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SIX THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA AUGUST 22, 1936 THE BULLETIN The Official Organ of the Catholic Laymen’s Association of Georgia RICHARD REID. Editor 815-816 Lamar Building Augusta, Georgia Subscription Price $2.00 Per Year Published monthly by the Publicity Department ■with the Approbation of the Most. Rev. Bishops of Raleigh. Charleston. Savannah. St. Augustine and Nash- ville and of the Rt Rev, Abbot? Ordinary of Belmont. ASSOCIATION OFFICERS FOR 1935-1936 ALFRED M. BATTEY. Augusta President J. J. HAVERTY, K. S. G.. Atlanta ...First Vice-President J. B. McCALLUM, Atlanta Secretary THOMAS S. GRAY, Augusta Treasurer RICHARD REID, Augusta Publicity Director MISS CECILE. FERRY Augusta. Asst, PubUcity Director Vol, XVII August 22, 1936 No. 8 Entered as second class matter June 15, 1921, at the Post Office at Augusta, Ga, under act of March, 1879. Ac cepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103, Act. of October 3. 1917, authorized September 1, 1921, Member of N. C. W. C. News Service the Catholic Press Association of the United States, the Georgia Press Association and the National Editorial Association. The Basis of Morality W ITH the population of the United States estimated as in excess of 125,000, Dr. George Linn Kieffer, president of the Association of Statisticians of Ameri can religious bodies and statistician of the National Lutheran Church, writes in The Christian Herald, a leading Protestant monthly, that the membership of all religious groups in the country is 62,678,177. The Catholic population in 1935 was by far the great est, 20,609,302, according to Dr. Kieffer’s’ figures, the Baptist second, with 10,191,697, and the Methodist third, with 9,167,561. The Lutherans followed with 4,568,300, the Jews with 4,081,242, and the Presbyterian with 2,- 681,265. Other churches with more than a million mem bers are the Congregational and Christian Churches, the Disciples of Christ and the Protestant Episcopalians. Dr, Kieffer reports an increased proportion of adult members of some denomination since 1926, the per cent- age rising from 46.6 to 49.15. With half the adults in the United States affiliated with no church, and many more than half when Catho lics are segregated from the statistics, it is evident that tens of millions of the children of the nation have no contact with any church. Parents not interested in religion sufficiently to affiliate with a church will hard ly in most cases be sufficiently interested or competent to give their children religious instruction. The in struction of most of the non-Catholic children whose parents are church members is limited to one hour a week, plus the varying amounts of religious education they get at home. Reason forbids us to expect morality without a foundation of religion, a lesson reflected by all history. With so many millions in our nation without contact with or knowledge of religion, we may well be con cerned for the future. There are many moral men and women today affiliated with no church and apparently unconcerned about religion; they are being protected by the heritage of their religious homes. Their children will receive that heritage diluted and attenuated. Their grandchildren, unless there is a reaction, will be even less fortunate. Catholic schools have solved the problem for Catholics able to attend them, and are striving to care for Catholics not in parochial schools. But what of the others? There is no more serious question before the nation today. The Reds in Spain T HE Communists of Russia have, according to the daily press, raised two million four hundred thousand dollars for their “comrades” of the Spanish government to put down the revolution into which the murders and other outrages of these “comrades” had goaded the Spanish “Rightists.” The previous issue of The Bulletin, published before the uprising started, recorded the statement of Gil Robles, Galvo Sotelo and Ventosa Calvell that the radi cals since February 16 had destroyed one hundred and sixty Catholic Churches without th e government lift ing a finger to prevent it, or to protect religion from assassination, Calvo Sotelo in making the accusation said that, he was marked for death by the radicals. A few days afterwards he was assassinated, and the pent- up indignation of the opponents of the government burst into rebellion. In numerous editorial rooms in the United States editorial writers who pour out invective on radicals and communists and socialists in their own community gave the church-burning, priest-killing, nun-murdering bandits of Spain their editorial blessing. They pro fessed to see in Spain a clash between the forces of liberalism, represented by the government, and of re action, personified by those they baptized “fascists.” The revolt in Spain is not a Catholic revolt—the Church counseled patience when