The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-31
FOR THE CAUSE
 OF MISSIONS. Impetus Given Movement
 Last Night. MEETING AT COURT STREET The Speakers Were Armstead Brown and Leon McCord. Movement Was Inaugurated for In- serdesominational Work in the
 Interest of sIissIons and
 Missionary Education-- Many Pledges Given.
MEETING AT COURT STREET

Before a. congregation completely filling the large auditorium of the Court Street Methodist Church, the sub- ject of education in missions both home and foreign was discussed by Armstead Brown. Superintendent of the Court Street Methodist Sunday School. and Leon McCord. Superintendent of the Baraca Class of young men of the Dex- ter Avenue Methodist Church.
 Sunday School workers. missionary societies, and young peoples societies from churches of every denomination fh the city were represented, and at the call of Chairman Grant cards pIedging a systematic study of the mission question filled all collection plates passed by the ushers..
 The speakers were full of their sub feet, and the audience showed its in- terest in the great question by pay ing the strictest attention to both speakers Not only was the missionary rally interesting from the discussion of the subject. but for the occasion a special choir and special music were put upon the program
 The singing of the hymn Joy to the World" openedi the meeting and was followed by an anthem by the choir, and Scripture reading by Blount Davidson Mr. Davidson read passages referring to the command in the new Il the vineyard of the Lord. After a hymn and an anthem, Armstead Brown was introduced by Chairman Grant
 Mir Brown said in part as follows
 we are living in the supreme tram sitional period of the ages, and the history of the past shows that such periods are times of great opportunity the mighty hinges of history on which turn the destiny of States and of nations. and civilizations.
 Broadly speaking, the civilizations of the past have been rural and agri- cultural: the civilizations of the fu- ture are to be largely urban and in- dtstriaI Of course there have been great cities in the past and there will be vast agricultural interests in the future, but there has been and is now a great shifting of population and power from the country to the city which has been less obvious in the South than in sofne of the more pop ulous sections of the country, but the movement Is on here with us too, and growing Tn momentum.
 ''The problem of the city is becom- 1ng the problem of civilization. The city organized means civilizatfon pa- ganized. The city Christianized means the world Christianized.
 Already the wealth of the city dom mates the land. Sixty years ago more than half of the United States was in the rural districts. Now more than three-fourths of that wealth is in our cities. While the wealth of the rural districts has increased fourfold. the wealth of the cities has increased six feen-fold, and the influence of wealth for good or evil Is Kar-reaching.
 sAgain the press, which gives di- rection and voice to public opinion Is located in the city. The press is a great power.
 .'The time is not far distant when, in addition to the already dominant influence of wealth and of the press, the city will have the power which in a democracy goes with the majority