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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
MAY 21. 10127
THE SOUTHERN PRESS ON GOV. SMITH’S REPLY
Governor Smith’s reply to the
Marshall letter in the Atlantic
Monthly was fair, frank, une
quivocal and ruggedly honest
and should permanently settle
the questions propounded to
him, in the practically unani
mous opinion of the Southern
press, as guaged by an examina
tion of several score papers from
every state in the South east of
the Mississippi river. Of the
editorials examined, selected by
a secular clipping bureau and
apparently including those of
every daily in this vast territory
as well as dozens upon dozens
of weeklies, those rejecting the
Governor’s statement as insin
cere numbered not more than
two or three per cent of the to
tal, and they were from papers
consistently anti-Catholic in
character, published in small
communities in which there are
very few or no Catholics.
Some of the papers, while accept
ing Governor Smith’s answer and
observing that his record indicated
its truth and sincerity, suggested
that the Catholic Church had
changed its attitude or that the Gov
ernor was broader than his Church
on the subject, but the vast major
ity praised the reply without reser
vation, taking the position that it
settled the questions involved for all
time.
An occasional editor regretfully as
serted that opposition in the South
to Governor Smith’s candidacy was
based largely on his religion, but
most editorials, while admitting that
there were some of his opponents
here influenced by the Governor’s
religious views, contended that he
was opposed for the Democratic
nomination chiefly because of his
stand on prohibition. Comment
from a number of Southern papers
follow:
Virginia
Richmond Timcs-Dispatch: Gov
ernor Smith’s long-awaited reply to
the questions propounded to him by
Charles C. Marshall in his. article
in the Atlantic Monthly is a com
plete answer and a powerful state
ment, As a reply and an argument
addressed to reason it is one of the
most impressive documents of the
day, or even of the generation.
Norfolk Pilot: The only attack
possible alter such a statement is
one that nobody in llie United States
can make—that Governor Smith is
here speaking with his tongue in his
check—in plain terms, lying- His
public and personal record, an open
book to millions of people, compels
the assumption of his sincerity anu
good faith.
Portsmouth Star: No man should
doubt the sincerity of Governor
Alfred E. Smith's answer to Charles
Marshall.
Charlottesburg Progress: Upon no
single point raised in the questions
propounded to him is the reply' evas
ive, ihe language ambiguous or the
argument disingenous.
Franklin News: Governor Smith
has forever laid the ghost of “Rom
ish domination” for all who are will
ing to he guided by reason, although
by no means makes it unanimous.
Newport News* News-Times-Her-
aid: All this is the essence of Am
erican Democracy and proclaims Mr.
Smith to be a 100 per cent Jeffer
sonian Democrat. He must be ac
cepted as such, or repudiated as a
liar and a hypocrit. There is no
middle ground. (In another editor
ial:) Had Theodore Roosevelt been
in the position of Governor Smith,
he would probably have ignored the
questions put to him by Mr. Mar
shall.
Richmond News-Leader: The sim
ple truth is the “menace'' has been
created by those who sought to
profit by it, and it has been falsely
pictured to millions of honest Am
ericans who had no facilities for
proving or disproving what has been
told them.
Danville Register: Whether Al
fred E. Smith will he available for
the highest office in the gift of the
American people is not now a ques
tion of his faith, which rings true
to his religion and to his govern
ment.
Norfolk Dispatch: Governor Smith
has met the issues stressed in the
letter of Mr. Marshall freely and
fully. His reply 7 has received the
widest publicity and is worthy of
the closest scrutiny. We believe it
will go far toward the settlement of
a question which should never have
been raised in this land of ours.
Newport News Press: No open-
minded person can doubt the sin
cerity 7 -of Mr. Smith’s reply, his fi
delity to his church or his loyalty
to his county- . . . Law r yer Marshall
;ave Mr. Smith an opportunity, and
:he Governor surely did make the
most of it.
€
Pulaski Times: Even his most
radical enemies must admire the re
ply which Governor A1 Smith gave
to Mr, Marshall. . . . The greater
part of the opposition to Catholics
Columbus Enquirer-Sun: The Gov
ernor’s statement is not only a com
plete answer to Charles C. Marshall,
hut it represents the creed of a great
American who has lived lip to his po
litical principles and religious be
lief—a great American against whom
even the most bitter political parti
sans have ever so much as suggested
that he has ever deviated the least
scintilla from a path of political
rectitude. . . Despite the fact that
Governor Smith has made an his
toric answer to an impertinent
question, the Enquirer-Sun stm
holds to the belief that as an Amer
ican citizen, living under constitu
tional guarantees ot liberty of con
science and freedom of worship, the
Governor should have ignored the
challenge of Mr. Marshall.
