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WHAT IS RELIGION?—I
jjan ns Invariably finds something: In
the f g ,ts he faces out of which to
make religion foe Ills soul ns he finds
something In them out of which to
mnfce knowledge tor ills Intelligence, or
food for his hunger. He has never
|h|b how ttf K ot along without re
ligion no more than the lice lms known
, „»• to get along without honey. It Is
• long way from bees to men and from
honey to religion, but nil forma of life
(Lnt the same universe and severally
Ileal with 11 according to their capaci-
“ jo receive Its raw material and turn
a In the direction of their various
•rades of endowment. The liydrolds
hulld coral Islands at the bottom of
re.'l/on. and men build cities like Lon
don n. the top. The difference betwen
ihe lower and the upper centers of
nonilatlon measures the distance be-
iweep the simplest and most complex
orders of life.
•piie establishments the zoophytes
ereot against the tides of the ocean ure
composed of carbonate of lime the tiny
laborers extract from the water. The
narl "f the universe they can grasp
1‘nii use is very limited. Outside of
securing the inenns of subsistence, their
otlvity Is confined to securing from
L, ,vines the particles that float and
L,.king them Into reefs that stand.
Hut nil forma of workers, from
structureless bits of protoplasm engaged
■ building ten-forests to men engaged
, building Egyptian pyramids employ
their powers In organizing the different
levels iif existence Into the forms of
Hull life. The grade of work turned
loUt ■filial
er.
determines the rank of the work-
*\Ve know whnt tho shell forms of
life are by the chalk cliffs they build.
lVe know what the sponges are by the
■ ItlfK they erect. The place of the bee
Is Axed by his cell and tile merchan
dise with which he stores ft. The level
or the beaver Is settled by the dam he
throws across the river. Every living
thing under heaven advertises its rank
by what It can make out of what It
can find In nature. In the character of
Its work we aee the level of Its en
dowment.
Man, like the rest of living creatures,
takes his place In the scale of being
by what he can do with what he can
And in the world about him. At the be
ginning of his life on the'planet ho was
not as well furnished for making his
way as the crawling, swimming, walk
ing, flying forms of existence below
him. They had Instinct, well develop
ed from the first—-he had reason, cap-
sulate In his being, but hidden be
neath the surface of his life. They had
varying capacities for doing tl-.c work
before them already developed In their
claws and fins and beaks and falls and
wings, while he was under the neces
sity of learning by slow and painful
processes of discipline what he could
find and what he could do. They
canto Into life from the greut tech
nological school of nature already grad
uated for business; he came a stran
ger to himself and a stranger to every
thing he met. The bee was ready to
make as good honey as ho could ever
turn out us soon as he could fly. The
beaver was ready to arrest water with
as good a dam as he would ever know
how to build as soon as he could walk.
Every grade of life below the. human
knew exactly at the start where every
thing was to which It was related. It
knew how to open every dour that shut
from Itself what It wanted. He Blood
like an ignoramus In a museum.
All living things under him
had the advantage of him. They were
acquainted with the premises. Birds
were singing in the trees, finding their
final, building their nests, feeding tlielr
By REV. JAMES W. LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
young and using the sky to fly In as I
If the whole earth belonged to them, j
The fish were Just as perfectly at home
In the sea, playing amid Its depths.!
faking the water for their comfort and j
support. Between the birds finding
their native home In the air above him. ■
and the fish sailing the seas as their
liquid dwelling place below him, he!
stood on the earth along with other!
living creatures, a palpitating sped- 1
men of pitiful weakness am 1 helpless
ness. To him tin- surrounding full
ness se. Uleil IT* r no S].eeiuI items of
food or clothing or shelter, and no par- I
tfcular line of work In which ho could j
find for himself a career.
Every other animal had Ills food and !
his function prepared for him. He:
seemed to be the only one whose place |
ans not doe ii on ihe t ,, ogi uni. In 1 In
scheme of nature It appeared that am- .
pie provlslnn hnd been made for all
performers front brachlpods to monk- j
eys. but he did not uppear to arrive!
on the stage until after all parts of tho !
play had been assigned. .
