The daily tribune., 1904-02-29
nsa asl ths chsrch.

~ hi esxD ''AnA Hhe ooomoa pso-
lpas hsas1 Mn Gik1ly." Msrk. 1871
fea1 'sAs1 ~ Will - eoos ssse -
49, ~ night have liSs >" Johs SEQ.
Hs ssid - part II aesirs 70 make
10 thsssoslA livissss - ~ jeb3scs and
opssidss IL the fsess; I'D che explain
astcs; srd ths rsosdy. Pspsrs have
lesg Aisrssssd this inpostsss question.
lasa hsvs takss both sidss. There 10
. vury fsal sssss In which the masses
sill look 70 The church. Bst the
religious csncas taken recently In
many cttiss IN The United States and
Gsrops reveal startling facts. In Ber
I'm only per omit Of the people ever
visit the church. In Hamburg IL
per cent. In Glasgow 2s per cont in
London only $50. 2O5 ont Of her ~
millions The staten ept has remain
ed unchallenRed that not 10 churches
in tise state OF Massachusetts ,ould
count 10 men added annually during
this lset three years from the nom
church going population.
1.-THE same conditions prevail in
village and country. Even here in
| Florence we are nc better off than
they are elsew here.
''rhe attitude Of the men of
America is one Of hostility TO the
church. Yes the membership Of the
churches has grown faster during the
last decade than the population. but
tho growth has been from the young
people women and children. In
| Wyoming the women go to church in
the ratio Of 8 to /. While the men
60 to tine penitentiary in the ratio Of
SO to 1.
"Ail this in spite of the fact that
no class Of men are 70 anxious to solve
the problem - the ministry. No book
can offer 10 good . solution as the
Bible. Some men are looking for a
Moses to say 70 the modern Fharaohs
Of wealth and oppression, Let my
people co.. But such q deliverer has
coma. He WAS born in Bethlehem; !;
His home was NAZARETH He was a
carpenter BY trade; His first followers
formed the first band Of organized
labor; no other class of men can
boast such distinguished leadership !;
yet men are turning away from Him.
What is the explanation? This
may be given from two view points
that Of the masses and that of the
church. They are not mutually ex-
elusive. but largely so.''
The speaker here quoted Mr.. Sam
uel Gompers. Mr.. Lennon. Mr.. O'Sul.
livan and others equally distinguish shed
In the labor world in answer to the
question "Why do not men 60 to
church p
The general feeling Of all these,
besides that Of mnny less distinguish
ed was that the church was hostile to
the laborer-that it was not his friend
THAT too much theology and too lit.
tie ethics was preached; that the rich
monopolized the church; while one
man was frank enough to say that
they simply didn't want to go.
while there is some truth in these
statements they contain much that
is false The speaker then proceeded
to show the false positions taken and
to prove that the church was the best
friend Of the masses. He then gave
the explanation from the church, 8
view point. He declared that there
were too many lodges and proceeded
W Blu" e"as ""iio ehSS auu much
good they sapped the life of the
church. 'There is too mueh Sunday
work. In this the laborer is to blame.
for it is he who patronizes the Sun
day street car. theater, etc, and forces
Sunday labor uron his brother in toll.
1.-THE omnipresent aud all powerful
saloon is to blame. Again many peo-
pie are not sincere in their excuses
given
''The question remains what is the
remedy s''
Again Quoting Mr.. Gompers and