THE AMERICAN
)
Oat Vaur .
utoserib.
to
THE AMERICAN
Cheapest Paper In America.
THE AMERu ' N.
BOo to Jan. I.TBd. .
A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER.
'AMERICA POlt AMERICANS" We hold that-all dm are Americans who Swear Allegiance to the United htatas without a mental reservation.
F1UCE KITE CENTS
Volume VI.
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, FRIDAY, A Iff LIST 7, 1396.
NoMBit 32
Orders an Attack on the Su
preme President and Other
Washington Friends.
A Pretended Ad mate of the Principles
or the Americas Protective Asso
ciation Starts a Roorback.
Some two weeks ago we received a
copy of the Washington Chronicle con
taining the following article, sur
mounted by blue mark:
The Otronkle is not a member of the
A. P. A. It has always advocated the
free public school as an American in
stitution. We believe in compulsory
attendance therein, too. They should
be absolutely non-religious and non
sectarian. The school is not the place
in which to inculcate morality, or im
plant religious dogmas or fanaticisms
in tho minds of children. We believe
in taxing all property, church and all
other, no exemption, except possibly
the homes (of limited valuation) of the
people. We dlsplse the fraud humbug
gery of the church that assumes to
have any authority derived frem some
supernatural source, whether it be
"infalllable" or not, and is aggressive
and scheming to unite state and church
for the gain and power of churchlem
over the citizens. We oppose with
vehemence the immigration to our
country of the ignorant, illiterate,
pauper, crime-infested, superstitious
canaille from Europe or elsewhere. If
these are A. P. A. principles, then the
Chronicle is an advocate of A. P. A.
doctrine.
The Chronicle doesn't care a fig for
the sectarian dogmas or tenets of
Roman CatholicgChrlstian or Presby
terian Christian cr Methodist Chris
tian or any other band of Christian re
ligion; no more does it care a fig for
the sectarian dogmas or tenets of the
Turkish' Mohammedan religion, or
those of the followers, or believers In
the "faith" of Buddhism or any other
ism. But it does care with all the
force of, Ha vitality for the aggressions
of the politico-religious secret-order
system knownfas Jesuitism, by which
a strong conspiracy of ecclesiastics,
dominated and directed by an eccles
iastic despot from his "throne" in for
eign Dagoland, in Rome, undertakes
to dictate to and boss our Republican
Democravio 'politics. An astonishing
and brazen exhibition of this domi
neering dictation, this politico-ecclesiastic
blackmail,was that of Roman
Catholic Bishop Ireland warning the
Republicans at the St. Louis conven
tion not to indorse any of the princi
ples of cthe A. P. A's. And, like
whipped spaniels,! shaking In their
cowardice, othey obeyed Ireland. In
every Republican national convention
for a score of year?, they have en
dorsed the leading American doctrines
of A. P. 'Alem., until tbe recent ante
convention threat of Cardinal Gibbons
and its -Eco-convention dictation by
Archbishop Ireland. The spectacle of
a church, o whose politico-ecclesiastic
doctrine and (practice are odious to
Americans generally and obnoxious to
the principles of our Democratic-Republicanism,
thus mixing in and dic
tating to aii political party, has never
before disgraced our country. A. P.
Alsm, as we understand it, is Ameri
can patriotism. We regret to Bee
poison I creep into the great A. P. A.
order. The indications are that con
spiracy or other debilitating force has
a foothold there, and if the order is
not a sleepy, pud'n head chump, it will
at once take its president, recently
elected, Mr. Echols by name, by the
nape of the neck and give him a shak
ing upi that will relieve him of the
osseous development of the tops of his
toes, for the. company he is keeping.
