The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-11-24

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| men, not women. The church has
failed largely as it has not reached
the masculine element"
The second reason for the move.
ment was that there is threat
ened deterioration in American man.
| hood. I'VE are i'm danger of losing
| the kind OF manhood We already
| have. We are not talking about get
| ting better men for we are in dan.
ger Of losing the kind of men that
| are the back bone of American man
| hood.
Money Is the Thing.
Money is the thing that does it.;
| money keeps the world going, SO it
seems. Everybody is swallowed up
| in the rush and whirl for money.
| Such things as are not concerned
| with money have no place in mans
thought. Cities have been CONNER
| cialized, and with it worship of lux
ury and along with this, sensuality."
| He criticised the theatres for the
sensuality, taking as example those
| OF the Roman and Grecian times
when those great people were ruined
| by just this thing.
'The theory that man is superior
to nature is now considered out OF
date" he said.
The third reason for the move
ment was the approaching problems
in industrial and political order and
that higher type of citizenship
was desired than that at present.
He discussed at length the move
ment, touching on socialism and
which he said produced keen critics.
He also said that it was desirable
to produce the kind of men that
: go with the kind of civilization we
need i'll the present age.
Movement Back of the Church.
This movement is back of the
| church" he explained, in the strong
est terms, after touching upon this
subject. ut is not a movement out
| side the church. 1t is a movement
to send men to the Christian church
and to work for the church. 1t is a
movement to send them back into
the homes and to remedy the need
there, to take hold of the family,
build up the good old family altar
which has gone into decay. r
This movement proposes to set
up an organization of men-of the
church, of inter church organization.
| However, it will not do a finished
| job in Mankato as it will not tie up
the religious work. It's purpose is
! to continue the work. St.
| He spoke at length on boys WORK
which he discussed very enthu.
siastically. He emphasized the ne.
| cessity of getting the younger gen.
Grafton and that unless this was
done, the generations ito come would
suffer
Mission and Social Service
Mission and social service We're
next discussed i'll the same fOrceful
! way in which Rev. Nixon had talk.
ed OF the other topics
men formerly wanted to save the
men on the sinking ship. Now they
are trying to save the ship too, for
| they have found it worth while. But
we are trying to get men into
heaven too fast. The thing to do is
to have them do their service here
first, to prepare them first"
| He told the story Fred B. Smith
tells of the big bread manufacturer
| of Philadelphia and Baltimore, who
was one of the men at the session
at New Jersey when the movement
was first started. He was the big
gest manufacturer of bread in Phila'
delphia and Baltimore. The discus
sions and talks at this first session
of the Men and Religion Forward
| Movement SO cut into his heart that
he left and went into the woods
| alone. When found there by one
of the members, he finally confessed
| that he was not as good a Chris.
tian as he was reputed to be. He
explained that when the price of
| flour was raised, he raised the price
of bread one cent a loaf. But that
was not all. At the same time he
diminished the size of the loaf two
ounces, which was robbing the peo-
| pie.
Results of Movement.
The effect of this movement was
such on tho bread manufactures
that he at once returned to
Philadelphia and ordered that all
Ioaves of bread should be made
two ounces more than the
usual size and weight. This is only
one example of the many practical
results of the movement, which tends
to disprove the contentious Of the
skeptic that the entire movement is
mere theory and a lot of talk in.
stead of real, effective work.
Rev. Nixon also spoke convincing
ly on Bible study and evangelism.
Bible study, he said, was the back
bone of the entire movement and OF
all Christianity for that matter. In
regard to evangelism he said that
the example of the socialists in
some respects would be excellent to
follow, in that they believed they
had something worth while to say
and were not afraid to voice their
opinions whenever the opportunity
I, offered.
Religion Should Mean Something.
at is time that religion was
meaning something serious. Man
must give square deal in bust
ness and be the man with a char
acter, not merely reputation. He
must also have faith in human hon
esty."
His talk ended with a most elo.
queDt tribute and hope of the sue
cess of the movement. Throughout