that awaits them in a better world; an
education that will develop their superior being, that will
inspire them with the love of wisdom and hatred for sin, that
will make them honest, moral and God-fearing men. Such an
education will elevate and ennoble them and place them on a
religious footing with the white man.

"And secondly, it is a matter of observation that few colored
people are mechanics. Now, to be a factor in their country's
prosperity, to make their presence felt and to give any influence
whatever to their attempts to better their status, it is
absolutely necessary that, besides a sound religious training
they should be taught to be useful citizens; they should be
brought up from childhood to habits of industry. They should be
taught that to labor is honorable, and that the idler is a menace
to the commonwealth. Institutions should be founded wherein the
young men may learn the trades best suited to their inclinations.
Thus equipped--on the one hand well-instructed Christians, on the
other skilled workmen--our colored people may look forward
hopefully to the future. I am happy to bear testimony from
personal observation to the many virtues exhibited among so many
of the colored people of Maryland, especially their deep sense of
religion, their gratitude for favors shown, and their
affectionate disposition."[508]

The Cardinal used his great influence against the lynching evil and
in an article in the _North American Review_ for October, 1905,
pronounced lynching "a blot on our American civilization."[509] It
should be stated too that in Catholic countries of Central and South
America we rarely ever hear of lynching nor of unnatural crimes which
provoke it. In an address announcing "Colorphobia" as a "malignantly
unchristian disease," Mr. John C. Minkins, a journalist, not long ago
told a Baptist Ministers' Conference of Providence, Rhode Island, that
the lynchings in the United States are nearly all in States where
there are scarcely any Catholics. He based his statements on figures
from the Research Bureau of the Negro Industrial Institute at
Tuskegee, Alabama.[510]

In March, 1904, Cardinal Gibbons wrote the following letter to the
Rev. George F. Bragg, of Baltimore:

"In reply to your letter of yesterday, I hasten to say that the
introduction of the 'Jim Crow' bill into the Marylan