Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-11-21
PRESERVE SABBATH
DR.. WILBUR r CRAFTS PLEADS
FOR DAY
AT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Evil on Continental Sunday to be
Guarded Against in Anerica-lnstl'
tutions Not Constitutions-Work Of
Bureau Of Reform Outlined of
Which He is Superintendent.


the Presbyterian church were given an
outline of the work of the reform bu-
reau Sunday morning by Rev. Wilbur
F. Crafts of Washington, D. c., who is
superintendent Of this organization
which is national in it's scope, being a
sort Of clearing house for ali the
christian churches Of the nation. A
fundamental tenet Of the bureau is,
| that we ought to make it harder to do
wrong than to do right,
The farmer, said Rev. Mr.. Crafts.
! finds it necessary to plant, to weed
and to fence. We used to think that
| if we planted the seed in cities it was
all that was necessary, but we find
weeds coming up and fences are need
ed about our boys and girls. The
! church must remove the weeds and
build these fences by united effort. In
! fact there ought to be an official feder
alton Of churches, national in it's scope.
The reform bureau has for its trus-
| tees all the leading church members in
y! Washington and the liberals give cor
| dial support, said DR.. Crafts, but it has
!
| in Madison. 1t works chiefly on four
lines, devoting it's attention to lectures,
! letters, legislation and literature. Lo-
| cal reforms also receive attention
such as the cleaning of the newsrooms
Of all improper books and periodicals
for 80 per cent. of the crime outside of
the saloon comes from this source.
The arrest Of thought is the only
method used, the attention Of the lead
er being quietly called to the law on
| the subject. Cities have been cleaned
| eXpeditiously in this way of gambling
slot machines, low theaters and the
| Sunday saloon, which are successfully
| fought by the bureau. The depart
ment of correspondence has letters
from twenty railroad presidents from
! Washington to Seattle, including all
the great roads, who have ordered off
the road improper periodicals and
I books at the suggestion of the bureau
Special attention is given to legisla-
ton for Dr.. Crafts said laws stay for
q century, but the legislator may be
dropped in two years, 1t is important
men. He declared the last congress 20
be the best in moral legislation that
! the country has ever seen. For Is
weeks it passed &c distinct acts along
the line OF moral reform, all of which
were brought about by this bureau.
These victories had not 10 per cent. of
the church behind them. What a
rX nHTIld hn In : Gho rh1Jn
army would march out and rally for
the cause.
In literature the bureau has sent out
| 10000 copies OF it's quarterly with
DR.. Payton's great speech. This
noted missionary has recently spent
eight years in this country endeavor-
ing to protect his converts in the
islands of the Australian waters from
American rum which is shipped over
there. England has already put ban
on this trade from her rum merchants.
Efforts were made to raise fund to
assist in the work of the bureau.
Living and Dying Nations,
Mr.. Crafts spoke earnestly from his
tons. He found relation between
their condition and the observance of
| the Sabbath. referring to the ancient
nations for examples. The closing of
the worlds fair in Chicago on Sundays
was a series of victories that crowned
the efforts of the bureau. When pc
tition was presented to the exhibitors
n IN IL
sign it as they did not favor the pop
corn, Sunday-excurslon crowd.
The prosperity of Sabbath-keeping
nations DR.. Crafts found to be most
wonderful. The Baltimore Sun, he
said, was authority for the statement
that twc-thirds Of the worlds mail is
written in the English language ana
one-fourteenth of it's population sends
the worlds mail All Sabbath-break-
ing nations are poor. France and
Italy are poverty stricken, mentally
\ morally and financially. The rate OF
wages IS lower ana the working days
are seven in the week.
The dying nations, Dr. Crafts de-
clared to be China. Turkey, France and
| ,
and vigor are the British empire and
the United States, but both these have
dangerous symptoms We should
therefore study the dying nations and
: keep out Of their graveyards. There
are no Methuselahs in nations, he de-
clared, only patriarchs. The
} Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians,
Modes and Persians, Macedonians and
Romans all died in turn.
We have no Egyptians, Greeks, Jews
! and Arabs as nations; they are only
here as subject races. The Turkish
: empire, the oldest in the world is al
ways alluded TO as the sick man At
! RIGA is one of the new republics
l Spain is but child in years and
strength. The French republic is an
epileptic youth, and the German EN-
pire is the infant terrible. Russia with
its 1000 years has not yet borne the
test of civilization, else Il would not
: have survived.
Nations need not grow old and weak
u and die, if they but inculcate the prin
ciples of liberty, law, public education
r and morality. A nations eternal life