Newspaper Page Text
The Presbyterian
Vol. 97. No. 35. RICHMOND, VA.
VIRGINIA
August 1!>22
I JEER things occur sometimes in the re
ligious educational world, but we have seen
nothing recently quite equal to what is re
ported to have taken place in Cambridge, Alass.
The divinity school of Harvard University is
said to be distinctly Unitarian. Andover Theo
logical Seminary is said to be Trinitarian in
its teaching. Yet these two institutions have
I icon combined and will operate as one school
from the opening of the next session. In or
? lei* to comply with some charter requirement,
the trustees of Andover will appoint a Trini
tarian professor of theology, so that those who
? lesire instruction in that system may have their
wanta supplied. It seems* strange that any sen
sible men will pretend to believe that two sys
tems as directly opposed to Trinitarianism and
I nitarianism can be taught in the same school.
They are so distinctly opposed that one might
as well try to mix water and fire.
CHURCHES are oftentimes held up and
called upon to stand and deliver just as
really as a lone traveler is held up by a high
wayman. An example of this has just come to
11s. A communication has just been received
coming from New York and signed by a man
entirely unknown to us, and who does not claim
to represent any organization or anybody but
himself. He urges upon all the churches, in
order to advance Americanization, to sing the
last verse of America at the close of every ser
vice. He adds: "With your help this custom
would spread very quickly throughout the land
and no church would refuse to" adopt it, as
such action would advertise that it was in op
position to what we stand for as Americans."
America is a great hymn and we are always
ready to sing it on all proper occasions, but when
the singing of it is to be made the test of our
Americanism, we are ready to rise in rebellion
against any one who assumes the right to rule
<iver us and lay such a command with such a
penalty upon us.. The fact is that there are
entirely too many people trying to tell the
Church what it ought to do. Every man, who
wants to pose as a reformer, goes at once to
the Church for help, and woe betide the church
that does not adopt his program ; for he will
hrand it as lacking in loyalty to God or to the
*tate or as unwilling to aid the needy of th-3
world. If the Church will iake its stand firmly
against outside interference, it and the world
will be far better off.
i
WORSE than Turks are some people who
are going about in this country. They are
pretending to represent the Near East Relief
and are collecting money which they say is to
go to this great organization to aid it in doing
its life saving work for the orphans and the
destitute in the Near East. It is hard to see
how any man or woman can get so low as to
capitalize the sufferings of orphan children to
enable him to steal money from the benevolent
people who want to help those who are in dis
tress. But there are such people in the world,
it seems, and some of them are in this country.
We advise all who want to give to this worthy
cause, and none is worthier, to be sure that
they are giving their money to those who will
use it properly. In every state and in many
communities there are organizations of the
Near East Relief made up of men and women
well known in their communities, and if there
is no such organization convenient, gifts may
be sent to the Near East Relief, New York.
CORRESPONDENTS some times wonder
why communications which they send us
are not published and why they do not hear
from us when this is the case- The reason is
usually because the communication is sent
without the name of the writer. The name may
l>e withheld through modesty or through care
lessness, but it is all the same to the news
paper. "When a writer wants anything pub
lished, it is certainly asking very little of liim
that he should send his name. This is not
done in order that the name may l>e published,
if the writer does not want this done, but as a
protection to those who publish the communi
cation. If statements are questioned we must
know to whom to go for confirmation. If for
any reason we cannot publish what is sent, we
like to be able to tell the writer why we can
not We do not keep the yawning waste basket,
which is supposed to sit in all newspaper of
fices, and into which all rejected articles are
thrown. We feel that if any one docs us the
kindness to write something for us, and we
cannot use it, the explanation should l>e given
and the article should be returned. Our Mr
respondents are usually very careful in sign
ing their names, but some times we cannot find
out from whence comunicat.ions come.
