The Paducah evening sun., 1910-04-13


one-half of the people will be urban
inhabitants.
Granting that these arguments are
true, and agreeing to their prediction
that ere long one-half OF our popula-
| ltion can be found in our towns of
over 5000, IL causes one TO feel all
the more anxious concerning the ef-
fcacy OF the country church. 1t isl
to the advantage OF the city resident
that a clean type of manhood should
reside in his midst. Men, moral men,
lchld-like in their faith, untiring in
their zeal and patience. have ever ad-
lvanced the best interestsof the cities
Yet they are all too few; and woe to
our urban life II the Incoming thous-
ands have lost their faith IN God, and
forgotten their obligations TO their
lfellow mani The rural church has
an excellent opportunity 20 demon-
strate her usefulness TO the world.
and prove her right to an existence
by furnishing to the urban inhabi-
tants splendid type Of manhood,
which would fight with vigor for
the speedy rectifying OF existing evils.
But at the present time Il seems as
I though such an opportunity has not
been graspedL Those familiar with
the true state of affairs in the city,
tell us that one of the most dis
oouraging features OF a city pastor
ate is the lack of interest the new in
habitant shows in church work. He
becomes lost in the throng. and his
Indifference to things spiritual caus-
es him to seldom gravitate toward
the house OF the Lord.
But the champions on the negative
side of the question present equally
convincing proofs. They admit that
the cities are growing but point to
their evident congestion and predict
a SPEEDY xodus. With the construc-
tion Of interurban lines and the in
PRODUCTION of the telephone the farm
makes no lonesome home. w. L.
Anderson, In his book. The Count-y
Church" says that while the popula-
ton of the United States fell from
96.6 per cent In 1890 10 Co.'S per
cent in 1900. 4 was because OF rapid
multiplication. On reading further
we note that during the year 1890
the increase OF our population by re
production varies from Il 20 2S per
cent II Massachusetts, had not re-
ceived a single immigrant since 1880.
and could have kept her people. at
the beginning OF the twentieth cen
tury she would have had only 225.-
900 people less than the statistics
show. Under the same conditions,
Connecticut would have passed her ac-
itual figures and had at least 222. 600
in addition. New Hampshire could
have reached her population and with
her surplus Of 100000 have filled n
Boston where Portsmouth now stands
In the words OF the author, "1f a
Oh inese wall had been built around
New England. and no one escaped
and their population grew, they could
have provided for all the cities and
furnished to Newport / 800. 900 peo-
ple." The negatives claim that II is
time for the pendulum TO swing In
the other direction. and consequent
tly they prophesy a rush to the rural
life.
strategic Position Of Country Church.
Now II those on the negative side
are correct. and n in the near future
great throng will pour into the
country districts, the conditions Of
the country church Is still a matter OF
great Importance. For In her pres
ent condition, with preaching once or
twice a month and manifest laxity IN
regard to systematic work. the church
cnnld hardly care for the increased