1911 Baltimore Cardinal Gibbons Decried U.S. Public Schools

a good article about Baltimore Cardinal Gibbon's decrying public school in the United States, as such then reflected Protestant values;
from a 'Protestant' publication "The Herald of Gospel Liberty"
that I found while researching another matter 
where this same publication that got it right here, 
unwittingly fell into the Romanist camp

https://books.google.com/books?id=ts4pAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

"WHEREFORE, RECEIVE YE ONE ANOTHER, AS CHRIST ALSO RECEIVED US, TO THE GLORY OF GOD."

ONE OF THE FIVE GREAT EVILS

ACCORDING to the daily press of June 4th, Cardinal Gibbons, of Baltimore, has recently said thatof five great evils in the United States, the public schools is one. At once that puts Cardinal Gibbons in the attitude of opposition to one of the most cherished institutions of our land. It might be inquired. Why, what evil has the public schools done? It has done much in the way of enlightening the masses and preparing them for intelligent citizenship. It is teaching the youth of our country how to think for themselves as well as to learn from those in authority, and yet Cardinal Gibbons is quoted as saying it Is one of the great evils of our country.

It might be interesting to inquire, Why Cardinal Gibbons thinks the public school system of the United States is an evil.  As I see it, it is because the public schools teach children to think, independent of the priests of the Roman Catholic church. The plan of that church is to have the children taught under the immediate supervision of the church, and as the public school system does not consult the Roman Catholic Church as to what shall be taught, or as to who shall do the teaching, the Roman Catholic prelate forthwith pronounces the public school one of the five great evils of the land.

It is a bit singular that the Cardinal regards the public school as a great evil, and yet he does what he can to get as teachers for our public schools members of Roman Catholic churches. It is surpassingly strange that the Cardinal should desire to have members of his church take part in a great evil. The truth is. Cardinal Gibbons looks upon the public schools as a great evil because he cannot control them. He cannot have them taught by Roman Catholics exclusively, and therefore he cannot make it serve the purposes of the Roman Hierarchy. He does favor getting every Catholic in as a teacher of the public schools, as that will give him a chance to circulate the thought of his church in some small degree. But he will not allow even one child of Catholic parents to attend a public school, If within reach there is a regular Catholic school. Every loyal Roman Catholic must send his child to a Roman Catholic school, where he or she may be early grounded in the "faith of the fathers." It is no secret that the Roman Catholic Church Is an open enemy to our public schools, as we believe, only because she cannot control them and turn them to the use of Catholicism.

Suppose the government should pass the management of our public schools over to the Roman Catholic Church, would Cardinal Gibbons then oppose them as a great evil at all? We risk nothing in saying every objection would be withdrawn instantly and the trust would be accepted, and Instead of an evil, the public school system would henceforth be the greatest factor in modern civilization, and for the reason that it could then be made to serve the ends and purposes of the Roman Catholic Church. But if the public schools would be good and useful under Catholic management, why may they not be equally good and useful under the management of those who are independent of the Roman Church? The reason Is quite clear—under independent management the Catholic Church cannot turn its output to its own advantage as she can when she has control, and you may be sure that when the Catholic Church does anything in which the public is concerned that she has an eye to business, looking to her own fancied best interests as an organization. Soon after Cardinal Gibbons made that statement, openly defying one of America's most cherished institutions, Mr. Taft, our President, Mr. Roosevelt, our Ex-President, and Mr. Champ Clark, Speaker of the House, all went over to Baltimore to honor the Catholic Cardinal, and so of course, please the Catholic people, and then it was that these gentlemen lauded very highly the Cardinal as the head of the Roman Hierarchy in this country, and this, notwithstanding the Cardinal had but two or three days before classed our public schools as one of the great evils of the country. This all seems the more strange when only a little while ago, Mr. Taft, in Richmond, Va., loudly proclaimed the public schools as one of the greatest blessings God has given to our people. Now here we have two of the great men, so regarded at least, taking exactly and widely opposite positions On the same question, and in the face of this fact, Mr. Taft loudly praises the Cardinal because he (the Cardinal) has "demonstrated entire consistency between earnest and single-handed patriotism and love of country on the one hand, and sincere devotion to his church on the other." As the Religious Herald suggests, while the President Is commending the Cardinal's consistency, he had better get out a search warrant for his own consistency. It may be that Mr. Taft Is in fact in sympathy with the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to our public schools—it, indeed, looks that way. And if he is not, then what is he doing to be going out of the way to encourage the Cardinal in his exclusive purposes. We think there can be no doubt about it that the Roman Catholics, including the Cardinal, are laughing in their sleeves at the way they handle these great men—Protestants, so-called—in the interest of their church.

We are In favor of fair play for the Catholics, but we insist that they stay in their place and stand on the merits of their teachings. By their place, we mean as a church stay out of politics and give themselves to religion. I would say the same of Protestantism, if she had to gain her success* by "hobnobbing" with politicians in order to get their favor. It is all right for the Catholics to stand by and teach what they believe. We raise no word of objection to that, but we do object to their "buttonholing" for political favor in order to advance the cause for which they labor. That is but God's way for planting the truth among men, but the Catholics are said to do it all the same.

Unless Protestants shall stand against this tendency, and do it so positively as to mean something in the eyes of the politicians and the Roman Catholic Church, we shall soon see our government dominated by an element entirely unfriendly to Protestants. We do not wish to see the government dominated by the Protestant churches—we would oppose that as we do the same thing in the Roman Church, and we do It on principle—it is not for the good of the cause of Christ that any branch of the church should be thus bolstering Itself up in such an unholy manner. Each branch of the church ought to go before the public in its mission to the world, standing squarely on the merits of its teachings and practice, on what it is in fact. Here we stand, and here we believe all ought to stand, whether he be Protestant or Roman Catholic. Lay aside these political methods in religious work, stand on the merits of what the church is, and then if the Protestants cannot hold their place along with the Roman Catholics in giving the Gospel to the world, we say, let the men who can best do the work have an opportunity, and hasten the Gospel to the ends of the earth, no matter whether it be done by this or that man, or this or that set of men. It is high time the Protestants should protest and mean it. The Catholic invasion of Protestant rights has already gone quite too far for the best interests of our common country.

http://continuingcounterreformation.blogspot.com/2007/12/wlodimir-vladimir-ledochowski-family.html

His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons (23 July 1834 - 24 March 1921) was an American prelate, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death. In 1886 he became the second man from the United States to be made a cardinal. He served as Cardinal-Priest for Santa Maria in Trastevere basilica in Rome.