IN BStJBNTIALS, UNITY; IN NOV-ESSENTIAM, LIBKKTY; IN- ALL THINHH. OH AHITT
l.r
,0 THE YEAR
ESTABLISHED 184.4
ELON COLLEGE, N. C., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9. 1904.
VOLUME LVI : NUMBER 10
Tf(<£ C^pistiau Sur>
PUBLI8HKI> W'f!- K1 V.
The Official Organ of the Southern Chrin
tlan Convention.
CARDINAL PRINCIPLES
1. The Lord Jesus is Oia only Head of
the church.
2. The name Christian, to the exelusioi
of all party and sectarian names.
3. Tiu* Holy Bible, or the Scriptures *>f
the O'd and Mew Testaments, sufficient rul»
of faith and practice.
4. Christian character, or vital piety, the
only test of fellowship or membership .
5. The right of private Judgment and
the liberty of conscience, the privilege amt
dutv of all.
CURR E XT C() MM E XT.
The Mormans. , •
The-Morman church is again in
tin* public eye. Reed. Smoot, an
Apostle, one of twelve, of the Mor
man church, was last fall elected to
the United States Senate, frpm the
state of Utah. A strong protest
from the country at large has gone
up against allowing Mr. Smoot to
take his seat as Senator. A Senate
investigating committee has been for
several - days tr * :g the case. Ac
• cording to dispatches from Wash
' ington, this committee is going into
the case pretty thoroughly. Some
very interesting testimony lias been
brought out. Last week, Mr. Smith,
the highest authority in and Presi
dent of the church was on the stand,
he being one of the chief witnesses
for Mr. Smoot. .Mr. Smith admit
ted that he himself practiced polyg
amy and was at present the husband
of five wives, the first of whom he
married over thirty eight years ago,
the last he married over twenty
years ago. He admitted also that
seven out of the twelve Apostles of
the church had a plurality of wives.
He knew this to he contrary to the
law of the land, hut has prforred to
take his chances with the Live ratbej
than abuse ms conscience and Ins
religions belcief, he having marries
all these wives. prior to the man',
festo of 1800. T..is was-all ad mi
ted as testimony in the ease,
showing the attitude of th 1 elmre
to the subject of polygamy. Wld.
Mr. Smoot himself was not repute
to be a polygamist, he w.is an Apos
tie of the ehureh, and as such had 1
I get permission from, the ehureh be
fore lie could become a candidate for
Senator. The contention is, as we
understand it, that while Mr. Smoot
does not himself practice polygamy,
he lends color and ai<^ to that dan
gerous belief by' being a member
and an advocate of a church that
does believe in it, and that he is a
member .of the apostolic band of
twelve, seven of whom at least do
believe in and practice polygamy.
No decision lias yet been reached.
This much is very evident: If
Mr. Smoot is not himself a danger
ous man to have in the United States
Senate, he has beef? keeping mighty
bad company, and that is always
dangerous* Ills church had to grant
him permission to run.for the Senate
I and the majority of the twelve who
rule that church and shape its polity
do believe in and practice a very
damaging and dangerous doctrine.
Mr. Smoot has evidently been
“walking in the counsel of the un
godly, standing in the Avay of sin
ners and sitting in the seat of the
scornful,” at least if the Protestant
world, and not the Morman church,
is to he the interpreters of the Word.
But the Morinans have a Bible of
their own, and do not, except in
part, use the Bible of our faith and
fathers. Their Bible was given,
in most part, bv direct revelation,
so they claim, to Brigham Young
and Joseph Smith, both of whom
taught and practiced polygamy.
Jt would seem to be better to al
low Mr. Smoot to return home and
let some one else come to the Senate
who has not been tainted by such
close'contact with bad company.
Farm Labor and Other Labor
Sixteert and seventeen cent cot
ton is causing comment and specu
lation in many directions which
may prove quite suggestive and
helpful. It is declared that cotton
is up stay up, because labor _ to
produce it is both scarce and high.
There is something in this latter
claim, though whether it will keep
the price of the fleecy staple up for
years to come is yet to be seen.
But, that farm labor is scarce and
high, cannot be called into question.
Much of the colored labor has
gone from the farm and has gone
to stay gone. Your colored citizen
likes to be in a crowd. Establish a
sawmill, build a few shanties close
together, and you can depopulate
the community for five miles
around, so far as colored labor on
the farm is concerned. For this
same reason-—that they may he in a
crowd—they Have moved oil' to
town.
