The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-05-17
DR.. BOYNTON TALKS
OF CITYS PROBLEM
Pastor of Unity Church Dis.
cusses Conditions Existing
in ST. Paul.

Rev. Richard W. Boynton, pastor of
Unity church, repeated last night his dis
course on 1.-The Problem of the City, at
the Loomis school DR.. Boynton said IN
part:
at was not willing to speak upon this
subject during the excitement of the re-
cent municipal campaign, because did
not wish even to appear to use my posi-
ton to favor one or the other side IN
partisan strife l refrained from speaking
also because to my thinking the issues
involved are. broader and deeper than
the question which of two opposing sets
of candidates shall have control of the
city Offices for the next two years.
But few Of us imagine that if the re-
suit at the polls had been otherwise, there
would have been any radical change IN
the conditions; or at least not for long.
The reason is that the remedy for the
evils of the city is not political, and never
can be. That is one of the Valnest delu-
S1onS which we encourage In one announcer
every time an election is impending. We
get into a fever of excitement over the
arraying of the forces of reform and the
forces of evil and when the election is
over we settle down into a long period of
political and moral laSsitude. No evil was
ever uprOoted in this fashion. If we are
ever to. do anything, we must ma some
and keeping it aroused. And this can
best be done, as l believe, by showing
that our problem at the heart of it is not
political at all, but rather social. 1t con-
Germs the government of the city very
little; it concerns the whole life of the
people. on which the government rests
and from which it derives its power, much
more.
Must Remake Human Life.
"There can be no such thing as reform
ing the city. unless you can so far re-
make the whole of human life. The city
is not an inclosure, with no gates, and no
way in or out. 1t is a community, part
of the general community of souls. All
the currents of the world flow into it and
gathered, as our reformers sometimes for
get, the higher elements and incentives
of life in uneXampled profusion. Hither
also come all sorts of wickedness, to
crowd in beside the good.
II say this, as forctbly as / can, not
because l do not believe in reform tit
issny business to be reformer), but be-
cause we need most of all to know what
1t is we propose reforming before we
begin. Otherwise we shall end in igno-
minious failure and defeat.
1.-THE pulpit has a habit, which most
respectable people approve, of calling pc
riodically upon the officers of the law to
enforce the statutes, close up the saloons
on time, and suppress the gambling dens
and the other places OF evil resort And
so long as this is the law, it is what the
officers of the law are solemnly pledged
to do. Here is the great American hypoc-
r1Sy. We insist on enacting laws that
express the moral convictions of most Of
us, and when they are enacted we sit
back satisfied that our work is done. 1t
is, in fact, only begun, and badly begun
at that. For we have no business to
create legislation that nobody intends to
have enforced. The greatest reproach to
our citizens and the greatest opportunity
for official corruption is the existence Of
mass of such enactment on all our
it If we want to- We need to remember
that there is horde of people, our fellow
citizens, who are as much more bent
on Keeping these evils alive than we are
IN suppressing them, as their selfish In
tereSt is stronger motive than our I'M
selfish one.
Pays Tribute to st. PAUL
I'm what I am saying, 1 do not wish
to do st. Paul any injustice. 1 have
found it for four years past most at
tractive city, delightful place to live
in. It is a city of true homes, of honor
able business, of much good citizenship.
: Despite it's many saloons, there is not,
TO my observation, much open drunken
ness, The evils which aff1ict u.s. and of
which we complain, as I have tried to
show, are the evils of civilization The
weakness of our officials in dealing with
in our present American system, while
IN part 1t is inherent in universal human
nature. The best of us would not lone
tolerate in our city a rigid military dis
cipline, martinez rule. We should re-
volt against it. These men who govern
us are there as our deputies We choose
them to do difficult and some of it un-
seSs to 6and that ge DO 10np not care
true, we nave no cause to lay upon them
exclusive blame. The wrong, the sin. OF
the city, cannot be all On their heads
Ihe shame Is not the shame of a few
ot1clalS, or of the police department but
us al; '"
can be; and in the time that remains
of doing it.
And first, we greatly need to know