THE AMERICAN.
OMAHA, NI'.IUUMrU. Kltll'AY, 1!V MIUU IM'H
I M( . I It I. t I Mm
VtH VIII.
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MARGARET L.
A Pew Thoughts
Lecture to Men
ton Hall Last Monday Evening.
Roman Catholic Priests
Scavengers of
Placed on the Road
Unrair.1 f. Ufttit.hnr.l ham Aafrfl tO '
return to Omaha and give thro mors
lecture In Washington ball. She will
speak to men and women Sunday even
ing, to women Monday afternoon and
to men Monday night.
, , Her lectured last Sunday night, Mon
day afternoon and Monday evening
were certainly a sucre -the hall be
ing filled, and the audiences applaud
ing her arraignment of the vile and
eorruptlng tendency of the question
propounded by unmarried men to
glrli, young women and even to mar
ried women In the confessional of the
Roman G tholle church,
The subjects aim discussed were of
aach a character that, because of the
tringent rules governing the trans
mission of printed matter through the
malls, we cannot report the extract
he quoted from standard thoologlcal
work of the Roman Catholic, church
and be certain of the paper ever reach
lag the subscribers; although Mr
Shepherd, let It be understood, used
eiceedlngty chaste language to convey
the Idea that were laid down In
Rome' text book Iti the grossest,
most Immoral, Indecent and licentious
, 'WOfd and sentences, '
Hhe began her lecture to men only
y characterizing the Homan Catholic
priest at the scavenger of satan, Hhe
ald that when a politician desired
soma dirt y work done he el way
looked around among hi friend to
nd whom he bad least regard for and
then ent for that one and paid him to
do the work (A volce:"lly gtmb.you're
right;" laughter.) "You've done that,
have you?" (Applause,) well, the
devil, wlien be wanted a dirty institu
tion Ilk the confessional of the Ro
man Oil hoi Ic church etbllhed, look
ed among hi friend and concluded
that the priest of that church wa ttie
fellow he had lean respect for, so he
had him do the work and put him in
Charge,
Oh, you men; you father, and bus
and, and brother, how long shall
thl blot on serial purity, thl stain
a morality, be permitted U edit on
American soli?
I dislike to talk of the vllcnees, the
Immorality, th toul-damning Influ
ence that wrap the confessional box
about, but it Is a duty that I owe you,
i It In a duty ; owe Christianity, to lay
bare, to unmaek, the terrible thing
that are done In the name of religion
and in the name of our Hnvlor, Jesus
Christ, In the secrecy of the confea
alonal. In the name of Jesus little girl of
even I Induced to make tier first
onfesslon to an unmarried man, Hhe
foe Into the confessional that dark
pot into which not on gay of Ood'
untight ever enterskneel down,
ay the prescribed formula, and then
i questioned by one of those lcek, fat
priests, whose passion and whose d
Ire are no different from the desire
nd pssslon of any other of (Jod'
creature. She kneel there! The
rlet ask her If she ha lied, If she
fea been disobedient and many other
' questions whk'h her pur little mind,
Into which sin ha not effected an m
trance, readily form an answer, lie
then ask herI Khali not give the
prleHt'a word; I will us my own lan
guage to convey the Idea contained In
hi question lie ask tier If she say
her prayer before she goe to bed?
Then, gentlemen, thl man, oh, no, thl
beast, who claim to be the representa
tive of Cbrlwt, thl priest nek that lit
tle girl, that pure, Innocent child, If
sha, upon retiring, ever doe ought to
herself that would cause Immodest
moiiictit or Immoral passions, You
know a child of that age naturally
know nothing about that which the
priest questions hr. He trie to make
It plain to her, but she doc not iimler
tend. (Jrowltig Impatient, he tells her
to leave tier compartment In the con
fessional and to come In to him, Kite
doe o. That child, who doe not
SHEPHERD.
