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The Presbyterian ot the South
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Vol. 9G. No. 32. RICHMOND, sW. August 9, 1922
CRIME was never so common in this coun
try as at present, and this is not limited
1o any one kind of crime or any one class of
people. It is said that this has become the
most law-breaking of all the civilized countries
of the world. It is gratifying to realize that
only a small percentage of the people be
long to the criminal class. The serious feature
of the case is that the great law abiding ele
ment of the population seem to be so indiffer
ent to conditions. However, there is prospect
of improvement. The daily papers give the
records of crimes, and other publications and
many public men are peeking for the cause and
the cure. When public attention is sufficiently
fixed upon conditions, public interest will be
awakened ; and when interest is awakened the
facts will be discovered, the eause will bo
sought and the remedy will be secured. "What
is very much needed in this country by all
classes of people is a realization of the maj
esty of the law, and the fact that it is not only
the duty of every citizen to see that the law is
upheld and enforced, but also that it is for the
good of all honest people to have the law prop
erly observed. It, is up to Mr. Good Citizen to
see that the law is upheld and enforced so that
erime may be stopped and righteousness be es
tablished throughout our land.
MR. ROGER BABSON is generally consid
ered the best business statistician in this
country. He says that the annual business
turn-over in this country $50,000,000,000
Of this, he says, at least four-fifths passes
through the hands of Chureh people. He says
that it is fair to say that there is an average of
10 per cent on this business. This gives the
Church people an annual income of $40,000,
000,000, 10 per cent of which would be .f.4,000,
<>00,000. This would be the amount paid into
the Lord's treasury, if all of His people paid
Him a tithe of their income. But Mr. Babson
says that the actual amount paid is only about
1 per cent. That makes a pretty bad showing,
when the average Christian keeps 9^ cents out
of every dollar for himself and pays 1 cent to
Ood. There are many Christians who pay the
lithe and many others who pay more, But. this
just makes the showing all the worse for many
others. What a wonderfid work tha Church
eould do, if all the tithes had been brought into
nod's store house.
Anti-prohibitionists seem to b<i will
ing to do anything that they think will
help them to destroy the prohibition laws of
Hiis country. One of the most recent ?>? their
nefarious schemes is the circulation of a paper
credited to Abraham Lincoln. This paper rep
resents Lincoln as saying that he i? opposed to
prohibition as an invasion of private rights.
Tli is same document was used in the local op
tion campaign in Georgia in 1887. A short
time after that Colonel John B. Goodwin, who
was the director of the anti-prohibition forces
?f that State, confessed that lie had composed
the document and sent it out., hoping in this
W&y to win the Negro vote. It shows what a
desperate state his party must have been in
that any man of decency could lower himself
enough to do such a thing. And the same is
true of those who have resurrected this fraud
and are trying to impose it upon honest people.
It has often been said that those engaged in
the liquor traflic have no regard for the laws
of God or man.
CAN you afford to be ignorant of the prin
ciples of the largest fraternal order in
the world, is a question recently asked by one
who was writing in behalf of the order to which
he belongs. Of course he did not mean to com
pare his order with the Church, which is by far
"the largest fraternal order in the world."
His question is just as pertinent as applied to
the Church as it is to his order. It is astonish
ing to see how many Christians are ignorant of
many of the fundamental principles) of their
Church. In this day of books and papers there
is no excuse for ignorance on this subject, lie
who will put a good book or a good Church
paper into a home will do much to drive igno
rance out of the Church.
MOUNT EVEREST in the Himalaya range
between India and Thibet is the highest
point on the surface of the earth, being 29,002
feet high. Many attempts have been made to
climb to its summit, but all have failed. Three
daring men have just given up that attempt
after getting within 1,700 feet of the top. The
attempt came near causing them the loss of
their lives and did cost the lives of seven of the
porters who were carrying their supplies. We
often wonder what will be accomplished, if
some one does succeed at last in standing on
the highest point in the world, except that he
will be able to say that he has done what no
body else ever did. How much better it would
be, if the effort, the money and the lives wasted
in sueh undertakings should be spent for the
real uplift of mankind.
