The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-03-07
CIVIC RIGHTEOUSNESS
 THEME IN MANY CHURCHES
Members of Montgomery Ministers Union From Their Pulpits Appeal For Righteousness in Gov
 ernment--Y Violation of Sabbath the Theme.

e v deserves the, e,stisma of public contempt. So through the whole category of crime. Enforcing the laws upon others Is not less our simple duty. My life goes out Into that of every other citizen and his enters my own. am responsible for his lawiessness to the extent of my ability to expose t and prevent 1t. There are said to be open bar rooms here every Sunday debauching our boys and the weaker among us. in the face of plain Ilaws.So gambling hells and disreputable houses. These things are known to us all. When you connive at them you are l guilty of breaking our laws. The police men do only what you require of them what you really expect of them. They can and will do no more. A policeman said to me in Savan- their duty, they would be fired in tw.n- ty-four hours" These men are tho in- carnate conscience of our whole people Col pity us that we will not make then: ind out the evils that are cursipg o.ir city and remove them. They can do it in single day, and will do 1t as soon as the solid voice of our city demands 1t and assures them that they will not fall into the hands of politicians, ring sters and corrupt dictators for the s.ni- pie discharge of duty. The-church mem \ | TOT lawbreakers and corrupt officers to live among us. You remember that we had fight a year ago on the question or Sunday baseball and that plain law was passed clearly prohibiting it hence. ! forth In Alabama. And yet those in charge have insrltcd every law-abiding citizen of Montgomery by publishing tw" sundays on which they will play. It is not now question of Sunday ball. but or lawlessness. They are feeling the pulse of the community and have slapped you in the face by thus proclaiming thclr oeiief that they can count on your dis regard of law far enough to violate with you- cooperation 6 plain statute. It Will be sad day for Montgomery if they succeed. You may then expect an in. crease of sandbaggin1. embczzlement rape. murder. theft, and the whole cat aloGde of crimes For lawlessness at .he smallest point begets lawlessness at all poirts. When you thus say to the world tha. you have no regard for the acts of your Legislature you will invite an in. | crease in all the crimes It is, therefore, I repeat, no longer a question of Sunday | ball. but of law1escness. For 1t can be shown by statistics that crimes increase or decrease in proportion to the enforce ment of law.
 The effort to purify politics is not the ! least of the debts we owe the State. We should join the clubs. go to the bottom of all political questions and movements and vote only for men who represent l us. For we put the man we vote for | In our own places. He stands in our shoes, thinks our thoughts. speaks our words. chcrishes our feelings, does our deeds and is, as far as another can be, l our real selves. If we do not believe n drinking, we are traitors to ourselves, | our country. our God, if we vote for a man who drinks; if we believe in God we are traitors if we vote for an atheist; If we believe in Christ we are traitors | if we vote for inf1dels; if we believe m | morality, we are traitors if we vote for immoral men. For they are ourselves. Public vote Is a public trust, and he IS | a traitor who abuses that trust, whether | for party, personal or other reasons. Let | no man be silent and idle while the pos iticians buy and sell and trade thesxotes I of the people like so many cattle. Make it impossible for them to succeed, cx- cept by clean, straight methods. See to 1t that every man has a chance to vote untrammelcd for only the best candi- l dates.
 And finally. we owe it to Caesar to create a righteous public consciousness | and conscience. The two things are dis | tlnct. Every man should feel himself a part of the whole life, connected by so. cial veins with every other man. Public | spirit is the life of the community fin, l the heart of the individual. Every mans | social self is not his body, his mind, his life simply. but what he suggests. So that we should all stand for and sug- gest only things that are noble and en- nobling. His suggestiveness invades | every sphere of life. It is nowhere more powerful than among the street corner loafers and other public gatherings. You may, by a single lewd reference or re- | mark. send to hell a half dozen boys who happen to hear, though you do not know the name of a single one. No greater curse can befall q community than to be pervaded by an atmosphere Of profanity and vulgarity. It were better that we had ten patients with bubonic plague on our streets, than one strong personality who is a circulating medium for things that are low and degrading. Our young people should be taught to rev. erence high things That man who sneers at that which is holy and sacred, who jests about moral principles, or that wo- man who speaks lightly of the boy who will not accept her invitation to the punch bowl, calling him a sissy or some other name of contempt, Is a mem ace to public morals. Those who think lightly of the sins of youth and are sat- isfied to explain that boys must SOW their wild oats." forget that where wild oats are sown there will be wild oats to reap. They forget, also, that those who SOW wild oats usually get the seed from their fathers barn.
 Let us stand for and suggest by life and doctrine only those things which purify and ennoble
 All these things we owe to Caesar. Let | us pay them at any cost. A clean, moral | character, the fullest development of his l intellectual capacities and powers, the faithful discharge of personal obliga- tions, the loyal support of the govern ment, the enforcement of the laws, the effort to purify politics, the creation of a righteous public sentiment-these are some of the things we all owe Let us pay them at the cost of effort, money, friends of right eyes, and right hands; yes, If need be, of all a man holds dear, even of life itself. For only thus shall we realize for ourselves and hand down to our children and children's children. the blessings of God upon a free people united In a great State.
 THE RIGHTEOUS CITY.
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