What About "The Nation"?
34~-THE COMMONWEAL February 2, x9~7 was fond of noting. So used are we to con-sidering the French as a law-abiding nation, shep-herded through life by the Code Napol~on, that the action of Abb~...
...It is even suggested that the "revolt led by the Archbishop of Guadalajara" may have been financed by the Knights of Columbus fund...
...In the first place that needs a kind of substant'ati0ta nobody is in a position to supply, and in the seco/~ place it is beside the point.9 We want to see tlxe t~tcts in the Calles case--facts of law which abrogate the concept of law...
...William D. Guthrie, of the New York Bar, prepared for the American bishops a legal opinion on the problems created by the rule of Calles...
...34~-THE COMMONWEAL February 2, x9~7 was fond of noting...
...That is why a paper like The Nation--and ever so many other exemplars of American opinion-- look so ridiculous to us...
...So used are we to con-sidering the French as a law-abiding nation, shep-herded through life by the Code Napol~on, that the action of Abb~ Bethl~em, as reported recently in the press, comes with something of the same pleasant thrill that we get when the little fellow in Screenland throws the saloon bully through the swinging doors.9 Faced with what he considered too liberal a display of anatomy on a bookstall in the precincts of the Gare du Nord, the Abb~, whom correspondents agree in de- scribing as large and rugged, did not content himself by taking notes for legal action...
...These principles, moreover, were set forth by the Papacy in its declaration upon the Mexican situation, and repeated by the bishops of Mexico themselves.9 In its issue dated December 29, The Commonweal made the following comment: "It is instructive to note to what a meagre extent the official American press has dealt with the pastoral letter, and to see how cautious its comment has usually been...
...This opinion has been published in full and quoted from widely.9 On page 46 of his pamphlet, Mr...
...Villard for having swallowed one of the biggest hoaxes ever saddled upon the reading public...
...And the reason why...
...During November, 1926, Mr...
...Guthrie de- clared that "thoughtful Catholics will not endeavor by agitation, political or otherwise, to force the hand of our government.9 On the following twelfth of De- cember, the Catholic Episcopate of the United States issued a pastoral letterwin itself an unusual eventmon the religious situation in Mexico.9 On page 28 of this letter, copies of which were sent out as widely as pos- sible and other copies of which are distributed at a nominal cost by those terrible Knights of Columbus who rasp the sensitive nerves of so many "liberals," these words are found : "Christian principles forbid the Church founded by the Prince of Peace to take up the sword or rely upon such carnal weapons as the inflamed passions of men would select.9 The letter went on to say that the episcopate made no plea for intervention or political action of any sort, and counseled all to be- lieve and pray that justice would triumph in the end...
...Catholics have declared where they stand, about as clearly, emphatically and reasonably as human words can declare anythin 8. But where on earth is "liberal thought...
...Simple fear cf the facts---fear of looking at this malignant thir:y .9 .9 .9 .9 .9 .9 whlch Is Calles tyranny m Mexico, fear of conslderm~ it apart from all subterfuge of theory or doctrine, fe~ of being driven to the conclusion that this is a "damn)~ thing...
...the sinister purposes of the oil barons have been circumvented but Catholics, excepting for a bit of editorial opinion expressed in The Commonweal, have been silent or even guardedly bellicose on the subject of intervention...
...Here are repeated precisely the same charges which the outstanding ignoramus of Senate history, Heflin of Alabama, read into the Congressional Record...
...What really must be pointed out, however, is the circumstance that in its attitude toward the Mexican problem The Nation is really very much like the nation.9 Has there been no oftldal, collective statement of Catholic opinion ? Is there no way of telling where Catholics stand on the matter of Mexico...
...Flaherty and his aides...
...Seizing the otiend- ing publications by bundles in his powerful hands," we are told, "he began tearing them in pieces, scattering the fragments on the ground...
...facts of political tyranny which deny the premises of all tolerant governmentwplainly summarized and confronted...
...We do not want to be informed that "Mexico's war upon the Church is the natural outgrowth of the latter's history...
...This action comes too close upon remarks we made anent Mayor Walker's recent action on home-grown pornography for us to do more than hint at its significance, and approve, at least, the spirit it registers.9 Abb~ Bethl~em, as those who read his annual series, Livres /t Lire et ~t Proscrire, with an open mind have to admit, is not only a forceful but a witty critic.9 But there are evi-dently occasions when, like Saint Thomas before him, he feels the need of something more concrete than sweet persuasiveness.9 WHAT ABOUT "THE NATION...
...the press of the world has denounced imperialism in Latin Amer- ica...
...lief...
...To wit: the common people of the United States have united in protest against war with Mexico...
...We can forgive Mr...
...We want to hea~ the verdict: right or: wrong.9 Then we shall know y(here The Nation stands...
...The major portion of this potential deposit of knowledge is the fact that the "liberal" moves in a world he has hermetically sealed against outside influences--even such influences as are conveyed by ordinary news...
...facts of brutal misrule whic~ almost baffle b...
...We may now add the conviction that many persons who profess to feel an anxiety about the "Catholic stand" have not read it at all...
...An example comes to hand in an editorial entitled, What About the Cath- olics?, which appears in The Nation for January 26...
...IS possible to learn a great deal from "liberal" I T expression of opinion...
...but surely he must know that there is a million times more evidence to show that Mexican propaganda in the United States is bought and paid for than exists to indicate that a lonely country bishop obtained funds from Mr...
Vol. 5 • February 1927 • No. 13
