| Show NATIONAL PERILS 1 the chicago morning news published the synopsis of a very interesting discourse delivered in the tho garden city last sunday mor mornine nina by rev dr barrows in which the preacher portrayed in a graphic manner mauner some of the nations perils which ariso from various causes I 1 prominent among which is the great i ignorance norance which exists among 1 the people lie ire said as christ was solicitous for the well being of liis his nation so should the modern preachers in this nation bo be solicitous for the safety and perpetuity of this great republic there ia is danger in an idle and sluggish form of government it must be vigorous and just to be prosperous and it would not do to entrust the destiny of this nation in in the hands of tho the indifferent ignorant or vicious pe persons m ns and the speaker considered it was the tho duty of the pulpit to teach that character determines destiny the reverend speaker deplored tho the ignorance 0 of eo so many of those to whom the elective franchise francI liso is is entrusted in tho the united states and declared that unless this state of things 0 is remedied the destruction of the republic will become a certainty dr barrows considered the most effectual means to remove the danger is compulsory education which has been adopted with such good results in great britain frau france cc and other places in speaking of the franchise the preacher showed that thero there arc are 1 illiterate voters among im the colored cz lored people and another million among the whites an enormous arcenta percentage e of voters is unable 1 to holds in its hands bands the balance of power it is a mistake to suppose that ignorance is massed at the south where it is utilized by wicked and designing 1 men in san francisco 25 per cent of tho tile children arc are not in school in new york city 30 per cent in chicago 07 57 per cent and in cincinnati cin nati 59 per cent in ten years ft abaid said the speaker the children of the country today to day will be ruling the nation at present five twelfths of these are in absolute ignorance of the E english anglish 1 alphabet such facts afford but slight hopes for the future stability of the institutions of the nation and dr barrows affirmed that like a vast thunderous cloud thick with tropical lightning ignorance is gathering gat heriD 01 g over tho the national horizon tho the doctor said another source of peril to this nation is injustice justice should be the standing policy of this as well as all other nations the peril of any nation lies in a great measure in the wrongs and sufferings suTe rings it inflicts upon its people tho the fall of nations who have persisted in injustice and tyranny fia has 1 I been inevitable in the past the preacher referred to the whisky rings as a dangerous clement in this community which ho lie characterized as a despotism which is unscrupulous selfish and utterly heartless s it lias has more capital than slavery ever had it operates cooperates co with all the baser elements of politics po i I 1 and destroys more lives than over ever the slave slavo traffic did but tho the time is coming when a righteous god will call the tho nation to account for temporizing with the tile monster 1 there is another peril of which dr barrows in his most exdell excellent ent sermon spoke in burning eloquence we will let him tell it in his potent words the third peril is a practical unbelief in the divine government for F or a nation to forget that there is a moral order that makes ness is i to rush into shipwreck the prevalence of infidelity and communism and other familiarly quoted reasons for national decay are not sufficient cause cause for t the lie latter but it rather exists in tho the peoples absorbed devotion to mammon worship in this city chicago these perils are intensified here where injustice is flaming and frightful and practical unbelief ia is rife upon every citi citizen zen aro are there thero personal and momentous 11 duties resting there is need needed d the org organization animation aniza tion of a citizens cit izeris league that shall reform the administration of 0 f the municipal government there is a further ne need ed that the support to the existing league should be quadrupled that beneficent laws shall not be changed that the execution of present laws be insisted upon and that steps be taken toward the suppression of tho the sale gale of immor al literature in its weekly and other forms let the children of the attics attles and cellars cellar of chicado be brought within tile effective influence ofa of a compulsory education law A crisis is readied reached in history odthe of the republic let the people see iland it and find a way or mako make it if a mormon elder had spoken like dr barrows has done in the ilia last paragraph about divine government ern ment there would have gone up from the pettifogging politicians a howl about theocracy church and state priestly interference with secular government ac a no matter how true the principle enunciated may maybe be unlike dr barrows thero there arc are hundreds of ministers of modern christianity who for a filthy lucre consideration will continue to pander to the prejudices and foster the follies of the rich and influential members of their congregations they will flatter them with false falser hoods and cry peace peace pence although thou gh the utmost perils may threaten the nation and sudden destruction be imminent it may be even at our doors |