There Is not In all history a com
pound of dust and loneliness so pathet
ic as that represented by the first hu
man being. The universe he faced ap
peared to be organized to destroy him.
The weather was against him. the wild
beasts were Inimical to him, and noth
ing appeared disposed to lean toward
him In friendship and good will.
But having arrived in the midst of
tcenes where everything puzzled him
and opposed him, the only alternative
open to him was to vacate standing
room, or vindicate his right to breathe
and live. Though the odds were
.against hint, he took his stand and be
gan his career. The means of physical
existence engaged his attention, and
when we contrast what lie eats and
what lie wenrs nnd the mansions lie
houses himself In today, with the food
REV. JAMES W. LEE.
and raiment and shelter he used In
the beginning, we are able' to form
some Idea of tho Infinite distance be
tween him and the rest of the animal
reatlon with which he Itegan his hts-,|
tory on the earth. The zoophytea are
back there where they were In the
morning of the world, extracting lime
from sea water to use In building sub
marine cities The bees are back there
licking sweets from (lowers to use In
making honey. The beavers are back
there manipulating mud with their
tails to use In their work of masonry.
The loiter animals began with every
endowment they possess today ami
stay where they started. Man began
with nothing except powers packed
away so deeply In his nRture that he
did not know he had them, and has
gradually discovered them and learned
how to use them In making his way
onward and upward In the conqueat-of
all things. Starting at the foot, he has
spelled his way to the head of the
class. From being the weakest hh has
become the strongest. Step by step
he ha* climbed from the bottom to the
top of creation. The elements and
forces that threatened to crush him he
has mastered, nnd subjected to his
service. He haa put till history under
his hat amt made himself the trustee
of the earth and Its affairs. He admin
isters upon all terrestrial Interests, and
turns all the meaning the world has In
the direction of his Intelligence and
heart nnd will. *
Animated protoplasm demonstrates
that the lime was made for It by get
ting It and piling It Into reefs. The
bee demonstrated that sweets were
made for it. by getting them to (111 Ills
cell. Man demonstrates that all things
were made for him by getting them and
using them to build up his commerce.
Ills law, his literature, his art and his
religion. He has learned to turn the
raw material of sea and sky and soli
with all the thought they embody Into
the forms of Ijls own life. He has
made the whole world friendly by mak
ing It human. He has made the eurth
his own by making It n garden. He lias
made tho ether his by forcing It to
I express his ideas. He has made the
1 avalanches his by transmitting their
power into light and heat. He has made
the whole sum of things his by learning
to sweep with his fingers Its entire
keyboard and make all the combina
tions necessary to bring to his soul all
the riches of melody lodged In It from
the beginning of time.
"W# scatter the mists that enclose
us.
Till the seas are ours and the lands,
Till the quivering ether .knows us
And carries otlr quick commands.
From the blaze of the sun's bright
glory
We sift each ray of light—
We steal from the stars their story
Across the dark *pac$s of night."
I.
Life in all It* form* find* creation
responsive to Its every height of fac
ulty. The outside order never plays
false with any igrade of animate ex
istence. It answers to the call of the'
amnelit, at the bottom of the scale with
exactly what It reaches for. Whatever
the aitonges call for to take up tho
walla of their palaces, they get. If the
swallow culls for adobe to build his
nest,-he gets It. Inferior grades of life
need little and call for little, but what
ever they ask for the universe hands
them. Tito response Is always accord
ing to the call. Pearls are never cast
before swine, because the hog does not
ask for anything but'eorn. The scheme
of nature Is adjusted to meet on Its own
lane the demands of every order of
fe. There has never been a species
of exlsjenee but found the outside sys
tem of things matching Its wants with
the precise object necessary to satisfy
it.
Man la not confined by Instinct to
any particular round of tho outside
order. He Is not limited In structure
to nny particular side of It. The tiger
Is made for the Jungles, the whale for
the ocean and tho eagle for the skv.
