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Show I TAXING CHURCH PROPERTY. The Rev. Madison C. Peters preached a eermon in the Bloomingdale Reformed Re-formed church last Sunday in favor of the taxation of church property which created an immense sensation, and it is echoing down the archives and will so echo until the suggestion will take rorm and substance in future laws to produce thiB very effect. Upon one occasion oc-casion Gen. Grant sent in a message ; something like Rev. Peters' sermon and he took occasion to allude to the enormous riches piled up by some of the churches of the metropolis, and to eay that were that property taxed it would be felt as a sensible relief by the states and lower the general rate of taxation very materially. The ' church property valuation today i amounts to more than three biihons of money, two per cent, on that sum would be, in and of itself, a huge sum ! f money, eay six hundred millions, Add to this sum the value of all church property, lands, echools, colleges, convents, con-vents, parsonages, and it would equal the former eum, if it would not surpass sur-pass it. The question is if by taxing all this enormous sum of non-producing property pro-perty a sadly needed reform would not be inaugurated. TheEe costly edifices would be succeeded by more modest and inexpensive building; pride might be cut a little, but piety would be vastly benefited. Phariseeism would be repressed re-pressed but such religion as was taught by the Lowly Nazarine would be increased. in-creased. Think of Christ preaching in such a building as St.Patrick's cath ed-ral ed-ral which cost, all told, nearly twenty millions of dollars, when lie seemed to i prefer the naked hill tops or the Bhaded brook sides for his sacred ministrations. Ilia was a lowly religion, while his followers follow-ers today but feed the haughty pride of men by rearing structures at enormous cost, while the poor and the lowly are left to the tender mercies of the corporations cor-porations to starve and die without pity. Sell the church property ot the United States as it stands today: replace re-place the present costly structures by plain cheap buildings of equal capacity and there would be enough left in the residue to clothe and insure bread for the poor of the land forever. We are sure that this eort of sacrifice would prove a far sweeter incenee in the nostrils nos-trils of the Father in heaven than the ; gorgeous houses the pride of man has impiously built under a mistaken conception con-ception of his nature to His glory. The taxation of this property would in a short time cause this very substitution as a matter of course. The Roman Catholic church is perhaps per-haps the wealthiest church in the way of real property in the land. The next is the Methodist. The next the Baptist, Bap-tist, and next to them the Presbyterian. Presbyter-ian. Of course they would all rebel against the measure. But accordine to our way of thinking the more religion relig-ion a man has the more patriotism he ought to have, and surely it would be only the part of the christians upon ChriBt's plan to be willing to cut their pride two per cent, per annum to serve the great government which shelters and protects all alike. Since the churches have gone into money-making to feed thiB enormous pride, they ought to be willing to divide either with the poor or the government to the extent named. We are aware that this would prove a very severe test, but then if the christian church is what we believe it to be, or what it ought to be, to meet the ideas of the fishermen who followed the Savior when He was on earth the sacrifice will be made without a mur mur. "Leave all and follow me" ie what ifi written. Here is an incipient reformation which has great promise in it. |