Mr. Bruce of Maryland
December 29, I926 THE COMMONWEAL 203 notorious criminal. To talk about it at all means tak- ing sides. And taking sides, in this instance, means affiliation with a point of view which is still...
...In Maryland, if in any state, it would be reasonable to expect a particularly flagrant case of Catholic "domination," if the fears and starts of supersensitive revivalists were to be taken at face value...
...And taking sides, in this instance, means affiliation with a point of view which is still widely unpopular...
...Senator Bruce is a Presbyterian, but in the Senate he spoke as a man...
...Well a good portion of it is contained in the recent important speech of Senator Bruce, attacking what is so frequently termed the Methodist "Vatican" maintained in Washington...
...People who avoid talk- ing about Mexico do so simply because they know full well that the Catholic Church is Ioo percent right...
...As a matter of fact, there are only 37 Catholics in Congress--32 in the House, and 5 in the Senate...
...BRUCE OF MARYLAND N 'OT very long ago, Bishop John J. Dunn, speak- ing to his vast radio audience from Station WLWL, asked a very important, because very com-mon, question: "Does the Catholic Church accept the fundamental American principle of separation of church and state, in the sense that the church must not engage in politics...
...Because Catholics form at least I4 per- cent of the country's voting population, they could if they were really a political machine, elect 62 represen- tatives and t3 senators...
...This is his testimony, as given in his speech in the Senate: "If the Catholic Church had interfered with the authority of the state and browbeaten candidates, legislators and other public officials as the clerical leaders of the prohibition movement have done, the whole country would long ago have been aflame...
...It was the domination of a great citizen whose unselfish judgment was gladly accepted as a guide by thousands and whose candor was never questioned by those who knew him best...
...Meanwhile, the bishops' pastoral letter has ren-dered, at least, an important historical service...
...It has done nothing of the sort and has, in many respects, set an example of dignity and wisdom in its relations to the state which might well be imitated by the sectarian extremists in our Protestant communions...
...Later on, when a Mexico still more hopelessly ruined by the collapse of civil government and moral authority, is stretched out like a ghastly faubourg beside a United States that must go to the rescue in order to save its honor, it will not be easy to forget that during critical years it was fashionable to be non-committal...
...Or is the Catholic Church in reality a gigantic political machine...
...He had every opportunity to see the reaction of his own community to the Cardinal's undoubted prei~minence...
...More than that, the Cardinal possessed politi- cal influence, for he had all kinds of influence, and men of all creeds deferred to him...
...He set a good example to some political laggards in Maryland and other states by exercising the privilege of voting regu- larly, but no one ever knew for whom he voted...
...We need not be misled or fooled regard- ing the matter...
...MR...
...Maryland is not only the one state of the original Union which traces its origin directly to a Catholic foundation, but the towering figure among its citizens for a third of a century was Cardinal Gib- bons...
...Here, then, the stage was set for a "demonstration" that all the worst suspicions of certain parsons were true...
...Or, when occasion arose, such occasion being the "interests of Rome," he would have moved it to the City Hall of Baltimore and bossed the mayor...
...People who spun the matter of the Marlboroughs into lengthy conversations did so be-cause they thought that, for once, they had the Catho- lic Church in an ugly corner...
...There was domination in Maryland by Cardinal Gibbons in his long tenure as Archbishop of Baltimore, and it may be well to define it...
...It was the domination of a great churchman who, in ecclesiastical things, performed his part without raising even a suspicion in the minds of those who dii~ered from him in faith that he was confusing church affairs with civic affairs...
...These figures become more strik- ing when it is noted that though Methodists constitute only 8 percent of the population, they can lay claim proudly to II8 congressmen, of whom 28 are in the Senate...
...Those upon whom the task is incumbent will realize again, as men have so often realized, that centuries of regenera- tive effort expended by Christendom upon the people of the Montezumas could not have been wiped out completely if those who might have averted the catas- trophe had not been so blandly satisfied with silence...
...Cardinal Gibbons did use his influence, his great influence, and used it con-stantly, but he did so as any citizen might do and he claimed no more right than any other citizen...
...But what really happened during that third of a century in Maryland, which is remembered as yester- day by a cloud of witnesses...
...and that the Baptists, constituting 7 percent of the nation, are stronger than Catholics in Congress by I4 members...
...Perhaps he could have had his throne in two places at the same time, for nothing is impossible, you know...
...What is the inference...
...December 29, I926 THE COMMONWEAL 203 notorious criminal...
...Senator Bruce's life was contemporaneous with that of Cardinal Gibbons for many years...
...In partisan politics and the machinery of the civic admin- istration he never once intervened...
...If their inferences had been correct, the natural thing to expect is that Cardinal Gibbons would have moved his throne to the State House and bossed the governor...
...He answered by drawing attention to certain statistics of exceptional pertinence...
...On questions of general public policy, national and state, he expressed his opinions courageously whenever he had occasion to do so, but he conceded to every other man the right to do the same and acquiesced with com- plete loyalty in the final verdict when given...
...The attention given his remarks shows the nation's appredation of frank masculinity...
Vol. 5 • December 1926 • No. 8