All living things except him are teth
ered to some particular patch of land
or water or atmosphere. His structure
corresponds to the constitution of
things. At the beginning he had no
home anywhere, hut he has slmvly
domesticated himself to all that he
perceives, and now finds a home every
where. The seven stars are locuted
within the confines of his plantation. He
weighs the constellations in his bal
ance*. He associates with the wheel
ing heavens and learns their secrets.
Ho moves amid the suns, counting
their number, and analyzing thrir con
tents, thelf Interpreter and master.
Nothing Is foreign to him. nothing is
without hut Is represented by some
thing within. Tho scheme of outside
things Is met by the scheme of his In
side Intelligence. The eternal purpose
moved up from particle and spicule,
through plant and pnlypt and quad
ruped, expressing Itself all the way In
limited and meager forms of life, but
waited until tho topmost stage was
reached and then emptied the whole
content and meaning nnd sweep of It
self In the Ufe of man.. He became the
measure of nil things. Towering above
all, his life furnished the standpoint
from which to determine the precise
rank of all. Ae the climax of the di
vine process he Is not only the heir of
all things, but also tho Interpreter and
Interpretation of all.
Nature does not know Itself. The
self-consciousness of the Infinite mind
repeats Itself In the self-consclousnrss
of finite mind.
Editor's Note:
(Dr. Lee will continue his article ,,n
"What Is Religion” In next Saturday's
Issue of The Georgian.)
I
[j
i i
HOLD
YO
UR E
0
o
■
s :
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE,
PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
;
« —
’ so built we the wall.”—Nehe-
Imlah " and 4.
A .tPi,VO the people of Jerusalem
several thousand years ago the
problem was a rotted and rained
wall. That wall represented the drill-
nation of the Jews. To repair and re
build It was the necessity of the j hour.
The people alone Inside that city could
do the work. Self-respect ancl self-
preservation and the hopes of the na
tion drove them to the task. Other
questions and other duties might arise,
but tlielr first duty was to save them
selves. They fell upon a wise plan.
Every man over against hi* own house
—so built they the wall.
That proved a practical Idea several
thousand years ago. It la a true prin
ciple today. It la a plan nnd a princi
ple to bo Invoked now for the prob
lems of the Southern people In Issues
that ate immediate and pressing.
The loyal.wife of a minister In AJ-
panta some time ago, seeing that her
husband was about to get Into a con
troversy with another minister which
promised to be disagreeable, said: "I
am going to hold my dog."
Hold Your Dog.
There are some who do not seem to
appreciate that the more deeply and
earnestly one loves the South and the
more ho Is concerned with the welfare i
of his ow n people, the more anxious he |
will he, having no selfish interest to
serve, that they should not be nr do
that which is discreditable to them
es, and that they shall be correct
or wrong dispositions and morally
Indefensible tendencies, Ho lie will bo
faithful in Ills love for them to direct
their attention to the things that put
to disadvanjtge. If one's own
brother goes wrong. It Is no assumption
of superior virtue while standing with
him to show him his wrong in Its
true colors, i’ertalnly such an attitude
with respect to the South, weighed In
any balances that are to be read fifty
years hence. Is proof and fact of a
better affection and a higher order of
In this weakness for the upplause of negVo, Ills character and status among
the multitude and make merchandise us Is our problem; what to do with
of their faults und foibles to advance I and about him Is our task; for sihnd-
I himself. lng next to that burden we have got to
The other day a boy got Into a row
with a negro boy. It was perfectly
clear that both of them were to blame.
The father of the white boy was a wit
ness of the scene and saw and heard
all that ihls little eon said and did,
and ft was enough. I can assure you.
What did he do when fits boy came In
with rage yet ubgoverneil? What was
his duty to his own child? Was It to
pat hint on the back and set him to
a worse frenzy by dilating on the
meanness of the boy he hud attacked?
