The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-27
THE NEW PATRIOTISM
on rHE 1HxxoscpHY or Ap
 PILED owx1gT1AMyTx.
Hemarkable Address of Labor Com. missioner Carroll D. Wright Be- fors the National Conference
 of Unitarian Churches at
 Atlantic City, N. T.

fore the National Confsrsncs
 or Unitarian Churches at
 Atlantic City, V. J.
 There is great deal of discussion at the present time relative to tbe sunro.sd decadence of the church, of church. st- tendance, and of real religious spirit cannot assent to the suggestion that there IS any decadence or lessening of a true religious spirit, taking our cos1amunity as whole. There is, to be sure. A great change in the theological thought of inc people.
 The influence of the church must be ae. knowledged, whether people attend it in as large numbers as formerly or moi. There is so much in our life to develop the highest principles of right and wrong, outside of mere church attendance, that It is difficult to difSerentiate accurately. Tbe evidences, therefore which occur to my own mind as positive, emphatic and conclusive are such as are drawn from the attitude of the public conscience, pub He action and recognition of the great principles which underlie all religion, without reference to denominational creeds or theological distinctions.
 The public conscience today is more acute. more sensitive. than at any time in the history of mankind. We see this ex- emplified in so many directions that I feel 1t is almost truism to repeat the statement. yet know there are many Wno do not hesitate to assert that the public conscience of today is dull, lacks sensitiveness, and is not as alive to the great questions of right and wrong. as they affect the public, as at some former period
 We see the evidence of the truth of my assertion in the question of crime I think 1t is the general belief that crime Is largely on the increase; that civilza. ton. instead of purifying the public mind. Is leaving it demoralized and more open to criminal practices to an. increasing number than formerly; and the statistics of crime support this contention. The dif- ncuity is. however, that we do not stop to distinguish what is crime today and what was crime forty or fifty years ago; nor do we stop to consider the question as to the more perfect statistics of today brought into comparison with the very imperfect and crude statistics of half il century ago. The statistics comprehend not only the persistent crimes but those crimes which have been established by legislative enactment and increasingly so during the last few years. If we look be- beneath the figures we shall find that the crimes that have remained persistentiy so under criminal code during the last nifty years have not only increased, but nave relatively decreased, This is the true test.
 One Illustration Is sufficient: Tn the criminal statistics of fifty years ago crimes relative to liquor selling did not appear; today they constitute large pro- portion of such statistics. In one of our Commonwealths where there has been ya- ried experience under the liquor laws it Is found that, while during a period of twenty years the total sentences for all crimes increased 70 per cent and for crimes not including drunkenness and liquor offences increased nearly 100 per cent as against an increase of over 50 per cent In the population.
 This Is positive evidence of the in- creased sensitveness of the public con science. This new conscience Is con stantly elevating misdemeanors that were offences against individual conscience in- to offences against tho pubic conscience end making them punishable as crimes So If we simply read tho statistics of crime, some of our most staid and worthy Commonwealths are on the road to ruin at a rapid pace, but an analysis of the data proves the contrary. If the pubic conscience had not been ~ti,nuiated Inv hfSsf hNNA'ohb NbfCVDliou ot the F'EntS Of the community and of the development of the individual this state of affairs would not have occurred.
 Growing out of crime there comes par- oiney, It takes but very slight and superficial examination of the suhiect of the treatment of criminals t> convince anyone that this treatmen today cannot be compared. with any justice whatever, with their treatment half a century aso. havt AAAA t.
 he restrained because ot the aesire to punish him. The old doctrire cf the fall of Adam has been eliminated from pen o'ogical science. and we arc dealing with the criminal as a man morally diseased He is the subject of proper care while under restraint. We must not degrade him; we must not humiliate him: we must treat him 70 that when he Is cured or partly cured he can resume his place ir society with some prosnect of earning his own living and conducting himself es . weil-behaved citizen. Penologv refiects the very highest relieious p-inc'nles: 1t shows that the precepts of the Christian religion have found practical application in the treatment of tho defective elements in society. know of no batter nor mo-e emphatic illustration of the evidence nf the growth of a practical religion than in the penoiogv of our day.
 The temperance uueStlOn occupies the public mind in a manner 't never did be- fore. Great railroad corporations are everywhere understanding that their duty as guardians of the public safety demNnds temperate employees. So the nan who Is given to the use of intoxicating liquors cannot now securA emplovment on our great railroads. This Is the surest tenn perance reform known at the present tine but it is the outgrowth Gf an agita- ton which springs from the highest and purest motives. It is the exempliicstion of the very clements of religion.
 The economic aspects Involved in the treatment of the temperance question are having an influence which is spreading everywhere and which is eomprehended in industrial establishments and by gov ernment. The simple Idea that man with a clear brain Is a better emplove than one with a rnuddled brain Is carry ing this question feFward t1 success, and the sooner men learn that Tn order to secure employment at all they must ap- proach their service with minds uncloud- ed the better for humanity. Religion teaches that the temple of God must not bs defiled. Economic consideration now allies itself with religion and insists that the welfare ot the community demands that the temple of God shall remain un' defled.
 The treatment of the labor question offers the strongest evidences or the