USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Oelwein > The Telegraph-herald's abridged history of the state of Iowa and directory of Fayette County, including the city of Oelwein, with a complete classified business directory; > Part 19
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But the Jew did not increase, and why did he not increase? Simply be- cause he segregated himself from the surrounding nations and peoples. True, he would trade and talk and walk with them; but he would not eat or drink or pray with them. No Jewish child was allowed to attend school with children of another race or sect. Although we have no record of it, still reasoning from the fact that human nature was the same 3,000 years ago as it is today, we may assume that a similar school question to that which is now being discussed in the United States was up among the Jews. There was a party that favored the open door policy and a party, led perhaps by the Pharisees, who favored the closed door. Unfortunately for the Jew, the latter prevailed and he shut him- self off socially and religiously from all outside his pale. And this is why the race dwindled. We believe that in the eternal constitution of things, it is or- dained that the society, sect or party separating itself from the body politic can not increase or even hold its own. Their seclusion preculdes proselyting while desertions counterbalance the normal increase from births. Every man of ordinary observation, who has passed the meridian of his life, must have observed instances in his own time. Where are the Quakers, the Puritans and cthers that might be recalled? And where are the Lutherans and Episco- "palians drifting to? How different it was with the early Christians. The year 312 opened with the darkest cloud on the horizon that ever settled on Chris- tianity. The tenth genral persecution, ordered by the Emperor Diocletian, and so vigorously seconded by his bloodthirsty and burtish colleagues, Maximian and Gallarious, was in full blast. The earth in Europe, Asia and Africa was saturated with Christian blood. It was the darkest hour ever witnessed by them. The persecution was so vicious, vigorous, brutal and bloody that it seemed impossible for Christianity to withstand it, and even the most hopeful felt that it was doomed to be swept from the face of the earth. But relief came
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from a quarter whence it was least expected. An internal revolution occurred. Constantine laid claim to the throne, marched an army to Rome, took the city by assault and was proclaimed emperor. He was converted to the Christian faith by a miracle and being ardent and enthusiastic, as most converts are, was willing to turn the tables and let the pagans feel the lash of bloody perse- cution, such as they had waged against the Christians for more than 250 years. But the few Christians who survived the sanguinary ordeal prominent among whom was St. Sylvester, who two years later was elected Pope, assembled around him, and they said no; that Christianity required no advantage. All it needed was equality. Give us equality-elevate us to an even plane, and truth will vindicate itself. Hence Constantine's decree issued from the City of Milan, in the year 312, simply elevated Catholicity to the dignity of pagan- ism. Nothing more. It is called the triumph of Christianity because all Rome was converted in a short time. Paganism disappeared like a morning dew. But supposing the Christians had adopted the closed door policy of the Jew, separating themselves socially and religiously from the pagan. What might have been the result?
In proof of the evil results of separation and segregation of the children of our own time were wanting, it is supplied in abundance. A detailed state- ment of the evidences necessarily must be here foregone, but to the general ' proposition. that the public schools are most beneficial in their effects on the pupil, we think those unbiased in their judgment will give assent. We see in this city, where the first sermon against the public schools was preached thir- ty-seven years ago, evidence of the handicap children who have not attended public schools have suffered.
Dubuque's system of public schools is inferior to none in the country. Politics and sectarianism has been kept out of them, and while the present Archbishop lends assent to attendance of Catholic children in the local high school-there is no Catholic high school-the attendance of Catholic children in the high school is today only about 15 per cent., while more than half the children of school age in Dubuque are Catholics, and but few of them receive the advantages of high school teaching or training.
By reason of the Parochial school system the Catholic boy is not given a fair chance. It should be our most earnest endeavor to gird him for the strug- gle of later years. Deny him opportunity and who knows but that one day a. walker among the graves shall say with Gray:
"Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire; Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstacy the living lyre.
"Some village Hamden with undaunted breast, The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute, inglorious Milton here may rest; Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood.
"But knowledge to their eyes here ample page, Rich with the spoils of time, did n'ed unroll; Chill peury repressed their noble rage,
And froze the genial currents of the Soul."
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
If the general population had increased as rapidly as the Catholic popula- tion in the ninety pears preceding 1880, we would have had at that date 300 million instead of 50 million of people. And if it had decreased in the same proportion as has the Catholic population during the twenty-two years suc- ceeding 1880, we would have had less than 38 mililons in 1902 instead of 79 millions. These figures will doubtless surprise and challenge the credulity of many. But mathematical confirmation is easily obtainable. To designate those periods as the periods marking the rise and decline of Catholicity in the United States, is to fittingly describe them.
