The independent-reporter., 1909-09-30


granite piers and spans fha nohle
kennebee across which pass onf
trains aud people With safety n /
saN some felsH With dartarbiy hei
use steel l-tootbed sas 80 tuf those
glfdcrs and thus Weaken the sur
port aud prpcipIfafc life and prop.
erty into death and destruction
would / not be equally culpable aud
criminal If ! raised no voice pf alarm
Of word Df protest? There rs bridge
which spans The chasm Of IA gross
and material prosperity. chasm
Of anarchy aud ruin and desolation.
~ rhasm over which ancient cihlliza-
ton and ancient greatness plunged
10 ruin and absolute and final de-
stfuction. That bridge is spanned b.
the steel arch of constitutional Law
and hutressed upon tie granite ril-
lars OF Gods Book. That bridge Is
the Christian Sabbath across which
mighty nation passes once in seven
days in safety 4 bridge which guar
antees rest and worship. peace, quiet
ness, hope, prosperity and tells of
God and heaven. And yet upon the
steel grders of constitutional law
and the pillars OF Gods eternal truth.
felon's hands are at work seeking TO
wreck and destroy the Christian Sab
bath.
The noble. true-hearted God-fear-
ing men of the past feared the Paii-
sian Sabbath and lax public policy.
They knew what a Bibleless, Sab
bathless policy did for France with
her Robispears and guitotenes and
communism. They knew that history
repeats itself They drove their CON
yietions down deep in statutary law.
1t is greyious to note that many of
their descendants are pulling up the
old land marks. Many no longer
fear the Partisan Sabbath with its
demoraliizng and desecrating effects.
| know of what | speak: For three
years | lived in the whirl of madness
and folly, for three years each sum
mer l saw open-handed lawlessness,
open bare-faced insolent Sabbath
desecration, that trampled with dis
dain every sentiment of Christian
decency, every ideal and principle
that has made this country fit for
decent people to live in. | saw men
from the ruined Orient vie with the
men from the old colonial state of
Massachusetts. Isaw men from Egypt,
Armenia. Italy and Palestine, com
pete with men from the old Pine
Tree State and that for the silver in
the dollar and superinscribed: In
God we trust"
Men and brethern hear me. There
is but one clean place for decent
law-abiding citizens to stand upon;
upon the word of God; upon the
statutes of the State of Maine. There
is no safety for the church, the home,
the town, the State, the nation, upon
any other foundation. When we get
off those rocks and away from those
basal principles of Divine and hui
name government, we begin to get
down and into the mud and slush and
dirt and swash of sin and lawlessness
and crime and yillany There min
gle the grafters, the ward-heelers,
the incontinent. the corrupt police
making bargains with rumsellers,
Sabbath breakers, gamblers. Let men
stand upon Gods word and statuary
law Let men get off those rocks,
there is danger. In that slush of
lawlessness are also the gutter-rak-
ers and gutter-snipes of red journal
ism; men who make assaults upon
decency and law and call it delicious;
men who cover up villany and cor
ruption as fine art; laws based on
the Bible are blue and all the rest of
it; and men who ask for decency are
old fogies.
And now in conclusion let me say;
Let us never forget that permanent
and enduring success cannot come
- nj ms
terial prosperity alone. This coun-
try is great. it is rich, it is prosper
Gus. We have great cities and vast
commerce and eighty-five million in
habtants. We may, like Egypt,
build great pyramids of wealth and
have temples of worship and insti-
tutions of learning; we may line our
avenues and boulevards with grant
tic sphinx and obelisk; me may like
ancient Babylon have our hanging
gardens and palaces of unrivaled
magnlf1cence, In which the rich redel
and elite shine. We may like ancient
Rome send our ships to every cline.
We may like Hannibald and XerXes
have battalions of soldiers and like
Anthony and Cleopatra, mighty
navy. We may with superior skill
throw a net work of iron and steel
from continent to continent; we may
build our mighty cities. metropoli-
tan centres, New York, Chicago,
Baltimore, Philadelphia, whose
wealth and magnifcence outrank
ancient Thebes, Carthage and MIN
nevech, and if like them we forget
God, if like them we forget that
riohtpOuSnpSS pX9ltS Our bOaStpd
wealth and greatness shall sink to
prey to folly and the balance of
eternal right shall weigh us and find
us wanting.
Let the inspiration of the hour, the
history of the past give us hope, new
visions. new courage, and the words
of this poem be our patriotic prayer
God give us men! a time like this
demands
Strong minds, great hearts. true
faith and ready hands.
Men whom the lust of Office does not
kill;
Men whom the spoils OF Office can
not buy
Men who possess opinions and
will;
Men who have honor, who will not
Men who can stand before a dema-
gogue
And face his treacherous batteries
without winking.
To all men. sin-crowned, who live
above the fog
n pDb1iG dntV and in DTiNQtp think