Cuba and Porto Rico. Governor Magoon's good work in Cuba continues. In the annual report of his department to Congress (presented December 17), Secretary of War Taft gives a detailed documentary review of the recent insurrection in Cuba and the establishment of the provisional government there by the United States, in the course of which he declares that, under the steadily progressive, peaceful policy of Governor Magoon, Cuba may yet be set upon her feet in a way to support herself. While the sentiment in favor of annexation to the United States or absorption by this country in some manner is apparently on the increase, particularly among foreigners and American business men in the island, it is certain that no interference is contemplated or will be permitted with Cuban affairs looking toward extinction of Cuban independence until the inhabitants of the island have had at least another chance. The elections will probably be held in May or June next. Pending these elections Governor Magoon has announced, by direction of the President, that the seats of all members of the second series of the Cuban Congress, elected in 1905, will be declared vacant. These are the Senators disputes about whose election were largely responsible for the outbreak of the insurrection. As to Porto Rico, President Roosevelt, who visited the island on November 21, sent a special message to Congress (dated December 11) on Porto Rican needs. In this message he pleaded for full American citizenship for the people, praised their loyalty and rapid progress in orderly self-government, and noted their advance in education since the American occupation of the island. At the recent elections, held during early November, the Unionist party was victorious in the seven insular districts, returning all the 35 representatives to sit for the next two years in the House of Delegates. Señor Tulio Larrinaga, the Resident Commissioner to the United States, was re-elected. at the unmistakable behest of the country, had passed and submitted to the hereditary legislators for their approval. The radical alterations made in the Education bill by the Lords (who passed the measure on December 6, by a vote of 105 to 28) have rendered it not only unacceptable to the Commons, but absolutely impossible. The upper house, which is so strongly Conservative and the great majority of whose members are supporters of the Church of England, impressed upon the Birrell bill their general intention of securing sufficient denominational control of the public educational institutions to compel denominational teaching during school hours. The position of the Commons was shown by the enormous majority (416 to 107) by which they (on December 12) rejected the amendments made by the Lords. The cabinet also decided to reject The Marquis of Lansdowne, the en bloc the amendments made by the upper present Conservative leader of house, and any compromise in the matter is Education. the British House of Lords, is now regarded as hopeless. The bill, it is credited with having suggested to his brother evident, will be dropped and a new bill inpeers that since they could not be popular troduced at the next session of Parliament. they had better be politic. Lord Lansdowne The end may come quicker than this. The had in mind the way the peers were handling Premier may decide to go before the country the two highly significant measures, the Bir- on the issue and ask for a popular mandate rell Education bill and the Labor Trades to pass this particular measure,-a mandate Dispute bill, both of which the lower house, which will carry with it an implied warning The British to the upper house of the British Parliament that to mend is better than to end. In the matter of the Trade Disputes bill, also, the position of the country has been very clear, and in rejecting or mutilating this (as it is feared the peers intend) the upper house of Parliament will add still more to the popular resentment against it. Cabinet " a judicious combination of force and diplomacy the government was enabled to accomplish this result. There was considerable opposition,-indeed, some rioting,-in different parts of the Republic, during which a number of persons, including government officials, were injured; but, in general, it may be said that the listing of church property before the buildings should be turned Changes are impending in the over to the state was accomplished without Changes in Campbell-Bannerman cabinet, serious disorder. About 20 persons only, inEngland. the first of which is announced cluding two clergymen, were arrested for in the resignation of Mr. J. E. Ellis, parlia- resisting the officers of the law. On Decemmentary secretary to the India office. There ber 11 the law formally went into effect. will be a number of other changes of men From that date all church edifices and other higher up, the most interesting to Americans property passed into the hands of the state, being the formal choice of a British Ambassa- and public worship could be carried on dor at Washington to succeed Sir Henry through worshippers forming associations Mortimer Durand (retiring from the diplo- cultuelles" or by at least two persons makmatic service). In the middle of December ing a declaration before the civil authorities, in the court of St. James inquired whether the accordance with the Assemblage law of 1881, American Government would regard as per- that a meeting was to be held, in order that sona grata the Hon. James Bryce, Chief the regular congregations might continue to Secretary for Ireland, and author of "The use the church buildings. The law applies American Commonwealth," The Holy to all meetings and it is equally severe on Roman Empire," and other scholarly works. Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. For sevThe choice, it goes without saying, is an ex- eral days preceding the day upon which. ceedingly pleasant one to Americans, and it it became operative, it had been believed also indicates a realization on the part of in France and the rest of the world that a the London Government that the British compromise between the claims of the rediplomatic post in the United States has be- public and the Vatican had been reached in come one of the most important in the en- the form of the Diocesan Associations organtire imperial service. Speaking of Ireland, ized by Cardinal Lecot, Archbishop of Borit is interesting to note the fact that the deaux, and Cardinal Richard, Archbishop of Campbell-Bannerman government has con- Paris (the latter the virtual primate of sented finally to drop the famous, or in- France), and approved by the Pope. This famous, Irish Crimes act from the Expiring Diocesan Association, it had been announced, Laws Continuance bill. It is interesting, was