The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-27
FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
A GREAT MEETING Held IN CAL
VARY CHURCH, NEW YORK.
Society for Elimination of Race and
Creed Prejudice Hears MIR. WI
Letter from Mr.. Roosevelt.

NEW 1Ohh. March ia DuDilC HlCtl-
ing. under the auspices of the Baron and
Baroness De Hirsch Association, was held
tonight in Calvary Baptist Church. this
city. The attendance was very large. the
bad weather Notwithstanding. Gen. Thorn
as l.. James presided. The object of the
association is 10 erect a monument 10 the
Hirschs and eliminate racial prejudice ami
religious intolerance. Many Hebrews. as
well as many Chinese. were present.
The pastor of the church, the Rev. DIR.
S. Macarthur, appeared on the platform,
accompanied by WI Tingfang. the Chinese
minister, and other speakers. After the
singing and the reading of a scripture les
son by DR.. Macarthur. and prayer by Rabbi
Silverman. General James made an adj
dress. A letter of regret was then read
from President Mckinley, in which he
commended the object of the movement
and hoped for its successful f~ruition, and
expressed his regret that he was unable to
attend. A letter of similar tenor from Vice
President Roosevelt was read. In the
course of il he said:
1T is a matter of real regret that 1 cam
not be with you. In this country, above all
others, ii behooves us to show an example
TO the world, not by words only, but by
deeds, that we nave faith in the doctrine
that each man should be treated on his
worth as a man, without regard to his
creed or his race. Wonderful opportunities
are ours, and great and growing strength
has been given us; but if We neglect the
opportunities and misuse the strength,
then we shall leave to those who come
after us an heritage of woe instead of an
heritage of triumph. There is need of the
AID on every side. of strong and good men.
if WI are to do our work Alright. The forces
that tell for good should not be dissipated
by clashing among themselves. In no way
is it so absolutely certain that we will
worse than nullify these forces as by
permitting the u%pgrowth of hostility and
division, based on creed and race origin.
Jew and gentle, Protestant and Catholic.
II we only have the root of right thinking
in us, we are bound to stand shoulder to
shoulder and hand to hand, in the effort to
work out Alright the problem of our ma
tional existence, and 10 direct for good,
and not for evil, the half unknown social
forces which have been qu~ickened into
power by our complex and tremendous in
dustrial Development
WI Tingfang then spoke. He said it
was needless for him TO say that he was
heartily in sympathy with a movement
&c eradicate racial sympathy. But when
the secretary of the association went on
to tell me- he said, that the meeting
was to be held in this house, the temple
of God, and that eminent divines were
also to speak, | felt a little nervous, and
/ that / had a previous en-
gagement which would prevent my COM
ing. So / was Obliged to decline. But the
secretary wrote me that the meeting which
was originally set for last month has been
postponed. He said it had been post
poned until l would come, and that l must
come, and | am here"
The minister then produced a manuscript
and read his address, in the course of
which he declared that racial prejudice
and religious intolerance are two monsters
of barbarism, now fortunately declining,
but not yet wholly removed. China, he
said, had never waged a war on behalf
OF either. The way to remove these
evils" he said, lis to remove the cause.
Most men fear and hate what they do
not know. Some men don't like snakes,
but when a naturalist studies them closely
he finds most of them are harmless and
that even those that are venomous are
comparatively harmless IL handled right
The minister said that the progress Of
civilization continually broadens the minds
of men and the most highly civilized men
sympathize with the aspirations of all
races. AS example he named Lincoln,
Wilberforce, Gladstone. Alexander III of
Russia. and Baron and Baroness DE
Hirsch.
Other speakers were the Rev. DIR. Heber
Newton, the Rev. DR.. Joseph Silverman,
the Rev. DR.. Samuel Schulman, the Rev.
DR.. Charles 7. Walker (the latter colored),
the Rev. DIR. r. S. Macarthur and the Rev.
DR.. G. II. Eaton. Edwin Markham read a
poem.