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6 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA AUGUST 16, 1924. THE BULLETIN The Ofifcial Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia. • RICHARD REID, Editor. Published Semi-Monthly by the Publicity Department with ** e Approbation of the Rt. Rev. Bishops of Belmont, Charles- Savannah, St. Augustine, Mobile and Natchez. 1409 Lamar Building. Augusta, Georgia. . Subscription Price, $2.00 Per Year. FOREIGN ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE *• • T. Mattingly, Walton Bldg Atlanta, Ga. ASSOCIATION OFFCERS FOR 1923-24. * • ?* RICE » K. C. S. G-. Augusta President V°V* T P - H - CALLAHAN, K.S.G., Louisville, Ky.Hon.Vice-Pr. V r» HAV ERTY. Atlanta First Vice-President McCALLUM. Atlanta Secretary S. GRAY, Augusta Treasurer. [. jCHARD REID, Augusta Publicity Director CECILE C. FERRY, Augusta... .Asst. Publicity Director VQL - V- AUGUST 16, 1924 NO. 15 Entered as second class matter June 15, 1921, at the Post Uffice at Augusta, Ga., under Act of March. 1879. Accepted i*irt9 m a lnsr at s P €cia l rat e of postage provided for in Section 0o, Act of October 3, J917, authorized September 1, 1921. The Retreat The 1924 retreat for laymen will be held at Sacred Heart College, Augusta, from Thursday evening, August 21, to Sunday morning August 24. The re treat for women will be held at Mount de Sales Academy, Macon, from Tuesday evening, August 26, to Friday morning August 29. Do you need the re treat? Priests and sisters who devote their lives to religion feel they do. Are you too busy? Generals, admirals, governors, senators, judges and leaders of industry find time for annual retreats. Can you af ford it? There is no fee required; you may make a private contribution to help meet the expense. Reservations must be made by next Monday, August 18 at least. An application blank appears in this issue of The Bulletin. The Turning Tide One of the results of the unfortunate religious pre judice which prevailed in Georgia in recent years was the unfavorable publicity it gave the state. Condi tions in Georgia needed no exaggeration in order to be termed deplorable, but once unfavorable reports start it seems as difficult to prevent them from deve loping from travel as it is to coast an automobile down a paved grade without having it pick up speed. The religious prejudice of a decade ago stained Georgia’s fair name, but the stain was not of the per manent variety. We Georgians knew that it would yield to treatment and that the inmate fairness of the people of Georgia would one day bleach it out. Those who did not know the heart of Georgia had no such confidence, and their suspicion of our state was accentuated by the reports they heard, reports which enlarged these stains until they hid Georgia’s entire reputation under a mantle of disreputable black. That it was not fair is not the point; we are dealing here with the fact. The damage done by the reputation Georgia achieved in those days was great er than could be removed by all the Chambers of Commerce and civic organizations in the state, and the resulting financial loss is beyond measure. The day of religious prejudice is passing in Georgia; and none are more grateful than we to note that our friends in other parts of the country are gradually changing their opinion of our state. An indication of this is found in the editorial columns of T'hc Courier-Journal, that staunch and fearless Kentucky institution, which some time ago had this to say: Atlanta, the cradle of the Ku Klux Klowns, may no longer he held up as the laughing stock of American cities. “The training ground of Kleagles” has seen the inside workings of the or ganization and the Knights of the Nightshirt are daily losing their hold on the prejudices and the imaginations of the people. Atlanta is no longer 100 per cent Ku Klux and counts hut a bare 10,000 members, according to a dispatch to the New York Times. Besides pillow slips and nightshirts, the Klan of late has had to wash its other dirty linen in public Its legal battles have been aired in the courts. Its inside feuds have come to light and a very different light from the rays of the fiery cross. Its members, who deemed it Klannish to override the law in other cases, have invoked the law for their own personal safety. And then too, came the reports of failures at the polls, particularly in Memphis where they had hoped to ride into power. No doulTT they heard from the recent municipal “election in Lexington, where an out-and-out anti- klan ticket was overwhelmingly victorious. Though the seeds of race and religious preju dice have been planted elsewhere, it is significant that the original stock of the klan is dwindling. No end of well intended publicity