The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-02-24
DR. LEE TLLKS ON
SOCIAL REFORM
Strength Of the People" Is
Topic Of Lecture
THE DUTY OF THE VOTER
Denounces Those Who Vote for Men of
Small Personal Worth on Ground
That They Are ContendIng
for Principles

subject of an exhaustive and scholarly
lecture on social reform given last night
under the auspices Of the u. d. C. at the
Birmingham Seminary chapel by DR.. Guy
Carleton Lee of Johns Hopkins university,
a distinguished educator as well as an
historian of note DIR. Lee has been heard
In Birmingham before, having lectured
last year at the High school under the
auspices of the Lyceum lecture bureau
All who had the pleasure of hearing DR..
Lee last night were thoroughly delighted
with the lecture, and many will doubtless
embrace the opportunity to hear him In
his lecture this afternoon or tonight
In general exposition of the elements
which figure in the success or failure of
reform movements, DR.. Lee spoke in part
as follows:
Sanity Needed in Reform
what weapons do we need to overcome
evil? Only two-earnestness and honesty
but to use these successfully we need
something more than firm belief in the
righteousness OF our cause, something
more than courage OF our convictions.
We must add common sense to our en-
thusiasm, we must add business ability to
idealism, we must learn to deal with men
as well as with theories. Here Is the very
heart of the problem. Many reform
movement has failed because of the re-
formers"
Dr. Lee showed no false delicacy in
dealing with subjects which are often
veneered by lecturers or ignored entirely.
His arguments were plainly stated and
forcible, and his audience was thoroughly
convinced that closer investigation into
the personal characters of Teformers and
their methods are absolutely necessary to
progress In social reform.
Malicious appeals to prejudice and
hatred" he said, unfortunately are TO
be found whenever the socialistic class
newspaper is published and wherever the
demagogue speaks.
ION the one hand we have sly and
crafty appeals to personal interests, clever
and covert accusations that leave bitter
thoughts but no definite facts. On the
other hand we have the openly malignant,
publicly venomous utterances of anarch-
lists and their journals. God knows l am
with the oppressed, the downtrodden. But
you and | think, and because you and
shrink from agitators who preach an
erchy. riot, ruin, we refuse to aid In class
warfare, for reformer that follows such
methods will always fail and will fail be-
cause he deserves to fall
Conservation And RadicaIism
In discussion of conservatism and rad
icalism as related to social reform the lee
turer made a statement which caught the
interest of all. The elder members OF
community. he asserted, should not be
looked upon as necessarily the conserva-
tive element The trite association OF
youth with hot blood and radicalism, he
stated. should not lead to the mistaken
idea that all who have passed the age of
young manhood are foolishly conserva-
tive. DR.. Lee demonstrated to the salts
faction of all his hearers that our grand
fathers in their prime were not conserva-
tives but radicals, and that in the pres
ent age the Improvement In material ad-
vantages finds no greater appreciation
than from the elder portion of the citi-
zenship.
my friends" said the speaker. appeals
to class prejudice. arguments without suf-
ficient proof and the illegitimate use of
statistics have killed more reform move
ments than the power of the evil against
which they were directed. My friends.
despite fallacious arguments and false
statistics. there Is no inherent reason
why a politician should be more corrupt
that a bricklayer, or rich man less
yirtuous than carpenter. The truth of
thu matter is that the cause of the pres
ant situation lies in the low standard of
spirituality that prevails today In the
villages as well as in the cities. among
the poor as well as the rich Remember,
it is not by reforming class. but only
by regenerating the whole nation that our
countrys salvation can be won.''
In concluding, Dr. Lee applied his dis
cusson of reform to politics. Party plat
forms, he said, are promises for reform,
which become absolutely inane and USE
less from the failure of those who ad-
vance them to carry out the measures ad-
vocated.
The lecturer closed with a scathing de-
nunciation of those voters who justify
themselves in casting their votes for men
OF small personal worth by contending
that they vote for principles, not men.
Many honest church members cast their
ballots for unrighteous and dishonest men
on this specious argument, he said, and
In so doing they insult not only mankind,
but God. Right citizenship, he asserted,
Is the strength of the nation, and is abb
scllfely essential for the success of all
reform.