Surely the time has come for serious reflection on this subject, as well as decision and action. It might be well for some of the hierachy to reflect on the advice or injunction of the Great Leo XIII., where in his encyclical letter to the Archbishops and Bishops of the United States he says: "All intelligent men are agreed, and we ourselves have with pleasure intimated that America seems destined for greater things. Now, it is our wish that the Catholic Church should not only share in, but help to bring about this prospective greatness. We deem it right and proper that she should, by availing herself of the opportunities daily presented to her, keep equal step with the Republic in the march of improvements, at the same time striving to the utmost, by her virtue and institutions, to aid in the rapid growth of the state"
How does the action of some very learned, honest and sincere prelates, in seeking to destroy the public school-the most cherished institution of the Republic, comport with this injunction. It is surely not "keeping equal step with the Republic in the march of improvement."
Although we invited correspondence there was but one answer which was published in the Telegraph-Herald and was as follows:
MORE ABOUT THE SCHOOLS.
Editor Telegraph-Herald: In relation to the controversy in the Telegraph- Herald in regard to the Cleveland bond deal, and the decline of Catholicity in the United States I would say: Mr. Maher seems to think that there is no proof that Cleveland was in the conspiracy to favor the bankers. There is plenty of proof that he sent his secretary of the treasury, Carlisle, to Wall street to go into a conspiracy with the bankers to bring on the panic of 1893, for the purpose of getting the Sherman silver act repealed, and the panic of '93 was infinitely worse for the people than looting the treasury of several millions of dollars.
In relation to the decline of Catholicity in the United States, if there is any decline, the heathenish public schools are more to blame for it than anything else, and their infidel education is telling on the other churches as well as the Catholic, and it is telling on the morality of the whole nation in general. We are getting to be a nation of educated rascals, of which there is lots of proof. Even the schools themselves suffer through the rascality of too many of the school officers. The only way to make this republic endure is by substituting thoroughly Christian education for the present teaching of our infidel schools.
This will mean the smashing of one of our idols, but it will be done some day. It will mean the doing away with our fetich of non-sectarian infidel schools and their tendency to teach paganism, which will lead to anarchy and ruin, and
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the substitution for them of Christian schools, as education and infidelity, in a republic, tend to anarchy.
JAMES C. WOLFE.
Audubon, Iowa.
The article which Mr. Wolfe undertakes to answer states: That the public schools were established in 1795, that they were practically the only schools in the country during the two succeeding generations, that during that period the Catholic church increased very rapidly; that the increase was 250 fold, while the general population increased less than 13 fold; that the ratio was raise from 1 in 120 to 1 in 6; that the percentage of increase was 25,000 per cent, while the gen- eral poplation increased but 1277 per cent. The article further states that Bishop Hennessy commenced to preach against the public schools in 1867; that the parochial schools were generally established in 1880, and for the succeeding twenty-two years the increase in the general population, after deducting the im- migration, was 38 per cent, and the loss to the Catholic church was 25 per cent; that if the general population, during the period in which the public schools were in control, had increased as rapidly as the Catholic population, we would have had in 1880, 300,000,000 instead of 50,000,000. And if it had de- creased in the same ratio as the Catholic population during the twenty-two years succeeding 1880, our population in 1902 would have been 38,000,000 instead of 79,000,000. And although these statements are authentic, being predicated on the reports of the census and immigration bureaus and the Catholic Direc- tory, yet Mr. Wolfe, unsupported by proof, criterion or parallel, asserts that the decline in the Catholic church is due to the public schools; and that other churches have suffered also. We have not looked into the matter of other churches, but inasmuch as the Methodist church was organized in the United States but a few years before the public schools and has grown to be nu- merically strong under the system, it would require more than an empty asser- tion to make us believe that any of the churches has lost by the schools. We admire our correspondent for his frankness. He has the courage of his convic- tions and the temerity to assert them. Such men are rare, and, however much we may differ from them, we must admire and respect them. This school ques- tion is one of great interest and importance to the people of this country. Yet how few there are who will speak above a whisper on the subject.
The newspapers are still worse, for they seem to be afraid to discuss it in any tone. All, or nearly all, of them believe that the public schools are the finest institutions in the country, but they are afraid to say so, lest it might give offense to some person and cause the loss of a subscriber. This is shallow and unpatriotic, and we sincerely hope that the day will come when newspaper men will hold the public interest in higher esteem than their own selfish ends; that their love of justice and country will be above rapacity. Then the school and other questions of public interest will be discussed freely and fearlessly. We hope Mr. Wolfe will give us his reason for believing that the public schools are to blame for the great loss sustained by the Catholic church since 1880, and also how he accounts for the rapid groth of the Methodist church since its organiza- tion in this country, which event was but a few years before the organization of the public schools, and how he accounts for the Catholic church increasing so rapidly when there was no school but the public school, and decreasing so rapidly after the parochial school was established.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
CHAPTER LV. MR. BRYAN'S LECTURE ON "THE VALUE OF AN IDEAL"
( Delivered at Dubuque, Iowa. )
The Eminent Orator Points the Necessity of a Compass to Steer By in Life.
