The Presbyt6
Vol. 97. No. 43.
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RICHMOND, VA.
OCTOBER 25, 1922.
HOME MISSION WEEK is November 12
19. This is a time when all of the Church
is expected to turn its attention in prayer, in
study and in gifts to this great and important
work. The special object to which the Execu
tive Committee of Home Missions is directing
attention for this week is the Stuart Robinson
School in the mountains of Kentucky. Some
months ago the large dormitory of this school
was burned, and thus the good work of the
school has been seriously interfered with. In
order to erect the building that is needed to ac
commodate the young people of the mountains
who are clamoring for an education, $50,000
will be neeeded. A united effort will easily
raise the amount, and make it possible to have
this much needed building ready for next ses
sion.
PRAYER is and must be the foundation of
the Christian life and the means of bring
ing spiritual blessings to ourselves and others.
To this end the week of November 12-18 has
been set apart by the Young Men's Christian
Associations of the world as a "Week of Prayer
for Young Men." November 19th is what is
known as the "Universal Day of Prayer for
Students." There is no class of people who
need the prayers of God's people more than
young men. There was never a time when the
temptations surrounding them were greater.
Many efforts are being made to undermine their
faith in God and in religion. Gross sins are
presented to them in alluring forms, and thus
many are led astray. What a strong bulwark
would be thrown around these young men, if
all of God's people would unite in earnest prayer
for God's protection and blessing for them. It
would be well for all of the churches to show
their interest in young men by observing this
week in such way as may seem most practi
cable.
REFORMATION DAY comes this year on
Sunday, October 29th. It has been cus
tomary on this day to look back to the days of
the Reformation, to consider its sources, its ac
tors, its meaning and the blessings it has sent
down .to the churches of today. It would seem
very much better this year to consider the
countries which were the cradle of the Refor
mation and see what is their present condition.
France, Belgium and Czecho-Slovakia are dev
astated by war and have made only very slight
recovery from its dire effects. In each of the
countries the Protestant churches suffered heavy
loss, both in men and in material things. The
members of these churches are now desperately
poor. Some of their pastors are receiving sal
aries of only $40 a year on which to support
themselves and their" families. They need to
have their destroyed churches rebuilt, and,
strange to say. they need many new churches.
Notwithstanding the poverty of the Protestant
churches, many who have not been Protestant
before are flocking to them, and in Czecho
slovakia they are coming by the thousands
Our churches are asked bv the General Assem
bly on Reformation Day to give $(>0,000 to aid
our impoverished brethren in those countries.
Of this amount $8,000 is to be usert to complete
the church in Compiegne in northern France,
which we have undertaken to build as a memo
rial to the Presbyterian hoys who fell in the
war. The remainder will be divided between
the three countries mentioned in proportion to
their needs. Let us all remember those coun
tries which gave to the world John Huss and
John Calvin and the Reformation which they
did so much to start, and now, in their times
of distress and opportunity for doing so much to
advance the cause of our common Saviour, let
us do what we can to pay the debt we owe them
for spiritual blessings, by giving them of our
material blessings.
LAWYERS are not likely to make careless
or unconsidered statements, especially in
any official action which they take. This fact
therefore gives great force to a paper recently
adopted by the Judicial Section of the Ameri
can Bar Association at its last meeting. In
speaking of the prohibition law it said: ."The
people of the United States, by solemn constitu
November 5-12
This is to be Church Paper Week.
The Woman's Auxiliaries are going to make
an every family canvass of the churches, in
order to try to put ft Church paper into every
home in which there is not one already.
This will be a great help to all the depart
ments of the Church's life and work, and it
will mean much to the advancement of spir
itual life in the families of the Church.
These good women are going to do good and
faithful work, bat to accomplish what they are
attempting they will need help.
They will need the help of the pastor and
officers of the church, who can give them much
counsel and encouragement. They can speak
to the congregatiQns on the value of the Church
paiier. They can give the women their own
subscriptions.
