Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-02-19
SPECIAL SERMON
TO CANDIDATES
Theme Pathetic Inquiry Of King
David '1slThessYoung Man
AbsalomssSafe?"
MORAL HEALTH or MANHOOD
Gives Government Deep Concern
Sermon Preached Sunday Night by
DR.. Burgan in First NJ. E..
Church

Lnurcn
A special sermon TO candidates for
the Naval Academy was preached Sun
day night in the First Methodist Epis-
copal Church by the pastor, the Rev.
H. Wilson Burgan, DID. The main
floor of the large auditorium was
crowded, and more than one hundred
persons were in the galleries. The
text of the preacher was found in ii
Samuel XVIII 32 "Is the young man
Absalom safer" Dr. Burgan said in
part:
"Is the young man Absalom safe?''
This was the pathetic inquiry of King
David concerning his son Absalom. In
spite of the fact that Absalom was in
open rebellion against his father, and
had driven him off the throne and out
of Jerusalem, the first question asked
by the outraged king after the battle
between the armies of the rebellious
prince and the king was, rs the
young man safer" In this instance,
it is both the cry of the king and the
father.
Today, all over our land, the same
inquiry is being made both by the
government and the home, and the en-
phasis is increasingly being laid on
the moral safety of the young man
while the home has always been con-
cerned about this phase of the boys
welfare. The governments concern
about the moral health of the young
manhood of the navy was expressed in
a message sent by Secretary of the
Navy Daniels recently to the people
of Annapolis, in which he said, THE
country has firmly put itself on record
against the sale of liquor to men in
uniform everywhere, and if there is
any community in America that should
take the lead in protecting the men in
uniform from the menace of tempta
tion to drink it is Annapolis, where
young men are trained to become Off
GERS and where many young sailors
must go in the discharge of their du
ties" 1t was again expressed by
President Wilson in proclamation
reading, "The President, Commander
in-Chief of the Army and Navy, fol-
lowing the reverend example of his
predecessors desires and enjoins the
tn officers and men in the military
and naval service of the United
States" We see the same moral con-
Germ in the request of General Per-
shing that there be three chaplains to
every regiment instead of one as the
law now requires. These and other
measures forcefully set forth the anx-
iety of the United States Govern
ment about the moral status of the
American young man. This concern
for the morals of young manhood has
always been manifested by the home.
Recently a soldier said, "The day l
| left home my mother took me alone
| into the kitchen and put both her
hands on my shoulder, saying, Son,
| let me get your eye 1t breaks my
heart to see you go. I'm not afraid
of bullets or rigid military discipline.
| I'm proud to have my boy give his life
| for our country, but 1 fear the awful
moral conditions. Can you come back,
| if God permits you to return, as clean
as you are now? When you do return,
we'll come into this Kitchen to stand
I together as we do now. You will not
need to tell me if you are clean. I'll
| see it in your eye. Can you keep
clean, my boy? Can you do it for
| mother?'" Thousands of scenes like
| this have taken place in the homes of
| this country in the past months.
In the light of this governmental
and parental concern for the moral
safety of the young manhood of Amer
1 80 nJa M a ND
| eliminate speedily every form of or
| ganized vice Annapolis has a heavy
/ responsibility resting upon her. She
i is under solemn obligation to close up
/ her thirty-six licensed drinking places.
/ The Secretary of the Navy requests
/ it. The situation demands it. The
| Congressional Investigating Commis-
| sions have commended the policy Of
| Secretary Daniels in his conduct of the
| Navy Department Now. as part of
| his efficiency program for the navy he
wants a dry" Annapolis, and he
/ ought to have it, The Anne Arundel
| delegation in the Legislature, backed
by the people of Annapolis, ought to
| cooperate to make this possible. An
/ napolitans ought to waive their own
| Judgment, ignore their own personal
| pleasures, and with mighty endeavor
support the Secretary. Every home
ought to throw safeguards about the
boys in this city as these homes want
| safeguards thrown about the Annapo-
! lis boys in other States and cities.
/ However. after communities have
| done their best to make environment
safe, a heavy responsibility still
rests upon the candidate himself. The
Young man is safe in so far as he holds
a proper view of life and its oppor-
| tunities for service. No young man is
safe who thinks of life cheaply. The
lad who lightly thinks of the home
ties is doomed to destruction as sure
ly as was Absalom. Young people,
1 ~orarofod from, homo and suddenly