Norwich bulletin., 1912-06-24

a town or city beautiful, for a right eous, virtueus, truth loving and hon. est citizenship will see to it that the physical attributes of the place are cared fer.
 What, then, is an ideal citizen? Is he who Is able to go to the polls and by the help of some other man casts a ballot for some party the ideal cit1
 zen2 Is he who pays taxes, either a personal or property tax-is he from this fact alone an ideal citizen? Is he who both votes and payes taxes, for many taxpayers are not allowed to vote because they the women is he who is able to vote and willingly pays his taxes the ideal citizen? Is the res tdent of the city, whether native born or who has gained residence through adoption, the ideal citizen?
 The Ideal Citizen.
 | An ideal citizen, to my mind. may be a voter and taxpayer, is a resident of | the city or town, but is one who is i loyal to his city, is a booster of the l city; does not tear down except to I build more wisely; who speaks the l word of approval for what is good l and true, and disapproves by word and l deed of evil and falsehood and petty 1 irregularities for personal gain. He is l a Wisher for all that pertains to 1 the citizenship of the community He | is one who seeks for the best that may | be developed for the good of all. He l is a right liver. An ideal citizen is one I who is willing to stand for morality | and virtue, and for what he believes 1 to be right.
 Yes, I will go so far as to say that an ideal citizen Is one who follows the example of Jesus Christ, To compro- i mice with evil for the sake of tempo l ary good shows a want of the true spirit of reform, it makes it more
 easy to tolerate the evil that is about us, and it opens the doors to greater | compromises, while it has its effect upon personal character as well.
 An ideal citizen must have an uH-
 sweFving, unfiiHching front kept te
 the things that are evil, and he cannot rest satisfied if tine evils which face hiR and US are not displaced by right eeas laws and custems,
 1 One whose name is known iH many
 countries said few years agei Re member that you eaHnet be a good
 citizen of the teRF or country if you
 are nst a geed citizen in your own l home, first"
 So the ideal citizen may not be pop Uiar with many politicians or men of less power and strength of character; yet at length his influence over these
 weaker ones will be for good, and they l will swing into line for better citi-
 zenship, for a city beautiful.
 Relation of Church to City.
 Has the church, then, any part in
 this great plan2 What Is the relation
 of the church to the city7 Is the ! church simply a social center where | .5 4-
 sing and praise? That is an inadequate
 conception and estimate of the church.
 The church is vitally related to the city, for the church is a dynamo for generating religious power-power for righteousness and justice, for develop | ing ideal citizens. It is a builder of
 character. The church Is a strong bulwark to any city. The church is
 instituted to meet the religious needs
 of mankind. It exercises a spiritel
 ministry to the individual
 Some one says: Tt is only a few
 years ago that we used to hear that
 the churches should keep out of poli-
 ties The churches kept out of poli-
 ties and about that time a great com
 plaint went up that the men kept out
 of the churches. Of late it has come
 to be more generally understood that
 religion touches every part of life, and
 that nothing in which men are engag
 ed should be free from it's influence
 The churches help develop this relig
 ious life and force that is so essentia
 for ideal citizenship, for nobility oi
 character, for the highest development
 of manhood and womanhoOd. there
 fore for the development of the city
 beautiful.
 The church, then, has place in the
 great plan for bettering the city. Let
 the men and women rally to the SUD-
 port and enter the service of the
 church, so that they shall gain the
 inspiration to do valiant service fol
 humanity. Many of you here present
 are members of some fraternity ol
 sisterhood. Have these any place 1T
 this great plan? If so, what is the re-
 lation of fraternities to the city? Fra
 ternity means brotherhood. It means
 that certain men agree to unite them.
 selves into a fellowship for the pur- pose of mutual benefit. It means no
 uniformity, but unity of purpose.
 Brotherhood calls for love, and thi: love may make itself manifest 1T
 friendship, one of the very highest anC
 best attributes of humanity, Friend ship denotes constancy. fidelity, an( ! confidence, Every man who would b' a 1 d true child of God and a true broth . CT to the rest of humanity must eulti
 vate these virtues of consistency, fidel
 ity to principle and confidence in eth 7 eYs No enc should esteem himself ai
 So much better than others that h, l cannot be true to them or work witt . them, or live as a friend te them.
 What, then, is the relation of citi
 zens to the city beautiful? You a., , l are members of this great household
 i laws, with men elected to carry ou l the principle of such laws. But thes, s officials can not will not. do so un . less they are supported and helped b! ! the other members of the household l therefore upon all of us is a great re
 Sponsibility, No one of use can say T have nothing to do with tris matter S for the strength the purity, the right s eousness of the city will be what it 5 citizens make it. Awake, awake! pu
 on they strength of virtue; put on tn! @ beautiful garments of righteousness ] In all that we have said we woult l | include the women with the men, fo \ 8 part of citizenship should be con f ceded to women. They, as mothers ) 1 wives, sisters, have a trern endous in t huence in the world, and should hay
 voice in directing affairs for tn l highest and nobles interest of tn k rec.
 f Some one has said: "The only hu . man institution in which man ant - woman cooperate on equal terms i D the home; and the home has been e success" So in the larger househol e of the city, if she also took part in it . larger life no doubt the result woul, . be beneficial to humanity As sh t knows her house and the needs of he s individual circle so she would have al , influence as a municipal housekeeper s As another says: "rhs woman wit or without ballot who is at heart al t efficient housekeeper will make an ef 8 ficient citizen. She can train tn searchH2ht or she can cooperate wit
 intelligefce.' Sine can do much, yer, 6 much toward raising the standard o E morality, and can do much towar