Durango semi-weekly herald. (Durango, Colo.) 1899-1907, 1906-09-24

ton, better obeyed, fitting the times
and people.
The mayor was to have been fol
lowed by B. w. Ritter. whose toast
was Church and Wealth." but Mr.. E
e. Smiley, having experienced little
OF the trepidation sometimes felt by
after-dinner speakers, and not I'M
humorously alluded to in the press at
times, had cajoled the toastmaster
into permitting him to speak first,
ito have the agony over with as
quickly as possible" as he expressed
| IL. Therefore Mr.. Smiley was the
next to respond, his toast being
"Church and Education" The sub
ject was very ably handled notwith-
standing the trepidation before allud-
ed to. Mr.. Smiley thought that the
church and educational institutions
should work together in order that
the most beneficial results might be
secured, religion and secular educa-
ton going hand in hand, science and
| the humanities on the one side Joined
to religious and moral teaching on
the other.
| Church and Wealth." Mr.. Ritter's
toast, came next. Mr.. Ritter very hui
morously spoke of his unfitness to
respond to such a toast, saying that
he neither had had much acquain-
lance with wealth, although he had
never been averse to such an ac-
quaintance nor had he formed very
intimate acquaintance with the church
His talk led to the subject of the
| enormous amount of capital invested
la church property, which he charac-
terized as idle capital, unemployed
except on probably four hours out OF
the 16S of the week. He drew q
touching picture of the grand church
edifices which he had entered, where
though no services were In progress a
poor man or woman might go in and
be uplifted by the sublimity and
beauty of the scene alone. He
thought that American churches
ought to be thrown open as Ravens
of rest and places in which to go and
leave worldly troubles behind, nc
matter what the hour or day.
| Mr.. w. A. Reese, whose toast was
Church and Labor" responded very
ably, although he wondered how the
gentlemen who were responsible fol
assigning him such a subject got the
idea that lawyer should know much
about the church and most Of all how
they conceived that lawyer should
have any knowledge of labor, what
ever. Drawing a word picture Of
the laborer, the farmer and the arti
san going to church as he used to dc
in years gona by, almost universally
and the slim attendance of the same
people at the churches today, he
sought to find the reason for the
between the church and labor. He
thought that as between the wealthy
and well-to-do, who attend the
churches and the laborers. mechanics
and farmers, who do not attend the
churches, some middle ground mus
Eventually be found which will bring
all under the wing of the church
with common religion and common
interests.
Bishop Spaulding closed the pro
gram with Church in the West" His
talk was earnest, humorous, witty
and profound by turns. Beginning
with an allusion to the West as his
home, his love for it and its people
he compared the spirit of 1t with thai
of the East, the conservatism there
and the tendency to extremes of &C
ton and views here. A town of the
West of 1900 population would show
more activity, more vim than city
of 10000 would show in the East
But is it real? Has the solid founds
ton of the pioneers of New England
the Quakers of Pennsylvania and
the emigrants from New England
who settled the Western Reserve q
counterpart in the foundation which
the later pioneers of New West are
laying? He thought 1t could not be
said to be so. There was too much
OF speculation and too little of solid
achievement. There are, too many
cheerful liars calling themselves
boosters; there's too much froth. BY
turns he answered points made by
the preceding speakers, skilfully lay
ing bare fallacious reasoning or play
fully twitting them ON their apparent
Indifference to matters religious and
urging them to cease being "scabs ;
An account of the affair would be
incomplete without reference tc
the fine work done by Mr.. Fleetwood
as toastmater. He introduced each
subject and the speaker by the skill
full use of funny stories, nicely fitted