The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1902-04-19
THE CHURCH AND SALOON.


BY Rev. W. 8. Rainsford, d, D., Rector Of st.
Georges Church. NY.
Multitudes Of plan people in
our cities dislike the Christian
churches, though they do not dis
like Christianity, and am very
sure one of the chief reasons, il
not the chief reason for this dis
like is, that we have not gone to
them in the name of Christ, but
have used methods of law. Moth
ing can be more unchristian.
nothing more fatal. Practically
we have said to them, We will shut
you up to church-going by law.
1t you won't go to church, you
shall not do other things. II is
the old, Puritan position over
again, 1t never did work, 1t ne
yer could work. ~
4 Who, may ] ask, opposed The
opening of the museums, kept
up BY taxes drawn from the
peoples pocketsY Who for years
butsthe churches we're the fore
front Of opposition? Who oppos-
ed the opening of libraries? The
churches. Who opposed the run
ming of street carsa and Sunday
trains, the only possible means hy
which the multitude can reach the
country The chu:ches. Who
fiercely advocated the forbidding
of Sunday games to the young?
Twelve years ago, you, my peo-
pie, know | stood alone in New
York in advocating what appear
ed to me SIMPLE Justice, namely,
the opening Of the saloon on GER
tain hours on Sunday. Since
then ! have not changed my mind;
all the more so, that since then
many of the men | know and
whose Judgment ] respect, have
taken substantially the same
ground. Once again let me try
and make my position plain. |
am not approving the present
saloon. Any one who asserts |
over have approved or do approve
the present saloon perverts what
! said. God forbidl / would to
God that every saloon in New
York could be closed, and kept
closed seven days in the week, but
il is just as certain as that ] stand
to preach to you this morning
that the present saloon, bad rs il
is, is the only means of supplying
great social need IN this city. III
you would win people from it you
must give them something better.
Educate the people to want some-
thing better, give them a substi-
tute { and mark me, this can be
done), and then you can oppose
saloon. But until you do, to
close it up on Sunday is doing all
You can to make hundreds of
thousands Of people in the COM
munity resent Your interference
and protest against it, and also
doing nh you can 70 sfastcn corr
ruption and blackmail on the city
of New York. To attempt to
close the saloons, when hundreds
Of thousands want TO use them
and think they have a right to
use them, is simply to repeat the
old fatal mistake of seeking to
make people good by Legislation.
their want in a better
way, teach them that they are
wrong in wishing use to them
and then you have accomplished
your object, and not before.
There is not one man in ten in
New York who wants to bet. Yet
SO long as that one in ten is al
lowed, without any loss of charac-
tc.', to bet $4,000 on horse at
Morris Park, so long as the odds
on the races are published in all
the respectable papers, and the
coming and gong of the great
folks who keeps up these esta-
blishments are matter Of public
not oriety, it would be altogether
beyond the power of the police or
any municipal government, how
ever reformed and good, perma-
nently to stop the newsboy from
betting his ten cents in the policy
shop.
So long as a substantial mino-
rity in the city of New York want
to use the salooos on Sunday, our
effort to close up the saloons will
result only in secret debauchery
aud law-breaking. The evils Of
drunkenness are bad enough h--so
bad that there is no need to exag-
gerate them-but it will not do to
make the sin of the drunkard the
convenient scapegoat on which
to pile all evil things.
Sobriety to be lasting and up
Iiffino t,uet ha fha f,.aa and Ioli