The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-04-22
TIE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. JOHN F. CARSON.
Subject: Signs of Progress.

icles 1872: Men that had under
standing of the times" Here are
some of the things he said:
Any student of our age will find in
existing conditions much that wars
against truth and righteousness and
honor, and that threatens manhood
and the social order. In the political
world there is corruption. Votes are
sold to the highest bidder from the
Senate to the ward caucus; men,
whose only creed is greed, whose only
patriotism is pelf, band themselves
together to control political situa-
tons; certain public officials are
! growing rich on harvests reaped from
the black fields of vice and crime. In
the commercial world there is dis
honesty. For personal gain of wealth
or power men sacrifice principle, COM
promise conscience, become reckless
operators, INSCRIPTIONS gamblers,
bandits of banking, highwaymen of
finance. In the industrial world there
is unfairness and injustice. Corpora
tions ignore the interes; of and OPP
press their workmen, crush competi-
ton, defraud the people; working
men band themselves together to
force employers to their terms, forbid
men to work except on terms fixed by
a union, limit apprentices and so deny
young men their rights, enforce their
demands by violence, Ply homage to
criminal leadership. In the social
world there are wrongs. The rich
domineer in their swollen pride and
fount their eXtravagances in the face
of the poor; the poor sin and suffer,
because herded in poverty and
squalor. In all our life is the spirit
of unrest and discomfort. Safety
and languid WEAKNESS in parlor and
salon, suffering and signing in work
shop and in tenement.
If you tell me that there are un-
scrupulous men who operate schemes
of high finance, I would remind you
that the sentiment of the day is so
strong that many Of these men find it
convenient to seek homes in other
lands. If you tell me that there is
corporate theft and labor intolerance,
1 would remind you that, as never
before, there is a demand for the play
of justice and equity in al! relations.
If you tell me that the rich are def
antly eXtravagant and that the pow
erty of the poor is appalling, l would
remind you that there never has been
a time. when the morey Of the rich
was so readily at the services Of the
people as it is to-day through schools,
colleges, libraries, homes, hospitals
and innumerable agencies and institu-
tons; and when you call my atten-
ton to the condition of the sub
merged, I would remind you of the
time wne most people were slaves,
and I would challenge your thought
to the fact that there never has been
a time when the middle class was so
well off as it is to-day. If you call
my attention to the deplorable hous-
ing of the East Side poor, l will call
to your mind the report of the Mis-
sionary Society for the Poor of New
York, issued in 1917, which deplored
crowded with from four to twelve
families often two and three families
living in a room, and "of all colors. "
If you tell me Of the saloons and
brothels that are running manhood
and ruling in politics, p~atronized and
protected by political influence, ] will
remind you that when the population
/ Of New York was 10000 there were
1889 licensed retail liquor dealers
and not less than 5000 abandoned
females" added to the vice and shame.
Of course, there is mor actual sin
and shame in a city of four millions
of people than there was in a city of a
hundred thousand, but / am per-
suaded that an honest study Of condi-
tons will disclose that New York City
is proportionately better to-day than
it was a hundred years ago. There
are dark, deadly things IN our condi-
tions, but the moral tone and the eth
ical standard is higher than it ever
was, and our black things appear all
the blacker because they are viewed
in the light of a whittier background.
There are gigantic evils in our life,
but a gigantic battle is being waged
against them. The struggle is bitter,
but there are signs that it is not fruit
less. The throes Of to-day are the
birth pangs of a better tomorrow.
The light of that tomorrow begins to
dawn. Its sun is piercing the dark
ness. The east is aglow. The CLEANS
of a new radiance begin to illumine
the horizon.
First, l call your attention to the
demand for the play of righteousness
in all our life-political, social and
commercial. There is a new and
wide ethical awakening in all our
land. Never has the demand been
so insistent that men shall be honest
in the administration of sacred trusts
committed to them. And the great
majority of our fnanciers are nobly
meeting that command. We are liv-
ing in a period Of investigation and
criticism. 1t is well. 1t is a health
full tone, if men are sane enough to
discriminate. But mel are not al
ways that sane. In the presence of
these Investigations suspicion creeps
into the mind and men are tempted
10 think that all hen are dishonest
because some men have been proved
thieves and robbers. 1t is a fatal mis-
take. l am persuaded that there is
more honest fiber in the life of to-day
than there ever has been. The very
Investigations which are being con-
Quoted to-day are evidence of a finer
and higher ethical sense than has
heretofore existed.
Second, ! call your attention to the
demand for the abolition OF s. ch prac-
tices as war against the common veal.
A little while ago that demand was
for the abolition of the lottery. A
Christian postmaster put the Louis
lana lottery out of business. Just
now the demand in New York is for
the abolition Of race track gambling.
Third, / call your attention to the
triumphs of the temperance move
ment. The change Of sentiment Oh
the temperance question is one Of the
most radical tina the country has