The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1889-06-06
THE WICKEDNEss OF CITIES.
Powerful Sermon by Rev, Howard
haeQueary,
The Great Field for Christian Work In,
occupied some Local heieren-
COS 70 Canton,

oes 70 Canton,
Let na consider tho great problem Dt
The relation pt Christianity % tho CITY
The CITY, says Dr, strong IN his adml,
rable little book On our country, IL tnr
nerve center 0t our civilization, ~ N
also tho storm Guuttr II u growing
much more rapidly Ia The Whola pupu-
lpllOn, "and Ia u an tho dangers except
M0TmOnlam, which threatens our gov
efnmtnt, viz immigration, intempef-
rance, socialism ana wealth, Afe on.
hanGed aud fOGaliZrd Here ia heaped
tho social dynamite here rOugha, gam-
Dlera thlele ~, robbers, laWlHRh aud dea
pafate men Of all sorts e0ngregate, all
mon who are ready on any pfetext ~
raise rlOt6 for the purpose OF destfue-
ti0n ana plunder, here gather foreign
erh aud Wage'wOlkera, here akepticlfm
and lrfeligi0n ab0undi here inequality
IN tho greatest aud most obvious, ana
the contrast between Opulenee ana pen-
ufy the most striking here 10 suffering
tho aOreat, Az the greatest wlokedneaa
IN the world IN ~ be- found, not among
the cannibals OF sOme far on coast, but
IN Chriatian lands where the light Of
ruth ID dlliuaud aud rejected, 40 tho
utmost depth Of wretchedneaA exists,
not among aayagea who have few
wants, but In great cities, whore Ia the
presence Of plenty and OF every luxury,
mon atarye, Under such conditions
amOnldef the volcanic hres OF u deep
discomfort"
DR., Strong assures US, and gives ua
facts ana llgufea 10 aubbthntlate his Ah'
aufanCe, that "the moral and religiOua
Influences are peculiarly weak NJ the
point where our social explosives are
gathered" For Instance, In Chloag0,in
1880 there was only Que church organ
igauOn 10 every g,0sl inhabitants, and
In u certain district there, OF which
careful examination had been made, II
was found that out Of 5000 under
twenty one years OF age, there
Wegu Sunday school accommodations
for leSs than 1000, that m 20 say over 49,,
900 OF tho children and youth arc CON
PEELED 10 90 without tho gospel OF Jesus
ghIiAt because the Christian churches
are asleep Hut the devil cares for
them. There are 2Gl saloons ana dago
shops, 3 theatres aud other vile plAcra
Ia that section, ana the Christian church
offers sunday accommodations
20 only 1000
Dutif the Church be weak In such
places, what OF the city government Z
Are itB strength and purity no eXCep'
tiOnal aa 10 insure the effective control
OF the dangers IN question: "ln the
light Of notorious facts DR. Strong an,
aWeTa,' the question sounds aatirical
10 Ia commonly said Ia Europe, ana
sometimes acknowledged here that the
government OF large citiosin the United
States rs a failure, VINO constitute
the ruling class The WISE, the gOo1,
the learned, 90, mon who have earned
the confidence OF their fellow citizens
by the purity OF their lives, the aplendOr
OF their talents, their pr0blty In public
trusts, their deep study OF the problems
OF government No, they are gamblers
saloon Keepers, pugulists, or worse, who
have made a trade Of controlling votes
and OF buying and selling Offices and
official acts, ~ mas come 70 this, that
holding q municipal oilice IN u large
city, almost impoacheo mans Charac
tor, lleuce there seems little prospect
of reform, and improvement from this
quarter
But Notwithstanding all these no.
tOrl0us eyila, ANA IN spite OF the indli'
ference Of the mnlority OF Christians on
this subject, 10 may, lot Ug hope, be said
of ench city, as u was said OF corrupt
Corlnth, "God has much people N this
city" and " ia our duty To speak aud
not hold our peace on the great prob.
lens NJ issue, liut what shall we say
What shall we do 10 remedy the evils
In aaestion2 why responds the good
orthodox brother who has a panacea for
all the Ills that ilesh Is heir 10, 1--WE must
preaCh Jesus Christ and him crucilied.
The Gospel is the remedy for all the
evils you speak OF; make men Christ,
ians, enforce tho Golden Rule put IN
practice the Sermon on the Mount, and
all will be we'll
Precisely so, my good friend, but do
you know that the Gospel preaching
you speak OF has been going on for
ighteOn centuries, and still we have
our Londons our New IOrks, our Chi,
cagOs aud even our Cautions, The Cos.
pei is being preached IN all these places
and, within earshOt Of the preacher you
will find the drunkard and the gambler
engaged IN their ungOdly pursuits, The
great problem, therefore, is' how can
the Gospel be made 10 reach and influ
ence the toiling, discontented, irrelig.
ious mllionsY They will not come to
the church, ard therefore, the church
must 20 TO them but how shall this be
done.
Well, in the lrst place, the church
must study social science and inform
ltself as tothe exact state Of things
But, alas, az the Rev, Washington
GLADDEN., of Columbus, observes "fhere
often Is u degree of jealousy between
those who profess 10 be followers of
Christ and those who assume TO be ex.
pounders OF social science, That sent
savage obscurantism which performs
its medicine dances In some pulpits,
and brandishes It's ignorance In the
column of some Of our religious news.
papers, is reused TO wrath by every.
Thing that bears the name Of sciences
that attempt TO study and understand
the natural phenomena Of vice and
crime and pauperlsm, seems to this
habit Of m nd almost presnmptiOus
Thus II results that there are thousands
Of American Christians who are better
informed respecting the degraded
classes IN India than they are respect,
ing those who live IN the wards adiom
ing their residences But, thank God,
this Is not true Of all Christians and
churches.
Ia many places we have our
club rooms and our guilds, our
manuel training or industrial schools;
we have our lecture courses and classes
In social science in connection with the
church, and many Of her members are
being aroused 10 q sense Of their duty
In this matter. What we want above
all things Ia a wider diffusion Of exact
information on the condition of the