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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
President M. A. O'Byrne, an enthusiastic meeting was
held in Savannah; Sunday, November 22d, through
the splendid preliminary work of Vice-President Long
an overflow meeting in Macon. Sunday, November
16th, meetings were held in Brunswick in the after
noon and at Waycross in the evening; Monday, the
I 7th, a fine meeting in Albany; Columbus, December
12th, and at Augusta, Sunday, January 1 I th. Through
the splendid work of Vice-President Poche and Miss
Mary Helen Hynes, Washington put on a drive and
raised from a congregation of less than twenty
$1,262.00, which is a credit to the Catholicity and
generosity of this small, but splendid, Catholic com
munity.
In each place visited we organized branches of the
State Association, and these have done and are doing
splendid work in keeping up the collections. The
Haverty plan of raising funds was carried out, and to
this are we indebted for our successful campaign, as
the following subscription list shows:
Atlanta $24,080.00
Savannah (estimated) 20,000.00
Macon 5,000.00
Brunswick 1,000.00
Waycross 822.00
Albany 2,241.00
St. Mary’s 5.00
Washington 1,262.00
Augusta 24,159.96
Columbus (estimated) 4,000.00
Sandersville (one subscriber) 100.00
Milledgeville 12.00
Marietta 3 7.00
Out of State 40.00
TotaI $82,758.96
In addition to the cash subscriptions, Mr. A. W.
Litschgi, Jr., of Charleston, S. C., generously donated
to the Association three vacant lots situated in Way-
cross and valued at $300.00, making a total of
$83,058.96.
The collections will be shown in the reports of the
Secretary and Treasurer, and I urge upon the officers
of the local branches to be diligent in seeing that
subscriptions are paid promptly, as it is upon the
payments that your officers depend to carry on the
work.
Following the last Convention a meeting of the
American Hierarchy was held in Washington, D. C.,
under the auspices of the National Catholic Welfare
Council. Bishop Russell, of the Charleston Diocese,
and the chairman of the Publicity Committee, of the
Council, visited our headquarters in Augusta, looked
carefully into our system and requested our Speakers’
Committee to start a similar Association in South
Carolina. On December 3d your Campaign Commit
tee, with that splendid Catholic and intellectual
genius, Mr. Benedict Elder, had the pleasure of speak-
mg before the Priests of the Charleston Diocese, as
well as lay representatives from every section of the
State. I am pleased to report that they are now
doing splendid and efficient work along our lines.
During the year a meeting of your Finance Com
mittee was held in Macon for the purpose of securing
the undivided services of Mr. J. J. Farrell, our Pub
licity Manager. I am pleased to inform this Conven
tion that we were successful, and he is now devoting
his entire time to the work of our Association.
Another meeting of the Finance Committee was
held in Savannah to consider a proposition from
Bishop Russell, chairman of the Publicity Committee
of the National Catholic Welfare Council, to have
Mr. Farrell visit the different States, explaining our
work with a view to organizing Associations similar
to ours. Your Finance Committee and our Rt. Rev.
Bishop willingly agreed, so long as it did not in
terfere with his work in Georgia. I consider this a
splendid advertisement for our Association, as Mr.
Farrell has visited the States of Pennsylvania, New
York, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia, West
Virginia and Florida, and today our work is known
not only nationally, but internationally.
National Catholic Welfare Council.
Bishop Schrembs, chairman of the department of
lay organizations of the National Catholic Welfare
Council, requested and urged us to send a representa
tive to a preliminary meeting which was held in
Chicago on May 6, 1920. Acting under the advice
of our Rt. Rev. Bishop and the Finance Committee,
I appointed our publicity manager, Mr. Farrell, who
will, in his report, give you an account of that meet
ing. We have received notice of the annual meeting
of this Association to be held in Washington, D. C.,
this month, and I have again appointed Mr. Farrell
to represent us.
Education.
A matter which deserves your consideration today
is the proposed federalization of the educational sys
tems of the several States which is now pending in
congress, and known as the Smith-Towner bill. At
the recent National Convention of the Knights of
Columbus held in New York, this bill was fully cov
ered, and I wish to re-echo the sentiments it expresses.
I wish to call your earnest attention to the urgent
need and the absolute necessity existing today of
properly educating our Catholic children, especially
the boys. The erroneous idea that a grammar school
education is sufficient for our Catholic children is
entirely too prevalent. I consider it our responsibility
and, 1 will say our duty, to indorse and to actively
support all deserving work directed to the higher
education of our Catholic boys.
In substantiation of my firm convictions on this
subject, permit me to remind you of the intimate re
lationship existing between education and the ob
ject and aim of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of
Georgia; As I see it, the fundamental work of our
Association is education. We are endeavorin'- to
educate our non-Catholic friends to a more sane
viewpoint of our religion. In short, to expel some
of the dense and profound ignorance that prevails
throughout Georgia concerning our faith and our re-
ligious practice.