Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-11-27
Thanksgiving at
Las Vegas Churches
Continued from Page ore.)

D~esVboAy oc6s 1S'1tS
that thou forget not the Lord. thy
God" He drew . realistic picture OF
Moses, troubled and apprehensive.
pausing on the borders Of the prom
ised land. while his followers. like
care-free children, the menaces Of the
future nnthought Of. clamored eagerly
and joyously for the command TO go
up and take possession OF the land.
To the leader came the realization
that when material prosperity had
come and the wilderness had changed
to valleys Of blessing the people
would forget the God who had led
them through the desert and would
pride themselves on what their own
hands had accomplished. Moses fore.
saw the calamity that must follow put.
ting God out Of the national life.
TO other history. sacred and pro
fame. the speaker led the thoughts OF
his hearers. Apt illustrations were
drawn to show the fate Of the nations
and the people who had gloried In
their own achievements and had for-
gotten TO give glory TO God.
Eloquently the rector pictured the
rude founding and the stern, yet rich
early history Of this republic. He
dwelt on the sacrifice Of all else TO
principle.
THE greatest foe this country has
to fear" he said, "is the tendency to
magnify our material greatness. We
glory III the work or our puny hands.
We are prone 10 point to our splendid
cities, 70 our mighty achievements, to
u national wealth and greatness;
but into our voices. when we speak
Of the greatest, and richest. and most
powerful. and biggest nation on earth,
IL apt to come a strange hush. II We
pause 10 think Of the conservation or
those founders OF onr government :
Great privileges, the speaker de
clared. were ours privileges that
were made possible by the sacrifices
Of our forefathcrs; Il was ours to en-.
Joy the heritage, ours 10 have wealth
and luxury, and education and fine
arts, but with the privileges came
heavy responsibility.
Beware OF c~ovetOusness." the
worlds greatest Teacher had said.
The warning came with equal force
today. Our people were over eager
for worldly gain. and for what material
considerations could do for them.
They we're forgetting God, In their
worship OF mammon. Surely. this
country, 80 vast. 30 resonrceful--this
country which had seen such mighty
achievements. which is the admira.
tion OF the worlds--had been guided
by God and been 'destined for some
special mission: what. We could not
say. But would the spirit Of CONNER.
cialism, the y~ainness OF the ndivid-
ual, the failure TO acknowledge God
defeat the purpose Of the Almighty
Here lay the element OF danger. There
wal observable everywhere In The
land the rampant spirit Of competi.
tion, OF selfish commercialism This
cheapened prices. perhaps. perhaps
helped on the individual materially.
but there was menace II God was loft
out. Not In any scheme OF socialism,
not in any public ownership OF utili
ties or other cunning plan OF phiins-
ophy Of mans devising lay the rem
edy. In the speakers opinion, Il was
not In the power II any kind Of gov
ernment to defeat the dangerous tend.
encies. IL was righteousness alone
that exalted a nation. and II was only
by the application OF the principles
Of the Great Teacher, 1.-The principles
that had been adopted by the founders
Of this nation.-that the doom could
be aserted.
Everywhere the spirit OF CONNER
cialism was observable. Listen to the
talk Of young girls, from whose
thoughts all sordid and mercenary
motives should be as far absent Ms
thoughts OF rudeness pr yulgarity.
Yet. too often . nus conclude that
even they we're as much the victims
Of mercenary considerations as the
slave girl Of Bagdad. The women
talked OF what money could do for
them. Of the rank that Il would give
them In society; the men we're bent
upon getting money. almost 10 the
exclusion OF all other achievements.
We had not far to seek for a rea
SON. II lay In our present national
Ideals, the spirit Of the age. the Idea
of the Individual. The speaker. not
long ago. saw a procession represent.
Ing q political party. and emblazoncd
on their banners he saw the words