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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA MAY 31, 1929 THE BULLETIN The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s tion of Georgia. Associa- RICHARD R EJD, Editor. Member of N. C. W. C. News Service, the Catholic Cress Association of the United States, and the Geor- gta Press Association. Published semi-monthly by the Publicity Department with the Approbation of the Rt. Rev. Bishops of Ra leigh Charleston. Savannah, St. Augustine, Mobile and Natchez. 1409 Lamar Building, Augusta, Georgia. Subscription Price, $2.00 Per Year. FOREIGN ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE S. T. Mattingly, Walton Building Atlanta, Ga ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1928-1929 Augusta President COL. P. H. CALLAHAN, K.S.G., Louisville, Kv,. •^D^C^k WM. S. BENSON, K.C.S.G., Washington, BARTLEY J. DOYLE, Philadelphia t V ' W Honorary Vice-Presidents J. J. HAV ERTY, Atlanta First Vice-President J. B. McCALLUM, Atlanta Secretary THOMAS S. GRAY, Augusta Treasurer Au susta Publicity Director MISS CECILE O. FERRY, Augusta Asst. Publicity Director Vol X May 31, 1929. No. 10 Entered as second class matter June 15, 1921, at the Post Office at Augusta, Ga., under Act of March, 1879. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1, 1921. A Body Blow at Prejudice The Supreme Court of Georgia by a unanimous decision delivered a body blow to race prejudice in this state recently when it reversed the Superior Court of Bryan County which refused to grant a new trial to petitioners who sought in vain to have jury lists of the county revised on the ground that Jews were omitted from the list by agreement of the jury commissioners. The petitioners contended that three of the six jurors were disqualified by law, being county offi cers, and that one of those qualified was absent, hav ing withdrawn because the commissioners were not proceeding impartially, but the chief ground of the complaint was based on the charge that “hatred, malice, and religious prejudice entered the minds of the jury revisers’’ as a result of which they excluded from both grand jury and traverse jury boxes all Jews living in the county, although they qualified as taxpayers and had before served as jurors. In the proceedings in the Bryan County superior court a verdict was rendered for the defendants, the jury being charged by the court that while the com missioners could not exclude Jews as a class or be cause of race or other prejudice, they could exclude any person individually for the usual reasons ob taining in such cases. After the verdict of the jury a motion for a new trial was denied, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. In its unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of the state, after recalling the omission from the jury j lists of the Jews mentioned in the case, including some of the largest taxpayers of the county, de clared: “Wealth is not the criterion of honesty and intelligence; but where such taxpayers were admit tedly upright and honest and represented large in terests in the county affairs, such omission would appear to constitute an unwarranted disregard of the considerations imposed by law. “It appears that a motion was made and unan imously adopted that all Jews were to be omitted, though it is further shown that only four persons were thus affected. Some, at least, of these appear to have been upright, honest and eligible persons, and one of them was the third largest taxpayer in the county. There is also some evidence tending to show personal prejudice against one of the Jew’s. On the other hand, the reviserS testified they did not ex clude any Jews because of racial or other prejudice. Conceding this without question, the adoption of the motion to exclude all Jews, regardless of their qual ifications, shows in itself a gross abuse of the re quired legal discretion; we cannot escape the con clusion from the evidence in regard to a number of ether names that their qualifications were arbitrarily decided.” , “Under undisputed evidence in this case,” the Supreme Court further said, “the jury commissioners who revised the jury lists inl928 for Bryan County acted under gross misapprehension of their official duty. Such act goes to the very" root of the jury aystem as a branch of the administration of justice. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to overesti mate the importance of having our jury lists made »p in a spirit of absolute fairness and in adherence to the law. If trial by jury ever fails, it will likely be due to causes which are apparent in this record.” This decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia accelerates the decline of racial and religious preju dice in the state. the whole effort to put in government control of edu cation is an effort to kill al denominational schools. Catholics’ and everybody else’s.” The Bulletin has from time to time quoted other Protestants and Protestant clergymen on the meas ure, Bishop Candler of Atlanta among them. To say that only Catholics are opposed to it is erroneous, to say the least. ?The Catholics'who are active against it are acting as citizens and not as Catholics, just as Dr. Wilbur is acting as a citizen Protestant. and not as a “What a lucky man Al Smith is,” Monsignor Bel- ford writes in the Nativity Mentor. “If he had been elected he would have been held responsible for the reconciliation of the Vatican and Italy, the Mexican Revolution and the wet Fourth of March.” Opposition to Centralization It is frequently asserted that the only opposition to the proposed Department of Education in charge of a member of the Cabinfet comes from Catholics. In this issue of The Bulletin appears an account of an address of Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior in President-Hoover’s Cabinet, in which he takes a strong stand against the centralization and standardization of education involved in the Plan, Dr. Wilbur, a noted educator, came to the cabinet from the presidency of Iceland Stanford University. In the March 28 issue of Manufacturers’ Record, published at Baltimore, Rev. J. W. Gillon, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Shawnee, Okla., writes: "Now I am writing to urge you to continue the dis cussion of the federal control of education. Up until the present time church people with the exception of the Catholics have had little to say about it and the Catholics have had to fight the battle alone. In this case the Catholics have sense and are right. I am glad to have you join the ranks of those who are against this educational scheme. You may think that I exaggerate the matter when I tel] you frankly that Realizing on a Sacrifice The annual convention of the Catholic Press As sociation serves the double purpose of bringing the editors of the Catholic publications of the nation together for exchange of thought and of directing the attention of the readers of Catholic papers t 0 the extent and calibre of the Catholic press in America. f A feature of the convention is the reports of the Episcopal Chairman of - the Department of Press and Publicity of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the Rt. Rev. Philip R. McDevitt, D. D., Bishop of Harrisburg, and Justin McGrath, direc tor if the N. C. W. C. News Service, both of which center on this News Service, to which The Bulletin and 80 other Catholic periodicals, the bulk of them In the United States, are subscribers. To provide this service for the Catholic press in the United States for the present year w-ill cost $83,259.52, ac cording to the estimate of expenses submitted by Mr. McGrath at the convention, the Catholic news papers paying about $63,000 of this amount and the Bishops of the United States the remainder. This news service is the only one of its kind and scope in the religious world today; it ranks in newspaper circles with the great secular newspapei agencies. It has correspondents in every section or, the United States and in the capitals and great cen- ters of population in Europe and throughout the world. In addition there are feature and cut serv ices provided by the same agency, the total expense perhaps being in the neighborhood of $100,000 an nually. The expenditure of this sum of money yearly to provide news and features for the Catholic press of the nation is an indication of the importance which the Church attaches to the Catholic press. This amount is expended to bring the news of the Catholic world to the Catholics of the nation, to inform them on their faith, to advise them of at tacks, to provide them with the information to meet such attacks. Those who subscribe to, pay for ana read Catholic publications make the great sacri fice involved in providing such a comprehen'sive, reliable and authoritative source of Catholic news worth while. But it might as well never be made as far as those Catholics whj/ do not patronize ana fead Catholic newspapers are concerned. We therefore ask the members of the Catholic Laymens Association of Georgia and subscribers to The Bulletin to extend the influence of the Catholic press and increase the results of the sac rifice of the Bishops and the Catholic periodicals of the country in providing such an effective news service by influencing every possible Catholic to support and read Catholic newspapers and maga zines, starting with the Catholic newspaper of theli own territory. Dixie Musings Since the previous issue of The Bulletin the work of the Catholic Laymen’s Association has been the subject of two discourses by an of ficial of the Asosciation to the clergy of the Diocese of Harrisburg, by invitation of the Rt. Rev. Philip R. McDevitt, D. D., Bishop of Plarrisburg; the talks were ma’de at Harrisburg and Shimokin, Pa. Through the interest and courtesy of Bishop McDevitt, the work of the Laymen’s Association was the subject of a third address at the convention banquet of the Penn sylvania State Council, Knights of Columbus, at Lancaster, Pa. Such interest in the work of the Lay men’s Association on the part of the distinguished and scholarly Bishop of Harrisburg is a source of great encouragement to the mem bers and officials of the Association and makes them more anxious than ever to make their efforts worthy of the confidence reposed in them. Dixie Press FATHER NICHOLAS MURPHY Two year# ago Savannah was host to the Catholic Press Associa tion, which met last year in New York and this month in Cincin nati. With the sanction of the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Raleigh, an