The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1881-04-07

on t0elr way, 00tWlCDSCADutnX TIE!
have beensevere!y abused during tin
past two years by the ADVANCE, ant
have as many members proportionatel!
as any other village in the State.-Jour
nal.
The Journal should have said, 'Ou]
churches continue to hold on their waJ
Notwithstanding the litlgations, disl,on
esty, hypocrisy, crime aid bigotry
which have: brought them into bad od
or with all true men," We have been
assured for some years that the NJ. E.
Church does not dare to build church
or to own property because of the liza
bilities hanging over it. and promi.
nent gentleman, who knows the histo'
~ of the Miller Hall disgrace, las fire.
quently assured us that the stealings
of the chul CHI, or Of its controlling men,
amounted to $1,000 and he thinks 1t will
foot up $1,000. Within a few weeks
after the control of the building passed
out of the church, the torch was applied
and the finest and most costly building
in the place WAS laid in ashes. 1t is the
universal opinion in this community
that the torch was applied by one OF
Ogls's pets, or by the man who was his
assistant Sunday school superintend-
ent. Minister after minister has been
here and was glad to get away because
of the condition Of affairs. Og]e is the
only one we know of who could stom~
ach the whole batch, and swallow the
crow, feathers and all.
AS to the congregational Church, it
has preserved smoother exterior,
but has been cheat and a delu-
sion, and has greatly declined in the
past few years. When it was the
Union church it was strong, popular
and full of good works. When it ceas-
ed to be that. when the bigots took pos
session of it and forced out the MAORI
ty of the liberal element and made it il
Congregational church Of the narrowest
Calvinistic stamp, it visibly declined.
Tie Sabbath School, which formerly
numbered regularly from 100 to $50
scholars, sunk to from 80 to 60, and the
attendance at church has for several
years shown i marked decline. The
church came to be nick-named "Colony
Clark's Church" and the interest of
the publicc in it departed. AS the
best minister that ever labored in Wor-
Ellington used to say, ''they threw OIL
the Union net to catch people and drag
them into the Congregational box. -
Having caught them and cot their mon.
ey to build the church, the narrowest
Calvinistic element took control and
coolly weeded out the liberal element,
telling them, ''if we do not suit you,
you can 60 elsewhere" The Congre-
gational Church has been Il cheat and Il
swindle, although it has kept oat of the
courts and has not had the financial
troubles Of the NJ. E. Church.
We give the Presbyterian Church
credit for having been 4 more quiet and
consistent church than the others. We
have nothing to say against it as an or
ganization in this place, however much
we may occasionally protest against
what we think are the errors Of it's the
ology.
Of course. whenever we say anything
about any church, Or even agains: some
erroneous church doctrine, we are
charged by the bigoted element and
thai- organ, the Journal, with running
Il muck ut all churches, and all that is
sacred" and ''holy," and Ill that kind
of church SWIVEL.
But this is not true. The bulk Of our
friends are friends of the churches and
we support for office men who are
church members. Numbers Of them.
we know, agree with us in condemning
the wickedness and narroWness Of
church members, and are most heartily
with us in saying that church cliques
of the narrowest stamp shall not con-
troll the politics and regulate all the af-
fairs of the community.
So far as the churches teach and live
the gospel Of Christ, we are with them.
So far as they are using the church us i,
cloak for their selfish schemes and Is a
means of serving personal and political
ends, we condemn them.
Are not such terms Of abuse enough
to arouse all the old Adam either in
saints or sinners, and put any comm H.
nifty into 4 jangle.-Journal.
Never was the bigot and the fanatic
better illustrated than in this para
graph. Ogle and the set he speaks for
put the community Into a jangler by
several weeks of pulling, threatening.
bulldozing, overriding and insulting
good temperance meE as whisky men.
and when the ADVANCE called them
fanatics and disapproved Of their meth
DDS, they turn about and lay the whole
blame to the ADVANCE. This has al
ways been the priestly method. The
wolf muddies the stream, blames the
lamb for it and then attacks the lamb.
1t will be remembered that in the &C.
count of Paul's career, there was one
place where he was mobbed, and the &c
count says that the priests stirred up
the '*devout and honorable women. ,
and they stirred up the men and had
Paul mobbed. This was exactly what
was done III Worthington. The wome,
were stirred up by the priests and fa
natics and then, morally at least, tile
community was mobbed. And then
comes priest Ogle and coolly blames the
ADVANCE for it. We look back owe,
the history of nearly every trouble tina,
has been in Worthington during the
past five or six years and we see Ogle
holding the clothes Of the mischief
makers while they sail in. He has beef
on the side Of the wranglers and The
disturbers of the peace in every instanc,
we can think Of, and when the fuss j:
over he looks about and says: ''Why