Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Feb. 21, 1921, edition 1 / Page 4
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THE MORNING STAR, WILMINGTON, N. C MONDAY, FEBRUARY. 21 1921. FOUR ifHK OLDEST DAILI " ' MIXGTON STAR COMPACT, JBC7 treet. Hnmiaston. North CimUm Entered at the Fostoffice at Wilmington. N. C, is econ4 Class Matter. Teleahomesr , Buslgesa Office N- 1 SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY GABBIER One Year Six Mouths .......... ....mm .....k. Tnrse Jfontna One Month J7.00 1.7i . . al'BSCRIPTIOX KATES BY MAIL Paataa-e Prrpakl Daily One Tear ... 6ix Month . Three Months One Month . tc r ...... 4 only $5.00 .0 1.25 Dally aa4 Sunday $7.00 a & l.Ti .ta Subscriptions Not Accepted for Sunday Only Edition MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press Is exclusively entitled to the use for publication of all news credited to It or not otherwise credited in this paper and also the local news published, herein. All rights of repub lication of special dispatches herein are also reserved. FOREIGN ADVERTISING OFFICES: Atlantai Candler Building. J. B. KEOUOH New York Boston Cbico m Fifth Ave. 21 Devonshire Peoples' Oas Bid. BBYAXT. GRIFFITH St BttCNSON. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1921 An Economic Crime The mere layman, if he has enough interest in it to follow the trend of the cotton market, must marvel often at the rise and fail of prices on ex change as a result of rumors of the flimsiest character. Comes a cable that a cotton mill in Czechoslovakia has ehut down or is only running half time, and forthwith the price of cotton drops; or mayhap there is a shower in Texas and the price jumps; a Manchester magnate eats too much roast beef for dinner and grows pessimistic as indigestion sets in, inspiring gloomy prospects of the trade which are reflected in New York prices as soon as the cables an carry his cottanic majesty's opinion; a rumor that the Chinese shirt is to be an inch shorter, and King Cotton grows arrogant. That the world's most important product should thus be trifled with, that the big gest economic item in American life should be made the handball of rumors in such fashion, is an economic crime. Every time the gamblers play the game, the man with the hoe pays for it. Every time the price jumps or declines, the producer feels it; and often there is not the slightest logic in the market changes. The south, which could have long ago made the world stand still and obey its voice, but has been impotent because of the Intractability of the individual producer, is this year seriously undertaking to curtail the acreage, and every business interest in Dixieland should co-operate, to the end that the south may achieve ft fair price for what cotton it has, left over, and for the crop it will produce this year. Every southern farmer, merchant and banker, and every other southern man, should add his strength to the movement, and make the south independent of the gambler and the Idiotic rumors that cost the producer millions of dollars every year. Why, a cotton speculator can make more in a day than the producer of the staple he gambles1 on could make in a life time of hard and exacting work in growing cotton, the world's most im-T portant money crop. We have an opportunity this" year to declare our independence, and the man who won't join bis neighbors in thA effort is very short of patriotism and, in spite of his sclfisn ness, is short on self-interest. . o Another Immigration Problem A .$hort time ago, our principal interest in iro mixtion, it seemed, was to effect an arrange ment that would avert the necessity of having to absorb something like fifteen millions of new comers from Europe. At present we arc much lees concerned with numbers than with the ques tion of filth and disease. Recent immigrant car goes have introduced typhus into our midst. What ver else we may be willing to accept from Europe. !here is no disagreement among us on the inad nsability of importing some of Europe's most insidious and dreaded diseases. The bill now be fore the Senate was not designed to meet the new phase of the problem, but Congress should not find It difficult to draft and enact a measure clothing our immigration officials with the authority essential to the suppression of the typhus menace. The idiocy of permitting ship ping companies to divert immigrants from one American port to another, as if they were playing a game of hide-and-seek, is not to be tolerated. It is not a question merely of whether New York or Boston is to be the dumping ground; it is a auestion of whether the country is to be relieved of the menace of a devastating plague. The typhus-bearers, the vermin-laden, should not be admitted to American soil. o Harden Talks "Sense" To Europe Maximilian Harden, who kept his head when no other citizen of Germany had one or cared, seems hot to have disposed of his precious possession in the Interval since the close of the war. His anal ysis of the European situation, as disclosed In hia Sunday contribution to The Star, contains more of sound sense than we have been accustomed to finding of late in Old World utterances, even in the solemn preachments