| Show AN IMPORTANT NATIONAL GATHERING ON THIS date april 1st ast at washington ing tOll D C an important gathering was to convene and be continued three consecutive duys days it is in the nature of a national conference of the principles of civil government P to be held under t the he auspices of the national reform association the call was signed by his honor wm strong late of the supreme court of the united states joseph cook the rev francis E dark clark D D president of the united societies of christian endeavor the hon william windom secretary of the treasury gen clinton B flisk fik the rev wilbur F crafts bishop andrews of the M E church and many others lf if the he following which Is embraced in we announcement had been expressed and published by mormon elders it would undoubtedly have been denounced as treasonable and as indicating a disloyal attempt to produce the domination of the church over the state and an amalgamation of the th e two la branches ranches among the principles which this association holds to be fundamental f und in civil government are these nations and governments are accountable to almighty god and are bound by the moral moral law the lord jesus christ is the actual governor of nations and his will revealed in the holp scriptures is the supreme rule to decide moral questions in political life these principles we hold bold to have been woven historically in the very american institutions our stability and our progress have been due da 4 the ibe power they have exerted in our national life all the evils which have afflicted us have been traceable to our departure from them all our hopes hoi for our future depend upon them our gravest p ril lies in the fact that these principles are ignored by large numbers of our citizens and denied by many others the duty of the hour is to emphasize and uphold them and to inculcate them upon the fast increasing millions of our population among the subjects it is proposed to treat are the sabbath question or the Na tiona s relation to the day of rest the question of marriage aud and divor divon e yr vr the duty of the nation to the family the temperance question or the right attitude of the law toward the traffic in I 1 the indian the chinese and the negro problems the school question or the character of the education to be furnished by the state to its ite youthful citizens the relation of the nation to foreign and weaker nations as affected by our commerce and by the character of the representatives whom we send those who call the conference thus tell a striking truth constantly and conspicuously exemplified underlying au all these practical is sues is a deeper and more radical controversy tro versy davir provoked revoked by those who deny that civil government sustains any relations to god or to 1 christ or to the moral law who deny that our laws and institutions should beer bear at any point the impress of the christian religion and who are at striving riving constantly and of de liberte purpose to obliterate every christian feature of american institutions and to divorce our government governa from all connection with religion it is intended to embody the views of the con conferee ferer ce in resolutions and in that shape give them wide publicity |
