The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1882-07-27
NO MYsTERY ABOUT IT.

nc AbOO1 i.
The New York papers have just discovered a
very alarming fact in religions progress, and are
/ sYeculaiins upon il, aud sounding the alarm.
II is :his: that in New York City, with its / :
800 OG0 inhabitants, there are less than 10000
members of all Protestant churches eombined-
/ the number being about 96 O00-while the Cath
oIies number abont 5OOcO0 In Is.5, when the
city had population of 100000, there were 40, :
Protestant church members, and 5O,GiGEatho-
| lies. There are more Catholics in the city Row,
than the entire population in 1s45. C"gpled
with this, is Az alarming increase of Infdelity,
all at the expense of the Protestant churches.
There is no mystery in this. The same state
of facts will be found in nearly every part Of the
United States, but perhaps to n less extent than
in New York II has been a subject of alarm in
the New England States, for years, that the ma
| tive Puritau population was wearing out, and
the increase was mostly from foreign Catholics.
1t is because the Catholics attend strictly to
their own business, while majority of the Prot
eStant churches besides putting their noses into
eyrrybodys business, have become mere politi-
cal concerns The Catholic priest keeps an eye
single to the interests Of his church-hOldng
the members 10 their faith, and drawing in new
members. The other churches direct their ener-
gies TO dabbling in politics, and in regulating
the affairs of other people. They want to die
tate what the public shall eat and drink, how
they shall observe Sunday, what they shall be-
Iieva as prerequisite to holding office or hav-
ing their oath accepted in Court. People whose
stomaehs are not strong enough to swallow this
in the name of religion, are driven to the Catho-
lie church or to Infdelity, their predictions
incline them.
Take, rs a sample, the Methodist church in
Kansas. The entire church has become a mere
adjunct to the liquor law, and political body
guard for st. John, from the Presiding Elders
down to the roustsbOut members. Here and
there a preacher may be found who will not
bend to the popular furore, and there are occas-
iOnal members who are of the same feeling. But
the church, as a whole, is enlisted in this polit-
cal crusade. No attention whatever is paid to
matters of religion, ard Christ is now seldom
preached in their pulpits. Their whole time
and energy are devoted to aiding st. John to
perpetuate his lease of Office, and run his proh-
bition hobby. They have suddenly awakened
to the necessity of enforcing the law, and are
never tired of telling about the saeredness of law
Did anybody ever hear of the churches taking
any interest in the enforcement of any other
law, from murder downi They left it all to the
officers appointed for that business. The fugi-
tive slave law, unpalatable as il was, was a law
as much as any other ever enacted, and was
more binding than the Kansas liquor law, be-
cause il was n law of the United States. Yet
that same church united almost solidly to oppose
that law, and defeat its enforcement. Oh, but
they held that law to be wrong and the liquor
law right. Yes, they set themselves up as the
exclusive judges of what is right and wrong,
and the public are to he forced into carrying out
their ideas.
There is a law against adultery; and we
know of men who stand high in the church,
who commit the crime twice day, almost every
day in the year, so publicly that even the chill
dren talk of it. The Church does not bother
itself about this, and the members are high in
the circles of the church. There is a law rela-
tive TO making true statements of property for
taxation yet we know men who are active and
noisy for the enforcement of law, who perjure
themselves every year, to avoid paying few
dollars of taxes. They are bound to have the
County, but swear to a lie in order to avoid pay
ing their just proportion of these costs. Why,
Methodist preacher stationed here in Troy, a
few years ago, and who is now savagely in IA
vor of enforcing the law, induced two of his
church members TO endorse a note for him in
bank, for about $50, assuring them that he had
the means of raising the money in a short time,
and would pay the note, when due. When the
time came, he purpOsely absented himself, and
they had the note to pay; and he afterwards
lied and swindled them out of every dollar of it.
They brought charges against him at Confer
ence, and the papers referred to preach
er who had had his skull broken by husband
whose wife he had seduced, and who is hot for
enforcing the law. When the time for acting
on the case came, this man discovered that he
had lost the papers! and the poor, cheated mem-
bers had TO sneak home, and stand their loss.
Oh, yes, they insist that the law be enforced !;
but when one of their crowd commits a crime,
they appoint committee of preachers to inves-
tigate the charges, who suppress the testimony,
and exonerate the scoundrel.
In small town in the western part of this
State, the preachers are very active in organic
ing for the enforcement of the law. The lead
ing man among them, called upon the Catholic
priest in the town, and urged him to mite with
them. "Unite for what purpose :" the priest in
quired. ''To enforce the liquor law" replied
the other. 81 have no time to spare for that"
said the priest. 81 have forty families to look
after, and it takes all my time. / shall do
what can TO keep my people from getting
drunk, but have no time to attend to other
peoples affairs
Yet they wonder why it is that the Catholic
church increases so rapidly, while Protestant
churches are on the decline. They talk Of the
dangers that threaten this country from the
spread of Catholicism; yet, instead of strength
ening every point to counteract the danger,
they SOW discord and dissension, and render
themselves so obnoxious to large proportion of
the people, that they are willing to even accept
Catholicism as a relief