has been spread against the organization, with the result of per haps strengthening it. Left to itself, as in Atlanta, where the inside workings of the organization were dragged to the surface, the thing is dying of itself. The Veasey Bill Again When the Veasey or Convent Inspection Bill was passed in Georgia, many of its supporters regarded it as the sounding of the knell which was to summon the Catholic Church in Georgia to oblivion. The man responsible for the bill has since been called before the Eternal Judgment Seat, and the church in Georgia flourishes as never before. The Veasey' Bill is still being enforced. Are the hopes of its spon- tors being realized? This paragraph from the re port of the Grand Jury of Richmond County recently Is answer enough: “Your committee visited the convents of St. Mary, Sacred Heart, St. Joseph and the Franciscan Sisters. fV’e also called at the Children’s Home, the Widows Home, Tuttle-Newton Home, Gracewood Training school, Lucy Laney’s school and Paine college. In every instance we were courteously received and wel- jomed. We have only words of highest praise and commendation for the good^work accomplished for the community by these institutions.” The Tendency Toward Sensationalism Tlie Pittsburgh Catholic Observer has taken one of its contemporaries to task for remarks about a “race riot” in the Pennsylvania city’. “Of course a fight, a mad dog or any other excitement in the Hill district will attract a crowd, included in which will naturally be many negroes,” says The Observer. “This gives a cue to many space correspondents who then send out wild yarns about ‘race riots’ yet to occur.” The New York Catholic News comments that a “wild yarn” yvidely published about a gathering of 10,000 Ku Kluxers gathered in a field near Rockville Center, L. I., at a “Ku Klux baptism” has about as substantial basis as the Pittsburgh “race riot” story. To which The Bulletin wishes to add that many a story about anti-Catliolic prejudice in the South has foundations even flimsier than these. As Catholics and as newspapermen it is difficult for us to under stand why’ an incident in the South should be narrated so differently from a similar occurrence in another part of the country. A few weeks ago a misguided indyridual in Massa chusetts killed in cold blood a Catholic priest for no other reason than that he was a priest. There was little commotion among Catholics over the inci dent, little comment on it in the Catholic press. But if it took place in Georgia or any other supposedly anti-Catholic state, it would send a surge of anger and resentment through the country from coast to coast. It is gratifying, however, to sec some papers singl ing out newspaper reports creditable to the South and publishing them, as The Antidote did when it gave space in its columns to the following South Ca rolina news dispatch in the New York Times: “Here in the state of nullification, Calhoun, the Butlers, Wade Hampton and Ben Tillman, the Klan is absolutely impotent. Out of more than 180,000 white voters, it is probable that if all the members of the hooded horde were counted they would he less than five thousand. “In a two days’ investigation, few of the score of well-informed residents with whom the Times corres pondent talked placed the Klan strength at more than 10,000. In two-thirds of the counties evidently there are no Ivlansmen at all, and in the other third the number is small compared to the total population. “ ‘There are probably a few Klans in the State,’ said former Governor Richard I. Manning, but they are so few in number and their strength so negli gible that South Carolina has not had the time to take them seriously. The gist of the situation, so far as this State is concerned, is that our people are fairly contented. We are coming out of the woods, and, that being so, we have been busy getting our house in order and working out a program for the better ment in every way of all of our people. Maybe that is the answer to the question as to why the Klan is said to have made no headway in this State.’ ” Dixie Musinss It was our good fortune to at tend the midsummer convention of the Georgia Press Association at Waycross during the closing days of July. The convention brought to South Georgia editors of daily and weekly newspapers from the four corners of the state, “from Tybee Light to Rabun Gap; from the Chattahoochee to- the Savan nah,” as the Georgia political ora tors say. To one who had never before attended a gathering in which “country” editors predomi nated, the convention was a revel ation. The Georgia editors are as fine a body of men as one could hope to meet. Editors are supposed to be leaders of thought in their re spective communities; they looked the part. But they all looked as though they might have come from large communities. There were high state officials present, and distin guished-appearing editors of great Southern dailies, but they could not be distinguished from the editors of the weeklies. There is a great American game called “passing the Duck”. When a judge makes a mistake, there is a supreme court to correct it. When a doctor makes an error, the undertaker covers it up. But the editor can’t “pass the buck”; his mistakes are for all the world to see. But that did not seem to worry the Georgia editors; {hey were apparently as carefree as youngsters on a vacation. An American Stand In refreshing contrast to extravagant anti-war utterances of some American religious bodies is the following resolution adopted by the Rockford Diocesan Council of the National Council of Catholic Men, held recently at Aurora, .111.: “As members of the Catholic Church, founded on Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, we abhor war and desire its elimination among men. We affirm that war can be rendered unnecessary by an aplication of the teaching of Jesus Christ to the lives of men and the acts of nations. While we desire the abolition of war, we realize the necessity of our Government being prepared to defend itself or others rightfully in the need of defense, and if occasion should arise for our Government to take up arms—which God for bid—we pledge unqualified support and assistance. We should lend assistance in all matters to our Gov ernment.” What the comment of anti-Catholics would be if Catholics instead of non-Catholics had adopted con trary resolutions we can readily surmise. But Catho lics base their views on such questions on firm founda tions and hence they do not vary with changing con ditions. Catholic philosophy teaches that an indi vidual has a right to self-defense, and the right of a nation to defend itself against an unjust aggressor is an extension of this right. That was Catholic teaching before Constantine removed the capital of the Empire of Constantinople; it is Catholic teach ing today. When unjust aggression ceases, then and Cjd®»<hen will warfare at an end, Editors do, qf course, make mis takes occasionally. One of those at the South Georgia gathering who recently returned in no jovial mood from the New York conven tion maintains in his columns that the New York followers of Gover nor Smith, the policemen included, could not pronounce his name. “We want Schmidt—We want Schmidt 1” Such was their cry, he says. We have never known anyone but Ger mans to say “Schmidt” when they meant “Smith,” and comparatively few New Yorkers, especially police men, are German or even of Ger man extraction. We are convinc ed this editor is mistaken on this point, hut he has as much right to be wrong once in a while as a judge or a doctor. Georgia edi tors may not he right all the time, but they are upright. We heard some encouraging com ments about The Bulletin at the convention. ‘It is doing splendid work in pouring oil upon troubled waters,” on editor of one virile Georgia weekly volunteered when introduced to us, and a newspaper woman from the same county said she admired its Christian spirit and read it religiously. Another editor of a splendid weekly volunteered a tribute to the “constructive work The Bulletin is doing,” adding: “That’s what Georgia needs more than anything else these days.” Others were kind enough to compli ment The Bulletin. Some were kind enough not to comment. All exem plified Southern chivalry. “What is your explanation of the anti-Catholic spirit so apparent at times in the South?” we asked a genial Florida pastor recently. “It’s imported to the South,” he said. “Southerners are not that kind of people. They are too kind-hearted, too hospitable, loo chivalrous.” This good priest has a proper per spective. He was born in Ireland. His words were uppermost in our mind the following day witnessing the open-tiefirted hospitality ex tended the editors of Georgia at Waycross. Each editor was the guest of some family—which in most cases had never heard of him be fore—during his stay in the city. Their every wish was anticipated. Southern hospitality is not a fig ment of the imagination, the pro duct to romance or fiction. It is not a Southerner’s nature to hate people because of their religion. Some times, it is true, some may be per suaded by misrepresentation that honesty demands they oppose the Catholic Church, for instance. But as the opposition is based on misun derstanding. it can be removed by melting the misunderstanding by facts. BISHOP HAID From The Charlotte, N. C., Observer The passing of Bishop Leo Haid brought sorrow not only to thou sands of the men and women of the Catholic faith, but to many