The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-11-28

A
wealth OF Russia Is but $245. God
has been greatly favoring America
and while this is matter OF
Thanksgiving we should not forget
the great responsibility it brings to
us. The divine order Is "I will
bless thee and thou snalt be q
blessing. God most certainly in
tends that America shall be a
, blessing to- the world.
MORAL REFORM.
The past year has been remarkable
! for the agitations, prosecutions, and
victories in the realm Of morals.
From the President of the Nation,
with his muck rake" to the mayor
! of the most obscure village with his
lid" the work of reform has been
| sseathly gaining ground. In no
particular, perhaps, has greater ad-
vancement been made than in the
field Of temperance.
In slavery days. Senator Calhoun,
lin conversation with Daniel Webster
was lamenting the agitation OF the
slavery question and the threatened
dangers to the southern slave hold
ers of whom he was one. Mr..
Webster sought to console him, by
saying that the slavery agitation in
the North was limited to the preach
ers and hanful of men and women
in the prayer meetings. Mr.. Call
,houn replied "that Is, the very power
am afraid Of"
For decades christian people OF
America have been in continuous
warfare with the liquor traffic, and
lifting their voices in humble sup
plication to Heaven and have been
Icrying How long! o, Lord, how
long!' But these prayers have not
been in vain, and the many great
victories of the past year leads to
the hope that in the near future our
own city and county and state will
be without legalized saloon. 1t
, may be of interest to note that the
following states are now doing busi-
mess for themselves and the world
, without the revenues from the liquor
traffic derived In the form of q
| tax. And delivered from the shame
of such revenues. every dollar OF
, which is blood money. the people
are prosperous, happy and content
ed. The following are the Prohi-
!. bition states: Maine, Kansas, GeOr-
. gia. Oklahoma, Alabama and North
, Dakota NH.t
BY local option laws, We note also
some gratifying results. In Arkansas
60 out of the rs counties are dry
Southern California, mostly dry. Con-
,necticut, Sc dry towns, 72 wet; Flor
ida, 30 dry counties out of So. llli-
nois has 200 dry towns. Indiana,
half the population in dry territory.
Iowa has 65 dry counties. Ken
lucky has 81 dry counties; IL wet :.
Louisiana, seven-eighths of the state
dry. Ohio has LAO townships and
so per cent of the towns in the Pro-
hibition column. 1wo-thirds OF the
state of Texas Is dry and a state
prohibition campaign is under way.
; And so throughout the entire United
States the temperance forces are
gradually and we believe permanently
gaining ground.
THE PROGRESS OF CHURCHES.
| noted recently an article in which
the author argued quite forcefully
that the church in our day is de-
lclining in power, influence, popular
ity and usefulness. Among other
things he noted the drift from the
church services 10 the parks and
places of amusement on the Sab
bath. The loss of reverence. II not
respect for cergymen; Instability of
church members as shown by the
readiness in which many take up
with religious fads; the resolutions
of religious bodies being read but
'unheeded. From these conditions
he concluded the church is passing
away. The author Is perhaps not a
christian. IL so. he only sees one
side of church life, and that the
darker side.
In the conversation of Jesus with
His Apostles. in answer TO ques-
tion Simon Peter said, "Thou Art the
. Christ. the Son of the living God.
, Jesus answered, Blessed are thou
: Simon, Son of Jonah for flesh and
, blood hath not revealed 1t unto thee
but my Father which is In heaven. .
il"And I say unto thee, that thou are
Peter and upon this rock ] will build
my church; and the gates of Hades
I shall not prevail against IT,
,I There are two important questions
|, here first, Is the Foundation still
! secure: second, is the church. NOV
building on the foundation? I"
There seems to be two factors to
he considered in the study of this
foundation for the church. First
Jesus Christ, Himself. Does He still
abide as the all sufficient Savior O
men? The testimony of, saved men |,
the answer. For nineteen hundred
. years. Jesus Christ has been pointed
out as the savior of all who would
u come unto Him. The record of thes
! centuries as 1t relates to saved mel
: saved communities and saved ma
ltions. to gather with the great mul
n titude Of witnesses In our, own tim