effort is being made to have the next con vention held in Asheville; a cordial invitation from Bishop Hafey was read at the convention. Very Rev. Albert Smith, editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Catholic Review, and Vincent Fitzpatrick, managing editor, invited the convention to the Maryland mbetropolis, but when they heard that Asheville was in the field they promptly and gra ciously let it be known that they would yield to North Carolina. The convention city is selected by the executive board, which meets m Chicago in January, Two years ago the Catholic editors were charmed by Savannah, Georgia and our Rt. Rev. Bishop. We trust they will come to Asheville next May for a similar experience at the hands of Asheville, North Carolina and Bishop Hafey. “Heflin says a pop bottle fired at him hit a man in front of him,” ac cording to Bill Biffem in the Savan nah Press. "That’s what happens from the Senator being so narrow.” We suppost that when Senator Hef lin reads that the Cardinals beat ’he Yankees (in an exhibition game), he is tempted to desert the ideals of the Confederacy. Columbia, < S. C.) Record—Rev. Nicholas A. Murphy, pastor of St. Peter’s Catholic Church of Colum bia, this week celebrated, or rather his congregation celebrated, the twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood- Twenty-five years ago the much beloved and distinguished Colum bian came to America from his native Ireland and began in Green ville, S. C., his service as a min ister of the Gospel. In various parts of the Palmetto state also has he served, and the record is that he has served well. Father Murphy is i popular Co lumbian. He is loved and ad mired by men and women of all creeds and of no creed. To know him is to love him. It was only an gasy and natural expression of the feeling in the hearts of a united people that prompted the jubilee celebration at St. Peter’s this week. Twenty-five years of usefulness to mankind and to the state! SoufE Carolina has advanced much in that quarter of a century, and Father Murphy has kept step with the progress; in fact, has had much to do with making that progress. The Record joins its voice with many others in congratulating Father Murphy on his silver jubi lee and its record, and in wishing him many happy returns of the occasion. SIGNIFICANT WORDS OF PRAISE (Greensboro, Ga., herald-Journal) President Hoover has words of praise for Al Smith. Probably be scared Herbert more than he d)<3 any body else. "One dollar spent for lunch lasts five hours,” writes Roger Babson, the noted business statistician. “One dol lar spent for a necktie lasts five weeks. One dollar spent for a cap lasts five months. One dollar spent for an automobile lasts five years. One dollar spent for a waterpower or railroad grade lasts five geneva tions. One dollar spent in the service cf Gcd lasts for eternity.” How many of us ever thing of it in that light? HOOVER AND SMITH Millen, Ga., News: Herb. Hoover wrote this. It might be copied in a lot of Georgia newspapers. The White House, Aprli 24. 1929. The Rev. Charles L. O’Donnell, President, the University of Notre Dame. 1 Mr. dear Dr. O’Donnell: I have your letter of the 22d, in forming me that the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame will on the 5th of May be awarded to Governor Alfred E. Smith. I am glad you have thus given' me the opportunity to join in con gratulations to Governor Smith for the honor which you confer upon so distinguished an American and to the university for its public spirit in honoring so great a public servant. Yours faithfullv. HERBERT HOOVER. These beautiful May days remind us of Dr. O'Mal ley's beautiful conception of the season; “Every spring God rewrites the Book of Genesis.” A bishop of the “Liberal Catholic Church” spoke in Atlanta recently. The real liberal Catholic Church ,s the Roman Catholic Church, which surpasses all others in the practice of the corporal works of mercy, as at tested by its orphanages, hospitals, homes for the aged and other institu tions of charity in practically every Catholic Diocese in the world. Church Contributions Statistics in the annual report of Dr. Harry S. Myers of New York, secretary of the United Steward ship Council, reveal that twenty-five of the leading evangelical denominations of the United States and Canada, with a membership of 23,267,767, contributed a total of $532,368,714.80 for all purposes during the past denominational year; of this sum $402,682,961.82 went for congregational expenses and $92,325,775.47, or nearly one-fourth as much, was contributed for denominational activities outside the local churches. This is a grand average of over twenty-three dollars per member. % The contributions of the Presbyterians was $39.11 per member—not per family, it will be noted. The Protestant Episcopal Church received contributions of $38.