The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-25
THE UTILITY OF THE LAW.
Rev. Ed F. Cook Says the Trouble Is
Lack of Men 10 InfOrce 1t.

Lack of Men 10 InfOrce 1t.
The utility Of the law was the subject
of Rev E. f. Cooks sermon at Wesley
Monumental Church yesterday morning.
He took as his text the twentieth and
twenty-1rst verses Of the eighteenth chap
ter of Exodus: And thou salt teach them
ordinances and laws and thou shalt shew
them the way wherein they must walk.
and the work that they must do. More
over, thou shalt provide out of al, the peo-
pie able men. such as fear God men of
truth. hating covetousness. and pace such
over them to be rulers Of thousands, and
rulers OF hundreds, rulers Of hfties, and
rulers of tens"
After few remarks on the local stu
alton, in which he referred to the
effort that is being made by the churches
to bring about a suppression of the gam
bling evil, so far without any apparent re-
suit, Rev. Mr.. Cook drew his conclusions
from the text and then came direct TO the
existence of the gambling evil in the city.
Gambling" said Rev. Mr. Cook I'm
violation Of strictest statute, is carried on
on our most prominent streets and in al
most every downtown lane. The Sun
day laws and the closing ordinances are
50 openly violated that 4 cannot possibly
escape the eyes of the proper officers, and
yet those In authority aver that they do
not know of these violations of law and
strenuous.y undertake to dodge the issue
and shift the responsibility"
Rev. Mr. Cook then read several sections
from Inc code Of Georgia on gambling and
showed how they are being violated. and
how the evil is debas,ng the morals of
youth and Is demoralizing many poor
white and cOlored people He declared
also. thar the la
Nio.ated by the so-called better classes
and that respectable young men are be-
ing drawn by the gambling mania into a
moral cesspool Of vice. And l have dis
covered said Mr. Cook that when good
citizens raise voice of protest. the aD-
peals are moi needed and the strange and
unreasonable cry comes 1T is not the duty
Of the officer 10 enforce the law or TO
discover the violation thereof and thn
strange new doctrine is announced that It
is the duty OF the private citizen 10 en-
force the laws and all are calmly told
that II moral legislation is respected in
thls city 1t must be done by the pastors
and private citizens turning detectiv "a
and prosecutor" Mr.. Cook quoted an ed
itorial in recent issue of the Morning
News on the violators of the law which
ne heartily indorsed
The laws are good and adequate" said
Mr.. Cook. by their enforcement m
7e''ADAliE CIVIL tOulu ne pTActlealsY CXtQr-
minated and the moral safety of our youth
well protected in thar line. Not one reas-
enable excuse has been made by those in
authority for permitting such fragrant yio-
latons of the law as are daily practical
An intelligent public neither accepts nor
appreciates the 1imsy excuses made. and a
respectable citizenry viii demand that The
existing laws that protect the morals and
business OF our young men shall be IN
| forced or repealed. l am not sure wbers
! the burden of responsibility for the pres
ont state of affairs rests. Some place II
In one place aud some in another. But
this | do know. q time like this demands
men, and with ardent love for our beauti-
fute city | fervently pray:
"God give us men: time like this de
mands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith
and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of Office cannot kin.
Men whom the gold Of office cannot buy =.
Men who possess opinion and a Will:
Men who have honor; men VINO viii not
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous batteries
without winkiug;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above
the fog;
In public duty and in private thinking"
Rev. Mr. Cook continued the subject OF
ms AlNi INNS SCI mon at night. lie US Il
the same text with the addition Of the
first verse of the One Hundred and Tween
y-tirsl Psalm and Proverbs, eleventh
chapter and eleventh verse.
In the course OF his remarks. Mr.. Cool,
said that he wished TO emphasize the face
that the statements of the city authorizes
that they DO not know of the violations q
laws against gambling and that even
where they do know them, they are out of
their jurisdiction TO interfere, are not s.,
They do know, he said, for we have an.
pealed to them both privately and from
'he pulpit, and as to their plea of its nor
being their business we have the code Of
Georgia and a code of city ordinances i'm
both of which gambling is strictly prohib-
tied In the city code the duties of Navor
are also specified. and no duties are NOR,
distinctly set forth than are those raiat-
Ing TO the suppression of gambling halls
barrooms and brothels. have bea
amazed at the questions asked about thesa
things by men who should know all about
them. You have only TO refer 10 Sections
e and 81 Of the code to know where tho
responsibility is TO he placed I think f.
time that We commence 20 study more Of
the laws both of the state and Of the citv.r
In spite of these f1cts the claim has teen
made, said Mr.. Cook tfat 81 is out If The
province ct the officers to revont the in
fact hat many Of the H5,ators are row
located here becauss driven rrcm other
CCorcia towns.
Speaking OF the cily's ordinances he said
that not only is me gambler himself
amCuaDle to the law, but so a 50 are the
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