Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-06-11
ion in the South.

catholics, realizing the ,weighty re- sponsibility of the Protestant churches ill reference to public morality, care fully avoid putting any obstacles in the way of their carrying out policies that have been duly considered and given almost an officially ecclesiasti- cal sanction. Catholic pastors do not therefore favor baseball on Sunday, not because they regard it as sinful in itself, but, following the example Of St. Paul, who declared that if his eat ing meat would scandalize a neighbor he would not touch meat all his life, lestotheir neighbours esscandaiized.
 "To Catholic mind the ministry of our Protestant churches do not seem to realize the gravity, of their respon- sibility. ass csnsors and directors of public morality. Perhaps this is no more than saying that the human race at large does not realize respon- abilities to God and country, never 1 theless, in nations where Catholics are in a majority their church is gen. erally held responsible for the pre- vailing state of morality, though the l fact is often patent to every student of history that the power of the church in many of these countries is reduced to minimum.
 ''In the United States, however, es- pecially in the Southern states, where foreigners are a negligible quantity, the Protestant churches have undis- puted sway over white and black.
 But whatever may be the duty of
 the Protestant churches in respect to shaping and guiding the public moral
 ity of Arkansas and the South and
 tEeir just response to duty's call, the time has certainly come when Catho- lies, Jews and Protestants should bor-
 row wisdom from one another and
 unite their forces for the elevation
 of the moral standard. Small things
 like baseball need not receive atten-
 ton until the far greater evils of
 social and religious life are overcome. We are still burning people at the
 stake as was done in the most bar
 barcus times. There is disgraceful
 amount of graft in political life and
 much corruption in our greatest com-
 mercial transactions.
 There is still another evil which
 to large extent is the fountain of
 life to all the above, which is the low standard of popular feeling and public opinion in respect to enforce ment of law Until there is higher
 standard of public opinion in this
 regard, laws are of little avail and the various churches are the forces
 that should establish this higher standard.
 We have in Jefferson county a
 fearless sheriff, an able circuit judge and successful prosecuting attorney. We have model supreme court and , a courageous governor. Nevertheless, the most revOlting crimes occur in
 our largest cities. All those access sories for a perfect enforcement of law are of little use. without wide spreading and stalwsrt put'ic opia- lon. After everything has been, gain. ed for right and justice by faithful officials, whose extraordinary efforts have almost driven them to nervous prostration and who were compelled to use up thouands of dollars from the treasury of, heavily taxed peo-
 pie, everything is lost by failure on the part of great number of citizens to support by popular action our courts and public officers. Instead