PESSIMISM as to the financial condition of
this country ought to be entirely driven out.
when the crops of the present summer are con
sidered. Government reports show that from
present indications and at present prices the
seventeen principal crops raised by the farmers
of the country will be worth $7,000,000,000.
This will give the farmers $1,000,000,000 more
than they received last year. That means a
tremendous increase in prosperity, if the pres
ent troubles in the business world can be
settled.
STRAWS may show which way the wind
blows, but straw vote* do not always show
which way the political winds are blowing. The
straw ballot being conducted by the Literary
Digest shows that Ohio is decidedly "wet," yet
the recent primaries held by the Democratic
and the Republican parties both show the re
verse to be the case. In each party a "dry"
man was nominated for governor. The same
thing is true of the two nominees for attorney
general. An Ohio paper says, "the 'dry' forces
of the state have won a complete victory." This
sustains the positions taken by us before, that
such a ballot will not represent the real senri
ment of the country. A very large number of
the most sensible people will not take the trou
ble to fill out a ballot and pay the postage k
send it in. when absolutely nothing will be ac
complished by it. And a great many of the
strongest friends of prohibition believe that
the best way to support that cause is to accept
it as a settled fact, and to stop discussing it.
We do not impugn the motives of the Digest,
but we think it is doing more harm than good.
VAUDEVILLE theatre managers are not
usually given to advancing reform move
ments, and when they do anything in this direo
tion it is generally supposed that it is done in
the interest of their own business. It has re
centjy been reported that the head of one of the
largest vaudeville organizations in this country
has given strict orders to all actors under his
control that they shall not allow in any of their
performances any joke at the expense of pro
hibition nor any slighting remark in regard to
the enforcement of the prohibition law. It is
said that this will require the modification of
many of the plays, which are being presented
on the vaudeville stage. It is generally under
stood that this order has gone out because the
patrons of the theatres have become tired of
these jokes and slurs. They see that the treat
ment of any law in this way will have a bad
effect upon the olwervance and enforcement not
only of that, but of all other laws. This is a
very gratifying sign as to the growth of public
sentiment. Any law can be enforced if public
sentiment demands it, and no law will be gen
erally enforced when public sentiment is
against it or indifferent as to its enforcement.
The good people who want to see all laws en
forced can mould public sentiment so that not
only this law, but all others will be enforced.
Too many citizens have a name to live, but are
dead to the l?est interests of the country.
BAPTIST polity gives that denomination
trouble at times. That church has al
ways opposed the ordination of women to the
Gospel ministry. Yet the First Baptist
Church of San Jose, California, has recently
ordained Mrs. Aimee Semple McPherson. It
seems that she has l>en a lay preacher in one
of the small denominations, and had gained
sons popularity as a preacher. Claiming that
her views had changed to accord with those of
the Baptists, she applied to that church for
ordination, and she was ordained. The action
of that church is final and there Is 110 appeal
from it Although every other Baptist church
in the country may be opposed to this action,
they can do nothing. Mrs. McPherson is an
ordained Baptist minister.
EPISCOPALIANS will meet in the trien
nial convention of their church in Portland,
Oregon, on September Gth. This gathering
represents the Episcopal Church of the whole
country. There are two important matters to
come l)cfore the convention. One is the report,
of the committee on the revision of the Prayer
Book. The changes to l?e proposed have not
yet heon announced. If they are approved by
l>oth houses of the convention, the laymen and
the bishops, they will then Ik? referred to the
various dioceses for consideration and report to
the next convention, meeting three years from
now. If the. dioceses approve, it will be neces
sary for the two houses to approve again. Then
the changes will become effective. The other
mattor of special importance will be financial.
The last convention started a plan for raising
during the three years of $28,000,000. It is
said that the full amount secured has fallen
far short of that sum. It is reported that this
convention will probably adopt a plan for the
next three years which is very much like the
Progressive Program of our Church, the goal
to be set being $G,000,000 the first year,
$7,000,000, the second, and ^?S,000,000 the
third year.