The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-02-25
REV. Mr.. CILlIES TALKS ON
PROBLEMS OF new AMERICA
Well Known Minneapolis Preach
er Lectures at the Calu-
met Theater.
GIVES SPLENDID DISCOURSE

Rev. Andrew Gillies of Minneapolis,
the well known preacher and lecturer.
delivered a very interesting address
last evening in the Calumet theate~,
under the auspices of the Y. NJ. c. A.,
to a large and attentive audience, on
the subject, "The New America"
AS a lecturer, Rev. Mr.. Gillies is be-
lieved to have few equals. Forceful in
his oratory. convincing in his argu-
ments. and with an attractive per-
sonality, Mr.. Gillies had his auditors
intensely interested from the start and
held their close attention at all times.
He presented his ideas of what Amer
lea should aim at in social, economical
and other features connected with it's
national life. and talked in a convlnc-
ing and attractive way
Throughout, his address was pune
tuated with amusing anecdotes and
stories all of them used to prove his
line of argument, or to Illustrate. as
and IDEAS he was driving at.
His pen pictures ofs New York life,
where he was engaged at one time as
a minister, in n fashionable and
aristocratic parish as he termed it,
were true to life He took his audi
ence with him into the home of one VI
New York's 400" costing at least ST.,
100000 to build and furnish. described
all the magnificent pictures, art gal
leries, Italian gardens. etc, and then
on to the tenement district in the self
same parish, into a home where 4
clearly German woman and her four
daughters were living on a miserable
pittance of So per week.
One of his strong points was the
necessity of abolishing the color line.
Mr. Gillies believes that this will have
to be done. He quoted a recent in
stance of drawing the color line i'm his
| that the north as well as the south
has similar views regarding the black
man. no matter what his culture
breeding. etc. Rev. Mr.. Gillies said
that Minneapolis intended making a
bid for the next general conference
Of the Methodists. He stated how he
went to one OF Minneapolis prominent
motel men. and endeavored to secure
| accommodations for some colored
ministers, two or three of whom We're
men of the brightest of intellect. re-
fnement and education. This particu
ar hotel man positively refused to en-
tertain them. Mr.. Gillies informed the
hotel man, that the national conven-
| ton of ministers would mean some-
hing like 100000 to the city, but that
| made no difference. The lecturer
spol;e in scathing terms of the recent
lvnching attempts at Cairo ILL.,, where
the mob was anxious to take a mans
life. simply because he was black, foi
snatchng a purse containing a feN
| dollars.
He touched on the alien question
and said that the alien coming to this
country had his rights and this country
should see that he got them. Mr.. Gil
lies made a hit when he said that there
was hardly a family in that or any
other audience that had not a steer
| age" passenger in 1t.
He quoted Jerome New York's ex'
prosecuting attorney, whom he visit
ed with other ministers some time ago
| and said that Mr. Jerome when asked
why the law i'm Europe was more re
! spected than here. replied, that If some
prominent person or representative oi
some institution asked a Europeaf
| lawyer whether there was not some
means of getting around the law II
order to carry out some scheme. ht
would probably be kicked out of thai
lawyers office. Mr.. Jerome added thai
ii was quite different i'm this country
| where, II the price was in sight, the
wheels would be set in motion Mr.
| Gilies said very impressively, Unit
our lawyers learn to reverance the law
we will have a problem to face thai
will shake this great country of ours
to its very foundations"
He left the working out of the vari-
! Gus problems for the betterment ci
| America to his hearers. and concluded
his address amid vigorous applause.