STRETCHING THE CONSTITUTION 26'] 



tive John Hall Stephens, of the Thirteenth Congressional 

 District of Texas, has for some time been a leader in such 

 matters. A few of his exploits in the way of stretching the 

 simple words of the Constitution so as to make them the cloak 

 for his hostility to things Catholic are shown in the various 

 bills and resolutions he has introduced in Congress. 



Thus in the Fifty-eighth Congress, where a clause was at- 

 tached to the Indian Appropriation Bill restoring to Indian 

 Catholic pupils attending Catholic schools the rations which 

 had been denied them by the then Commissioner of Indian 

 Affairs, — and the bill had passed the Senate without opposi- 

 tion, — Mr. Stephens distinguished himself as being the only 

 man in the House of Representatives who was against it. 

 Later, in order to prevent and make illegal the use of Indian 

 tribal funds (the Indians' own money, mark you) for the 

 education of Catholic Indian children in Catholic Mission 

 schools, Mr. Stephens offered an amendment to the Indian 

 Appropriation Bill forbidding the use of such funds for 

 any such purpose. When an amendment to the Bill was made 

 in the Senate reinstating the Stephens amendment, which had 

 been ruled out in the House, and the matter came up in con- 

 ference between the two Houses, where it was eliminated, 

 Mr. Stephens refused to sign the Conference Report, and 

 when that report came before the House for adoption, he 

 protested vigorously against the omission of the Senate amend- 

 ment. Later on in the session he introduced a bill entitled, 

 "A Bill to prohibit the use of Indian Trust Funds for the pur- 

 pose of educating Indian children in sectarian schools," thus 

 intending to cut off Catholic schools from the funds of the 

 Indians whom they were engaged in educating. These funds 

 represented the value of Indian lands taken by the government, 

 and could be devoted by the Indians or by the United States 

 government, as their trustee, to their education by such per- 

 sons as they might desire. Finally, the very latest exploit of 

 Mr. Stephens, and one which may be regarded as the fore- 

 runner of the Valentine "applied by me" order, was a reso- 

 lution which he introduced into the House of Representatives 

 on June 21, 191 1, which requested information from the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior on "sectarian or other schools purchased, 

 'covered in,' or over which control has been assumed through 

 lease or gratuitous grant, for use of the Indian service within 