Gleaned Prom Her
Only at Washing
Characterized as the
Satan-Children. Maids and Wives
to Hell.
know what sin Is, goe Into the box
with the priest; and then, g-ntlemt'ii,
what a. crime Is committed In the name
of religion and In the name of Jesus
Christ! That priest give that child a
lesson In how she can be sinful -how
she can be Immoral
"Will you tell me that I rul Irion?
Will you tell me that I Christianity?
That child ha been taught a lesson
he never will forget, and Jeeu is
made the covering. Oh, blasphemy!
Thrn ttie priest gies on questioning
her. He ask her who are her play
mateswhether they are little girl or
little boy, If they are little boy, do
they ever undress before her, or does
he ever undrcs In-fore them, and
whether they ever do anything they
hould not do. Think of a man. an
unmarried roan, .asking a seven-year-old
girl uch revolting question, and
then If her little mind Is too pure to
catch what he mean, she must be
taught, ho that she may In the future
lie able to guard her soul against that
In. And that man claim to be a rep
resentative of Christ! Ild Christ ever
lead a child mind Into channel of
In? Did he not take child and lt
it In (h midst of hie disciple and any:
"suffer little children to come unto
me," and, "Except ye become llitle
children ye can In no wise enuir the
kingdom of heaven?" What a sacri
lege then, for this priest to claim to
represent k.irlst! Ho is the represent
atlve of the devil.
That I Mr, Hhcpherd's statement,
In our words, of the first confession of
a Romon Catholic child, Hhe stand
ready to nrov that that I the prat
tle laid down by Roman Catholls the
ologian, and followed by Roman
Catholic priest. Th charge I so e
rlou that we cannot allow It to pass
without offering space in these col
umn to Illshop Illchard flcannell, the
bead of the Roman Catholic church in
thl part of Nebraska, to explain to
the people that the church neither
tearhe nor practice such revolting
thing- Will Nlshop Bcannell say the
Roman Catholic church theologle do
not teach, or that Roman Catholic
priest do not propound such revolt
ing question to little gVrU? If they
do, thould they not be arrested for
running school of Immorality?
Mr, Bhepherd then took up the case
of a roung woman who is about to be
married. The young lady go Into
the confessional, That same fat, siees
orlest I there, He I unmarried. He
hits passion lis other men, Yet he
sk tier question that none but a man
of tone could ssk a young, prepo.
Resslng, vrrtuou woman and not cause
passion to consume him. She kneels
befor him. 8he confesses all her ln,
except a secret sin,
(tut tie Is not satisfied. He must
know the secret recesse of her heart
her very thoughtsso he aek If her
betrothed ever attempted to take un
due llbertle with her? If tie had at
tempted to kiss her? If ha had kissed
her on ttie brow, or on her cheek? If
lie had kissed her lasciviously on her
lips, etc.
Then she ay she has sinned grie
vously; that sli hss parted with her
vlrture that gem of her womanhood,
He asks her when? How often? Wheth
er It wiu wltti a married or a single
man; whether It was with her intend
ed husband, Hhe tells him the story,
If she ha sinned the priest pro
nounces absolution, and then, while
they are both wrought up over the dis
closures and the recital, what do you
expect?
It Is the doctrine of the church (f
Rome that the betrothed husband
should first go to the confessional, that
the confessor might the more easily
Induce her to, and the betrothed wife
be the more ready to eonfees her secret
sins knowing that her betrothed litis
bund haJ already confessed the sin In
which they had been partners If,
S
hk gnifMt vf 1elii Mh et-t, M M
me iilhpf , ,n ie r u-t
l.ti-niMui.n !'il'il. '! en
t.i Ibe situs i4 tir h"l Kntld
'Ht h the it be
! Imh Is p") T' " d' I'lhs
It dnt woman.
