The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-05-02
CHANGE OF THE CHURCH
Continued From Page One,

up a sheaf of letters and kilograms
Selecting one, he held it in i:ont OF
him.
Il would like to read this to you,
he said. but / hardly think it proper
However, it proves one thing, that
the biggest by product of this war
is the increased opportunity for
service. 1t tells the story of one
man; not his reformation, mind you
but the birth in his mind of the
idea that it is vital part of his per-
sonal business to do something for
someone else, not always just for his
own little self.
lust multiply that by 100000
and you will get some glimmer OF
what the return of our armies will
mean to the next generation"
Opportunity of the Church.
Here, the governor believes lies
the opportunity of the church. las
nationally, the future is in our own
hands, he said, so also it is spirit
ually. All we need is leadership.
1T is the mission of the church so
to interpret the opportunities for
service that the people themselves
will recognize them. The hour is
ripe. Some churches already have
appreciated this and have been
prompt TO act-to take up their share
of the task of reconstruction which
we must face.
1.-THE stupendous program set UP
for itself by the Methodist Episco-
pa church with its sos, 100000 cen
tenary fund has pointed the way for
others. Failure to recognize the i'm
portance of this work not only as a
UNCONVENTIONAL matter but also as
a world factor would be attributed
only TO ignorance"
The governor revealed intimae
knowledge OF the plans of the
church for his own state and de-
scribed how these plans are in the
nature of cooperation with reforms
already inaugurated by the admin
istration in Kansas.
81 notice." he said. that the GEN.
tenary program contemplates ex-
tensive operations not only in our
cities but also in the rural districts
Kansas is working along parallel
though not conflicting lines. that is,
the state is not overlapping the eff
forts of the church.
8 Abolish Land Tenantry.
For instance, we are trying to
abolish land tenantry. OF course
you know ours is an agricultural
state, but you may be surprised to
learn that about fifty of our farms
were rented We have undertaken by
the extension of state credits to small
farmers TO enable them to own their
own land, at the same time gradu-
ally doing away with the evils OF
absentee landlordism. There also is
a readjustment Of taxes so that
the burden will not fall on the poor
and struggling worker.
"You see We realize out in Kan
sas that if we plant the people in
the soil we will have a minimum OF
discomfort. A man will rally around
his own home, but he will not around
boarding house.
This brought the governor back
to a brief discussion of bolshevisn
and similar eruptions of unrest.
these steps we have taken" he
continued. "are practical methods
are rocking Europe. They are pre-
servatives of the principles on which
our national life is based.
"BoIshevism is Europe is the ex'
preston of the will of the people tC
be free and, like all birth, the pro
cess is painful. 1t is struggle
against autocracy and for govern
ment of the people for the people
by the people. AS yet there are NJ
orderly programs; hence, the ac'
companying violence.
"Frence went through it, so die
England. Like them. America has
had her period Of evolution. But II
these countries, the right of remedy
| is in the hands of the people and NJ
one else. Therefore, there is moth
ing here on which bolshevism car
subsist. ..-
at rests solely with us as Chris
! tian citizens to meet the challenge
of the hour with a definite program
of reconstruction. -