Brethren, the solution of the
farm labor problem is not .with the
colored man; he is gone, in, large
measure. It is with the white m m;
he has not gone yet, altogether. He
owns the soil,'find must cultivate it
■>r let it grow up. He cannot well
b*o.
Why mount more of our young
rum be induced to stay on the farm?
Why cm a young- man becoming of
tge not hire himself out to work
■n tii.' farm and lie as highly res
isted and esteemed among his
neighbors as is the, fellow who goes
to town to- measure molasses and
cut calico'in a store? The towns
are full, ! Clerk hire is cheap.
Wages are low in the molasses and
calico business. We heard of a
farmer the other day who offered a
merchant his son, for board only as
pay. The merchant had to decline,
fie could get others, plenty of thorn,
(so he said) at the same price—for
board. Think of it. i
Is not tilling the soil honorable?
Is it not respectable? Can it not
be made to pay? Can farming not
be made as interesting, elevating
and inviting as keeping store or
working in a factory? We believe
with all our heart that all these en
quiries may be answered in the af
firmative. Don’t discount, nor dis
credit the farm. Talk about your
stores, factories and all that as much
as you please, but this Southern
country of ours is an agricultural
section and its development depends
ultimately upon the growth and de
velopment of the farm.
God has given us fertile fields and
a glorious climate. Work is honor
able, nowhere more so than on the
form, and toil, though irksome, is a
blessing fraught with it- own great
rewards. The man who does not
toil knows no happiness,- enjoys no
reward. Don’t forsake the farm.
There is health and happiness, there,
and withal the very haven of hope
for this goodly Southland. Field
and forest, not shop and storehouse,
hold our future.
Supreme Court Decides for Temperanor.
The Supreme Court of North
Carolina decided a case last week
that is of far reaching consequence
and scores a signal victory for the
cause of temperance. The entire
State now has an anti-jug law and
the place of delivery is the place of
sale. No town or city in this State
can any longer ship out whiskey or
beer to any other town or locality in
which the sale is not allowed. It
came about in this wav.
The last Legislature passed an
anti-jug law for four counties, ('leva -
land, Cabarrus, Mitchell and Gas
ton. The first section of the act
names these four counties. But the
second section leaves out all names
i entirely, thus inakilig the provisions
of the law apply to the whole State.
Soon after Durham voted prohi
I bition, a whiskey and beer dealer
moved off to Roxbnro, a near by
town, and began shipping his goods
to Durham. A test vase‘was made.
The whiskey dealer won before the
lower court. It was carried to the
Supreme court, and this court has
reversed the decision of the lower
court and held that “the place of
delivery is the place of sale,” not
only in the four counties named in
the special act, but over the entire
State. So the temperance people
woke up last \\ ednesday. morning
to find a law prevailing <vr the
whole State, the very law which
many did their best to get the Leg
islature to enact, but which that body
would not (knowingly) enact. The
man who helped to draft this bill
for the four counties named, says he
had no idea ot writing a law that ap
plied to the wholV State. But inten
tions do not hold in law, and the
Court decided that the words in the
second section apply to the whole
State as well as to the four counties
named in the first section. It is a
heavy blow to many whiskey inter
ests of the State as they did a heavy
mailand express business in prohi
bition districts. But the temperance
people are grateful and have great
occasion for rejoicing. Men, even
Legislators, sometimes do better than
they intend. And the great God
sometimes uses the frailties of human
thought and the weaknesses of hu
man speech for the advancement id*
the right and tin1 cause of virtue,
temperance, sobriety and truth.
If any of our venders desire in
formation, facts or statistics about
temperance and the prohibition
movement tve advise them to send
15 cents to the United Prohibtion
Press, 92 La Salle St. Chicago, 111.,
and get a copy of the American
Prohibition Year Book for 1904.
We are in receipt of'a copy and re
gard it as very valuable for read
ing and ready reference.
Th! Christian Loan Association Explained,
In sending out letters last week
t » individuals and committees I
promised that a full explanation
would he given, in The Sun, of the
work the Christian Loan Associa
tion seeks to accomplish. We first
have to raise a fund. Our only way
to raise this fund is by voluntary
memberships, by bequests,- wills aiid
contributions. Later v.:e may pro
pose to handle funds for those who
have money to lend, turning them
back the interest and- principal as
agreed. This would work the same
good to building churches, except
they would have to pay more inter
est, say G percent instead oi 4 per
cent. But this has not yet been
Considered by the trustees. The
membership plan we are now work
ing through .a committee at each
church who ask for memberships at
$1 each, asking each member to
: k as many as he can - ipp< >rt, to
be paid annually. We expect $1
500 this way this spring, which
will lie increased each year follow
ing and the interest realized over
running expenses will be added to
the general fund. -I see no reason
why in ten years we should not have
.a fund worth §25,000 and all the
time aiding and encouraging Chris
tian church buildings.' It is -the
duty of every church member to aid
this work by becoming a member.
