The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-17
MODERN LITERATURE SCORED BY BURROWS INNASHV|LLE SPEECH.
President Southern Baptist Convention Says Best Sel- lers Blatant With Vul-
 gar Extravagancies"

Nashville. May 1e.-After two days debate advocates of centralizing the three important boards of the south ern Baptist convention won what is considered victory when the dele gates today voted to refer for recon sideration the portion of the efficiency commissions report recommending that the boards be maintained as at pres ent. As now constituted they are the foreign mission board at Richmond, Va, the home mission board at Atlanta, Ga, and the Sunday school board at Nashville.
 Before entering into consideration of the efficiency commissions report today the convention formally was presented with the new building of the Sunday school board here and decided upon Houston Tex, as the next meeting place in May, 1915. The presentation exercises were featured by President Lansing Burrows address in which he execrated present day literature and drama.
 Approve Report
 The convention also approved the re- port of the nomination committee se- lecting officers for the various boards. When discusJ sion of the efficiency com mittees report was resumed today pr.
  man of the commission, arose to point ! of personal provilege and explained the action of the commission in making the recommendations.
 Some people think" he said. that because the report was not revolution ary we haven't given the matter prop CT thought. This is great mistake and the commissions action was the result of repeated deliberations by sub committees and the whole commission. < E. C. Mcconnell of Waco, Tex, au- thor of the motion to refer the matter for reconsideration, was the next speaker.
 we do not want to be revolution ary,- MT. Mcconnell stated, but we believe there should be progress. The day is near at hand when there will be only three great Christian bodies, the Baptists. the Catholics and the fed- eralists. And about fifth of our Bap- lists will be among the federalists. We are on the verge of great upheaval, a Christian cataclism"
 Need of Action
 The speaker asserted that there was need of action before the great crisis" He assured his hearers that his remarks were not to be interpreted as being unfavorable to the present mem bers of three boards but expressed the 1elief that the present board system beeded changing to a central organizeal- tion q do not want to be quoteS, as criticizing our boards" he a.daed. If we do not appear satisfied win the re- port rt It is oeeaose far somethi oe @ swell of thing better" r
 several eSpesgssions of opinion were ollersu '. x$snhs point but speeches were terminatd by a motion to consider the ie"a,,rT.e ter of the report and take ul , ,ne oysputed clauses later. There was h..isF opposition to the rest of repor' -A&nich. with a few amendments wa' adopted.
 Nashville. May 16.-Responding to tho presentation of the new bu1id1nS Dr Lansing Burrows of Americus, Ga, presi- dent of the Southern Baptist convention criticized sharply the literature of the age.
 When he had recounted the great achievements of the Sunday school board, he said:
 "And now we stand before the door of opportunity. The indomitable industry of the destroyer of human souls adapts his energies to shifting conditions. His most audacious attack is now upon the litera- ,ture of the age. The three past genera tions have cultivated the reading habit. Men have grown story mad and dramatic ally insane The novelist and the dramatist have the strongest influence upon the present generation. They bring no glad ti1ings for It's inspiration tc nobler things. They are men with micro scopes ia astened upon social bacteria, and never upon the glinting stars.
 Destroy Microbe
 "When with the ncisiveness of theil practiced pen they have destroyed 2