The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-02-09
CONTRIBUTED
Two Good Men HeId Twelve Offices.

The following positions are made vacant
by the death OF Rev. 0. Y. Bonner and DR..
James Boyce: The pastorate Of the Due
West Church, the presidency Of the Wom-
ans College, the clefkship Of Synod, q place
on the editorial staff Of the Presbyterian,
two places on the Board Of Foreign Mis-
sions, one place in the Board Of Trustees
ofErskine, one In the Board Of Trustees OF
the Theological Seminary, one In the Board
the chairman Of that Board, trusteeship
Of the Synod, besides places on several
standing committees Of Synod. This long
list bears testimony to the abounding use
fulness Of these brethren.-A. r. Presby-
terian.
The Presbyterian might have gone fur
ther and told us more Of the offce-holding
business, If it had looked as far of as
Mexico.
Nobody doubts the worthiness Of the
character Of these beloved men, and their
ability TO discharge important duties
could not be questioned.
The only question is: Is it wise for any
organization to place 30 many offices into
the hands Of one or two men, even II they
be the best men In Synod? Can any two
men fill 80 many offices where time, eff
oiency and labor are required2.'
The Pope of Rome holds but one office,
and does not pretend to exercise the duties
Of any other Office.
The president Of the United States holds
no other Office than that Of President. The
laws of the United States would not allow
him to hold more than one Office.
The Governor Of the State does not as
sumo to hold the Office Of Sheriff, Coroner,
or Lieutenant Governor. The laws Of the
State forbid any man to hold two offices.
To hold two offices at one time would be
against public policy as well as against
law.
One objection to enumerating the offices
which these good men held Is, the proba-
bility that by the enumeration suspicion
may be created in the minds Of the unin-
formed public that the A. r. P. Church
is ruled by q coterie, ring or clique. =
And then, evil minded people may attri-
butte the non-growth Of the Church to the
fact that few men not only rule and
control the church, but, actually assemble
together, and without consulting the peo-
pie, levy heavy taxes upon others than
themselves.
While the few men who hold all the
offices In the Church, when they, without
the semblance Of authority, levy heavy
taxes upon the people, in the name Of the
Lord, for doubtful or unwise purposes,
the effect Is, to injure the church.
And to this concentration Of power, or
the usurpation Of authority, and to
the dissipation of effort, may be attri-
buted the slow growth OF the church.
While nobody doubts the perfectly good
Intentions of the sincere christians who
do these things, yet they, like the COM
mander Of an army, can do little without
enlisting followers In their work.
As matter Of policy and business, tact,
If ten Of the twelve offices that had been
given to two Of the best and the ablest
men in the church, had been given to men
Of even less ability and less force Of char
acter, it is perfectly certain that the addi-
tional ten individual Office holders would
have added interest and strengthened
weakness-to the church.
In politics 1t is undemocratic and Illegal
for any man to hold more than one office.
In the church, it is suicidal to surrender
all OF our rights and liberties into the
hands Of few of even the ablest men.
There should be many Office holders in
stead Of many Offices In the hands OF a
few men. All the people should be repre-
sented. One interest Of the church should
not be minimized to the possible gratif-
cation Of the of1ce-holding class class
which should not exist, separate and
apart from the people.