Principles of Religious Liberty Discussed in Congress
By K. C. R.
DURING the recent discussion of the Sulzer resolution, providing for the abrogation of the treaty of 1832 with Russia, because of discrimination by the Russian government against Hebrews of American citizenship in the honoring of American passports, much was said touching the question of religious liberty. We quote various utterances which were made both by representatives and senators, that are pertinent at this time in view of the growing disregard in this country of the principles of religious liberty as shown in the efforts to secure Sunday legislation. “The government of the United States declares as a fundamental principle that all men are equal before the law, regardless of race or religion, and makes no distinction based on the creeds or the birthplaces of its citizens in this connection, nor can it consistently permit such distinctions to be made by a foreign power. We solemnly assert that the rights of our citizens at home or abroad shall not be impaired on account of race or religion. . . .”—Hon. William Sulzer, of New York. “Freedom of religious belief—the right to worship our Maker according to the dictates of our conscience—is one of the corner-stones of our broad institutions, and so jealous of this liberty were the fathers that they wrote in the Federal Constitution:— “‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’” “We must maintain this great principle of religious freedom inviolate forever. . . .” “We must be true to the great principles of justice and freedom and equality on which our government is founded. We must not connive at the discrimination against any American citizen on account of his race or his religion, or permit any foreign power to discriminate against him for these reasons. To do so belittles our dignity, is an insult to every American, and makes our boast of equal rights to all, a hollow mockery.”—Hon. William Sulzer, of New York. “Regardless of treaty relations in this day of advancement and enlightenment, religious persecution of American citizens should not be acquiesced in by the United States. Equality of rights and privileges for all law-abiding American citizens should be demanded and secured by our government from every nation from which amicable relations are obtained. . . . “The obligation of our government to protect its citizens in the enjoyment of their rights is as great to the humblest as to the most exalted. This is the primary principle always to be remembered.”—Hon. Joseph T. Robinson, of Arkansas. “The very foundation-stone of American citizenship is that principle which places us all upon the plane of equality, and knows no creed. We look to the man and not to his creed and nationality.”—Hon. George S. Legare, of South Carolina. “Upon this principle of equality and liberty, a principle as firm as the rock of ages, our country has endured for over a century, increasing in power and prosperity, while throughout the world thrones have fallen, dynasties have died, and nations have been eliminated from the map of the world. The right to naturalize foreign-born citizens, Mr. Speaker, was never granted willingly to this country, but was paid for by the expenditure of priceless blood and treasure.”—Hon. Jefferson M. Levy, of New York. “Of course, Mr. Speaker, we in this country recognize no distinction in respect to race or creed or religion. . . . “The men who secured our independence, the men who adopted our Constitution, the men who established our nationality, understood that a free government permanently to survive must guarantee to every citizen acknowledging allegiance to its flag, all the rights, privileges, and immunities enjoyed by any other citizen, irrespective of race or religion. Auxiliary to that proposition, it has become fundamental with us that a loyal citizen of the republic is entitled to its beneficent protection abroad as well as at home, and that, too, whether he be Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile, Christian or atheist.”—Hon. N. E. Kendall, of Iowa. “I do not think we can stand for this religious discrimination in the United States.”—Hon. J. Hampton Moore, of Pennsylvania. “It is repugnant to the very principles upon which our government rests that a man's religious beliefs should determine whether or not he may visit or sojourn temporarily within the bounds of any friendly country.”—Hon. Nicholas Longworth, of Ohio. “The very principle upon which this government was founded was that of ‘religious liberty.’ To every American citizen under our Constitution and laws is guaranteed the right to follow the dictates of his own conscience as to his religious belief.”—Hon. Charles Gordon Edwards, of Georgia. “The Constitution of the United States recognizes and provides for an absolute equality of all citizens before the law, and it denies Congress the right to enact any legislation preferring one religion to another. . . . “That man who is willing to see his neighbor's rights ignored and trampled on, can not hope to long preserve his own, and this matter involves not merely the right of the Jew, or the right of the Catholic, or the right of the Methodist, or of any other body; it involves the right of every American citizen under the Constitution.”—Hon. James M. Graham, of Illinois. “Mr. Speaker: In the beginning it was ordained that this country should be the haven of the oppressed of all the world; so when our fathers adopted the Constitution of the United States, which is the fundamental law of the land, it was determined then that in this country freedom of religion would be guaranteed to every one of our citizens. We have passed through 135 years of our history,20and with every year we have shown increased solicitude as to the rights of our people in this connection.”—Hon. William M. Calder, of New York. “Many of my friends spring from different races, and differ in their religious views, and I trust never to see a question raised in this country based on race or based on religion. Whether Catholic, Protestant, or Jew, I find them no less loyal to me as friends and no less loyal as citizens in their affection for our common country.”—Hon. Andrew J. Peters, of Massachusetts. “We believe that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the inalienable rights of every citizen, and we guarantee the enjoyment of these rights in every section of our country. We recognize the right of every man to entertain such religious belief as may be dictated by his own conscience, and that no discrimination should be practised against any citizen or alien on account of his religious belief.”—Hon. John H. Small, of North Carolina. “It is a question affecting the dignity of American citizenship, regardless of race or religion. The founders of this republic established here a great secular state within which religion was to remain sacred from the touch of political power. “Under this system, religion, disenthralled from sordid connection with political power, went forward in increasing grace, beauty, strength, and spirituality to new victories and wider achievement. It is not competent to any official of the United States in his official capacity to question any citizen of the United States as to his religion.”—Senator Benjamin F. Shively, of Indiana. The foregoing quotations were taken from the Congressional Record of Dec. 13, 14, 18, 21, 1911. It seems providential that this remarkable discussion of religious liberty principles should take place at the time when there is such a growing demand for religious legislation, and when there are in operation at the present time powerful organizations whose aim is to bring about just such a condition as is herein denounced. A commitment of itself to Sunday legislation on the part of Congress would produce this very condition. These statements were all made on a question involving the rights of Hebrew Americans in the empire of Russia. The rights of these Americans were being ignored on account of religion; but here in America a movement is under way to bring about a condition of things in which the rights of Hebrew Americans and all other Americans will be ignored and trampled upon. We refer to the movement for the enactment of Sunday laws. Such laws are certain to discriminate between American citizens on account of religion. How can we ask Russia to recognize the liberty of Hebrew Americans to practise their religion in Russia and at the same time enact laws in America curtailing the liberties of the same people and others, and based upon the same discrimination? If Americans demand religious liberty for their citizens abroad, they must see to it that these liberties are recognized and safeguarded at home. This is not done where the state establishes a sabbath and compels all to observe it whether they will or no.