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The Presbyterian of rire^South
Vol. 96. No. 26. RICHMOND, VA. Jime 2gj 1922.
SOME people have a good deal of trouble in
understanding the position of our Gen
eral Assembly in its relation to the Federal
( ouncil of the Churches of Christ in Amer
ica. It is true that the Assembly did take a
rather peculiar action. As the matter was
presented in the report of a committee there
were two points for consideration. One was
as to whether the Assembly should remain in
the Council, and the other was as to the amount
of money that should be appropriated to sup
port the work of the Council. There was quite
a debate on the subject of continuing our con
nection with the Council. The two principal
arguments used in favor of remaining in that
lx)dy were, first, that nearly all the other large
churches are members of it and that we would
l>e misunderstood, if we withdrew, and, second,
that we could influence the Council and direet
its activities better, if we were in it than we
could by withdrawing. There was a strong
sentiment in favor of withdrawing, but the vote
was in favor of remaining. On the question of
the amount to be appropriated there was much
discussion. Last year with very little consid
eration the amount was increased from $250 to
$5,000. In the discussion of this subject it
was shown that the Council had made out a
budget for the coming year of $245,000. As
this budget was studied the Assembly became
convinced that the Council was planning to do
many things of which the Assembly did not
approve, and some against whicji former As
semblies had protested. It was decided that the
most practical way to make a protest was to de
cline to provide means for doing what was not
approved of. The probability, as it appeared
to an onlooker, is that had the order of the dis
cussion of these two points been reversed, the
Assembly would have withdrawn from the
Council. An editorial in Christian Work says
that the Assembly was lead to this action by a
West Virginia elder, and says that his posi
tion was due to the fact that he lived in a coal
state and was opposed to the action of the Coun
cil in making an investigation of the coal strike
of last year. We do not know of any one who
was better able to pass judgment on the in
vestigation that an intelligent Presbyterian
elder who lived just where the investigation was
1* ing made. It was clearly Bliown that the in
vestigation was being made along lines of
which our Church does not approve, and it was
stated that the representative of the Council
who was making this investigation was very
closely connected with the law-breaking and
law-defying I. W. W.'s, who have caused much
?rouble in many sections .of the country. The
Southern Presbyterian Church stands for the
spirituality of the Church, and holds that its
mission is to preach the gospel of salvation to
|f>st sinners, and not to be spending its efforts
?n trying to settle political and economic ques
tions, no matter how important these matters
?nay be. The individual member of the Church
'"as many responsibilities and duties which do
U()t belong to the Church as an organization
f'stablished by God for doing a specific work.
tVlOHlBITION is still being made an issue
in politics in thi? country by those who have
interested in the liquor business. They
are making a strong effort all over the country
*? elect members of Congress who will favor
the repeal or the modification. v -*?
... ? . uotoo
on the subject. Of course, tlf *J?-?qn ?j*}g WjU{
to secure the opportunity for seifmg i'itflL "
again. The anti-prohibition propagandists are
making a great deal of noise through the public
press, and there are some people who fear that
they will succeed in their undertaking. If
they are allowed to have their own way, of
course, they will succeed. The law-abiding and
law-supporting element of the country need to
Ik? on their guard, and maintain their rights in
the preservation of the laws which they have
won after long battles. Where the supporters of
the law have been alive to the situation, the
anti-prohibitionists have made little progress
in their movements. The Continent of .New
York says: "Wayne 13. Wheeler, head of the
Anti-Saloon League, sees defeat for the foes of
prohibition as a result of the recent state pri
maries. He said that out of 107 candidates
nominated for Congress there has been only one
instance where a wet defeated a dry supporter,
and that was in the Peoria district of Illinois.
Wheeler added that a hard fight would be made
by the drys to defeat the wet Republican and
elect the Democratic candidate who favors pro
hibition. The liquor supporters received their
worst defeat in Pennsylvania, he 3aid, where in
an industrial district in which beer and wines
were the issue, the prohibition candidates won
by three to one."
