The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-05-22
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
Acton Camp-AIeeting.

nual May meeting, and the farreaching infu-
ence of such action to break down the sanctity
of the Sabbath day You have stated the sensi-
bic, legal logical and scriptural view of the sub
iect 1 find that the utterances of the confer
ence within whose bounds the grounds are To-
Gated are equally strong, declaring that Sab
bath dissertation is just as bad in Christians at
camp meeting as it is in infdels in beer gar
dem
Yet it does seem that neither your utterance
nor that of the conference quite meet the case.
Surely it is far worse for men who profess to
keep Gods law to openly violate it
than those who do not For by so doing they
are not only guilty of breaking the command
ment but place themselves among that class so
vehemently denounced by the Lord known as
hypocriteg. The test Of Christian profession is
fidelity to the commandments.
One plea for this disregard for the Sabbath at
camp meeting has been, that the railroads would
run trains, and they could not stop them; but
the railroad company has pulled the mask from
the faces of the association and let the public
see lust where the sin lies 1t has placed the en-
tire responsibility of this wholesale Sabbath des-
ecration at the door of the tent-holders of Acton
camp meeting.
Another plea made is identical with that of
Judas who thought while Christ saving the
world he would make q little money out of it; or
ms it is usually stated, cannot run without the
Suday fares and Sunday fees" which was con
frmed by the vote of Tuesday Now, it the
camp meeting cannot live without being boil
stored up with this sin money, gathere d in dl-
rect violation Of the law of God and of the
church. then for the sake of the religion it carl
catures the church it disgraces, the Bible it
brings into disrepute, the young people being
led astray and the disregard it fosters for statu
tory, ecclesiastical and divine law, let it die the
death of the wicked and let its last end be like
theirs.
Since the railroad company have thrown off
all responsibility, let inquire where 1t
belongs Primarily, to the tentholders, and sec
ondarily to the ministers and laymen who
by their presence, sympathy and aid, bid it Gods
speed 1t matters not who plans the robbery
the murder, all are held guilty who participate in
its execution. So all who in any way abet
this association ale partceps criminis in the
Sabbath dissertation.
How ministers who are ever ready to cry out
with holy horror against open saloons, Sunday
games and Sunday picnics can go and spend
their time and give their influence to an associa-
tion sailing under the name of camp meeting
that is the peer of either of the above in Sabbath
Dissertation. is an unanswerable question on any
theory of consistency. 1t is equally true of the
laity
Let godly people cease to aid it and it will die
of its own sinfulness. Lest some might be led
astray by the expression 'the conference having
jurisdiction of this particular camp meeting in
your last editorial, allow me to say that the
for the Acton camp meeting. The church. as
such, has voice in its management The only
relation it sustans to the Methodist Church is
that very large per cent of the individuals
composing the association are members of the
game and that the presiding elder of the In
dianapols district is ex oficio president.
INDIANAPOLIS. A METHODIST
Acton Camp Meeting and Sunday Trains.
To the Editor of the indianapolis Journal
The Christians of indianapolis and of all Indi-
ana who have been struggling for more than
quarts; of century to protect the American
Christian Sabbath from the encroachment of the
European day Of debauchery and sport into
which it is turned in France and Germany, and
other European countries, no less than the toll
ing millions of wage laborers who are struggling
against such fearful odds to have one day Of rest
in seven from purely secular considerations, owe
much to the journal for its persistent advocacy,
all these years, of the American idea and the
rights of the burden bearers of this country.
The deliberate planning of few young sports to
add Sunday ball-playing to the picnies, excur-
sions and other boisterous diversion which had
already almost wiped out every semblance-
of the Sabbath of our fathers, has
given q fresh occasion to speak
out on this subject and the occasion has been
properly improved And comes the Acton
camp meeting, with its usual resolution to defy
public sentiment. and the laws Of God and man,
by inviting the railroads of the State to contrib
ute to its finances by running Sunday trains.
There may he no remedy for all this as there
probably is none against Sunday ball playing;
yet this state of helplessness should not preclude
those VINO feel outraged thereby from entering
So emn protest, This meeting was begun about
quarter of century ago, in good faith for
ligous purposes, and the first tentholders were
almost wholly composed Of members on the Ac-
ton circuit, and the exercises We're very much of
No. ripof4ix oba Tho woo, NJ
slow to comprehend its possibilities as business
enterprise; hence, from time to time, it has ad-
Haneed money to pay debts, build tents, and 9th
erwise improve the grounds, furnishing liberal
terms to those who would go on the ground and
form nucleus for the meeting.
A survey of the net results of these years
would be interesting, If any mortal ken could
make it Souls may have been converted at
some of these meetings, but they have been so
few and far between that little is known of them.
Other results manifest that all may
First there is the moral influence upon the i'm
mediate neghborhood. When these meetings
began the Methodist society at Acton was one
of the strongest rural societies in Marion county,
but it is not so now, the actual membership on
the circuit having decreased 10 per cont. instead
of keeping pace with the growth of the popula-
ton these twenty years more. So much for
its religious influence on the immediate neigh
borhood
No one can fail to note the growing disregard
Of the Sabbath since the running of excursion
trains on Sunday has been invited by this
camp meeting. 1t has been chiefly
since this beginning that Sunday picncs with their
fowdyism and bloodshed, have had their growth
Sunday railroad excursions to Cincinnati, and
Louisville and elsewhere were hardly known be-
fore that date, and now comes Sunday ball play
ing, next the the Sunday theater and then the
open Zoo. There is a vast difference between
Sunday at a camp meeting and Sunday at the
Zoo, but the step is not taken at once, but taken
90 less surely.
It is due to the Methodists of Indiana and of
She nation to say, that all this is in direct oppo-
sltion to the spirit and letter of the Discipline no
less than the Bible itself, and that again and
again it has been condemned by conference res
6iutions, but it still holds its semi official
neetion with the church by the presiding elders