The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1919-10-10
AN ELOQUENT ADDRESS ON TINE
~. TOPICS

L nC ACAGO@As 1FACbkAONAOi AOAlCA-
ence is in session at ElekEon and
among those attending it lis Rev.
Frank N. Thomas. formerly of Louis
vile. but now editor Of the Southern
Methodist Review at Nashville
He is said to possess, one of the
brightest minds IN the South
This paper has been. requested to
print this address by 5ne who has
spent ten weeks in California and
who says that the South does not
realize the situation the country i
in and that the preservation of our
country rests largely in her hands
We take pleasure id complying with
the request.
The address is as f0llows:
Largely on account of the wonder
full inventions which the Christian in.
depreciation of life has made possible
luxury: and pleasure have been enor-
mously increased. Millions Of men
and women have become pleasure
mad The inventions which God in
tended for mans help in his strug-
| gle with natural forces, have become
too largely vehicles for the satisfac
ton Of the senses The result has
been twofold When man is content
to live on the senses plane, as so many
are doing today, there is not only a
slow deadening Of the intellectual life
but a resultant lowered moral tone
This has been the. almost invariabIe
consequence in every nation where
wealth has accumulated and luxury
has increased A second result has
been the feverish desire to get rich.
Countless Americans are today
selling their birthrfght as children of
God, as heirs of the riches of wisdom
and glory in JESUS Christ for
mess of pottage.'
Even on the holy Sabbath, day
OF rest imperatiyely needed by the
human body, men will not leave their
Offices, or still potter about their
farms, thinking OF their cattle, or
whirl in automobiles far from the
the places where God calls them to
worship. to mediate and to pray.
"The result is that an infection
more deadly than anfIuenzt has invad-
ed American life TT is the fundamen
! tai cause Of the restIessness which
! threatens not only the business life
of our nation, but the whole fabric
of human society. When the man
who tolls with his hands beholds the
manner of living INDUCED in by thou
sands, and realizes that such ease
and luxury are partly the result OF
his toll. can we blame him for desir-
ing something of the same ease and
luxury for himself and those whom
he loves? Knowing something of the
enormous profits in some business or
CARNATIONS, he organizes to demand
better housing and.better wages. VITA
such desires every honest man must
sympathize The desire becomes in
defensible, even criminal, when he
takes advantage of his organized
power to demand a certain wage. re-
gardIess of business conditions, or
tries to prevent other men from TAX
ing the place which he has yoluntar-
lily left in the business world
christianity is not an economic
system. It's founder our blessed
Lord. refused to become divider Of
property.
The keynote Of His wondrous life
was not to get buk to give IN spite
of the terrible World war through
which we have just passed, in spite
Of the spirit of greed and covetous-
ness stalking abroad. we still believe
that love is the greatest power in the
universe. For Cod is Love Should
one arise to dispute this, we have
| but 20 point to the hundreds OF thou
sands of our noblest sons who left
home and business to save Europe
from the blight of the hun.
For two years. amid hard condi
tjons and much privation, OF paltrv
pay, they served uncomplaininglv
the great cause OF humanity. the
cause Of Christ. A quarter of mil
lion Aot them laid down their young
Hives while many American business
men we're profteering. Great labor
organizations were demanding higher
wages. while these heroes were dying
for forty dollars q month 'Tis sad
COmmantarv On ns1- Sn.naiIoG rhr;-