The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899, August 07, 1896, Image 1
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.