The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-06-08

presence Of Almighty God feel con-
countenance the sentence of our con-
demnation just as certainly as If we
had gone out in body and by wicked
craft had torn out the supporting tim
bers of that bridge just before the
train Numbered upon 1t, for did we
not sanction by law a business which
| we know tempts men to break all the
laws, which fills our jails and poor
houses, our reformatories and asylums,
which breaks women's hearts and beg.
gars blessed homes and sends innocent
children to thread the paths of shame
and vagrancy, which brings pallor into
the face of the wife and tosses with
the DEVILS own glee thousand VIC
tins into perdition with every revolu-
ton of this great planet about its
greater sun?
Men of Barton, say what we will,
we are the authors of this dreadful dis
aster. And If we sorrow as a COM
mun1ty we sorrow in reality for our
own selfish act. And. oh, the selfish
ness of it! That clamoring greed for
money! That burning thirst for more
and more and more at the expense of
every godlike quality. at the ruin Of all
that our mothers once prayed might
belong to us as men and women!
"What is it, ye merchants, ye busi-
ness men, here tonight that ye struggle
most over? The one great aim Of your
lives is to buy for as little as possible
and sell for as much as possible. What
care have ye for the poor, who work at
worse than starvation wages, SO long
as ye can buy cheap and sell at large
Iprofts? What Is the highest aim Of
us railroad men In the great whirl Of
commercial competition which seethes
and bOils and surges about this earth
like another atmosphere, plainly visi-
BILE to the devils Of other worlds?
what is our aim but to make money
our god and power our throne? How
much care or love is there for flesh and
blood at times when there Is danger of
losing almighty dollars? But, o AL
mighty Saviour, it was not for this
that we were made! We know it was
not.
"To whom am I speaking? To my
self. God forbid that I should stand
here to condemn you, being myself the
, chief of sinners for these 25 years
| What have l done to bless this com
munity? How much have l cared fol
!, the men In my employ? What differ
!, lence did it make to me that my exam
, pie drove men away from the church
Of Christ and caused anguish to thost
| few souls who were trying to redeem
humanity? To my just shame l make
. answer that no one thing has driver
the engine Of my existence over tn,
. track of its destiny except self. And
oh, for that church of Christ that
professed to believe in! How mucl
/. have l done for that? How much, {
. fellow members (and I see many O.
you here tonight, how much have W,
done In the best cause ever known ant
the greatest organization ever found
ed?
1--WE go to church after reading tn
4 Sunday morning paper, saturate,
q through and through with the sam
things we have lad poured into US ey
!. cry uay OK the weeE, as II we Degruds
4 ed the whole Of one day out of seven
l. We criticise prayer and hymn and ser
n mon, drop into the contribution bo,
n half the amount we paid during tn
n week for q theater or concert ticke
# and then when anything goes wrong il
o the community or our children fall int
Il vice scorn the church for weakness an
the preacher for lack of ability.
n "Shame on us, men Of Barton, men
~, olx,x Nf fcf hat vxr
y have so neglected our own churc
h prayer meeting that out of residen
,s membership of more than 400, living |
y easy distance of the church, only 9
). have attended regularly and over 90
~ have been to that service occasional.
~ Yet we call ourselves disciples {
. Christ! We say we believe In his bles
r ed teachings; we say we believe
n. prayer, and in the face of all thes
m professions we turn our backs with IL
" difference on the very means of spi
itual growth and power which tn
h. church places within our reach.
n eff. Christ were to come to the cart
q. today, he would say unto us, Woe III
g. to you, church members, hypocrites
10 He would say unto us, Woe unto yol
rp young disciples In name, who hay
w promised to love and serve me an
20 then, ashamed of testifying before m
in have broken promise and prayer an
o. ridicule those who have kept the
m vows sacredlyv He would say to !
men who have made money and kept
no to ourselves: Woe unto you, ye rio
%. men, who dress softly and dine lu
in uriously and live In palaces, while Il
We poor cry aloud for Judgment and Il
as laborer sweats for the luxury of Il
or idle! Woe unto you who speculate
he flesh and blood and call no man brot
re er unless he lives In as fine house al
has as much money In the ban
ef Therefore We shall receive the great
m condemnation!
vn 80 self, god of the earth yet! Wi
Ia 1000 years of the Son of God writt'
re- into it's history. still goes up the cry
ad those who perish with hunger, w
en- break into the sanctuary of their sol
ce because they cannot get work to
'a- and are weary of the struggle of ext
mt ence. Self. thou art king, not Jes
an Christ. But, oh, for the shame of
lie the shame of it! Were it not for t
lts belief in the mighty forgiveness of 81
,ut bnr trh