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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
GEORGIA’S JUNIOR SENATOR SILENT WHEN ASKED TO
PROVE CHARGES
Little has developed during the past month in
the charges of the Junior Senator from Georgia
against the officials of Chatham County, Bishop
Keiley, and the Catholic Sisterhoods, except a
great deal of silence on the part of the man who
made the charges. The open letter of The Cath
olic Laymen’s Association of Georgia asking that
specific instances in which the law was violated
be named, has been ignored.
In the July number of The Bulletin there were
reproduced extracts of letters to and from Senator
John Sharp Williams of Mississippi regarding the
charges of the Junior Senator from Georgia. In
the last of these letters, the Publicity Director
told Senator Williams that it seemed that he was
willing to help the Junior Senator from Georgia
set our state in order if it were necessary; and he
inquired what steps he proposed taking now in
view of the fact that he had been shown that it
was the Junior Senator from Georgia and not the
State of Georgia that was at fault. The letter was
not answered.
In a letter to a Savannah friend Senator Wil
liams, according to Savannah papers, stated that
he was satisfied that the charges of the Junior
Senator from Georgia were false, and that he
never suspected that they were true.
How the fair-minded non-Catholics of the
state feel toward the Junior Senator from
Georgia and his attack on the Georgia officials,
Bishop Keiley and the Sisters is reflected by a
letter, written to the editor of the Savannah Morn
ing News by Rev. John Durham Wing, rector of
Christ Church, Protestant Episcopal, of that
city, and published there July 16. The letter fol
lows:
Senator Watson’s Article
Editor of the Morning News:
In regard to the article appearing in Tom
Watson’s Columbia Sentinel and reproduced
in the Morning News of July 11, it would ap
pear that there is something else involved
than an outrageous attack upon the Roman
Catholic Church and Bishop Keiley.
The article is so vile that I dislike exceeding
ly to quote from it and yet there is no other
way of making clear the point I have in mind.
After alleging, without shadow of proof, that
of the 65,000 girls w^io disappeared last year
a majority were “captured by Catholic priests
and sentenced to slavery in the Houses of the
Good Shepherd,” and (in spite of the fact that
there is no House of the Good Shepherd locat
ed in our city) that “in Keiley’s establishment
at Savannah, Georgia, there may probably be
a score or more of these missing girls,” the ar
ticle proceeds to insinuate that though the
laws of Georgia require that all eleemosynary
institutions shall be inspected by county au
thorities (the well known Veasey act), Bishop
Keiley refuses to allow such inspections of
Roman Catholic institutions in Chatham
county to be made. The reason for this be
ing, we are further told, that the Bishop “in
forms us that he gets his laws from Rome and
therefore he cannot recognize the laws made
in this country.”
It could clearly be inferred from this that
there are Roman Catholic institutions in ex
istence in Savannah where girls are held in
vilest slavery; that if officers of the law did
their sworn duty and inspected these institu
tions these helpless captives would be discov
ered and liberated; that the Bishop of Sa
vannah refuses to recognize the authority of
American-made laws, and hence does not per
mit inspection of his church’s institutions;
and that our county authorities, evidently
cowed by the Bishop, dare not enforce the
law requiring such inspection.
This certainly is a grave imputation—for the
editor of the Sentinel is far too shrewd to
make direct charges and thus becomes amen
able to the libel laws—against the citizens of
Savannah and the public officials of Chatham
county, of permitting the most horrid evils to
go on in our midst uninvestigated, unchecked
and unpunished.
Dear old Bishop Keiley, revered and beloved
by thousands of his fellow citizens who are
not members of his church, needs no defense
against such malignant and absurd accusa
tions, and his dignified statement already
made is sufficient answer from his standpoint.
But what have the people of Savannah and
the public officials of Chatham county to say
about them? Savannahians know they are
malicious falsehoods; our county authorities
can establish the fact that in no county in
Georgia has the Veasey act been more rigor
ously enforced than in Chatham. But the out
side world may not be so well informed.
Is it too much to expect that our people will
arise to deny these foul imputations and repu
diate the slur cast upon our public officials
by—God save the mark—the Junior Senator
from the State of Georgia?
I believe not; and, for one, refuse to keep sil
ent.
John Durham Wing,
Christ Church, Savannah.
THE SUPPORT OF CATHOLIC ORGANIZATIONS
The support of Catholic organizations is a
matter which has so surpassed individual effort
that nothing seems worth attempting except by
united strength. We can realize how greatly co
operation will increase our power by recalling the
wonderful works of the ancient gilds and seeing
what is accomplished today by opposing forces
through combination. We also can count on suc
cess in our joint undertakings. Like sentinels
we must warn of the threatening dangers and do
our best to stem the evil tides of those turbulent
times. The most difficult part has been done by
pioneers who knew the need of the Church in
every age, and it behooves us to follow faithfully
in their footsteps.
The older organizations of the Diocese are so
well known it is needless to name them, but it
serves a purpose to mention those established
more recently, formed to meet present day re
quirements. The Catholic Laymen’s Association
is especially noteworthy, its chief aim being re
moval of religious bigotry. In spite of its mar
velous work, there is still great need of its ser
vice, for its very success has brought forth old.
and new calumnies, which, although skilfully
answered, are still spread broadcast. This does
not appal us, for we know the benefit of perse
cution and know too that investigation of such
glaring untruths has converted many.
(Continued to page 16.)