The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1906-02-23
The Problem of the Modern City
Theme of Strong Sermon.


In the 21st chapter of John an
a part of the sixth verse we read
and it is a word from the lips O
the Master, Cast the net on the RICH
side of the ship and ye shall find"
Now, then, it is well for us. /
seems to me, to stop and conside
some of those subjects and problems
which relate to every side of ou-
life. More and more, as churches
we are beginning to consider all prob
lens which have 70 do with our lives
One wiser than the speaker has SAID
that all that concerns my fellow men
concerns me. Every one of us ought
| TO be able to say that tonight. All
the things which concern our fellow
men, ought to concern us-all the
things which concern the city in
which we have our home ought to
concern me and concern you. All the
things which concern the citizens of
the nation ofwhich we are part ought to
concern you and concern me, for the
nation is made up of citizens and the
city is made up of citizens.
For what is the city after all but
just a collection of homes. What
affects your home, affects mine. Yes.
and what affects mine, in a measure,
affects your home. What affects any
home in the city, affects all our
homes, and so we are deeply inter-
ested in the problem of the city.
There was time in the history of
our land when the prevailing national
influence seemed to be of the country,
but that has changed. The prevail
ing influence today is the influence
of the city, for the city always gets
the best-I wish I could stop there
and the worst-and the city, the
American city, is notable for two
things, so wise man tells us Cone
of our most thoughtful and careful
writers), and he has studied this
problem as only few men have stud
led it in our land, notable, first of
all for the rapidity of it's growth
That is true, generally speaking.
During the last fifty years few cities
or few large towns in our land have
lost in population, and many little
cities of 5000 inhabitants during
the last forty or fifty years have in
creased by tens and hundreds of
What is true in our own
Z, --.l,-s-
have been growing and at the ex-
pense of the agricultural regions.
+ Another notable fact concerning
the city, DR.. GLADDEN.. says, is this:
Tot xxt1i o1, hn ci
ness of the city is administered.
There are notable exceptions, of
course, because there are exceptions
to all rules. Here and there you
will find an efficient city government,
but it is the exception. One of the'l
greatest of English writer's has said
that the one failure in our country
Is the failure in the government of
cities.
There are so many things we might
say, but | might just as well leave
them unsaid for the simple reason
that every thoughtful person, every
human being who stops to think at
at all, realizes that the ordinary city
is fearfully managed.
that I have said there are
exceptions. You know this to be the |
case and 1 know it, and every other
observing person understands 1T very
we'll, and so we need not spend much
time tonight talking about that
phase OF the subject, but rather of
some things in order that the govern
ment of our cities, the government
Of our own city may be made better.
Dur home is here and we are deeply
in this problem because
It concerns, as I have already said,
every phase of our lives. 1t concerns
the very air we are breathing. Your
children should breathe the good,
clean, moral air or atmosphere. Such
you cannot have If there is no re-
;pect for law and order and decency, not
only on the part of the magistrates,
but on the part of the citizens. You
are interested in every way.
What can we do in the solution of
the problem of the government of the
modern city? The American people
have solved q good many problems.
believe the American peo-
pie are able to solve the problem of
good, clean city government. I know
we have a difficult problem, however,
believe American citizens are cap
able of solving the problem if they
only will solve it.
What are some of the things that
we must will to do?
The Mayor of this city in talking
to my Bible class today said, I'VE
must have dreams" In Revelation
the seer saw the Holy City, the new
Jerusalem coming down out of the
heaven from God. Every citizen of Owos-
so must see that, that is to say, every
citizen who dreams and prays for
better things must see the new Owos-
so. must have a dream Owosso as well
as q real Owosso, and he must not
only have the vision of the new Owos-
so, but he must work and sacrifice
to make his dream actual. Yes, we
are not going to do much unless we
see the new Deroit and the new New
York and the new Chicago and the
new Owosso. We can never hope to
do much, we can never hope to solve
the problem of good government here
or anywhere unless we have