The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-11-05
Rev. Liddell Brings Ancient
History to Bear.
CITY GOVERNMENT AssAILgD
The Condition of Wickedness Not the
Fault of Statutes but Of the
Officials.
$685. 4ocn%r po 81

ing inc rev. Lldde4l urOm uhe leAt' INV
long halt We between two opinionsY II
the Lord be God, follow him; II Baal,
then follow him." l Kings, 1921, preached
a stirring sermon. He said In part:
In the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth
and nineteenth chapters of this hrst DOCK
of Kings, we have a very interesting, and
a very stirring piece Of history, which
relates specially to the ancient people Of
God, and their rulers. As you have al
ready heard from the reading of the les
son, the reigning king and queen were
AElab and Jezebel. Ahab, as we learn
from the sixteenth chapter, eprang from
Omri, wdfo had been exalted from the
ranks of the common soidlery to the posi-
tion of captain of the army, and who, af-
ter a very successful engagement against
the usurper Zimrf, who had slain Eah,
the son Of Baasha, and against the Wishes
of the people had assumed the reins Of
government in TirZah, which was then
the seat OF government for Israel; he
overthrow Zimri and assumed control Of
the affairs of state. and reigned over Is
raei twelve years. In the 25th verse of
the 10Th chapter, to which / have referred,
we find that OmGd wrought evil In the
eye Of the Lord, and did worse h all
that were before him, and In his sin
wherewith he made Israel to sin, to pro-
woke the Lord God Of Israel to anger
with their vanities."
= = =
Now, l desire to draw from this piece
of history a few plain, practical lessons.
I will speak % the most important first:
The peopel of Israel followed popular
opinion when they served Baal, and bow
ed the knee to A5herah. I think that 1t
may be taken as true the world over,
THAT the leaders Of what Is popularity
termed society mold and control TO a very
great extent the thoughts, customs and
habits Of tho great masses.
.
Now in conclusion: This is also true,
In regard to the civic conditions of our
city. Popular opinion, or more correctly,
the opinion of the authorities, controls
the masses, while, through the medium of
conscience. duty has sought to make her
self heard. l go back to the record from
which my text is taken, and l find that,
as I have already stated, Omrl made
laws in favor of idolatry, and compelled
the people to sin agal1st God. And that
Ahab and JeZebel endorsed everything
that Omri had done. And We ind that
the people submitted to these statutes
and obeye1 the popular voice, while their
consclences protested. They feared Ahab,
and for the slke of personal protection
and profit, they cagt their duty towards
God and their children to the winds ana
fo.iow Baal. Now l cannot nelp but see
some similarity between these conditions
N the conditions under which we live,
excepting i'm one particular, liz: Ahab
not only made laws but ne cnforced them.
His laws were evil and therefore MS
course was "a sin against God. our Guthor-
tiles make .laiws, good laws, laws ca,cu-
lated to bring out city up to a plane of
popular morality, but instead of having
those laws enforced, the authorities Sc
cretly connive with the officers under
them against their enforcement. Now /
am not talking at random. Examine your
state statute books and you will find there
as excellent .alws, as grace the statute
books of any state in the Union, against
the saloon violations of the holy Sab
bath of God and against the curse OF
gambling that is rampant throughout the
city. ENamine the statute books OF our
city and you will find there ordinances,
worthy the championship of any man,
and worthy to stand upon the statute
books Of any city against every form of
vice and crime, and l state to you fear
lessly that our city authorities stand In
a vaotly worse light before all good men
than did wicked Ahab of twenty-seven
centuries Ago.. His wickedness was up
and above board, but they make a shcw
of purity and modalfty by the passage
of such grand laws to which 1 fave re-
fegred and then secretly go to work and
undo them by giving instructions for the
collection of khe monthly fine, and that
too in fragrant violation of the most SOL
emn oaths. that can be framed. A scan
dial and a Shame 10 the enlightenment OF
our day, a defamation of every principle
If our common manhood, and whitening
b.i1ht against every principle OF truth and
honesty. Now listen to THE reason alleged
for this condition of things. Over and
over again have / been told: THE moral
sentiment OF the city is not sufficient to
warrant the Enforcement of these laws
The church people will not stand by The
officers in the enforcement of The laws
many others OF a bike tone.
Now, granting yhat The first of these is
true, | say that THE authorities thems lvet
have made It 80, and are seeking to keep
1t so by their method OF operations. Lea
the officers of the law be instructed by
the authorities to do their duty, and there
Is not q man or woman in the city whO
loves home and purity, burt will give every
possible encouI0gement and support. Po'
l~itically the officers are afraid of theil
heads from the authorities, and the au'
thorities are AFRAID of their heads from
the saloon and gambling den keeper. II
| am not correct, then let them try a.
least to uphold their own laws like honest
mon. And for the church, l wifi say, that
every man and every woman will stand
with them shoulder to shoulder; not as
politicians, not as Republicans or Demo
Gratis, but as true citizens. l say away
with party out Of municiual matters. This
has been the pane and curse Of scores
oil city governments. Let your parties
be all merged into one body, with one
aim and purpose the uplifting of the fair
city of Astoria out of the slough OF Pr
fitlcai and mloral corruption in which she
lies, select men of principle m honor
who will dare to do right though the
heavons fall. And to this end and pur-
pose let every citizen halt no longer, hop
from bough to bough no longer, but IN
the fear of God exercise that power Oh
franchise with which he - endowed. For
the Lord, He is the God. He is the God.
n,n- xrONrrNpS EYCFIANGE