The Washington times., 1911-07-09
Local Ministers Agree With
Lady Johnstone on Relief
Scheme.
EUROPEAN EDIFICES
OPEN IN SUMMER
Some Think All Public Buildings
Should Be More Freely
Used. /

Lady Johnstone's contention that II
the churces of New York had been
thrown open as places Of refuge for
dwellers n the heat ridden New York
tenements, many of the lives sacrificed
during the recent heat wave might have
been saved, finds supporters among the
clergy and among the prominent work.
ers for social betterment in Washing
ton.
The idea that schools and public
buildings as well as churches are not
as useful as they might bs to the SUBJ
merged tenth of the larger cities has
been advanced by many.
Among some of the clergy, howevuR.
1t was declared that a house Of God Is
made more churchly when 1t is an
actual haven of refuge for the physical
sufferer, as well as when 1t Is a spot
where those spiritually distressed may
lgo for relief.
Others of the clergy believe that to
allow vast numbers Of people to make a
sleeping place Of a church would be
wrong, except in the most extreme cases
OF necessity.
Wants Churches Opened.
Lazy WHO flu-
chot's sister, and wife OF the British
minister to the Hague, was highly in
dignant over what she termed the lack
Of interest in the poor manifested by
the highest churches in New York city.
She wants the churches thrown open
to the people during the torrid spells,
so that women and children OF the tene-
ments would be spared The torture of
nights in the crowded rooms of the
East Side.
Il got the idea of using the churces
for the poor in hot weather. from a GUS
tom in Copenhagen" said Lady John
stone. I'm Denmark the churches are
used in the winter to protect the desti-
tute from cold. Why can they, not be
used in this country to protect the poor
from the ravages Of the heat?"
Churches Opened.
Catholic churches are always open
during the daytime" said Judge VIII
liam H. De Lacy, of the Juvenile Court
today. while I was travelling in
southern Europe last year. noticed
that all of the magnificent cathedrals
were kept open during the day. Within
their cooling aisles at all times one
could see the suffering peasantry taking
refuge from the heat. / believe in that,
but I do not believe in making the
house of God a place for the poor to
Sleep
But 1 do think the people do not re-
ceive all of the use they might from
the schools and public buildings, whose
interiors are as cool as those of the
churches. In heated weather, the schools
and public buildings should be opened
too, the schools, l believe, should be
used 10 the social betternent of a COM
munity, and as gathering places Of the
people"
The Rev. Muir's View.
Rev. ]. ]. Muir. said: II do not think
that the churches Of New York ara
inclined to be disregardful Of humanity,
and the worth of Lady Jonnstone's
plan can be determined only by specific
conditions. 1t must be remembered,
too. when she speaks of the churches
of Denmark being thrown open to the
poor in winter, that most of the
churches of Europe are open almost all
of the time, whether 1t be cold or warm.
Nor will 1t be long, l think, before the
churches of America will be open all Of
the time, as they should be, but
whether to make a church a sleeping
place Is a question which Can be deter
mined only, as l have said, through the
consideration of specific instances. No
general rule can be set down."
Rev. John Reid Shannon: Henry
Ward BeeCher threw open his church
TO shelter soldiers, and under the cir
CumstanceS he was undoubtedly right.
In cases of extreme need, where lives
might be saved. l advocate the use Of
a church even as a place in which men
and women might sleep. / do not, how
ever, believe that churches should be
opened all of the tine and made no
different from dorrnitories.'
Social Benefits First.
Rev. Lloyd c. Douglass: Social bene-
fits should be considered first of all by
the church. The plan advanced by
Lady Johnstone calls to my mind a
little story which is to me the answer
to Just such a question.
Behind a minister's pulpit was VIM
dow, covered with an age growth OF
ivy which obscured the light He called
the janitor and asked him to trim the
vine away. The janitor replied that
the church people might object because
| they believed the ivy and the moss
| made the church more churchly. The
| minister ordered the sexton to clear
! the vine away, saying that neither moss
| nor ivy nor antiquity makes the church.
| Iiness of a church, If the benefits to
| the social body are absent