the Roman Empire was martyring priests and people by the thousands; she counsels patience when the Mexican government emu lates the example of the Neros and Diocletians. The Church can flourish in monarchy, oligarchy or repub lic; she needs only her natural rights such as those guaranteed here by the Constitution of the United States. The Church in Spain is accused of dominating the government; it is accused of possessing great wealth. These charges are brought against the Church in every country in the world; they have been an issue in political campaigns in the United States where Catho lics constitute nearly twenty per cent of the popula tion of the country and have never constituted ten per cent of the United States Senate or of the House of Representatives, and where her reputed “wealth” consists for the most part in hospitals, schools, orphan ages, homes for the aged and other institutions which are a source of expense to her rather than of income, and to the support of which most of her endowments are devoted. Communism in Spain is the same as in Russia and in Union Square, New York. Those editors who give it their blessing in Spain are contributing their bit toward its labors to extend its influence and its power to the United States. The issue is not Communism or Fascism; both have the same fundamental error, the deification of the State, and the difference is one degree rather than of kind, except that Fascism does recognize the right to private property. The issue is whether those rights recognized by the Constitution of the United States as natural rights are to be denied in Spain as in Russia, and whether, having taken them from the peo ple of Spain, the Communistic movement is to spread its tenacles over Europe and then across the Atlantic to the United States, connecting up with the link already developing across the Rio Grande. A Little Learning f » LITTLE learning, as Pope says, is indeed a dangerous thing. It often influences instructors to sneer at religion. It sometimes weakens the faith of those of little faith, whose reaction to education demon strates that they have taken sips instead of deep draughts from the Pierian spring. At a public institute in the South recently, where Catholics constituted perhaps two per cent of the at tendance, a Baptist college professor asserted in an ad dress that Dr. Parker T. Moon, professor of interna tional relations at Columbia University, had been more influential in turning the United States from its dangerous trend toward imperialism than any one in dividual. Dr. Moon, who died early in the summer, was brought into the Church by his deep historical studies. The previous issue of The Bulletin recorded the re ception into the Chinch of Cuthbert Wright, author of the famed “Don Juan of Austria”, reviewer of his torical works for The New York Times, with a national and international reputation as a lecturer and teacher of international relations. It was a profound knowledge of history which directed him toward Catholicism. Dr. Robert Howard Lord was no amateur in history; his knowledge of it won him the post of professor of history at Harvard University and chairman of the De partment of History there, and led him not only into the Catholic Church but into its sanctuary as a priest Dr. Carlton J. H. Hayes of Columbia University, author of some of the most popular current text books in history, and Dr. Ross Hoffman of New York University, whose recent work, “Restoration”, is a classic of its kind, had their eyes opened to the eternal verities of the Catholic Church by their historical studies. Dilettantes in history might well meditate on these dis tinguished current examples. — Protestant Taxpayers and Catholic Schools L OUIS G. Harman is a Philadelphia property-owner, taxpayer and Protestant. In recent weeks he wrote in this fashion to the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin: “In a recent issue you told how 150,000 children are attending the parochial schools. As a taxpayer with several unoccupied houses on my hands, I could not help but think if these 150,000 were turned over to our public schools, it would be an immense extra expense for taxpayers. I take off my hat to the black-clad ladies who teach in the parochial schools and have saved me hundreds of dollars. All these years I’ve been too stupid to realize it.” Last year there were over 4,290 children in the Catho lic schools of Georgia, every one of whom the public schools would be required to care for if it were not for the educational facilities provided by the Catholic Church. There were 8,152 children in the Catholic schools of Florida, 7,780 in those of Alabama, 7,738 in Tennessee, 6,890 in Mississippi, and additional thousands in the Carolinas. These are statistics for the Southeast, for a section of the country where Catholics are less numerous than in any other part of the United States. Yet even