Earlier text: The Day’s PreparationFollowing the Presence of God
By B. G. WILKINSON
FOR the building to stand, the foundation must be correct. Should you think of trying to run the machinery of a great mill while refusing to use the big fly-wheel? It is hard work to live without God. Success follows only that which is right, and the presence of God alone teaches us what is right. The Eternal is the plumb-line according to which all else must be squared. “In him was life,” says the evangelist, “and the life was the light of men,”—light to show us the road ahead, life to give us power and energy to move forward; these are the blessings that come from having the presence of God. Some people are running straight into destruction; they have life,—not God’s life,—but they do not have light. Others are so far from God that they are like the arctic regions; they have light but no heat, and so they do not produce anything. “In thy presence,” says the psalmist, “is fulness of joy.” What the world needs today is more joy and less misery. Peter could not impart money to the lame man at the temple, but he made him happier than did the rich people who passed that way. Peter had been with Jesus to learn of him, and now Jesus was with Peter to keep going the chorus of praises which followed his own steps while upon earth. We should not have so many joyless homes if we had more persons in these homes who enjoyed the presence of God. Do not keep your face like an iron fence; let some becoming smiles show that you are made of flesh. In the wilderness, fresh every morning, manna fell from the hand of the Unseen Guide. Do people know that you are rich, that you have a rich Father, who, though unseen, supplies you every day abundantly? It is the presence of God which fills the heart with love. Selfishness bids us adopt the attitude of hate toward our fellow men. Our carnal hearts make us see value in only that which benefits us personally. The Spirit of God teaches us the value of the soul. There is no caste nor any system of class with him who dwells in the sunlight of God’s presence. A farmer rushing across the country was stopped by an artist. “Did you see that glorious sunset?” said the painter. “No,” replied the other, “I am looking for a cow and a calf.” The child of God sees heaven in everything, from the deep-toned voice of old ocean’s roar to the tiny moat that floats in the sunbeam. The bee sucks honey out of even the rock. Some eyes need glasses in order7 to see. Men need prayer to help them see God. And “they who seek a throne of grace find a throne in every place.” If men want to know God, he will graciously admit them to companionship with him, awaken them to life’s immortal powers, and send down upon them dawning light. It is God who stirs us up. When we prefer using cushions to using shoe-leather, it is God who gives us a mind to work. Then we produce something. We contribute to the world’s need instead of standing in the bread line. In place of submitting to injurious desires we make them submit to us. We are not to be as the glutton, who sits down to the table and says, “There is no higher heaven than this.” We battle against rum, against disease, against all things injurious to soul and body. As God has worked hitherto, so now we work. As he inspires himself, so now he inspires us. The world needs more of the presence of God; we also need more of his presence. And having become acquainted with the Lord here, we shall, in heaven, continue that acquaintance throughout eternity. A Judicial Error Regarding the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment
By C. E. HOLMES
In looking over some court decisions relating to Sunday laws, the writer recently came across a very interesting and striking statement concerning some mistakes made in dealing with this question. This statement was attached as a note to a decision given by Judge Caldwell, of the United States Circuit Court, E. D., Arkansas. It is found in “Federal Reports,” 1884, page 308. We believe that in many instances the courts have failed properly to discriminate between religious and civil matters, especially in dealing with Sunday legislation, and our belief is confirmed by the facts thus authoritatively stated:— The Fourth-Commandment Sabbath Is Not Sunday
“Remarks may occasionally be found in opinions of courts, seemingly laying some stress on the religious view of the question, and the fourth commandment. In illustration of this fact, the case of Hill vs. Wilker, 41 Ga., 499, may be cited, where the court, to support the presumption that the law of Kansas, like that of Georgia, forbids contracts on the Lord’s day, says: ‘We are sustained in this presumption by the fact that a contrary view would suppose the people of Kansas to have annulled the decalogue, and to have permitted by law the disregard of Christian obligations, and not only forgotten, but violated, the injunction: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; on it thou shalt do no manner of work.”’ The court overlooks the fact that the fourth commandment, a part only of which it quotes, relates to the seventh day of the week; and that if the laws of Kansas were in harmony with that commandment, the contract which the court was considering, to have been invalid there, must have been executed on Saturday.” “The curious and obvious error of the court in Hill vs. Wilker illustrates the danger of a civil court, which deals only with the temporal affairs of men, predicating a judgment on its interpretation of the Bible commands relating to spiritual affairs, and justifies a brief reference to the origin of the Lord’s day, and the legal distinction between that and the Sabbath. It is a common error to confound Saturday, the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath of the Jews, and the day of rest in the fourth commandment, with Sunday, the first day of the week, properly called the Lord’s day. . . .” “Writers on ecclesiastical law are not quite agreed as to what extent the obligations of the commandments and Levitical law were abrogated by the advent of our Saviour; but conceding that the fourth commandment delivered to the Jews is of universal obligation, the fact remains that that commandment has never been observed by the Christians so far as relates to the day of the week.” The Sabbath a Definite Seventh Day
At this point the writer of the statement clearly sets forth the fact that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seventh day of the week. It is also frankly admitted that there is no divine proof for the keeping of Sunday as a religious institution:— “The commandment declares explicitly that ‘the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.’ While many of the commandments are very short, that relating to the observance of the Sabbath is worked out at considerable length, and great stress is laid on the day of the week to be observed, and the reason for observing that day.” “The command to observe a day of rest is not any more explicit than the direction as to what day it shall be. Ex. 20: 8, 11. There is no account in the New Testament of the change from the seventh to the first day of the week, or even of the institution of the Lord’s day. Just when and by whom it was instituted, and when it was first observed as the day of worship, and how it was otherwise observed, are questions involved in some obscurity.” When the measure known as the Johnston District Sunday Bill was reported to the United States Senate, during the Sixty-second Congress, we find its accompanying report falling into the same error mentioned above. It was submitted from the Senate District Committee by Mr. Johnston, of Alabama. He argues thus:— “The seat of government of the United States is, with one exception, the only territory within its jurisdiction in America where the fourth commandment has been repealed or is practically ignored, or where at least the universal sentiment in favor of a legislative day of rest does not prevail.” The senator erroneously supposes that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is Sunday. But if Sunday were the true Sabbath, there would be no place in civil law for its enforced observance. “Abiding in Christ”
By ALLEN WALKER
“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Abiding in Christ, then, is walking even as he walked. What a high standard of attainment is here held out to those who profess to be abiding in Christ! But only through Jesus can this standard be reached. Our Lord “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth;” and in John 8: 29, speaking of his close relation with the Father, he says, “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.” Then if we walk even as he walked, we shall live a sinless life, and do always those things that are pleasing in his sight. This is exactly what the Saviour meant when he said, “Abide in me.” The command to abide in Jesus implies the possibility to comply with the command. Before Jesus began his life here on earth as a divine copy for all who will be saved, he was made a little lower than the angels, and partook of flesh and blood, thereby bringing himself down on an equality with humanity. While in possession of this nature, he was tempted in all points as we are, yet never once yielded to temptation. In living this sinless life he had access to no power that is not freely offered to us. If Jesus had once exercised his divine nature in meeting temptation, his life would not be a perfect example for the human family to follow, because we do not possess inherent divine nature as he did, and therefore cannot have this advantage in striving against sin. The Captain of our salvation, in order that his life might be a perfect example, always met and conquered Satan through the strength of God, claiming the same power which is given to those who abide in him. How encouraging to know that if we continually maintain the same relation to Jesus that he enjoyed with his Father, we can do always those things which are pleasing in his sight, and have the assurance that we are daily abiding in him. Further, we can make our requests to him in full assurance that he will hear us, for the promise is, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” Those who are not abiding in Christ are as withered branches that have been severed from the vine and cannot bear fruit, but, said Jesus, “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” All who are not abiding in Christ when he comes will cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them. THE day of judgment will be a day of revelation. At that time “the Lord . . . will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” Man may deceive his fellows; he may pass for gold when he is but dross, for a child of God when he is a hypocrite at heart. By fair exterior he may seek to gloss his evil purposes and unholy desires, and make a pretension of devotion and piety. He may do, under