Hut JoH f n n.U!v Mll.leel1 the
tr4t.. the efMrnnllurt, lttih the It"
ttisn Csilmlic bunh ilarre on nmn
1 lh f.liile InsiriK'Hon t the
iiMihim.l "Hhoiild a roonnlrnelty
I. oin of a Ih sI snl a huntstt, be lep
tlrlT" I a quetUbm iritinilei y
the theiiigln. The iis-r I "II
the iHinirlty be Imrn of a men anl
a li'Nt. vps. iiereuse nun Is a llifal
ibui Tit ilmtt of Ailnm, ho was made i
living soul, and levaue man Is rspnlih
of reproducing a soul. If the nmn
troslty be iHirn of a woman and i
beset, no," There yoit get the eetlma
lion of woman from the standpoint of
the prWthotMl!
Mrs. Hhepherd then went Into pre
natal (baptism, but we do not think
we can explain it fully and keep rleor
of the postal regulations, so we will
make the statement short and rs plain
as the Kngllsh lunguage will permit
If It Is found that the child of a Ro
man Catholic mother cannot be born
alive, then the Infant must be baptised
before Its birth and bofore Its soul
t shi-s its fllcht Into eternity. This Is
doiwi by aid of'a syringe filled with
water, and by making the sign of the
cross on any part of the Infant which
the prl-et ran reach and by saying:
"I baptize thee In the name of the
Father, and of the Hon and of the Holy
dhost." If the mother die In child
birth, or during pregnancy, the priest
collies, He enters Into the death cham
ber, the clothing I raised, an Incision
I made In the abdomen, the infant or
the foetu Is removed, and thl unmar
ried man hold the embryo In the light
and decide by Its color whether It I
h?ad or nllve, If It is dead It I not
baptized, W, I not returned to the
coffin with It mother, It I denied bur
ial In consecrated ground, and Is hid
and burled In the garden or the field
as a. thing of loathing and contempt
If It I alive, that prN-st baptize It
nd replace It In the casket with its
mother, I that religion? That su
perslltlon which disfigure (he dead to
live out a rule of the Hark Ages, 1 that
Christianity?
Then the lecturer took up the con
fcsslonal a It relate to married wo
men, Thl part cannot be pictured in
type. It is too vile, too norrlble, too
al 10 op rlllRHph-I) rtfDxbnAd
revolting to gain admission to the
malls. This we can say, The priest
questions the wife and mother as to
her most secret acts, words, thoughts,
desires, and hopes, The mnrrlag re
latlon Is ruthlessly Invaded. A de
scrlptlon of the Intercourse of husband
and wife is demanded, It must be de
detail. Certain rules laid
down by these unmarried priest must
be observed. Not to conform to thoe
priestly rule lays them liable to mor
tal sin and eternal damnation. How
many of you father, you 1rother, you
young men who are going with Roman
Catholic glTl and expect to make
them your partners for life, bow would
von like those lecherous, drunker
priests to ask your dear ones such
awful, uch Insulting questions?
Home people wonder at my being
able to stand before an audience com
nosed of men and tell of these revolt
ing nd un-Chrlstlan practices; twit 1
have put sld that false modesty that
would close my mouth, and listen
only to the call of duty, I am but the
pioneer, th Argonaut Hi this work. In
a few year there will be a scorn of
women warning the public a I m
warning you tonight The evil of Im
morality I a national evil It I our
natltonal crime and disgrace and you
men who wield the ballot wHI tv
to meet It sorn day,
For years the warning bos been
sounded from the pulpit and from th
lecture platform. Kor year th col
umn of the patriotic pres have teem
ed with editorial against JU growth
and against the Institution that breeds
It, Yet the people sleep on. It re
mind me of Johnstown and the flood,
For year men would go up above the
city and Inspect a dam that held mil
lion of barrel of water, and they
would come back and sav the dam
Is unsafe; you ought to move out of
this valley, Home day It will give way
and then the whole city will be de
stroyed. Ho It went on year after year,
and people began to laugh at those
who would bring back the report end
cnll them alarmists, One day, how
ever, the clatter of horss hoofs we
heard coming down the valley. A man,
hatless and almost breathless dashed
through the street of Johnstown,
shouting, "The dam ha given way;
flee to the hills," Ho it Is today The
people hear these things against the
(Continued on pao 4. j
A GRAND
JURY NEEDED
The Courts, the County Hoard, the
Board of Education and City (lov
ernment Should he Investigated.
