The Princeton union., 1899-10-05

mun1c1pal1Gy ana nave lVeu III q AACeio
world Of my own, out Of touch and
sympathy with the real world of the
people. what would Jesus dor have
tried even to avoid an honest answer.
can no longer do so. My plain duty IS
to take personal part in this coming
election, 20 to the primaries, throw the
weight Of my influence, whatever it Is
toward the nomination and election OF
good men and plunge into the very
depths Of this entire horrible whirlpool
of deceit, bribery, political trickery and I
saloonism as it exists in Raymond to-
day I would sooner walk up to the
mouth Of a cannon any time than do
this. dread it because hate the touch
of the whole matter.
II would give almost anything to be
able to say, I do not believe Jesus
would do anything of the sort, but
am more and more persuaded that he
would. This is where the suffering
comes to me- It would not hurt me
half SO much to lose my position or my
home. I loathe the contact with this
municipal problem. I would much pre-
fer to remain quietly in my scholastic
life with my classes in ethics and phi
losophy, but the call has come so plain
~ that cannot escape: Donald Marsh,
follow me- Do your duty as citizen of
Raymond at the point where your citi-
zenship will cost you something Help
to cleanse this great municipal stable.
even if you do have to soil your aris-
tocratic feelings little. Maxwell, this
ic r +o1yo
my Lord. -
"You have spoken for me also.' re-
piled Maxwell, with sad smile "Why
should l, simply because I am a clergy
man, shelter myself behind my refined,
sensitive feelings and, like a coward.
refuse to touch, except in sermon pos
sibly, the duty Of citizenship? 1 am un-
used to the ways Of the political life of
the city. I have never taken an active
part in any nomination of good men
There are hundreds Of ministers like
me. AS class we do not practice in
the municipal life the duties and privi-
leges we preach from the pulpit. What
would Jesus do? I am now at point
where, like you, am driven to answer
the question one way. My duty is plain
| must suffer. All my parish work, all
my little trials or self sacrifices, are as
nothing to me compared with the break
ing into my scholarly, intellectual, self
contained habits Of this open. coarse,
public fight for a clean city life. I
could go and live at the Rectangle the
rest of my days and work in the slums
for bare living, and could enjoy it
more than the thought Of plunging into
a fight for the reform of this whisky
ridden city. It would cost me less. But,
like you, I have been unable to shake
off my responsibility. The answer to
the question, What would Jesus do?'
in this case leaves me no peace, except
when l say, Jesus would have me act
the part of Christian citizen Marsh,
as you say, we professional men, min
listers, professors, artists, literary men,
scholars, have almost invariably been
political towards. We have avoided the
sacred duties of citizenship either ig-
norantly or selfshly. Certainly Jesus
in our age would not do that. We can
do no less than take up this cross and
follow him.
These two men walked on in silence
for awhile. Finally President Marsh
said:
"We do not need to act alone in this
matter. With all the men who have
made the promise, we certainly can
have companionship and strength even
Of numbers. Let US organize the Chris
tian forces of Raymond for the battle
against rum and corruption. We GER
tainly ought to enter the primaries
with a force that will be able to do
more than utter protest. It is fact
easily frightened, in spite Of its law
lessness and corruption. Let us plan
campaign that will mean something be-
cause it is organized Righteousness.
Jesus would use great wisdom in this
matter: He would employ means. He
would make large plans. Let US do so.
If we bear this cross let us do it brave
ly, like men
They talked over the matter long
time and met again the next day in
Henry Maxwell's study to develop
plans. The city primaries were called
for Friday. Rumors of strange and un-
heard of events to the average citizen
were current in political circles through
out Raymond. The Crawford system Of
balloting for nominations was not in
use in the state, and the primary was
called for public meeting at the court
house.
The citizens Of Raymond will never
forget that meeting. It was so unlike
any political meeting ever held in Ray
mond before that there was no attempt
at comparison. The special officers to
be nominated were mayor, city council,
chief Of police. city clerk and city
treasurer.
The Evening News in its Saturday
edition gave a full account of the pri-
maries, and in an editorial column Ed
ward Norman spoke with directness
and conviction that the Christian peo-
pie of Raymond were learning to re-
spect deeply because so evidently sincere
and nnSo1fiSh nort Of thot editorial