the cover of darkness and secrecy, that which he would refuse to do in the light. He may deceive, believing that he will never be detected in the deception; but just as true as there is a God who takes account of all human actions, some day the record of every life must be met. “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” We cannot hide from the all-seeing eye of the Infinite. God sees all and notes all. In the books of heaven, day by day, is made an absolutely true record of what we are in fact, rather than what we profess to be. The Lord in his infinite mercy affords opportunity for the purging of that record. Hour by hour and moment by moment his Spirit convicts us of sin. The voice of that Spirit is heard sounding in our ears, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” “Turn ye, . . . why will ye die?” “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” “Now is the accepted time; . . . now is the day of salvation.” For all our mistakes and sins we may obtain pardon, and when our cases are called at last in the hall of heavenly judgment, in the parlance of earthly jurisprudence they will be “thrown out of court,” because it will be found that we have been pardoned, that the sacrifice of Christ avails in our behalf. Our Advocate in the heavenly courts will plead our cause, and by the merits of the sacrifice which he himself has made will show reason why judgment should not be pronounced against us. The apostle Paul speaks of this experience in the case of repentant sinners: “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” It is our privilege today to send our sins beforehand to judgment, to be disposed of so that we shall not find them confronting us in the day of final reckoning. Failing to take advantage of this generous provision of the great Judge, we shall stand confronted with the record of our lives. Shame will cover our faces, and confusion will fill our hearts. No place will be afforded whither we can flee for refuge. We can neither bribe the jury nor buy off the Judge, and we shall stand without excuse because the great Judge who has called us to account provided a means of escape. We have not only done despite to his name, but we have despised as well the means whereby he sought to recover us from our rebellion. We cannot afford today to tamper with sin. We cannot afford to run the risk of placing ourselves for one moment under its hypnotic power. One transgression, one departure from the path of rectitude, may involve in its train the lowest depths of moral degradation and separation from God at last. Our only safety is in avoiding sin's pollution. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” “When the Judge shall weigh our
motives
For eternal gain or loss,
Shall we stand as gold before him,
Or as vile and worthless dross?
“Shall we hear the glad words spoken:
‘Faithful servant,’ and ‘Well done,’
Or the dread and awful sentence,
‘Thou art wanting,’ sinful one?
“Shall we heed the Spirit’s pleading,
While for mercy we may call,
Or delay till God’s handwriting
Seals the final doom of all?” Our Reconciliation in Christ
By C. M. S.
WHEN man in Eden fled from God's presence, he was simply fleeing from life to the silence of an eternal death. If God had needed to be reconciled, he would simply have allowed man to continue to flee from his presence, and to go down into a grave that would hold him forever. The race would have stopped right there, and the history of Adam would have ended with his sin. His career would have been closed; the experiment would have been finished; and everlasting silence would have settled down upon the place that was intended for the eternal and joyous habitation of man. Satan, in the beginning, taught the innocent pair that God was unjust in withholding from them even one tree of that glorious garden. His deception succeeded, man sinned, fled from God's presence, and, as a race, has been fleeing ever since. Now Satan comes with the second unjust accusation against God, teaching that God must needs be reconciled, appeased like the gods of the heathen; and that by the sacrifice of his own Son. But our blessed Lord was not sacrificed for that purpose. If Satan can succeed in making man believe that Christ was sacrificed for that purpose, he has accomplished a master-stroke in the war of the ages against the best interests of man. If he can induce religious teachers to teach that, then his success is the more complete, his charge against God so much the more convincing. Accusing God of injustice in the beginning, and then making it appear that God must be reconciled, Satan attempts to shut the door of salvation in the face of man. He succeeds in shutting that door in the case of those who believe those sophistries. Let us see what Inspiration teaches in reference to this matter of reconciliation. God has never been the enemy of man. His own declaration is: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” Jer. 31:3. He says of himself: “I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, . . . wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” Eze. 18:32. “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.” Ps. 103:17. “The Lord is good; for his mercy endureth forever.” Jer. 33:11. