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2 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.)