, Brooklyn
Sister Maria Louise, superior. Forty
four sisters, twenty-five of whom teach
in six parochial schools of the city.
Convent of the Sisters of Christian
Charity, 1918 Fulton street, Brooklyn
Sister Caroline, superior. Five sisters,
one postulant.
Mother-House of the Sisters of St.
Dominic, MontroEe and Graham ave
A CLEAR ROAD AND NO STOP-OVER FOR
nues, Brooklyn Mother M. Emily
Barth, superior. Professed sisters, 56.
Convent of the Order of Our Lady of
Charity of the Good Shepherd, Hop
kloson avenue and Pacific street, Brook
lynSister M. Francis Xavier, supe
rior. Professed choir sisters, 21; pro
fessed lay sisters, 26; out-door sisters, 15.
St. Joseph's Convent of the Sisters of
the Poor of St. Francis, Henry street,
between Congress and Warren streets,
Brooklyn Sister Gonsalva, superior.
Thirty sisters.
Convent of the Sinters of the Most
Precious Blood, 291 Sumter street.
Mother Mary Gertrude, superior. Six
teen sisters.
Novitiate of the Sisters of St. Domi
nic, Amltyvllle, Suffolk county Sister
M. Juliana Garche, superior. Professed
sisters, 32; novices, 20; postulants, 11.
Mother-House of the Sisters of St.
Joseph, Flushing Mother M. Teresa,
superior. Professed slaters, 210; pro
fessed lay sisters, 63; novices, 82; postu
lants, 12.
Convent du Sacre Coeur de Marie
VIerge, Sag Harbor Mother St. Bas
lie, superior. Community, 15.
Convent of the Visitation. Villa de
Sales, near Parkvllle Mother Mary
Agnes Dillon, superior. Religious, 28,
There are dioceses which show a
much larger average, but, not to over
state the number, that at Brooklyn is
taken. If the 1,405 convents in the
United States are multiplied by 60, the
result is 84,300 sisters or nuns, who are
kept In more abject slavery than ever
befell the negro at the South, and more
closely guarded prisoners than the most
depraved convicts in the penitentiary.
These bare figures, large as the
number they represent, convey no Idea
of the misery, grief, hopelessness and
despair which is, in each one of these
individual lives, rolled up into this
mountain of anguish, held obedient by
a religion selfish and all-devouring.
Each one of those 84,300 nuns was
once a gentle, loving girl, with hopes
and ambition for usefulness in society.
They have been by insidious arts in
veigled behind the doors of the con
vents, which were closed and locked
behind them. There is for them no
escape.
What are the terrible orgies enacted
within the convent walls, that such
precautions are taken to prevent es
cape? If the sisters are living lives of
holiness and devotion, absorbed in their
religion, what can they reveal if al
lowed to go out into the world? Noth
ing of harm only praise for the rest
fulness and spirituality of their institu
tion. That they are not allowed to go
out, nor receive anything from the
outer world, shows the awful state of
slavery In which they live.
The supreme law of the land cannot
hold a single individual in prison for
an hour without assumption of a just
cause; but here is a power, that ought
to be subject to the Government, which
holds 84,300 persons in inaccessible
bas tiles.
Ah, it is because of religion the
Government has no control over re
THE "BOSS" MACHINE. Chicago American.
ligion! The sooner we awake to the
Imminent danger of such a religion the
better. Religion may persuade, it bas
no right to enforce, and, for aught that
is known, all these 84,300 are held
against their will. Any means for
knowing it is cut off.
Now, should a government of the
people, for the people, allow 84,300 of
its citizens to remain in imprisonment
without Investigating the reason there
or? If In farthest Turkey or Russia a
single American citizen should be cast
Into prison, his case would at once
awaken the attention of the govern
ment, and If held unjustly, his freedom
would be demanded, and the demand
would be enforced by the entire mili
tary strength of the nation. Shall,
then, a multitude of citizens at home
be held In the name of religion by a
theocrat on the other side of the ocean?
In the name of justice, I protest. In
the name of all true Americans, I pro
test. Any religion leading to such re
sults should be trodden in the dust and
blown away with the world's scorn.