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. It has always been man's sin that has put a cloud between him and his Maker. It is not that God has withdrawn himself from the sinner; but, as in Eden of old, when man has sinned, he has hidden himself from his Maker. “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you.” Isa. 59:2. In view, then, of God's everlasting love toward men, of his ever-enduring mercy, and the fact that man has hidden from God, and not God from man, with whom is the reconciliation necessary? What was the purpose of Christ's ministry? what the purpose of his life and sacrifice upon the earth? The Bible answers: “But all things are of God, who recon-657 ciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Cor. 5:18, 19. Thus has the Word made plain that it is man who must be reconciled to God, not God who must be reconciled to us. God never has been unreconciled. His arms have ever been stretched out toward the erring race, and are stretched out still. Christ's work in the earth was “to reconcile all things unto himself.” “And you . . . hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death.” Col. 1:20-22. We are told in Rom. 5:10 that “we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.” So the plea of God's representative in the land of the unreconciled is, “We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Cor. 5:20. The ministry of Christ, the ministry of those who are Christ's, is “the ministry of reconciliation,”—the reconciliation of an unreconciled world to the great God whose love is everlasting, whose mission is ever-drawing, whose kindness never faileth, and whose arms will continue to be stretched out to the human race as long as there is hope of saving a single soul. Christ died that he might ransom out of the enemy's land those who had forfeited their heritage, bartered their souls, and fled from the face of God, that he might turn them, win them, and bring them back with him, the fruits of his ministry of reconciliation. It was a wise provision of the early Christian church that those engaged in the ministry of the word should not devote their time to serving tables. Later the apostle Paul emphasized this same idea when he said, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” As the Master requires of the consecrated life an undivided heart, so Heaven demands that those who give themselves to the ministry of the word should render undivided service.658 It is to be regretted that the spirit of speculation and commercialism finds entrance to the hearts of some who have taken upon themselves the sacred ministry of the word. The Christian Advocate, in its issue of May 1, speaks of a minister who devotes a portion of his time to raising mushrooms and peddling them about the town where he lives, while at the same time he is seeking to carry the pastorate of a church. In another part of the country is a minister who is engaged in poultry raising. He spends time lecturing at the county fairs and before farmers’ associations on the raising of poultry, at the same time seeking to preside over the spiritual affairs of the church, which affords him an ample salary for his support. Says the Advocate, “Their devotion to business is exemplary, but their notion of the ministerial office is unique, to say the least.”
It was quite in keeping with the spirit of the ministry of the early church to forsake all and follow the Master, and the return on the part of some of the twelve to worldly pursuits was an indication of a state of doubt regarding their divine call, or a misapprehension as to what was involved in that call. We have no evidence in the Word that the call to the service of God involves any less sacrifice today. The gospel is the same. It has not been modified to meet modern conditions; and if the gospel is to do its appointed work, its representatives must give it with the same spirit that characterized its exponents in the days of our Lord’s earthly ministry. How the Lord Repaid
By W. A. S.
THE familiar scripture about the bread cast upon the water and returning later to the giver is illustrated by the following incident from the German:— A poor man with an empty purse came one day to Michael Feneberg, the godly pastor of Seeg, in Bavaria, and begged three crowns, that he might finish his journey. It was all the money Feneberg had, but as he besought him so earnestly in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus he gave it. Immediately after, he found himself in great outward need, and seeing no way of relief he prayed, saying, “Lord, I lent thee three crowns; thou hast not yet returned them, and thou knowest how I need them. Lord, I pray thee give them back.” The same day a messenger brought a money letter, which Gossmer, his assistant, reached over to Feneberg, saying, “Here, father, is what you expended.” The letter contained 200 thalers (about $150), which the poor traveler had begged from a rich man for the vicar; and the childlike old man, in joyful amazement, cried out, “Ah, dear Lord, one dare ask nothing of thee, for straightway thou makest one feel so much ashamed!” It was a pleasing sequel to a benevolent act. Doubtless many who read of it may recall experiences of kindly aid extended which have never come back, in kind at least. But there is blessing in the generous deed itself; and as for further reward, and return, let it be remembered that the Lord does not settle all the accounts monthly or yearly, or in this life. The settlement in full will come sometime, of a surety, with many a surprise to kindly hearts as the record of the angels is opened. So “cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” Are the Dead Conscious?
