Shall We Have a State Church?
We have already referred to the astounding fact that, contrary to the clear spirit of our Constitution, the Legislature of this State and the municipal authorities of the city of New York have appropriated large sums for the support of sectarian establishments, and—still more astounding—almost exclusively for the benefit of the Roman Catholics. We have since received a fuller and more detailed statement; and, looking over the list of donations—all extracted from the official reports of the Comptrollers of this city and the State—we find it difficult to comprehend how such a violation of one of the fundamental principles of American institutions in favor of the most implacable enemy of these institutions has been possible. How men who were brought up as American Protestants, and still pretend to be American Protestants, could be induced to vote thousands of dollars for supporting the sect which still prohibits the erection of Protestant churches, and even the profession of the Protestant creed, in Rome, in Spain, in Portugal, in almost all the countries of South and Central America, and in every country in the world where it has the power to do so, we cannot understand. The Protestant sentiment of this country has been lulled to sleep, and our worst enemy has availed itself of this moment, and insidiously appropriated the money of Protestant people for the purpose of building up Popish institutions. It is time that every Protestant in the country, and, indeed, every man who is not willing to restore the spiritual despotism of Rome, should fully appreciate the grave significance of these facts. The following are the main points in the statement above referred to: From the official report of the State Comptroller, it appears that during the year ending September 30, 1866, the Legislature of the State appropriated $50,525,49 for sectarian churches, schools, asylums, and hospitals, and of this sum $45,674,14 were received by Roman Catholics. In addition to this sum, a special donation of $78,500 was made, in 1866, to the “Society for the Protection of Destitute Roman Catholic Orphan Children,” and since the beginning of the present year, a second appropriation of $80,000 has been made to the same Society. Thus, the sum of $129,025,49 was appropriated by the Legislature of the State of New York during the year 1866, and the first month of 1867, and of this sum $124,174,14 was given to the Roman Catholics. In the city of New York, the Common Council, in621863, appropriated the sum of $97,522 for sectarian purposes, and all, with the exception of $5,522, for the benefit of the Roman Catholics. The aggregate amount of donations from 1850 to 1865 was $578,145—most of them for sectarian, and, in particular, for Roman Catholic purposes. Nor is this all. Extensive donations of land, ill-concealed under the guise of cheap “leases,” have been made to the same Church. Thus, two entire blocks of ground on Fifth avenue, between 51st and 53d streets, have been “leased” to the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum for ninety-nine years, at $1 per annum. These lots are at present worth about one million of dollars, and the Roman Catholics to such an extent regard themselves as their lawful possessors, that they have begun to erect on one of these blocks a cathedral of capacity to seat 15,000 people. The facts to which we have referred have not been known as they ought to be, or public opinion would have prevented such donations, if not in the city of New York, at least in the State. The only effective remedy for the future is an explicit law forbidding any such appropriations to be made by the State Legislature, or by municipal, county, or town authorities. We are glad, therefore, to see that a petition is being signed to the Constitutional Convention sitting in Albany, praying that body to insert a clause in the new Constitution of the State prohibiting all such appropriations.—The Methodist.