Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-02

results are most gratifying The society
has been alone in this field. sometimes con-
fronted by great difficulties. but never dis
heartened. Its work is not yet complete.
What has been done is subject to re-
vision new light appears and the help
of all is solicited. 1t is hoped that this con-
gresS will contribute much to the final So
luton yet to be wrought out"
The address went on to say, "The work
is not arbitrary but according to the con-
spiritual life and growth"
In regard to the future this was said
toward the end of the paper:
We may well turn eyes to the future.
When religious education shall be placed
on a truly scrptural basis, and the art of
cultivatfng the spiritual man by means of
the truth shall have been acquired. the
progress of the Savior'S kingdom will abe
rapid Then shall come to pass what the
prophet foresaw when he exclaimed, "All
thy children shall be taught of God. and
great shall be the peace of thy children"
Judge Anderson then introduced Com
missioner Mcfarland. who welcomed the
members of the congress to the District:
Mr.. Macfarland's Welcoming Address.
In his address of welcome, Commissioner
Mcfarland said:
1T is a peculiar honor to welcome you
here on one of the highest errands Above
politics, above business. stands education
and at the head of all educa ton stands that
which IS for the heart as well as for the
head. The truer grandeur of this nation
is spiritual, and not material. 1t is the
result of right religious education. If it
should depart from our national life our
national glory would depart with it. All
thoughtful men and women realize that
our greatest national danger is materialsm
and that our greatest national need is
spiritual development. Where there is 10
vision of the invisible realities, the people
perish, even though they have prosperity
and power. and there will be no eXcep-
ton to the eternal law. Therefore you and
all other men and women who with in
telligent effort and thorough and revere nd
scholarship. devote lives to the religious
education of the people, are conserva tors of
the republic and benefactors of mankind"
Rev. Geo. c. Lorimer, d. D., pastor of the
Madison avenue Baptist Church, New York
city,. was to have spoken on Religious Ed
ucatlon. but he was not present, and Il
brief address on Christian Education" was
made by DR.. John Howard Harris. presi-
dent of Bucknell College, Lewistown, Pa.
Moral Degeneracy.
The next speaker was Dr. Edward n.
Brush. physician to the Sheppard and
Enoch Pratt Hospital Baltimore. who
spoke of moral degeneracy from a medical
standpoint. He said that physicians did
not often enough caution or inform the pub
lie concerning matters which they knew
We're of vital Importance to the race. He
referred to Morels treatise on degeneracy
and to his definition of the condition as in
morbid deviation from a primitive type
ending frequently in the extinction of
family or race. He said, however that
the term ''Entartung' of the Germans
meaning departure from the art that
Is, the normal form- standard or type. more
closely described the condition of which
he proposed to speak The moral instinct
he said instead of being a fundamental i'm
mutable faculty said to be planted in all
persons, which points out the path of recti-
tude and reproveS departure therefrom was
a matter of evolution. growth and deyel-
opment differing with different ages and in
different nations and unknown among saw
ages. He said that as man had come I'D
from his primitive state there had been in
creased demands upon his nervous system
structure and in greater instability thereof:
that this was one of the penalties which
men paid for their higher civilization
He then described the various forms of
moral imbeclity. called, in which the in
dlFiduals affected appear to have no sense
OF right or wrong, We're instructive or in
tultiVe criminals, and many of them be-
yond the reach of reformatory methods
For these, he said. education was of no
value in the way of Improvement; that it
frequently gave them increased capacity
and consequent increased ability to do
harm: that for this class. the only thing to
be done was to shut them up for life not
only to prevent their doing criminal acts
put TO prevent the perpetuation of the race.
Habitual Use of Intoxicants.
He next referred to the degeneration re-
sulting from the habituaI use of intoxicants
or drugs, and said: Not only is the alcohol
or drug the potent agent in the destruction
victims, but" and here he said was the
most serious aspect of the whole question,
the descendants of these habit victims are
IN turn the victims of its baneful influence
and become physical, mental or moral de-
generates.
that education and training might be of
value in retaining degeneracies but he
neid the education commonly given chill
ofen was TOO often upon wrong basis.
instead of holding up examples for them
TO emulate. ideals to live up to, they were
too frequently trained by a constant reiter-
alton of a series of donts,' was the way he
put it.
In conclusion he referred to the banef,,
influences of some of the methods of mod
efn HE, not only upon the persons who
ilved this life. but upon their children and
sald the rush and hustle and competition of
modern me- the attractions of wealth and
power, are elements which NAV he the
cause of the degeneration of some of our
descendants and elements which should by
no means be ignored.
The session last evening closed about N
clock. In a few remarks Secretary Gu
bert impressed upon the audience and dele
gates the Importance of the congress and
the prominence of the speakers who will
lead the thought of the assembly in the
succeeding meetings
INVESTMENT OF PORT ARTHrrR
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