The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1897-07-15

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their oath of office. If the laws are
promptly executed, ii there is vigilance
in regard TO the outbranchings of
crime, there is the highest protection
for all bargain making.
A merchant may stand in his store
and say: Nov, I'll have nothing to do
with city politics. | will not soil my
hands with the slush." Nevertheless
the most insignificant trial in the police
court will affect that merchant direct
l. or indirectly. What style of clerk is
sues the Writ What style of constable
makes the arrest? What style of attor-
ney issues the plea? What style of
judge charges the jury" What style of
sheriff executes the sentence? These
are questions that strike your counting
rooms TO the center. You may not
throw it off. In the city of New York
Christian merchants for a great while
srid: We'll have nothing to do with
the management of public affairs and
they allowed everything to go al loose
ends until there rolled up in that city
a debt of nearly $780, 200, 200. The mu-
nicipal government became a kissing
and a byword in the whole earth. and
then the Christian merchants saw thei"
folly, and they went and took posses
| sion of the ballot boxes. | wish all COM
mercial men to understand that they
are not independent of the moral char
acter of the men who rule over them,
but must be thoroughly, nightly af-
feeted by them.
So also OF the educational interests of
a city. Do you know that there are in
this country about 10000 common
schools, and that there are over 5000
600 pupils, and that the majority Of
those schools and the majority of those
pupils are in our cities? Now this great
multitude Of children will be affected
by the intelligence or ignorance. the
virtue or the vice of boards of education
and boards of control. There are cities
where educational affairs are settled in
the low caucus in the abandoned parta
OF the cities by men full of ignorance
and rum. 1t ought not 10 be so, but in
many cities it is So. lhcar the tramp of
coming generations. What that great
multitude of youth shall he for this
world and the next will be affected very
much by the character of your public
schools. You had better multiply TIL
moral and religious influences about
the common schools than to subtract
frpr, tb.t,, I,r,.,I F ,l,s.;,.. Al.
Bible out, you had better drive the
Bible further in. May God defend our
glorious common school system ana
send into rout and confusion all its
sworn enemies.
l have also to saw that the character
OF officials in a city affects the domestic
circle. In a city where grogshops have
their " way and gambling hells are
not interfered with, and for fear of los
ing political influence officials close
their eyes to fostering denominations
in all those cities the home interests
need to make imploration. The family
circles of the city must inevitably be at
fected by the moral character or the i'm
moral character of those who rule over
them.
l will go further and say that the
religious interests OF Il city are thus af-
fccted. The church to-day has to con-
tend with evils that the civil law ought
to smite, and, while | would not have
the civil government in any wise relax
its energy in the arrest and punishment
of crime, | would have a thousandfold
more energy put forth in the drying up
Of the fountains of iuiquity. The church
of God asks 40 p~encuniary aid from po-
|liticial power. but does ask that in adj
dition to all the evils we must necessar-
lily contend against we shall not have
to fight also municipal negligence. Oh,
that in all our cities Christian people
would rise up, and that they would put
their hand on the helm before piratical
demagogues have swamped the ship.
Instead of giving so much time to ma
tional politics, give some of your atten-
ton to municipal government.
/ demand that the Christian people
who have been standing aloof from
public affairs come back, and in the
might of God try to save our cities. If
things are or have been bad, it is be-
cause good people have let them be bad.
That Christian mar who merely goes
to the polls and casts his vote does not
do his duty. 1t is not the ballot box
that decides the election; it is the po-
litical caucus, and if at the primary
meetings of the two political parties un-
fit and bad men are nominated, then the
ballot box has nothing to do save to
take its choice between two thieves.
In our churches, by reformatory Or
ganization, in every way let us try 10
tone up the moral sentiment in these
cities. The rulers are those whom the
people choose, and depend upon it that
In all the cities, as long as pure hearted
men stand aloof from politics because
they depise hot partisanship. Just so
long in many of our cities will rum
make the nominations. and rum control
the ballot box, and rum inaugurate the
officials.
| take a step further in this subject
and ask all those who believe in the
omnipotence of prayer, day by day and
every day, present your city officials
before God for a blessing. If you live
in a city presided over by a mayor,
pray for him. The chief magistrate of
a city is in a position Of great RESPONSE
bility. Many of the kings and queens
and emperors of other days had no such
dominion. With the scratch of a pen he
may advance a beneficent institution or
balk a railway confiscation. BY APP
pointments he may bless or curse every
h%earthstnne in thecity. lin the Episco-
pal churches, by thsauthority of the lit
any, and in our non ~piscopate churches