The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-11-29
BREACHES ON
 PRESENT DANGERS
Hope for Their Solution in h.
 tegrity of the Political Leaders of the Day.
SEVERAL QUESTIONS
 FOR SETTLEMENT
Sermon by Rev. R. E. Brown at the Union Thanksgiving Service in Pilgrim
 Church.

The union Thanksgiving services held in Pilgrim chprch yesterday at 10.30 a. m, were well attended and very in- teresting. The program of services were as follows: Organ voluntary; in- vocation, Rev. R. E. Brown; reading, Psalm, 1OS 70, Give Thanks Unto the Lord" responsively; hymn, "Oh, Wor- ship the King, All Glorious Above, quartette; offering for the Mt. Carmel home; offertory solo, Miss Farren; reading, part of Deuteronomy, eighth chapter, Rev. F. C.. Tullar; Thanks giving anthem, quartette; prayer, Rev. Charles G. Smith; hymn, 70, God, Be- meath Whose Guiding Hand" quar- tette; sermon, Rev. Robert E. Brown; hymn, Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" quartette; benediction, Rev. George A. lAlcott. MT. Brown preached 8 fine sermon with the note of optim- ism ringing all through it. He spoke In part as follows:
 Text, Eph 5:2O-"Giving thanks al- ways for all things. Thelt1e-"C Causes for Gratitude"
 Thanksgiving day is an institution that has become so firmly fixed and so widely recognized that 1t may be likened unto a stately tree with many roots. It springs, in fact, from that desire inherent In all men which urges them as 1t did Cain and Abel to make an offering unto the Lord. More mar rowly, 1t roots in the Colonial history of this republic when the Pilgrims, amidst all their. poverty and hardships, set aside one day for prayer and thanks giving But neither of these connec- tions will account for It's continuance. Therefore 1t must root deep in that fundamental idealism native to Amer ican civilization. It grows out of that conviction that behind our material prosperity there is a spiritual reality, | It testihes that in our. conquest of nature we have not forgotten the God | of nature. It prOciaims' that in an epoch of peace and plenty and power we still recognize the guidance of a ] wise and benevolent Providence. Civ Ing thanks always, for all things. That Is the spirit that has ever char acterized the national day of gratitude, 1 whether we have been passing through l an era of peace or woe, prosperity or diversity. plenty or poverty The causes for thanksgiving this year must be very evident to all.
 Material wealth is the basis of our civilization and in this we have been wonderfully blessed The imagination is not able to grasp the significance of the seven billions of dollars represent ing the value of agricultural products alone, How shall we be able to esti- mate then, besides this, the coal, the | iron, the gold and the products of for 1 est and sea?
 l "The credit for this magnificent achievement rests on no Individual, noi on any one class. Without the muscle 1 of the laborer capital would be idle; without capital the ingenuity of the In. 1 ventor would never get beyond the pat. ent office, and without mind to direct all, all would fall to cooperate for the good of each
 "But close beside our fundamental blessing lies our fundamental danger Who are to be engaged in this enter prise of gathering wealth? Children or men and women? What are reason able hours? What are honest wagesi What is a fair distribution of the products among the claimants? These are the unsettled difficulties connected with the activity of growing wealtl which, in the midst of our thanksgiy- ing makes us tremble and consider.
 Tn America political problems have ever been to the front, Some have beer settled once and for all We are { democracy, not an aristocracy Church and state are forever divided The state must provide education for hei citizens, Slavery has gone. The Union is a fact.
 "But there are other problems just as urgent as these. Shall the Consti- tuition be bent by interpretation Or by 1 amendment? What are the practical l rules for the governing of interstate commerce? How are we to steer the | work of democracy wisely between 1 tyrannical centrallzation and decen- I tralized anarchy These are the ques- tions that are being forced on us today and before which so many of us a' times feel helpless. But here Is the bright side. There is we believe, an l increasing tendency to appeal to reason and experience rather than to hatred ! or passion. There is also a high de. gree of integrity among our national leaders. we may differ with them ir their political judgments. This must ever be so. But to know that along with a high degree of ability there i' coupled a sincerity that is above re- proach; this Is political asset beyond price.
 When we consider the moral solu- tion, there is room for hope. No longer Is the church a lonely voice crying ir the wilderness. Moral lessons are be- ing enforcd in the schools, the press the stage, by industrial and politica leaders and by the history of recen events.
 "Go home, and as you gather round your tables, thank God for prosperity for political and religious toleration and for living in an age when mora