Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-12
AS SEEN BY OTHERS.
Leading New York Clergymen Talk
on the Pittsburg Movement.
THE VIEWS OF REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
4 General Expression That Great Care
Should Re Exercised
PLANS THAT ARE OUTLINED IN PART


NEW YORK, Dec. ia page of to-day
Herald is devoted to the recent movemen
of Mayor Gourley and Pittsburg's minis
ters. The tone of the article is decided.
critical, but it includes interviews will
such prominent figures as Rev. T Dewitt
Talmage, Father Thomas j. Ducey, Rev
Thomas Dixon. JE, Rabbi Aaron Wise ant
Rev. DR.. j. H. Rylance. In introducing
the subject the Herald says: "'Go and sil
no more is not the gospel as preached ii
Pittsburg. There they have changed it tc
GO and sin somewhere else. The stu
dents of sin and its cures are convinced
that YOU cannot cure such women with I
club. You must wean them from theil
wickedness The Pittsburg crusaders OF
fered them the dilemma, sin or suicide NJ
tender was made to them by the churches
of an opportunity to reform Women can
reform in the gutter"
When Rev. T De Witt Talmage wa!
found he said: ''The law has no right to be
harsh. Judges, juries, district attorneys
sheriffs. police, constables have no right to
be harsh. All of their actions, though they
be firm, should be tempered by mercy and
kindness"
He had in mind the recent crusades
against fallen women of this city and OF
Pittsburg. He spoke with the vehemence
of thorough conviction. There was no mis-
taking his meaning, and if there had
been any possibility of mistake 1t
would have been Immediately dispelled
by his vigorous repetition of the re-
marks
Nothing Gained by Harsh Measures.
''Nothing is ever to be gained by harsh
measures" he continued. ''The law of the
land, of course, must be upheld, and those
in whose hands its execution has been
placed must do their duty fully and firmly.
II the law is not enforced there is no de-
fense for society: but the enforcing must
not be harsh. Put q man down, throw him
into a dungeon, punish him harshly and he
will brood and brood over his unequal con-
dition and his unfair treatment by his fell
low creatures. He broods and what will he
hatch out but vultures? There is nothing
good in that
'fThe Church has tremendous RESPONSE
bility upon its hands. The law may de-
lend society, but it remains for Christianity
10 complete the work Christ and His fol-
lowers must reform society and give to it
new being. These spaSmodic attacks upon
vice and immortality are futile What is
needed is a new morality, an enlightenment
by the spirit of Christ Before that and be-
tore that alone will vice vanish. 1t is not
for us to say to the fallen: There you are
and am not sorry for you. Out upon you!
Serve you right for your iniquitous con-
duct Rather let US approach them in
kindliness of spirit and mercy.
"How few of us realize that we, too,
might have been in their position, might
have fallen into the same depth of degrade
tion that they havel Where would we be
to-day If we, too, had been rocked in the
same iniquitnus cradle in which these poor
wretches have been rocked? Where would
we be if the same baleful influences had
guided our footsteps and dominated our
career? How then shall we dare TO be
harsh? The social evil, or any other evil,
is not to be stamped out of existence under
an iron heel Let the law do its duty and
let the Church follow with its benefcent
Offices. Then there will be hope for
moral regeneration"
The Gospel of Charity.
Father Thomas j. Ducey, when asked for
his views, said: "If the reports as presented
in the press are true, it seems to me that the
action of the Representatives of religion was
worse than pagan. II certainly was not
after the example of the Divine Master,
Jesus Christ. To an outcast, an unfortunate
woman, well known in Jerusalem, He ex-
tended every kindness and courtesy. He
protected her from the attacks of the hypo-
critical Pharasees and scribes. In nv
judgment no one should be treated with
greater kindness than the poor outcast child
OF sin when she seeks protection and de-
sires to amend her unhappy life. Jesus
Christ commanded us to feed the hungry,
TO elothe the naked and to house the home
less. And who is SO aked or so homeless
as the woman excommunicated from society
by her lite of shame? If we would bring
them back to virtue, make their lives OF
any hope or usefulness, it must be by char
ity and purity of actioE.
81 haven't followed the Pittsburg matter
closely, SO cannot answer as to details"
says Rev. Thomas Dixon, Jr. "Rut can
say this: There is now growing move
ment in all our civic customs for a cleaner
public life. 1t is the advance move of
great revival of practical religion. 1t
amounts to a revolution. There are not
kT aves enough in Office, or fools enough in
the pulpit or out of it, to stop it. 1t will
sweep this generation with resistless power.
The man who resists fights against the very
stars of heaven. 1t is sure to result in a
larger incarnation of righteousness in public
life"
Only Methods of Indirection.
Rev. Dr. j. H. Rylance, of ST. Marks,
says: GAS to the matter you ask my judg-
ment upon-the clerical doings in Pittsburg
i can scarcely trust myself to speak, so
senseless do / deem all such methods of
dealing with what is called the social
evil There are no methods available, in
my judgment, of healing this and other
such open sores, except methods of indirec-
rion. But men of hot moral impulses can
not wait for results from these methods.
Let them somehow be prevented from doing
public mischief, however. II our moral de-
tectives are really bent upon saving the
fallen let them get them into homes, where
the moral nature might have fair chance
to recover itself. But even this were i'm
practicable, or would only prove efectual
in q mitigating degree"
This is what Rabbi Aaron Wise thin ks:
''In answer to your question command of
the Talmud occurs to me-'Cast away with
thy right hand; with thy left hand draw
him nearer. Chastlse and fondle together.
Administer correction to the wicked, but
Immediately alleviate the pain of his pun
ishment' In the treatment of the great
social evil. which engrosses the thoughts of
all men, should our measures for relief not
be infGenced by the lofty sentiment con-
talned in the teachings of the rabbis? That
there exists an evil which must be elm
mated, that action must be taken ere it
gains too strong a foothold, who would
deny? And vet we cannot demand an un-
conditional surrender. The weakest enemy
has the right to expect some quarter if it
Weld to the superior power. Shall we
then oppose this unrighteous enemy to the
social and moral order with harsh, immod-