regarded by the government as a cult also, to read that Ireland now has an interna- association under the Separation act. tional trademark, being the first country to register such a designation. The design, which is applicable to anything produced or manufactured in the country, is an antique Irish ornament, inscribed with the words: "Dlanta e Eirinn," "Made in Ireland." France and The Just before the law became operative, however (to be exact, on December 8), Pope Pius issued his formal instructions to the French clergy, in an encyclical in which he forbade them making declarations under the law of 1881 On the 11th day of last month or forming "associations cultuelles" accordthe Church the Separation law took effect in ing to the present law passed in 1905. The Separate.. France, and church and state decision of the Vatican was in the form of were formally divorced after a more or less answers to specific questions put by the close union of 14 centuries. The process of French hierarchy. It declared that parish making inventories of all the property be- priests, vicars, and other ecclesiastics must longing to the churches in France, which remain passive and not co-operate in any way was begun nearly a year ago under Premier in the act of sequestration, by which was unSarrien and temporarily discontinued be- derstood the turning over of church property cause of the opposition from devout Catho- to the civil power. The only exceptions to lics, who considered it a sacrilege, was com- this "are cases in which the bishop considers 66 a great surprise, not only to the French Government, but evidently to the great majority of French priests as well. The two Cardinal Archbishops at once reversed their decisions and orIdered their subordinates to obey the command of the Pontiff. On the day the law became operative and for several days following (including Sunday, December 16), the country was tense with excitement, and movements of great magnitude were expected from Paris and Rome. Nothing serious, however, disturbed the calm of the French nation, except the arrest, on the morning of December 11, of Mgr. Montagnini, the secretary of Cardinal Merry del Val, the Papal Secretary of State, who has had in charge the archives at the Nunciature at Paris. Mgr. Montagnini was arrested while entering France from Italy. His papers were seized and he was conducted outside French territory, on the charge of being an emissary of a foreign. Power endeavoring to incite French citizens to disobedience to the law. This arrest leaves the Vatican without any functionary of any kind whatsoever to look after its interests in Paris. The Madrid government has made known its unwillingness to have the Spanish ambassador to France serve in this way. Italy is out of the question, since she was responsible for the fall of the church from temporal power, and, moreover, the antipapal demonstration in Rome on Sunday, the 16th, upon the reception of the news from Paris, would confirm the Vatican in not asking an Italian to represent her. Austria, being a member of the Triple Alliance, is impossible. CARDINAL RICHARD, ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS. (This prelate, on December 17, surrendered his episcopal residence to the Paris authorities in accordance with the new French Separation law. The new Ministry of Labor, headed by M. Viviani, is now installed in Cardinal Richard's palace.) cause grave consequences.". In such cases he is permitted to do this, on condition that no churchman signs any document consecrating spoliation." Churches and other ecclesiastical property which are seized by the state cannot be rented again by the church, except in cases of absolute necessity. If ecclesiastics should be "called to the colors" they must appeal to the Council of State, but, "pending the Council's decision, should their failure to respond to the call subject them to the penalty of desertion, they can report for service." If cultural associations are formed the parish priest "must remain in his church and continue to say mass until driven out by violence." It is to be hoped that this is not the Pope's last word. The Concordat and the Republic. It was a historic day for France. judgment there had been growing in the The struggle of more than a minds of the French people the general congeneration had ended in the com- viction,-whether justified or not, that the plete severing of the bond between the church has been the constant foe of the reFrench church and the French state. The public. This conviction they have expressed story of disestablishment in France since the in the steadily growing majorities in the agreement known as the Concordat, in 1801, Chamber of Deputies, repeatedly ratified at is a dramatic and significant one. The main the polls, which must be taken as embodying provisions of this famous treaty between the their will. The famous Associations law of French republic and the Roman See were: 1901, carried through by the Combes minis(1) That the bishops would be appointed, not try, declared that its object was to give all by the Pope, but by the head of the French Gov- Frenchmen the right to form associations; ernment, subject, however, to the approval of the but, it provided further, all existing associaPope. tions of any kind whatsoever hitherto existing without a permit must procure such a permit or disband. No member of an unauthorized congregation could be permitted to teach in any school, public or private. Such was the radical make-up of the Combes ministry that practically no religious congregation could receive the needed permission, and the result was that all congregations were dissolved or expelled from France, placing before the church the grave problem of establishing church schools with lay teachers. (2) That no change in the territorial constitution of bishoprics could be made except through the concurrence of the two powers. (3) That the bishops would have to reside in their dioceses, and would have no right to visit Rome without leave of the French Government. (4) That no assembly of bishops might be held without government consent. (5) That the expenses of bishops and priests and the cost of maintenance of church edifices would be made a charge upon the public exchequer of France. The papal negotiators had endeavored, but in vain, to have the Catholic religion declared the religion of the state. Napoleon was only willing to make the admission that Catholicism was "the religion of a large majority of Frenchmen," nothing more. The Concordat worked smoothly, in the main, until the year 1848, when the first republic was established. At the same time the temporal power of Pope Pius IX. was overthrown at Rome and the policy of the Vatican became essentially, if not openly, anti-republican. It