Protestants who have seen and known of his services to mankind during the long years he has been at Belmont Abbey. Holding a posi tion in the esteem and the love of his own church people second to that of few other church digni taries in this country, he also was held in the highest esteem by the people of his adopted state, who regarded him as a sincere and zealous servant of God and of man kind. He was a friend of man and the greater portion of his long life of more than three score years and ten was consecrated to the work in which he believed he could he of greatest benefit to humanity and in which he sought to make the world better than he found it. There are several reasons for the semi-annual meetings of the Geor gia Press Association. There is bus iness to be transacted of course. A more important reason is the fact that such meetings, being largely social in their nature, bring the edi tors of the state closer together, and enable them to understand one an other better. These meetings bring the editors in contact with various parts of the state; they see Geor gia’s possibilities. Being not only thoughtful men but leaders of thought they are impressed with the fact that what Georgia needs to re alize on her potentialities is not more suspicion between factions or more hatred among members of re ligious denominations; but more good will and cooperation. Some Georgia editors are misin formed about Catholics. We have al ways had faith in their justice and fairness as a body, however. Meet ing them personally, even those who have erroneous ideas about our teachings and practices has strength ened that faith. R. It. THE BIBLE FOR INDIANS From The Savannah, Ga., Press An innovation in the printing of Biblical history in the language of Indians, from the Teton Sioux tribe of the Pine Ridge reservation of South Dakota, has made its appear ance in Cincinnati. The work which is the fruit of much painstaking and self-denying work on the part of its author, Rev. Eugene Buechel, S. J.. who is stationed at St. Francis, South Dakota, came from the presses here with the distinction of being the first time that a history of the Bible has been translated into an Indian language. ' “Wowapi Wakan” is the name of the new book and this turned into the English language means “Bible History.” Latin characters consti tute the words, forming phonetical ly the language of the Teton Sioux. About 3 000 copies of the work have been printed and arc ready for distribution among the Sioux. EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY From The Valdosta, Ga., Times Those folks who are afraid that the Catholics will “hog-tie” this country might remember that it was a Catholic, Mr. Walsh, who brushed aside a vice-presidential nomination which he could have gotten with out the asking. And vice-presidents frequently succeed to the presidency as the case of President Coolidgc proves. NO NEED FOR COMMENT From The Columbus, Ga., Enquirer- Sun The Washington News- Reporter tells of a K. K. organi- izer who collected about $500.00 out of the town, and the K. Iv. organization went dead. The same thing occurred in Greensljoro. We don’t know exactly how much the local men coughed up, but quite a number separated from a ten dollar William. — Greensboro Herald- Journal. After reading the foregoing and thinking the matter over it seems that there is no ground for any comment. The story speaks for itself. AIDING THE. KLAN From The Lexington, Ga., Echo As we see it the Ku Klux Klan is getting as good service from those who oppose them as from those who are with them. Their greatest desire is publicity and their opponents seem to be giving them more of it than their friends. A STEP TOWARD ANARCHY From The Sandersville, Ga. Progress. When the Ku Klux Klan issues threats against officers of the law because they have discharged their duties in making arrests of men who have transgressed the law it is time for the people of Georgia who have any respect for law and order to give the members of that organi zation to understand that their tactics will not be tolerated. The law can only he administered by the regularly constituted authorities and the efforts to trample upon the rights of the people is a step toward anarchy which is foreign to Ameri can conception of right and justice. The Bulletin is not the only pa per which thought Father William A. Tobin’s article on “The Irish and the Revolution” in The Libertarian of April worthy of reproduction. It has appeared also in The Yorkvil'e, S. C., Enquirer and the Chester, S. C., Reporter, and possibly others. !' South Carolina has a tender spot ! in its heart for Ireland, even though most Carolinians do not know of the prevalence of Irish b'ood in the sons and daughters of the state.