It Is Indeed High Time by S. B. H.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 25, 1912

It Is Indeed High Time

By S. B. H.

In an address opening the Daughters of the American Revolution Congress in this city, Monday afternoon, April 15, President Taft gave utterance to the following statement:—

“You are here to stimulate the memories of, and the respect for, those men who made this nation possible, and who laid broad its foundation in the Constitution of the United States; and you are here, if I understand, to uphold the principles of that Constitution, and to insist on their preservation as long as this nation shall endure.”

“We have reached a time in the history of politics in this country when we have to take down our copies of the Constitution and our copies of the ‘Federalist,’ and of the history of the growth of our institutions, and renew our vows to the principles that were there embodied in our governmental structure, to insist that they shall not be departed from, but that they shall be maintained in their vitalizing force to continue our pursuit of happiness and the guaranty of our institutions for the maintenance of liberty regulated by law.”

In the light of the well-known position that the Roman Catholic Church sustains toward civil government, namely, an indissoluble connection between it and the church; in the light of the aggressive steps Rome is taking in the field of politics in order to capture this land of liberty, and do for it what she has done for other nations; and in the light of her demand for a share of public revenues for the support of her parochial schools, and her present attitude in attempting to fortify herself against the Valentine religious garb order, these words of the President are very timely, and have an application with reference to the encroachments of the Roman Catholic Church. It is indeed high time that the American people should “take down our copies of the Constitution,” and review the history of the growth of our institutions, and “renew our vows to the principles that were there embodied in our governmental structure, to insist that they shall not be departed from, but that they shall be maintained in their vitalizing force to continue our pursuit of happiness and the guaranty of our institutions for the maintenance of liberty regulated by law.”

It was because of the record of the Roman Church in its doings with other nations, a very unfortunate record of antichristian ecclesiasticism, that our forefathers attempted to construct a government wherein the separation of church and state would be insisted upon then and for all time thereafter. Rome makes her boast that she will yet secure this country's institutions; and if she is to do for America what she has done for other nations, the downfall of the republic is certain. She is combining her forces for a political move in this country.

The Senate adopted a report in the second session of the Twentieth Congress (Jan. 18, 1829) in which was contained the following sentiment regarding religious combinations:—

“Extensive religious combinations to effect a political object are, in the opinion of the committee, always dangerous. This first effort of the kind [a measure committing Congress to Sunday legislation] calls for the establishment of a principle which, in the opinion of the committee, would lay the foundation for dangerous innovations upon the spirit of the Constitution, and upon the religious rights of the citizens. If admitted, it may be justly apprehended that the future measures of the government will be strongly marked, if not eventually controlled, by the same influence. All religious despotism commences by combination and influence; and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of a country, the civil power soon bends under it; and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequence.”

The above should serve as a hint to our public officials, lest they forget.

S. B. H.