Evening journal., 1901-05-01

BUYER OF VOTES
IS DENOUNCED
UndermineS Whole Fabric Of
American Liberties
ENEMY TO PUBLIC WELFARE
Scathing Rebuke administered to un-
ScrupulOuS Politicians by Well
known Preacher
ENEMY TO PUBLIC WELFARE

Following is a continuation Of the
sermon on "The Church and Politics,
preached by the Rev. Joseph Brown
Turner, of Dover, the first instalment
of which was printed in the Evening
Journal yesterday:
Thus does popular corruption
cause even those who take part in it u
lose faith in democracy. False and
damnable as are most OF these con-
clusions, the facts bear out a portion
OF them. These facts indicate the duty
of the church The duty is to fasten
upon the conscience Of the citizen his
individual responsibility as a trustee
The revival we need is a revival OF
civic Righteousness. The voter in this
Republic is, or ought to be- a watch
man on duty. If he sleeps at his post
or deserts to the enemy, the whole
army is in danger. Ii is no use to pray
to God to save our Republic unless
We discharge Alright the solemn duties
that inhere in citizenship. God will
no more save a nation that neglects 10
save itself than He will save ship
in a gale when its crew are asleep in
their berths The church must work
as well as pray. She must teach men
that the ballot is not a privilege, but
a tremendous trust; that the State is
not for the citizen, but the citizen for
the State; that the use of the pTerog-
atives Of citizenship is not optional
but a matter Of imperative duty con-
cerning which we must give account to
God. What we need in our Christian
ity. and in our churches, is less lamb
and more lion; less talk about our cit
izenship in heaven, and more zeal and
effort in our earthly citizenship In
this country every man is king, and
every Christian man especially should
take an interest in the government
His primary duty is to vote only for
clean, capable and honest men,. But he
must do more than vote religiously
He must be oounseling everywhere to
give to Caesar the things that belong
to Caesar. that he may help in yield
ing to God the things that are Gods
The glCry Of our liberty is in what it
enables the citizen TO do. 1t makes it
possible for him to put his intelligence
and virtue, his manhood and his re-
ligiOn into the government of his
town and State and nation. and what
one man cannot do alone, can be af-
fected by cooperation and organiza-
tion. Our political machinery is an op-
pCrtunity to be used not Cnly by the
base. but by the honorable. 1t is a
splendid mechanism to be operated fer
human welfare and advancement II
a man has any patriotism, any moral
ity, any religion, if he is a Christian
citizen. he Will not shirk his RESPONSE
bilities; he will put his patriotism
his morality. and his religion into his
vote and into II his influence on other
voters. to give a forward impulse to
all that is good. To him the State will
stand for the organized civic con-
science of the people, and not as the
organ whereby the party in power sat
isies its greed for political spOils. He
will believe that legislation is the
means whereby the people should utter
their highest conceptions of justice
and social righteousness, not a method
of tricksters to bolster their party. or
OF thieves to rob the people. and de-
bauch the nation. He will believe in
an absolute standard Of right to which
parties and States must conform as
well as individuals. He will guard
the ballot box as the Hebrews of old
guarded the tables of stone in the sa-
cred ark. He VIII believe that no man
has a right to office who does not look
upon that office as an opportunity
for service He will assert that the
State is to concern itself less about
the protection and development Of
property, than about the protection
and development Of men. Property is
sacred. but man is more sacred, anditis
his rights and duties and opportunities
that nowadays need reinforcement
The Christian citizen will look upon
nolitics as a holy thing, the organiza-
tion of society in righteousness. and
Justice and truth and the fear of God
He will believe in making voting a di-
vine service, and the ballot not a
,., thing Of merchandise to be bought anc
Nsold, but a social sacrament, a socia
communion in a spirit of equality
justice. fraternity and charity. This
is Christian citizenship. IL makes pol
itics an instrument to secure justice II
the courts, capacity and dlscernmen
in the LEGISLATURE, better education II
the schools. temperance in the state
public health and morals,and all thing!
helpful everywhere 1t will use III
political prerogatives to make Amer
lea the most civilized and Christian o
the nations of the earth the best LAM
for children to be born into. and grow
up in. where life is most precious, an
heaven is nearest to all.
The duty of the church just now. tn
present. pressing. particular duty of tn
church. is to teach men thai persona
integrity is as necessary. indeed NOR
necessary, in politics. and at the ballo
box. than in the place of business. Bri
berry, the worst peril of democracy.
fearfully prevalent. The existence {
a large class of people who traffic