Evening star., 1909-07-12
RELIGION EVERY DAY
President Doesn't Believe in
Once-a-Week Use.
HIS SENTIMENTS CHEERED
Speaks at Corner Stone Laying of
Ingram Memorial.
LARGE GATHERING IS PRESENT
Representative. Esch Condemns the
Small Male Percentage of Church
Membership in the Land.
LARGE GATHERING IS PRESENT

Iotu Stree( ana -MaSSacDuSettS avenue
northeast, Yesterday afternoon.
| The President paid a glowing tribute
| TO the personnel of the civil service and
| urged the admission of religion to the
| everyday affairs of life. He wanted the
religious life made attractive. The Presi-
dents participation in the exercises and
| MS speech added one more link TO the
ties of affection in which native Wash
ingtonians have held him.
| Upon the Presidents arrival in an au-
tomobiie at the stand he was greeted
with hearty cheering, which was re-
| doubled at his departure. At the close Of
the exercises he held an impromptu re-
ception with others who took part in the
ceremonies.
The Presidents Remarks.
President Taft spoke as follows:
| Dr. Fizzell, Ladies and Gentlemen:
When your minister came to see me in
the hurry of a busy morning at the
White House, and invited me to attend
the dedication ceremonies of his church,
| either he forgot to tell me that was ex-
| pected to make speech, or else there
| were SO many matters pressing that 1 did
not catch that statement from his lips.
am glad to be present at a ceremony
| beginning the usefulness of an institution
| OF religion as this church will be. 1t is
Congregational church, and, as the min
| lster says comes from New England by
descent l likewise claim New England
| ancestry. | venture to think, however
mat the plan of this church Is somewhat
olnerent in its method of bringing men
to God and attracting men and women
TO religion than that which was adopted
by the Pilgrim fathers and those who
| Immediately followed them
As L recollect it. their idea was to
separate everything from religion, to
clothe it with nothing externally beautj-
ful, and to make the service of religion
as severe as possible, so that YOU can
well understand the question of the little
boy who had been subjected to these
very strict rules of the Sabbath day in
the Puritan family when he asked his
mother whether, when she told him that
heaven was to be all the Sabbath day,
ne could not go down to hell and play
Saturday afternoon.
Now this church and most churches
have properly departed from making
religion something severe something in
the way of a test and criminal trial In
Which every one is to be subjected to
condemnation. You know the story of the
young man and his bride who began life
In city and who found themselves con-
fronted with the question what news
paper they should subscribe to- The
young man described his situation and
the trouble he found himself In by saw
Ing: My dear. l don't know what to do.
The paper that Is published in the morn
Ing makes vice so attractive, and the
paper that is published in the afternoon
makes virtue SO unattractive, that we
will have to subscribe to some other pa
per in some other town..
Religion a Part Of Daily Life.
"As I understand the plan of this
church, it is to make religion a part
Of the life Of those who are members
Of the church. 1t Is to furnish ra-
t1onal amusement. 1t Is to make the
church so attractive by reason of it's
social qualities. by reason OF Offering
an opportunity for physical exercise.
for intellectual exercise, that those
who are members of it shall regard
religion as necessary part Of life and
one which they will welcome as a part
Of life. and not which they regard as
something apart TO be improved once
every seven days and then to be taken
in as small doses as possible and still
conform to the religious law.
I am glad to know, to see and to be-
completely as this plan indicates. are
adopting the view that there is moth
Ing inconsistent between religion and
duty and happiness and rational amuse-9
ment. and that the union of all of them
Is not something that Is repellant to the
real religious soul. But, my dear friends.
did not expect to speak after the elo-
quent address of my friend Mr.. Esch
OF Wisconsin, who properly was called
upon here to answer for both OF his
constituents and to answer we'll as he
did.
Tribute to the Civil Service.
But want to say one thing. This
church Is established in Washington; it
Is well that it is here: it is established
upon Capitol Hill. Now, Washington
contains the government of this country.
1 don't mean the President and the cabi-
net. I don't mean the Senate and the
House OF Representatives., but there is
something that goes to make up this
government as a machine that continues
to operate when the President goes to
the Seacoast, when the Senate and the
House go home and attend to their pri-
vate business, and when the members
Of the cabinet disappear In various direc-
tfons from this somewhat heated tenn
perature. and that government Is the
government Of the civil servants-train-
ed civil servants who know how things
ought TO be done and through whose
agency the government will be carried
on from now until the end of time as
l hope: a trained body of civil servants
who are willing for a very reasonable
compensation, sometimes much too low.
to give out what is the best OF them to
the carrying on OF this government In
an honest, effective Way-men who are
philosophers enough to know that by the
enjoyment of a small salary. If they
rid themselves from the worry and the
corroding effect of mercenary ambition.
they can get more happiness out of life
in seeing their families grow in the edu-
cation of their children than by aspir-
ing to be millionaires and plutocrats.
An Auspicious Beginning.
Now, that body Of men is here in
Washington and / know no better body
Of men constitute a moving force In
church like this than the civil servants
who doubtless live about this vicinity. 1
congratulate the minister on having
that material out Of which to build up
the great structure that doubtless will
be his when this church Is built and
when the congregation reaches the pro-
portions that 1t will doubtless reach.
congratulate him on the ausptctous be-
ginning of this enterprise. l copgratu-
late the neighborhood on having an In
strumentality that cannot but elevate 1t
wfen 1t Is put in force. And now, DIR.
Frizzell. as l am an accomplished ma
son, / shall be glad to continue.
The President then placed In the cor
pers connected with the church.
Patriotic Decorations.
The speakers stand was decorated in
a mass OF red. white and blue bunting
and the American fiag, one end Of which
extended over the corner stone, which
was already in place and awaited only
the sealing in of the metal corner stone