The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-05-04
THE NRGiNlANs WEEKLY SERMON
COMMUNITY SOCIAL NEEDS

ny REV. DAVID II. LEWIS.

tegrity Of purpose, strength OF cnar-
acter sanity life.
But facts must be faced; they are
not to be ignored they are STUBBORN
things, and must be confronted bold
ly, fearlessly and thoroughly studied
seen not through colored glasses nor
jaundiced eyes, but with ciearness OF
mind and determination to act ac-
cordingly.
The man who can shout in the night
OF Christ's trial, ..A1Ps well!" Is shall
low idiot; SO the man who Is blind
to the ravages which have been made
by the forces of evil and thinks they
can be ignored is an atherial dreamer.
There liz ignorance and vice and crime,
and from many quarters the very
stencil Of iniquity rises in our midst,
but let us not forget in the study OF
these conditions that. though the evil
cloud hide the brighter light of good
ness, the rim Of gold around the cloud
is indicative of the light obscured.
Let us notice some of the forces
which produce the evils in our modern
social life; seek the cause before we
try to cure the effects. In the home
and the State. in all that relates to
both of these spheres Of activity, we
find born and bred the prime factor.
the root and stock Of the evil forces
which invade our social order. This
we find to be selfishness-cold-bl blood
ed, heartless selfishness-disregar OF
the rights Of another. recognition Of
no common bond or tie between man
and man.
| In the home are the parents and
the children. Conditions to be reck-
oned with here are easy marriages.
easy divorces nfidelity-marriage Of
/ the sici&iy, diseased and unit for
| home making. In the home also We
| find the so-called social functions Of
high society-the devils own instru-
ments for undermining character and
, destroying the social order; the cham
payne suppers the turkey trot and
bunny hug, and the inordinate dissi-
patton of bridge whist: and then the
little child, who is to become the
young man and young woman OF to-
morrow. Think OF the thousand born
/ OF drunkenness and lust. whose well
come into the world is curse, whose
/ lula bies are blasphemies, whose ad-
monitions are kicks, whose examples
are vice and crime. Helen Camp
bell. speaking OF one of the tenements
with which she was familiar. said:
THE sun never enters thirty-two OF
these rooms; darkness means the
devils deeds. and they never get a
breath of air except from the other
rooms into which they open. You
sleep in one room once, and there's
a band around your head when you
wake and sinking and craving in
your stomach. You don't want to
eat There's nothing answers Ii but
whiskey. And In the basement of the
building you may find smiling f4end
III immaculate white apron, ready to
pour the bubbling glass full and usher
you into the anteroom of hell In
one such basement there were found
1fty eight babies. Happy Thrice
blessed are such babies who die.
Bishop South says: "A child has q
right to be born, not to he damned
into the world" 1t Is n terrible fact
that many thousands of children an
nuaIly, by an awful heritage from
both father and mother. are indeed
damned Into the world. And Tenny-
son graphically describes the plight OF
the child in such conditions:
rs 1t we'll that while we range with
science, giorying the time,
Little children soak and blacken soul
and sense in the city sline?"
The conditions Of the child in the
street, the child In the home and the
child in the school must be consid-
cred as of fmmeasurahle i'm ortance
and one of the very greatest social
needs of the community. In the State
In the public affairs OF life, the avarice
greed and graft: political intrigue
trickery and corruption; materialism
commerce and trade: stocks and
bonds, trusts and monopiies7-licensed
evils condoned and winked at: the
shop girls overworked and underpatd
with the almost inevitable results II
mines and factories. the life of young
children bIighted and stunted and de
stroyed for lack Of fresh air and
space and time TO grow. There |.
heard the signing OF the overburdened
TO our ears there comes the cry Of
those bound In the letters forged BY
the power which has been purchased
with the gold minted from the sweat
wreaked brows. the shattered nerves
the ruined lives OF the defenseless--
and the little child; and the still. sac
music of humanity's signing Is heart
from far and near. And what is tho
cause? Why do such conditions exist
The cause Is to be found in the selfish
heart OF man.
The Ideal.
! BY what ideal shall we seek TO re
place this selfishness with something
better? BY what means shah ",
; strive to remedy the conditions? Tt
what standard shall we point the mer
J and women OF today? What shall WI
, give as an incentive to cause them X
! rise above their cond;tions--to ere
ate the standard OF the sanctity Of thu