Evening journal., 1905-05-08
Or. F. B. STp'BIs
WAS INTERESTING
Spoke in Delaware Avenue
Baptist Church to Large
Congregation
HIS ADDRESS A STRONG ONE


HIS ADDRESS A STRONG ONE
At the Delaware Avenue Baptist
Church last evening the Rev DR. r. b.
Sturgis. lecturer OF international
reputation, delivered an interesting
address IN the interest Of the Florence
Crittenton Home which was much ap-
preciated by a large audience.
Dr. Sturgis took as his subject Tho
Duty Of the Church and Society in the
Realm of the Other Fellow"
Ia speaking OF the individual re-
sponsibility resting upon the, church
and society for the reclamation and
salvation Of its unfortunates DR.. Stur-
gis said IN part
"Am 1 going too far when 1 say that
the church. although having q record
Of wonderful achievement is. in view
of its present opportunity, still in the
stone age. on no other basis Is Il pos
sible to account for the very strange
inclination we have to regard the
other fellow as beyond the pale of
human interest and human love-
Il have reference now" continued
the speaker. TO the church in its
broadcast aspect, that aspect which
most vitality concerns a community at
large or. more especially, those whom
we denominate the submerged tenth
Although holding in its hands the
highest and most significant commits.
sion ever entrusted to mortals. instead
lof throwing it's shelter about these ex-
lilies of society a mighty multitude who
are IN the depths environed by condi-
ltions that make for despair. and show
/ ing thom that within its doors are TO
be found the peace and hope that can
hll the pitiful emptiness of their lives.
cries Away with Them
CORPORATE DISHONESTY
How does il happen that there lies
upon us today a burden that threatens
10 curse us. as a ntaion. throughout
! time and eternity? The average citi-
zen. apparently is waiting for "a moral
Earthquake TO shake up the city OF
community i'm which he lives. He takes
lup his morning paper and is shocked
las he reads the accounts of civic de-
lbauchery and frenzied finance with
its revelation of corporate dishonesty
HoTified when he reads of the scores
upon scores of human bodies and hui
man souls being damned annually e
crafty the sensuous greed of this
monster vice, the white slave traffic
la traffic which stands as cursed blot
crimsoned with the sacrihcial offering
to the god of lust and greed Of the pur.
lity and innocence of hundreds o
thousands OF our young girls. upor
the fair name of this boasted land o.
freedom and equality
Where lies the trouble2" exclaimed
The speaker 1T lies in the fact tina
we do not consider our own individua
responsibility for these conditions
Public opinion is not merciful. II Il
not the duty. perhaps, Of this might!
ljuggernaut. with its cold stern. un
nitying eye to be merciful, even in tn
face Of the misery and wretchednes
Of these poor unfortunates writhing il
the throes of mortal agony ant
whose lives are but a Dead Sea apple
, ashes to the touch. bitterness to tn
Z life.
and. again. it is so easy for tn
church to 'shirk her responsibility II
this regard and TO dismiss the Who'll
Question by saying that ministers ant
Ecclesiastical bodies have nothing 4
do with these 'sweepings Of the uni
rerse.'
Am I wrong in these assertions
Listenl Let a man fall. what is tn
penalty2' So many years I'm Stat
! prison. Yes. and much more than that
II is to be pursued. thrown dowr
branded, as Cain is said to have beer
during the balance Of his natural life
until, in the agony of crushed AM
despairing heart, he wonders If ther
is such a thing as a God of pity and o
love- Let a woman go wrong, thong
she reform, society practically forbid
it, II points the finger OF scorn az ne
and reminds her that she is nothin
. lbut an outcast and can never he any
thing else.
VALUE OF SOULS.
: do we fully realize the value of tn
souls that are thus being bartere
away for time and eternity? If s.,
small we sit passively by, resting il
? supine indifference. while this grea
, army of 100000 of our unfortunate sis
ters. recruited by an annual draft q
$4,000 more. is being sacrificed to thi
moloch, with whom greed and lust
an obsession. without a protest2
AS Christians. as men and wome
striving to shape our actions i'm ac
= cordance with the great law Of right
eousness. we cannot afford TO tax
. lpart in. or be Indifferent to- the ostra
cism of any man or of any woma
who is struggling upward to a posi-
tion which would entitle them to re
spect among their fellows. II only the
had never worn the stripes of
prison. or been garbed in the robes q
: a Magdalena. We may not raise ther
: to "a throne of purity IL is true. but "
| may raise them to their feet so tina
they can grope their way on towar
: the hazy light Of perfection.
. Let us apply this law Of Jesu
Christ, this law of love to twentiet
century life and we would solve a
its problems. This. and this alone.
precisely the one doctrine about whic
I there can be no dispute. Without
J no reform Is possible, and with it a
? reforms are possible"