STOCK gambling is attracting the attention
of the public today a little more than usual
and some of the public is having its eyes opemed
a little to the facts. New York is the center of
this business, but it is conducted in every city
and town, and in almost every hamlet of the
country. It is entirely right to buy railroad
or industrial stocks or government bond.", when
there is a real purchase and that which is liought
is delivered to the buyer and paid for by him.
But this constitutes a very small part of the so
called stock buying of the country. A great
part of it is what is called "buying on margin."
The man who sells has no stock to sell, and the
man who buys has no expectation of receiving
the stock, nor does he want it. The whole trans
action is just a bet as to whether the price of
the particular stock will rise or fall in price
within a certain time. This is just as really
gambling as is letting on a horse race or a game
of cards. Gambling is one of the great sins of
the age and leads many men into other sin?.
No business man wants to have in his employ
a man who gambles, because he knows that the
probability is that he will bo dishonest in other
particulars. It seems strange that there are so
many men and women who are foolish enough to
gamble in stocks, to say nothing of its being
sinful. It is a bet made usually between an
inexperienced amateur and an experienced pro
fessional. Naturally the professional will win in
most cases. lie must let the others win some
times or he would soon have no business. Any
reasonable investigation will show that the
"lambs" are usually fleeced. The stock broker
of this class geta rich, the customer gets broke.
MODESTY and morality have a very close
connection, and yet this fact sterns to be
entirely ignored by many .women today." This
is seen in the dress which many of them wear
on the streets and elsewhere. But it is spe
_ciallv shown in the costumes, or almost lack
stume, in which many women bathe in
c. Efforts have been made by those con
trolling such bathing places and by the police
authorities in many cases, but without success.
It has been stated that this is a matter of per
sonal Itberty and if the women want to expose
their persons to the gaze of men nobody has
a right to prevent it. It should not be for
gotten that there is a great difference between
lil>erty and license. Liberty is exercising frw^
doin under the restrictions of the laws of God
and man, while license is the exercise of free
dom without reference to law. But one of the
most distressing evidences of the tendency of
the times is wliat appeared in one of our h>cal
dailies a few days ago. A water carnival of
swimming and other aquatic feats was being
arranged for, and special inducements were
l)eing offered to young women to enter these
contests. The Young Women's Christian Asso
ciation teaches swimming in the pool in its
building. The young women who are taught
there became interested and a team of swim
mers was organized to represent the Associa
tion. They then had their picture taken and
it was published in the daily paper that is pro
moting the contest. It seems strange indeed
that any woman with even a limited amount
of modesty would have been willing to appear
in such a costume, and especially to have been
willing to have her picture taken in that way
and published before the. world. The best way
to describe these costumes is to say that they
concealed as small a part of the body as pos
sible and left the rest bare. The serious fea
ture of this matter is that it was promoted by
the Association and these young women will
appear before thousands of people as the repre
sentatives of the Association. The Young Wo
men's Christian Association claims to lie the
hand-maiden of the Church in working for the
physical, mental, moral and spiritual welfare
of young women. It looks to churches and
church people for its support. But if this is
a fair specimen of its standards of propriety
and morals, it need not be surprised if it does
not receive the support it desires. If suc.b
standards are set l>efore the young by a great
institution, which claims to be Christian and
to be the representative of the churches in its
work, what can be expected of those who have
no restraints thrown around them i
THE Continent of New York says edi
torially: "Congratulations winged with
Christian esteem and fraternal rejoicing should
1k? sent fl.ving to the Southern Presbyterian
Church for the magnifieently loyal financial
support wlii'eh it gave to its missionary and
l>enevolent agencies in the eeclesiastieal year for
which report was made to its late General As
sembly. Every eause m the Church gained in
the total revenues which it had at its disposal,
making a record in missionary and edueational
fmanees which the denomination never touched
l*?fore. When it is considered that the South
during the period eovered by these reports was
suffering the most trying emlwirrassments of
the business depression which in 1921 spread
over the whole country, this onteome testifies to
a Christian devotion among f1ie#Presbyterians
of the South which is worthy of all praise and
of unlimited emulation."