St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-22
CONSISTENCY A JEWEL.
The LAWS SHOULD Be 0BEYsD or
SUBMIT TO THE PENALTY
bad LAW BEATS ANARCHY.


Park Methodist Church, Advo-
Gates tho Enforcement OF the
se. Laws - The Child Labor Law
Should Be Made Operative
Il Misguided Philanthropy.
1 Rev. Frank Doran, of the Central Park
Methodist church, made fercible reply
In his pulpit yesterday to the morning
organ of the cily administration, which
apologies for the lack OF reform" sup
piled by the mayor in accordance with
his ante-electIon pledges.
I. Mr.. Doran, in short prelude to the
morning sermon. said: II spoke last
Sabbath morning upon the supremacy
of law. 1t is Il thought that we need to
have clearly in our minds. Tnere are
three definite institutions in the world
the family. the church and the state
each ordained of God. Paul says:
The powers that be are ordained of
God. Let every soul be subject to the
powers that be, tor he that resist
eth the power or tie ordinance or
government. resisteth God. All power
is of God" / do not mean to say by that
that the administration of the family or
the church of the state is perfect, but |
mean that the institutions are of God.
There is no power in the mayor, or in
the governor, or in the president The
real power Is in the conscience of the
| people, and whenever the public con :
/ science is clear upon any subject, then
u In
| Supreme power. And SO, after all, the
real power Is in the people as they re-
spomd to government and as they re-
spond to the claims of the law.
SHOULD A CHRISTIAN OBEY A BAD
LAW?
! am asked if Christian man should
obey a. bad law. Well, / wish to say
first, that the worst form of govern
tlnent is better than the best form of an
arcfy, and the worst thing any COM
munity can do is to trample under foot
law. Does that mean, then. that a mans
conscience is not superior to Il bad law?
| There is just one thing for the Christian
/ manSto do: Either obey the law and
! submit to it, or violate it and talks the
/ penalty And that has always been the
tcourSe the Christian church mas taken.
1 Indeed, it was true in the Old Tesla
ment times. Daniel did not resist the
decree of the king: he simply disobeyed
/ the king and went into the lions den.
The Lord Jesus Christ did not resist
the order of the existing government;
It He submitted to it and went to
!. the cross-Suffered the penalty. The
/ Apostles, when they were forbidden to
/ preach the gospel, said. whether it is
! better to obey God than man, judge ye.
/ but we will obey God;' and when ar
/ rested they did not resist. but marched
I to prison and to death. They were SUBJ
/ ject to the powers that be- Paul, when
/ he penned those words, was under the
i most tyrannical government that then
/ existed upon the earth, bfit he says,
! 1.-THE government is Gods messenger;
! resist it not" 1t has been illustrated
! time after time in the history of the
Christian church. William Lloyd Gar
/ rison did not obey the fugitive slave
law but he willingly went to prison for
4 obeyiiig it, Calvin Fairbanks, eleven
4 times imprisoned, still living" wrecked
Z almost iii body and mind, illustrated
/ how it is possible to mot resist the law,
! bat TO obey Cod -
THE FAMILY. TIE CHURCH, THE STATE.
| ltis of extreme iniportaiice that the
! Christian have these thoughts clearly in
| mind, for there never was a time when
! the anarchist and the forces which tend
| to corrupt the public conscience and
disregard the law were SO bold and so
active as today. The triumph of the
+ law in France over, anarchy is one of
/ the signal triumphs that will have a
wholesome effect throughout Europe.
land SO it will ever be. God means that
these three institutions shall last as
siong as this old world shall roil upon its
l5axis; and believe we shall advance in
! The forming Of Il more perfect union''
for the government of all three of them
the family, the church and the state.
CHILD LABOR.
8 We are told that obedience to law
sometimes works hardships. There is
no doubt about that. All government
is more or less compromise. One man
gives up some rights that he has for the
sake OF the good of the community.
was conceived in the spirit of philan-
thropy. 1t Was first adopted into their
eOdeof laws i'll Europe. for they are
far la advance of US there in the execu-
ton of the law. and in England when
they have a law they obey it; once
passed, it is obeyed without question.
Every subject is subject indeed to a
higher power. And they are very far
In advance of us Oh the subject of child
labor. think New York was the first
in the states to enact a law prohibit
ing child labor under certain con :
ditions. Several reasons led to this.
Not only the labor organizations APP
proved it. but the moral elements in
the community united III saying, 1--WE
will forego any temporary advantage II
may be 10 US. for in the houses that are
unnamable in this presence, and in the
dancing halls and in the beer gardens
in the cities, and pleasure resorts, there
| were found girls and boys employed all
night long to serve them" And the
!. better element of the community said,
Let US have a law forbidding any child
| TO work after O'Clock at night, and if
| it is inconvenient we will endure it for
tthe sake of the boys and girls who are
being schooled in these dens of ill.,
liquity."
We are told that it is phitanthropic to
employ the children of Door Christians.
/ fear it is misguided philanthropy.
have no doubt that the merchants of
This city are just as noble and generous
as any in the land. Far be il from me
to assign any but the best motives to
! them in the employment of child labor.
/ But when you employ a girl of ten years
of age, do you not displace the girl of
sixteen years who should be employed?
When you employ the child, do you not
put aside the adult? We are reversing
Gods order. 1t may be we'll meant. but
it is misapplied philanthropy.
A PUZZLE.