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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA 9 THE QUARTER’S WORK Reports are ordinarily made at conventions, but it is a long time between conventions, as some one said about something else some time ago, and the Publicity Director feels the members of the Laymen’s Association should at least be given an idea of the work being done by his department. The advertising started by Mr. Farrell has been continued. Ads have been published in the papers of ten counties, including Fulton and Bibb, the county seats of which are Atlanta and Macon. During March 1 18 inquiries were received, the largest number in many months. There was not an abusive letter in the batch. One man wrote he was anti-Catholic. The questions he asked proved he was telling the truth, but even he was willing and anxious to know the other side. In January 3,363 pieces of literature were distrib uted, including The Bulletin, about 300 more than the previous month. The February record was 3,088. The literature sent out during March numbered 16,606 pieces. Included in this large total were 1,200 sample copies of The Bulletin and as many circular letters, sent throughout the United States in an at tempt to increase the subscription of our monthly publication. More about this later. During the quarter, 68 copies of “The Faith of Our Fathers,” by Cardinal Gibbons, were sent out, practically all of them to non-Catholics who requested the work. The feature of the work of the first three months was the placing of sets of the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1 6 volumes to the set, in five Georgia institutions of higher learning and one library by prominent Cath olics of Georgia at the suggestion of the Laymen’s Association. Mr. J. J. Haverty, of Atlanta, pre sented a set to Georgia Tech and Oglethorpe Uni versity; Mr. Winfield Jones, of Atlanta, sent a set to his Alma Mater, the University of Georgia at Athens. Mr. R. W. Hatcher, of Milledgeville, presented the Encyclopedia to the Georgia Military College in his home town with a speech to the assembled student body. In Macon Messrs. M. J. Callaghan and Cecil Morgan tendered a set to Mercer University, Mr. J. G. Barron placed the work on the shelves of the Albany Library, in the name of Rev. Leo F. Keenan, pastor in charge of the Albany Missions. Emory University, of Atlanta, already has a set, the gift of Mr. Lynch, of that city. The sets of the Encyclopedia were everywhere received with thanks, and will prove splendid additions to the fine libraries these institu tions already possess. The desire to increase the subscription list of The Bulletin is based on the fact that the Association does much work outside the State, although our mem bers and contributors come almost exclusively from Georgia. Recently inquiries were received from twelve States in answer to an ad in an Atlanta paper, Maine, Iowa, Arkansas and practically every South ern State among them. More subscribers from other States would help pay for this work. It is expected that The Bulletin will be admitted by the postal authorities to second class mailing privi leges very soon. Subscribers and contributors must sign a form for presentation to the authorities first. The office is now working along these lines. The Laymen’s Association was recently admitted to membership in the National Catholic Welfare Council. The resolutions committee at the 1920 con vention sanctioned the proposal of the officers that the organization make application for membership. The Publicity Bureau has had occasion to take up with editors, especially those of country newspapers, errors about Catholics and Catholic practices which appeared in their columns. Most of the statements to which we objected were based on lack of informa tion on the part of the writer, and were not repeated. The papers are remarkably free from prejudice. There is one publication in Atlanta, a free lance weekly which has been printing the ancient anti- Catholic myths. The editor invariably prints our let ters to him. He prints a great deal of Ku Klux Klan news, some anti-Catholic propaganda and a little Catholic news now and then. He attacks the Cath olic Church and the Protestant ministry in the same breath. Anti-Catholicism is frequently evident in Atlanta and Macon, but it causes a reaction among fair- minded Protestants that is distinctly favorable to those whom the zealots attack. In Fulton County there is a clergyman who seems to be laboring under the delusion that he was called to preach hatred of Catholics instead of love of Christ. In Macon the Guardians of Liberty run an occasional ad warning the American people that the Pope is scheming to bring about the downfall of our free institutions. The Macon people persist in their short-sighted policy of refusing to heed the warning. Republics ever were ungrateful. Recent news from the Catholic Missions at Tokyo, convey the intelligence that two of the secular uni versities are taking up the study of the Catholic re ligion. It is said that fear of Bolshevism, which is making serious inroads into all classes of society in Japan, is partly responsible for this step. THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA State Officers for 1920-1921 P. H. Rice, president, Augusta. Col. P. H. Callahan, honorary vice-president, Louisville, Ky. J. J. Haverty, first vice-president, Atlanta. J. B. McCallum, secretary, Atlanta. Thomas S. Gray, treasurer, Augusta. Richard Reid, editor and publicity director, Augusta. Miss Cecile C. Ferry, assistant publicity director, Augusta.