The sensation in A. P. A. circles is,
that Echols, one McCune and one Got
wald, with iothere, have conspired to
get "possession" of the A. P. A., and
sell it out" to some political party for
all there is in it. Gotwald has been a
preacher here until recently. Aban
doning his pulpit and church, he has,
it is said, taken an office room along
side of Echols and McCune, in the
building on the southwest corner of
Pa-avenue and Twelfth street. McCune
took the "dead and dam'd" plate
edited Republic off Darby's hands, and
converted it first into an Anarchist
paper. Then, conspiring with Echols,
it is said, the gang of A. P. A. wreck
ers converted the Republic into a head
quarters A. P. A. paper, and the arch
conspirator, McCune, who has a woe
fully infamous reputation as schemer
and traitor, as asserted, leased that
notorious corner building for head
quarters for the conspiracy, for the
paper, and for President Echols of the
A. P. A.
The man McCune was the duck who
U charged with having sold out the
Alliance paper here, the Economist,
to the Democrats, and one of that
odorous gang of partisan freebooters is
charged with having afterwards sold
the mall list of the Economist to the
Republican campaign committee for
11,100, "cash in hand." These things,
and much more, were communicated
personally to us by Mr. Dunning, who
was one of the Economist crowd and
editor of that paper. He claims that
the thieves robbed him, too, and that
McCune U a rascal of such colassal
proportions that language is inade
quate to the function of bis descrip
tion. Ex Congressman Tom Watson of
Georgia (and President Echols comes
from Georgia,- too), knows all about
McCune and the other black crows of
that festering crowd. We are handed
a juicy letter written by Mr. Watson
to a gentleman of this city, as follows:
Thomson, Ga., July 7, 1896.
Esq.,
Dear Sir: Your received. C. W.
McCune Is an unprincipled adventurer.
He is a spoilsman, pure and simple.
Be sold out tbe Alliance and the Peo
ples party to the Democrats in 1842,
and did us immense injury. He was
paid in hard cash for his treachery.
At the time he did this thing he was
not only a sworn Alllanceman but a
sworn member of Gideon's Band. Mc
Cune, Livingston and S. Fount Tillman
were the three traitors who shattered
the Farmers' Alliance. Livingston
and Tillman were bought with office,
McCune with money.
As you perhaps know, the Catholics
fight me bitterly because I endorsed
the principles of the A. P. A. and ad
vocate them In my paper, but if Mc
Cune has got into tbe order the Catho
lics need have no fears. He will wreck
it if he gets the chance and the in
ducement. Youre,
Thos. E. Watson.
Editor Watson has acute penetrat
ing abilities and is not rated a chump.
No doubt he is picturesquely accurate
in his diagnosis of the McCune disease.
He is equally accurate In his prognos
tication of the effect it will have on
the A. P. A. if the great patriotic
order doesn't call its president in
stantly to account and demand a full
explanation of his partnership with so
malodorous a schemer and traitor as
McCune is described to be. It is said
that Printer Darby is one of them,
continuing to print the Republic, their
scheme being to work up a big A. P.
A. subscription for it through Presi
dent Echol's relation to the conspiracy.
And Darby would have the usufruct of
printing it. But McCune's awful
record and its exposure is sure to lead
to the downfall of this infamous con
spiracy. A number of our exchanges have
published that article under flaming
headlines, and without any editorial
comment, thereby indicating that they
gave the story credence.
The editor of The American does
not know Supreme President Echols,
but it will require something more
than the unsupported assertion of a
man who is not a member of the order
to convince him that Mr. Echols
would deliberately conspire to Injure
or disrupt the organization which bad
honoredjhim by electing him as its
chief officer. More than this we do
not believe that Mr. Echols, whom the
members of the order chose because of
his acknowledged ability would be
foolish enough to attempt to "deliver"
the order to any person or to any
party. Being a member of the order
Mr. Echols would know that the men
who compose It are not voting cattle
that they think for themselves, vote
as their reason dictates, and follow the
lead of no man unless he can demon
strate that the principles they have
organized to uphold will be benefitted
by a certain line of action.
But this attack of Rome on a leading
official of the A. P. A. is not the first
of the kind She conspired against
the state president of the A. P. A. of
California. She caused to be pub
lished in the Sacramento lite and
other rabid papal sheets the most out
rageous falsehoods against the state
president of the A. P. A. to the end
that the order, not the state president,
might become a stench in the nostrils
of all decent men. But it failed of its
purpose, and the order is more beloved
today than it was the day the assault
was made.