We make this demand in the name of
right and justice, and sanctioned by
constitutional law
That the legislatures of every state
appoint a committee to annually In
vestigate the Catholic schools, con
vents, nunneries and monasteries, as
all other public institutions are in
vestigated, and to determine who are
held against their will, that such may
go free.
If you do not believe such a measure
worthy of any political effort, after con
sulting the tabulated statement previ
ously made, read the revelations made
in the "Secrets of the Convent of the
Sacred Heart," where the massive
walls of the nunnery are torn away and
the awful crimes of the priesthood are
revealed against the weak obedience of
the enslaved "sisters."
These dens of iniquity are tolerated
because their number and power are not
known. They offer a valuable point to
those who love liberty more than re
ligion, and see in Catholicism a menac
ing danger. The Proqressive Thinker.
Fish or One Fowl of the Other.
One Francis Schlatter, who started
out as a healer under divine commis
sion, and who, if newspaper reports are
to be credited, is an expert at the busi
ness, has suddenly and mysteriously
disappeared, while a number of per
sons who have sold handkerchiefs
touched or blessed by him at Denver,
Col., are In jail on charges of fraud.
Why this discrimination? Papal
priests and prelates are permitted to
sell all the "healincr" merchandise of
the "church" without let or hindrance;
thousands of dollars have been ex.
tracted from the pockets of the super
stitious and ignorant, through the
"holy-bone" fraud, and neither priest,
prelate nor aider and abetter in the
cruel swindle has been either arrested
or warned by the authorities. If it is
an offense to sell a handkerchief
touched by one who Is reported to have
cured hundreds of persons by his mag
netic touch, why is It not doubly an of
fense for priests to sell to their deluded
dupes utterly worthless trinkets at
costly prices, guaranteed to perform
miraculous services for the purchaser
which never materialize? If it Is right
for the authorities to protect the be
llevers in Schlatter and his dupes from
Schlatter "Healing" knlckknacks, it is
undoubtedly right for the police to pro
tect papist dupes from papal extortion
iste and frauds. We draw the atten
tlon of Commissioner Roosevelt, of
New York, to the mattes. The gentle'
man appears most anxious to- enforce
the law. Now let him set himself
right in publlo opinion by enforcing
the law the whole law and nothing
but the law. Patriotic American.
The American Language.
The strongest bond of union between
the different states of this country is
not the wisdom of our Constitution, nor
the geographical unity of our territory,
but the one common language that is
spoken throughout the Republic, from
the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico,
and from the Atlantlo to the Pacific
Ocean. Were different tongues spoken
in the different sections of the realm,
no wisdom of political structure or sa
gacity of political administration could
hold so many states together amidst
such diversities of culture and social
cub ton s, and interests so conflicting.
But our unity of speech the common
language in which we express our
thoughts and feelings, making all
friendly and commercial correspond
ence easy, giving us a common litera-
ture, and enabling us to read the same
books, newspapers, printed lectures
and speeches this is like a soul ani
mating all the limbs of the Republic,
giving it a firmer unity than its geo
logical skeleton or Its political muscles
could posibly ensure. Were the lan
guages of our country as various as
those of Europe, who does not BOO that
the task of allaying the bitter feeling
of hostility at the South, which led to
the late outbreak, and of fusing the
citizens of the North and of the South
into one homogeneous people, would
be almost hopeless? WiUiam Mathews,
"Words, Their Uses and Abuses," pages
49, SO.
The Priest Says K6.
Marlboro, Dec 1. Knights of
Pythlaaand Catholics here are agitated
over the case of Joseph Chabot, who
died here yesterday morning.
Chabot was a member of the French
lodge of Knights of Pythias and an at
tendant f t St. Mary's church.
In consequence of his affiliation with
with the Knights of Pythias he is re
fused interment in the consecrated
ground of St. Mary's cemetery by Rev.
J. C. Caisse.
Prominent members of the lodge
have secured letters frem prominent
members of the Catholio churches
here, and Rev. P. A. McKenna of the
Immaculate Conception church has
been asked to intercede with the arch
bishop on account of deoeased'a family.
The proclamation against the secret
societies from Rome has been read by
Ft. Caisse in the church.
, MAMTOflA MIIOOLH.
i titreag Chapter treat Mr. Wade's
rassphlet I pa the Kabject.
