The American. (Omaha, Nebraska) 1891-1899, December 09, 1898, Image 1
THE AMERICAN. OMAHA, NI'.IUUMrU. Kltll'AY, 1!V MIUU IM'H I M( . I It I. t I Mm VtH VIII. r F .1 ! T r a- i ) '( i X) i 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.