From the Telegraph-Herald, April 28, 1905.
William Jennings Bryan, twice the Democratic candidate for the presidency and now more influential in its councils than any other nian, appeared at Stout's Auditorium, Thursday evening, before an audience of great proportions. It was a representative audience, too, in that men of every position in life were present and they were, by the way equally enthusiastic in receiving the great orator.
Mr. Bryan's appearance on the platform was the signal for an outbreak of applause and cheering that lasted long and was not checked until he was intro- duced. This ceremony was performed by Louis Murphy, editor of the Telegraph- Herald. As he retired, the name Bryan coming from his lips, the applause broke out again as the speaker of the evening advanced to the front of the stage. He then commenced to speak and was given the closest attention throughout. His address on the "Value of an Ideal," was as follows:
"What is the value of an ideal? Have you ever attempted to estimate its worth? Have you ever tried to measure its value in dollars and cents? If you would know the pecuniary value of an ideal, go into the home of some man of grent wealth who has an only son: go into that home when the son has gone downward in a path of dissipation, until the father no longer hopes for his re- form, and then ask the father what an ideal would have been worth that would lave made a man out of his son instead of a wreck. He will tell you that all the money that he has or could have, he would gladly give for an ideal of life that would turn his boy's steps upward instead of downward.
"An ideal is ahove price. It means the difference between success and failure-the difference between a noble life and a disgraceful career, and it some- times means the difference between life and death. Have yau noticed the increas- ing number of suicides? I speak not of those sad cases in which the reason de- throned leaves the hand no guide, but rather of those cases, increasing in number, where the person who takes his life, finds nothing worth living for. When I read of one of these cases I ask myself whether it is not caused by a false ideal of life. If one measures life by what others do for him he is apt to be disappoin- ted, for people are not likely to do as much for him as he expects. One of the most difficult things in life is to maintain the parity between one's opinion of his own merits and the opinion that others have for him. If, I repeat, a man measures life by what others do for him, he is apt to be disappionted, but if he measures life by its accumulations, these usually fall short of his expectations, but if he measures life by the contribution which he makes to the sum of human happiness, his only disappointment is in not finding time to do all that his heart prompts him to do. Whether he spends his time trying to absorb from the world, only to have the burden of life grow daily heavier, or spends his time in an effort to accomplish something of real value to the race, depends upon his ideal.
A GOOD CLASS MOTTO.
"The ideal must be far enough above us to keep us looking up toward it all
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
the time, and it must be far enough in advance of us to keep us struggling toward it to the end of life. It is a very poor ideal that one ever fully realizes, and it is a great misfortune for one to overtake his ideal, for when he does his progress stops. I was once made an honary member of a class and asked to suggest a class motto. I suggested 'Evergreen,' and some of the class did not like it. They did not like to admit that they ever had been green, not to speak of always being green. But it is a good class motto because the period of greenness is the period of growth. When we cease to be green and are entirely ripe we are ready for decay. I like to think of life as a continual progress toward higher and better things-as a continual unfolding. There is no better description of a really noble life than that given in Holy Writ where the wise man speaks of the just as like the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
HAD THREE AMBITIONS.
"The ideal is permanent; it does not change. Therefore it is as important that the ideal shall be a worthy one. I speak as a teacher to parents, and teach- ers will endorse what I say, when I declare that one of the most important things in dealing with the young is to get the person to take hold of a high ideal. Give one food and he will hunger again; give him clothing and his clothing will wear out, but give him a high ideal and that ideal will be with him through every wak- ing hour, lifting him to a higher plane in life and giving him a broader concep- tion of his relations to his fellows. Plans may change; circumstances will change plans. Each one of us can testify to this. Even ambitions change, for circumstances will change ambitions. If you will pardon a reference to my own case, I have had three ambitions-two so far back that I can scarcely remember them, and one so recent that I can hardly forget it. My first ambition was to be a Baptist preacher. When I was a small boy if anybody asked me what I inten- ded to be, I always replied, 'A Baptist preacher;' but my father took me one eve- ning to see an immersion and upon reaching home I asked him if it would be necessary to go down into that pool of water in order to be a Baptist preacher. He replied that it would, and it is a' tradition in our family that I never after- . wards would say that I was going to be a Baptist preacher.
"My second ambition was to be a farmer and raise pumpkins, and there are douptless a great many people who are glad that I now have a chance to realize my second ambition without without having my agricultural pursuits interrupted by official cares.