Because he loved his child he did no
such thing. He-, showed him wherein
he hud done wrong, and pointed out
strongly where the path of true su
periority lay. Whenever wa hear of
negro leaders stirring up their race by
relating the wrongs, real or Imaginary,
which they have suffered, and abusing
the white race, we say, and say truly,
“Thby are doing it grent Injury to their
own people." Wherein Is our wisdom
or service better when we speak to our
people of the negro In such a way as
to Increase our nlreudy very acute
sense of provocation to the end of deep,
oiling Individual bitterness and with
the effect of deadening conscience
among tho white people? Is that the
true way to be loyal to our own?
Shifting the Emphasis.
In the long view of.things, from tho
standpoint of tho South, the gravamen
of peril la not the peril of tho negro,
but the peril of the white man. The
lift It
But the real and the vital problem
that we ought to give most attention to
Is the superior character, the moral
supremacy of our own race. How to
prephre and strengthen the generation
nt our own children, so that they will
be able to grapple the Issues we leave
them, Is our greater question. Instead
of gazing and grumbling ut the amount
of educational opportunity the negro
has at the hands of philanthropy, our
S reat concern I* to Improve tho white
oy's opportunity. Absorbed over the
negro und engaged In convincing our
selves of his. menace and meanness,
we areJn danger of forgetting our own
weakness, and even of promoting our
own racial Inefficiency.
' Hon. Charles B. Aycock. one of the
truest of Southern leader* produced
since the war, gave utterance during
his great campaign In North Carolina
to a sentiment that rings whenever I
think upon our situation In the South.
He salt!;
“I am sick of hearing that we are go
ing about over the state crying, 'Negro!
Negro!' It shall not be the truth about
my campaign, for It Is not the truth
about my cause. T drop and despise
that, cry here and now for one that
Is grander and worthier. My cry Is and
■hall he, so help me God. 'White man!
Whiteman! White fhan!"’
The time 1ms come for a shift of em
phasis like that,' from tlid negro, to
whut we arc and whkt we ought to
effectively lodged. It is the opinion of I wny. The king undertook for public
the Individual that Is to be met with amusement to organize u great shout,
protest and persuasion. Yet the dls- | He sent proclamations all over the
danger to be really feared Is not that . . ,, h
the negro will lose his skin, but that Jj?'*.®
- ■ ■ , imie their souls People, we ought to do. A* a captuln
’ n se tneir souls— , ., ,. T| . vollr
the white iieoplo muy
their Christian civilisation—and that Is
not a negro problem, but a while man’s
problem. That Is a matter largely In
tho hands of those who, through offl-
cIM, editorial, school room and pulpit
Influence, ure In the position to mould
tho Southern ntlnd.
There Is not Importance enough or
power enough In the nine million ne
groes In the South to Injure the white
race seriously. It deep und lasting
hurt comes to the South It will come
of old, let our leaders cry, "To your
tents, O, Israel!” Let us hold our dog.
Booker Washington et ill. have theirs
to hold. We have ours. We can better
help him hold his dog when we huve
better mastered our oi#n.
Lost in ths Crowd.
Now, when the people of that ancient
olty realized that their task was to
build the wall and savo their civiliza
tion, they set about finding a plan by
which their forces could be utilized to
i
REV. JOHN E. WHITE.
en easy to plunge everything Into
confusion If they undertook the work
without plan. We have seen whut their
plan wus; “Every one repaired over
against Ills own house. So bullded we
the wall.” Every man began ut his
own home and did his own work.
The home Is the center und the In
dividual Is the unit of civilization.
Therefore, the peril* of civilization are
not primarily with the public, but
with the Individual. The complaint
against wrong public opinion Is never
, tlnctlon Is scarcely worth while, for
I men being as they are, public sent!
ment, or what seems to be public sen
tlment from the clamor It ralaes, haa
the power hi determine Individual sen
timent with tremendous and dangerous
rapidity. This Is the real weakness of
, a democracy. The Individual gets
i quickly swallowed up In the crowd.