By F. M. W.
THIS is the question raised by a correspondent of the Sunday School Times, as published in that paper of May 3. The writer asks, “Can we know whether people who die in the Christian faith go to be with Christ at once, or whether they are at rest, as in a sound sleep, till the Lord comes and the dead in Christ shall rise first?” The editor, usually so clear in his exegesis when replying to questions from his readers, in our judgment utterly misapprehends the teaching of the Scripture on this subject. He teaches that at death the righteous go to their eternal reward, basing his argument upon such incidents as the conversation between Christ and the thief on the cross, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, etc., and discounting the plain, obvious teaching of the Word of Truth as found in the positive teaching which it gives on this question. The Bible clearly teaches,— 1. That man possesses a nature inherently sinful and dying, and that far from possessing immortality here, this condition is set before him as something to be sought for. Rom. 2:6, 7. 3. That for man immortality is brought to light through the gospel. 2 Tim. 1:16. 4. That as the result of seeking after immortality through complying with the provisions of God’s grace and the acceptance of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ through faith, immortality is bestowed on the saints at the end of the world, at the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:51-55; 1 Thess. 4:16-18. 5. The Scriptures teach further that the resurrection at the last day is absolutely essential to the salvation of God’s people. 1 Cor. 15:16-18. 6. The finally impenitent, having rejected the provision made for their escape from sin and death, are destroyed in the fires of the last day. Matt. 3:12; Mal. 4:1-3. 7. The contrast in the destinies of the human family is not drawn between eternal life in glory and eternal life in suffering. It is clearly made between life and death. Rom. 6:23. Life is the gift of God. No man can earn it. It does not come by inheritance. It is bestowed as the free gift of the grace of God upon his believing, obedient children. Contrast with this the fate of the impenitent who are paid the wage they earn. They receive death for their portion. Having failed to receive the life of God, which is in Christ Jesus, they are deprived of natural life forever, and cessation of existence is their portion. This view of the question magnifies the merits of the sacrifice and offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without that sacrifice the human family was doomed to utter extinction. Adam and his posterity would have gone down to a death that knew no awakening. Christ by his sacrifice frees the whole human family from the Adamic death. In the final resurrection every man shall arise to receive the reward of the deeds which he has done here in this world. Upon the wicked the second death is visited. This is the judgment of God as the penalty for their personal sins. The righteous, having accepted the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, are saved from the results of their own transgressions, and live in him and with him through all eternity. This is the plain, direct, positive teaching of the Scriptures of Truth. Every passage which, standing by itself, might be considered in any sense ambiguous or of doubtful meaning, reasonably harmonizes with this positive teaching. This view makes of the plan of salvation and the Word of Truth one harmonious whole. The view taught by the Sunday School Times makes the Scriptures contradict themselves, demerits the sacrifice of our divine Lord, and makes of no consequence the final resurrection and judgment. It is better to believe God than to put confidence in the theories of men. WE have heard in the past of juvenile delinquency of various sorts, from the truancy of the average schoolboy and schoolgirl to the more serious outbursts of human nature in the juvenile heart, but it remains for the last few months to furnish a series of strikes carried forward by boys and girls of school age in various parts of the country. In New York recently, one hundred schoolboys, annoyed by rules to which they were subjected, went on a strike, breaking windows in the school building, smashing furniture, and singing “Where’s the Chicken Ax?” as a protest against some of the staid and sober songs forming part of the school exercises. In Pittsburgh, a few days previous, some ten thousand schoolchildren paraded the streets, and that, too, with the encouragement of their parents, as a protest against a certain school official. On the same day of the New York affair two hundred or more schoolchildren, ranging in age from eight to twelve years, broke up a grammar-school in Cambridge, Mass., by going on a strike for less study and more play. Not only did they refuse to attend school themselves, but a procession of more than one hundred marched, in riotous disturbance, to