Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-24
RECOGNITION ASKED.
The National Reform Conference Me-
mOrializes the President
TOMENTION DEITY In HIS PAPERS.
A Quarter-Centennial Convention With
Over 100 Delegates Present.
WHAT WAS DONE, BOTH DAY AND NIGHT

Convention opened yesterday afternoon in
the EIGHTH Street Reformed PRESBYTERIAN
Church. John Alexander, ESQ.,, of Phila-
delpbia. presided. The Committees on Reso-
lutions and Enrolment were not present so
the meeting was not really organized. There
were, however, probably over 100 delegates
present. H. h. George, Secretary of the
Executive Committee, reported the condi-
tion of the association as excellent; the
finances were in gooo shape, the membership
constantly increasing and the work expand
ing over the entire country.
Rev. 7. P. Stevenson, d. D., of Philadel-
phia, corresponding secretary, spoke of the
work being accomplished over the country
by establishing district secretaries, which
had been done within the last year, and by
the issuing of tracts and articles on the sub
ject of various reforms The speaker said
that the schools of Cincinnati, Chicago, St.
Louis and San Francisco were almost en-
tirely under the influence of either sectarian
or atheistic sway. District Secretaries
Weir, Wills, Weaver and Wiley reported
the number of sermons, addresses, etc., de-
livered in their various localities.
The reports of the various secretaries all
contained evidence that they were working
hand in hand with the W. c. T. U. to
secure prohibition.
PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT.
Rev. l. n. Hays, d. D., of Allegheny,
and Rev. D. McAllister, DID,, LID,
presented to the convention the following
paper which they had compiled, and di-
rected the meetings. attention thereto:
To Benjamin Harrison, President of the United
States:
We, the undersigned petitioners. citizens of
the United States, would most respectfully
call your attention to the fact that this is pre-
eminently Christian nation. Its foundations
were laid in faith and prayer, in righteousness
and the fear of God. The Bible and the prin-
ciples of the Christian religion have been de-
clared by our highest judicial authorities to be
a part of the common law of the land. The
Christian Sabbath has been secured to you in
connection with your official duties by the Con-
stitution, and it has been hallowed and observed
by the great majority of our citizens ever since
the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock
During the Revolutionary War the Conti-
mental Congress, in an address TO the people
distinctly recognized the fact that it was only
through the merit and mediation of Jesus
Christ that the nation could hope to obtain
pardon and forgivness; and curing the late war
the Senate of the United States, under very
similar circumstances, expressed the same idea,
in almost the very same words, in the resolu-
ton passed March 2, 1863 requesting the Presi-
dent to appoint day for national prayer and
humiliation, and in this distinct and emphatic
recognition of Jesus Christ as the only source
from which help could come in the midst of
our national troubles. fully nlneteen-twentieths
OF the people have always most heartily con-
CURED.
In view of these facts we do most respect
fully but earnestly petition you, as the head
and representative of this great Christian ma
in your Thanksgiving proclamations, you will
in some suitable way, recognize the Christ of
our Christianity as the one of whom and from
whom we obtain all temporal as well as spiritual
blessings
GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE.
Surely if. in the day of our trouble, we as a
nation we're compelled to look to Him, in the
midst of our mercies we ought not to forget
Him.
All this will seem only the more reasonable
when we call to mind the tact that we. in COM
mon with all Christian nations, fix our dates
with reference to the year of our Lord, recog-
nizing His advent into our world as the greatest
event in human history.
The paper was accepted, as was also the
plan OF DR.. Hays that a large number oi
names, as petitioners, be appended, moi
only of the Reform Association, but of all
other persons, and that on some date, early
in the fall, the petition be taken to the
President bv a committee. The paper was
unanimously Endorsed by the meeting, and
numerous speeches In praise of it were
made. President Alexander said:
l was on the committee appointed by the
citizens of Pittsburg and Allegheny to take a
paper similar to President Lincoln, and well
do remember hew solemnly he listened to
the petition, then took it and said earnestly
q will try to do my duty to my God, nv fellow
men and ny ny, country; 90 am sure president
DR.. I. n. Hays made a short speech on
reformers, and said many were reformers
who did not know they were, and instanced
Judge White as brave man.
DR.. 7. z. Stevenson offered a resolution
of thRnkfulness for the success of the Re
form Association In the last 25 years. The
resolution was accepted. The meeting was
adjourned until the evening.
sTEADFAsT IN THE FAITH.
The evening session was opened by John
Alexander, Esq, of Philadelphia, the first
President of the association. Mr.. Alexan.
der's remarks consisted of brief review oi
the struggles of the progenitors of the asso-
citation quarter of century ago. He re-
ferred TO the principles they advocated and
their steadfastness OF purpose and beauty oi
character. The result of their efforts, he
said, is the association of to-day.
The Rev. I. P. Stevenson, of Philadel-
phia, Corresponding Secretary of the asso-
citation, followed with memorial oration.
He reviewed Twenty-Five Years of the
National Reform Movement. He spoke
of the God of the scriptures as the God OF
the nation, and the scriptures as the
law of the nation, and called it the
main spring of whatever reforms have
been effected in this nation. He
referred to the principles of the Liberal
League, refuting them with the objects ol
the "God in the Constitution" party, and
giving lengthy defense of the Sabbath
The White Gross and Law and Order Socie.
ties and the W. c. 7. .. he classed as kin
dred with the National Reform Association
in the objects which they expect to accom-.
plish.
The Rev. DR.. L. n. Hays, of Allegheny
came next. in an address on the ''Purity
and Stability of the Government in Rela.
ton to the Progress of Christianity" He
compared the results between a SWAY of good
and one of evil and showed the great benefit
to be derived from a course of Christianity
He referred to Biblical history to show the
truth of his delineations, mentioning Sodon
and Gomorrah, Nineveh, etc.
Professor Aaron Rittenhouse, D. D..
Professor of English History and Litera
ture in Dickinson College, Pennsylvania
was 70 have addressed the meeting or
sfPopular Objections to National Reform.
He was not present, however and the lee
ture was omitted.
The convention adjourned until THU
nornino at 9 o'clock. 1t will continue
until Thursday evening.
FINE French chalhs, 400 patterns from
which to select, light medium and DARK
O. ~.