(^9 per member. The Methodist Episcopal Church gave $24.81 per capita. Since this is the average, there were naturally many contributions larger and smaller. Where there are several mem- A North Carolina man has started legal prt^ceedings to Regain possession of his daughter “who was taken into a New York Roimm Catholic convent and unnecessarily adopted.” It’s a sad cases, this taking of a daughter from her father. It occurred, accord ing to the story, dated from Eden ton. N. C.. in 1909. The girl was, accoi cl ing to the story, adopted from the convent in 1914. Now, twenty ye'-*rs after the girl is said to have gone to the convent and fifteen years after the adoption, the father first in indig nation. Perhaps the assertion m the stor.y that the foster-mother of flit- girl in the case is reputed to be worth 27,000,000 and that the girl is her heiress may account for the belated interest of the father, if such he be. fit might also be copied in a lot of newspapers ..outside Georgia in states where Governor Smith was not consider “so great a public ser vant.” as in Georgia'—Ed. The Bul letin). To the assertion that the defeat tt Governor Smith for the presidency was an answer to the prayers against him, one of our Georgia exchanges in quires if the prayers against his nomination were not as fervent and as numerous. A copy of the Dublin Standard, re ceived at the office of The Bulletin recently from the Irish capital, car ries a story about General Malone and his addresses to the Catholic Lay men’s Association of Georgia. His messages to the association well de served the world-wide publicity they received. , ^ ~~..—percent. Eight bers in one family, the total is several times theses .years ago President Harding received sums. If Catholics will fi^je out the average contribu tion for their respective parishe’s, they will in most cases find that they contribute less per capita for religious purposes than their non-Catholic brethren who are church members. This despite the fact tHkt on their contributions their pastors and their Bishops support parish schools and many other activities which are ordinarily not part of the expense of a Protestant congregation or Diocese. Catholics might well meditate on these figure*. . L „ , A speaker at a Knights of Colum bus Communion breakfast in New York early in May said that the prin cipal reason for Governor Smith’s de feat for the presidency last fall was tiie fact that he was nominated by 'he Houston convention and not the one at Kansas City. Governor Smith polled forty percent of the total v-ote cast, President Hoover fifty-seven percent, and three percent was scat tered. Four years ago Mr. Davis polled but twenty-nine percent, Mr. Coolidge fifty-four, and Senator La- Follette seventeen CATHOLICS AND THE FLAG Charlotte, N. C., Observer: No home institution pays more consis tent respect for the flag than does the Catholic School domiciled on O’Donoghue Hall, convenient to The Observer’s editorial windows. The flag is “up” on all occasions and the young folks seem to regard it as a religious duty to see to the orderliness of its flying. A day or so ago trouble fell upon them. The tackle at the top of the tall pole in front of the building got out of order. It was “stuck,” and therb was no athlete in the school cap able of making the repair climb. A council of war resulted in a call upon Chief Palmer, of the Fire De partment, and in a short time a big, red truck came alongside, the ex tension ladder was run up and the trouble was adjusted in a jiffy. And ' while this was being done, bouquets of boy and girl faces fill ing each window indicated that school was recessed during the ceremony. And of course, as the truck drove away with its contract completed, the firemen were re warded with a rousing round of cheers. sixty-one. Governor Cox thirty-four and a half, and four and a half per cent of the vote was scattered. Gov ernor Smith increased the vote of the Democratic party from the twenty- nine percent of Davis and the thirty- four and a half percent of Governor Cox to forty percent of the popular vote. He increased the Democratic vote by six million over its 1920 max imum. Despite the opposition of the forces of bigotry, Governor Smith made a better race than any other Democratic candidate would have made. Now that the passions aroused to fever heat during the campaign have cooled off, it might do sonic good to study these figures and draw non- political conclusions from them. REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM Macon, Ga., Telegraph: The ab surdity of Protestants doing away with religious symbols common to both Catholic and Protestants, largely inherited from the Catho lics, is apparent to everybody ex cept Heflin. If the senator from Alabama wants to wipe out all traces of Rome, let him now pro pose the prohibition of the cross in public worship; the abolition of all cardinalates and bishoprics and priestly orders; the prohibition of all figures and images of divinity; the abolition of all saints’ days, such as Valentine and Christmas; and the prohibition of cathedral ar chitecture. CATHOLICS AND ‘ INTOLERANCE Adel, Ga., News: We heard much about the intolerant attitude of Catholics in the last election but if our observation counts for any thing there are many Protestants in this country who would rule with an iron hand if they only could and who take advantage of every op-, portunity to gain places of promi nence and to put those of the same faith in position. We see it in state positions, in county and in towns. It is not uncommon in some communities for outstanding people to be denied position mainly because they do not subscribe to certain things. It is pitiable. ,