Democracy may be but one hour re
moved from mobocracy. That Is a fact
often Illustrated. As members of cor-
j poratlons, the Individual conscience
surrenders to the corporate conscience
and men violate moralities they hold
sacred In their personal capacity.
Three or four years ago In one of
our Georgia country towns, a few men
Inflamed talked about lynching a ne
gro In the county Jail. They moved
public sentiment. It caught up one
after another, und In thirty minutes
the mob was at the jail door demand
ing the prisoner.
The sheriff came out and heard their
I clamorous demands. Btundlng on the
| jail steps he said: “Fellow citizens, you
I ' know me and I know you. You elected
me to office. I don’t want you to do
this thing. Bpt If you are determined
thnt this negro shall die and die today
11 cannot prevent'It. I see Mr. Thom
as Jones right here before me. He Is
! your leader. If he will come Into the
jail, or anyone <tf yoiir number you
,may select, I Will point out the right
■nan to him and he may kill him.” A
silence fell upon the mob. Mr. Jones
would not accept the commission. No
one else would. The negro was not
lynched.
The mark of advanced society Is In
dividual Independence—the ability to
govern ourselves righteously. The
mark of Imperfect civilization Is Indi
vidual Inability to stand alone—the In
ability to go a straight personal course,
with sovereignty firmly seated under
our own lint. Alexander H. Stephens
never appeared at a more Impressive
moral advantage than when he said:
I um toting my awn skillet," In the
‘Autocrat nt tho breakfast table," you
recall the story of the King of Nor-
get ,
kingdom. The Imperial decree de
manded that at a certain hour on a
certain day, at a certain moment by
the, clock, every one of his subjects
should shout his loudest In unison. The
greatest Interest was taken by the peo
ple In the king's Idea. There was
movement to and fro, and preparation
for the appointed moment. Every man
cleared hi* throat. The moment camo,
passed, but breathless silence reigned.
"Only one person shouted," says
the Autocrat, “ and that was a ll;tle
woman In tho mountains of
Norway who said 'boo!'” And the
rest stood waiting to see what the oth
ers would do and to hear the great
nolae which was expected to follow.
You laugh at the ludicrous story, but
do you not seo how It Illustrates the
great weakness ot Individuals? Peo
ple wait for the crowd, wait, wo might
say, “to see how the cat Is going to
Jump.” That Is why the wall doesn't
■built
The Amount of a W*n.
Tie pOet sings:
“The face the most fair jto our vis
ion allowed
Is tho one we encounter and lose In
tho crowd."
He Is very much mistaken. The
fairest faces are the faces turned up
like Savonarola's • to the glare of the
fagots, or of Luther, or of John Knox,
or of Patrick Henry, who dared to
stand In the Unrelieved brightness of
Individual Independence, "heart within
and God overhead,”
But what la an Individual? A drop
of water, a grain of sand . What Is an
Individual? The grandest something
this earth and the universe know*.
You may go all around the range of
Immensities, sweep tha planets Und
the stars, take the measure of ocean*
and continents, but however vastly
you rove or of vastnas* you see—you
comeback at last to that which Is of
Infinitely greater value to you—"your
self." Yes, and from standpoints out
side yourself you are the supreme val
ue of the world. God himself has ap
praised the Individual above all els.'
This Is the estimate In Jesus Christ.
What He was, what He said, what lie
did and what ho left to be done Is writ
ten all over with ciphers running Into
endless series that faintly tell what a
man Is worth.
Now I say that man—that Southern
man, ought to stand up and not be
afraid of being loneeome. And when
It la done he will find he Is not alone
There are thousands to rise up nbout
hint and join hands with him In any
righteous cause. It was just a drop of
rain that fell on tho arm of an engin
eer as he drove his train along the vol
ley In Pennsylvania In 1885. A drop
of rain. He flipped It off with his fin
ger and forgot It. But In the night tin
companions of the rein drops gathered
one by one In the high hills. From
tree top to bough and trunk they ran
dnwn,raln drop on rain drop, until they
were an army no man could number,
each little soldier doing bis shnre. Thej
massed their forces at length at tin
great Conemaugh Lake, and began
to push, pound by pound, ton by ton.
against the great dam above the city
or Johnstown. Nothing but rain drone,
but pushing, pushing, each doing his
share, till tile vast fortifications of the
dam crock and crash, and down tin
valley go the awful flood of raindrop-.
