St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-09-27
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cations preacher ever has that he is
living close to the heart Of the world &
eternal life 1t is easy to love an indi-
vidual sinner, especially if he is person
ally picturesque or interesting. To love
multitude Of sinners is distinctly q
Christlike quality.
When the meeting closed, there was
no special interest shown. The people
rapidly melted away from the tent, and
the saloons, which had been experience
ing a dull season while the meetings
progressed, again drove a thriving
trade. The Rectangle, as if to make up
for lost time, started in with vigor on
its usual night life Of debauch. Henry
Maxwell and his little party, including
Virginia, Rachel and Jasper Chase,
walked down past the row Of saloons
and dens until they reached the corner
where the cars passed
"This is terrible spot, said Henry
Maxwell as they stood waiting for their
car. 81 never realized that Raymond
had such fostering sore. 1t does not
seem possible that this is city full Of
Christian disciples. "
He paused and then continued:
"Do you think any one can ever re-
move this great curse of the saloon
Why don't we all act together against
the traffic2 What would Jesus dor
Would he keep silent? Would he vote
to license these causes Of crime and
death ?"
Henry Maxwell was talking to him
self more than to the others. He re-
membered that he had always voted for
license, and so had nearly all of his
church members. What would Jesus
do2 Could he answer that question?
Would Jesus preach and act against the
saloon if he lived today2 How would
he preach and act? Suppose it was not
popular to preach against license. Sup
pose the Christian people thought it
was all that could be done-to license
the evil, and so get revenue from a nee
essary sin. Or suppose the church men,
bers owned property where the saloons
stood. What then? He knew that these
were the facts in Raymond What
would Jesus do2
He went up into his study the next
morning with that question only partly
answered. He thought of it all day. He
was still thinking Of it and reaching
certain real conclusions when The
Evening News came. His wife brought
it up and sat down few minutes while
he read it to her.
The Evening News was at present
the most sensational paper in Raymond.
That is to say, it was being edited in
such remarkable fashion that it's sub
scribers had never been so excited over
a newspaper before. First they had no
ticed the absence of the prizefght, and
gradually it began to dawn upon them
that The News no longer printed ac-
counts of crime with detailed descrip-
tions or scandals in private life. Then
they noticed that the advertisements of
liquor and tobacco were being dropped,
together with certain other advertise
ments of questionable character. The
discontinuance of the Sunday paper
caused the greatest comment of all, and
now the character of the editorials was
creating the greatest excitement. A
quotation from the Monday paper Of
this week will show what Edward Nor
man was doing to keep his promise
The editorial was headed
1.-THE MORAL SIDE OF POLITICAL CUES
TIoNs.
"The editor Of The News has always
advocated the principles Of the great
political party at present in power and
has therefore discussed all political
questions from standpoint of expedi-
ency or of belief in the party as opposed
to other organizations. Hereafter, to
be perfectly honest with all our read
ers, the editor will present and discuss
political questions from the standpoint
of right and wrong. In other words,
the first question will not be, is it in
the interest of our partya' or is it &C
cording to the principles laid down by
the party2' but the question first asked
will be, is this measure in accordance
with the spirit and teachings of Jesus
as the author of the greatest standard
Of life known to menu That is, to be
perfectly plain, the moral side of every
political question will be considered, its
most important side and the ground
will be distinctly taken that nations as
well as individuals are under the same
law to do all things to the glory of God
as the first rule of action.
"The Same principle will be observed
in this Office toward candidates for
places of responsibility and trust in the
republic, Regardless of party politics,
the editor Of The News will do all in
his power to bring the best men into
power and will not knowingly help to
support for office any candidate who is
unworthy, however much he may be
Endorsed by the party The first ques-
tions asked about the man, as about the
measure, will be: is he the right man
for the place? Is he a good man with
ability2' "
There had been more Of this, but we
have quoted enough to show the char
acter of the editorials. Hundreds Of
men in Raymond had read it and rub
bed their eyes in amazement. A good
many Of them had promptly written to
The News. telling the editor to stop
their paper. The paper still came out,
however, and was eagerly read all over
the city. At the end of the week Ed