Norwich bulletin., 1917-05-21

II
/ The absence of neighbors, the lack of
| amusement of reasonable character,
| the trials of the temperature, all are
| circumstances that lead him on, and
| with the other temptations that the
| Orient offers, the young man is soon
| In the gutter. In Mania the AMer1-
| can merchants were more than willing
| to contribute thousands of dollars for
/ the erection of a new Y. NJ. G. A. build
! ing They had q directive in their
motives as they were seeking young
| men who could be depended upon, and
| in this way young Americans who
came there with others were given an
opportunity to have an elevating home,
and this is not only true in Manila but
it is true in all the Orient. Mr.. Taft
stated that he had dedicated the Y NJ.
| c. A. building in Shanghai, which was
contributed partly by an American.
The remainder was contributed by
Chinese who were not Christians but
who were of other religious faith.
These men did not contribute their
money for the religious work but they
had seen the effect of the Y. NJ. c. A.
work on their own sons. They were
not moved by religion but by the work
that they had seen done. Mr.. Gtlst
referred to the work of John H. Mott,
who Mr.. Taft considers is one of the
greatest men of this generation;a man
derful holding power of young men.
The Y. NJ G. A. unites the force of all
churches. In every city we must have
Y. NJ. c. A. The temptation per
haps are not so acute is in the Orient
but nevertheless the young men need
| a place to go in the form of a Chris
tan club where they can spend their
have Y. NJ. c. AS? They know that
the Young Mems Christian association
improves the moral tone of their en-
ployes and the same is true in indus
trial corporations and in the army and
navy 1t is a profession to be a
Young mems Christian association sec
rotary.
They are trained at college like any
other profession and they know how
to carry on institution as they are
trained for it.
Y. M C. A. Hits the Point.
The Y NJ. C. A. is not something
| that goes off in the air. 1t is some
thing that aims at a definite point and
hits that point as, the men behind the
association know %Ow to go at it, The
! speaker referred to the establishment
of the Y. M. c. A. at the Panama can
al where forty to fifty thousand people
were at work. We organized places
of entertainment and clubs and we al
so went to the Y NJ c. A. and asked
out them l don't think we would have
got on SO well. The Young Mems
Christian Association attempts to aid
young men and if we can get the
young men of this country to lead a
pure life. a life of high ideals. the
country is safe. If we can not the
country is going to the devil.
trnct tn9 and ee nr epT ne of U Ud ln
men have found the foundation of an
education. The Y. NJ. c. A. IS the
background of morality and religion.
We praise Shakespeare because we
! car re
adaptible to the age.
1t is the universal adaptibility of
the Y. NJ. c. A. that appeals to people.
In Prison Camps.
. Mr.. Taft told of the great work that
John r. Mott is carrying on in the
prison camps in Europe; putting life
into the men there who had nothing
American Y M. c. A. The Y. NJ. c.
A. was first started in England but
was transplanted in America where il
has taken root.
the Y. NJ. c. A. and what it has done
in your city and with your civic pride.
don't you want to be up date and
have Y. NJ. c. A. building that is
campaign now on. I have been in a
number of campaigns but did not al
ways win, but the Y. NJ. C. A. always
does.
The campaigns of the Y. NJ. c. A.
have been successful because of their
organization. The Y. NJ c. a. goes
into the home and office and teaches
people to give, and there are men who
want to give but they don't know how.
In addition to the money you are
campaigning for, there is a sum which
will be used for the benefit of the SOL
diers who are going out to defend our
country. We are going in a great war.
We are in it and we are going to fight
for a great cause. There are those
who have criticized President Wilson.
Every man knows that we have been
forced into this war. If there had been
any possible chance for President Will
son and congress to avoid the struggle
without losing our honor as a nation,
they would have done so. The cause
of the war is far wider than the rea-
son by which we were forced in. If we
can't offer protection to our citizens,
we had better go out of business. Just
because a great military nation of the
world violates our rights, are we go
ing to retire? If it had been Guate-
mala we would have battleships there
within a week. In the Civil war we
convinced the people of the world that
we had a great government. Are we
now going to lose that fibre of fifty
years?
Mr.. Taft referred to the German
militarsm. He said that the existence
of that nation is a threat against the
peace of the world. We must win this
war at whatever cost it means, and
we are not going to submit to the
German dynasty. Germany is not ex-
hausted and the nations need our as
siStance not only in money and sup
plies but in our men. We have begun
right by conscriptive draft and we
are going to furnish the me1- We
don't begin to realize the situation and
burdens. but when our boys the
other side fighting and when we are
studying the bulletins to see who is
killed and who is wounded it will all
come home to us.
The Y. NJ. c. a. is proposing to fur |
nish the boys in ranks that kind of
surrounding that is stimulating
throughout the prison camps. Could |
you have a stronger pride in respond |
ing to the need of the young men who |
are going to sacrifice their lives to the |
cause of the world2
At the conclusion all stood and sang |
America. which was followed by the |