here Catholic schools relieve the public treasury of the ex penditure of hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollal-s, if the saving in the new public schools necessary otherwise be considered. But an infinitely greater contribution is the character of education in public schools. There are no Com munists teaching in them, no atheists, no radicals, no persons seeking the overthrow of our form of govern ment, as there admittedly are in some <ft our schools supported by public funds in many of our large cen ters, a problem which as yet has not become acute in the South. Public officials think they see occasional signs of it in the South, however. But never in Catho- Dixie Masings Those who doubt the value of the Congressional Record ought to see the number of our Georgia exchange newspapers which use it for wrappers. It’s too bad for America’s record that they don’t have a party-throwing contest at the Olympics. Even with Eleanor Holm Jarrett out, we should do very well. A dispatch from Copenhagen de scribed Colonel Lindbergh as unpack ing the cases containing his newly- invented mechanical heart. This en courages those of us who think that one of the world’s major needs is large-heartedness. We thought we knew what a Paul- ist and a Jesuit are, but consulting Webster’s New International Diction ary we accidentally ran across some information new to us. Here’s the dic tionary’s version: “Paulist, n. R. C. Ch. (a) In India, a Jesuit;—so-called from their head church and convent of St. Paul’s in Goa. (b) A member of the Congrega tion of the Missionary Priests of St. Paul the Apostle, founded in 1858 by the Rev. I. T. Hecker, of New York. They are engaged in parochial, mis sionary, educational and literary work.” We checked up Mr. Webster by the Catholic Encyclopedia and find con firming evidence in Vol. VII, Pg. 131 b, where it is stated in the account of the life of Father Johann Ernst Hanxleden, Jesuit missionary in the East Indies, that on his death, March 20, 1732, “the heathen ruler of the country declared that the Paulists, as the Jesuits were then called in In dia, had lost in him a great man and a pillar of religion.” Had we read the 16 volumes (about 24,000 pages) of the Catholic Encyclo pedia, we should have known this fact. We have a friend who did read them from Alpha to Omega. When the Roosevelt administration moved into Washington, the “Brain Trust” promptly signed him up. Mention of the Catholic Encyclope dia reminds us of the diamond jubilee of the Jesuit (not Paulist) Father John J. Wynne, editor-in-chief of the Catholic Encyclopedia, and the prin cipal speaker of the 1920 Savannah convention of the Catholic Laymen’s Assocaition of Georgila. Monsignor Duggan in the Hartford Catholic Transcript says that the statement that the three greatest achievements of the Church in the United States have been the founding of the Cath olic University of America, the es tablishment of the Maryknoll Foreign Mission Society and the publication of the Catholic Encyclopedia has never been challenged. No encomium of Father Wynne could be more effec tive than the simple statement that he was the projector of the Encyclopedia, has devoted his able time and talents to it since the beginning, is now no less potent a factor in the publica tion of Universal Knowledge and the revised Catholic Encyclopedia. If Father Wynne had never project ed the publication of the Catholic En- cpclopedia, he would still be one of the great figures of the American Church. Born in New York in 1859 and becoming a Jesuit in 1876, he was ordained in 1890, taught physics and mathematics in New York and Bos ton, was editor of the Messenger of the Sacred Heart from 1892 to 1902, and the founder and first editor of the famed review “America”. His lit erary works are numerous. His achievements are abundant. His friends are innumerable. His years— may he live long enough to grow as famous for them as for his labors. Commenting on our assumption that it is the sand in our water that fills people with Augusta sediment, Editor Howell of the Cuthbert Leader, in quires if we really meant to say that or if we have a summer cold. Columbus Circle in New York is one of the world’s busiest points. A stone’s throw from Columbus Circle is the office of the Catholic News, of which Henry Ridder was co-founder 50 years ago, and of which he was the publisher for many years pre vious to his death in recent weeks. As much a part of New York as Co lumbus Circle, Mr. Ridder in the midst of that swirl of activity never lost his philosophic calm, nor did the shifting winds of fad and fancy ever stir him by the thickness of a shadow from his charted course of life. His philosophic calm and his chart ed course were as Catholic as the name of his publication. Strange movements swept over the city and nation; time after time the Church he loved and served was the object of bitter attack; occasionally