Communications
HARSON, M. JOSEPH & SULLIVAN, JERRY B. & Kennedy, Reginald T.
COMMUNICATIONS WASHINGTON CROSSING THE RIO GRANDE Brooklyn, N. Y. TO the Editor:-The title to The Commonweal article of March 12, Washington Crossing the Rio Grande, aroused my interest as to its...
...The giant strides in every department of intellectual and physical progress have been stimulated by frequent and numerous conventions...
...In these countries, a few non-Catholics or anti-Catholics, of second- and third-rate ability, bound together by secret ties, override the millions of Catholics as ruthlessly as so many millions of slaves...
...Why not a Catholic celebration of the Washington bicentenary in nearly every diocese in the United States...
...One of his nearest friends was Father J. F. Nugent of Des Moines, Iowa, whom he loved as a brother, and was instrumental in having him appointed by President Wilson as minister to Jerusalem...
...There has not been delivered in a generation a more profound speech, evidencing research and depth of thought, than the one uttered by Mr...
...This country has not produced a public man more tolerant on religious questions than Mr...
...He never bolted a party candidate...
...After leaving college he entered the law office of ex-Senator Lyman Trumble of Chicago, Illinois, who did not have any symptom of Puritanism...
...In another part of the editorial the writer says: "To view the facts quite calmly Soviet Russia today legally provides for a much larger degree of religious freedom than existed in Catholic Maryland in colonial days...
...Many of these conventions are costly enterprises, and the testimony of hard-headed business men is that "it pays...
...Just imagine what a storm of condemnation would have swept over the land if Catholic pulpits and Catholic centres had been used for the circulation of vicious detractions, of unscrupulous misrepresentations and foul slanders of Protestantism...
...MARYLAND: 1649 VS...
...This and his tariff address in the same Congress completely dispel the illusion in the mind of Father Ryan and the author of the book to which he refers...
...That he was tolerant of the views of others is well known...
...His ancestors were of Irish origin, settling in Virginia...
...Father Ryan intimates that his favoring the Philippine treaty indicates he did so with a sinister purpose, that imperialism might become an issue...
...Anyone advocating those policies, which ultimately became law, had more than ordinary depth of thought...
...COMMUNICATIONS WASHINGTON CROSSING THE RIO GRANDE Brooklyn, N. Y. TO the Editor:-The title to The Commonweal article of March 12, Washington Crossing the Rio Grande, aroused my interest as to its contents...
...THE COMMONER Des Moines, la...
...I have been at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska, and he has been at mine in Des Moines, Iowa...
...Bryan very great injustice...
...He enumerated his nomination by a Catholic at Denver, and that the president of the Bryan Club in Lincoln was a Catholic...
...My association with Mr...
...In every way he challenged the proposition that he was unfriendly to the Catholic Church...
...By letter he publicly repudiated such statements, and stated he would willingly have a Catholic on the ticket with him as a candidate for Vice-President...
...The occasion will be as widely and generally observed as the quadri-centenary of the discovery of America by Columbus in 1892 and 1893...
...It is apparent, therefore, that religious conditions in Maryland in 1649 were in a better state than they are in Russia today...
...The vote was Yeas 29, Noes 29...
...He satisfactorily explained to the American people why he favored the ratification of the Philippine treaty, stating in his speech of acceptance in 1900-"I thought it safer to trust the American people to give independence to the Filipino, than to trust the accomplishment of that purpose to diplomacy with an unfriendly nation...
...from there going to West Virginia and Kentucky...
...When I read the story I discovered that it related to an amusing pageant on Washington's birthday on the Texas border, some years ago...
...The demand of the present times is the development of men who can assume leadership in world affairs...
...but Father Nugent's health and age prevented him from accepting the office...
...Therefore, Catholic celebrations of Washington's bicentenary-either diocesian or metropolitan-should be conceived in a big way...
...What enterprise so important as that of the Catholic Church...
...He expressed to His Holiness that he brought the good-will of many Catholics in the United States...
...That was the contention of Mr...
...He never came to Des Moines, Iowa, that he did not address Saint Joseph's Academy, a Catholic college for young women...
...In what more effective manner can the twentieth-century spirit of Catholic Action-so much advocated by the Holy Father-be shown than by coupling American Catholic culture with the revered memory of George Washington...
...In the campaign of 1908 some statements were made concerning Mr...
...Conspicuous in this class will be those disturbers of the peace who were responsible for the outbreak of intolerance during the recent presidential campaign...
...The year 1932 will be the bicentenary of the birth of General George Washington, first President of the United States and of beloved memory as the father of his country...
...Bryan...
...We Catholics do not seem to have realized the momentous changes that have taken place in the social and material worlds during the past century...
...The Pope thanked him, and desired that Mr...
...Our lives, to a great extent, have been determined by the traditions of earlier centuries, instead of the constructive inspirations of the present age...
...Who but Catholics can establish complete proof of perfect Americanism...
...The Democratic party may not again receive power until it has a leader as unselfish and patriotic as Mr...
...The contrary is true...
...From that moment until the day of his death every act, deed and word were contrary to the things which Father Ryan seems to indicate were the basic principles of his life...
...I knew him intimately, and during my association with him heard not a single word derogatory to the Catholic Church...
...In this connection there will be extravagant assertions of 100 percent Americanism by many who have small right to voice such claims...
...Bryan standing for progressive policies...
...He was successful in every proposition he presented to the American people, except one...
...After his death, when the Klan was claiming him as one of their own, his family came out in a published declaration that he was not, and never had been a member, nor believed in its principles...
...Hence The Calvert Associates do not "claim more for him [Lord Baltimore] than historical records will support," but the Telegram is insinuating more than the facts will support...
