The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-07
THE PATRIOTS DUTY
REV. BAsCOM ANTHoNY's EXHOR-
TATION TO RIGHT LIVING.
PRIVILEGES BRING DUTIES.
EVERY CITIZEN A SHAREHOLDER
IN THE BODY POLITIC.


the Highest Opportunities for
ChArnster Development, Imposes
on Him the Duty of Using His Priv
iIege WelI-Menaces That Threaten
the Perpetuity of Free Institutions.
The Liquor Traffic the Great Curse
of the Age-The Citizens Duty to
Register and VOte-His Protest
Against Evil the Sign of His Man
hood.
Rev. Bascom Anthony preached on
Patriotism and Duty at Trinity
Methodist Church last night Despite
the intense heat there was a congrega-
ton that filled the church and the SER
mon well deserved and repaid the at
tendance and the close attention that
was given it.
Mr.. Anthony said that under free in
situations patriotism found it's best
and hottest expression-its perfect rea-
son for being. This country is the
grandest upon which the sun has ever
shone and its laws and customs per-
NIT the fullest development of the in
dividual and the fullest expression of
his individual character.
Every man in the United States has
a share in the operations of the gov
eminent and the right to express his
will by his ballot as to the manner in
which the government shall be con-
Quoted. And this right carries with it
corresponding duty to exercise it.
Menaced by Many Dangers.
The country, said Rev. Mr. Anthony
was menaced by many great dangers
that threatened the stability and the
perpetuity of the free institutions upon
which it is founded. 1t is not perfect;
there are influences constantly at work
that operate to undermine and destroy
those mighty principles of justice, free
dom and right that for a century and
a quarter have been the inspiration
and the guiding star of the oppressed
peoples of the earth.
Mr.. Anthony named some of the
things he regarded as threatening
American institutions. Among them,
he said, were the liquor traffic, the
growing habit of Sabbath dissertation,
the growth of cities and the conse-
quent congestion of population in their
confines, corruption in public office
the Omnipresent conflict between cap
ital and labor and the overshadowing
domination of the trusts.
The Liquor Traffic.
The liquor traffic, Mr.. Anthony de-
nounced as the great curse of this
country, responsible for more misery,
vice ami crime than every other ill
combined.
There may be some difference Of
opinion among good men as to the
best manner in which to deal with
this traffic. but the man who studies
the question and then fails to agree
that the liquor traffic is a mammoth
evil Is either sinner or a fool. He
lacks either gray matter@or morals.
81 expect to see the time come when
this whole infamous traffic will be
swept out of this country, from one
end of it to the other. 1 expect to live
to see that day, but in my time it may
not come. But my grandchildren will
surely see it and they will look back
upon this generation and wonder where
was our moral sense, that we permit
ted the sale of whisky, with all its
fearful train of evils, to continue so
long"
Sabbath Breaking Evil.
Mr.. Anthony paid his respects also
to the evils of Sabbath Dissertation.
He charged the women of the country
with a large share of the RESPONSE
bility for this state of affairs and eX-
horted them to change ito keep the
men of their families at home on Sun
dav.
Il tell you," he said, "such conditions
cannot continue and this country live.
If you will show me a country with
out a Sabbath, 1 will show you a coun-
try without God, and a country with
out a God is racing to a destruction
that is absolute and inevitable"
The other menaces to the continued
growth, expansion and prosperity of
this country were briefly discussed by
Mr.. Anthony. He told the men of his
congregation that it was their patriotic
duty as citizens to fight these evils
wherever they were found. So only
could they live up to their highest
obligations, to their country, their God
and their fellow men.
A Plea to Register.
You men go and fit yourselves to
vote. Go and register. There's a lot
of you out there who wear pants and
chew tobacco and spit red and when
you walk you think you shake the
earth. You go around talking about
the degeneracy of this country, and
wnen election day comes round you
haven't got the right to cast a ballot
Some of you make me real sick.
Register, register, and then when
the time comes, when there is con-
tiict between right and might, between
good and evil, put yourselves on the
right side and do the right thing
Remember that we are building this
country not for ourselves alone, but
for our children and our children s
children. After all, the duty of the
citizen is to make the best out of him
self and do the best for his country
that he can. Let us all do this and
when we have mouldered into dust
and our children walk to and fro on
the earth, the everlasting stars in their
courses will never have shone upon a