Ctritorial i^otcfi anii Comment
SOME people speak very disparagingly of
small churches, and seem to think they
have no right to exist, -because their member
ship is small and they have few or no officers.
It is not necessarily the fault of any one that
a church is small. It may be young. There
may be little material to be brought into the
church at the present time. It may not have
had pastoral service. . Or there may be other
reasons to account for its not growing. The
fact that it is small docs not prove that it has
no right to exist. It is far better to be a mem
ber of a small church than of no church. If
the history and work of these small churches
be studied, it will often be found that in pro
portion to their size and strength they are
doing better work than some of the large ones.
They hold together their membership and hold
them tied to the church. They usually have
Sunday schools, and at least occasionally have
preaching and services. Out of these small
churches have come many preachers of the
gospel and many officers and members of the
strong churches. The Presbyteries and the
stronger churches can and ought to do much
in nurturing and encouraging the weak
churches.
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PREACHERS, especially evangelists, are
sometimes criticizezd for receiving what
some people consider large sums for their ser
vices. We have seen or heard no objection to
the amounts received by the members of the
two baseball teams that recently played the
world championship games. These men receive
large salaries, and received a bonus for these
games. The games occupied eight days. Each
member of the winning team received $5,027,
and each member of the losing team received
$3,254, besides their salaries. The attendance
"-at these games was 236,928 and the receipts,
after paying the war tax, were $722,414. Peo
ple who, mostly from two cities, can afford to
spend that huge amount for amusement cer
tainly cannot be considered poor.
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MAJORITIES are supposed to rule in this
country, but the trouble, oftentimes is,
that the majorities sit down and keep quiet,
while the minorities are active and aggressive.
The census reports show that there are 40,000,
000 people in this county engaged in gainful
occupations, that is who are doing work for
which they receive direct material returns.
The labor unions claim that they have 3,000,
000 members, and yet it sometimes looks as
though the unions are governing the country
in certain particulars. When a strike of a
large number of union men occurs, as in the
case of the threatened railroad strike, the
strike of the steel operatives or of the coal
miners, the whole country is affected. It looks
as though the majority has some right that
ought to be protected as well as the minority.
If the strikes affected only the owners and op
erators of the mines, it would be a very dif
ferent proposition from conditions as they re
ally are. If this strike or any other like it
were kept up for a few weeks, hundreds of
thousands of other faithful laborers would be
thrown out of employment and millions of
women and children would suffer. In such
cases it is not the rich who suffer so much as
the poor, who are dependent upon their daily
labors for the support of themselves and their
families. Strikers do not always consider these
things.
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THANKSGIVING
O Father, many things there be
For which we would give thanks to Thee.
And many more, our finite mind
In its short range can never find.
Protection 'gainst sin's awful power,
Clean homely comforts hour by hour;
Sure wit or wisdom for the day
Or health to strengthen by the way.
For viands brought from foreign shore
To lie in plenty at our door,
For corn and wheat in our own land,
The blessing of Thy lavish hand. ?
Thanks, Father, for the leading back
Of truant feet from erring track.
For light withdrawn, when its white glare
Blinds us to patient duty's share.
For secrets heard in whispered breath
About the chilly couch of Death.
For the wide firmament above,
Where morning stars first sang in love.
And more than these ? our Savior's love >
Which brought Him from the heaven above
To make us children true, of Thine;
We thank Thee, O, our Lord Divine !
From "The Soul Winner,"
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B^APSTREET, one of the great commer
cial and financial agencies of thi3 country,
says" that in 1914, just five years ago, $437
would have bought as much of the necessities
of life for a family as $1,000 will now. Put
this along side of the salaries received by many
pastors. One who receives $1,000 has only the
purchasing power of $437 in normal times. A
salary of $1,500 now is only equal to one of
$650 five years ago. We are told that many
ministers have had to go in debt for the neces
sities of life. Many others have had to use
up their savings in life insurance, so that
they have no protection for their families for
the future. Many churches have done nobly
in coming to the rolief of their pastors by in
creasing their salaries, but there .are some of
these that can do more still. And in the name
of simple justice we appeal to all churches
to consider this matter lflirly and honestly, to
see whether or not they are making to their
pastors a just return for what they receive
^from their pastors. If necessary, are not the
members of the churches willing to make even
spine sacrifice to supply the needs of their pas
tors? Shall the pastors and their families
make all the sacrifies?
ELDERS often times know how to help
preachers. A good and liberal-hearted
elder knowing that some of our preachers out
of their meagre salaries are obliged to give up
their Church papers, as much as they regret
doing, has sent us a check for ten dollars,
which he asks us to use in sending the Presby
terian of the South to fiv^ such preachers as
these. It gives us a great deal of pleasure to
do this, and we feel sure that the gift will be
appreciated by those who shall receive the
benefit of it. No pastor can do his best work
without his Church paper. If there are any of
our other readers who want to help the preach
ers in this way, we shall be glad to hear from
them.
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YM. C. A. are letters that have long been
? known, but never so well as since the be
ginning of the great war as design.
organization that has done much for
sical, intellectual, moral and spiritual weuarc
of men and boys. There have been some who
have looked on only from the outside who have
felt that not enough emphasis is placed upon
the spiritual side of the work. One of the
association secretaries has given as the mean
ing of the initial letters, "Youth, Manhood and
Christ Associated." We like that combination.
MEDICAL science is doing great things for
this country. A report from the State
Board of Health of Virginia gives an illus
tration, which, no doubt, can be duplicated in
many States, of what can be done in the way
of prevention. In ten years since the cam
paign against typhoid fever was started, the
number of cases in a year has been reduced
from 14,398 to 4,016, a decrease of 10,382 cases
during the past year. The number of deaths
has been reduced from 1,491 to 416 or a de
crease of 1,075. The department estimates
the average cost of caring for a case of typhoid
at $100 and the average economic value to
the community of a life at $5,000, both of
which seem to be very low. On this basis the
financial saving to the State for the past year
was $6,413,200. This, of course, does not take
into consideration all that is saved in anxiety
and sorrow on the part of loved ones and
friends, nor does it take account of the sav
ing from impaired health of the victims of this
disease. Truly God is blessing the world in
giving it wise and efficient physicians and
health officers. We cannot do better to show
our appreciation than to aid them in all ways
possible in preserving the health of the com
munities in which we live.
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The task of the Christian Church will not
be completed until the last individual is reach
ed, the last field entered and the last opportu
nity grasped.