Smyrna times., 1894-07-25
Highest of all in Leavenng Power-Latest u Govt Report
R@:a!a!I! g! BS&dsgE RBakiRg
ABSOLUTELY PURE
A Nations Menace.
REV. DIR. HoFFECKER breaches ON
THIS COUNTRY's DANGERS.

The New York Press gives the fol-
lowing synopsis of sermon preached
by Rev. E. l.. HOffecker in his church
The Dangers that Menace National
Life" was the subject of the Rev. DR..
h. l.. HOHecker's sermon at the Chelsea
Methodist Episcopal Church. West
Thirtieth street. DR.. Hohecker read
the prophecy of Obadiah rs applicable
to our national condition and from that
book of one chapter took as his text the
fourth verse: Though thou exalted
thyself as the eagle, and though thou
set thy nest among the stars, thence
l will bring thee down, saith the Lord"
This prophecy was a condemnation
of Gods people," said the preacher.
who, because OF the mountainous
character of their country, thought
themselves free from attack. We have
been hugging ourselves with a similar
delusion that we, too, are safe from all
attacks, whether from abroad or with
in, and have forgotten that if we neg.
lect the God of nations, He with one
breath. can wipe us from the face of
the earth, and give our fair land to
some other people.
The first danger is in the readiness
to change the standards of value. In
1873 the decentralization of silver took
place. A blow at public credit is al
ways public evil. What we make as
money does not matter so much. 80
long as it pays the nations debt.
confess to you that after Il study of
the history of finance, as shown by the
past in England, France and Germany,
together with the the speeches for the
past thirty years in Congress, | am as
much in the fog as to the right course
as if no such study had been made.
But this l do see, that if we tamper
with our circulating medium, so that it
shall not represent what it pretends to
represent, we are attacking our ma
tional existence.
The second point is the accumula-
tiOn of vast fortunes within the last
thirty years. Great fortunes have be-
come menace to our national life be-
cause they have been used to debauch
legislation, purchase votes and secure
legislation favorable to the interests Of
the rich. A we'll known capitalist is
alleged to have remarked that in one
State he was Republican and in an.
other a Democrat. The reason is obVi-
GUS, and no comment is necessary.
"A third point is the use of money to
carry elections. am no pessimist
don't believe that we are worse TODAY
than formerly, but the advance that
has come has brought more genteel
methods of wrong-doing, more diplom-
acy, fnesse and money. Cash money
is the great argument that effects the
purpose without violence or loss of life.
1t is a menace, and as Christian people
we ought to do our best to eradicate
the evil. Among other evils are the
attack upon the public school system,
the lax views of marriage and the ease
with which divorces are secured, also
the liquor traffic and the guilty COM
pllclty of Christian voters. The COM
mon talk of the day is burdened with
the reflections upon those high in afficia
life. 1t is wrong conception and much
of the suffering of the innocent with the
just punishment of the guilty and blood
shed in Chicago has been the result o
a lack of proper respect for those in
office. The conviction of McKane wa.
an object lesson, the effect of which
would be more lasting upon the people
to teach respect for law and reverence
for constituted authority than many
scenes recently enacted at various
points in our land.
"These are not the views of al
alarmist. They are the views of on,
who loves his country, and loves hi
God, and who wants this nation to liv,
and prosper, but who believes there i
a serious and awful retribution menac
ing us-awful as was that which came
as the consequences of our sin of slav
cry. We need to repent in sackclotl
and ashes, to get down as a nation low
before God, and in this attitude ac
knowledge the faults we have commit
ted, and ask and trust for pardon befor
vengeance shall fall"