Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-15
BARBARISM BRED
BYLAWLESSNESS
Rev. I. o. Nothstein Condemns
Cairo Lynchings in Ser
mon.
GOVERNMENT AIDS MAN
"Christian People Must Condemn All
Violations, No Matter What
Form They Take

1ect OF last evenings sermon of Rev.
Ira o. Nothstein, pastor Of Grace
Lutheran church. He said in part:
I'm view of the sad condition of
matters in one of our own states
cities during the past week and in
view of the general tendency and
practice of lawlessness in our own
city, no better text could have been
found than the epistle lesson for this
Sunday, as it is found in PauIs Epis-
tie to the Romans, XIII: II:
Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers. For there is no
power but of God; the powers that
be are ordained of God. Whosoever,
therefore. resisteth the power, resist
eth the ordinance of God; and they
that resist shall receive to them
selves damnation. For rulers are
not a terror to good works, but to
the evil. wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power?
DO that which is good, and thus
shalt have praise of the same; for
he is the minister of God to thee
for good. But If thou do that which
is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not
the sword in vain; for he is the min
lister Of God, a revenge to execute
wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be subject,
not only for wrath, but also for con-
science sake. For, for this cause
pay ye tribute also; for they are
Gods ministers, attending continual
~ upon this very thing. Render
therefore, to ali their dues; tribute
to whom tribute is due; custom to
whom custom; fear to whom fear,
honor to whom honor
Law of Divine Origin.
"Our text takes us at once to the
root of matter by declaring that gov
eminent and law are of divine origin
and divine preservation. No amount
of resistance on the part of man can
destroy government and law. We
might as well try to destroy gravita-
ton. Resistance is a sin against the
Creator himself
Again our text declares that this
divinely established ordinance is a
beneficient arrangement for the well
fare of mankind, being necessary for
all sorts and condition of society.
THE inference to be drawn from
these two propositions is that gov
eminent will be most successful
where rulers and ruled most clearly
believe themselves responsible to
God. Where men rule and where
men obey for conscience sake
Governments for Mankind.
Government is for the good of
mankind because it secures order,
which is necessary to our happiness.
l..
der Is. The bee works and builds
its cell according to the strictest
mathematical rules. The heavenly
bodies move only according to an es-
tablished order. Man also must work
after divinely implanted system Of
order. Such an order is the divine
law implanted into the human heart
at creation and surviving in part in
conscience, and renewed at Sinai. The
ten great words, the moral law, COM
monty called the ten commandments,
are the guide of mankind to order
These commandments form the basis
of the laws of all Christian countries.
DR.. James s. Dennis says: One of
the noblest missions of civilization is
the establishment and enforcement OF
just and effective laws restraining
and Furnishing crimes against both
the person Of the individual and the
good order of society. The spirit of
lawlessness has brought sorrow and
unrest to humanity during all it's
history, and were it not for the ma
jestic sway of law and it's efficient
administration there would be no
guarantee of security and order even
in civilized communities. What is
personal liberty (the power to choose
which laws a person wants to obey
means can be seen from the condition
of India before the British occupation,
when crime and violence were RAM
pant. The native rulers themselves
were arch-criminals. and society groan-
ed under the miseries of rapfne and
vicious depravity The terrible ex-
ploits Of thugs. dacoits, and the robber
castles, numbering over a a hundred,
make a vivid chapter in Indian law
lessness.
Foundation OF Liberties.
Government Is good for mankind
because it secures us our liberties. Re
spect for law writes Hon. John w.
Folk, is the foundation stone of the
liberties of a free people. In a re-
public, such as ours, the sovereignty is
in the people, and delegated by them
to officials in trust. The only the way
the people can speak their will Is
through the laws which their represen-
tatives make
THE spirit Of lawlessness is appar-
emily very hard to curb, and in many
persons lies very near the surface. so
that little spark may set them afiame
and turn them into barbarians
I'VE have had two examples Of this
lapse into lawless barbarism in our
own state during the recent past One
OF these. at Cairo. Is still fresh in our
minds. The scenes transacted in the
streets Of Cairo, lawless resistance to
the Officers OF the government, the hor-
rible butchery OF men who have not