The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-10-30
CHURCH FAIRS.
Questionable Methods Of faising Money
for Religious Purposes.

before that august body on the 24th
instant, warned the churches against
raising money for religious proposes by
e concerning which there was the
slightest suspicion. This sentiment 1
think is highly praiseworthy and
should be heartily approved by every
G~od-fearing nan in the land.
''In our city all of the Christian sects
have within the past few years resorted
to schemes for raising funds which 1
consider most reprehensible. Cheap
lunches, masquerade balls, quasi-lotter-
les, the election of the most popular
young lady in the community, to be
determined by purchased votes, and
other equally questionable lodges for
raising money for religious purposes,
have been resorted to. But our
| churches are not alone in this business.
1t is a practice that exists through
out the whole country, and in some
| places is carried to a d~isgraceful
extent.
III NllVNtIlilta III II TO- ~ OAAS
of these church fairs, after every other
means for raising the wind had been
exhausted, three young ladies of the
congregation consented to be sold at
auction for the benefit of the church.
| The first fair damsel of the three was
put up and offered for sale by the C
tioneer with the privilege of the whole
| to the highest bidder for cash, and was
knocked down to the pastor himself for
800. The remaining two went off for
sos and SIS respectively and the church
~pocketed the money. Thus, the Chris
ian world was allowed to behold the
spectacle of n church sociable being
converted into an auction sale. But
to me this instance smacks SO much of
the barbarity of the slave trade of the
| South, and at the same time so closely
resembles the action of Mormon bishops
picking out new concubines from
among the fresh supplies of pilgrims
who arrive in Zion, that it is repulsive
to my mind, to say nothing of raising
church funds by such a plan. When
Christian work cannot be sustained
without resorting to such unsanctioned
methods, l think it high time they shut
up. Hereafter l hope the Salt Lake
churches will be governed by the con-
sistent suggestion made in the pastoral
letter referred to above.
PROTESTANT.
Salt Lake, Oct. &C."
We clip the foregoing from the Salt
Lake Tribune, a paper that is ably and
intelligently edited. And we fully
agree with the views expressed in the
first part of the article, in regard to the
very questionable devices often resorted
to by the churches to raise funds. We
know of more than one instance where
| great wrong has been done, by the silly
practice of voting for the prettiest, or
most accomplished lady, in the church
or city. Such a public expression of
opinion on ones personal qualities,
should never be permitted, even in
joke, by any lady of refinement; be.
cause it implies a censure, OF a triumph
over others, who may be equally deserv-
ing. 1t is, however, almost always an
appeal to the rivalry Of social cliques,
or individual prejudices, which can
never be aroused without detriment to
all concerned. Nor are many of the other
means of raising funds for the church,
any less detrimental; and it is high
time that all churches abandoned
these CROOKED ways"
But how so well-informed a journal as
the Salt Lake Tribune could admit to
its columns-in an article intended to
speak in sober earnest-such a stupid
absurdity as is contained in the latter
part of the above communication, sur
passes u comprehension! 1t is need
less to say that nothing of the kind
ever occurred here in Cheyenne-prob-
ably never occurred anywhere-because
cleIgymen do not have a hundred dol
lars to give away at a church festival,
nor are ladies quite willing to be placed
on the auction-block, even for the good
of the church
But when some scribbling knight
Grant or birthstone reporter wishes to
''point q moral" with some ''horrid
example" he seems to feel at liberty to
draw on his imagination for his facts,
and locate his fable in Cheyenne. We
seldom notice these filings; preferring to
pass them by az jokes, or as lies too
palpable to require REPUTATION. But
when so respectable a paper as the Salt
Lake Tribune publishes a communica-
ton, intended to appeal to the better
class of church-going people, villifying
our society, and ~disgracing u city, we
cannot help calling it to account.
See Monkeys Oyster Bay advertisement
Keep Warm.
Overcoats that can't be matched for
the price, are to be found at
o30-tf PoLACK's.