of those who speak for Europe In the official tongue. Harden pictures an "Old 'Lady Europe" that is more taken up with petulant and futile v hospital scraps than with the serious business of getting weir again. His advice, to quit calling names and go back to wdrk, may not be heeded at once or soon, but until it is heeded we may expect the great plane of stagnation to remain, not only in Europe but in , A degree throughout the civilized srorldV ' , V "Taeri axe sotts people," says Mayor Hylan of New York, "who think I. am politically dead." But it Vwott't ' bs long before they will Join the larger-jrqup of people who know that he Is. Today Don't Forget! The campaign that Is being waged for a fund of one hundredfhousand dollars for James Walker Memorial Hospital will come to a successful con clusion today. Wo .s;eak thus without reservation because of our fayh in the generosity and fine im pulses of Wilmington people. In the face of the inspiring conditional gift announced by Dr. James Sprunt and Mr. W. H. Sprunt Saturday afternoon, it is not believed that the campaign will be per mitted to fall short of its goal. There should today be a widespread popular demonstration of loyalty to a Wilmington Institution that is meet ing one of the most elementary needs of the com munity, an institution that Is serving the whole people in a mission of unsurpassed loftiness. To ourselves, to the future and to the cause of humanity we owe, iu respect of this hospital, an obligation which conscience and wisdom direct us to pay in part today. o Enough of Partisanship Chairman George White, of the Democratic National Committee, spoke well from an excel lent text In the interview carried by The Star of yestefday. His hope, he said, Is that the Resident-elect will find an early solution of the many perplexing problems now confronting the coun try, and "that Democrats everywhere would lay aside partisan feeling and co-operate." The pro gram which these hopes have suggested to Mr. White is refreshingly simple and we believe it will carry a strong appeal to a nation weary of the . worst aspects of partisan politics: I felt that in the face of a very serious economic situation it was incumbent on every good citizen irrespective of political affilia tions to wish the incoming administration success. As chairman of the Democratic National Committee I shall, of course, hold the new administration to a strict account ability for all of its acts. I am planning the closest, kind of co-operation between the Dem ocratic National Committee and the leaders of the Democratic minority in both houses of Congress, with the objective of helping frame constructive legislation on great issues as they arise and with the object of referring to the country in 1922 and 1924 all the sugges tions of constructive policy that will have been made so that the nation may compare them with what has actually been done. I hope Mr. Harding will be able to give us a definite and constructive foreign policy, because the chaotic condition now is a direct result of the negative attitude which the Re publicans unfortunately took since they secured control of both the House and Senate in the 1918 elections. The success of the Harding administration is a thing to be desired, to be sought by every Ameri can citizen above any consideration of party advantage. Upon the success of Ir. Harding will depend In an unusual sense and degree the success of the country, the success of the world. At no other time in American' history, perhaps, has it been so necessary to lay aside the conception of America's political control as a purely partisan objective. No good American may permit his zeal for a Democratic revival to turn him from the most loyal, friendly interest in Mr. Harding's suc cess. It is not a personal or a party enterprise of which Mr. Harding is about to take hold. For better or for worse, he is going to be President of these United States, all of 'em, and we shall pros per or decline as he succeeds or fails. The party that has placed him in power has given the country an entirely convincing experi ence with partisan politics. The Democratic party will serve its own cause along with that of the people if it should set its course in ,the opposite direction. o College Athletics Unquestionably, there is a measure of truth In the assertion of C. W. Mendell, head of the' Yale athletic board," that "inter-collegiate sport is drift ing into commercialism and professionalism." Mr. Mendell is apprehensive for the safety of college athletics. He would have an arrangement under Which a college would engage in athletic competi tion only with its "natural rivals," eliminating largely the inter-sectional games and the so-called "tramp athlete." His proposal is one that should not be ignored by our college athletic authorities. If It is true, as many people believe, that inter-collegiate com petition is being emphasized to the point of over looking the "needs of the mass of undergraduate students," It is time to consider a revision of the syBtem. There should be no tendency that will result in inter-collegiate games being made an end in themselves. Supremacy In sports is not the, aim of a college. or