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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA 15 “STOP LYNCHING” Bishop Keiley’s invective against the great crime of lynching has found responsive echo in many places. The Association sent out several thousand reprints of his letter to The Atlanta Constitution and that paper’s editorial about it. Some excellent letters were received and a number of newspapers have com mented upon it. Some of these follow: International Sunday School Association, Office of H. C. Lyman, D. D., 79 East Mitchell Street, Atlanta, Ga., April 6, 1920. At the suggestion of Bishop Keiley, of Savannah, I am writing to ask you to do me the kindness to send me a few copies of the Bishop s letter printed in The Atlanta Constitution relative to lynching. I wrote to thank him for his brave words. Our col ored people are not getting the square deal that they should have. It is a disgrace upon our great State that it should stand first in this horrible crime. I am sending letters constantly to the negro schools through the Southland and I am sure that many ne groes will appreciate seeing the strong statement from the Bishop. Thanking you kindly, I am glad to be yours faith fully, (Signed) H. C. LYMAN, D. D. Stop Lynching Negroes! To the Editor: Bishop Keiley, of Savannah, Ga., with the help of a devoted band of Catholic laymen is making a tre mendous effort to stop the barbarous practice of lynching, burning, and quartering negroes. May God help him to succeed in stamping out this disgrace, not only in his own State, but throughout the coun try. Our conscience must be very callous, indeed, seeing that that pagan, merry-making practice hardly evokes a mild protest. How honorable, how Chris tian, how democratic it would be if the whole Ameri can people were of one mind on this subject with the heroic Bishop of Georgia. The Catholic press, and likewise the clean secular press, should rally to his aid. The Fortnightly Review, I know, will do its duty, as it always does. Yours for justice and charity, (Rev.) Raymond Vernimont, in Fortnightly Review. Bishop Pleads for Negroes. As drastic an arraignment as we have ever read of lynching, of the public sentiment which condones it, and of the judicial courts that fail to punish it is contained in a letter written by Bishop Keiley, of Sa vannah, to The Atlanta Constitution. The prelate’s words are all the more forcible as coming from one whose devotion to the South can not be called in ques tion. We quote a few of his most forceful sentences: “I have lived to see in Georgia an appeal made to the highest authority in the State for protection of the lives of colored men, women and children, an swered by the statement that the negro should not commit crimes I The people of Georgia vest in cer tain officials the execution of justice. Yet no lyncher has ever been punished here, and I regret to state that public sentiment seems to justify the conduct of the officials. “Injustice and disregard of law and the lawful con duct of affairs are the sure forerunners of anarchy and the loss of otir liberty, and we are drifting in that direction. I have pleaded for justice to the negro be cause it is his due and his right.” From The Tribune, Dubuque, la. Charge Against Mob Violence Commended. Athens, Ga. A recent report on justice to the poor in America charges discrimination against them in most of our petty courts without regard to section or race. The judges of New York’s minor courts claim that special modern provisions in that city now clear it of this general charge; and there are many indi cations of a demand in the South for a better justice for the poor, and especially for the negroes, who con stitute the bulk of that class. The charge of Judge Cobb, of Athens, in the trial following an outbreak of mob violence in Clark Coun ty, elicited emphatic indorsement throughout the South. People as far apart ecclesiastically as the Catholic Bishop of Savannah and the Protestant min isters of Atlanta, are publicly calling for law enforce ment in Georgia courts without regard to race. In a number of States grand juries have recently found true bills against whites accused of injustice to ne groes; and a Mississippi judge has recently imposed a sentence of fines and imprisonment on white men convicted of such offenses. Right-thinking people everywhere have always stood for such justice, but in the South, as elsewhere, there is discernible a new coherence among the units of this class which promises it a full power of con trol.—From Greenville (S. C.) Piedmont. CONTRACT AWARDED FOR NEW CATHOLIC CHURCH. Savannah, Ga.—The contract has been let for the erection of a new Roman Catholic Church in Savan nah. It will be known as the Church of the Blessed Sacrament Parish. The contract has been awarded to W. T. Hussey who will begin work soon. The church will be of concrete block, the first church in Savannah to be constructed of that material. It is with deep regret that we note the death of Rev. J. A. Dahlent, of Macon. He will be greatly missed in the publicity office where his helpful coun sel was often appreciated. He was one of that heroic band laboring among the colored people, one of the zealous followers of the Saviour who died for all men. May his soul rest in peace.