It catches that engineer and his train,
and hurls them Into eternity. It cn-
K'lif- tin . 11V nnd piles the wreckage
In a mass three miles below the site
of the city. It tears out the heart or
a mountain. Rain drops! Rain drops!
3e sure you are right In your own
heart ami thnt you nre doing your
share toward making a righteous pub
lic sentiment.
I am speaking to a largo number of
young men, every one an Individual
mind In the tide of life around us. For
you I borrow the motto of Christian
Endeavor and ask you all to say It:
'I am but one, but I am one;
I cannot do everything, but I can do
something.
What I can do I ought to do.
And what I ought to do by the help of
God I will do."
"Every man over against his house,
So bullded wo tho wall.”
THE NONCHALANCE OF MURDER
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD, l
PASTOR UNIVERSALIST CHURCH ;
T HE apparent Indifference to tho
sucrednesa of human life. In the
“ thought of too many men and
"■'men is indeed appalling. The Initial
■ rime or I'altr seems to have let loose
upon the earth the Insatiable demons
”< blood lust, whose crimson-stained
lingers have left their mark of re-
iro.u h upon every civilisation since his
I The fresh gathered record of the
worw* doings with which we modern
fo k heg| n our day fairly reeks with the
lutes In which the passion-blinded son*
und daughters of the world’s first mur
derer, with bestial rage, with lustful
running, or with misconceived and mis
appropriated vengeance have smeared
l™'J r souls with a stain which neither
■■ freely shad blood of a thousand
| saviors nor the fiercest flames of the
hell shall be able to ever fully
And to add to the. wretched
ness and horror of It all, those whoso
insk it is jo gather for us these records
of the world's doings all too often so
far lorget the responsibility of their
■ugh "tlk-e as teachers of morals and
'•inn's, a. well as mere Informants, as
■ I their precious columns with the
fnv.iltlng details of these temporary
nut terrible surrenders of the man to
■he brute.
Here upon this page we learn how
an aged pair of lovers, whose living
lias ever been to the honor and profit
of tnun and to ths glory of God, are
sent suddenly out of the world they
have loved and blessed by the ruthless
hand of some moral delinquent who
coveted the few, paltry pieces of silver
which their frugality and Industry hud
won. Close by, in another column. Is
reported the sudden and trivially born
quarrel of two hitherto Ilfo-long
friends, the flashing forth of the ull-
too-ready weapon of destruction, nnd
another crimson tally mark on the list
of unpremeditated homicides.
Turn over the page nnd wc find the
story a man with a cruelly lacerated
honor, whose defense he believes has
justified him In calmly anti deliberate
ly taking away from his defamer that
which was not his to give and certainly
could not be his to take away. In *n-
er place, heralded in extra bold type
... order that It may not escape the
eye, we are regaled with elaborate de
tails of the doings of a crowd of mur
derers, who, believing themselves di
vinely ordained to avenge o-crlme most
revolting to the mind of civilized man,
seem to have forgotten that murder Is
no less murder when committed by fif
ty or one hundred men than when one
frenzied brain directs the hellish act.
.Then, In addition to the horrifying
records of deliberate and Intentional
homicides, there Is also the distressing
ly increasing list of those whose earth
ly duties nnd pleasures are premature
Iy cut off by the frequent disasters In
Industry, In transportation and In
amusement. Too often do we, with
out serious reflect ton, characterize
these catastrophic* as the unavoidable
accidents of human life. Too often
also do wc dishonor God nnd do vio
lence to our own Intelligence by nam
ing them the mysterious working* of
the Divine Providence, the unspoken
rebukes of an Indignant God.