university, or should not be Says a contemporary: "It is not the function or a college athletic program to conduct a training school for professionals. It was designed to am- mote the development of the body along with the development of the mind." -' This conception Is fundamental and may not b ignored without bringing college sports into the disfavor of sincere friends of education. If tbr. widespread spirit of competition growing out. or games between the leading teams of sections remote from each other is, in fact, promoting pro fessionalism by creating an "open market" for promising athletes, the aim and spirit of college athletics are being submerged. . o s The Next Secretary of State At last we have the formal announcement , of Mr. Hughes as the choice of the President-elect for Secretary of State. The objections that have been urged against Mr. Hughes by leaders of his own party originated largely in political considera tions. Suspicion of his sympathetic attitude to ward the League of Nations has suggested to some of the "best minds" and others his Vnsuitabllity. Nevertheless, his appointment will be received with wide popular favor, It may be feared that his mind Js too coldly legal, too unaccommoda-" ting, for a post of diplomatic nature, but-If-there be any occasion for apprehension on this score we believe it will be offset by his unquestionably pro found knowledge of world affairs and by the in tense zeal for accomplishment that has been characteristic of his former efforts in public" life. Mr. Hughes, as the chief Cabinet official, will lend distinction to the group to be 'assembled by Mr, Harding. Contemporary Views THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY Charlotte Xetcs: They are talking about resur recting the Democratic party, changing the'per BGiuiel of its directing organization, giving it a new suit of clothes and preparing otherwise to trot it out in 1924 in an attractive make-up. Such was one of the purposes in the minds of the leaders who some days ago came to the con clusion that the organization would never amount to much so long as Chairman White was at the helm or the nominal leadership was vested in Mr. Cox. Fortunately, and through the efforts of Mr. A. W. McLean of Lumberton, what threatened to become a rather serious solit, was averted Thurs day and for the time being at least, the socalled Cox and McAdoo jgroups in the party are con tent. It was a somewhat strange circumstance that just at the moment when differences within the organization were being patched up, Mr. Bryan should break loose to the extent of a column or so with counsel as to what ought to be done with the Democratic party to make it a going concern. He proposes a platform consisting of a score or more planks and in this platform, he -advances some more of his ideals of government. This step on the part of Mr. Bryan who has been acting in very poor taste for the past four or five years will undobutedly be construed to indicate that he wants the leadership of the party again, not necessarily in the sense that he wants ever to run again for the presidency, but he wants to have authority, something he hasn't had lately and something he was deprived of in the last national convention. In all of the chatter that is going on and from the many suggestions being-off ered as to the best methods of reviving the party, the throught seems to have been lost sight of that the Democratic party" is not dead. The popular ideals which lie at the basis of this party still reside in the minds of the American people and they are uncon querable and everlasting. They may be tempor arily clouded, as they were in the last election when a combination of circumstances reacted against the success of the party in the popular referendum, but the vital principles, the promi nent ideals of the organization still exist and they are more important than men and personalitiets. The task, therefore, that seems to be ahead of the leaders is only to fan into flame again these dominant Ideals upon which the party is founded and upon which it will ever predicate its claim for popular support. RADICALS ARE GAINING FOOTHOLD IN CHURCH, NATIONAL BODY HEARS Civic Federation Is Told By Wheeler That Movement Is Widespread N The Church and Its Critic By THE REV. GEORGE STANLEY FRAZER Pastor of Fifth Avenue Methodist Church Author nf t. Cf TToWV." artA r,fi-$a4Soni4- mA 4V. XI. t rrj .. "aCt i cuui uitu vyAt-A u iicuii tj uiiu me mail vi vu IX V SOMETHING ELSE FOR LEGISLATURE Greensboro Record: Now that the $50,000,000 road bond bill is through the house and its passage by the senate almost certain, education comes up. The .legislators saw that the folks at home were for a real road building program. They can learn the sentiment of the folks at home on the $18,000,000 educational program the same way and they will listen to what the folks at home have to say just as they, did on the road bill. Most ot them really want to be representative of the folks at home. Roads and education will be a team which will pull the state far, and each is lacking without the other. The state needs facilities for higher education as much a3 it needs roads, and it cer tainly needs