The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-17
REV. DIR. JOHN ID. JORDAN CON-
DENNIS NoN-ENFORCENENT OF
LAW.
THE GNAT AND THE CAMEL.
VIOLATIONS OF SOME LAWS Pun
ISHED; WHILE OTHERS
WINIkED At.

A Democracy Needed That Treats
All Men as Brothers-A Religion
That Will Bring Men to Right
eOusness and Souls to God.
Rev. John D. Jordan preached at the
First Baptist Church last night a
stong sermon on Some Great Needs of
Our City" There was a large congre-
cation and DIR. Jordan's scathing de-
nunciation of some of the evils that
prevail and his suggestion of good
things to be done, were listened to with
close attention.
The text was from Romans, 1910,
Love is the fulfilling of the law" DR..
Jordan said, in part:
Government is ordained of God.
Laws are essential to government. Law
makers and guardians Of the law are
Gods servants, to honor the law and
serve the people, or His enemies, to per-
vert the law and rob the people of the
protection and guardianship, which the
law is designed to afford.
THE man who accepts an official po-
sition and does not honor it is guilty
not only before the people. but before
God.
The founding of laws in an act of
love and the keeping of them is the
fulfilling OF love. No law should be
enacted save on the ground of love,
broad and humanitarian, and every
citizen, both public and private,
should insist on all laws being either
kept or repealed.
ITO enforce some laws and wink at
the violation of others for political,
social or financial reason is partiality,
weakness. injustice, and deserves the
severest condemnation.
"Class leg station is everywhere con-
demned while class ruling is common.
In many municipalities petty larceny
is watched with diligence and punish
ed with Tigor, while gambling and
SundGR saloon keeping are winked at.
This is straining at gnats and swal-
lowing down camels. Where the blame
lies l know not, but there can be no
doubt that we need. sadly need, a re-
lief from gambling and Sunday sa-
looms. They are corrupting our people
and blackening the reputation of our
city
Law breakers hate God; they hate
good laws, good men and good preach
ers. They think they have cleared their
skirts when they announce that
preachers should keep out of politics
On this point l agree with them, but
while the preacher must keep out of
politics, he must keep after the poll
tician, approving the good and con-
deming the bad, just as in all other
things. Few preachers fail to speak
we'll of politicians when they deserve it..
I'VE napd q i1Npnf1O
criminals, but we need the more to
camp along the trail of the fellows who
put them in camp with an overseer.
The grand jury has only done what the
judge asked them to do, and the judge
has only asked what some of the
preachers have been talking about for
years. Yet, let US honor them for what
they have done. Now if they
will give us a pauper department
for the begg4rs who throng cur streets
they will have done equally as good a
work as providing quarters for juve-
nile criminals.
"Our paupers and juvenile criminals
are made in a large measure by
gambling and unlawful whisky selling.
Why not begin at the root and dig up
the owl Why not more clear and pos
tive instruction and action along this
line. To say it is better for all sa-
looms to run wide open every day than
for one gambling house to run wide
open every night is a slap at
milling. but a sep. at saloons for
being open on Sunday.
"A large share OF our juvenile crimr
inals are convicted for robbery. Every
saloon man who sells whisky on Sun
day is robbing the commonwealth, in
sulting the dignity OF the government.
81 fro crio he ~ VNl1xr
not take up these fellows and transport
them to the quarters provided for
them? The same authority which
makes it lawful to run a saloon six
days in the week makes it unlawful to
run it the other day The man who
will not observe the latter should not
have the protection of the former.
I'VE preachers. you know are not
supposed to have much practical
sense. Let US elect a judge and a grand
jury for two years and we will show
you a lot of prisoners that cannot be
ella ssed as Juvenile. All judges should
be appointed or elected but once
whether for life or a term of years,
with no possible chance to succeed
themselves. Then they could give due
consideration to the duties of their of
flee rather than to being their own
successors. Our present system con-
flicts with lead lis not into tenlpta-
tion,' to say the least.
1--WE need a public and a free library
and every effort should be used to i'm
prove the taste and raise the stand
ard of our people intellectually. 1t is
sad commentary when a conserva-
tive man has to report that the great
or part of our reading is of the light
est literature and the frothiest fic-
tlOn-' The lifh nf &c
mined by their thinking, and their
thoughts may be judged by their lit
erature. 1t would appear then that
we as city have life that is light
and frothy. Have we a Nineveh with
ont Jonah? or an enslaved Israel
without a Moses?
we need to spend more time and
strength on live issues compared to
what we spend on dead ones. The
questions of the day mean more to
us than memories of the past. Not
so much to love the past less, but to
love the present more. Better give
bread to the living than flowers to
the dead. One rose in the home is
better than a Thousand on the grave.
4 kind word to the living is better
than eulogy over the dead. 1t is
better to elevate the living than to
exhume the dead. A life of memories
argues decay
I'VE need more real democracy.
do not mean politically. l mean social.
business and religious democracy.
Where the people are appealed to and
valued by the masses and not by the
classes. 1 do not mean a community
of goods or social equalties l mean
a community of sympathy and assoc
ciated helps-the absence of narrow
ness, dryness, and selhshness: that
we esteem each other as brother. to