Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-09-14

any one might have expected to see at
a gospel tent service, Rollin Page, who,
jostled on every side by rough men and
women, who stared at the swell in the
fine clothes, seemed careless of his sur
roundings and at the same time evil
IDENTIFY swayed by the power that Rachel
possessed He had just come over from
the club. Neither Rachel nor Virginia
eaw him that night.
The song was over. Henry Maxwell,
rose again. This time he felt calm.
What would Jesus dos He spoke as he
thought once he never could. Who were
these people9 They were immortal
souls What was Christianity A call
ing Of sinners, not the righteous to re.
pentance. How would Jesus speakp
What would he say? He could not tell
all that his message would include, but
he felt sure of a part Of it, and in that
certainty he spoke ON. Never before
had he felt compassion for the multi
tude. What had the multitude been
to him during his ten years, in the First
church but a vague, dangerous, dirty,
troublesome factor in society, outside
of the church and his reach; an element
that caused him occasionally an I'M
pleasant feeling of conscience; factor
in Raymond that was talked about at
associations as the masses in papers
written by the brethren in attempts to
show why the "masses" were not being
reached. But tonight as he faced the
masses" he asked himself whether,
after all, this was not just about such
multitude as Jesus faced oftenest, and
he felt the genuine emotion of love for
q crowd which is one of the best indi-
cations a 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 a
Christlike quality
Whep 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 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 q terrible spot, said Henry
Maxwell as they stood waiting for their
car. '1Hnever realized that Raymond
had such fostering sore. 1t does not
seem possible that this is a city full of
Christian disciples. . IS
He paused and then continued:
Do you think any one can ever re-
move this great curse of the saloon9
Why don't we all act together against
the traffic? What would Jesus dot
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
do? Could he answer that question?
Would Jesus preach and act against the
saloon if he lived today? 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 nee
essary sin Or suppose the church mem
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 a remarkable fashion that its sub
scribers had never been so excited over
a newspaper before First they had no.
ticed the absence of the prizeight. 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:
'tTHE MORAL SIDE OF POLITICAL CUES
TONS.
1.-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