roads. Now that the material prop osition is out of the way it is time to go through with the other proposition. The friends of the educational movement have been diligent They are still diligent and vigilant. They mean to keep on being diligent and vigilant until the program is put through the legislature. But they need the, help of all the friends of the youth of the state, the friends of the state itself, so that there may te no lagging and the program fail because of lack of co-operation and support. Various organizations have petitioned the legis lature to provide properly for thchigher educa tional and welfare instltuttc-4the state. Com mittees of the legislature &3jl,: ttmduct hearing3 on the measure and.lt is at those hearings that much work can be done. J-.. . Persistence wins when mrything else fails. Persistence will win in this mafteivirit is applied, J T . . i . il ii,,, 1 ii. id a. iimncr ui seeping ai n-nnui me program goes through, all the time,? never letting faint-, heart discourage or over-con fide rice entrap. A legislator knows that he must carry out the will of Mis consituency if he continues to be a legislator. Do not let him forgot that he has a consituency. Sitting way back and saying nothing is no way to get anything done. THE BRYAN PANACEA, 1921 MODEL Cleveland Plain Dealer: While the Democratic national committee is in the throes of a minority wish to "reorganize" by ousting Chairman White, unselfishness to offer a new partisan panacea. 1921 model. His latest delcaration contains twenty-two planks to be added "to, it is explained,-as later ideas occur to their author from time to time. The Bryan platform, like Gaul, is divided into three parts. One part is familiar Bryan pacifism, one part unsound economic thinking and the third pact axiomatic. The Nebraskan never forgets and never learns. He resurrects his old "paramounts," redresses some of them in modern finery and urges them anew as a plan of salvation. The pacifism that led to Bryan's retirement from the cabinet before the war crops out anew in his present proposal for a referendum before war can be declared and his opposition to com pulsory military training. The former is imprac tical and dangerous and so a familiar feature of Socialist propaganda. The latter explains why any policy of adequate preparedness Beems now impossible. Some of the financial plans in the new Bryan platform are reminiscent of 1896, 1900 and 1908 when the author was riding them as campaign Issues. - The guarantee of bank deposits has been generally rejected by the sound banking thought. Federal action to keep Liberty bonds at par is the fruit of Illogical reasoning. His fear that the federal reserve bank is or may be found "squeez ing the debtor" is born of a heated imagination "We," says Bryan, are opposed to the repeal of the excess profits tax. "We," are wrong. As for the rest reduction of taxes, prohibition of gambling In' food, stopping profiteering, econ omy, and efficiency, liberality toward service men they are non-controversial. . . Approved unani mously. One could not organize even a sham bat tle over them. "NEW YORK. Feb. 20. Successful ef forts have been made by the Socialists, Communists and other subversive ele ments to j?ain a foothold in the Presby terian, Episcopal and Methodist churches, according to the National Civic Federation by Everett P. Wheeler, chairman of its committee on Socialism in the churches, at the 21st annual con vention of the Civic Federation at the Hotel Astor. The report says indica tions point "to the same tendency in the Roman Catholic church, while there is unmistakable evidence of the activi ties of these elements in. such non sectarian religious bodies as the T. M. C. A., the T. W. C. A., and even the Red Cross. Investigation Cover Ten Months The activities of revolutionary and radical groups in the churehes, accord ing to Mr. Wheeler, have- been the sub ject of an investigation by his commit tee, covering ten months. Specific in formation on the subject was ready for submission to the executive council of the Civic Federation. Meanwhile it was deemed proper to make certain gen eral observations to acquaint the mem bers of the federation with the princi par findings of the committee. Quasi-political parties and cconomft groups that formerly tried to spread their revolutionary doctrines by propa ganda among workers were now seek ing to reach the American people through instrumentalities that create public opinion. "It is, therefore, not surprising that the Socialist, communist and other sub mersive elements," says the report "have made a determined effort to gain a foothold in the schools, colleges, newspapers and churches." The report says it is a matter of satisfaction that the great majority' of the clergy, priests and rabis of the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths, as well as Christian and Jewish religi ous organizations, themselves are loyal to the institutions and laws of this country, and are exerting a powerful influence for right throughout the na tion. "It is, however, a matter of concern to the committee that there is" a small but active and well-organized element in the churches," the report