CALIFORNIA
175
CALIFORNIA
municants " ; the total for this head therefore under-
estimates the Catholic population.
Organiza-
Value of
NllTlllt.'l nf
Denomination
Churches
Church
property
canta
Adventist
51
32
$170,850
2,822
Baptist
165
123
763.S60
11,383
Catholic
250
244
2,667,950
157,346
Congregational
182
149
1,014,975
11,907
Jewish
15
12
396,000
6.179
Lutheran
39
21
364,800
1.267
Methodist
559
43S
2,575.631
36,874
1'resbvterian
Prot. Episcopal
263
211
1,895,675
18,934
103
95
1.019.695
9,221
Matters Directly Affecting Religion. — The constitu-
tional provision safeguarding religious freedom is
ample and specific. It reads as follows: "The free
exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and
worship, without discrimination or preference, shall
be forever guaranteed in this State; and no person
shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness or juror
on account of his opinions on matters of religious
belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured
shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licen-
tiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the
Eeace or safety of this State." The Constitution pro-
ibits the appropriation of' money from the State
treasury for the use or benefit of any corporation,
association, asylum, hospital, or any other institution
not under the exclusive management and control of
the State as a State institution. But there is, never-
theless, a proviso authorizing the granting of State
aid to institutions conducted for the support and
maintenance of "minor orphans, or half orphans, or
abandoned children, or aged persons in indigent cir-
cumstances". The Constitution also expressly pro-
hibits the appropriation of money in support of any
sectarian creed, church, or school. The policy of the
State is to afford the fullest measure of religious
liberty to all, to discriminate in favour of, or against,
no one on account of religious belief, and not to per-
mit the power or resources of the State to be used for
the propagation of any form of religion or for the
benefit of any religious institution. Every Sunday is
by express legislative enactment a legal holiday i( nil
Code, §7); on that day all courts are closed, and busi-
ness is universally suspended. Any act required by
law or contract to be done or performed on a particu-
lar day which happens to fall on a Sunday, may be
done or performed on the next day with full legal
effect. But there is no law compelling the religious
observance of Sunday, and contracts, deeds, wills,
notes, etc. executed on Sunday are just as valid as if
executed on any other day. But, while there is no
Sunday Law, properly so-called, there is an act of the
legislature passed 27 February. 1893, securing to
all employees one day's rest in seven, and making
it a misdemeanour to violate the provisions of
the act.
The Code of Civil Procedure provides that "every court, every judge or clerk of any court . every justice and every notary public, and every officer or person authorized to take testimony in any action or pro- ceeding, or to decide upon evidence, has power to ad- minister oaths or affirmations". Any person who desires it may, at his option, instead of taking an oath, make his affirmation. The Bible i- not used in administering oaths; in judicial proceedings the witness raises his right hand and the clerk or judge swears him "to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God". To make a wilfully false statement after having taken an oath or affirmation, before an officer authorized to admin- ister it, to testify to the truth, is perjury, a felony punishable by imprisonment in the State's prison for from one to fourteen years. The Penal Code makes
it a misdemeanour, punishable by a fine of $200 or by
imprisonment for ninety days, to utter profane lan-
guage in the presence or hearing of women or children
{Penal Code, §415). The Supreme Court of the State,
in the case of Delaney ex parte, California Reports, Vol.
XLIII, page 478, has held it to be within the power of
a municipal corporation empowered by its charter to
prohibit practices which are against good morals, to
prohibit and punish the utteranceof profane language.
The entire matter of profane language is generally left
to the control of the local authorities, and most of the
counties and cities have ordinances prohibiting and
punishing it. It is customary to open the sessions of
the legislature with prayer, though there is no provi-
sion of law either requiring or prohibiting the prac-
tice. There is no recognition of any religious holi-
days, by name, except Sunday. New Year's Day and
Christmas are both holidays, but they are described
in the Civil Code merely as "the first day of January
. . . ami the twenty-fifth day of December". It must
be said that the same rule is observed in the Code in
referring to the other legal holidays. Washington's
Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, etc. are
simply the twenty-second day of February, the thir-
tieth day of May, the fourth day of July, etc. The
seal of confession has the full sanction and protection
of the law. It occupies the same position in the eyes
of the law as communications made to attorneys and
physicians in their professional capacities. It is the
policy of (he law to encourage these confidential or
privileged communications, as they are called, and to
keep them inviolate. Section 1881 of the Code of
Civil Procedure provides that a priest cannot be ex-
amined as to any confession made to him, as such, by
a penitent.
Matters Affecting lit ligious Work. — The laws gov- erning the incorporation of churches and religious societies and providing for the protection and man- agement of church property are both beneficent and effective. The Civil Code (section 002) provides that any bishop, chief priest , or presiding elder, may become a sole corporation by complying with certain simple legal formalities. Thereafter, the usual attributes of corporations aggregate attach, mutatis mutandis, to the corporation sole. Under this statute all Catholic Church property in the Archdiocese of San Francisco is held in the name of "The Roman Catholic Arch- bishop of San Francisco", a corporation sole. Upon the death of the incumbent, his successor, properly appointed and qualified, takes the place of his prede- cessor, and no probate or other proceedings are re- quired to vest the title to the church property which, in contemplation of law, remains always in the cor- poration sole, regardless of who may be, for the time being, the incumbent. In addition to the law's gov- erning corporations sole, there are very liberal statutes authorizing the incorporation of single churches, as well as of religious, charitable, and educational associa- tions, and t he holding of property by such corpora- tions; also authorizing the consolidation of two or more churches or parishes into one corporation. Un- der the law of California, therefore, the property interests of the Church are jealously safeguarded, and she is free to hold her church property in either of the methods above pointed out. Prior to the year 1900, California stood alone among the States of the Union in taxing church property in t he same manner and at the -:tme rate as business or residence property. On 6 November, 1900, the people of the State adopted an amendment to the Constitution, providing that "all buildings, and so much of the real property on which they are situated as may be required for the con- venient use and occupation of said buildings, when the same are used solely and exclusively for religious worship, shall be free from taxation ". The residences of the clergy, the hospitals, orphanages, refuges, asy- lums, and all other institutions which are devoted to