Atlanta Constitution: The Gover
nor’s reply was not only clean-cut
and to the point but unanswerable to
every right-thinking citizen of this
country who believes in the guaran
tee of religious freedom . . . Any
citizen who would inject any reli
gious issue into the appraisal of
one’s fitness or qualifications for
public office is not only intolerant
but contradicts the tenets of faith
upon which our government is fouu
ed.
Savannah Morning News: Gover
nor Smith talks like a good American
citizen; the people of New York ev
idently believe he is that sort ol
American.
Macon Telegraph: Governor
Smith's reply was a frank, straight
forward answer to question which
Mr. Marshall, as .an American citi
zen, had a right to ask of a man who
was aspiring to the chief magistrate
of the nation.
Brunswick News: It is gratifying
to note the positive and definite
position taken by the New York gov
ernor. On the political questions
raised by Mr. Marshall, his state
inent rings clear and strong. His
statements of Americanism can he
accepted by all true Americans.
Valdosta Times: Whatever the
motive of such a question publicly
asked, it has given Governor Smith
opportunity to proclaim his un
questionable devotion that in civil
matters the Church—as a Church—is
subordinate to the State . . . The
Governor s reply is a characteristic
as well as an illuminating docu
ment.
Thomasville Enterprise: Governor
Smith cracked the first bomb hurled
in his direction. . . . As a matter
of fact it is well that the issue was
drawn. The time will have to come
when the Roman Catholic Church
must be accorded the same capacity
for participation in government by
its members as any church.
Rome News-Tribune: The religious
question really has little to do with
Smith's candidacy in the South. He
couldn’t carry the solid South be
cause he is a “wet,” not because he
is a Catholic.
of it were Smith a Baptist or a
Methodist or of some other Protes
tant denomination.
Athens Banner-Herald: In au une
quivocal manner and without reser
vations Governor Smith states his
religious and poiticai creed most
thoroughly, which should not only
be acceptable to all fair-minded peo
ple, hut it should set at rest for all
time to come the criticism offered
against him on account of his reli
gious alignments.
Macon News: Governor Smith’s re
ply expresses a wholesome religious
tolerance which will appeal to those
who are themselves tolerant, but
will make little headway with those
who are constantly looking for an
esoteric doctrine in the Roman Cath
olic. Church, and in the nature of the
case bigotry is not amenable to rea
son. But if the Governor’s stand on
the religious question were even
more generall yaceeptaldc than it
probably is, the South would still
reject him because of his attitude on
prohibition.
Dalton Citizen*. Governor Smith’s
reply to the Marshall questionnaire
is not only the reply of a states
man to impertinent -questions but is
it the reply of a gentleman deeply
sensitive as to his honor and duties
as a public servant. Smith is today
a bigger man than he was a week
ago.
Albany Herald: In fairness to Gov
ernor Smith let it he said that
Charles C. Marshall, the New York
lawyer whose open leller was pub
lished in the Atlantic MonUily, has
rather ignominously failed to “put
the governor in a hole.”
Rockmart News: Governor Smith
answered ably in several thousand
words. T hirty-one words of his an
swer constitute a complete answer:
“1 recognize no power in the insti
tutions of my Church to interfere
with the operation of the Constitu
tion of the United States or of the
enforcement of the laws of the
land.”
■ comes from those who actually know
the least about them and their teach
ings.
North Carolina
Charlotte . .Observer: Governor
Smith makes it perfectly plain that
while he believes in the worship
of God “according to the faith and
practice of the Roman Catholic
church”, he is at the same time a
good American and an upholder of
the Constitution of his country.
Greensboro Daily News: For those
who take Governor Smith at his
word, the thing is ended. For those
who do not believe he means what
he says, it will never die until they
die. As to which of these views is
correct there is one and only one
large arid impressive body of evi
dence, indestructible facts which no
amount of bigotry can tear away:
Alfred E. Smith’s life and works.
Asheville Citizen: It ought to dis
pose pretty thoroughly, once and
for all, of Hie suggestion that if
Governor Smith should be elected
president of the United States his
first loyalty as a public servant
would be elsewhere than to the peo
ple of the United States.
