NOArEMBER 1, 1915 



911 



Since writiiiJi: the above wo have received 

 the sad news that our velieinent and ener- 

 sretie friend has been called to his reward. 

 We clip the following from the Medina 

 Sentinel : 



Anthony Conistook, the store porter who became 

 a national figure by fijrhting obscene books and pic- 

 tures, is dead nt 71 years, after a crusade lasting 

 43 years. In that lime ho imprisoned nearly 3000 

 people for impairin.' ivornls, and collected nearly a 

 quarter of a niillion dollars in tines. 



Slill Inter. — Today is Oct. 5, and I hold 

 in my hand the Menace for Oct. 2. This 

 paper makes mention of the death of An- 

 thony romstock, but, unlike the other pe- 

 riodicals I have come across, they severely 

 criticise our departed friend. In fact, I 

 should not want to put in print the things 

 said about him — at least not in Gleakings. 

 As an illustration of their mistaken and 

 unjust statements, let me quote just one 

 paragraph : 



'* All his life, after he fastened himself to 

 (he federal payrolL he was a professional 

 bUtckmailer." 



How docs the above sound when we are 

 told in the article from the Sunday School 

 Times that Mr. Comstock absolutely re- 

 fused ani/ salaiy as an officer for the fed- 

 eral government since 1873 until finally the 

 Postmaster-General declared he was going 

 to give him a salai-y from then on, whether 

 he wanted one or not? Now, if the Menace 

 is as fai- from the truth in other statements 

 — statements made without knowing the 

 real facts in the case, how much allowance 

 should we make for what we find on its 

 pages? Ft seems that Anthony Comstock 

 decided that the Menace was infringing on 

 the Comstock law, not only once but .sever- 

 al limes. You knoAv we are told that " the 

 law is a terror to evil-doers." 



"We also give place to the following from 

 the I^ianl New-Yorker: 



Anthony Comstx)ck, secretary of the New York 

 Society for the Suppression of Vice, died at his 

 home at Summit, N. J., Sept. 21, aged 71. He was 

 a native of Connecticut, a veteran of the Civil War, 

 and was first aroused to his life-long fight against 

 vice by the free dissemination of indecent literature 

 among the young. In March, 1S73, the so-called 

 " Comstock law " was enacted by Congress, and Mr. 

 Comstock became an inspector in the postal service. 

 In that place he put a stop to the dissemination of 

 obscene matter through the mails, and also to the 

 circulation of lottery tickets, fraudulent advertise- 

 ments, etc. The present efficient system of inves- 

 tigating and checking fraudulent transactions 

 through the mails must be credited chiefly to him. 



We close with the foUoAving, clipped 

 from the Sundaii School Times for Oct. 2: 



Weapons, threats, physical attacks of fiendish 

 ingenuity and effectiveness, could not intimidate 

 liim. He quietly accepted God's promise as a per- 

 sonal word to Iiimsolf. " No weapon that is formed 

 a^ninst thee shall prosper," and went alK)ut his 

 business letting God prove this to the confusion of 



his eiif-mios. Neither could men appeal to covetous- 

 ness in him, as they sought to do. When he was 

 running the famous Louisiana Lottery out of New 

 York, where it had done the flourishing business of 

 taking in over $5000 a day, he was offered $25,000 

 a year if he would simply cease to interfere with 

 the company's work. When he declined, they tried 

 KtflU more enticing bribes, the only result being that, 

 as Joseph Cook later wrote, mortal wounds were 

 inflicted " upon the Louisiana Lottery, and now 

 that Devil Fish of the Gulf is in the agonies of 

 dissolution." 



V.'e are today living in a land that is compara- 

 tively free from open traffic in things that a gener- 

 ation ago v-ere making their infamous appeal to the 

 eye and mind of school children, and of young men 

 iu business, and of older people; and this is so 

 because Anthony Comstock lived out his life in self- 

 surrendered and successful conflict with that evil. 

 May God raise up others who shall fight as faith- 

 fully as he did. 



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 A PRAYING PRESIDENT. 



Some good friend has sent me a clipping 

 from the New Yoik Times which reads as 

 follows : 



" When the President arrived at the Cabinet meet- 

 ing." said Bishop Anderson, "his face wore a 

 solemn look. It was evident that serious affairs of 

 tihe nation were on his mind. He said to the Cab- 

 inet members: 'I don't know whether you men be- 

 lieve in prayer or not. I do. Let us pray and 

 ask the help of God.' 



" And right there the President of the United 

 States fell upon his knees, and the members of the 

 Cabinet did the same, and #ie President offered a 

 prayer to God. While the war rages in Europe, we 

 in tliis country should thank God that in this crisis 

 of the world wa have a Chief E.xecutive who is a 

 servant of God who stands with his hand in the 

 hand of God. Every minister in the land should, 

 every time he offers a prayer, take Woodrow Wilson 

 by the hand and lead him into the presence of God, 

 and ask that he be given strength to continue to be 

 the great apostle of peace among men." 



There was a cliorus of " amens " from the min- 

 isters. Later a telegram expressing the confidence 

 of the delegates in him was sent to the President. 



May God grant that the president who 

 shall come after President Wilson may be 

 also a God-fearing man, and one who has 

 faith in piayer. 



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THE LIE AND THE LIAR — WHAT SHALL WE 

 DO WITH THEM.? 



We clip the following, by Robert E. 

 Spoer, from the Sunday School Times: 



A nation which tells or does b'es starts off fore- 

 doomed to judgment. We need to see and to drive 

 the lie and the liar out of our national life. 



Perhaps our readers will recall what I 

 have several times mentioned, that the 

 Sunday School Times says " a lie is always 

 wrong." In another, place they say " de- 

 ception is always wrong." May God hasten 

 the time when not only individuals but na- 

 tions shall find out the truth of the above 

 and accept it. 



