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2 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA President M. A. O'Byrne, an enthusiastic meeting was held in Savannah; Sunday, November 22d, through the splendid preliminary work of Vice-President Long an overflow meeting in Macon. Sunday, November 16th, meetings were held in Brunswick in the after noon and at Waycross in the evening; Monday, the I 7th, a fine meeting in Albany; Columbus, December 12th, and at Augusta, Sunday, January 1 I th. Through the splendid work of Vice-President Poche and Miss Mary Helen Hynes, Washington put on a drive and raised from a congregation of less than twenty $1,262.00, which is a credit to the Catholicity and generosity of this small, but splendid, Catholic com munity. In each place visited we organized branches of the State Association, and these have done and are doing splendid work in keeping up the collections. The Haverty plan of raising funds was carried out, and to this are we indebted for our successful campaign, as the following subscription list shows: Atlanta $24,080.00 Savannah (estimated) 20,000.00 Macon 5,000.00 Brunswick 1,000.00 Waycross 822.00 Albany 2,241.00 St. Mary’s 5.00 Washington 1,262.00 Augusta 24,159.96 Columbus (estimated) 4,000.00 Sandersville (one subscriber) 100.00 Milledgeville 12.00 Marietta 3 7.00 Out of State 40.00 TotaI $82,758.96 In addition to the cash subscriptions, Mr. A. W. Litschgi, Jr., of Charleston, S. C., generously donated to the Association three vacant lots situated in Way- cross and valued at $300.00, making a total of $83,058.96. The collections will be shown in the reports of the Secretary and Treasurer, and I urge upon the officers of the local branches to be diligent in seeing that subscriptions are paid promptly, as it is upon the payments that your officers depend to carry on the work. Following the last Convention a meeting of the American Hierarchy was held in Washington, D. C., under the auspices of the National Catholic Welfare Council. Bishop Russell, of the Charleston Diocese, and the chairman of the Publicity Committee, of the Council, visited our headquarters in Augusta, looked carefully into our system and requested our Speakers’ Committee to start a similar Association in South Carolina. On December 3d your Campaign Commit tee, with that splendid Catholic and intellectual genius, Mr. Benedict Elder, had the pleasure of speak- mg before the Priests of the Charleston Diocese, as well as lay representatives from every section of the State. I am pleased to report that they are now doing splendid and efficient work along our lines. During the year a meeting of your Finance Com mittee was held in Macon for the purpose of securing the undivided services of Mr. J. J. Farrell, our Pub licity Manager. I am pleased to inform this Conven tion that we were successful, and he is now devoting his entire time to the work of our Association. Another meeting of the Finance Committee was held in Savannah to consider a proposition from Bishop Russell, chairman of the Publicity Committee of the National Catholic Welfare Council, to have Mr. Farrell visit the different States, explaining our work with a view to organizing Associations similar to ours. Your Finance Committee and our Rt. Rev. Bishop willingly agreed, so long as it did not in terfere with his work in Georgia. I consider this a splendid advertisement for our Association, as Mr. Farrell has visited the States of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia and Florida, and today our work is known not only nationally, but internationally. National Catholic Welfare Council. Bishop Schrembs, chairman of the department of lay organizations of the National Catholic Welfare Council, requested and urged us to send a representa tive to a preliminary meeting which was held in Chicago on May 6, 1920. Acting under the advice of our Rt. Rev. Bishop and the Finance Committee, I appointed our publicity manager, Mr. Farrell, who will, in his report, give you an account of that meet ing. We have received notice of the annual meeting of this Association to be held in Washington, D. C., this month, and I have again appointed Mr. Farrell to represent us. Education. A matter which deserves your consideration today is the proposed federalization of the educational sys tems of the several States which is now pending in congress, and known as the Smith-Towner bill. At the recent National Convention of the Knights of Columbus held in New York, this bill was fully cov ered, and I wish to re-echo the sentiments it expresses. I wish to call your earnest attention to the urgent need and the absolute necessity existing today of properly educating our Catholic children, especially the boys. The erroneous idea that a grammar school education is sufficient for our Catholic children is entirely too prevalent. I consider it our responsibility and, 1 will say our duty, to indorse and to actively support all deserving work directed to the higher education of our Catholic boys. In substantiation of my firm convictions on this subject, permit me to remind you of the intimate re lationship existing between education and the ob ject and aim of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia; As I see it, the fundamental work of our Association is education. We are endeavorin'- to educate our non-Catholic friends to a more sane viewpoint of our religion. In short, to expel some of the dense and profound ignorance that prevails throughout Georgia concerning our faith and our re- ligious practice.