Raleigh News and Observer:
There ought to he no religious test
applied to men for public office. In
our day Chief Justice White and
Governor Smith are conspicuous ex
amples of men of the Roman Catho
lic faith in high positions of trust
whose public record has not been
affected by their church member
ship,
Goldsboro Argus: If there is any
conflict between Governor Smith’s
allegiance to his church and his al
legiance to the Constitution or it his
political conduct were dictated by
Hie hierarchy of his church some
evidence thereof must have appear
ed long ago. . . . The reply 7 is ad
mirable in substance and in form,
and it is difficult to see how any
reader of it can remain uncon
vinced.
to take other tlian the position he
does take; and that i s not an inti
mation that he is insincere. His
record in public life and the rec
ords of all the thousands of Catho
lics who have held public place in
America sustain his position. Yet a
lot of people seem to regard the
Smith position as a new attitude, as
if he had defined something that
was in doubt.
Raleigh Times: That is a credo
with which no American can take
issue without himself being laid
open to the very suspicion of dis
loyalty with which it has been
sought to discredit A1 Smith.
Greensboro Record: For the un
biased citizen, however, we believe
the Smith statement, sustained bv
his long record in high public of
fice, effectually refutes even a jus
tifiable suspicion or doubt that he
is honest, sincere and frank.
Statesville Daily: It can’t be es
tablished that American Catholics in
public place have not lived up to
their oath of office without refer
ence to church affiliation.
Durham Sun: While it is grossly
unfair to Governor Smith, we be
lieve his religion will he held against
him.
Columbia State: If the letter of Mr.
Marshall was designed to get the
Governor in a hole or corner, it
failed. One or two more like it,
drawing suclx replies as Governor
Smith made yesterday, and curb
market quotations on “Smith stock”
would advance beyond par.
Charleston News and Courier: It
is to the credit of Alfred E. Smith
that he answered the questions,
item by item, without evasion. He
lias reflected his own Americanism
in the qualities of this assertions.
Columbia Record: His statement
of his political creed, of the firm
ness of his democracy, of his alle-
gience to the Constitution and the
institutions of the Republic,
marches hand in hand with the re
affirmation of his religious faith,
and there is a valiant ring in every'
word of it that indicates the scorn
of the man for any compromising
standards that would pollute his re
ligion with politics or inject the
dogmas of his church into the af
fairs of state.
take than this by the Catholic Gov
ernor of New York.
Daytona Beach Journal: The Amer
ican ideal of tolerance and fair play
scored a base hit in the letter of
Charles C. Marshall and Governor
Smith's reply to it. . . . It is well
that the matter be- discuscd openly
now rather than liavo it gossiped
about in private attended by wild
rumors and reckless speculation.
Miami Daily-News: The New York
Times notes that while the press was
full of Governor Smith’s discussion
only a handful of public men could
be gotten to say anything for pub
lication about it ... . The jobhold
ers felt obliged to keep clear of the
explosive subject with which the
Smith-Marshall discussion dealt.
Contemptible perhaps; but are not
statesmen about what their constit
uents make them?
Tennessee
Charleston Post: Governor Smith
lias shown himself as a man to
stand up and forward, steadfast in
the faith of his fathers and immov
able from the foundations of Amer
icanism.
Orangeburg Democrat: The reply 7
of Governor Smith has had consid
erable effect aipon the minds of
thoughtful men and women in re
moving any suspicion of religious
influence upon him if he should bff
elected president. We question,
however, whether the Governor’s
clear-cut denial will carry we ght
with certain prejudiced and suspi
cious sections of our population.
Spartanburg Journal: If Smith is
to be outlawed and harmed let those
who wage the warfare openly and
honestly acknowledge whether their
opposition is based on Smith the
“wet” or Smith the Gatholic. Re
ligious bigotry should have no part
in the chances of a candidate for
public office in this country, from
dog-catcher to the White House.
Chattanooga Times: Governor
Smith’s statement will serve to set
many honest and fair-minded Pro
testants, who have had their
“doubts,” to serious thinking, and
will help them to realize that they
have been victimized by fanatical
propaganda that should have no
place in American social and civil
life. Governor Smith has proved his
words by his works as governor of
New York.
Alabama
Birmingham News: Governor
Smith's answer should end all con
troversy 7 on his particular phase of
the subject, not only now but for
all time. In this case it happens to
he Smith, the Catholic. It might
soon be Strauss ,the Jew. Only a
little later it might be Brown, the
Protestant.
Montgomery Advertiser: If Catho
lics have been true to their country
in every 7 other position, wliat reason
have wc to fear that a Catholic in
the White House would practice dou
ble allegiance? . . . Surely Gover
nor Smith has effectually disposed
ot the papa) bugaboo insofar as lie
and his fellows of the Catholic faith
are concerned, and has earned the
right to he discussed as an Ameri
can politician rather than as a Ho
man churchman.
