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Show ! ! ' I THE LETTER SPEAKS THE MAN. l ; k "Secretary Taft's religion is purely his own j : j private concern, and not a matter for general dis- ? ? ! j cussion and political discrimination' i Thus wrote Theodore Roosevelt, the president i ; flnd the man, in answer to those words of J. C. I i ? i Martin, the partisan and bigot. ' ! f "While it is claimed almost universally that ! ; religion should not enter into politics, yet there is ; j f 110 denying that it does, and the mass of the ; voters that are not Catholics will not support a ; . ' man for any office, especially for president of the ! f ? United States, who is a Roman Catholic." ! ,' All right-minded honest men of every sect and if class, now that the turmoil and bitterness of the . j j election are over, will welcome those words of a ; ! high-minded president, a president who, to use I i his own words, has consistently tried during his I j term- of office to act in equal relation to his ) ':, i fellow-Americans of Catholic faith and all creeds. I i ' Had he followed any other course, lie tells us, he t ; "would be unfit to represent the American peo- I r 1 1"I'C'" oble, outspoken words these are, and sev- I : enteen millions of Catholics honor and esteem 1 highly the man who has given utterance to them, I j IIS they condemn in no unwavering or uncertain I i voiee the partisan and bigot who would have I Protestant Americans or Americans of no creed I ' believe that "no good can come out of Nazareth." I: ! Jo, .Mr. Martin, you cannot revive bigotry, much : j as you might like to do it; you will not bring us ' 1 ! back again to the days of the auto de fe; even t I fr vou "e will not nail each other up to crosses I on the public street, or burn each other at the !, stake. Mr. Martin should bear in mind that a I ' Kensit has no place in America, and the Xon- i Conformists rule not the destinies of this glorious, I I this free nation. I , In American politics man's religion should not I ! be questioned. If one is suited to a government I position or any public position of trust, adapted I ' by learning, sterling honesty and integrity of I , purpose, religion should be no bar to hi9 getting I ; ; it- The president simply expresses the real senti- I ' ment of the true American spirit vhen he says: I s j ' 'I should reprobate in the severest terms the f ' Catholics in those states (or in any other states) ; .1 who refuse to vote for the most fit man because he happened to be a Protestant, and my condem- ; nation would be exactly as severe for Protestants ; who. under reversed circumstances, refused to vote . i 1 for a Catholic." ; ' This wa? in rejly to Mr. Martin's silly objec- ; tion that ''the mass of the voters were not Cath- ! olics." Xo church has a monopoly of the voters. ! ; If the objection had any logical significance it would mean that the numerical strength of a church's membership alone entitled it to consideration consid-eration in appealing to voters. But the numerical numer-ical strength of the Catholic Church in member- : . . ; ehip far exceeds that of any other church ' in 1 : America. In replying, President Roosevelt does I . not conceal his indignation at the intolerant at- ; titude and groundless assumption of Mr. Martin ;; so far as the great mass of the voters is consid- I j, ered. He writes: 1 : ,. . . ). : ! i Deneve mat wiien you say this, you foully I i slander your fellow-countrymen. I do not for -one I moment believe that the mass of our fellow citi- I zens, or that any considerable number of our I fellow-citizens, can be influenced by such narrow f bigotry as to refuse to vote for any thoroughly I upright and fit man because he happens to have a particular religious creed. Such a consideration should never be treated as a reason for either sup- porting or opposing a candidate for political office." In this country, according to the Constitution. ' i every man has the legal right to select and observe his own religion so long as he respects the equal ! rights of others. This right the Catholic claims and vindicates for all others. Acting on this principle, prin-ciple, the president tells how he has selected his : . , . ' advisers in directing the ship of state. Their wisdom, wis-dom, clean lives and statesmanship, not their religious re-ligious belief, were the qualities which commended them. "In my cabinet," he writes, "at the present moment there sit side by side Catholic and Protestant, Pro-testant, Christian and Jew, .each man chosen because be-cause in my belief he is particularly fit to exercise on behalf of all the people the- duties of the office to which I have appointed him. In no case does the man's religious belief in any way influence the discharge of his duties, save as it makes more eager to act justly and uprightly in his relations to all men. The same principles that have obtained ob-tained in appointing the members of my cabinet, the highest officials under me, the officials to whom is entrusted the work of carrying out all the important policies of my administration, are the principles upon which all good Americans should act in choosing, whether by election or appointment, ap-pointment, the men to fll any office from the highest to the West in the land." |
