The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-10

Half century ago." said the speaker in part, tour churches were
 doing a great work In this country with the emphasis on saving lndt- viduals It has always been and al- ways will be the peculiar function of the church to seek and save the lost ,aen and women about them. Clvll government also concerned itself chiefly with making and administer ing laws regulating individual con duct.
 "The medical profession was chiefly engaged in. treating sick peo-
 pie. Now great change has come upon us. Then the popular conyic- tion was that sinners got the best of this worlds pleasures and goods, but the Christian would be rewarded ann ply in heaven for all 1t had cost him to be Christian here, while the s'n- ner would suffer after death for his sins.
 Roots of Evil
 "Of recent years business men and statesmen have become so thoroughly aroused over the rayages done to business interests in this present ] world by certain forms of evil, our l legislatures have been thronged with
 movements and laws aimed at the roots of evil, and they justify this 1 course In affirming that the curing 1 of those evils which afflict the puh- | lie is q true function of lawmaking 1 bodies.
 "Doctors now are looking after pa
 tients who are stick. and at the same time giving their valuable services to
 Preventive Medicine.' When we con-
 si1er that human welfare movements whether of lawmaking or hygiene | work of the church, it is not strange that in the church we should find
 much active interest and cooperation | with these welfare works which are
 not originated there
 This new attitude toward evil is very happily phrased by MT. Dooiey.
 who says: If it is necessary 1t is not | evil; and if it is evil it Is not neces- /, sary' Doctors are cballengng even l the most fatal diseases and pushing 1 their way into the dark sources frc m
 which they spring. Many are the | giants whom these patiently brave 1 caves, and many other scourges il at until recently terribly impoverished society have been largely abated. Lnw Abiding Citizenship "Statesmen who have taken the time and palms to know how much it costs a law-abiding citizenship to police and restrain evildoers have , dared to go to the evil tree producing crime and multiplying criminals, and 1 undertake to dig up and destroy it.. It is not strange, therefore, that min isters and members of churches all of whom are citizens, should indi- vidually and even collectively, lend their active support to movements
 looking to the betteruient of all peo- pie. s Many good men in and out of the church have not. yet gotten their bearings in the new atmosphere of
 this immediate present. In the inter- est of the complete success of this remedial movement in human society [ 1t is necessary that all of us take time to find ourselves. Decades and centuries lie before us before the full fruition of many of the movements looking toward human welfare.
 There are certain signs of confusion among us that promlse\no good, but
 delay and postponement, First among
 these is 'frettingf The good causes specially in the care of the church today will have enemies enough on the outside without being weakened by fretting saints,
 Narrow- -mInde dness
 "By every possible token 1t is en-
 tirely apparent that healthy ma jority of our people are sound ana