Albemarle Press: It was a man’s
answer, wilh no equivocation or eva
sion. If Mr. Smith is to be reject
ed as choice of his party for candi
date for the presidency, it should
be upon other grounds than that he
is a Catholic.
Statesville Landmark: The sur
prise of the whole matter is that
any one expected Governor Smith
Concord Tribune: Some people
• • • . just hate Ghatolics and won’t
agree to accept them. Not willing
to make known their true feelings,
they have opposed Governor Smith,
giving his “wetness” as their cause.
Now with a dry Catholic (Senator
Thomas J, Walsh) being mentioned
they will have to come clean i
keep quiet.
Salisbury Post: Ask -these backers
of Smith if they w'ould not just as
Weil Eke to have another Catholic,
sa_v Senator Walsh, and they would
most likely answer with a decided,
No. It must be admitted that the
strong support behind Smith is not
due to the desire to put a Catholic
in Washington; otherwise they
might feel out with another candi
date.
South Carolina
Mobile Register. It is unfortunate-
that Governor Smith should have
been forced to answer an attack up
on his qualifications because of his
faith as a Catholic; hut he is to be
commended for the frankness and
fairness with which he has met this
issue.
Selma Journal: Governor Smith's
elucidation of the issue is frank and
unequivocal and should effectively
eliminate this hone of contention as
a subject of controversy in the cam
paign.
Florida
Greenville News: Despite all the
talk about Smith being a “wet” and
therefore unacceptable to the “dry”
South, it is very probably true that
the opposition on the grounds of
wetness would be almost negligible
and not a great deal would be heard
Tampa Tribune: Governor Smith's
reply 7 to the Atlantic Monthly writer
who questioned his allegiance to his
country and its constitution as com
pared with his allegiance to his
church is not only a masterly polit
ical stroke hut it is an unanswerable
rebuke to those who imagine or pro-
fess to imagine that any 7 church
could control the government of the
United States.
Avon Park Pilot: We doubt if
there has been breathed from man
any liner defense of an American’s
right to worship liis God as he sees
fit and al the same time serve his
country loyally and faithfully as
Governor Smith in his reply to one
C. C. Marshall’s question.
Jacksonville Journal: Governor
Smith has answered the charge pos
itively and in the negative. There
will be many to wish that he had
gone even further and declared that
neither the. Catholic Church nor the
Methodist Church nor the Presbyte
rian Church nor any other church
should meddle in politics or seek leg
islative support of its own religious
principles or objectives.
Miami Herald: No one could make
a fairer statement of the religious
attitude which any citizen should
Nashville Tennessean: To say that
membership in the Catholic com
munion is antagonistic to whole
hearted devotion to the cause of civ
il liberty- is to affront the intelli-
gense of the whole people and to re
flect cruelly upon those whose course
in war has consistency negatived
sueli a conclusion.
Columbia Democrat: Governor
Smith’s reply is a forceful answer to
those who have persisted in raising
a religious issue, was characteristic
of the man who was reared “on the
sidewalks of New York,” and was
simple, straightforward, blunt, al
most truculent in its tone, yet all
through it runs a plaintive note, a
plea for religious tolerance.
Kentucky
Louisville Courier - Journal: If
those who raise the question of re
ligion in objection to Governor
Smith were anything like as clear
headed and sound-hearted as he, our
politics would he degraded no long
er by the injection of the religious
issue which they seek to raise.
Owensboro Messenger: There may
be reasons why Al Smith should not
be elected to the presidentail office,
and plenty of them, hut Mr. Mar
shall, nor any r one else thinking as
he does, has presented a good one.
Lexington Herald: Manly, hearing
the impress of verity guaranteed by
years of service, Governor Smith’s
reply can but win, as it deserves, the
admiration of all who believe in
freedom of conscience, civil and re
ligious liberty and give kneed of
admiration for civic vision and polit
ical service.
Louisville Post: The blindness as
to these things is the blindness of
those who will not see. No better
indication of this could be required
than his antagonist furnished in hot
haste. He had his answers ready
and waiting. He was positively
anxious to renew the fight he had
anticipated and ascribe motives or
reservations, or suppressions which
would not occur to the man in the
street.
Mississippi
Jackson News: Regardless of what
one’s opinion may be as to Governor
Smith's availability as a presiden
tial candidate, it must be admitted
that as Governor of the Empire
State he has not been dominated
by the church of which he is a mem
ber, nor has there been any desire
on the part of the Catholic Church
to control or suggest his official ac
tions.
Victor Markwalter
Certified Public Accountant.
911 MARION feUTLDING
PHONE 377.
AUGUSTA, GA. *
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