Jaw-bone of an Ass

Priceless, as an example of backwoods credulity feeding on religious bigotry, is the story (said to emanate from the Ku Klux Klan) that the 1917 Series of one-dollar greenbacks carries Catholic propaganda.

One Barrett, vigilant patriot of Los Angeles, wrote to William G. McAdoo about it. He received a reply stating that the 1917 Series is printed from the identical designs and engraved plates adopted by Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Mc-Adoo added:

The statement in your letter that this one-dollar bill "has the picture of the Pope of Rome and the rosary and other emblems of the Catholic order and faith" is wholly without foundation. Such statements touch my sense of humor. . . . As a Protestant myself, I deplore the circulation of these rumors, because they tend to arouse religious intolerance. . . . If there is any substantial num-ber of American citizens who believe this amusing but absurd story about the one-dollar greenback, what a field they would offer for Samson and his jawbone of an ass! In the Bible it is recorded (Judges XV, 15) that Samson "found a new jawbone of an ass and put forth his hand and took it and slew a thousand men therewith."

Sincerely yours, (Signed) W. G. McADoo.