The California Standard, of which
the state president is editor, in refer
ring to the attack on Supreme Presi
dent Echols has this to say:
The foul tactics of the Roman Jes
uits to destroy the effective forces of
the American Protective Association
resorted to in this state have been in
augurated in Washington city against
the supreme president. Whenever
they find an energetic and aggressive
officer handling the order, they attack
bim in some insidious manner In order
to Injure his influence and discredit
his honesty and integrity. The Wash
ington Chronicle of the 18th of July,
has the history of a plot originated for
the purple of injuring the influence
of Supreme President Echols. It is a
report that he, in connection with Mc
Cune, editor of the Republic, and one
Gotwald, have entered into a scheme
to tell the order out politically. This,
of course is the most absurd proposi
tion that could be suggested, but, as in
the California case, they succeed in
impressing upon the unsuspecting a
feeling that treachery may be contem
plated. In order to make such weap
ons of dlsseaslon potent they have
traitors inducted into the order jvh'o
give sufficient credence to such reports
among their associates as to cause sus
picion, just as was done here in San
Francisco. Of course those who know anything
about tbe A. P. A. or the officers who
direct it, know that the quickest and
most effective way to destroy the
order, would be for the state president
or supreme president to undertake to
control tbe action of the members po
litically. It would simply be disas
trous. The order is composed of the
ablest and most intelligent portion of
the communities in which councils are
situated, and they are all independent
thinkers and Independent In action.
They know the principles of the order
and they believe in them. . It they do
not, after they have become members,
they can withdraw. There is no
strings on any one of them. Those who
go into the order as traitors are gener
ally the most active and efficient in the
work. j.-
They always seek out some promi
nent member ,who has some weak Bpot
In his character to use as a cudgel, and
in this instance they have found the
reputation of McCune to be unsavory,
not as an A. P. A., but as an officer of
the Farmer's Alliance, of which he
was national president. It is not
known positively whether he erred In
the duties of that position, but he is
accused of crooked conduct, and that is
sufficient for the purposes of the Jes
uits in their methods in this instance.
But Is it not discounting the honesty
and intelligence and good judgment of
the members of the A. P. A. to charge
them with the folly of believing any
such reports? Even with such men as
were dragged into the charge here in
San Francisco there was not a loyal
member of the order that believed for
a moment that any attempt was made
to sell the influence of the A. P. A. to
any party or party managers. The
idea was so supremely ridiculous. The
people must not make any mistake,
however, in one thing. If ever the
papal forces should make any attempt
to coerce in politics In violation of the
principles of the American Protective
Association, it w ill not be necessary to
issue any order from headquarters to
be passed aleng the line in order to
present an unbroken and solid phalanx.
It is not intolerant, but it will meet
and combat Intolerance when the time
comes.
An Important factor.
Among our welcome callers this week
was Hon. John B. Stone, presiding
judge of Jackson county, Missouri.
Judge Stone, who is a leading citisen
of Kansas City, was elected to office as
an avowed A. P. A., and his personal
card now bears the initials of the order.
He is the nominee of the American
party for governor of Missouri; and,
while expecting defeat this year, he Is
of the opinion that the American party
will be an important factor in future
national campaigns. Denver American'
Nearest the American Mark,
Of all the presidential and vice
presidential candidates, Tom Watson
of Georgia comes nearest striking the
American mark. He alone of them all
has openly declared his admiration of
the principles of the A. P. A. But un
fortunately he is not a logical candi
date. Tfie American would like to see
him president of the United States,
just because he is boldly Protestant
and American. Denver American.
The Difference.
"Believing, as we do, there is but
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, if the
population of a country be exclusively
Catholio, we bold it to be a duty not to
allow religions which we deem false to
be introduced therein. But if relig
ious sects of different denominations
exist in a country, then we hold there
should be religious toleration." Mon
eigaor T. J. Capel, May 10, 18.
MONASTERY SCANDAL?.
W. Fotsch Produces a His
toric Picture of Some of
Rome's Half World.
Old Monks and Sons Beg For freedom,
Declaring the Life They l.esd to be
Contrary to their Conscience
Some Convent Ilorrers.
