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APRIL 17, 1926 THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA Irvin Cobb Lauds Patience of Catholics Under Attack If Caholics Were Aggressors in Campaign of Hate Blood Would Flow He Says (By N. C. W. C. News Service) New York—If Catholic priests preached the gospel of hate, pros cription and imsrepresentation, as was done ’by countless ministers during the recent wave of religious persecution, an indignant populace i would have been hanging priests to ' lamp posts by the hundreds, Irvin S. Cobb, prominent novelist and publicist, told 500 members of the National Democratic Club March 29 “What the country lacks most, and needs mos , is a nation-wide spirit of tolerance”, the novelist said. “I am a Protestant and a Sou therner. and my father was a mem ber of the original Ku Klux Klan which after the Civil War prevent ed the Negroes from ruling the white people of the South. The present Klan, however, is dying.” “This country . has always been subject to sporadic outbursts of rank home-grown Puritanism and and narrow intolerance. In my op inion the Mayflower should have made a round trip”, declared that speaker. Mr. Cobb declared that two groups had been responsible for bringing on prohibition the brewers and distill ers. They were the fathers and mot hers of the corner saloon, “a most unpleasant establishment. “During the whole era of biogotry and vituperation I feel that the* fin est thing was the attitude maintain- edbv the clergy of the rank and file of that Faith against which the spleen of the bigots was chiefly directed. I know of nothing more exemplary' as a tribute to the spirit of law and order then their serenity- under fire’, Mr. Cobb asserted. In this regard the speaker referred to the attitude t aken by Catholic clergy during the reign of bigotry in this country. *■ “To speak of the Ku Ivlux Klan is like kicking a dying horse”, he concluded. Judge Hale S. Corbett, who was a boyhood friend of the novelist in his home at Paducah, Kentucky, presided at the meeting. U. S. Liberals Demanding Liberty Elsewhere Repudiate It in Mexico Dr. Ryan in Letter to Washington Post Shows Incon sistency of Those Who Denounce Tyranny in Russia and Italy and Condone It in Our Southern Republic. (By N. C. W. C. News Service) Washington, I). C—Rev. Dr. John A. Ryan, director of the Social Action Department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, has addressed the following letter to the Editor of The Washington Post in regard to the attitude of the leaders of lib eral movements in the United States on the persecution of the Church in Mexico: ‘To The Editor of The Post—Sir: “There has just come to my desk a French publication which is sug gestive of an account of snakes in Ireland. The ttUe' of this 47-page broclire is ‘Liberty in Italy.- Its au thor is Don Sturzo, the brilliant young priest who was head of the Italian Popular Party until he be came numbered in that group of dis tinguished Italians whom Mussolini forced into exile. Of course, the brochure describes not the existence, hut the destruction of liberty. Thanks, to the Italian dictator, the people of his country no longer en joy freedom of assemblage, or of speech, or of democratic representa tion, or of economic association, or of local self-government. All liberal elements in the United States have properly denounced these outrages. “With almosfcias great a degree of unanimity, the liberal forces of the United States have been silent, or indifferent, concerning an equally grave disregard of freedom by a gov ernment nearer home, namely, that of President Calles in Mexico. Typi cal of their attitude is this sentence from an editorial in the Nation, March 17: “ ‘T his is Mexico’s affair, and the issue is really not over religion at all. but of persistent clerical inter ference in state matters, which Mexico is trying to end, once for all, after a hundred years of it.’ C. T. Goetchius & Bros. DRUGS SODA KODAK CANDY AUGUSTA, GA, 702 Brsad St., Phone 619 ACTORS BECAME SAINTS French Actors ’ Guild Pub lishes List of Patrons Bailie-Edelblut Furniture Co. the QUALITY STORK 708-710-712 Broadway Complete House Furnishing* AUGUSTA. GA, “In such pontificial, not to say dogmatic, terms does this usually fair champion of liberalism dismiss the fact that the Mexican govern ment is engaged in a most cruel and tyranical persecution. “Other liberal journals represent the persecution as merely the expul sion of half a dozen foreign priests and nuns, arttl repeat the hackeyed lie that this action has been provok ed by ‘clerical interference’ It is somewhat remarkable that journals which have suffered to an . unusual degree from mendacious propoganda should repeat this particular charge without taking the. trouble to find out wether it is true, and without bringing forward a particle of sus taining evidence. “The recent expulsion of clergy and nuns is but a small incident in the war upon religion by the Mexi can government. To get anything like an adequate idea of that war fare, we must examine certain sec tions of the Mexican constitution, adopted in 1917 Among them, we find the following: ‘The congress shall not enact any law establishing or forbidding any religion whatever.’ This resembles closely the opening clause of the first amendment to our own Federal Constitution, which reads: ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re ligion. . . .’ EYES EXAMINED Eye Glasses Spectacles L Artificial ~Eyes Properly Fitted. GODIN SPECTACLE CO. 956 Broad St 956 Augusta, Ga. HARPER BROS Art Store 426 Eighth St. Phone 730. Augusta. Ga. COLUMBUS OFFICE SUPPLY CO. Manufacturing Stationers Columbus, Georgia. LiLhographiug, Printing, Book binding, Embossing. Designers and Builders of An nuals, Booklets, Catalogues and Pamphlets. “There, however, the resemblance ends. Article 1 of the amendments to our Constitution, goes on to say that Congress shall not prohibit the free exercise of religioon or abridge, freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to assem ble and petition the government for a redress of ■ grievances. Other amendments in the first ten guaran tee the right of life, liberty and property, due process of law and trial by jury. All these rights are denied in the Mexican constitution. Following is a summary pf the pro visions which destroy various kinds of liberty: “A. Religion. The ownership of churches and all other religious in stitutions is vested in the govern ment. which reserves the right to determine which of them may- con tinue to he devoted to their present purposes. Permission must lie had from the government to dedicate any new place of worship. Tlip leg islature of the various states have power to determine the maximum number* of ministers of religious creeds. Under this provision, one Maxican state lias restricted the number of priests to 1 for each 30,- 000 inhabitants another to one for each 6,000. In the United States, the ratio is about 1 to 700 among Catho lics and one to a very smaller num ber among Protestants. The Mexi can constitution further declares that no one may be a minister of any religious creed unless he is a Mexi can by birth. “B. Association and education. No religious corporations may have charge of institutions for charity, for scientific research, the diffusion of knowledge or mutual aid. Nor may any such institution or organization lie under the direction or supervision of any minister of any religious creed. Churches have no standing before the law as juridical persons. Religious vows and monastic orders arc prohibited. “C. Speech and writing. No min ister may criticize the fundamental laws, the authorities in particular, or the government in general. No re ligious periodical may comment upon the political affairs of the nation nor publish anything concerning the authorities of tile country. “D. Political rights No minister of religion may vote at elections or hold public office, or take part in any assembly for political purposes. “E. Property. No minister of re ligion may inherit property from re ligious or charitable associations or from ministers of the same religious creed or from any private individual except within the fourth degree of kinship. “F. Due process of law. Presump tive proof that a church is holding property in violation of the law is sufficient for conviction. No per son who is accused of violating any of the foregoing provisions of the Mexican Constitution shall lie grant ed trial by jury. Finally, the Presi dent of Mexico- has the right to expel without judicial process any fore igner whose presence he may deem inexpedient. (A full statement of these extraordinary sections of the Mexican constitution was printed in tile United States Daily March, 10, 1926.) “Concerning all these denials of fundamental liberties American libe rals are either ignorant or silent, or bojii ignorant and silent. Those who are aware of these provisions refrain from denouncing them be cause tlic Mexican constitution and the prebent Mexican government are favorable to certain reforms; for example, the distribution of the great landed estates among the peas ants, the recognition of labor un ions and collective liarganing, pro tective labor laws and restriction up on fbreign ownership of Mexican na tural resources. All these reforms, are, indeed, crtmmcndable and neces sary. They all make for the increase of real freedom—that is, economic freedom or economic opoprtunity for the masses No genuine liberal can he hostile or even indifferent to this beneficent program. ‘On the other hand, no man-can claim to been genuine liberal who is liberal only in spots; who approves certain human liberties hut is indif ferent to (jthers; who is deprived of fundamental liberties in which lie is not interctsed. To the great majority of the human race, free dom of religion and education, free dom of speech and poltical repre sentation for ministers qf religion, as well as Hie right to due process of law add , trial by jury, are quite as important as the oilier fundamen tal liberties. When American libe rals discriminate against, or show themselves' indifferent to the liber ties that have been destroyed in Mexico, they forfeit their claim to the title of liberals. No patriotic American desires forcible interven tion in the affairs of Mexico; but no genuine American will cither de ny or 1 - ’ with indifference upon the assault by the Mexifcan govern ment upon some of the most funda mental liberties in our own consti tutional system. “I end this long letter as I began, by citing the parallel between tile government of Mussolini and that of Calles. In conjunction w'itli his co horts and sycephanls, Mussolini has made over the constitution of Italy; hack in 1917 a little junta of Mexi can politicians manufactured a con stitution which has received the ap proval of a considerably smaller pro portion of the population of Mexico than that proportion of the Italiau people which has ratified the con- stitional changes made by Mussolini. “JOHN A. RYAN.” (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) Paris.