RHODE ISLAND. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 677 



" We denounce the extravagance of the State- 

 house Commission, which seeks to impose upon the 

 people of the State a $3,000,000 Statehouse, after it 

 had entered into an implied contract with the peo- 

 ple that the Statehouse should not cost over $1,500,- 

 000. 



" We are in favor of a constitutional convention 

 at the earliest possible moment." 



Following were the candidates : For Governor, 

 Daniel Church ; Lieutenant Governor, Lafayette 

 Harriett ; Secretary of State, Miles A. McNainee ; 

 Treasurer, Edmund Walker : Attorney-General, 

 George T. Brown. 



The Republican Convention, March 16, adopted 

 a platform largely devoted to national issues. On 

 State matters it said : 



" We commend to the intelligent electors of the 

 State the resolution proposing an amendment by 

 way of a revision to our State Constitution. Framed 

 by an able and non-partisan commission, after great 

 study and deliberation, unanimously reported to the 

 General Assembly, and passed by both houses there- 

 of without a dissenting vote, we believe its final 

 adoption to be in the line of progress and for the 

 best interests of the State. 



" We are glad to see the growing demand for 

 good roads and the advance in the knowledge of 

 their necessity and the improved methods of their 

 construction. We think that the time has come 

 for the inauguration of a policy looking to the im- 

 mediate betterment of the main highways and ave- 

 nues of trade throughout the State, to be accom- 

 plished without imposing a disproportionate expense 

 or unnecessary burdens upon the smaller towns of 

 the State. 



"We believe that the Statehouse now being 

 constructed by a non-partisan commission, com- 

 posed of eminent citizens honored by their respect- 

 ive political parties, should be completed at as 

 early a date as possible, in order that the State 

 may begin to realize a return for the outlay which 

 it has already made, and that for this reason the 

 authority should be granted to the General Assem- 

 bly to issue bonds to the amount of $800,000 for 

 the purpose of finishing the building. To refuse to 

 continue the work at this time will entail expense 

 upon the State, and the work already done can not 

 fail to be injuriously affected. The various State 

 offices should be assembled in the new building at 

 the earliest possible moment, thus securing their 

 valuable records and papers from destruction by 

 fire, and saving an outlay for rentals nearly equal 

 to the interest on the proposed loan." 



The State officers were renominated, with the ex- 

 ception of the Lieutenant Governor and the Treas- 

 urer, who declined to stand for renomination. The 

 ticket was : For Governor, Elisha Dyer ; Lieutenant 

 Governor, William Gregory : Secretary of State, 

 Charles P. Bennett; Treasurer, Walter A. Read; 

 Attorney-General, Willard B. Tanner. 



The Republican State ticket won in the election. 

 The vote i'or Governor stood: Dyer. Republican, 

 24,743; Church, Democrat, 13,224; Reid, Socialist- 

 Labor, 2.877: Lewis. Prohibition. 2,012. 



The Legislature elected stands : Republicans in 

 the Senate 33. in the House 65 ; Democrats in the 

 Senate 4, in the House 7. 



The proposition to bond the State for $800,000 

 additional to continue wgrk on the Statehouse 

 was carried by a majority of about $2.800. The 

 majority for the original appropriation of $1,500,000 

 in 1892 was 8,792. The capital cities favored the 

 present appropriation, but many of the smaller 

 towns voted against it. 



Constitutional Commission. This body, con- 

 sisting of 15 members appointed by the Governor, 

 organized March 16, 1897, electing Thomas Durfee 



chairman and Archibald C. Matteson clerk. Its re- 

 port was presented to the Legislature Feb. 23. A 

 resolution was passed March 4 that the revision 

 should be submitted to the electors, and it was 

 voted upon at the November election, but failed to 

 secure the necessary three fifths, though it received 

 a majority of the votes cast. 



ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The Spanish- 

 American war and its results, direct and indirect, 

 had the gravest effects upon the actions of the Vat- 

 ican in the year 1898. His Holiness Leo XIII ex- 

 erted all his influence in the effort to avert a con- 

 flict, even to the extent of offering his services as 

 a mediator between the two powers. At the close 

 of the war, the cession of Cuba, the Philippines, and 

 Puerto Rico tothe United States necessitated changes 

 in the ecclesiastical administration of those islands 

 to bring it in harmony with their new civil admin- 

 istration. The Spanish Church had previously ex- 

 ercised a direct or indirect influence over ecclesias- 

 tical appointments in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and 

 Church affairs were frequently administered from 

 Madrid. The Vatican, in accordance with its policy 

 of vesting, as far as possible, ecclesiastical control iii 

 the power which has temporal control, in October 

 appointed Archbishop Chapelle, of New Orleans. 

 apostolic delegate for Cuba and Puerto Rico and 

 charge d'affaires for the Philippine Islands. He 

 was instructed, as were the local bishops and priests, 

 to lend all assistance possible in the work of recon- 

 struction. Such control over the Church in the 

 ceded territory as was not vested in the apostolic 

 delegate reverted directly to the Vatican. 



The work of the Holy Father for the unification 

 of all Christians in the Catholic Church resulted in 

 18f>8 in the establishment and extension of missions 

 among the schismatic Copts in Egypt, and in several 

 concessions to the Slavic peoples of Austria, Bul- 

 garia, and Roumania. One of the most important 

 briefs issued by the Pope in the year was the papal 

 constitution on the devotion and Confraternity of 

 the Holy Rosary. The charge of the confraternity, 

 which embraces chapters in nearly every church in 

 the world, was by the new constitution formally 

 made dependent on its supreme head, the Master 

 General of the Dominicans. The constitution, which 

 defined the rules, rights, and privileges of the con- 

 fraternity, was preceded by an encyclical letter on 

 the same subject, exhorting the faithful especially 

 to this devotion. 



His Holiness in December gave a constitution to 

 the College of St. Bede the Venerable at Rome, and 

 appointed Cardinal Vaughan protector of the col- 

 lege and Mgr. Merry del Val deputy protector. The 

 establishment of the college was entirely the work 

 of his Holiness, and at his expense. Its immediate 

 aim was to meet the exigencies of the movement in 

 England toward the Catholic Church, and its estab- 

 lishment was considered by the Pope as another 

 step toward the realization of his hope for the re- 

 union of Christendom. Among the other public 

 acts of the Holy See were an encyclical letter ad- 

 dressed to the archbishops and bishops of Scot- 

 land, regarding the interpretation of Holy Scripture, 

 and warning the bishops against the erroneous doc- 

 trines on the Holy Eucharist prevalent in England; 

 an encyclical issued in August, and addressed to 

 the clergy and people of Italy, protest ing against 

 the suppression of Catholic societies by the Italian 

 Government; an extension of special privileges and 

 indulgences to those participating in the celebration 

 of the nine hundredth anniversary of the institu- 

 tion of the commemoration of All Souls at Cluny. 

 France; and an approval of the proposal submitted 

 to him by the Committee of tin- Mi vino Redeemer, 

 in connection with which his Holiness gave orders 

 for the celebration of a general jubilee at the close 