What n Pormcr Ornnd Jury llnd to Sny on Mu
nicipal Corruption --The llrlbc-Ulver and Taker
ScoredSame Condition L'xlst To-day.
"We find that many crime have ben
committed that are barred by the stat
ute of limitations, anil we recom
mend that a grand Jury be Impanelled
hereafter at least once year,"
This Is what the grand Jury which
adjourned after a four week scHlon
ending March II, 1S92, snld In I's re
port to the dletrlct court! That same
grand Jury returned fifty-three Indict
ments, Including charges against sev
eral city officials. The newspapers
said the Jury had done good work, the
court thanked the Jury fur It devotion
to the public interests; every public of
ficial Indicted by the Jury escaped con
viction through technicalities, and but
one grand Jury ha I wen held since
that time, more thiyi six years ago
In Its report to the court, the mos,
scathing document ever handed In by
a Douglas county grand Jury, the sub
ject of corruption rn the city govern
ment and school board, was treated
as follows:
"During our Investigation we have
uncovered many abuses In city affair
which cannot l.e corrected by bllli of
Indictment for want of sufficient testi
mony, The municipal affairs of Oma
ha during (he past few year are hon
eycombed wi'.h IrnuulnrlOx 'hat tuve
bei-n costly to the people, It Is no
secret that the factions In the city
council have been created largely by
the contractors and corpora' Ions. In
stances are not rore where councilmert
and other public officials have yielded
the power entrusted to them with un
blushing servility. Veracity and up
rightness have been at a discount.
Courage and manhood have too often
been sacrificed to venality, Ho many
Jobs have gone through the city'coun
cll that It bus become an accepted Id' a
throughout the ciuntry that material
men and agents having business with
the city must retort to corrupt meth
od if they would be successful,
"A grand Jury which has listened to
the sworn testimony of wKnee
who Inclination or whose buslnes
ha led them to Investigate h meth
od prevailing In tie conduct of public
affairs, become forcibly aware of th
reason why the contractor nd ror
poratlon are so potential Hi Hit mi.i I
elpal governmenr. Yet w are con
vinced that we have been blj lo un
cover only fev of lb crime commit
ted sgalnst the sHfutes that are de
signed to protect the public from lf.se
at the band of officials who are dis
honest by nature and whose greed Im
pels them, by solicitation of menace,
to break all the restraints of propri
ety and decency. The way of th cor
rupllonlst are devious and hard to
trace! Ilrlbes are given end accepted
In all sort of form and under a va
riety of names. It may be con tract
with the city or school board, or with
some corporation having business with
these bodls; It may be a suit of
clothes, a silk hat, a Junketing trip at
the expense of the railroad or con
tractor, or a Jamboree In the Immor
al district; It may be an unusual dl
count on a go bill; a street car p;
the payment of the e! Uon expense
of candidates, or other consideration
more or less valuable, grven perhsp
with a display of friendship and some
times accepted with pardonable mo
tives, but It Is too often designed to
woo the representatives of the people
way from their duty, thus removing
the obstructions In (he way to the pub
lic treasury,
"Although embarrassed by reticent
wiftiesse. this Jury ha pursued the
rumors which Justify the foregoing
statement with unremitting care, only
to find that the ututc have been
evaded by some trick or device known
to the trained boodler. There seems
to be no adequate remedy except by
requiring a higher standard of honesty
and efficiency hi those who are select
ed for official place, To this end we
believe the primary election law should
be amended to conform as far a prso-
tl utile to the Australian ballot sys
tem, so that contractor end others
cannot manipulate the primaries In the
Interest of the taxpayer.
1 "We recommend that the law of bri
bery be so amended as to make the
bribe-taker alone responsible, llrlbe
! givers, who are now equally criminal
with ttie In l lieu, reruee lo criminate
themselves, and it Is extremely diffi
cult to get competent teetlmony on
which to found Indictments for this
flagrant specie of public wrong. We
recommend that a general law he en
acted preventing any tifflcNtl from
drawing more than one salary at a
time for hi service to the public.
