The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1910-04-15
EVEN CHURCH
CORRUPTED
Continued From Page One.)


know
Il am well aware That what an
going to write will be quoted out OF
its context by the agents OF the sys
tenn and used by its newspapers tC
prove that | am an enemy fthe reli-
gion in which | have been raised, and
a traitor to the churches that have
again and again saved me from political
destruction. | can forsee, from my ex-
perience in the past, that when ] at
tack the Beast where it hides behind
the church / shall be accused of at
lacking the church-and so accused by
the very agents of the Beast that
am attacking. But l hold that should
be a greater enemy of religion, a more
cowardly traitor to the church, if !
were to keep my peace about these en-
emies with in the camp of righteousness,
these traitors who are trying to betray
the very pulpit to corruption to pollute
the altar of God as they have polluted
the court of Justice, and to use the
churches for the same purpose that they
have used the dives.
"The Christian Citizenship union
during my last non partisan and non
political campaign for the judgship-
endeavored to obtain the use of a down
town church in which to- hold an after
noon meeting in support of my candi-
dacy, at which a number of clergymen
were to speak; no such church would
allow them to hold the meeting under
| its roof. During this campaign meet
| ing was to be held in downtown Bap-
list church, and permission to hold the
meeting was revoked when it was
learned that | was to speak; and the
reason given for the refusal was the
fact that | was going to speak. At a
time when practically every labor union
in Denver had adopted resolutions en-
dorsing our work in the fight for the
judgship, it was discussed before as
sociatons of ministers, where it was
proposed that they, too, should endorse
me; they silently declined to do so.
The Citizenship union had printed at
its own expense number of non-polti
cal circulars advocating my reelection
on non partisan grounds; the pastor of
the Trinity Methodist church refused
to allow these circulars to be distribut
ed to the congregation; and at the
Central Presbyterian church they had
I'd be distributed on the sidewalk be-
fore the doors.
"The young men of the Christian
Citizenship union were members of the
~. NJ. G.. A. But an assistant secretary
of the Y M. c. A., during this same
non political campaign, told me frank
ly that / could not be allowed to speak
from the platform of the Y. Nj. c. A.
hall because, he said, we have to get
our subscriptions from the business
men to run the association And-to
can scarcely be believed-the officers
of the union had been asked by the
members of the boys department of the
Y. M. G.. A. to give them a portrait of
me to hang in their meeting room, and
they were informed that the associa.
ton refused to allow the picture to be
hung Now, | had been at one time
chairman of building committee of
the association, and had voluntarily
resigned when I found that my chair
manship was an offense to the inter
ests' and hindered the work of raising
money for the association. had main
tanned my friendly relations with the
young men of the association; and I do
so STILL The picture was in no way
offensive. The photographer had done
his best to make me handsome in it. If
it was not beautiful work of art, this
perhaps was because, as Whistler said,
the sitter was not a bewilderingly
beautiful work of Nature. But it was
not so hideously ugly that the objec-
tors could not endure it. I shall never
believe that Never The Beast is not
so aesthetic.
"These young men of the Y. M. c. A.,
who are banded together as the Christ
ian Citizenship union, have done more
for the enforcement of the laws and the
maintenance of public decency in Den
yer than any other similar body of
young men that I know of in any city
in the United iStateJ. l could say
nothing too much in the way of crate
full praise of them or of the association
that gave them their ideals. But what
wish to say is that even they found
the influence of the Beast above them
met it in the management of the
churches of which they were members,
and were punished by it in the houses
of business in which they worked-for
two of them received notice from their
employers because they had been con-
spieuous in the work of reform.
'The ministers are in the same po-
sition as the rest of us. They are al
lowed to do what they can-and they
do much-to palliate the hardships of
poverty and rescue the victims of eco
monte wrong; but as soon as they pro-
pose to attack the causes of some of
the greatest hariships of poverty and