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Show Bi'! CHURCH "GRAFT." I ! lj f If tho Christian Church cannot get along with- f out forcing unwilling contributions from the com- I munity, it would better shut Its doors. Church "graft" is no new thing, but people are getting ji tired of it. There are signs of open protest in iiL I place of the grudging acquiescence and concealed Hj ' contempt of the past. It has been the custom in Bjij ' J many cities and towns for churches to levy trib- H in S ute upon merchants in various forms. For the H ij & church supper the grocer and the baker are ex- B h pected to make gifts or ruinous discounts; for the H jjj j .church bazar the storekeepers of all sorts are HB jhJ "held up" by the women of the congregation. Loss H ji qf custom is not exactly threatened as the penalty B j for refusal, but a merchant usually knows what H jU will happen if he ventures to deny any request H j'( that has a church back of it. B j f t The most modern form of church graft is the Bj'j j support of local church papers by means of ad- H ( ji vertising, and of conventions or other gatherings B l( j- i by advertising in progi'ammes. There is a con- B p 'j venient Action to the effect that this is a business V transaction, in which so much valuable space is B ij t sold for a fair equivalent. Nobody is deceived H H ' by this except, possibly, the good people who are H ji getting their church printing done tree. The mer- H ji chant never hears from such advertisements, but H ' he is not disappointed. He does not expect re- h suits. His attitude in the matter is either one of Hl good-natured condescension or of unwilling con- B . j cession to a form of taxation intended to assure ' 1 H j; I the good will of desirable customers who are B (I1 ,j I easily offended. Hjff ,) It is hard to see how self-respecting churches Bi!i.'; f can consent to put themselves in the position of !fU, j medicants appealing for aid in carrying on the 111 I work of the congregation. The argument that ? $ only by advertising can church papers be kept up K ji J ! ' ls a Pr one- H tne church cannot afford to pay BlrO; ij for the small amount of weekly or monthly print- Bjjjj v ing that is actually necessary, let it invest in a H h ! duplicating machine of some sort and do its own B M ! printing. There are cases, ot course, in which B j church papers may become really valuable ad Bi vertising mediums, owing to enterprising man- B j agement and large circulation, and advertisers B i, t imay invest their money with the expectation of B Mt return. In such cases there is no "graft," and B' no loss of self-respect. But so long as the church B ' m persists in trying to make the world pay its bills, B 'vS Christian beneficence will lag, religion will lan- B Ul, i guish and the ungodly will grin. Christendom. B M young women on the same lines by inferior writers. writ-ers. It is possible indeed to overdo the arch and the playful young woman even in fiction. Nevertheless, Never-theless, it is clear that Stevenson himself distrusted dis-trusted his own power in delineating women; for not only did he avoid them when he could, but when they were indispensable features of his tale, ho perferred to thrust them in by suggestion. I have already referred to the admirable, portrait of Mrs. Weir, and to that may be added Kirstie'in the same story, as well as sundry smaller personages per-sonages In the shorter tales. |