continues, "which appears to be impatient with the slow and orderly process of politi cal and economic evolution, and has espoused Marxian doctrines as supply ing the only solution for existing prob lems."' Instanced Cited In Report As a typical instance of the foothold gained in the Presbyterian church by thsse elements the report cites the L.a bor Temple. Fourteenth street and Sec ond avenue, described as a "regularly constituted Presbyterian church, known as the American International church." Among the speakers that have been permitted to use the church are Wil liam D. Haywood, Ralph Chaplin and others of the I. W. W.; Henry Jaeger, Algernon Lee, Gregory Zllboorg, Nor man Thomas and others of the Socialist party, and such independent radicals as Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Arthur Giovanitti. - "A similar tendency has been noted in certain Episcopal churches." continues the report. "tor example, a public forum, analagous in many ways to the Labor Temple, Is conducted in th Church of the Ascension at Tenth street and Fifth avenue. "It should be noted that a certain group of Episcopal clergy and others have organized themselves Into the Christian Socialist League of America, which is frankly the exponent of Marx ian Socialism and carries on an ex tensive propaganda in church organi zations and in theological seminaries." While the Methodist church does not tolerate "conspicuous centres," such as have been found in the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, the report shows that "there are among its clergy men' who have espoused radical and revolutionary doctrines." The fact that the Roman Catholic church "is steadfast in its support of law and order"-is recognized in the report, which alleges, however, that "there are to he found certain priests whose viewpoints on social and eco nomic questions meet with the heartv support and applause f the radical and revolutionary elements in our country." Certain of these priests are in important positions in church organi zations and speak with apparent au thority on economic and social Ques tions. "There have in recent years been established a number of organizations within the churches of an interdenomi national character," continued'the re port, "with the avowed purpose of spreading Socialism in the churches as well as disseminate propaganda with the view of impelling the church, to adopt a definite policy on certain social and industrial" questions. Of these m.y be mentioned tle Christian Socialist Fellowship, which was organized ir. Louisville, Ky., in 1911, and the Chris tian Socialist League of America, which has already been referred to." Create Propaganda In Churche The leaders of these various organi zations, according to the report, are avowed members of the Socialist party, and their organizations are created for propaganda in the church. The report adds: "The committee has also found un mistakable evidence of tne activities of the same elements in such non-sectarian religious bodies as the Y. M. C. A., as Avell as in such philanthropic organ izations as the Red Cross, which are supported largely by the churches." (Editor' Xotei This Is the. third article of the series now being eon-, trlbuted to The Star by "the Rev. Mr. Fraser. The articles are be ins vrrittea tor ae in the Sunday fnsue, but an exceptional harden upon our composition facilities made It Impossible to get the pres ent contribution In type early enough for appearance Sunday.) While every age has witnessed in fluences that have been hostile to the church, perhaps never before has organized Christianity had to contend with force so subtly aggressive as to day. Under the constant fire of criti cism that has been directed against the church, a vast literature of com plaint has accumulated. It has be;n alleged that the church is afraid to test Its faith in the strong light of reason that it dare not face the In tellect of the fi:e. Some contend that the Pulpit lacks intellectual stimulus and prophetic fire, and like ecclesias tical hirelings, the ministry is direct ing its attention to the rich while forgetting the pdor and lowly. t Baron Von Hugel pictures the masses in full flight away from the church, and finds the reason in the fact that the spiritual life of the church his been paralyzed by those who have sought to make and keep the church great Instead of holy and useful. And while the church cannot longer say: "Silver and gold have I none," he notes the decline of that inner power by which the paralytic could be made to arise and walk. He conceives of the path-finder being crushed by the ma chine, and the deep spirituality degen erating into a political color where "sociology dethrones theology and agi tation supplants evangelization." To many inside the church and out, the church is to be ignored or looked upon as an obstacle to progress. Thsy have a habit of looking backward when all fault-finding by thos. ,v;10 c. ,. are foreign to the wrifnrr. . ''ear church. Ul th Result of Docmatir Interpret-., i Still it cannot be denied , of the criticism ain.. " 1 ut and our conceptions of relic tions between f-rnr.r. ,.r. , , 0,U?i viewpoints. The result Va' v.dri0!: fusion even in the n l'0r. . iun.il useir we are brought face to fa ar spectacle of the member in th rnnrrh pallvinfr . Ij ....... tt.juui ir.