Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-03-13

theater music hall and cinema make a far
greater demand upon personal expenditure
than they did in 1913. Food luXuries at
every meal are more common today than in
pre-War days, and it appears to he an un-
doubted fact that individually ana nation
ally we are living above our income.
"Mr. Blackmore asserted that unless all
sections of the community were prepared
to make some sacrifice and return to
more humble and less ostentatious method
Of living, the period necessary for the adj
justment of the present difficulties would
be extended"
With equal justice the same might be
said of the present conditions in the United
States On all sides we see the most waste
full extravaganza and conscienceless self-in-
diligence.
The end of all these things is as sorrow
fu1 as it is certain unless they be speedily
cured.
resu1ts in effeminacy and degeneracy. To this
ru1e there has never been found an exception
in all the world during all the ages Of it's eX-
stence
Self-induIgence engenders Incidence also.
When it prevails there is always an utter
want Of earnest purpose and high cndeaYor.
With respect to these noble things 1t IS cynical
and scornful The votaries of sensual pleasure
speedily come to sneering at God and good
ness Religion is a matter of Jest and derlSlon
with them. So are all other serious matters
They make sport business and then make
sport of business. They coVet incomes with
out work.
The public welfare has no IIace in all their
thoughts, and no slightest concern for the
consequences of their manner of life upon
the community at large engages their atten-
ton for a moment. They have no interest
IN the public affairs of the nation-no, not
enough to understand, or oppose, even legisla-
ton that is unfriendly to the enterprises from
which they derive the money that they
squander their vices.
Their opinions which they express most
volublv. are not products Of thought so much
as pretexts to defend their sins.
Yet with all they are restless, discontened,
and unhappy Life becomes to them dull and
stale and insipid. Utterly intoxicated with
Measure and sensual enjoyment, they are con-
stant1v seeking new devices to impart zest
to an existence that has become tedious,
monotonous and uninteresting. They are
ever craving new thrills"
Of course, such habits Of living are iney-
itably destructive Of morality. Rights OF
property and even the sanctity OF human LIE
are violated If they stand in the way OF sell
indulgence. Gambling, theft, robbery, defalca-
lions, and murder itself, are employed to get
the means for procuring pleasure. These
crimes of covetousness are of daily occurrence
now in our land. Men are robbed and killed
in open daylight to get money for sensual
| Qualifications.
so runs the carnival of crime in the United
States.
Well may cries be raised for a return to
normaIcy;" for all these manifestations of
evil are symptoms of moral insanity.
But there will be no return to normally
until the people repent and return to God.
On the contrary conditions will grow worse
and worse for it is the characteristic proper
ty of vice always to run from one excess of in
diligence to another that is more piQuant and
pleasurable
There is but one saving element in our So
cial system which ancient Babylon and Rome
did not have. They had music, painting, sculp-
tors, drama, architecture, literature, philosophy
and everything else that imagination could
conceive and ingenuity obtain; but they were
without the Christian religion.
Christianity Is only hope, and we can
rely that to only in so far as we
have the experience of it's heavenly life and
subject ourselves to it's divine law. Even in a
Christian atmosphere paganism may flourish.
If we live like pagans shall perish like
pagans. Indeed all the evil things which Mr.
Blakemore discussed and deprecated at Leeds.
and the similar sins which abound in our own
! country, are utterly pagan in their nature.
Our luXurylOving men and women are as
truly pagans any Of the yOluptuaries who
brought Babylon to destruction and Rome to
ruin. Unless they can be Chrstianzed-gen
| timely converted to God-they will corrupt
our civilization and overthrow our social
system.
The supreme need of Great Britain and the
United States is a revival Of pure and I'M
defiled religion. Such a revival is most i'm
peratively needed in our cities and towns, and
among those in them who belong to what is
called "the upper classes"
The "slums" do not need a revival Of religion
quite as urgently does what is called
| society"
| From all classes in land, both high and
low, paganism must be rurged away by the
purifying power Of Christs saving grace 1t
| has become a peril to the nation which puts
! in jeopardy every hour the life of the re-
public.