—In conection with the founding of the Confraternity of St. Gencst, which includes as members Catholic actors, Vie Catholique has published a list of actors who, with St. Genest, were canonized, and, like him,’ became the patrons of their pro fession. St. Porphyre, an actor of Ad- rianapolis; St. Ardeleon, an Al exandria actor, and even an ac tress, St. Pclagio, who was a great star at Antioch in the Fifth Century, are >. ‘ntioned in the list. Wheeling Prelate Dead Msgr. Moye Half-Brother of Miss Werden, Thomasville, Bishop Byrne Is Joyously Welcomed in Porto Rico Philadelphian, First Bishop of Juan, Arrives to Take Charge of New See (By N. 0. W. C. News Service.) Wheeling, W. Va.—Tile Rt. Rev. Msgr. O. H. Moyo, for 26. years Vic ar-General of the Diocese of Wheel ing, died March 28 in the Wheeling hospital. Monsignor Moyo was a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was born April 18, 1864 He lived there for 3u years. He was converted to the Catholic Faith, attended the school of the Passionist Order in his na tive city r and was ordained in that Oorder in New York, He had been in this city 32 years. He is survived by Ills brothers, Charles .1., and Edward A. Moye;-a sister, Mrs. James H. Horner, all of Pittsburgh; a half brother. Donald D. Doyle of Belgium, and a half sis ter, Miss Bess Doyle Werden of Thomasville, Ga. (By N. C. W. C. News Service.) San Juan, Porto Rico.—A reception that was general and touching in its whole-hearted joy was accorded the Bt. Rev. Edwin V, Byrne, first Bish op of PonJe, upon his arrival at Por to Rico. Received with cordial pIRiges of cooperation by*»Governor Towner and the Attorney General Mr. Butte, the new Ordinary crossed ‘ over to his See city in a virtual tri umphal procession beautifully re mindful of Mediaeval days, as town after town greeted him in holiday array, their houses decked for the great, occasion. Scarcely had Bishop Byrne arriv ed when the episcopal residence at San Juan was beseiged by the faith ful of all classes eager to receive his blessing. The American, Spanish and Porto Rican clergy, the rich and the poor, vied in offering him every courtesy. His week in Sad Juan was busy with receiving com mittees and visiting institutions. The American authorities received him witli flic greatest friendliness and the Knights of Columbus tendered him a reception at which the bishop responded in Spanish, to the delight of all. Pope Urban VII, by a Consislorial decree-confirming the report of the Congregation of Rites, established “Your Eminence” as the proper ti tle of address for Cardinals. Be fore 1630 Cardinals were addressed by the titles “Most Illustrious”-and “Your Most Illustrious Lordship.” WINDSOR SPRING WATER AUGUSTA, GA. “Health From The Hill Tops” Windsor Springs constitute a real asset to Augusta. All citizens and visitors should visit the sylvan retreat where nature provides this wonderfully valuable water. GOVERNMENT ANALYSIS BY EDGAR EVERHART, Ph.D., Chemist March 14, 1918 (Grains per U. S. Gallon) Sodium chloride ......... 0.163 Magnesium carbonate ; 0.070 Aluminum oxide . 0.058 Ferrous corbonate 0.215 ■Silica . 0.291 Total .0.797 Free carbon dioxide C02 ! 0.134 0.931 Spring located just nine miles from Augusta. Visitors Welcome. Windsor Springs Water Co. Spanish Government Votes Money to Save Cathedral (By N. C. W. C. News Service) Madrid.—-The Spanish government at a Catholic meeting recently vot ed an appropriation to save Burgos Cathedral, Spain’s most beautiful church, which will fall to pieces unless Immediate repairs are made. The church was begun in 1221 by Bishop Maurice, an Englishman, and King Ferdinand the Saint and com pleted In 1567. Governmental action followed re quests by the press of the country that some steps be taken to save flic historic edifice. Weather and time have been taking their toll of the lowers and already ground work has been laid for the repair on one spire. Tlie church’s towers, built by Meistcr Hans of Cologne, the most picturesque feature of the cathe dral, are in particular need of re pair. The transept is almost in ruin. ABOUT ROMAN CATHOLICS CATHOLICS DO NOT BELIEVE That the Pope is @od. ' That tin Pope cannot do wrong. That the Pope has temporal rights, in America.' That the Pope can claim their political allegiance. That the Pope can nullify laws, oaths, or contracts at will, THEY DO NOT BELIEVE That the marriages of Protestants are invalid. That Protestant husbands and wives arc living in sin. That the children of Protestants are illegitimate. That contracts with Protestants may be broken. Tliat Protestants may be hated or persecuted. That Protestants will all be damned. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE That public schools are an evil. That they ought to he abolished or destroyed. That they ought not to be supported by a common tax, Tliat education ought not to be universal and free. That it ought not to be compulsory where necessary, THEY DO NOT BELIEVE That they can buy forgiveness of sin. That they can purchase freedom front purgatory, Tliat they can get indulgence to commit sin. That sin can be forgiven without repentence, THEY DO NOT BELIEVE That images may be worshipped. That anybody or thing may lie worshipped or adored “in ths heavens above, or the earth below, or tbs waters bo* neath the earth," but the One True God. [F YOU WANT-TO KNOW WHAT CATHOLICS DO BELIEVR, WHITE THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA AUGUSTA, 1409-1410 Lam r Building. T2W GF.ORGLl