If we shall carefully Investigate and
determine the causes of very many of
these great misadventures In human
society, which sadden a nation and
shock a world, we shall discover to our
shante and our reproach as civilized
and morally enlightened beings, that
they trace their origin to the same
moral defection which make* so possi
ble und apparently so appallingly easy
the willful murder.
It Is the careless regard for human
life. A great theater, filled with hu
man souls demanding education and
diversion, suddenly takes fire, and all
over the land the papers whirl the
news of the translation.of hundred* of
REV. F.. D. ELLENWOOD.
precious hunjan lives In the horrible
holocaust. Perhaps we call It an ex
ceedlngly unfortunate accident; or it
tnay be thut we shall bow our heads
in fancied piety Instead of shame, and
declare that It was the hand of God.
The cold und unsentimental facts re
vealed show that the upparatus pro
vided for the prevention of Just such
catastrophlcs, failed to operate at the
critical moment. And why? Hlmply
because those whose business It was
to keep these things In perfect condl
tlon had been remiss In their duties.
The fire curtains refused to work and
the exits provided for emergency Were
locked. Hhall we cliurge Providence
with this crime, or shall we find guilty
that lust for gain which places the
value of gold above that of human life?
An upraised platform, upon which
are gathered a company of llfe-lovlfig,
pleasure-seeking people to witness a
splendid contest of human brain and
brawn. Is taxed beyond tho limit of
safety prescribed by the experts who
Inspected Its construction, and a score
‘ lives pay again the penalty of In-
able human greed. Was this not
really murder, us much so as that of
the brutal highwayman who. with his
bludgeon, coolly takes the life which
stands between his lust and the gold In
the purse of his victim?
A railroad train, bearing a heavy
loud of the most precious freight of
which we are conscious, dashes at full
speed Into another train similarly
laden and a community Is benumbed
by the horror of the catastrophe. Upon
Investigation It Is discovered that a
train dispatcher, upon whose alertness
depended the safety of these hundreds
of human liras; worn by weary nights
of vigil at the sick bed of a loved one,
has fallen asleep at his desk and has
thus Men the unwilling instrument for
the performance of a great crime,
whose guilt imut surely rest, In the
final analysis, at the door of the cor
poration whoso greed refused to pro
vide against this very possibility.
Our civilization must be but a mock-
_ y of morality and a playing at ethic*
until we shall have possessed ourselvet
of a greater knowledge of the Inesti
mable value of a single human life.
That school which does not have as
the very center of It* curriculum the
most careful Instruction in the beauty,
the dignity and the sacredness of all
life, regardless of the colur of skin
which covers Its temporary house, and
the slant and shape of the eyes through
which it looks out upon the world. Is
shamefully recreant to the high trust
Imposed upon It.
That parent who fails to endeavor,
by all the power ot his Influence,
I ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE,
mm •••••• ~
tlln Editor of The Georgian:
There seems to be considerable spec,
ttiation as to the work of the Anti-
oa’f'im league, what It stands for, and
lally what it purposes doing with
fWerenc* to the local campaign con-
Mandated, n you vr ||| permit me, I
"■h to make just « few plain simple
ati meats a? to the league and Its
'■Th- I thought I had written and
'■■>11 enough’ during the year that
i.jhody knew Just what tho league
and **a purposes.
s n.ere are some fundamental prtn-
thi- ' eM *ntiai-facts and methods of
“ * !r,0 'ement which many temperance
people do. not aeetp yet to cbmpre-
hend. The league I* misunderstood In
the main by many who faff to realise
that this la practically a new' movement
In Georgia, though well established In
many other states, and that It Is seek
ing td»lntroduce some method* of re
form hitherto untried here, and must
of necessity seek to educate the pub
lic and create a working force out of
untried volunteers. This Is not anoth
er temperance socletv. but, as Its name
Implies, a league of organizations—a
clearing bouse for effective utilization
of temperance-sentiment which It is
the province of the church, the Sunday
reate, strengthen and maintain.
