The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-05-02


sending OF any som to his last rest.
The criminal has the right TO q death
not of the States making. The prin-
ciple of capital punishment Is as vic
ious at bottom as Is private murder
by the Individual, and is unwhole-
some in that it disregards the very
It essays to protect Thou shalt not
KILL" says the State. for II you do,
and we can prove the case against
you. we will slay YOU The incon-
sistency of the situation should APP
peal to everyone, but queerly enough
the very disciples of that Christ who
said, Father, forgive" are among
the loudest clamorers for the life of
the murderer
But the greatest example of the
violation OF this commandment Is to
be found In the actions of the Chris
tian nations of to-day. Theoretically
Christian, we are, as segregated peo-
pies, largely pagan. Praising God
as individuals and despising, most OF
us, in our private lives un-Christian
conduct and un-Christlike acts, we
stand ready as members OF a great
social body to sustain and to serve
measures that are wholly corrupt and
corrupting. Processing a love for
peacefulness and for the Prince of
Peace, we pay without a grumble our
military tithes Indeed, we may often
see the spectacle of two mighty peo-
pies, each paying homage to the same
God. clutching each at the others
throat, the meanwhile each is asking
God to give the enemy defeat All
too often we may see the armies and
the navies of a wealthy Christian
nation full of power menaciDg a
weaker sister to collect a money deot.
The nations of this day descend to
the decision by fisticuffs which all
worthy men deny to be manly, or to
be of value to decide an issue.
The situation would be ludicrous
were It not so lamentable.
Christian men and Christian ma
/ tions have no communion with dis
/ loyalty to the Father. The individ-
/ ual. the church. the peoples have no
/ call TO kill. God gave us brains with
which to settle our difficulties In
sober thoughtfulness. He gave us
| our hands to help ourselves, not to
| harm each other. The more money
/ you may possess, the more must you
/ care for the men below and about
| you. Financicrlng that makes its
/ chief profits through the exploitation
/ of the man with small means, or
/ through the financial wrecking of the
moneyed man, has no place in
/ Christian economy, for its fruit is all
/ too often death. Many are the vic
| eims of INSCRIPTIONS Napoleons OF
| finance. The easier you make the
| task of the toiler IN your shop, or
] mine, or mill, or field, the more do
you serve your God. The oftener we
! settle disputes between individuals
| or among nations, by the courts OF
arbitration, the more do we glorify
our Lord and manifest our manhood.
/ Immense armaments merely prove
national weakness of will and lack
| of mental poise. Wars often bring
/ victory to those who are in the right,
/ and they should. But no war has
ever proven the validity of the case
| of any victor no matter how well
| founded the argument of that win
ming party may have been.
The crushing of little children at
mems tasks is a short-sighted policy
/ to score it very little. The system
which wrecks aad destroys the youth
| of a land, prepares a heritage OF
/ wrecked humanity for the worriment
! OF future generations. Gdlu AZ any
! price is a poor business proposition,
| and is morally unjustifiable.
Ny friends, the need of the hour
/ in this matter is for an honest recog-
/ milton, by individuals and nations, of
4 the force which the words of Jesus
( Christ add to the command thou
shalt not kill" We need q quick
| ened conscience that shall always
/ counsel for the right. We need a
I holy manhood that shall insist that
no form of murder be 1t brutal or
/ refined, shall soil the private or the
public record The call is for Christ
/ men who dare to do good and to be
! upright, no matter how much the
/ dividends may suffer, no matter how
! much humanity may remain unap-
preciative of Kindness, charity and
! love. The call is for men of high and
| men OF low estate who shall ever rec
ognlzc that war is hell, and that God
is honorcd, not by the smoke and din
Of battle, but by the exercise OF hu-
man self-control.
Let Us, then, be men, and be sure
to keep our hands from hiood-Suiltt-
ness. Let not the death OF our broth
ers be upon us. Let u5 live and let
live. Let us serve and save. Let us
not destroy.