The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-06-19
SERMON ON THE MAYORALTY
Rev. ]. A. Milburn Talks of the APP
preaching Municipal Election.
lie Thinks the Mayor Should Be Man Of
Culture and Taste as Well as the Pos
SCISSOR Of Good Morals.

Last evening DR.. Joseph A. Milburn. of
the Second Presbyterian Church. preached
upon the coming municipal contest HIS
sermon was as follows. the omitted por-
tions being merely Celebrations of thoughts
suggested in preceding paragraphs:
Il want to speak few words to you per-
tanning To the paramount political problem.
the SELECTION of q Mayor. 1 am aware that
subjects of this KIND are considered foreign
to the pulpit. but think that this hmita-
ii on OF the function of the pulpit Is both
narrow and wrong. Certainly the Chris
ton pulpit has nothing to do. and should
have nothing to do, with partisan politics.
No minister has right to be in his pulpit
either Democrat or q Republican,; but he
has night TO advocate righteousness In all
its relations. whether those relations be
personal, ecclesiastical or political. 1t Is
his duty to hold up before the individual
the immutable moral standard; and il
should also be his duty to exalt and cleanse
the conscience of the city. because q city is
part of the moral atmosphere we breathe.
Cities have not only names. They have
characters. They make for or against
righteousness; they lean either to the good
or TO the bad; and for this reason IL is i'm
portant that all earnest men should seek
to make their respective cities con-
ducive to manhood, rather than SUD-
versive or manhood. ana ebettors of
righteousness rather than abettors of
wrong. 1t seems pious to say that the pull
Dit must deal in spiritual truths alone.
meaning by that that It shall not touch
any concrete fact or speak to any concrete
mundane question. That sounds religious;
that sounds cody; but 1t Is not religious.
and 1t is not g0dly. 1t is cant-cant
seemingly holy and pIous, but still can't.
Religion deals with questions terrestrial as
well as questions celestial. 1t deals en-
phatically with conditions as they are
found upon this earth; as they are found
I2at here In indianapolis. Jesus of
Nazareth concentrated his energies. not
upon sky world nor cloud world. but
upon Palestine. His country, and upon
Jerusalem, the city of His love. He fought
against specific wrongs. and for specific
rights. He rebuked sin manifest in the
| flesh. and did not waste His time in preach
ing either q transcendental religion or an
ethereal morality that had no bearings on
this earth.
"Whilst. then, 1 think partisan theories
| and partisan spirit should be abolished not
| only from the pulpit. but from the earth;
| Yet, on the other hand. 1t is quite clear
that the minister as well as the doctor, and
| the lawyer. and the merchant, should do
his utmost to cleanse, to elevate ana to re-
| deem the city In which he lives. He should
| do his utmost to stem vice and TO speed
virtue; he should do his utmost TO tn wart
| wrong and to prosper right; he should do
his utmost TO cast down evil and TO uplift
the good.
And it is because believe that the
Mayor of this city has not only much to do
with It's economic and administrative prob
lens. but also very great deal TO do with
its moral atmosphere, that / believe the
church should have some words to say
touching the kind of man that should be
the ruler of our city. 1t Is immaterial to
me whether our Mayor be q Democrat or
a Repu blican, whether he be a political
mugwump or q political independent. so
long as he is the right man in the right
place. good man In q good place. and
just man in q just place. His political
complexion ia subordinate and inconse-
quential. The important thing Is that he
shall be q true and noble citizen; that ne
| shall be q high minded and worthy man;
| that he shall fulfill the vows that he takes
upon himself as chief executive. and that
| he shall see TO it that the laws shall be en-
| forced and the city be made as wholesome,
| pure and clean as laws well admins tered
and impartlally applied can make it,
There IS an ideal Mayor, as there is an
| believe that the ideal Mayor 10 no more
| likely TO be found in any city than
| the ideal doctor Is likely to be found
| in any community or the ideal minister In
are not realized in any realm of thought or
action. A perfect poem has not vet been
| written: q perfect sermon has not yet been
| preached; perfect Grafton has not yet
been delivered, and perfect man has not
| Yet been discovered anywhere upon this
/ mundane sphere. The ideal minister is q
desideratum; the ideal doctor is likewise a
desideratum, and the ideal Mayor, too, ex-
| lists in the future. q genius yet un born.
But IL We may not expect to ind per-
| feet man to rule as. it is our duty TO sp-
| prOximate as nearly as we can to the ideal
| to the man that would dignity the office OF
| the chief executive of Indianapolis. We.
i at least should refuse to elect any Bill,
Dick or Harry that the politicians impose
upon us. the May or of the wire-pullers, the
| small tactIcians and the petty dipiomates.
| We should confederate the best strength,
| the best thought, and the best beliefs and
| the best ideals of both parties against all
| mere party politics that We may elect o
| man who. whilst he Is not perfect. has GER
| tain distinctive characteristics that quail
| ify him for leadership and rule.
| 81 want to mention TO you few OF the
| characteristics that should be found In
| every Mayor-characteristics not obvious,
| such as that he should be man of BUSH
ness, competent TO deal with the econ0m-
Ical ard financial problems that come No.
or that he should be progressive man,
| with an ardent zeal to push his city on and
i up, and with q fervent ambition TO bring
| IL to the front. These characteristics are
| competent man at the head of affairs stops
| the whole procession, that he arrests the
| growth of the entire civic organism, that
| he is q hindrance and q nuisance rather
| than help. We all know that the Mayor
| of any city should be a man of business,
| and also O progressive man; but there are
| other qualities that we do not seek for. and
| yet which are Just as Indispensable as
business capacity, progressiveness of spirit.
| energy and push. A business man GER
tainly is not qualified by his mere business
capacity tor the office of Mayor. A man
may be very competent and aggressive
business man and yet DO entirely made
| quate to all the demands that such an off ce
| may make upon him; for the representa-
tive man should not only be competent in
| business; he should also be a man of cultl-
| walton, q man of address, q man OF tine
personal manners and distinction.
| But more than this. the Mayor of our
| city should be o man of taste, q man Of
fine appreciations of the beautiful Nor is
| this n insi gniticant virtue, a g think
| 1t is we'll for q city TO be progressive, to
bnlld up large industries and to
| accumulate great wealth; but great
wealth aud innumerable industries, and
smoke. and enterprise. and lumber. and
brick ard wheat and electricity do not
make the whole of lie. nor do they make
the glory and charm of a city.
| Mere ply steal enterprise and prosperity are
not the sum or life. There Is no great,
| hopeful. happy life TO be lived in the wear
| and tear. the roar and the confusion of the
world of commerce. All true life is lived
hey ond that roar and confusion. and. there.
| fore. Indianapolis, II IL IL going TO be
o desirable city. an attractive city. q
charming city must have something be-
sides it's electric cars, its packing houses.
it's factories and industries of various
kinds What it needs is beauty; what 1t
city that l know. indianapolis needs beau
H. n a