DON LORENZO PEROSI, a prominent
Roman Catholic priest, a world famous
composer of sacred music and the master of
the Sistine Chapel, the Pope's private chapel,
has announced his determination tc leave the
Romish Church and join the Waldensian
Church. In speaking of it he said: "I am a
Protestant and want to join the Waldensian
Church. I want it to be known by everybody
that I have declared to the Vatican authorities
that I consider myself as definitely out cf the
Roman Church." Naturally enough the Vati
can authorities are sending out the statement
that he is mentally unsound.
PROHIBITION is doing its good work, not
withstanding the false and misleading
statements made many times by its enemies,
who for selfish reasons would like to see the
Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead law
both repealed. Here are the results in four
teen of the largest cities of this country. The
figures which make up these totals are taken
from official rccords. All of them in the first
total belong to either 191f>, 1917 or 1918. Dur
ing these years one in each city, there were in
these cities 157,531 arrests for drunkenness.
In the same cities in 1920 there were 68,072
arrests for drunkenness. This shows a falling
off of 89,459 arrests or 57 per cent. The in
dications are the number of arrests for 192*2
will show a still larger falling off. When it is
remembered that it has proved much harder
to enforce the law in the large cities than, else
where, this is a remarkable showing, and ought
to be a complete answer to those who say that
prohibition does not do any good. It should
be borne in mind that during these years the
population of these cities has been growing
and the enforcement of the law has been more
rigid. The Chicago city hospital makes this
remarkable report. During the year before
prohibition went into effect there were 109
deaths from alcoholism in that hospital. Last
year there was only one such death there. And
yet Chicago is not supposed to be a desert as
to alcoholic drinks. Verily prohibition is prov
ing that it is worth the hearty support of all
those who have the best interests of the country
at heart.
SUNDAY schools sometimes have a pre
carious existence and those in charge of
them have a hard time keeping them going.
The result is that the officers and teachers begin
looking around for something new to infuse
life into the school. Some method adopted may
awaken interest and quicken its life for awhile,
but after a little the school begins to drop back
into its former, if not into a worse condition.
New plans are tried with like results, until
all concerned become disheartened and just
settle down to letting the school go on in a
dispirited way. Did you ever see such a school ?
The country is full of tliem. It is interesting
therefore to read in the Philadelphia Presby
terian an account of the Sunday school of the
"Old Fourth Church" of that city, which has
just celebrated its one hundred and fifth anni
versary. It i3 said to be one of the largest
and most successful Sunday schools in that city,
in which there are 125 Presbyterian Sunday
schools. It has never adopted any high pres
sure methods for securing numbers of attend
ance. Its present superintendent is serving his
forty-third year in that office. The methods
used in this school to make its work a success
may be used anywhere. Its officers "have de
pended on the school's functioning through its
carefully graded departments, on its annual
promotion exercises in September, on it* teach
ers being thoroughly equipped in its teacher
training classes." All of its work is "directed
toward informing the mind and touching the
heart." Fidelity to the word of God is the key
note of superintendent and school. God's
truth will attract when properly presented.
TPSY SMITH, on his return to England,
was asked as to religious conditions in the
United States. This is his reply: "In America
they have been passing through a very critical
period. Here in this country we have largely
emerged from the trouble attaching to the
higher criticism, and we are emphasizing the
things that .we have tried and proved. The
American churches, on the other hand, are still
in the throes, and they have had to listen often
to messages which were in the highest degree
uncertain. They are tired now, and they want
the real thing. I found that desire after assur
ance and reality more pronounced than ever
at this time. The man who has got a real live
message, with the power of the Holy Spirit in
spiring it and backed up by a consecrated heart
and life, will be welcomed and listened to in
America more eagerly than ever before. For
my own part I never saw cr?w^s so earnest,
never met with so ready a response in my life
as in the States last winter."