another schoolhouse where children were peaceably going on with their lessons. In reference to these incidents the Los Angeles Tribune remarks:— These incidents are among the most serious of many that have marked an age of social unrest. They denote a breaking down of discipline, especially of home training, that leads to wonder what the future holds in store for a troubled country. Considered in connection with the immodest dressing of young girls that is seen in every American city, it denotes a serious loss in the old ideals of America. If the boy will not submit to discipline, the man will rule neither his own bad passions nor others’. The girl who cares nothing of what is thought or said of her demeanor will make neither a good wife nor a good mother. These conditions are now wide-spread and general. They are cause for the most serious attention of the country. THE Protestant Episcopal Church, which meets in general convention next October, will have placed before that body a petition signed by many prominent churchmen of that denomination, asking that the word Protestant in the church name be changed to that of Catholic. According to the Independent, “there is a wing in the Episcopal Church which hates this name of Protestant because they are really more inclined to the Catholic Church than to their Protestant sister churches.” It is this party in the church which is strongly advocating the proposed change. Speaking of this agitation, the editor of the Independent, in the issue of April 10, says:— Certainly the denomination which bears the name of the Protestant Episcopal Church is not catholic in the sense in which the Roman communion is catholic. But on the other hand, it is not Protestant. It has stopped protesting, as have all our other Protestant bodies. That means that the word Protestant has lost its etymological meaning. It no longer suggests hostility to the Pope. The Protestant denominations are going about their own business, and in their churches you will hear ten protests against civic corruption to one against their ancient enemy. Protestantism simply means the churches which are not subject to the Vatican, nothing more, and one of them is the Protestant Episcopal Church. . . . The name Protestant is not a beautiful one, but it is no longer a quarrelsome one. It is not a name to cling to, but it will do till a better one is found.
What has occasioned this new definition of Protestantism? What has brought about this change in the attitude of the Protestant churches toward Romanism? It certainly is not because Rome has come over on to Protestant ground. She boasts that she never changes, and if we are to accept the oft-expressed sentiments of her modern teachers and theologians as representative of the spirit of the church, we find that spirit in full accord with the spirit of the church in the past. Rome to-day would relate herself to governments, to heretics, so called, to everything, in fact, that does not meet her mind and conform to her standards, precisely as Rome did when she possessed the power to enforce her decrees. A change has taken place in Protestantism. It no longer protests as it once did, because to protest would be to condemn her own practises as well as the practises of Rome. Little by little it has come to view questions from Rome’s standpoint, and all this is most regrettable. The Scriptures of Truth in their purity and simplicity need today as never before to be held forth as the one true foundation of faith and the only test of morals. Some there are in the Protestant connections who recognize the dangerous trend of the present day Romeward. They are sounding the warning. We as Seventh-day Adventists need to sound it, not as others who have not the light of truth for this day, but we need to give the warning as the warning of God, as that contained in the Scriptures of Truth, in the prophecy of the third angel’s message. The only thing which will check the advance of Romanism is the pure, unadulterated gospel of the Word. A WARNING cry is being raised today against some of the suggestive songs which in too great a measure enter into so-called “popular music.” Says Maud Powell, the famous American violinist:— American music has been handicapped and thrown into disrepute through the unspeakably depraved modern popular song. I am heartily in favor of a board of censorship for the popular song. We censor moving pictures and, in extreme cases, censor the drama. We need toning for the popular song. Its words, if spoken, would call for arrest. Its effect on young folks is shocking. The vicious song is allowed in the home by parents who, no doubt, have not troubled themselves to look at the words. As a result the suggestive meanings are allowed to play upon immature minds at the dangerous age. It is from the popular song that the popular suggestive dance sprang. Together and apart they are a menace to the social fabric. These timely words of warning should be heeded.