The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1897-11-12

that had no thought of addressing you in
public letter until you declined our re-
speciful reques: for a division of time You
denied US that liberty which was your
proud boast The chairman OF the Re-
form Party waited upon you and upon the
chairman of the Peoples Party and asked
that Mr.. L. P. Psdgett have the liberty
of meeting you in debate, but this liberty
you and your chairman promptly de-
clined. But this, sir, is nut consistent
with the policy Of your party. Your can
didstes have been urged TO meet the Re-
form candidates in joint discussion, but
they have refused to do so; and likewise
your chairman, after making the brave
and glorious public announcement that he
would meet any of the Reform speakers in
joint debate, has. since his proposition was
accepted, reconsidered the matter, and con-
cluded, perhaps, that discretion is the bet
| ter part of valOr.
But to return to you. After apostro-
phizing Liberty in your own forclble style,
I you took as the subject for the second
chapter OF your essay, the separation of
church and state 1t was quite evident
! that, in the beginning of your lecture, you
took a position as near the questions at is
sue as your discriminating powers would
permit, and then travelled in an opposite
dire ction. for as you moved forward in
your discourse you got farther from the
! Issue.
! You charged that there was conspiracy
among the churches to run temporal sf-
fairs that while it was true that you could
never get the various denominations to
agree upon their religious doctrines, yet
they were united IN one unholy compact
to run the government
am satisfied that it is useless to address
you upon this subject 1t Is evident that
you are running wild after this idea, land,
by the way, running WiId after an idea, is a
pretty good definition OF fanaticsm.)
You have persuaded yourself that the
union Of church and state would be a ca
lamity, and your imagination has wrought
you into frenzy OF belief that this calam-
ity is now threatening, and under the
strain of this frightful delusion your men.
tai vision is so perverted that you see all
sorts of wicked and perverse things.
You find within the church a nest OF
thieves. defaulters. bank -wreckers. hypo-
critics; but above all. base set CT wicked
conspirators to run the government.
You charge these vile Christian people
with desecrating the Temple of Justice by
assembling in it to offer praises TO their
Maker, aud while these beautiful senti-
ments ELECTED the wild plaudits of your
followers, you carried them to the climax
OF their unnamed joy, when you declared
that il made you Mad every time you
heard the bell in the tower at midday,
summoning the people to enjoy the liberty
Of worshiping God according to the dictates
OF their own consciences.
According to your ideas which, during
the course OF the evening, you so often
dared to express, a Christian is nothing more
nor less than an outlaw, and when a man
joins the church he loses his character
and places a mark upon himself that sll
honest men might shun him. He is no
longer to be trusted with the affairs Of state
His participation in govern ment is dread
ful menace, and the tffJrt of Christian peo-
pie to control affairs is a wicked con-
d, SpiTacy.
There is no doubt, sir, but that these are
your sentiments, which, so many. many
times, you dared to express, and there is
equally as little doubt that these are the
sentiments of your followers present upon
this occasion, who cheered you to the echo
But, if it is true, as yOn predict, that ma
joriiy of the people of this municipality
will endorse such sentiments at the polls
TO day week, it will be the saddest of sad
days in the history of this community.
You complain, sir, of the Reform party be-
cause there are some hypocrites, lawbreakers
and bad men supporting the movement.
But, while il is true that there may be some
within the ranks of the Reform Party,
whose moral characters do not come up to
the full measure of your own exalted
standard, yet surely you could not, even
in the widest fights Of your imagination,
claim that only the peaceable, lawabid.
ing, honest citizens are supporting the
Peoples ticket.
But, sir, time and space forbid me fol
lowing you further in your visions and
dreams, or undertaking further to expose
the absurdIty Of your fanatical and facti
tous fears There is one element of your
character, however, which | would espe-
cially commend to the emulation of your
candidates You have sentiments, ideas
ard opinions, and you dared express them
But if your candidates have sentiments
ideas and opinions upon certain leading
, issues in Ibis campaign, they HAVE MOI
DARED EXPRESS THEM. And this brings u:
, to the practical questions which are now
absorbing the public attention of the peo
pie Of this city. | promised you in the
outset that if it was in my power l would
not leave you ignorant of these practical
questions,
am persuaded that you stand in need
of this information, for you protested ar
ignorance of the objects and purposes o.
&, the Reform Party, and yet at the same
time you spoke as if this reform movement
had just recently started, and for the pur
!. pose of correcting evils in the present ad
ministration of city affairs, and asked, in
= an insinuating manner, whether it was t.
: reform themselves.
And right here allow me to say that it il
> not the effort OF this reform movement L
;. effect any individual, personal reforma
q ton. Il is not the province of law or gov
. eminent to coerce man into goodness
:. But there is vast difference between re
forming the agencies of govern ment aDC