The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-02-04
= = ~
CEIRI NS
CITIZEN SHIP
iI.gIJ & 5Fl'7I5 3 ~ : ;
I 81 REV. STEPHEN PAuLsoN
[. 1 Y ! y j I 4 p 4.


~ a W
Z, I Tsx. K, oar ei.isenship d In heaven
m founding this republic our fath:
ers established I'VE Institutions that
seemed necessary 10 the development
ola high order Of manhood Since here
the common people were to be rulers
Il was plainly necessary to educate the
multitude. No inventor commits his
Invention Into the hands OF an ignorant
man. and our fathers feared to trust
those powerful political tools, the bal.
lot and free speech, into the hands OF
ignorant and unframed men. So they
established the free school.
iley also founded the free press: be.
llevfhg that the citizen should Be made
acquainted with all that goes On IN
Gods great world, that our people
should not be ignorant peasants but
citizens Of the world. The result is the
intelligent unity Of a hundred million
people and the breaking down OF all
sectional differences. ~ r.
They also established liberty and pc.
litical equality. Not that all men are
equal in strength Of body. or quality Of
intellect or power Of personality, but
that each man has an equal right to
Justice and selfdevelopment. The
grass. the lily, and the, oak are not
equal in station, md, perhaps, not
equal In usefulness. but are equal in
their right to CHIN from soil and rain
and sun what they need for growth
and sustenance. i
Our fathers emphasized the family,
recognizing that all subsequent rela.
tionships are made or marred in the
family circle. They looked upon this
home as atminiature republic and they
looked to earnest mothers for the
sturdy and honest citizenship Of the
future. 81
The, founders Of the republic also be.
lieyed most emphatically in free
church; They decreed that the Lords
day should be a training day for the
soul and conscience that men might
grow fine and strong. and that great
and true convictions might be deyel.
oped. For the measure OF power Of a
republic Is not in Its resources and
wealth, but in the quality Of manhood
produced. Z
We have today many problems be.
fore US, as there always will be great
problems before growing and pro:
crossing nation; but our greatest need
fa a Christian citizenship. We need
men who live and act the principles OF
Jesus Christ In our high Offices, in
places Of responsibility. in the great
marts Of business. That It will be SO.
It is not AN idealist's dream, but will
be a realization sof the future to which
present indications point.
Il In aSdespotism. where one family
rules, the task OF educating the ralers
IS simple. It means the teaching Of
the members Of a single family. In a
monarchy It means the education OF a
few thousand OF the upper classes. In
a republic the great peril Is moral ig-
norance among millions, many Of them
newly come to our shores. We have
established our public schools for the
training Of the intellect. but unfortu.
nately we, have eliminated morals and
spiritual knowledge from the class
room. Five or six hours every week
are given to mathematics for years,
because We must count money, and
weigh sugar and salt. compute coal and
measure land. Years for the study Of
mathematics; not one minute for the
training of a child's morals and char
acter. The president Of the National
Educational association affirmed In his
annual address that there are ten mil
lions Of young people under II who
never cross the threshold OF a church.
We teach children that two and two
make four, but not that It is wrong to
falsify accounts. We teach them that
fire burns in science. but not that the
boy who tries to satisfy his desire for
pleasure with sin. is like one who
eats red.hot GOALS, We teach the girl
that not water scalds. but we do not
tell her, that there are passions which
INDUCED in will blight her very soul.
Look at the jails filled with boys whom
we allow to grow7u up like vandals. Con.
slider the prisons crowded with young
criminals. Look at the moral insen.
slbility: among our rich men and ,legis.
lators. to whom truth and Justice
should be sacred. !,
We breed our own dangers through
neglect. We spend vast, energy in the
discussion Of the tariff on rig iron. as
II with It the republic would survive
Of perish; but we neglect the souls Of
men. We spend hundreds OF millions
digging mud out Of the rivers. while
Tho mouths Of our children spout mud,
and the tenement houses ooze disease
ard crime. Surely there never was
a time in the history ot the republic
when the Influence and work Of the
church was needed more than II. Is to.
day. We have well known examples
Of how gladly people flock to the
standard OF any man who shows him.
self sturdy, uncompromisins Chris.