The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-03-27
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
DR.. JOHN F. CARSON.
Subject: Signs of Progress.

STeSS. Inc l0AI was lIOlll Jill
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-
lions; 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
inance In the industrial world there
Is unfairness and injustice. Corpora
lions ignore the Interest of and op-
press their workmen, crush competl-
lion, defraud the people; working
men band themselves together to
force employers to their terms, forbid
men to work except on terms fixed by
4 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
lomineer in their swollen pride and
dount 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,
[ 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, | would
remind you that there never has been
time when the moLey 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-
lions; and when you call my atten-
ton to the condition of the sub
merged, l would remind you of the
rinon yrhnn ,1nnn1n c1oUpc
and I would challenge your thought
TO the fact that there never has been
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
10 your mind the report of the Mis-
sionary Society for the Poor of New
York, issued in 1917, which deplored
the existence of small houses, each
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, Datronized and
protected by political influence, l will
remind you that when the population
Of New York was 1000 there were
1889 licensed retail liquor dealers
and not less than 5000 abandoned
females" added to the vice and shame.
OF course, there is more actual sin
and shame in 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 N our condf-
tons, but the moral tone and the eth
ical standard is higher than it ever
was, and cur black things appear all
the blacker because they are viewed
in the light of whittier background.
There are gigantic evils in our life,
but 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 financiers are nobly
meeting that command. We are liv-
ing in a period of investigation and
criticism. 1t is we'll 1t is a health
full tone, if men are sane enough to
discriminate. But men are not al
ways that sane. In the presence of
these Investigations suspicion creeps
into the mind and men are tempted
to think that all men 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 finer
and higher ethical sense than has
heretofore existed
Second, l call your attention to the
demand for the abolition of such prac-
tees 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, 1 call your attention to the
triumphs of the temperance move
ment. The change of sentiment or
the temperance question is one of the
most radical that the country has
ever known. Twenty years ago the
demand for the abolition of the sa.
loon awakened a smile or provoked
O. sueer. To-day that demand is the
fixed pul Use of thousands OF our fel
low citizens and it is being fulfilled
Five States-Maine, Kansas, Nortl
Dakota, Oklahoma and GeOrgia-ar'
now prohibition, and in one NOR
(Alabama) prohibition becomes oper
ative on January l, 1909. Six State
of the Union prohibit the sale or MAI
ufacture of Intoxicating drinks.
The progress of the Temperance
movement in the South is one of thu
most significant and inspiring sign
of our times. Two States, Georgii
and Alabama, have enacted prohib-
ton laws. Ninety-fiye per cent. o
North Carolina has declared again5
the saloon Mississippi has a prOhibi