RISE OF THE A. P. A. “A. P. A.,” its full name being "The American Protective Association." The reasons which its supporters as signed for its origination were: "1. That the spirit of the Constitution was being violated in various ways by certain persons and bodies in the United States. "2. That certain members and sections of the national Government were in connivance with the said violators. 3. That the conditions governing our national immigration were such as to weaken our Democratic institutions and form of government and to substitute therefor a system of government not in harmony therewith. “4. That the immigrant vote, under the direction of certain ecclesiastical institutions, had become so dominant a factor in politics as virtually to control it. 5. That this domination had resulted in political prostitution, corruption and favoritism of the worst kind. "6. That the great majority of the American people, while painfully cognizant of the sinister and debasing results of these conditions and desirous of mending them, were either ignorant of any efficient means of counter-organization, or fearful of injury to their personal interests at the hands of their powerful and organized opponents." In their public declarations they said: "We attack no man's religion so long as he does not attempt to make his religion an element of political power. We are in favor of preserving constitutional liberty and maintaining the government of the United States. We regard all religio-political organizations as the enemies of civil and religious liberty." The order drew inspiration from the inveterate hostility of many Protestants to the Roman Catholic Church, based partly on pure bigotry, partly upon facts, more or less imperfectly understood, in the history of that Church. The belief that the Roman policy never underwent change led many to suppose that the enormities of barbarous ages would be re-enacted here surely as Catholicism obtained power. There was no doubt that the Catholic clergy as a body disliked the Amercan common school system. Many of their number had said. the most bitter things against it. Romanists who could not in conscience avail themselves of the public schools complained of their share of school taxes. In places efforts were made to support Catholic parochial schools out of the public treasury. Elsewhere Catholics demanded a division of school funds between Catholics and Protestants, such as prevailed in provinces of Canada. The autocratic and foreign control of the Church was disliked as un-American and antiAmerican. The appointment of Cardinal Satolli as papal delegate hither, with headquarters at Washington, impressed many as an effort to constitute the United States a papal satrapy. Some minds were distressed that the State of New York should be made a District in Catholic geography. CARDINAL SATOLLI Causes apart from the Church and its doing were also active in recruiting the Association. Most American Ca tholics were Irish, a race naturally prone to politics, often clannish and bumptious, sometimes belligerent, evoking strong illwill. It was remembered how, until Mayor Hewitt's time, the Irish flag floated from New York City Hall on St. Patrick's Day, and how Mayor A. Oakey Hall in a green coat on that day reviewed a Hibernian parade. Many undesirable immigrants of various nationalities were Catholics, and the aversion felt toward them was not unnaturally transferred to the account of their Church. Again, most Catholics were Democrats, though by no means all, whence uncompromising Republicans hated the Church as the ally of a political foe. Catholics alleged that railroad managers encouraged the A. P. A. movement as OPPOSITION TO ANTI-CATHOLICISM At a means of dividing the forces of labor. Severe treatment here and there, as always happens in such cases, greatly assisted to advance the cause. It was said that newsboys hawking A. P. A. papers in Chicago were beaten by thugs from the saloons and for a long time were not protected by the police. length, however, aroused public sentiment forced the roundsmen to see justice done. Subterranean methods, so distasteful to most, drew to the A. P. A. politicians and other supporters of a certain class. In 1894, seven years from its foundation, the American Protective Association pretended to control 2,000,000 votes, though no data were given by which the assumption could be tested. The Association's power in many western cities was as undoubted as Catholic domination in many eastern cities. The actual membership was acknowledged to be small. While, it was said, hundreds of thousands sympathized with its aim, according it their passive or, where they could, their active support, only a small percentage dared brave the storm of disaster that, owing to opposition by the Catholics, inevitably followed actual membership. Catholic abuse, however, could not have been the sole cause for the slenderness of the Association's avowed support. A. P. A. methods deserved severe reprobation; and they received this even from many who certainly had little enough love for the Catholics. The allegations made by A. P. A. lecturers were usually immoderate, sometimes scandalously false. Their references to history were often sorrily garbled. A. P. A. newspapers, or newspapers in that interest—for the Order denied having any organs-were sedulous in disseminating forgeries and falsehoods about the Catholics, so clumsy and transparent that it was surprising they gained credence anywhere. The secret oath of the Order, which soon transpired, also set people in a hostile frame of mind. It consisted of a promise (1) never to favor or aid the nomination, election or appointment of a Roman Catholic to any political office, and (2) never to employ a Roman Catholic in any capacity if the services of a Protestant could be obtained. The Order was thus founded upon proscription and the boycott. It sounded strange when its President, as a reason for the secrecy of the Association, pleaded that, owing to Catholic boycotting, "nearly every member who made himself prominent in the movement retired absolutely ruined in politics and purse." Soon as the A. P. A. acquired power in any locality, or bade fair to acquire it, a class of politicians sought to convert it into a machine auxiliary to the Republican party. Such efforts uniformly brought the cause additional discredit. An endeavor being made to have a statue of Père Marquette, the Jesuit explorer, placed in Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington, the A. P. A. was mean enough to use its influence against the granting of permission. Fortunately its effort was unsuccessful. The Mayor of Denver having, it was said, sworn the A. P. A. oath under a misapprehension, afterward appointed a Roman Catholic chief of police. For that act his photograph, draped in black and labeled "Perjurer and Traitor," was hung in the A. P. A. council chamber. It was furthermore resolved, "That wherever his carcass repose in the arms of mother earth, in whatsoever land, an unknown committee, duly appointed, shall perform its last rite in the name of this council by marking the place, that all may know, 'Here Lies a Traitor.'" Statue of Marquette in Statuary Hall, Washington, D. C. CHAPTER XI THE CHICAGO STRIKE THE CALIFORNIA "OCTOPUS"-INDIANS' LAND IN IF SEVERALTY CLEVELAND NO POPULIST.-" INDUSTRIALS AND "GENERAL PLACE STRIKERS. -BLOOD DRAWN AT HAMMOND.-PARTIAL SYM- NOPOLY.-CONSEQUENCES.—ARGUMENTS CONTRA. THE REILLY BILL.-EFFORTS FOR RELIEF.-THE PRO- F the income tax and anti-trust enactments of 1894 betrayed a Democratic leaning toward populism, events occurring the same year proved that the President, for his part, still stood quite erect. Discontent had prevailed in the labor world since early in the season. In March, bands of "Commonwealers" or "Industrials," as they were called, were formed in various Western States, with the purpose of marching to Washington |