St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-10
Rev. w. S. Vail Reviews the
Paroehial and Secular
School Question
And Insists That the Public
Schools Should Not Be
Touched by Priests.
DR.. Sam Smith Enlarges Upon
the Use and the Abuse
of Money.
A Law Should Be Passed Reg
ulating Use of Money in
Elections.

There was large attendance yester-
day morning at the service Of the First
UniversaliSt society i'll the Grand opera
house. The musical part of the service
was very attractive, rendered by Mrs.
Lyman F. Brown, Miss Jessie
Brock and Oscar Lienau. Rev. w. S.
Vail delivered an eloquent sermon. He
addressed himself to the subject, - he
Priest and the Public Schools and = o
synopsis of his remarks runs:
Can We not discern the signs of the
times?
LII making an application of these
words to the present condition of things
in the religious world, my excuse is the
spectacle developed in the recent Wis
c0nsin campaign, where the priest and
the Lutheran pastoral strange combina-
tiOn-became practical influences. and
fer an avowed purpose. One of the
frequent words in every political speech
was the little school house." and the
use Of that word has more than pass
ing significance TO every citizen of this.
commonwealth. When we see every
year this question of religious interior
ence with the public schools growing
little
More Aggressive,
may we not clearly conclude as to what
is to be finally done? Is there not III
the near future, Indicating its coming as
the cloud charged with thunder and
flashing fOrtl. lightning indicates the
presence of a storm, an irTepres Sib.e con-
flict between the advocates of secular
public school and the advocates of a
Sectarian school that will completely
destroy the present system?
1t must be said for the priest. how
ever, that we regard him as q sincere
man. We regard these men who
marched the Capuchin frlars to the
polls who stood by and distributed tick
cts to their flock, as men who believe
they are doing Gods service. But
many shareholders were equally sincere
in believing that human slavery was
sustained by the Bible. We respect
sincerity, but we defend what we be-
lieve to be right. And besides, we are
not here to
Attack or Discuss
the priest as a teacher of religion. be-
lieving he has as many rights and priv
iIeges as any other religious teacher,
and no more.
What is q state?
Is it a goddess corporation banded for
the purpose of protection from the yio-
ientP Has God only revealed himself in
all organized church. and If so, in which
one of the many that claim to be repre-
sentative? Or, is God also as much. and
in many instances. more III TIL, .'.earts
OF those men who only serve by deyot-
ing life to the political and social adj
vance of the people. lifting their var
denS. inSuring them larger iberties.
educating them. and clothing them with
a new mauhoOd? On the answer we
give to these questions will depend our
conclusion as TO tAe stand we are TO take
when s. s. eni apf-. ri ~
This Great Question ..,..
of the public schael spreads, as il must
to the nation for consideration.
A state is personality.
A state is moral personality, and is
engaged in the good work of making
conditions better for its children. and it
is in harmony with all true religion, and
the enemy of no influence that is set to
do good.
We are here at the center of Our
problem, and the question as to whether
a state may say that a child SHALL re
ceiye certain kind of instruction when
the parent does not think it should, is
resolved into the question: Is the
parents Judgment Of sufficient i'm
portanee to stand against that corporate
judgment built up by study of the
worlds experience? Individual judy
ment may often
Have TO BE Corrected.
The corporate Judgment is usually
and really the Christian judgment when
the nation is a real one, and when 1t is
unrealHholdS false theOrieS-by the
providence of God. His messengers
come and stir up the hearts of the peo-
pie until changes are made. And 1t is
very strange that these preachers Of
God who work FOR Il e good of the peo-
pie are seldom inside of the church. Is
the common school real part of real
state? Is the church by ITS history pre-
pared to snow that it can give better
results? Ii the church can point TO Il
history that is studded with the tri-
umphs of men who have worked for
intellectual advancement for humanity.
for enlightenment. that should settle
the question. Il the uphoders of the
common school can show better NOR
alty as the results of Its teaching. and
point to such men as Franklin, Lincoln
and Garfield as its products. besides
thousands more. then it has fair claim
Oh the land that gave i. birth.
And believe the American state will
triumph without any question.
what Are Fly Reasonss
Well, to begin with, because we live
in new era that is full of conditions
that must give the idea | have outlined
success. For in the hands of men ell
tirely great the pen is mghtier than the
Swortl,'' said the aged Richelieu of Bull
wer's play, and we live IN the age when
the pen has attained its full power. The
day of the orator is gone in comparison
with the writer, because an interview
with Il prominent man will reach mill
ions, where Il spoken word can reach
only few hundred, or, at the most, a
few thousand people.
The present state may be imperfect,
but it is not III the least danger of de-
Structiop. because it is the outWorking
of Cots thought i'll social institution.
Already civilized people have discarded
human slavery. Already they have
made proposals for international arbi-
tration, rendering the chances of war
fewer and fewer. Already the word
cooperation has a place in the vocab-
ulary of tue statesman, and, notWith-
standing all that men say to the con-
trary, it seems to me that the statesman
becomes more and moro the preacher of
righteousness. The republic NAV
WAIVER, it will never fall. Designing
men may lead it into channels of
wrong; faithful friends will come to
the rescue and lead it right again.
Suppose we should be willing to
Grant the Public
school buildings for the parochial
school. either to Catholics or Lntherans,
and show our Willingness to have sec
tartan religion taught in the school. how
long would IT be before other and larger
bodies like the Methodist and Baptist
churches, with alegion for constltu.