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WINNETKA TALK April 17, 1926 Garden Service Whatever may need attention in your garden or lawn, it will be done by effi- cient and experienced men. Planting Black Dirt Fertilizers Perennials Edwards & Lindberg 917 Willow Rd. Winnetka 885 Winnetka Buying Security in Reo Personal security, mechanical security, security for your investment--these three forms of protection belong to i you when you own a Reo. Personal safety is secured through sturdy body construction and split- second braking. Mechanical certainty is the product of Reo's unsurpassed manufacturing practices; and Protection of your investment is as- sured by Reo's consistently high resale value and the long-life which is a part of every Reo. Reo Evanston Co. 1101 Chicago Ave. Univ. 6190 "Buy where service is handy" REO MOTOR CAR COMPANY Lonsing, "Michigan - SAYS WE MUST PAY TO WIN DEMOCRACY Rev. Thomas A. Goodwin Tells Congregationalists True De- mocracy Implies Faith "The trouble with the countries which have experimented with democracy is that they have not been willing to pay the price," declared the Rev. Thomas A. Goodwin of the Winnetka Congre- gational church in his sermon, last Sun- day evening, on the sermon theme, "Can Democracy Be Made Safe for the World?" Mr. Goodwin said in part, as follows: "Democracy implies the faith that in the long run the average man will have intelligence enough to know what is right and honesty enough to choose the right course. Democracy, therefore, rests upon these two found- ations, the honesty and the intelli- gence of the masses of the people. Are the masses of people, in this or any other country, intelligent enough and honest enough to use rightly the power of self government? No, but they may become so, if they are given that power to use. This question is like asking, 'are the boys of the world good swimmers? No, not until they have experimented with the water. We still laugh at those whose timidly will not allow them to go near the water until they have learned to swim. Yet we take with dignified seriousness the assertion that people must not be given the right of self-government un- til they have learned how to govern themselves. Venture of Faith "But, you say, if democracy depends upon honesty and intelligence, ought not these qualities be acquired in some other way which will not subject the state to the danger of misgovern- ment? That seems a fair question. Cannot men and women be educated and made honest in other ways than in the practice of self-government? Intelligence and honesty are not such simple matters. They are ways of re- acting to life-situations. And it is a patent though surprising fact that we do not always apply in one realm of life what we have learned in another. Prof. William James, I believe it was, who was fond of telling of a school teacher who during twenty years of service had never been late to school, and yet during the same period had never been on time to Sunday school where she taught a class. You can multiply instances of that character in your own experience. "I said that the masses of men are not honest enough and intelligent enough rightly to use the power of self-government, but that they may become so. Thus, you see, democracy is a venture of faith. Like religion, democracy says to a man, 'Of course you are not all you ought to be, but I can help you become what you ought to be. How splendid! Aristocary works on a lower plane than that. Aristocracy says, 'Of course you are not all that you ought to be, and there is little hope that you ever can be. Leave it to me, I am qualified where you are not." Autocracy says, 'Of course you are not fit to govern. God never intended you should be. He has given that power to me, who alone am qualified to use it." But democracy, like the Christ, believes that in every child of God there is the capacity, per- haps unrecognized, probably undevel- oped, but nevertheless real, for re- sponding in an honest and intelligent way to the situations which put re- sponsibility up to him. Not Genius Control "There are those, however, who say that placing such faith and responsi- bility in the hands of people whose capacities are not already proved, is taking too big a risk. They point to the fact that power in the hands of those who do not know how to use it is always a menace. Scientists, con- templating the possibility that some one will discover how to make avail- able the incalculable force they call atomic energy, warn us of the dan- ger that such power may be available for those who have not the moral character to use it for the common good. 3 "Viewing the possibility of such a situation in whiclr men might possess power so terrible as to threaten civi- lization through its misuse, there are some who say, 'Oh, when that time comes somebody will be found to avert disaster. Some great genius, gome Lincoln will arise and save the day.' This is the one great heresy against .democracy. It.is. a denial. of democracy as a practical form. of so= cial control. It assumes, not that the masses of men are capable, but that some genius may be found who is cap- able of wielding great power. Lincoln was our greatest democrat, but he was not a democracy. In a democracy the responsibility rests upon all, not upon a few, upon the average, not upon the genius. If this is not safe, then democracy is not safe. If we cannot trust the masses to act, in the long run, intelligently and honestly, then only oligarchy or autocracy is safe. Must Raise Intelligence "The implications of this fact are far-reaching. If we are to maintain a democratic form of government we must insist upon high standards of intelligence and honesty in all people. It is not enough that clever people be educated further. It is not enough that the law be enforced upon an unwill- ing populace. The masses of the pop- ulation must be educated and they must be won to loyal observance of the law. That is, they must know right from wrong, and choose the right, not because they are led around by the nose, nor clubbed by polige, but because within their hearts there is the knowledge and the love of the good. In other words a self-governed nation must be made up of self-gov- erned men and women. "Thus we are brought to face squarely this question: Can ocracy be made safe for the world? Is it a form of government that is practical in the present state of civ- ilization? Or is it too utopian to use? We cannot but admit that it will never work perfectly until men are perfect. But who can deny that it is the best form of government be- cause it demands and devolps the best form of character, honest and intelli- gent, self-controlled and friendly? And it demands this of, and develops it in not a few favored individuals, but in the masses of the people. "The trouble with the countries which have experimented with dem- ocracy is that they have not been willing to pay the price. The price of the successful democracy is the price of the realization of the reign of God; an utterly sincere desire to know what is right and an unremit- ting and wholehearted effort to at- tain it on the part, not of a few, but of all God's children. Neither as in- dividuals or as a nation will we en- ter 'into the reign of God by the path of political machinery only. Until the kingdom of God is enshrined in our hearts, until we are consciously work- ing in co-operation with God for the achievment of His purpose in the world, we shall never realize the ideals which are common to the poli- tical venture we call democracy and the religious adventure we call Chris- tianity. Ideal Afar Off "Democracy is an ideal that is yet afar off, though it is present; it is unrealized though expressed in many ways. Every life which embodies goodness and intelligence brings it a bit nearer, so that we even now may catch the vision, as Jeremiah did, of that day when it shall be consumated: "But this is the covenant that 1 will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neigh- bor and every man his brother, say- ing, Know Jehovah: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Je- hovah; for I will forgive their in- iquity and their sin will I remember no more."" (Jer. 31:33, 34) "Unsatisfied Hunger" Evening Sermon Topic "Unsatisfied Hunger" will be the subject of the sermon by the Rev. Thomas A. Goodwin at the evening services in the Winnetka Congrega- tional church, Sunday, April 18, at 8 o'clock. The text will be Isaiah 55:2: "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" Music for the evening service will be as follows: Violin and Organ Prelude: 1. "Spring "Song" ..=... MacFarlane Mri. Smith and Mrs. Brewer 2. "Nocturne" . Mrs Brewer A Solo--"There Is a Green Hill Far Liszp AWAY. PAR YOANN, Gounod Mrs, Slade Offertory. Solo--"Deep River". ....... ru ion ar dE ea Burleigh