The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-01-26

1 impulse. I believe in the Church, and believe in it tremendously; its pos. abilities of effect are enormous, but 1t is too sleepy to realize 1t. It is 8 city set on a hill but with too few electric lights turned on to be visible to the suburbs after sundown. A little
 eaven leaveneth the whole lump; yes if you put the leaven in the lump and not set it down outside. The leaven- ing process does not begin so long as the leaven exists merely as a dessi- cated yeastcake.
 But in all this let me say again, ] am not in the least degree pessi- mistic. To a man whose eye is open to the course unfortunately our civic business is ve-y largely transacted by politicians, a glaring example of which has just been afforded in my own state when twenty-five senators voted to dispense with the constitution and act in contempt of it's distinct require ments.
 Function of Church.
 The function of the Church is to announce the principles upon which Government requires to be administer ed in order to the maintenance of those established lines upon which the security of the state depends, and not only to announce them but to reiter- ate them with that unanimity of em- phasis which shall render the nOn- observance of them impossible.
 LawIessness in Harlem.
 An insta..ce of the irresistibIeness Of that kind of moral pressure is af- forded by what occurred recently in the upper part of New York city Certain portions of Harlem in the re- zion of l25th street were simply run ming riot. 1ere was not a statute that was not being broken, and the if they could for the satisfaction of violating them. Appeals to the au- thorities received no response. The local police, who, like the party aI- ready quoted, take no interest in the millennium. stood distinctly in the way of any improvement The spot in people where moral sentiments are located was finally reached and a movement initiated that crystallized around the churches and that drew into it all the civic organizations of the neighborhood composed of citi- zens who, whether Churchmen or not, stood for the principles whose main- tenance is the only security against the subversion of government. The against which the sa1aried and liver fed guardians of the public peace were simply powerless.
 Police, An Obstacle.
 'The cops all the way from patrol men up the Mulberry street function ary bent before the ethical hurricane like wheatstalks before a tornado. And it was done, and the Church did it, and it can always do it when 1t wakes up to the use of its resources. Moth ing on this earth can permanently stand ir the way of intense consoli- dated moral purpose.
 Home Pagans First.
 ''And all of this is quite possible if the Church is either not to absorbed in material interests, or too much en- grossed with the matter of securing for it's members future salvation or too exclusively occupied with presely- tizing the heather on the other side of the globe. I believe in salvation both for ourselves and for the pagans abroad, but it is a poor way of stamping out organism universally to cherish it in our midst, and to let it sap the foundations of our Christian civilization at home. If we want to entice foreign nations to the American type of Christianity we must do 1t not merely by exporting missionaries but by giving to the world an illustration of what Christianity will do for the nation that calls itself Christianized It is in the interest of foreign mis- sions as we'll as Of home missions that we should be nationally illustra- tive of the principles of wholesome Christian faith and doctrine. I have read in papers published as far away from here as Australia and Tasmania as appreciative an exhibit of the pO- litical corruption existing among us as any that have met in the New York Sun, ana in some respects more so, more so, because antipodal journal ism has nothing to gain by suppress ing a part of the essential facts.
 'I am not talking about regarding political S; ;lners with toleration; that is a distinct matter; but about regard ing political sin with toreration, and treating depravity that is evinced on civic ground as more tolerable than depravity evinced on other grounds, taking the gristle out of the ordinary conscience and N len thus dev1rll1zed setting it to work as a mentor on questions of politi, Il policy; watering the Decalogue, and for the sake or carrying a point stepping down on 10 a cheap level with political trlcKsters whom we are bound to love as men but whom we are just as much bound to spurn so far as relates to mutuality of effort in questions that concern the supreme interests of the State.
 Christians In Politics.
 GA man,-a Christian, will hob-nob with a. crooked, perverted dissolute wretch of the Der, touch ing hands with a low-lived intriguer, knowing all the time that he is and yet because it is poli- ticaI pool that they are mixing their issues in will coalesce with the speckl- ed frater rity with no sense of shame or blush of modification. One of the worst things bout the whole matter of politics is that man has hard work to be in it without losing the power of moral indignation.
 Press, An Obstacle.
 ''The press too sustains to the Church almost as much the relation Of an obstacle as of an auxiliary. am not one of those who make sweep ing accusations against the press. It is much easier to criticize Journalism than it is to be journalist. But papers are published and circulated as a matter of business, and the purpose of business is to make money, but no man eve does perfectly good thing when his prime motive is shekels. We cannot Cr'ticise man or corporation for trying to make a paper pay any more than we could criticize the same man or corporation for trying to make a manufacturing business pay, but with that object primarily in view the