-- nanrf. . of the "w" or tU "nn.," . annW. faint idea of the real is.,,,- Vn,.1,,ut In the light of these exaspf-rauP stronger that the task of Vh..j, thlntlnir (a tn loom USt'S ...it. F"iiuai lilt 111 experience ana history as ,nm J 1 l- UiiS 'I1 imiu iiiutu uuin in- old Omqi m.ji v"itj iim in mie utjrf ( the insigni. iney never aruer ,.-... n A,A i i r. I V. IICIC UCIU IIUILO. J Uf Y rtailZ.'if jjj. the high truths of faith do not ha" their pictures in "the cid. t-ry f" of what we are pleased to call rt-aoV Christianity is the monopoly 0f' creed, whatever may be the ecclesias' cal name. We need to put away a strife, that in al! the department? f the holy catholic church we may p, those who have dared to follow star-led vision those who l.;iyf. the touch of the spirit of t; rfcir and in the forms natural to their di and place, are striving to reanz. t! ends for which He laid down His l The Passing of Puritanic Conreptj, The pulpit is engaged in a futile when it addresses the life of the pre. ent In tne terms ot a time cone t JIany recall a time when questions r faith and doctrine were toplr-s of fr side conversation. But that time h; there existed, a real need for thejgone, pernaps neer to reunn. t?1 church, but today its creeds are all i average man of today if en (raced ;. outgrown, its methods antiquated, and . what some term "a pursuit of ti lts power on the wane. Many who practical," and for this reason he are loyal to the church are plunged oddly silent where his fathers wo; in a gulf of dark despair. When they j loudly talkative. Some have em ;cmpaxe the things of today witn ! indifferent, but others are dumb h those of yesterday, they are unable cause they do not know what to 5r to see any hopeful issue to a chaotic . In this change that has takm p:a, condition. They look into the past and see the pulpits filled with giants they look about them and see nothing but dwarfs Criticism of the Cbnroh - I in our way of thinking of life are losing some thiners that we 111 afford to lose, but we are herkldir ourselves of certain theologian! ! cumberances that have no value When we think of the multiplication I dealing with the essential t! EATING OUR WEIGHT IN SUGAR . .New York Herald: When it comefe to sugar the general laws that control consumption have to bend. In 1913 sugar 'was 5 1-2 cents a pound. Americans used it at the rate of 86 pounds a per son. In 1920 sugar was from' 20 to 25 cents a pound, four times as costly as it had been before the. war. Instead of stinting themselves the neople used sugar at the rate of 92 pounds to the in dividual. - It Is rather alarming to think-of. the average American eating his or her weight In sugar in a year; but when the 92 pounds is distributed 'over 365 days it amounts to about a quarter of a' pound a day. Full many a girl of purest appetite" serene will consume a pound of candy between , luncheon and dinner. A small boy, even if he is not. per mitted coffee or tea, will demand "and get sugar amounting in a year to more than his weight. For sugar comes not from the bowl alone. Candy cake, preserves,' ice cream and soft drinks are the luxuries that have caused Americans to triple their Use of sugar In the last fifty years. The fact that the consumption Qf sugar in 1920 exceeded by a billion pounds that of 1919, when extravagance generally was at Its worst, indicates that " the prophets were . right when thev id " that prohibition would increase the call for sweets. COVERXOR MORRISON NAMES KBW COTTON COMMISSIONERS (Special to The Star) .. RALEIGH, Feb. 20. Governor Mor rison yesterday announced the ap pointment of R. O. Everett, of Durham, chairman, and A. W. McLean, of Lum berton, and L. J. Baker, of Palmyra, as members of the North Carolina cot ton commission.- created under the Everett resolution passed at this gen eral assembly: ' .. The object of this commission, which Is created to work with iimii. k,h in all southern-states, js to bring to the uiuuBiry or. xne south, a market Jng1 system .fashioned aftsr the co operative plan of the California fruit growers. :i .. Sentiment- for - the- program, whicn "Z '"Boweiei rorra tnrough the efforts of Representative Everett, - was .fomented- at the recent cotton confer ence here. w,hen resolutions were dopted calling upon the farmers of the state to cut this year's acreage 50 per ceitf. Within the coming week Gov ernor Morrison is going to transmit to every governor or the cotton grow ing states a copy of the resolution with Hho.announQemeiit 'Of - the. coramAslon appointed todjr. - i " of organizations enraged in ethical and philanthronic work, it is not to be wondered that the church fails to loom so distinctively cbnspicious in the minds of some as in other days. While no effort that looks to the al leviation of distress or the develop ment of the social order ousht to be condemned, it is chiefly on account of the host of religious and semi religious bodies that the church ap parently does not tower so splendidly impressive as in former times. Going back to other days we see the preacher as the