Article July 1, 1922 Issue

On October 31, 1921, in the United States House of Representatives,...

Clifford P. Smith,

Springfield (Mass.) Union

On October 31, 1921, in the United States House of Representatives, there was delivered by Congressman Harry B. Hawes of Missouri, a speech on religious freedom, which should be of interest to the readers who have seen the news item and the letters hostile to Christian Science that have appeared lately in the Union. The speech here mentioned has been reprinted by the Government Printing Office. Doubtless it can be obtained from Congressman Hawes by request. I hope, however, that this letter with the following excerpts from his speech will be reproduced in the Union:

"The foe of religious liberty has always been intolerance, sometimes disguised but always the same. It rises for brief periods to considerable strength, but always falls back to its obscure cave of bigotry before the enlightened criticism of good citizenship."

"The friend of religious liberty is not concerned with the difference between creeds, nor in fact with the difference between faith and unbelief. ... The honest friend of religious freedom cannot, without protest, permit any man's creed to be made the subject of persecution or the sole measure of his fitness for public office. We cannot lose religious freedom without losing civil freedom, so both must be guarded by zealous citizens."

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