The league regardi the saloon ques
tion not simply as something to work
at, but as a question which can and
must be solved; and holds that the
only solution of the saloon question Is
no saloon. It stands for the largest
present repression and the speediest
ultimate suppression of the whole
liquor business. •
The league has no permissive fea
ture whatever In It* creed. It stands
unalterably opposed to the license sys.
tern, believing It to be vicious in prin
ciple. Inconsistent with enlightened
government and In practice -a. protec
tion to the traffic.'
This Is not a multiplication ot agen
cies, but rather a unification of ex-
Iztlng force* and a centralization of
means. It seeks first to put the liquor
traffic In a course of final extermlna
school and all temperance societies to* that course. 1 Never as extreme as the
... ultra-radical, but always In advance
of the, ultra-conservative.
The league Is Just what It Is be
cause nothing else has ever solved the
saloon problem. .* .
Our national superintendent. Rev. P.
A. Baker, says: "The saloon problem
Is the church's problem and the world
expects the church to solve It. Her
failure to do so will disappoint both
friends and enemies.
"The church Is not only responsible
for result*, but Is obligated to bring
forth the best resulta. Falling to do
this, she is In danger of forfeiting lead
ership In moral reforms.
"The Antl-Halonn League Is an ef
fort to bring about the highest stand
ards ofi church efficiency In the solu
tion of the liquor problem. The past
weakness of this reform has been It*
deflection from the church.
"The league stands ready to become
tlon, and then hasten* progress along everywhere un official church federa
tion, controlled by the church Just as
the churches are sufficiently aroused
to Insure permanence of the work with
out loss of power."
The league has It* place In the
movement of humanity back to (
and Is hopefully practical because It
bring* the question out by Itself, that
It may be dealt with on its merits.
It Is the militant righteousness of
a nation endeavoring to establish In
government the highest personal stand
ard* of Integrity and service.
The work of the league and its suc
cessful attainment In any community
dependa upon the temperance senti
ment behind It.
The league goes just as fast end Just
as far as the sentiment of (he churches
will allow, and cannot advance a step
beyond.
Now, If the churches In the city and
the county believe the saloons to be a
curse, and a menace to the peace and
happiness of the people, and reallv de
sires to get rid of them, they have only
to give the. command, and then get
behind the machinery of the league,
and the work can be done.
The executive board of the league
Is made up of true, courageous work
ers—men who believe that the saloon
ought to be speedily removed and who
are ready, at short notice, to buckle
on the armour und begin the fray.
The league I* not only ready, but
anxious, for the engagement, and we
do piost earnestly appeal to the Chris
tian citizenship of the city to come out
' lly and courageously and help make
“p the permanent campaign commit
tee and let the work begin.
Let every church In Atlanta speak
out on this question Sunday morning,
and say by sermon and by vote or
resolution that they will not tolerate
the saloons longer, and the world will
know Just what to expect of our be
loved city.
J. B, RICHARDS,
Associate HuoerintendenL
be withheld from lust -and tho hand
from violence, has brought Into being
that which la at any time liable to be
come an unspeakable curse to socletv
and a reproach upon Ills own declining
years.
• Let us unlearn, as rapidly as possi
ble, the easy art of murder, and remove
from the foreheads of those who shall
come ufter us the brand of Cain. Let
us prepare In our own beans tin- Imlv
mountain of the Lord, In which we
shall neither kill nor destroy.
EVERY SUNDAY
Athens, Ga„ and Return.
Only One Dollar for tho Round
trip. Trains leave the Union Depot
at 7:20 a. nt. Cheaper to go than It
la to stay at home. Remember Just
21.00 SEABOARD.
W. E. CHRISTIAN,
A, G. P. A., Atlanta, Ca.
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If you do not read some dally paper
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joy the literature that Is contained In
these publications ever}- month you
are missing much that Is good. You
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