Intellectual and spiri tual guide of his people, but today when the schoolmaster, the journalist, the novelist, and many others have acquired a share in the teaching func tion the preacher has been relegated to his particular sphere. A new world view point is in the minds of men, and all the fundamentals institutions of humanity the fhnily, the state, ort ttio church have been cast into the crucible and are beiner tried by fire. There are voices denouncing the family as a fountain teeming with nlagues and curses; condemning the state as an Instrument of injustice and oppression, all to be thrown as rub bish upon "the scrap heap" of worn out institutions. Is it any wonder, in an age so raaicai in ua Lwjiiniauun, so unfair in its prejudices, that the church, should come in for its share of rebuke and criticism? Today the most vigorous and plausible criticism Is directed, not against Jesus Christ, but against an institution which bears His name. The Church What We Make It Suppose we should admit all criti cisms against the church, where rests the blame? The church is just what the people make it. possessing no sanctity save that which comes through its service to the soul. The church is not an abstract omnipotent thing, but rather a company made up of common men and women who live, toll, suffer and die "a society not ot saints but of seekers after goodness." No doubt the church has its faults, but these are the faults of our hu manity. Its holds its treasures in earthen vessels. Xo man can justify the washing of his hands in aloofness. It is his church just as it is his country and his civilization, and if he loves his race he will be loyal to it. The testimony of the atheist and the synics is of no value in their reproach of the church. To quote the words of Burke: "If our religious tenets should ever want a further elucida tion we shall not cann on atheism to explain them. We shall not light up our temple from that unhallowed fire." Among many debts that we owe to Aristotle Is the fact that, having no religion he attempted no book about religion. This is what Carlyle ob jected to in Voltaire, and this is a just and valid criticism of all unil luminea tnmkmsc about religion and of life. Why'should we bemoan th pas?ir of those puritanic conceptions of ;; taken from those who were ".ess fn lowers of Christ than saints of the c economy, bound by censorious ruhsi appalling rigidity? To them 1 if g vu a shadow and Joy a sin. They Urn a day which should -have been joyous festival ot fa;ih into a horn of artifical sanctimoniousn "Litte Dorrit" Dickens describes th' flu 11 Sundays when laughter of i dies away and the home was envrlnp in- a shadow that fell over it lik.-pall: "The sleepy Sunday of his hoyhiy when like a military oesertep he v marched to cba-pel, morly handuft'e'l' another boy: and when he would w lingly have bartered two meals of i' digestible sermon for another our.e mutton at. his scanty dinner in t flesh. There was the int rniina; Sunday of his nonage when his niotlv stern of face, would sit all day helii: a Bible-bound, like her own cousin: tion of it. in the hardest, barest, a: straightest boards, with a sprinkh' of wrathful red ucon the edges of i leaves; as if it. of all books, were fortification against sweetness - f t per and natural affection. Then thf wae the resentful Sunday of a lit later, when he sat with a sullen suv of injury in his heart and n real knowledge of the henefU nt h: tory of the New Testament than if, had been bred among idolater?." Who would call back those th.oioc cal -conceptions that found expvr: such pungent sermons as -:nn' in in the Hands of an Ansrrv Hf"J" I Johnathan Edwards, and which ina the chief concern of religion an cape from the horrors of l'HI.' i we conceive of the life of faith prayer and vision failing into a ssdu perversion? Xo wonder f-'nnta Tiff nravpil fr,r n run of water in one liar and a flame of fire in the other. I with the one she miuht qiiHinh t fires of hell and wfth th.eoth.M- l,i up 'the glories of heaven, that nv might learn to love God for His lovf ness. and to do right for th- sakf right. Against such prostitution religion into a scramble for safety m will never cease to protest, ana np fully so. While it is true that eve relicrious eoncention has Its plac the gradually unfolding process of r lifHnns truth wa narade ourselves nQrrnw Antrma M urn when We ciallll ' these Ideas the place of finality. T: crusade, that bezran when Bernard Plairvam nreached from the hill ' at Vezelia and there arose from t sureine sea of humanity the sno "Crosses, crosses!" was not without! rtistinrr n.nntrlhutlon. but it was on n link in tha chair. Daniel Kowlas made his pulpit a smokine and thuj dering Sinai, but not until ne i v, .nvsrolirn trrace Of u'1 IU Jll CAV.II HiV ovr..v.-- (Continued From Page Six) LEGAL HOLIDAY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1921 Washington's Birthday No Business Will Be Transacted by the Banks ot This City on That Pay Wilmington Clearing House Association THOS. E. COOPER, Secretary Wllmlngtou, NT4 O, J -4 v5
Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 21, 1921, edition 1
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