The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1907-03-16
Stumbling Blocks In the
Way Of Moral Reform

- he Moral wave that has been
given TO the present plea for law and
order. He said that if no more than
a +wave" had been expected the
movement would never have been
started. Jer. 2o:7 was taken for
text-"I am become a laughing stock
all the day, every one mocketh me-
He called the text "lamentation of
the prophet as he faced an apparent
failure in his attempts at reforma-
ton" After speaking OF the perse-
cution which the prophet was called
upon to suffer at the hands of those
whom he sought to help, he said thar
he desired to point out some of the
stumblng-blocks which we might ex-
pect to find on the way to civic re-
form He then spoke as follows:
The first thing that we may expect
to encounter is an affected innocence
and indifference on the part Of the
lawless. I say an affected inno-
-cerce" for such feels the brand OF
guilt Wi1lful and defiant breakers
of our laws are the ones to whom I
refer. The disturbers Of the city's
peace are nor ignorant The ignor-
ant are burdens. not dangers The
great danger that threatens us IS
from that privileged class to which
no law Is applied. Innocence is pic
tured ON every feature. Th- cry IS
raised that "GreerviIle IS the most
lav-abidiHg place in the South" In
other days the boy who disturbed
the class in school was the only
one who wondered what had happen
ed The children were all surprised
when The teacher pointed out that
innocent face as the guilty chap. IL
Is safe to point out him as of the
gang who has two eyes and says that
all IS well in our midst.
81 say an affected innocence" for
such realize the danger Of their POI
sition. Our statute laws are severe
on evil doors. Some may be bought
whose duty it is to inform, but when
the public conscience is aroused
"hush money" will not avail So
1awlessness desires publicity only
among its patrons.
A good step towards remedying
these evils then would be to make
known the facts. TIE question OF
publicity is fresh on your minds. In
that noted trial which is now going
on in New York the evidence was
shocking. At first resentment was
heard on every hand when the papers
dared to publish it. Extreme meas
ures were contemplated against them
even by the President. But public
sentiment has changed. From every
side comes the call Make known the
facts If such things exist we want
TO know it." | advocate the same
thing with respect to our unknown
1awlessness Point out the house
and the door; tell who is therein, and
then probably gambling dens can be
found Sworn evidence on the print
er's page as to disorders would be
worth more than a dozen civic leag-
ues. An Information Bureau would
be an excellent thing. Published
evidence would demand attention,
and the culprits would soon be
brought before the courts of justice.
> Make known the facts and contin-
ne making them known. The spas
modic efforts in the past have Justi-
fed the supposition that this is but
another wave. and that its fury will
soon be spent. There is but one way
TO leave lasting impression, and
that is TO agitate and to continue agi-
Eating It is said that Cato closed
every speech in the Roman senate
with these words: "Praeterea censeo
Carthaginen esse defendant Carthage
was the hated rival of Rome, and to
destroy Carthage was Rome's SUI
preme desire. SO this eminent Ro-
man. in order TO agitate the subject,
hit upon this method of closing every
speech. no matter what the subjec,
might be. by declaring: Therefore
give i as my opinion that Carthage
ought to be destroyed The plan
worked well. Let us try it. Talk re-
form, urge reform, demand reform
Agitate till you get reform.
Again. when lawlessness is once
publicly dragged from its cover, it is
very likely to agree to comply with
any demand. and Is very often anx-
ious to lend helping hand to en-
force that demand. This is diplonl-
acv. It is ruse that very often
works. The early Church received
with open arms proseYtes from
among IFS prosecutors. Most OF
these were thoroughly sincere, and
nroyed themselves worthy Of the
name they sought to wear. OF such
was Paul Others came into the
Church as spies Being unable to
accomplish their designs from with
out they entered bhe fold, Paul de-
scribes such as 1false brethren priv
ily brought in, who came in prlviIy
Ia spy out our liberty This ele-