'in the l!th chapter of Mr. Wade's
pamphlet on the Manitoba School Ques
tion many matters are touched upon.
Ia the beginning of It Dr. Grant it
quoted as follows, aa to the Inefficiency
of that old dual system:
"I have very little doubt, "the learned
doctor is quoted as saying, "that many
of the Roman Catholic schools In Mani
toba, prior to IHitf), were about as poor
as they could be, looked at from an In
tellectual or citizens' point of view. '
The proofs of that are writ large la the
present comparatively unuducated con
dition of the people, as well as to their
Inability to speak English. The opposi
tion to the proposal that trustees of
schools and municipal councilors
should be able to read and write was
significant."
Then Mr. Wade, in replying to tbo
contention that separate schools are a
necessity In a community divided on
religious linos, pays: "Does the history
of the United States afford any comfort
to the advocates of separate schools?
To quote Professor Chas. J. Little, of
the Northwestern University: 'In New
York diocese, with Its reported 800,000
Catholio population, there are only
38,383 children In the parochial schools.
In that of Syracuse there are only 4,401
to a reported Catholio population of
100,000. In the diocese of Boston there
are 27,5uu to a uatnoiio population oi
510,000; in New Orleans 8,093 to a
Catholio population of 800,000; and even
In that of Baltimore but 10,000 in a
Catholio population of 220,000, while
the diocese of Albany has only 11,192 la
a reported population of 200,000.
"In Ontario, too, despite the separate
sohools, two-thirds of the Roman Catho
lio children are to be found receiving
their education in the publlo schools.
That the Roman Catholio layman has
resolved to remain no longer a slave to
the hierarchy in educational matters
bas been clearly shown of late In vari
ous parts of Canada. As Dr. Grant
himself says: 'Who Insisted two years
ago on getting good teachers into the
separate schools of Kingston but the
Roman Catholic laity, with the results
that -at this year's entrance examina
tion to the Collegiate Institute the sec
ond, third and fourth places were taken
by pupils from those schools? Who
are now insisting In Ottawa on getting
good teachers Into the separate schools
but the Roman Catholic laity? They
will get their way, too, no matter
what the archbishop or the Christian
Brothers may think of their attitude.
Who are pressing for reforms In the
Roman Catholio schools of Quebeo now
but distinguished Roman Catholio lay
men, school inspectors and others well
acquainted with the actual state of af
fairs?' "If left alone by Dr. Grant and other
advocates of a backboneless policy on
the school question," Mr. Wade goes
on, "the people of Manitoba do not en
tertain the slightest fears as to the suc
cessful working of the school act."
And in giving reasons for his faith,
Mr. Wade quotes from official reports
to show that no less than thirty-seven
French schools have accepted the public-school
system. That this tendency
towards accepting existing conditions
Is growing, Mr. Wade proves by show
ing that while only three of these
schools came in during '90, ten came in
during '92, twenty in '93, twenty-six in
'94, and now there are thirty-seven.
"Surely," Mr. Wade says, "these
facts are more to the point than all the
pessimistic comments and lugubrious
forecasts of Dr. Grant, whose observa
tions occupied but a few days, and
whose conclusions are in so many in
stances based upon a complete lack of
knowledge of the question under dis
cussion. "Dr. Grant has quoted Mr. Young's
report at times; why has he not referred
to his conclusion on the whole question?
It is as follows: 'The constant agita
tion which has been kept up during the
past five years has certainly had the
effect ot creating an increased interest
in regard to educational matters, and I
am satisfied that when the school ques
tion is finally settled this increase of
interest will have a very beneficial
effect on the French schools of the
Brovince of Manitoba. From my inter
course with the French and half-breed
Catholics of the province, I have no
hesitation in saying that the vast ma
jority of them are prepared to abide by
the final decision of the authorities in
regard to the school question. They
still cling to the hope that the separate
school system will be restored to the
province, but should this hope not be
realized in the near future, it will only
be a matter of a short time before the
public-school system will practically be
universally adopted throughout the
province.'
"If the Ottawa government," Mr
Wade concludes, "will not Interfere
with our national school system, there
need be little fear as to the French Ro
man Catholics they will in time adopt
It." Toronto Sentinel