The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1908-11-16

nave made the national to be the
greatest Importance and we have
thought that II national politics were
rightly settled we have nothing far
Their to think of or to do We should |
begin with that which Is nearest to
us, and find In the city in which we
live, or in the purifying Of the life
of the cities in our states the incen- |
tive to moral effect. We admit the In
fiuence of the large icty and we have
admit that the life of all cities must |
be considered vital to all that goes
to the making of life, whether state,
national or civic.
1t is here that we have the en-
couragement of knowing that we are
freest from that bane of life political,
that fierce partisanship which Is some
thing very different from the attach
ment to party.
The church should understand some
thing of the sphere and the work
which are awaiting her, and which she
should undertake. The sphere In
which government Is carried on should
not be to us some uneXplored land, as
remote from us as the Sahara desert
or the unexplored arctic regions.
There are certain forms of evil that
the church may combat and certain
dangers to the highest moral lie of
the people that the church may set
herself to thwart. Let me make men,
ton of a few of them.
/. The men who encourage vice.
These are in every community, and
we ought not to tolerate, to say moth
ing of palliate the offences against the
morals of community that they con-
stitute The chief among their Of
fences is that they are allied with
the forms of evil that make for moral
and physical deterioration. They are
the men who encourage plague spots
in every community. They are beyond
the reach of law, and thy are always
law defying II they do not respect
the laws of God we can hardly expect
them to obey the laws of men. The
denial of primary authority will lead
them into the defiance of the second
airy law Our business is not SO much
with them, as with the weak or wicked
people who too easily become their
victims. They are the cntinels at
the gates of righteousness who turn
back from the highway of truth and
/ holiness the weak and tle timid who
would walk therein. Our business is
! to see that their work is negatived.
and finally rendered impossible. The
1 agencies that hinder the coming of
/ the kingdom are all in avowed oppo-
sition to the church, and they are re-
gardless of the welfare of Others The
church does its greatest work when if,
in earnestness Of spirit these men can
he won to the cause of God and en-
listed on the side of truth and right
eousness, but if we walt the coming of
that day before we commence the
work of rescue or prevention, we shall
30 down to the grave with the work
still in the future, and uncommenced.
2. The second evil is the Infamous
army of grafters which has fastened
itself leech like upon the body polite
They are the result, and the natural
harvest of the careless ease with
which we regard delinquencies thai
the first do not seem to partake OF
the nature of a strictly immoral deed
The expense Of government are sec
ondary, it is the debauching of the
manhood of men who would be a
strength in the solution of moral prob
lens, and who would help the nation
forward The public conscience needs
to be aroused, and it needs to be edu
Gated. The mere appeal to self in
terest is only refined form of sci
fishness, and we have to let the high
ideals of an unself1sh civic life lift
themselves up so that men may at
least see and understand them. The
church has not said enough when it
has said thou shalt not steal, it has
a mission in that it ought to create
such a conscience that stealing should
be impossible. 1t is by no means the
highest duty of the church to play
moral policeman. or to undertake the
duty of defining forms of evil, or even
to say with any authority how and
4 when these things shall be stopped
but 1t is emphatically the duty We
are our brothers keeper, and failure
along any line weakens us in the per
Torrance of all duty He who saairks
work will also shirk prayer The
church that cannot express moral
opinions will soon have none to ex
press. ana next TO the men WHO &c
evil with both hands openly, are the
men who do evil with the secrecy that
keeps the left hand from knowing
what the right hand gains In the
long run. the evil of grating joins
hands in the cities with the other
forms of evil have named, and
makes a partnership Of evil
! g. The danger arising to our com
mercial life from the presence of a
corporate life which has every tempta
ton to grow avaricious and :nsolent
Whatever division of opinion there
may be about the necessity or the
control of trusts. or whether corpora
ton are more inclined to wrong do
ing than individuals, we -ow enough
of individuals and history to know
that it has succumbed to unworthy
commercial methods and ideals. There
is a great temptation arising out o.
the rapid accumulation of wealth ant
power which will stultify all CONNER
cial morality. There may be differ
ences of opinion about the actua
truth of methods which are said to BIZ
prevalent. but there can be no diff