One day when nenry VIII. was hunt
ing in the Forest of Windsor ho lost
his I way, perhaps intentionally, and
knocked, about the dinner hour, at the
gate V Reading Abbey. As he repre
sented himself to be one of bis ma
Xffjl guards, the abbot said, "You
midline with me;" and the king sat
dom to a table covered with abundant
anjtlelicate dishes. After examining
evef thing carefully, "I will stick to
this sirloin," said he, pointing to a
piece of beef, of which he ate heartily.
("A Sir Layne of beef, so knighted by
Henry VIII.," Fuller, p. 291.) Tho ab
bot looked on with admiration. "I
would give a hundred pounds," he ex
claimed, "to eat with as much appetite
as you; but alas! my weak and qualm
ish stomach can hardly digest the wing
of a chicken." "I know how to bring
back your appetite," smiled the king,
fthd bade him adieu. After a few days
some soldiers knocked at the convent,
took away the abbot, and shut him up
in the tower upon bread and water.
After some weeks Henry visited the
prison, and concealing himself in an
ante-room, whence he could see the ab
bot, ordered a sirloin of boef to be set
before him. The famished monk in
his turn fell upon the joist, and ate it
all. The klrg showed himself. ("Sir
abbot," he said, "I have cured you of
your qualms; now pay me my wages.
It is a hundred pounds, you know."
The abbot paid his bill, and returned
to Reading; but Henry never alter for
got the monk's kitchen.
The Btate of monasteries was amoc
casion of scandal in all Europe. For
oenturles all religious life had died out
In those establishments. The monks
lived In idleness, gluttony and licen
tiousness, and the convents, which
should have been houses of saints, had
become mere sties of lazy gormand
izers, of Impure sensualists. "The only
law they recognize," said Luther, "Is
that of the seven deadly tins." History
encounters here a two-fold danger, one
Is that of keeping back what is essen
tialthe scandalous facts that justify
tbe suppression of monasteries; the
other is that of saying things that can
not be named. We must strive to steer
between these two quicksands.
The whole country had become dis
gusted with the monasteries. The
common people tald to the monks, "We
labor painfully, while you lead an easy
life." The nobility regarded them
with envy and irony, which threatened
their wealth. The lawyers considered
them as parasitical plants, which drew
away from others the nutriment they
required. .
Cromwell thought, with Luther, that
the pope and the monks could not exist
or fall one without the other. After
having abolished the pontiff It became
necessary to abolish the monasteries
"Sire," said Cromwell to Henry,
"cleansev the Lord's field from all the
weeds that stifle the good corn, and
scatter everywhere the saeds of virtue."
"Ecclesiam vitiorum vepribus purgare, et
virtulum seminibus conserere" (CoUyer's
Records). Asraln: "Sire, do not hesi
tate; the most fanatical enemies of
your supreme authority are to be found
In the convents" (and it is the same in
U. S. A.) "There is buried the wealth
necessary to the prosperity of our na
tion. The cloister sehools have fallen
into decay, and the wants of the age re
quire better ones. To supprcs the
pope, and to keep the monks, Is like
deposing the general and delivering
the fortresses of our country to his
army. Sire, imitate the example of
the Protestants, and suppress the mon
asterles."
And Uncle Sam has 1,400, and 84,000
nun prisoners-! (cf. In A. P . A. Mage
wine, March, p. 999 1001. Read again
Phillips' "Convent Horrors," p. 949
956. I am greatly obliged for this in
formation. W. F.)
Such language alarmed the friends
of the papacy, who stoutly opposed a
scheme so sacrellgious. They told
Henry, "These foundations were conse
crated to Almighty God; therefore
those retreats where pious souls live in
contemplation." "Contemplation!" said
Sir Henry Colt, smiling; "to morrow,
sir, I undertake to produce proofs of
the kind of contemplation in which
these monks indulge." Whereupon,
says our historian, Cult, knowing that
a certain number of monks of Waltham
Abbey bad a fondness for the conversa
tion of ladles, and used to pass the
night with the nuns of Chetham con
vent, went to a narrow path through
which the monies would have to past
on their return, and stretched across It
one of the stout nets used in stag bunt
ing. Towards daybreak, as those holy
(?) monks, lantern in band, were mak
ing their way through the wood, they
suddenly heard a loud noise behind
them, and instantly blowing out their
lights, they were hurrying away, when
they fell iato the tolls prepared for
them (Fuller, p. 317). Tbe next morn
ing he presented them to the king, who
laughed heartily at their piteous looks.