...The heart of that resolution was that the United States disclaimed any disposition or intention to exercise permanent sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over the said Islands...
...And it is on this superpower, that in the final analysis, all other power depends...
...Our nation is in greater danger now than is Cuba...
...Reginald T. Kennedy...
...It is obvious that the writer is referring to The Calvert Associates for he begins the editorial by mentioning the meeting at the Metropolitan Opera House on March 25...
...He then concludes his article by saying that "It is well not to claim more for him than the historical records will support...
...for within ten years after the campaign of 1896 there came from the bowels of the earth more gold than had previously been obtained therefrom for centuries, and from that hour prosperity came to the nation, as there was money sufficient to maintain business...
...M. Joseph Harson...
...It is wholly unnecessary to refer to his library, as one of the authors cited by Father Ryan does, stating that it abounded in crank books...
...Of course it would be unthinkable for Catholics to adopt any such methods...
...There reposes a potential power in every man and woman that has received scant attention, a superpower that when translated into energy is the power that directs the affairs of the world...
...It is in regard to the erroneous conclusion of Father Ryan that the morality of Mr...
...Bryan in 1893 in the House of Representatives on bi-metallism...
...On his resignation as colonel in the army in December, 1898, among other things he stated: "Now that the treaty of peace has been concluded I believe I can be of more use to my country as a civilian than as a soldier...
...His mother was a broad-minded woman...
...Just imagine the potential power of 20,000,000 of the best manhood and womanhood in all the world, if developed to its full capacity...
...TO the Editor:-In the issue of January 15, 1930, of The Commonweal there was an article entitled The Commoner by Father John A. Ryan, which seemed to be based principally on the life of the "Commoner" by Hibben and Bracken...
...Bryan was essentially Puritanism, and that he was not a man of depth or profound conviction...
...He did not possess in any degree whatever anything bordering on Puritanical ideas...
...The editorial writer states that by the Act of 1649 religious liberty was granted in Maryland only to Trinitarian Christians and that Jews and Unitarians were not given religious freedom...
...Some day, some one will write his life as it was...
...Witness the income tax, popular election of the United States senators, arbitration of labor disputes, opposition to government by injunction, maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine...
...This continent was discovered and explored by Catholics...
...Witness: the helplessness of Catholics in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Central and South America-and Mexico...
...Jerry B. Sullivan, Associate Justice, United States Customs Court...
...Two years are not too much time to prepare...
...not as prejudiced minds imagine it...
...The educational value of immediate preparation would be of great and permanent value, and no time should be lost...
...One of the points stressed on March 25 was that freedom was granted only to Trinitarian Christians and in The Commonweal of April 2 we find this statement: "Investigation shows that the wording of the act might have been even more liberal if immigrants from neighboring Virginia had not insisted upon a greater amount of rigor than the Calvert government demanded...
...A train of thoughts had been suggested that could not be quieted, and I submit them that they may lead to some constructive action...
...U. S. S. R.: 1930 New York, N. Y. TO the Editor:-In an editorial entitled Maryland in 1649, appearing in its issue of March 29, the New York Telegram lays itself open to a most serious charge of misrepresentation...
...The first to teach and proclaim the principles of religious liberty in America were Catholics and the only religious martyrs who consecrated this fair land with their life blood were Catholic missionaries...
...and from thence to Illinois...
...If the contents of that book are properly portrayed in the article, it does Mr...
...But both at the meeting and in The Commonweal it is freely admitted that the Act of 1649 left much to be desired...
...The interview which he had with his Holiness on his trip around the world was warm and cordial His description of the meeting was amiable and generous...
...That did not indicate he had any motive in advising the confirmation of the Philippine treaty for political purposes...
...That is not my purpose in writing you...
...Bryan and the Catholic Church...
...The manner in which this event may be commemorated appropriately has been debated by many thoughtful minds, and has been discussed on the floors of Congress...
...The deciding vote was cast by Vice-President Hobart, thus defeating the resolution...
...It is peculiar that one said to be without depth or profundity, could have accomplished the results he did, and become and remained the leader of his party for two decades and the foremost citizen of the nation...
...Bryan convey his blessing to his many Catholic friends...
...Religious freedom in Russia is "technically" provided, to use Father Walsh's distinction, but actually there is persecution for religious beliefs, while in Maryland when the Catholics were in control freedom of religion was legally limited but Jews and Protestants were not persecuted for matters of religion...
...Bryan began in 1890, and from that time until the close of 1912 I was with him in all the political campaigns in which he was engaged...
...Let us show to the world that the American Catholic laity can conceive things in a big way and carry them out in a superior manner...
...The only issue he lost was as to the coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. On the quantitative theory of money he won...
...Witness the present situation in Russia...
...His father was a member of the General Assembly of Illinois for eight years, and a judge of the district court of southern Illinois for twelve years...
...During the early period of his life he was associated with those who were naturally opposed to Puritanism...
...Bryan...
...He entered public life at thirty years of age...
...A thousand conventions and expositions are held annually in New York, and other thousands are held in other large cities, and in many of the medium-size towns throughout the United States...
...The contrary is true, as any one can state who observed his excellent working library at Lincoln...
...I was familiar with Washington crossing the Potomac, and Washington crossing the Delaware, but I had never heard of Washington Crossing the Rio Grande...
...He was a firm believer in the Bacon resolution that was voted on by the United States Senate on January 11, 1899...
...The age of parades, pageants and fireworks, has passed...
...Chicago is now making preparations for an international world's fair...
...It is an occasion of which patriots of every degree and shade will take advantage, to make known their various views on Americanism...
...The bringing together of our loyal laity would lead to the solution of many problems that would result in tremendous moral and material benefits to our entire population...
Vol. 11 • April 1930 • No. 25