They need the help of all of the readers of
the Church papers, who can speak to others of
the help they receive from them and use their
influence to get others to take one or more of
'them.
Help these godly women, who have under
taken this great work, which will mean so
much to the Church in every way.
tional and statutory enactment, have undertaken
to suppress the age-long evil of the liquor traf
fic. When, for the gratification of their appe
tites or the promotion of their interests, law
yers, bankers, groat merchants and manufac
turers, and social leaders, both men and women,
disobey and scoff at this law, they are aiding
the cause of anarchy and promoting mob vio
lence, robbery and homicide; they are sowing
dragons' teeth and. they need not be surprised
when they find that no judicial or police author
ity can save our country or humanity from
reaping the harvest."
TOBACCO producing States are among the
lowest in educational matters, according
to a statement made by Dr. Leonard P. Ay res,
Director of the Department of Education of the
Russell Sage Foundation, after a careful study
of this subject in all of the States. He bases
his rating upon the proportionate number of
children attending school, the progress they
make, salaries of teachers, and the amount in
vested in buildings and equipment. He bases
his conclusions upon Government figures. Tak
ing the five States that stand first in the produc
tion of tobacco he finds this to be the situation :
North Carolina, first in tobacco, forty-fourth in
education; Kentucky, second in tobacco, forty
first in education; Virginia, third in tohaoco,
thirty-eighth in education; Tennessee, fourth
in tobacco, fortieth in education; South
Carolina, fifth in tobacco, forty-eighth in
education. Whether there is any real con
nection between the growing of tobacco
and illiteracy we are not able to say,
but the coincidences here shown are very strik
ing. We are sure of one thing and that is that
these and other States in the South do not reach
the educational standard that they ought to
rach. We are also sure that if tobacco was not
raised these States and the world would be bet
ter off.
PROFANITY is one of the sins that is spe
cially condemned in the Bible. The Third
Commandment especially forbids it, and this
is one of the two Commandments which con
tain a special penalty for their violation. This
was also a subject emphasized by our Saviour,
lie showed that there are many ways in which
it can be broken, when thoughtless men do not
realize that they are breaking it. There are
many good people, who are not guilty of pro
fanity directly, but who are guilty of encourag
ing it in others. This is often done by laugh
ing at some piece of profanity uttered by an
other, or by making a joke of another's pro
fane utterances. What is wrong for us to do is
wrong for ns to encourage or condone in others.
If Christian men would first guard themselves
carefully against this sin and then in a quiet,
dignified way would show their disapproval of
it in others, they would honor God and go far
to show the profane something of the heinous
ness of their sin in the sight of God.
NOTHING NEW under the sun has often
been quoted, but Dr. John Fox, of
Easton, Pa., for many years an efficient Gen
eral Secretary of the American Bible Society,
has come very near finding something new for
the Sunday Schools. Dr. Fox has always been
sound in the faith of the Presbyterian Church,
and has fought boldly for the maintenance of
its fundamental principles. Feeling that the
learning of the Shorter Catechism is the best
means of instilling these principles in the minds
of the children of the Church, he has devised
a new way of aiding them in learning the won
derful questions and answers. He has set
twelve questions and answers to music. One of
our ministers said recently, that when he
first saw the booklet containing this music he
thought it was a joke; but, when he tried the
music, he found that he was entirely mistaken.
It will be found by those who try it, that the
music is good, comparatively simple and yet of
the dignity demanded in the treatment of the
great truths contained in the words. It is a
well-known fact that children remember best
what they learn to sing, and we believe that the
dignity and worth of the Catechism will be
more deeply impressed upon them when they
learn this music It is to be hoped that Dr.
Fox will continue his good work until he has
set the whole Catechism to music. It will be
well for Sunday School workers, who want to
add variety to the work of their schools to get
copies of this pamphlet They can be secured
from the Presbyterian Committee of Publica
tion, Richmond, Va.