"I have often seen better game," said
Henry, "but never fatter. Certainly I
can make a better use of the money
which the monks waste in their de
baucheries. Our coast requires to be
forfeited, fleet and army to be in
creased, and harbors to be built for tbe
commerce. All that is well worth the
trouble of suppressing house! of im
purity." Dr. Lcighton proponed a middle
course. "Let tbe king order a general
visitation of monasteries; perhaps the
mere fear of this inspection will incline
the monks to yield to bis msjesty't de
sires." Henry at onco charged Crom
well with the execution of this meas
ure. "You will visit all the churches,
even the metropolitan, whether the see
be vacant or not; all the monasteries,
both of men and women; and you will
correct and punish whoever may be
found guilty." (September, 1535.) Oh!
that we had tuch a Henry as president,
giving such an order!
The astonished prelates made repre
sentations; they and their sees wore to
be Inspected by laymen! We hope that
the A. P. A., as the new American
party, will have their own president A.
D. 1900, and dictate such laws as Henry
VIII. gave to Cromwell. Repeat his
tory! The monks began to tremble. Faith
in the convents, monastic practices,
rellcB and pilgrimages had grown
weaker; the worm-eaten edifices of the
middle ages were unable to withstand
the hearty blows dealt against them.
The universities needed badly a reform
too. Since the time when Garret cir
culated the New Testament at Oxford,
the sacred volume has been banished,
at well as other evangelical writings.
The royal commissioners aroused the
lazy ecclesiastics, who enjoyed the de
lights of Capma (monasteries); they de
throned Dubs Scotus, the subtle doc
tor, who had reigned there for three
hundred years; scholasticism fell; new
lectures were established, etc. The
students were forbidden to haunt tav
erns, and the lazy priests were sent
back to their parishes.
The visitation of monasteries began
with those of Canterbury. Dr. Leigh
ton, one of the visitors, entered the
cathedral, and Archbishop Crammer
went up into the pulpit and broke pub
licly with Rome. He said: The bishop
of Rome is not God's vicar. The pope's
holiness is but a holiness in name.
Vain glory, worldly pomp, unrestrained
lust, and vices innumerable prevail in
Rome. I have seen it with my own
eyes. The pope claims by his cere
monies to forgive men their sins; It is a
serious error. One work only blots
them out, namely, tbe death of our
Lord Jesus Christ. So long as the tee
of Rome endures, there will be no
remedy for the evils which overwhelm
ub." American boys, mark this!
The immorality of most of the mon
asteries was manifested by scandalous
scenes, and gave rise to questions
which we are forced to tuppress. The
abominable vices that prevailed in
them are mentioned in Romans, ch. 1.
Tbe Carthusian monastery contained
several rotten members: Some of them
used to put on lay dresses and leave
the convent during the night. There
was one house for the monks and
another for nuns, and the blacksmith
of the monastery confessed that a monk
had asked him to tile away a bar of the
window which separated the two
-cloisters. It was the duty of the monks
to confess the nuns; but by one of those
refinements of corruption which mark
the lowest degree of vice, tho sins and
absolution often followed close upon
each other. Some nuns begged the
visitors not to permit certain monks to
enter their house strain.
Dr. Leighton found that the abbot of
Fountains had ruined his abbey by pub
licly keeping six women. At Mayden
Bradley, Leigbton found a prior who
had five wemen, six sons and a daughter
pensioned on the property of the con
vent. Leighton found In St. Anthony's
convent at Bristol a tunic of our Lord,
a petticoat of the virgin, a part of the
last supper, and a fragment of the stone
upon which Jesus was born at Bethle
hem. Every religious and moral sentiment
is disgusted at hearing of the disorders
and frauds of the monks, and yet the
truth of history requires that they
should he made known. At Halot, In
Gloucestershire, the monks pretended
that they had preserved some of
Christ's blood In a bottle. If a rich
man confessed to tbe priest and laid
his gift on the altar, he was conducted
into tbe mysterious chapel, where the
precious vessel stood In a magnificent
case, lhe penitent knelt, looked, but
taw nothing. "Your sin Is not yeX for
given," said the priest. Then came
another confession, another offering.
until his contribution ; satisfied the
monks. Crotnwoll sent for this vessel,
found it to ke a "crystal very thick on
one side and transparent on the other."
