Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-08-03

FOR SuND ~ RE- AIDING !. {
Al sorts q opinions.
A.e1S4&1~1S.
DEMOCRACY AND CHURCH.
Consequence Of Our American PrInoi.
pie Of the Separation Of the Church
and State. K
president Charles NJ, Eliot, OF Har-
ward University In Independent
The practice OF cutting OF all churches
from support by or thru the state Is
American in origin, and has been
wrought out in greatest perfection in
the United States, for the most part
within hundred years. To detach re-
llgious institutions from all reliance on
public taxation was certainly a formid-
ible experiment. II has been In prog
ress long enough In this country to pro-
aeide the world with a demonstration Of
SUCCESS In certain particulars,
a hundred years ago one might rea-
svonably have feared that churches in
y sufficient number would not be pro-
s vided iby voluntary contributions. The
experience of the United States has al
lsyed that apprehension. The census for
i 1890 showed that the number of churches
In the United States, besides rented
halls, was 143. 900, with o seating capaci-
~ for 43, 00o.0 600 Of people; that the total
value OF church lands and buildings was
e670, 600. 600, excluding parsonages, ceme-
/ teries and converts; that the number Of
organizations for religious ipurposes was
Joe, 2s7. and the number OF ministers
III, 600.
1 4 TO be sure, we do not see today. any
architectural work by churches which
Z compares in scale or in beauty with the
Cathedrals Of the middle ages; but those
Immense structures were often the.work
OF centuries, and toward their erection
the governments, or great princes, or
rich ecclesiastics made large contribu-
tons. In estimating the labor cost Of the
I great ecclesiastical buildings OF the mid
s die ages we have to. remember that hf-
teen cents went as far then as three dol
suficed for hundreds OF thousands OF
Ieople. Church expenditure, whether
for building or for maintenance, is now
much more evenly ditfused by area, and
is voluntarily shared by much larger
numbers Of persons. In different COM
munities, urban or rural. Industrial,
commercial or agricultural, there are
extraordinary contrasts in the methods
by which building 10 accomplished: but
the underlying principle of voluntary
contribution is everywhere the same,
Fl and the fruits of that principle in hui
man character are everywhere the same.
II we now try to estimate the cost OF
maintaining these institutions Of relig-
ion, we shall find little guidance in the
census; but 1t is we'll known that the
annual cost OF maintaining the institu-
tons Of religion in the United States
bears considerable proportion to the
valuation OF the real estate occupied for
religious uses. For a strong city church
an annual expenditure OF from $20, O0l
to $1,000 is in no way remarkable. "A
suburban church maintained by people
OF moderate means often spends from
1000 to $4,000 "a year. 1t is a small and
feeble church which does not spend al
least 81, 900 a year: yet this sum multi
piled by the $4,000 churches implies 9
large annual expenditure wholly main
tanned by voluntary contributions. W.
may safely conclude, therefore. from
American experience, that the tota
voluntary church in a democracy will b,
y adequately housed and maintained; and
hat government regulation and support
are not at all necessary for the institu-
: tipns OF religion.
a profound modification which ths
voluntary church in democracy has
brought about in the religious condi-
tons OF our time is that in the status Of
the priest or minister, and in his menta
habits. When the priest or minister
knows that his entire support of the or.
der, organization or religious institu.
ton to which he belongs Is derived from
the voluntary contributions Of the PEG.
pie TO whom he ministers, his whole at.
t.tude toward the people is changed
Here, as everywhere in this world, the
controller OF the purse strings must BIZ
reckoned with respectfully. One might
Imagine that the Catholic priest, who
{ still Is held to derive his commission
& from diyinely Instituted church, high.
~ organized in an effective hierarchy
still nominally equipped with this
worlds gates. and privileged Enclosures
and with authorized exits to better
world, and still professedly comforting
on the faithful valuable exclusive privi.
Z leges In both worlds, might CONCEIVABLE,
retain a position Of beneicent authorit,
ever his divinely selected flock; but in
/ spite of this reasonable presuppositior
there is no more striking phenomenon
In American social life than the modifi.
cation which the American democrac,
has brought about In the quality, func.
ton and manners OF the Catholic prelatt
]. end the Catholic priest. Any one who
bad had opportunity to compare tft
manners, customs and intellectual hab
tts Of priests In the American Catholic
church with those OF the European viii
al once declake that the American prizes
is . different creature from the Eu.
+ ropean. The situation and the influence
OF the Protestant ministers in The
United States have within the last hun.
dred Years undergone serious changes;
but those OF the Catholic priest have
CHANGED much more; and 1t is the vol.
snntafy church in a democracy which
has brought about these changes. The,
:wapld have been more radical still but
f9r the astute policy OF the Catholic
j Church In keeping all Its property in the