The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-13

ing byrfoducts, adjusting fertiliser to. psculiarities of the soil. who does not mourn the wasted energies and vast ing material of many who are stili living In past century.
 Tt is pathetic to see the indifRer- snce in the South to her resources. We waste enough to make us the rich- est people In the world.
 "who can guess what new things are | yet to come out of our soil. We need only enterprise to make us a great in-
 dustrial people. How shall we inspire Iconhdencs in ourselves as leaders; we
 have always been content to follow.
 The times call for leaders from among
 us. The natural resources are here The brains are here. In the darkest
 corners to which you go there is brain power enough to run the country. Il Help these to breathe the new indus- trial spirit of the age and you help
 the whole land toward better things. We must learn to produce Our real
 wealth lies in our independence among
 world forces. in that lordship over things. forces and conditions which
 mould them at the caprice of its lown imagination. orders them about at will. marshals them to the service of society. The generation of this do- Iminion over the world will bring ma- Iterial riches. these will bring leisure, leisure will bring culture, and culture will make our barren wastes to blos- som into beauty which will be a joy forever.
 And this brings me to urge you
 wherever you so to preach on the ap- lpreciation of the beautiful. Among the sufferers of the world are the souls most sensitive to the aesthetic. Houses
 are built with an Idea of architecture.
 Bill boards mar our highways. Trees are destroyed as If they could be re- placed at will. Landscapes are ruined. Premises are planned haphazard
 Farms are laid of without reference Ito attractiveness. Cemeteries are
 uncared for. Churches and school
 houses are unattractive. Even in-
 doors there Is often total lack of ar- arrangement. Artistic effect Is not so
 much as thought of. All this comes under your eye on every trip. What can you do to better these condi- tions?
 Preach the beautiful. Tactfully lsuggest to your merchant in the few minutes you have with him, 8 better Arrangement of his goods, an artistic lplan for the new buildings he is con- ltemplating, a plan for beautifying pub
 lie buildings and grounds. Convince him that the artistic costs no more lthan the ugly. Help him to become a Header in his community.
 ITO help on the aesthetic revolution lof the world to these rural leaders is Ito help on the betterment of all the Iareas you traverse. For who can es- ltimate the transforming power of one lsoul that really sees? And one of the highest phases of your work for the world is the carrying of visions to eyes lthat are blind. Who would not envy lyour life-work, if beautifed villages Ihamiets and far-off country places lmark the paths along which your feet lhave wandered7
 And this means that in season and out of season to preach education--ed-
 ucation of all the people. despite race.
 "The welfare of the next generation demands the lifting up of this. Either
 the lowest must be lifted or the high
 est will be lowered. Public schools. lcolleges and universities must be Drought within the reach of all. | Naturalization of schools is our only feasible plan. Neighborhoods divided lagainst themselves must fall. Great
 schools at regular intervals in we'll lequipped houses to which the children
 are carried to and from their homes by the State will solve our dificulties and tAOthhobit th0 hOW uGSCitSQ khE HIS. Elc6u for expensive schools, running nine
 months in the year. supported by local taxes. But all this will, in the long
 reach of the eternal years, prove futile.
 If our education be non religious or ir- religious. The secular cannot reach the lower depths of the soul and make no appeal to the infinite in man. Good lmachines are about all 1t can produce. Therefore plead for an education that appeals to the whole soul and so brings
 us to our fullest selves. This is but
 saying
 l Preach religious education. For 1t
 is not education that is to solve our
 complex problems, but the right kind
 of education. With all our boastings.
 our only progress since Pericles has
 been on the, religious rather than on
 the culture side, for the masses of to-
 day are even below those of his day In
 intelligence. If we are so unwise as
 to shift the emphasis from the relig-
 ious to the intellectual. none can be so | bold as to guess what a thousand years may bring forth. If history teaches anything, 1t establishes the primacy of religion, not only in education, but in social, economic and industrial life as well. Even the present reign of hom- | icide is traceable to the religious un- rest abroad in the land. For back of all our homes--back of all our insti- | tutions, laws and customs back of all our reasoning g--back of all our strenu- ous moral back of all our earnest social service--back of every- thing that is worth knowing--of ev- erything that, In the long run, is worth doing, is this universal, al1-powerful religious instinct. Not more educa- ton, therefore, but more religious ed- ucation, and education that Is more re- ligious, is the pressing need of the hour.
 Nor is 1t enough to claim that the
 home and the church provide the re- ligious training. while the mission Of the school is to the intellect, and, in a measure, to the morals. For the soul | cannot be thus cut up and dealt with in sections. It is one, and whatever affects a part of its life, affects all Are we to give religion a place in our State schools? I answer:
 "First--The true American spirit lpresupposes it. The American doctrine of separation of church and state and of religious freedom has been pervert- | ed into a pseudo -Americanism, the sep aration of religion and the state, deny l ing the former a place in our schools. and seeking to discredit 1t in our so- ciety. This movement originated not here, but in France, whose influence was strong during our formative pe- riod. and whose revolt against eccles- iasticism went to the-extent of a re- volt against religion. Nothing is nIainer than that the foundations of