The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-10-20
THE VICES OF SOCIETY.

by Delegates-Marriage and Divorce.
The topic of the day. Tho Church and
Public Morality" was then taken up. In
the unavoidable absence of Hon. b. w. B.
Hill. of Macon. Ga, his essay on Legal
Restraint on the Vices OF Society" was read
by Rev. DR.. w. b. Tudor, OF Richmond. Va.
I'VE are sometimes told" he began. by
those who admit that legal restraint of
the vices of society is within the jurisdic-
ton of the State that such legislation is
nugatory. You cannot make men moral by
act of parliament So runs the threadbare
pathos of this wornout pastoral. Now. if
this means that law cannot generate IN
ward righteousness, it Is true; but those
who saw the air with this old saw very
well know that the friends of moral legls-
lation do not propose to accomplish by 1t
any such result; for statutes of every kind
assume to deal only with mems acts-not
with intentions or motives The rules of
the churches never created inward holi-
ness-that is not their function in church
economy, but they serve as an inferential
and wholesome discipline of conduct, and
thus they help to make men moral by law.
Did not the law that chartered the
Louisiana State Lottery and authorized its
rowing commission of infamy through
mails and newspapers, did not such leglsla-
latIOn. by furnishing the means and in
ducements of an immoral temptation, make
men Immoral by laws Can there be doubt
that the act of Congress which has closed
the mails and press to the lottery's nefari-
Gus schemes has diminished this immoral
ity. and therefore made moral with respect
To this vice the conduct of many whose
conduct the opposite state of the law made
immoralf May the law precede or must it
simply follow public sentiment In attempt
ing TO control the vices of society,"
There are two schools of thought, one
insisting that the law should hold alOft
standard of conduct sufficiently above the
level of average opinion 10 become guide
and beacon; the other insisting that the
standard should be below the level of
average public sentiment or only parallel
with IL In order to prevent the scandal
which arises from q breach of law in its
nOn-enfOrcement. The truth Is that there
is very little danger of the enactment of n
law under representative government IN
advance of the working beliefs of at least
majority of the community. and vet, Ito cite
an instance in the current discussions and
campaigns relating to the suppression of
the saloon, we find many persons who pro-
TESS to be sincerely in favor of the sup
preston opposing it on the ground that
the public mind is not ready for the move
ment"
BETTING AND GAMBLING.
Rev. Joseph Posnett. of the Wesleyan
Methodist Church. Hull, England, deliv-
cred the first appointed address of the
morning session. His special subject was
Legal Restraint on the Vices of Society"
Betting and gambling" he said. lis pres
ent day question and is of all-cOncerning
Importance. Possibly one of the very
worst forms of gambling-gambling prac-
ticed on a colossal scale. and gambling in
dulged in by not few Christian profess
sors-is the gambling of the Stock Ex-
change. Talk of a frantic. fanatical. up
rOarious enthusiasm on matters religious
as something 10 be condemned. For my
part have never seen or heard any thing
In connection with the widest religious
excitement at all comparable with what
saw for the space of half an hour in Wall
street. III New York. No doubt the gam
bling OF the Stock Exchange differs widely
In form and ~ preston from the milling
of the turf and the dice. But In spirit the
manifestation of an ever-grasping. Aide
vouring, all-cOnsuming coyeteOusness Is
one and the same thing"
Judge III. l.. Sibley, of Marietta. o..
whose topic was Marriage and Divorce
Laws" said his time would better be spent
In stating the doctrine of morals involved.
so making clear the principles W hich should
mold the civil law, than III n sketch of It's
history or digest of its provisions. The
speakers proposition was that right to
divorce is eomplimental 10 ana demanded
by the right to marriage. not only IN case
of adultery, but also of desertion. Mar
rage was n means, not al end. Special
cases excepted, God and nature had made
the relation, the universal right of
mature men and women. This included
the right of each party TO the
union TO its essential benefits. Deser-