The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-09
PRESIDENT ON RELIGION Country Needs Spiritual
 Teaching. ADDRESS AT CELEBRATION On Church Welfare the Nation
 Rests. Mr. Roosevelt Condemns Vigorously Those Who Take Christianity
 as a Cloak to Hide
 Their Deeds.

Oyster Bay, Sept. s.--In a haif- hours address at the bioentennary cell ebration at the Christ Episcopal church here today, President Roosevelt talked of the necessity of religion and clean living for the welfare of the nation. ] T cannot understand any American citizen" he said. "who has the faint est feeling of patriotism and devotion to his country failing to appreciate the absolute essential need of religion in its broadest sense to the welfare of his country.
 If 1t were not for the fact that in our villages and towns as they have have grown up. the churches that have grown up in them and In the churchmen whose work is not for the things of the body, but for the welfare of the soul, it would not be nation today, becau~e this ration would not be fit abode for civilized man" He said that our material founda- ton Of wealth was but a base for the spiritual growth of the nation. and while the material outgrowth ought not to be disregarded its real object ought not to be lost sight of. The mission of the church was not to work in the interests of one sect, but for humanity as a whole. In this coDnec-
 
 the prediction of Bishop Burgess. of Long Island. who had just said that in two or three generations there would be but one church in this country. T wish to emphasize" said the pres ident, that vital importance to this nation of our people being taught to realize that Christianity manifests it. self in the conduct of its most hum ble professor
 oR sf. members of the Christian churches condemning vigorously those who take religion as a cloak for their evil deeds. On the subject of riches, the prest- dent said:
 There Is nothing abhor more than the telling of an untruth, whefh- CT conventional untrufh or not, and I would on no account be understood as anecting to depreciate material wellbeiug. To tell men to disragard. riches entirely Is to preach to them not onIy doctrine which 1t is impos- sible for them to live up 10, but which the preacher knows perfectly weii they will not try to live up to. But put riches below the things of the soul. Give to the body what the body is en- titled to. The multimlllionaire Is not A harm, but a good to the community if he appreciates that he is only a trustee for that wealth-that he is trustee for the cause ofigoodness.
 The president emphasized the neces- sity of every man being thoroughly eIf-sunportlng as a basis for spirit nal life. He concluded with the sen timent that the only life really worth living was one that made others pet ter because 1t had been lived.
 In the course of his speech the Pres ident said:
 .It Is true that in many things the tendencies at work among us today are evil: but 1t is true also that there are oialty of other tendencies at work among us that are good. l do not know that I am prepared to assent to the statement that we are so much worse than we used to be, but 1t Is not of importance whether. as matter or academic belief we hold that things have grown better or have grown worse. What is of vital importance is that wa should be resolved to do all in our power now--at this present mo- ment, as we'll as in the future-to make them better; and if we are unit in that belief, 1t Is open to us to differ as reg ards the other matter
 q feel that there has been real growth Tn broad Christian charity. believe that the different creeds are the essentials, in really vital things, coming closer and closer together all the time: because I think they are grasping the fact that the best way they can serve the Lord is not by war; ing against each other but by Joining hard in hand: standing shoulder to shoulder for decency, for honesty, for clean living in the home. no less than in the nation. The worth of any creed must be judged largely by the con duct of those who profess 1t. The most effective service for Christianity that can possibly be given Is to show in actual life that those who profess to do. give in their conduct an approxl- mate expression to the faith that Is in them. It Is conduct of the average Christian, not on Sunday, but on week days, not in the church alone. but in his family and in his relations to his netghbor and to the State, that will more than anything else determine In the eyes of the general public the worth of the creed that the man pro- fesses.
 ''The man is not good Christian who in his business dealings fails to re- member that it Is incumbent upon him to hold higher standard than his fellows; that it is incumbent on him if he Is a very rich man, to make 1t evident alike in the way he earns and in the way he spends his fortune, that
  ing truth and not dead doctrine. And, of course, what I say applies even more strongly to the man in the public life than to the man in business or private life.
 The Nominal Character.
 The nominal character, the man who has attended to all the outward ob- SC rvances of Christianity with no mat. ter what scrupulous care, who, neverthe- less embezzles trust funds. will pay disgrace in business. in politics or in home life is more not less to blame or worthy than if he had never made profession or belief
 "We cannot continue as a republic, we cannot rise to any true level of greatness. unless that greatness is based upon and conditioned by high and brave type of spiritual life.
 There is nothing we should ebhnr rlore than the telling of an untruth, whether a conventional untruth or not, and l would on no account be under stood as affecting to deprecate mate- rial well being. To tell men to dis. regard riches entirely Is to preach to thann rot only A doctrine which if fla