The Monmouth inquirer., 1921-09-15

beg to remind these ladies' that the
WardefB and Vestrymen are the busi
ness officers Of the church; and IL
seems to my poor judgment that il
any business is to be transacted, the
| PROPER way would be for the Vestry
20 take care Of it. However, have
complied with the request and have
! undertaken to preside, in the absence
of the rector. The meeting is now
| open for business"
Bascom sat down and gazed at the
audience. but with stare so express
eionless as gave no further index to
his mood. For some time there was
rather painful silence; but at last
Hepsey Burke arose and faced about
to command the audience.
| Brethren and sisters" she began,
"a few of us women have made up our
minds that it's high time that some
thin was done towards payin' our rec
tor what we owe him, and that we fur
nish him with proper house to live
in"
At this point, faint murmur of ap
plause interrupted the speaker. who
replied: There. There. Don't be too
quick. You won't feel bit like ap-
plaudin' when I get through. It's
burnin' shame and disgrace that We
owe Mr.. Maxwell about two hundred
dollars, which means a mighty lot to
him, because If he was paid in full ev-
cry month he would get just about
o,.o,,,b - lyoax, 1ie uffo ond hi,nsaf
from starvin' to death. / wasn't asked
to call this meetin'; / asked the rec
tor to, and ! asked the Senior Warden
4 preside. And told the rector that
some of us-both men and women
had business to talk about that wasn't
for his ears. For all he knows, we're
here to pass vote Of censure on him.
The fact is that we have reached the
point where somethin' has got to be
done right Off quick; and II none Of
the vestrymen do 1t. then q poor
shrinkin' little woman like myself has
got to rise and mount the band wagon.
I'm no womans rights woman. but
have conscience that'll keep me
awake nights until have freed my
mind.S
|. Here Hepsey paused and twirling
her pencil between her lips. gazed
around at her auditors who were lis
teninS with breathless attention. Then
she suddenly exclaimed with suppress
ed wrath. and in her penetrating tones.
'What is the matter with you men
anyway? You'd have to pay your
butcher. or your baker, or your gro
Ger. whether you wanted to or not.
Then why in the name of conscience
don't you pay your parson? Certainly
. religion that don't cost nothin' is
worse than nothin'. I'll tell you the
reason why you don't support your
parson; It's just because your rec
! tors a gentleman, and can't very well
kick over the traces. or baIk. or sue
you. even If you do starve him. So
| you, prosperous, big headed men think
| that you can sneak out of it. Oh. you
needn't shuttle and look mad: you're
i goin to get the truth for once, and l
had Johnny Mullins lock the front
door before began"
The whole audience responded to
this sally with a laugh, but the speak
az relented not one icta. "Then when
| you've smit your rector on one cheek
you quote the Bible to make him
think he ought to turn his overcoat
also" Another roar. There: you don't
need to think Pm havin' game. I'm
/ not through yet. Now let's get right
down to business. We owe our rector
1. lot Of money, and he is liyin' In .
tent because we neglected to pay the
interest on the rectory mortgage held
by the Senior Warden Of our church.
| Talkin' plain business and nothin' else.
turned him out of house and home.
! and we broke our business contract
with him. Yes we did! And now you
know ii.
Some of us have been sayin' and
] was one of 'em till Mr.. Maxwell cor
rected me-that it was mean of Mr..
Bascom to turn the rector and his wife
out of their house. But business is
business, and until we've paid the last
cent of our contributions. we haven't
any right to throw stones at anyone.
Wait till we've done our part for that!
We've been the laughing stock Of the
whole town because Of our pesly
meanness That tent of ours has
stuck out on the landscape like a
horse fly on pillow sham.
tits not my business to tell how the
rector and his wife have had to econ
omize and suffer. to get along at all;
or how nice and uncompiainin' they've
been through it all. They wouldn't
A want me to say anythin' of that;
sportsmen they are. both of 'em, The
price of foods gone up. and the rec
tors salary gone down like a teeter
on laS.
Now, as remarked before. let's
get right down to business The only
way to raise that money is to raise It'll
There's no use larkin' all round Robin
i Hoods barn, or scampering round thu
h,xey.l o,,xr 1oy,ocx. don't aarc