The Town of Lake chapter of the A. Z. V. D. (Children's Little Society of the Blossom of Hope) is maintained by the local branches of the Lithuanian-American Workers Literary Society and the Association of Lithuanian Working Women. The children's society is making splendid progress. The children are receiving competent instruction in singing, general art subjects, and in Lithuanian grammar.

Upon noting the sharp increase in the activities of the society, the local Lithuanian Catholic priest became very nervous. As a reactionary measure he started to visit the homes of his parishioners, and is threatening all parents with punishment in hell (in which he himself does not believe) if they enroll their children in the above mentioned society or send them to any functions of the society. Apparently the priest fears that these children, who are members of the society, will probably grow up to be intelligent classconscious members of the 2working class. That would be detrimental to him and his whole business of superstition.

In this colony, priests have controlled the brains of the great majority of the people for many decades. And now let us view the results of the domination by priests. Here they have erected the largest Lithuanian church in America; more accurately speaking, the largest temple of superstition. It is also the largest parish in America. However, viewing the neighborhood from the steps of the church, you see before your eyes an endless chain of saloons. And walking a few blocks in any direction from the church, you continue to see one saloon after another.

Probably no other Lithuanian colony in Chicago can boast of so many saloons as this Town of Lake colony. The big question is this: Who supports all these saloons?

Certainly not the non-Catholics, because there are only about two dozen of them here, and they don't even patronize the saloons. The answer, then, is very easy--the saloons are supported by the parishioners, the pupils of the priests.

Although prohibition has closed some of the saloons, nevertheless, the parishioners continue to indulge in liquor as before. They either purchase contraband liquor or make it themselves in their homes. Thus they are poisoning their already weakened brains.

I can state boldly that a majority of the parishioners do not know how to read and write. This is the sad result of the domination by priests in this colony. They do not have even one school in which to teach the parishioners how to read and write. They have not sponsored even one lecture on health or any other 4educational subject. They are not even interested in education. The more ignorant a man is the more valuable he is to his employer, saloon-keeper, and priest.

After viewing the miserable situation of our people in the Town of Lake colony, it is the duty of all those comrades who are not poisoned with alcohol and superstition to become more strongly united and work for the educational and cultural uplift of our people. If we all work in close harmony, the results are sure to be very gratifying.