The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-07

E MONlUOMEn1 <. of men. ana civic faults. bribery. corrup- tion of justice. indifference to the rights of the poor and friendiess were apologized for by the people in view of the multi tude of their sacrifices. and their "tem- pie treading'-the Hebrew for church go- ing. But the whole people are here in- dieted by God, with the further assur- ance of the prophet that their very re- iiri0sity divorced from the practical du- ties of fife rendered their worship and service in the Church an abominaton to Jehovah.
 Men today are only too glad to strive. to widen the gulf they have fixed between religious and civic life. shutting the
 former up in the walls of the church that they may be free to live as they please out on the streets of the city.
 They cry as one has said; Don't mix religion and politics. you can't do 1t if you would. and you mustn't do 1t if you could
 The speaker then showed that this arose from a confusion of ecclesiasticism with
 religion. The church as an ecclesiastical Organization has no place in politics, it's functions are spiritual and not temporal,
 but the great principles of religion should
 govern men in all the relations of life.
 and a divorce of civic life from the fun- Idamental principles of righteousness mus,
 inevitably result in either anarchy or op- pression
 i The city of righteousness is the city
 where law Is respected, justice adminis- tered impartially, the interests of the
 home, society and the State safeguarded by men of upright character, law abiding In spirit as well as in fact; city where, as Mir Gladstone once said: Tt Is made
 as easy as possible for Q man to do good. and as difficult as possible for him to do rviI."
 The conception of such a city is based
 upon the fact that the State as we'll as the church Is a divine institution, that iha ruler of the State is as expressed by Paul the minister of Cod The '.pow- CTS that be are ordained of God. By
 Him kings rule and princes decree jus tice."
 II. The message of the hour grows out of profound appreciation of conditions as they exist in Montgomery. This was illustrated by the political conditions which are declared to be dom mated by that. great enemy of law, or der and righteousness, the SalooGs
 More significant. however, than this was stated to be the public indifference to notorious violations of the law: :'Woe to that city," said Governor Atkinson of Georgia, where power and political in- fiuence are measured by money and not by political worth." Woe also to the city whose laws are mere ornaments of the statute books and not enforced.
 Illustrations of this public indifference to violations of the law were found Q) in the prevalence of gambling under the very eye of the custodians of the law; @ in the shameless publicity of houses of i'll repute. "Not one, nor two, but dozens Of places of infamy are open. known to all, with evidence forthcoming on the slightest investigation. They are next door to our churches, they fiaunt themselves on our principal thorough fares. The law says they are illegal, but those in power say they should be toler- ated as long as the inmates keep quist. As though 1t were no harm to break the law, but only to make a fuss while do- ing so! Many respectable citizens, know ingly or unwittingly rent their houses for these purposes. (3) The fragrant viola tions of the law concerning the sale of liquor on Sunday were cited as a further proof of the toleration of this spirit of lawiessness, and (4) the climax of this spirit is found in the open proposal to continue the playing of Sunday games of baseball, a proposal that defies the very kONSIuulCnG OI LHS 0taI0 lLBcAk- lUS IdCg that such violation of the law should he contemplated by those in control is a commentary upon their conception of tho spirit of tolerance by our community Of lawlessness.
 III. The responsibility for these ccndi- Eions rest upon the Christian men of Montgomery.
 am not of the school of the prophets that teaches that government can save men; that the millennium of human his- tory is to be found in the incoming of make men moral, but 1t can safeguard life from many perils that threaten it's de- stFretion.
 Government cannot prevent your boy from drinking whiskey, but tt can sweep out the 100 odd saloons that like great yawning pits threaten to engulf him body and soul; that are destroying every year more lives than any epidemic that ever visited our borders; that Is costing more money than pavements and all other pub lie improvementsl
 The saloon ts not taxed to support the home, but the home is taxed to support Lhe saloon-taxed in money, tears. wreck ed lives poverty and blood!
 Government cannot prevent your boy falling into grievous sins, but the en- forcement of the laws on our st tatute books against gambling would cut the tap root of an evil that is bllghting some of the most promising young men in our community.
 Government cannot keep back your boy from iniqulty but 1t can shut to the door of her whose house is the way to hell. goingadown to the chambers of death. where the dead live. whose guests are in the depths of he'll
 Every unenfoyced law Is a blot on the statute books: and the negligence of of- fcers in enforcing 1t a crime against so- ciety and the homo
 Those interested in the present order of things in civic life tells us that such a city of righteousness is an Utopian dream of the visionary. lt will be so no longer than men shall wake to an appreciation of the relative value of things When We come to realize that moral sanitation, a clean city, free from the contamina- tion of moral plague spots Is of more value than immunity from smallpox or yellow fever then these sources of con- tagion long condemned by all good men will have reached their day of doom.
 The only difficulty in the way of a so- iution of most of the problems of our civic life that would be little short of a revolution is found in the apathy of good men, the lack of civic consciousness, and the difficulty of arousing the civic con science.
 May God give us men incorruptlble, upright. clean men in our homes and places of power"