Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-16
ALL ARE INTERESTED
| IN THE MODERATOR
important Contest of the Pres
byterian General Assembly.
NO BITTERNESS IN FIGHT
Rev. DR.. w. H. Roberts of Philadel-
phia Leading Candidate.
SERMON BY REV. DR.. LANDRITH
Design of Discourse to Arouse Interest
in Educational and Relig-
ious Work.
Rev. DR.. w. H. Roberts of Philadel-
phia Leading Candidate.
SERMON BY REV. DIR. LANDRITH

COLUMBUS, Ohio. May 18.-AI interest
today among the 600 commissioners pres
ent<at the 10th general assembly of the
Presbyterian Church is IN the outcome Of
the contest for moderator. which will be
settled at the afternoon session. The lead
ing candidate seems to be Rev. DR.. w. II.
Roberts Of Philadelphia, stated clerk of the
| assembly for years. who was defeated for
| moderator at the assembly in Los Angeles.
Cal, last year. His friends today are act
lively pushing his claims, declaring that his
faithful services in behalf of the church
| should be rewarded. Friends of the other
candidates, however, insist that DIR. Rob-
erts has been honored for years by the
church. and that he ought to be contented
and allow other worthy men to receive their
share of the honors.
No Bitterness In Contest.
There is no bitterness in the contest but
much earnestness. Other candidates for
moderator who are being actively pushed
for the place are DR.. w. o. Thompson.
president of the Ohio State University;
i. Il.
| souri, College: Rev. Francis e. Marston Of
New York city, Rev. 8. F. Scovel, former
president Of Wooster University, and Rev.
Ira e. Landrith Of Nashville. Tenn. The
1 latter may be called dark horse" DIR.
| Landrith delivered the opening sermon to-
| day. He 10 being urged as a compromise
| candidate, but apparently his candidacy
1 was sprung too late, and the moderator
| viii In all probability be selected from the
| list above, with the chances early today in
| favor Of DR.. Roberts. The friends of DR..
Roberts are stating today that he will give
way to no one. and that they Will insist
that the commissioners themselves settle the
question Of moderator They were claiming
that DR.. Roberts withdrew at Los Angeles
| In favor of the Rev. DR.. Robert F. Coyls
of Denver. and therefore he has sacrificed
| enough and should be given recognition.
Dr.. Landrith Their Choics.
| 1t was announced today that a meeting
was held yesterday. attended by about forty
| ministers, who decided to support Rev. Dr.
Landrith for moderator as their first CHOICE
| and Rev. w. H. H. Black Of Missouri.
chairman of the board Of Cumberland. az
their second choice. The friends Of DR..
Black became very active while the COM
| missioners were assembling at Memorial
1
did the ministers from western Pennsylva-
| MIA urge the claims Of DR.. Landrith or
| DR.. Black. They said In speaking of DR..
| Black that It would be a graceful act to
| elect him. as some man OF the Cumber-
bland Church. IL elected, would bring re-
suits OF good feeling that could not be
overestimated. They claim that DR.. Black
ought to be rewarded as leading the move
ment in the Cumberland Church for union.
Seattle Wants Next Assembly.
| Little talk 10 heard today as to the place
| for. the next assembly. Seattle, Wash, IN
an active candidate for the honor. and II
| reported to have offered to give $4,000 to
| pay the expense Of the assembly. Atlantic
City and Kansas City are also talked Of.
| The 4.1QO seats in the Memorial Hall on
East Broad street were all filled today
| when the assembly Of the Presbyterian
Church convened.
| to order In place of DR.. Hunter Corbett,
| the last moderator. Rev. Ira e. Landrith
| of Nashville, Tenn, former moderator OF
| the Cumberland Presbyterian assembly,
| and the man who was instrumental in get
| ting his church TO join the northern body,
| delivered the annual address. His refer
ton that the property Of the minority of the
| directors in the Cumberland Church TO the
| union will be paid for were received with
| applause.
| DR.. Laudrith's Sermon.
The theme of Dr. Landriths sermon was
| 1.-The Call of Presbyterianism's Enlarged
Macedonia" and his text. Possess thou the
west and the SOUTH" Deuteronomy xxxfii:23.
He said, in part:
The design Of the discourse was to arouse
| the general interest of the church in educa-
| tional and religious work in the south and
| southwest, where Cumberland Presbyterians
| were most numerous at the time of the
interpreted by the preacher as enlarging
| OVERWHELMINGLY field of work, and as ut
| tering a clarion call to the united church to
| possess the west and south" The marvel
| GUS material prosperity OF the southern half
| of the United States, he declared, consti-
tutes both plea and a warning to the vari-
warning Of danger If the spiritual advan-
| tages of the people do not keep pace with
their commercial development. He favored
cooperation. and ultimate union with the
| Southern Presbyterian Church: declared
the south to be ready for widespread re-
| vival; reviewed recent moral reforms in that
| section, and announced his belief that the
| wonderful temperance triumph In the SOUTH
| ern states was due to the churches.
| "The War Is Over"
He assured the Christians at the north
| that 1.-The war is over In matters religious.
the south being fully ready now to well
come the presence and labors of any de-
nomination that labors sanely' and unself-
/ tshly for the present and eternal veal OF the
people The fact that the Presbyterian Church
1 was mentioned and the assurance given
that the protesting minority, who have
| gone into the courts to claim all the prop
erty of the former Cumberland Presby-
i terrain Church, shall have In the end every
penny to which they are morally entitled,
| no matter what the courts may determine
! the legal rights to be. The sermon frank
| ly takes up the race question in the south,
SO far as 1t Is involved in the union and
4 after showing that the united church had
| made adequate provision for the separa-
ton Of whites and blacks In presbyteries
and synods Of their own, thus enabling