"My third ambition was to be a lawyer. When I was a barefoot boy I used to go to the court house and sitting upon the steps leading up to the bench upon which my father sat, I listened to the trial of cases and looked forward to the time when I would be practicing at the bar. That ambition guided me through my boyhood days and my college days. I studied law, was admitted to the bar, practiced for a while in Illinois and then located in Nebraska. In removing from Illinois to Nebraska I was influenced solely by professional reasons. I need not give you any further assurance that I did not move to Nebraska for political reasons than to say that at the time of my location in Lincoln, Nebraska was republican, the congressional district was republican, the city was republican, the ward was republican, and the voting precinct was republican-and to tell the truth about it, there has not been as much change in that respect as there ought to have been considering the intelligence of the people among whom I have been living.
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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.
ENTERED POLITICS BY ACCIDENT.
"I entered politics by accident and remained there by design. I was nomin- ated for congress in 1890 because it was not thought possible for a democrat to be elected. I was young and new in the state. If it had been a democratic dis- tric the honor would have gone to some one older, of longer residence and more deserving. A republican paper said next morning after the convention that a confidence game had been played upon a young man from Illinois and that he had been offered as a sacrifice upon the party alter because he had not been in the state long enough to know the political complexion of the district. My location in Nebraska was due to my acquaintance with a man whom I learned to know in college and this acquaintance became more intimate because of a joke which I played upon him when we were students. ' Tracing it back step by step, I said one evening in Baltimore that I was elected to congress as a result of a joke that I played upon a friend in college. The gentleman who followed me said that was nothing, that he had known men to go to congress as a result of a joke played upon an entire community.
THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT.
"My term in congress brought me into contact with the great political and economic problems now pending solution and I have never since that time been willing to withdraw myself from their study and discussion, and I offer no apology at this time for being interested in the science of government. It is a noble science, and one to which the citizen must give his attention. I have no patience with those who feel that they are too good to take part in politics.
When I find a person who thinks that he is too good to take part in politics, then I find one who is not quite good enough to deserve the blessings of a free govern- ment. Parents sometimes warn their sons to keep out of politics; mothers some- times urge their sons to avoid politics lest they become contaminated by it. This ought not to be. It used to be the boast of the Roman matron that she could rear strong and courageous sons for the battlefield. In this age when the victor- ies of peace are no less renowned than the victories of war, and in this country where every year brings a conflict, it ought to be the boast of American mothers that they can rear strong and courageous sons who can enter politics without contamination and purify politics rather than be corrupted by politics.
"But while my plans and ambitions have changed by circumstances I trust that my ideals of citizenship have not changed, and that I may be permitted to share with you an ideal that will place above the holding of any office, however great, the purpose to do what I can to make this country so good that to be a private citizen in the United States will be greater than to be a king of any other nation.
SERVICE THE MEASURE OF GREATNESS
"The ideal dominates the life, determines the character and fixes a man's place among his fellows. I shall mention some instances, that have come under my own observation and as I speak of them I am sure you will recall instances within your knowledge where the ideal has in an open and obvious way con- trolled the life. I have known laboring men who, working for wages, have been able to support themselves, acquire a library and become acquainted with the philosophers, orators and historians of the world, and many of them have laid aside enough to gratify their ambition for a college course. What enables them
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to resist temptation and press forward to the consummation of a high purpose? It is their Ideal of life. As I have gone through the country I have found here and there young men-sometimes the sons of merchants, sometimes the sons of professional men-young men who have one characteristic in common, namely, that they have been preparing for service. They have learned that service is a measure of greatness, and though they have not always known just what line they were to follow they have been preparing themselves for service and they will be ready when the opportunity comes.
"I know & young man who came to this country when he was eighteen years of age; he came to study our institutions and learn of our form of government, and now he has returned with a determination to be helpful to his people. I watched him for five years, and I never knew a man who more patiently or per- severingly pursued a high ideal. You might have offered him all the money in the treasury to have become a citizen of the United States, but it would have been no temptation to him. He would have told you that he had a higher ideal than to stand guard over a chest of money. His desire was to be useful to his country, and I have no doubt that he will be.
HULL HOUSE AND JANE ADAMS.
"I was passing through Chicago some months ago and having a few hours to spare between trains, went to the Hull House, that splendid institution pre- sided over by Jane Adams. I was suprised to learn the magnitude of its work. 1 learned that more than five thousand names were enrolled upon the books of the association; that mothers left their babes there when they went to work, that little children received kindergarten instruction there that young women found a home there, and young men a place where they could meet and cammune free from the temptations of life. More than twenty young men and women give their entire time to the work of the association without compensation. Similar institutions will be found in nearly all of the larger cities and in many of the smaller ones, and in these institutions young men and women, many of them college graduates, give a part or all of their time to gratuitous work. Why? Because somehow or somewhere they have taken hold of an ideal of life that lifts thein above the sordid selfishness that surrounds them and makes them find a delight in bringing life and light and hope into homes that are dark. The same can be said of the thousands who labor in the institutions of charity, mercy and benevolence.
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