A candid friar tald: "you see, my
lord, when a rich penitent appears, we
turn the vessel on the thick side, that
opens his heart and his purse." CVII
ytr's Records.
No discovery produced a greater sen
sation than a crucifix at Iioxlcy; the
carved image gave an affirmative nod
with the head if tbe offering was ac
cepted, winked the eyes and bent the
body, but if tbe offering was too small
the indignant figure turned away its
head and made a tlgn of disapproval.
One of the commissioners took down
the crucifix from tho wall, and dis
covered tho pipes which 'carried the
wires that tbe priestly oonjurer was
wont to pull. Having put tbe machine
In motion, be said: "You see what
little account the monks have made of
us and our foreign fathers. The friars
trembled with shame and alarm, while
the spectators roared with laughter
like Ajax" (Burnet 8, p. 132 ) The
king sent for tbe machine, and had It
worked in the presence of the court.
The figure rolled Its eyes, opened its
mouth, turned up its nose, let fall Its
bead, and bunt Its back., "Upon my
word," said the king, "I do net know
whether I ought not to weep rather
than laugh, on seeing how the poor
people of England have been fooled for
so many centuries.
In several convents tho visitors
found Implements for coining base
money. In others they discovered
traoos of horrible cruelties practiced
by tbe monks. In gloomy dungeons
they saw the bones of a great lumber
of wretched people, some of whom had
died of hunger, and others bad been
crucified. They discovered one monk,
who, turning auricular confession to an
abominable purpose, bad carried adult
ery into three hundred families. The
list was exhibited, and some of the
commissioners found the names of their
own wives upon it. (W. Thomas and
Burnet, 1. 782.) At Litchfield the nuns
declared that there was no disorder in
their convent, but one good old woman
told all, and when Leighton reproached
the prioress for her falsehood she said:
"Our religion compels us to It. At
our admission we swore never to reveal
tbe secret sins that were committed
amongst us." Nearly all the nuns
trampled under foot the most sacred
duties of their sex, and were merciless
for the fruits of their disorders.
Every plant which our heavenly
Father has not planted shall be rooted
up, says the univertal declaration of in
dependence, the Gospels. Sometimes
monasteries were an asylum in which
men and women sought a repose which
the world did not offer; but they were
mistaken; they ought to have lived
with God, but in the midst of society;
yet we think that some elect souls who
loved God were behind those prison
walls,
The visitations of the convents was a
bitter draught to many of the inmates,
but to the greater number it was a cup
of joy. Many monks and nuns bad
been put into those convents during
their infancy, and were detained in
them against their will. The visitors
announced to every monk under twenty
four years of age, and to every nun
under twenty-one, that they might
leave the convent. And almost all
hastened to profit by it. A secular
dress was given each one with some
money, and they departed with pleas
ure some older ones falling on their
knees and entreating tbe commissioners
in the hope of obtanllng a similar favor.
"The life we lead here," they said, "is
contrary to our conscience."
The commissioners returned to Lon
don and made their report to the coun
cil. They were distressed and dis
gusted. "We discovered," they said,
"not only seven, but more than 700,000 '
deadly sins. These abominable monks
are the ravening wolves whosa coming
Christ has announced, and who under
sheep's clothing devour the flock.
Here are the confessions of the monks
and nuns, subscribed with their own
hands. The monasteries are so full of
Iniquity that they ought to fall down
under such a weight." Cfr. Strvpe,
Vol. 1, p. 385. Read Luther's and
Chiniquy'a books, and you will find the
same horrible picture.
The council bean to deliberate.
Men of influence supported the com-
Oontlouiil on page 5.