Thero Is a crying demand for mora
honor and honesty of purjxme on th
part of thoee who aeeume to ad minis
ter the public business. Kxample of
Integrity and public spirit are here
and there met wMh, but the tendency
tins been to transact limine with
looseness and extravagance that would
bankrupt any private Institution"
Referring to the board of education
the grand Jury of Dt!2 had tbetwt whole
some suggestions to make;
"Among a variety of serious rumors
affecting thl body, severs! cases have
com to our knowledge where members
of the bimrd have been or still are en-
geged, either directly or Indirectly, In
furnishing supplies or Icing Interested
In contracts wUh the boerd. We sre
sdvlsed that this Is Illegal, though not
Indictable, the law provide no pen
alty In such eases Rut It should not
require a penal clause to prevent mem
bers from Violating the law. The po
sition of merrrber of that ldy Is pure
ly honorable, without the slightest
emolument, Kvery nemler, by reason
of his office, I a primilnent character
in the mind of the children and their
parent throughout the city, It Is folly
to Inculcat the precept of obedience
to law while the child doe not have
to look outside the body which con
trol his daily training to find exam
ple of violation of law, Member of
th board who wleh to contract with
that body should resign their positions,
and we commend the subject of a re
vision of the law to the legislature,"
Those were the conditions six yesrs
go, What are they today?
There re seven Judges tit th dis
trict court. An equity Judge Isene s
restraining order, Three other Judges
meet, and restrain the clerk and sher
iff from obcyhig the order A quarrel
ensues, Charge and roonter-ehefg
are made. One faction say another
la craxy, Another assert that the
other are both Ignorant end corrupt,
The qnsrrel goe m. The court are
disgraced. Th people ere helpless
Hut the people remember that during
the last city election one of the Judges
mixed In thl quarrel seld: "That s
between an e rn !. I r and a gambler,
he would support the embexxlnr for
msyor tit the city," Another Judge
of (he seme faction vouched for the
j honesty of a man whose rrntAn bv
j since convicted him of being a de
j fan ll-r as collector and custodian of
public funds People are asking, what
' Is Ht the bottom of this quarrel? A
grsnd Jury should Investigate,
The grand Jury of IM2 found a very
bad condition of affairs In the city gov
ernment. How is It today? A man
declared by the supreme court to be
Ineligible Is holding the office of msy
or, while the president of the city
council hss become a party to a ' hme
to defeat Justice and to deprive the
rightful holder of the office of his
rights A grsnd Jury should Investi
gate. A city prosecutor appointed by the
convicted mayir acts ss berth prose
cutor end defender In the cliy cases,
A grsnd Jury should Investigate,
The sir is full of rumor respecting
Inducements offered city authorities to
turn Fourteenth street over Vf the
Terminal company. A grand Jury
hould investigate.
A member of tbt city council of
ths tn m M,in lrt fw
lehtiltminl .f it, ftiM .tf ttte '
rlf f ft' ' ..ei of tilth hit m
s-tllii f Hr ...,). rirl tt ).
A tttttelf t m I h !itit r l ftin4
Ilk kutte Hd r t.liii- lictney
in t.)ln.H el law on iHhii ptrtlotte
Iv ttjMt.xt I his seme r tui!iwiiiitir
M.enxt line nee f,f .tnli,... ftim
Ihrtiush the t mi it It l,M ht he
tltSjht Silo hllliaelf 1 1 f ,,,,l,t
money, tint cmtnly elltOtit-r ,n.il,
elm, nml the F'mi't jury li..ili nv
limit-
A e IhmiI HI,. 4 pun tinned si I hull
ssmls of dull, it unite thHtt It I worth,
llrse rumor ere sdna! Nhotif this and
other trsiistu lion of l It i IhhiI board.
