The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-02-19

placed and died in prison and the New
Workers of that day no doubt thought
the worse was over We all remember
the Strong administration when IN the
same city there was a splendid wrench
ing of municipal power from thugs,
rogues and fncomDetents. It was i'm
portant enough to warrant q beautiful
book with full page pictures Of the
hero-citizens who fought the fight. But
the book IS now forgotten and Tam
many has done many discreditable
things since then.
But does this mean that reform is
futile? Happily, no. No good thing is
lost. The result Of every domination by
disinterested, public spirited citizen, is
On object lesson and a promise that
what man has done can do; but It is
more than this. There are often con-
crete law and constitutional landmarks
TO show for the period when good citi-
zens were On top, even for the hour.
Things were worse then than now.
When the Australian ballot was in
stalled in the eighties the greatest vic
tory In American public affairs was
achieved since the civil war. Talk Of
stuffed ballot boxes was common when
We Tniddle-aged men were boys, even in
the small communities. It is abated now,
It was Lowell. I believe. who said
that II this nation is to be saved, It will
be not by institutions but by men. This
is true enough, but rhetorical. The pub
lie SChOol, the church, are institutions;
1t fs impossible to conceive OF this re-
public without them as corner stones;
yet the dictum is right in this, that
without the right kind Of men, these
corner-stones would not be laid and
conserved. The more l think OF It, the
more convinced I am that the preachers
are right-good citizenship harks back
to the home. There must be leadership
OF high order. We must talk much Of
our democracy, and 1t Is well. We re-
5oice In the making Of good Americans
from ignorant, poveTty-stricken, hetero-
geneOuS immigrants. It Is inspiring to
think it can be done, and we are CRATE
full that there is In men Of every race
and condition q capacity which re-
spends to what We have here in Ameri-
ca; but without educated, well-bOrn,
ambitious leaders, our millions would
be sheep without q fold. I believe in
select souls. believe a home of refine
ment and aspiration, with its superior
atmosphere and advantages, may truly
ssy, We have here no ordinary chill
dreu, but boys and girls destined for
high mission" They are to be trained
under that impression. They are to be
told frankly that their heritage is a
high one and their responsibility great
er. This differentiation would be a
wholesome one to make in the matter
Of religious responsibilities. The young
man from a select home who runs the
gamut Of sin and then derives any
prison, reasoning that all are in the
same boat of responsibility, has not
been trained Alright He is by no means
in the same class. nor judged by their
standards. One IS worth a thousand.
His talents are five.
Christian youth are to be trained to
know that they may serve God in the
highest degree by making their city
decent The man who passes an Ordi-
nance suppressing indecent bill boards,
who by his persistent activity saves
youth from vicious houses. who reno
Yates a SUM, or restores dignity to the
council chamber. promotes righteous
ness no less than the layman who saves
souls at the seaman's Bethel-indeed,
the former deals not with individuals
but with a whole generation. I can con-
Ceive no more splendid credential with
which to approach the judgment throne
than a record Of municipal achieve
ments-Ordinances passed that save
child life, standards raised Of public de-
CenCy and honor, vice driven to cover,
happiness and plenty in the homes
where once drunkardness ragged. This
is Christian service that makes the
Lord Of heaven and earth glad. The
citizen who thus improves conditions in
q city, political, social, is like to the
statesman, for whom the world has
ever had reverence, and rightly; for
while other men are dealing with indi-
vidUals and their own time. the states
man lays the road on which civilization
is to run; he benefits not one man but
many. his arena is not the present but
all time.
This leads to the thought that
Christian life which confines itself to
what are called personal duties" is
narrow and inadequate. Every man to
his work, to be sure but the duties Of
citizenship are a part of every life.
surely Of those who would repeat on
earth the kingdom Of heaven. With the
growth Of cities. and their novel con-
ditions of peril, the duties Of the Chris
tan have bToadened. 1t is not enough
to wear a path from home to office. to
church, to home again. The Christian
who looks on from afar at the warfare
gOnig on between the forces Of evil and
good, who is cynical and uninterested,
is failing Of his duty; he viii come to
judgment. There are other ways Of
saving souls than by leading the youth
to the mercy seat. IF you grapple the
foes Of society. expose yourself to in
suit, ridicule and injury, by ferreting
out the distributor Of obscene literature,
by closing saloons. you save boys.
not as individuals but by whole
hOrdes. You belong in heaven; there
Is no theology with the Christ mark
on It that classes you anywhere
else. On the other hand, the citi-
zen who leaves the conduct Of hte
city 10 the politicians" who asks
merely 10 be '1et alone" who re-
fuses to sign petitions to enforce the
law and compel the police to do their
duty and TO suppress gambIing-this
SNUG, COwaTdly fellow, regardless of his
station in the chUrch-is losing his soul
as definitely as If he robbed a bank or
broke up his neighbor's home. To pro-
tect the boys and girls by right civic
to safeguard their way
along the street. to close the pitfalls
cunningly dug for their downfali-is
not this Christian duty of the most
urgent character? Can any church
wash its hands Of work of this'sort? is
1t not effective beyond individual work,
or rather is not individual work hope
less If the young converts are to be
turned loose in a city where evil is
rampant. 1 do not forget the work
done by the churches, indeed, that in
5titutiOn Of late years by its courageous
of civic Christianity has