there were misunderstandings among those of the household of the faith. These things were sources of regret to Mr. Ridder, but not of discouragement; he con tinued his patient, persistent, tran quil effort, confident that the results would, God willing, take care of themselves. One need only study the Church in New York today to see how eminent ly justifided was Mr. Ridder’s confi dence. It is probable that no layman contributed more to this result during the past half century than he. The entire Catholic Press of the United States shares in the loss attending his death. He was the father of Mr. Charles H. Ridder, treasurer of the Catholic Press Association, known personally to many readers of The Bulletin. To us the loss is a personal one. May he rest in eternal peace. The Bulletin, in harmony with the policy outlined for organizations and organs of Catholic Action, is outside of political parties and political ac tivity. It was neutral in the 1928 campaign, limiting itself to answering attacks on the religion of one of the candidates without expressing a pref erence or commending or condemn ing any candidate. It was neutral in 1920, 1924 and 1932. That is its policy this year. The United States was neutral be fore it entered the World War. Mil lions of Americans were neutral only in the sense that they didn’t care who whipped Germany. There are innu merable persons who believe that the neutrality of a Catholic newspaper in the current campaign means that it doesn’t care who defeats those Father Coughlin is supporting. Protestants who left the Catholic Church because they denied the right of the Church to exercise authority over its clergy and members are not in a very good position to demand that the Church exercise that author ity over Father Coughlin now. Protestants who demand the right to interpret the Bible and the teach ings of the Church as they see fit can’t logically criticize Father Cough lin for his interpretation which he says requires him to follow a certain course. Catholics who do recognize the Church’s right to exercise authority realize that the reputation of the Church is no less precious to the Holy Father than to them, and that the authorities of the Church will act as their consciences and their deeper knowledge of the facts, ramifications and probable and possible reaction dictate. Eight years ago a few millions of people in this country were daring the Pope to interfere in the national election. Now they are daring him not to interfere. The Charlotte, N. C., Daily News expresses editorially its hope that the Pope will not make a martyr out of Father Coughlin by silencing him. Father Coughlin’s priesthood is plastered all over the front pages of every new T spaper in the land, but the Protestant ministerial status of the more vociferous Rev. Gerald Smith gets no more than passing mention. And Norman Thomas, Socialist can didate for president, was ordained a Presbyterian minister back in 1911, according to “Who’s Who”. Catholics may properly criticize Father Coughlin for violating Cath olic policy in entering the political arena, but he violates no Protestant policy save the one forbidding priests to do what ministers are permitted to do. Therefore, from that standpoint also there is little ground for criti cism of Father Coughlin among those who are not Catholics. Father Coughlin, unlike the clergy in politics in 1928, has never asked anyone to vote for or against a man because of his religion. Whether there is ground for crit icism or not, such criticism is abun dant and vocal, and we fear the har vest will be a crop of religious bit terness. However, the outlook is not en tirely without hope. That there is still some good will left in the world is demonstrated by this headline in a recent issue of the Savannah Press: “(City) Council Is Glad (Alderman) Walker Is Better.” “America” pays tribute to the en ergy with which some Southerners by profession work at their trade, in walking out of conventions at which a Negro prays, for instance, but wishes they were Southerners at heart, contained and chivalrous, like Lee and Jackson. The difference of opinion between Bishop Warren Candler and other dis tinguished Methodist leaders on the possibility and advisability of unifi cation of the Methodist Church North and the Methodist Church South— Bishop Candler is quoted as opposing the proposed unification — ought to indicate a reason for Catholic lack of confidence in “reunion” movements. The Rev. Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, whose death recently was lamented by all classes, was once a Methodist minister, but later joined the Con gregational Church and was for years and at the time of his death pastor of the famed Central Congregational Church in Brooklyn. “But,” said the Associated Press, “he maintained his membership in the Methodist Church” and a Methodist Bishop officiated at his funeral.