The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-08-05
as TO PENAI, PROHIBITION.

a pronounced prom lOltiCElSt, who is
candidate for state office on tie Four h
party ticket, and who is a believer in
The possibility Of saving men from i'm
morality by penal laws, in communica-
ton to these columns, last week, crIti-
clsed the editor because of his expressed
dIstrust of the efficacy and wisdom OF
applying the penalties of criminal laws
for the suppression of the vice of drink
Instead OF convincing the drinker by tie
force of moral suasIon and religious OBJ
legations, of the wrong that he is doing
himself and society By such diligence.
The criticism, which in no sense dis
turbed the aeirmations OF the editorial
alluded to, was only printed through
courtesy. While standing alone it
might not have been Objectionable yet
the writer failed, entirely, in grasping
the problem as iC confronts society.
Mans mental and moral nature can
not be elevated or improved by coercion,
nor can he be saved from himself, or
eternally, by the infiiction of the pen
alties of criminal laws. The hope Of
temperance, in fact Of all gOod,-ln hu-
mainly ilself-is in the teachings Of
christianity and morality and their
se0uent obligations. All the sects and
denominations may differ in many
things, but the one mission Of all is the
saving of man from HIM elf and for the
higher life of heaven. The church has
Its penalties, but they are not penal.
Their inherent power for good Is in teach
ing the. world, and in their fostering
rules of love thrown about its mem
bership. The mandate of the chur h,
therefore, reaches tie heart through the
mind and consequent obedience. No
possible physical punishment can reach
the conscience, convince the mind or
convert the soul.
Archbishop Ireland's late Endorsement
of Ablegate Satolli's pronuEciamento
againstthe saleof intoxicantsby member
of the Catholic church, i, in point. 1t Is
even more pronounced than that of
Archbishop Corrigan, or still later that
Of Bishop Watterson Of Columbus, Ohio.
These prelates, recognizing the demands
Of more exalted civilization and for a
purer Christian life, following the
opinion Of Pope Leo XIII and
the Instructions of the Balti-
more council, command temperance,
authoritatively telling and teaching
their church and its believers that liquor
selling and drinking Is wrong; that no
one can be good member or hope to
be saved if they DO not quit it. The
conscience, their religious convictions,
and consequently their after reflection
aud judgments are appealed to. The
consequent fear is not of jails and
fines, but of eternity and that of lost
hope OF a happy Immortality, with
which eternity and the heart are linked.
The height of the greatest argument, the
hope for temperance and Goodness, is
not IN prohibltory laws Of a criminal
penalty, but in religion as teacher and
as moral suader, and in the church as
a religious and moral forcer of all that
IS ylrtuous and good. As a Protestant,
Catholic readers, alike, we cannot prob
ably make our idea palmer than by
quoting a single paragraph of Arch
bishop lreland's pronunciamento viz:
The conversion to Sobriety of Catholics
by baptism and profession who are the vic
TINS of intemperance; the discountenancing
of social drinking customs; the elimination
of ali liquor from the sideboard in Catholic
families, from Catholic cluDrooms. and from
ALI Catholic festivities and banquets; the re-
moval of Catholics from saloon keeping, in
accordance with the instructions OF the
Council of Baltimore; a high standard of
practical civic virtue so that 10 Catholics
shall appear in public life as the representa-
tives or advocates OF the interest of the liquor
trade, and no CathoIic shall vote on election
days TO put into office such representatives or
advocates.