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3 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA ADMIRAL BENSON LAUDS LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION IN CONVENTION ADDRESS COMPLETE TEXT OF ADDRESS OF FAMOUS G EORGIAN AND NEW LEADER OF NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC MEN, AS DELIVERED AT GREAT ATLANTA GATHERING. I am deeply touched by your cordial reception, more deeply than I can express to you. I left this State 49 years ago, and entered the service of our cherished country. You will pardon personal ref erences, I hope, because I feel that as one of you I should tell you something of what I have been. I left this State 49 years ago on the 23rd of this month and entered the service of our glorious coun try, and I think I can say in modesty, I can say it because I am still a Georgian, that a great deal that I have done and accomplished I owe to Georgia. Whatever I have been and whatever I have done, there has always been in my heart the feeling of satisfaction and pleasure when I was successful that I was a native of the State of Georgia. I left the State of Georgia as a good Methodist, the son of pious Georgia parents. My mother was the first graduate of Wesleyan Female College at Macon, and it was due largely to the pious training of these good parents later in my life when God blessed me with a good Catholic wife, that it was an easy step from one to the other, because experience ha? taught me that when a man is really in earnest, uses his intelligence, and applies to the sources of truth, he can come to but one conclusion. It was to that conclusion I came to in 1881, and I became s Catholic. I want to say this because I want you to know in my native State that the path I have followed since I became a Catholic has been prompt ed by another motive. I know the feeling existing outside the church. I wanted to lead a life that could be an example. I wanted to show to the people of this country that a man could be a prac tical Catholic, and reach to the height of his pro fession, and no one could be able tb find fault with his life either private or public. I take pride in the fact as a Catholic and a native of Georgia, and I want every man in the State of Georgia to know that I take pride in it, and I want them to know I have reflected credit on Georgia as a Catholic, and no one can find any flaw in my life as a Catholic in private or in my public life. I. a Catholic Geor gian, have done that, and I want my fellow Geor gians to know that I have done it and am proud of it. The Georgia Laymen’s Association. Now, in regard to this Association, I feel very grateful for the honor done me in asking me to come here because I can tell you that you are doing and have done a more wonderful work than you have any idea of. I can tell you this from what I have learned on the outside. I am interested in the Cath olic Men’s Council and the National Catholic Wo men’s Council, formed in 1919 by the Hierarchy. It promises to be, and I believe it will be, one, if not the most of the important movements started in the Church in America. I believe that this Catho lic Laymen’s Association of Georgia, together with the work done by the Knights of Columbus before the war and during the war, was the inspiration to the American Hierarchy to determine upon this movement. That is the feeling of Catholics out of the State who are interested in the movement and realize what you have done. You have done a big work, and its results are beyond your realization. It has proven that the lay men of this country, when called upon by the Hier archy, can be depended upon to meet the situation. You have taken hold of the situation in a quiet, dig nified, earnest manner that must and evidently has appealed to the honest people of the State of Geor gia, and I believe if the work can be continued on the same lines throughout the United States, it will meet the same results. I have read the reports and know the results of the splendid efforts you have put forth. It is very gratifying, the manner in which you have avoided every suspicion of anger, but have shown the feeling of Catholic charity. Notwithstanding many criticisms upon our State, its people, if properly educated and informed, will do the right thing. If we are to be successful in any of these movements, that is the only course to be pursued. We must ac cept the sincerity of our fellow men, seeking the truth, and it is up to us to point the way of truth, not only by pamphlets and preaching but by the daily life of every Catholic man and woman in the country. I do not intend to be in the attitude of preach ing, but simply to give you an idea of the enthusi asm that your splendid work has impressed me with, in order that you may maintain the charitable, dig nified course of action you have started and are fol lowing. We shall and should assert our principles without fear of contradiction. In this country to day after Catholics have proven themselves true in every phase of American life, in peace and in war, in business, science and the arts, in every phase of American life they have proven the falsity of the charges made against them, so that if there is anyone here to-day to make a statement against the Church—an institution above reproach—he is either a fool or a knave. Our Moral Code Sound. We are in a position to assert ourselves with pos itiveness. Our standards are founded on the Su preme law, and we know that what we are doing is right. Our moral code is sound and we can state without fear of contradiction the principles of our holy religion. We should be well informed and know what we are talking about. We must get to gether. That is a great thing in your movement, it brings you together. As soon as you find the Catho lic people get together in a movement of this _ na ture, their zeal in every phase increases. It brings you together and you exchange ideas, and you have a better knowledge of your Faith. You get the points you should be familiar with. I wish it were in my power adequately to express to you as a fellow Georgian how much I do feel with regard to this work. My intense love of country and my native State fills me wih pride because I feel we have a great work and a great responsibility. Knowing our Faith is founded on Divine Truth we must do everything we can in utilizing it in in forming those against us, in stabilizing conditions in this country, in this world in fact. In this. coun try there is a great need and demand for it. If Catholics can unite and work together they will help to fulfill a great destiny by stabilizing condi tions and make our country what it should be. The Layman’s Association of Georgia has grown in the few years of its existence to a large place in the hearts of the Catholic people of the United States.