was at this time, also, that a new division of parties appeared in Europe, Clericals and Anti-Clericals. By the coup d'etat of Louis Napoleon (1851). the church was put in a more favorable position, and secured many privileges throughout France, particularly in the matter of education. Equal privileges were at the same time extended to Protestants and Jews. Since, however, Catholics have always numbered at least 95 per cent., the Catholic faith suffers most severely in the disestablishment. Inception of Law. At this time, while the relation between church and state was so strained, President Loubet went to Rome and called upon the King of Italy. It was against this visit of the head of the Catholic nation of France to the King, whom the Pope considers the usurper of his temporal sovereignty, that the papal Secretary of State, Cardinal Merry del Val, issued his now famous protest. The French Government at once took up the challenge, maintaining that this protest was a violation of that provision of the Concordat by which the Pope bound himself not to interfere in the political affairs of France, declared the Concordat therefore at an end, and supported in the two houses of Parliament a bill (introduced by the Socialist Deputy, M. Briand, now Minister of Education and Public Worship) establishing the separation between church and state. This is the bill which, somewhat modified in the course of long debates, has just become a law. Under it the various churches are called upon to form lay boards of trustees ("associations cultuelles"), to be the custodians of the church buildings, which, it should be remembered, largely belong not to the churches but to the communes, the departments or the state. Wherever such boards are formed everything is to go on just as before, the church occupying and controlling stipends from the public treasury for nine years to come. But wherever boards of trustees are not formed the state declines to let public property remain in irresponsible or alien hands, and therefore itself takes possession of the church buildings, which it promises to keep open and in repair for worship, and not to divert to other uses. Position of the Vatican. The position of the Catholics outside of France is stated in the words of our own American Cardinal Gibbons, who, in a recent interview, said: from me that what the French Government is Above all, please let American Catholics know trying to do is to bring about disunion between Catholic believers and their priests, and between priests and their bishops. But they are not succeeding, and will not succeed. The union between these elements is complete. Persecution has had no other effect than to bring us all closer together. The Govern The objection of the Vatican to the Separation law is based on three grounds: (1) The Pope was not consulted, as he considers he should have been, since the Concordat was a conThe contention of the French tract between two parties, of which he was ment's Point Government is that the Separaof View. one; (2) the law makes no special mention tion law was introduced, not of the Catholic Church and of the rights of against religion nor against priesthood, but bishops in its government, merely stating " against the undue interference of the Vatthat all associations for public worship, ican in affairs of state, and its audacious "associations cultuelles," must conform to efforts to obtain control of the different the rules of the cult for which they were branches of the state administration, as was created; and (3) the action of the French revealed, for example, during the Dreyfus Government in sequestering the church agitation." Minister Briand's concession, property is confiscation, since the status of offered just before the day on which the law the church before the Revolution is not was to go into effect, that a declaration of restored but property is taken away with two persons (who might be laymen), under out remuneration. The Pope, it is reported, the law of 1881, would be accepted as fulhas declared: "I am like the father of a filling the requirements of the present law, family. I cannot permit outsiders to enter indicates the government's desire to be as reamy house and regulate the interests of my sonable and conciliatory as possible in the children without consulting me." Papal op- matter. The state, declared M. Briand, position, the Pope is reported as asserting, is should always remain neutral in the face of not against the declaration required for re- all religious confessions, but, nevertheless, ligious meetings, but against the spirit of the state is always "bound to be anti-clerical Minister Briand's circular (issued December in its own interest" and to oppose any po3), which is characterized as "not common litical intervention by the church." The law, but a tissue of arbitrary, illegal disposi- Pope, while proclaiming that he regards the tions, of which consent to one means consent Concordat as still in force, has “already apto all." According to the Osservatore Ro- pointed bishops without the consent of the mano (the Clerical organ of Rome), the po- government, which he could not have done sition of the Vatican in this matter may be had the Concordat still obtained." The law summed up as follows: of 1905 is already in force, continued the Minister. The Protestants and Jews have submitted; the Catholic Church will be forced to do so also. By telling French Catholics to continue using the churches after these have passed into the possession of the civil power, the Pope "practically orders them to violate the law. No self-respecting government could be expected to tolerate such an assertion of superior authority within its jurisdiction." The Pope's new attitude, says M. Briand further, is "that of political chief." The question is "whether the French clergy will follow him that far." In that case the government "will move The Concordat has not yet been denounced by the French Government, which is seeking to establish a new legal position for the church in France. France has not only not come to an agree ment with the Holy See, but has repeatedly and openly shown hostility to the head of the church. The joy of the Masonic and demagogic associations shows that war is being waged against the church and religion as such. Notwithstanding the bills and regulations which have been passed France now possesses no law granting liberty to a religion which does not accept the law of separation. One good thing in M. Briand's circular is the admission of the impossibility of applying the law of 1881 to associations for public worship. Therefore what is wanted is a real law of hon est liberty instead of arbitrary ministerial cir- with an energy equaling the toleration it has heretofore shown." culars. |