Nativist Rally at Ranke Hall: 'Close the Gates'

The A. P. A. meeting at Ranke Hall yesterday afternoon was one of the largest ever held in the city. The hall was crowded and the greatest attention was given the speakers and others who took part in the exercises. The meeting opened at 3 o'clock, with John Bushell presiding. A selection from the orchestra resulted in an encore, and then a quartette of young ladies announced as 'Mrs. Rockwell's Juveniles' sang, 'Keep Along With the A. P. A.' The song was greeted with a storm of applause, and the quartette was called forward again and sang 'Catch the Patriot Step.' Mrs. Rockwell next sang a solo. 'The Star Spangled Banner Forever' was sung by the juvenile quartette. The waving of the Stars and Stripes brought forth mighty applause. Mrs. Martin, wife of the evangelist, rendered a solo, which was so well received that she was compelled to respond to an encore. Mr. Frank Combs sang a solo, and then the speaker of the afternoon, Rev. W. T. Ford, began his address.

'Our Faith and Our Flag' was his subject and he handled it in a good manner. The speaker said that he was present to take the place of the Rev. E. B. Sutton, who was ill, and he realized that it was a difficult matter to fill such a vacancy at an A. P. A. meeting. Six years ago, the speaker said, he stood in Castle Garden, New York, and saw hundreds of foreigners, ignorant and unlearned, pass through the big gates and into the heart of the great metropolis. After watching these people for an hour or more, Mr. Ford said, he approached a man and made inquiry concerning them; why had they come here and what would they do?

'Those people,' the man replied, 'or at least nine-tenths of them, will vote at the municipal election which takes place day after tomorrow. Tammany is on the watch for them, but they will vote for the party which captures them first.'

How long, the speaker inquired, will this continue? How long will it be before the gates are closed and those people are kept out? The bars have been let down and the cattle have flocked in, 'horns and all.' Unless the A. P. A. unhorns them the patriots of this country will be gored.

Mr. Ford urged upon the parents the necessity of properly educating the young. He hadn't educated many. He had three boys, he said, and if he had to baptize them in any particular faith it would be a faith requiring undeviating devotion to the flag of our country, 'first, last and all the time.'

'I am going to tell you something,' Mr. Ford said in substance, 'which will be disputed. You can dispute it now or wait until I have finished my address. Do you know that four-fifths of the Protestant infants in this country who are attended by Catholic nurses are, unknown to the parents, baptized by Catholic priests, and if they are old enough they are taught the principles of Catholicism. I know some other things, but I don't think it's best for me to speak of them at this time, but may do so on another occasion.'

Mr. Ford called to the minds of the audience the great debt which they owed to the preachers. Did those before him know that three ministers walked from this country more than 2,000 miles in the direction of Washington City in order to have congress take action to save the state of Washington from the curse of Catholicism? And over in Walla Walla today stands a college in memory of the leader of those three preachers, Rev. Dr. Whitman.

In speaking of the alleged 'underhanded' Catholic work in this country Mr. Ford referred to the murder of Lincoln by Booth. The conspiracy, he said, which resulted in the awful murder was hatched in the house of one Surratt, one of the most avowed Catholics in the United States.

The Catholics do not believe in the Bible, Mr. Ford said. They refuse to allow their children to study it in order that they can learn the truth. Mr. Ford read quotations credited to Catholic priests in which they spoke of their preference for the church to the government.

Mr. Bushell reported that a new branch of the organization was now flourishing at Gilman, and a woman's branch would soon be in working order at Port Angeles. He also announced that on next Sunday Rev. W. T. Fleenor would commence a series of addresses, which would continue several weeks and would be the feature of the Sunday afternoon meetings.