By so doing you will never be any
poorer, but will make others happy
and will some day be proud that
you have helped your church in
building homes for -Christians, as
well as broadening their influence.
There are those who can bequeath
sums pavable after death of a stated
sum, or the trustees would entertain
propositions like this: Suppose you
want to give §500 or §1,000 at
your death, but need or want the
interest while you live. Just give
now, provided the interest is secured
to you while living. In this way
'church extension is encouraged and
the owner gets his interest, which i>
all ho ever wanted for himself, and
God gets His interest at an earlier
dating. Merchants have in buying
what they call "dating,’ which
makes their bills mature later or
save discounts at a more convenient
eason, but dating as above means
your discounts just as soon, bat
goods (churches) sooner.
Regarding contributions.and wills.
Contributions are acceptable and
will aid temporarily, but member
' ships are to be trusted for bur per
manent growth. As to the will
plan, why not leave your property,
or a part of it, in a way that its no
ble work will* be felt as long as it
is money, and the record as well as
the acceptance of the will on the
books of the association will be a
monument to your memory that
will outlast a marble spire.
& These funds, when raised, will be
loaned to churches that desire, eith
er in the country or towns, and
I when building or rebuilding, most
of them need such help.
■ The opportunity is open to all to
help raise this fund. Will you
help? Sincerely,
Blessed are the merciful, for they
shall obtain mercy.
A Voice From Nebraska.
Bro. Atkinson—No traveler’s
sketches in foreign lands have done
me more good than yours in Florida.
I have read and re-read your de
scriptions of the Tampa cli
mate, tropical foliage, flora and
fruits, and have given your descrip
tion to our Nebraska papers. Flor
ida, from Charleston due west of
Joppa, to St. Augustine, reminds
me of the half-tropical and tropical
land of Palestine, in , climate, sea
sons, flowers and products, upon
which I have lectured a hundred
times, but not so much on account
of the country as for the sweet as
sociations of sacred things like the
life,.labors and mission of Christ,
His apostles, and Bible histories.
I read The Sun with new inter
est, because from the triangl'e points
of'Elon, Suffolk and Covington
1 have weekly sweet instruction
from cultured and consecrated men,
as well as from within and far out
of this triangle line, I would like
' to be today (Feb. 23) With the
.brethren at A dieboro, X. C., and
hear the pastor’s first sefmon in spe
' cial meetings,and shake hands with
Brother E. L. Mufti it and other
holy brethren; or be at Columbus,
Ga., and take oft* my winter coat
and help our cause there while it is
weak and needs help; or range
through Alabama among some of
the country churches of ours as did
*
Joseph Thomas in the South and
Elias Smith in New England, set
ting young evangelists of our day a
good lesson in “labors abundant.”
! As I advance in years I feel the
i •
need of more young men enlisting
in the ministry. There is a great
need of them everywhere, North,
South and in Canada.
I wonder if Elon is fullv mind
fill of that great mission of bring
ing both young men and women to
the .front "in-1 the ministerial work?
It is .a worthy mission. , This is
why’ we consecrate money in the
endowment.
1 lirce the treatment and kindly
remembrance Brother Butler has
been' receiving of laU* from his breth
ren at Baleigh. All kinds
of the good things of tids life.
The Lord knows how to “put.
it into the hearts of donors to,,
do sueh work, just where it is need
ed. Oh! how it stimulates His
children to go on,so wing the good
seed early and late.
; As lor sanctification, it is tne set
ting apart of a person from gener
erally ignoble and wrong work to a
higher mission in life. The tocsin
began to somul before then brazen
trumpet was heard from Sinai. My
people, separate yourselves from
idolatry, consecrate yourselves to
my holy service; and the silver
trumpet of Christ and His apostles
is heard now through all the land,
j The refrain is heard^ “Come ye out
from this world's sins, toueh not,
taste not, handle "not the unclean
things, but separate yourselves,sanc
tify yourselves, vour souls, and
, ‘present your bodies a living sacri
fice, holy and acceptable unto God.’
i Take Christ as your example and
live as near as you can to Him
without sinning.”
— Write again, Rrnl.ho.il. Ivlapp, OU -
: this subject.
i J. f\. Hoag.
Wymore, Neb.