A grand Jury should littetlKte,
'I be grsnd jury of IN!i2 fitted to lin
rover many 11 linen with l the power
of the county Ik hind It The matters
related above have come to the sur
fc without e grsnd Jury Investiga
tion. There Is enough In them to Jus
tify the calling of a Jury Wlmt an
honest Jury might uncover would as
tound the com in unity, It's up to th
district Judge
IU)MK DOWNKII.
The lUonsn f'atholie. paper of !
troll previous to the late election were)
outspoken In their hatred of the Hon,
John fl Corliss, 33 degree, cotigr
hisn from the First congrctidonal dU
trlrt of Michigan, for his opjotl'.ion t i
the political ,eMhods of their inured.
The Immigration bill, the bill
permitting Catholics to rect
a chapel at West I'oint Military
Acnlcrny end other measure that
the I (o m ii n Calhollc wished passed
through congress, had riot, received
the hearty support of ftrother Corliss;
then he had at one time de Ivered an
addreea beforth O'snge ivoelefy, and
It was more than suspected that t4
was a member at the A, I', A Hut th
whole I rouble evidently centered In the
fat that f'onr'-w.man f-orllts n;id re
fused to wenr (be chain of It m t,n
(he questions affecting Humanism,
wtibh will come before; the next con
gress Tke Wl'ns says'
"The next congre Is goi fo b g
very Important ime, Catholic, que.
Hons sre Met ad to come op In connec
tion with I'orto Kleo, f:tilii and th
Philippines We e.snt a reprevntatlv
there who will look after the lfilr'
of his Catholic cojtiifllijenu who will
not be sfrald cor ,i;istr 'l lo atvosttt
their isuse and ho will timi tut
right and juwilo 'hough the h4n
fall, John I! CorlUt is not ru h rep
resentative, He should n'rf receive thl
suffrsg's of Catho!)'! cltlen, for In
voting for Job i It, (!ori;4 Cstholb
would be cl!n their v;te f ir either
an Ignorant lun-l'-rrr, skulking rew
ard or an artful dodger,"
This Is Roman Catholic logic, If
you do not stand up for the pspsv y
against (he world, then you do not
"stand for right sd Justice,' Jt wa
ver thus, The Tyler l glad to know
that the patriot!'; citizen of first
district. Catholic well f'rot
tent, decided vgslnst so fl g doo
(rrne, The Hon, John ft will return
to congress for th third (n, Tt
mistake be made In the pt In not titl
ing more pronoun. 'ed sgsfest 'I un
just encroachment of Horn upon th
liberties of the people of thl country
can be remedied, when th iueMurt
Indicated by the Wltns com Mum
the next congress The representative
of Home sod not of (he ftepublle will
then be known by the roffijaor they
keep,. American Tyler,
A NOTl H5 ft,
Koulhbtldge, Ms, w, 1, -frr
tflr: I see you are still In want
of money, f don't think It polbl to
get you eulrt rlbrs br-m fur tilt,
and then msny might think tti
would M jnai the pl for an A, P,
A, conticl), but If they were her they
might think different Kully to
thlrd rn our popultbn ar Komait
Cathollc, and a msjorify of mi vot
ers sre the me. Th mist fit th
Americans are afrsld to say thetf
iwrtils are their own and nr comple
ly under th thumb of (be prtt,
they dominate mr public school and
putdlc lihrsrv and buefno plsc.
Hut t will do the next lef thing f
have a friend In Htooaiyn who w"
lie highly pleased with the pape, and
you may send It (o blm for a year, ttr
which pj find enibd f2,M, t
beariily agre with yoi slout in
gieet conet Mi ti m 'orning, It wC
1 a bard one tour In Y, I', J'
f, L, H,
as' nam,
Rilenohnrg, Washington, HormW
, Is 9S, -To the Atttericm. 'ntlmm
ton will find lncm g tnon orfr
for 12 Mi to renew toy sulmrlotlon for
the A merles a for the year M9, Your
respectfully, JAMK3 J II WIN.
