Christian Nation Vol. 18 1893 - Rparchives.org

[Communications pertaining to missions will beaddressed to F. M. Foster, 305 West 2Uh st.. NewYtyrk.lWe are face to face with a difficulty, notattentiontheorectical,but practical. In November, 1891,to the oath to be administered to allthe writer took occaaion to test the questionwhether or not a Covenanter can register inthe city of New Tork. It will be borne mmind that the city named, has a law requiringall would be voters to register on specified dayor days. This law, although not so stringentin other parts of the State, applies to all parts,so far as putting down your name, or havingit enrolled by some neighbor, is concerned.The right of the State to determine, beforehand,the list of " qualified electors" is notquestioned. But [as this same registrationlaw is operative in all elections whatsoever, itbecomes an interesting question. What is itsbearing on the Covenanter position in votingfor Amendments? We showed conclusively,ae we believe, at the above mentioned date,that Covenanters who set forth their positionfully will not be allowed to register. This wasillustrated by a practical case. The writer appearedbefore the Board of Inspectors with thefollowing statement and asked if he would beallowed to register:" I refuse to swear allegiance to the Constitutionof the State of New Tork and the Conatitutionof the United States, Althongh nativeborn, I make a public profession in whichI withdraw my allegiance by dissent fromand protest against said constitutions. Myplatform being, therefore, 'No allegiance tothe Constitution, of the State of New Tork andto the Constitution of the United States,' am Iallowed to register and vote?"The Board of Inspectors hand our paperback with this endorsement: Oci. 6, 1891."We refuse to register F. M. Foster on abovegrounds, Mobqan D, McMonegal,Chairman of Board of Inspectors, 33 ElectionDistrict; 13th Assembly District."This would appear to effectually dispose ofand settle the question.; and against the possibilityof Covenanters registering, if they, in amanly and straight-forward way, show whatthey believe—if they believe.As the matter, however, was of great importance,the Board was visited on another day forregistering. This time, the former statementwas made more full by adding the following ;". . . protest against said Constitutions becausethey do not recognize God as the authorof civil government: His Son Jesus Christ asthe divinely appointed ruler of the nation : theCHKISTIAN NATION. Volnme 18,Bible as the fountain of law : and the trueChristian religion."The Board of Inspectors this time called myseeking to register, whether home or foreignborn, and asked me if I would take it. I askedthe meaning of it. He said, "It embodies withinits scope the Constitution of the State ofNew Tork. The following is the oath whichmust be taken by everybody, no matter howhigh or how low : "To etch and every personin each and every Election District who appliesto be registered, the following oath shall be admmistered,to wit : Tou do solemnly swear (oraffirm) that you will fully and truly answer allquestions as shall be put to you as touchingyour place of residence, name, plaoe of birth,your qualifications as an elector, and yourright as such io register and vote under thelaws of this State.' " The Inspector furtherstated, and his statement was agreed to by tbeBoard, that the "laws of this State" include theConstitution and allegiance thereto.We then said to the Board that we could nottake that oath. The chairman thereupon endorsedour paper thus :"Refused to register on account of F. M.Foster refusing to take the legal oath.MoEGAN D, McMonegal,Chairman 33d E. D."This settled the question in the mind of thewriter. To him it was plain that Covenanterscould not register if they clearly and fully comeout as witnesses against the government whichrejects our Lord and Master. There is notmuch chance of slipping through if you do this;but otherwise you go through quite as easilyas the saloon-keeper on the corner, or the bossin Tammany Hall,The above may be to some, theoretical; letus turn to the practical. In December 1891,we made in the Christian Nation, this statement: "A few days before the time specifiedby law for election, the City Government issuesa Supplement to City Record in which is giventhe official list of all who have registered.(These are scattered all over the City). Thisis to guard against fraud. This list can be dependedupon as strictly correct. On the listand officially printed in this Supplement ofCity Becord, issued just previous to electionsin November, there are names of Covenantersand officers in the Covenanter church." Werepeat that statement and apply it to the electionsof last November, Tou say. Should notsomething be done about it? About what?Registering! That depends, my dear friend.Synod has passed a law which allows membenof the church to vote for amendments. Thiscarries with it the necessary registration. Inthe election of last November, there were threeamendments to the Constitation of the atate ofNewTork voted upon. According to Synod'slaw, all Covenanters had the right to register,to vote for or against these. So the situationis this : When Covenanter names are scatteredall over the city as having registered, you musteither pass by the matter altogether, or takethe discourteous horn of the dilemma of questioning,at the outset, the integrity of thosewhose names are down. Should you do thelatter, you can be readily silenced, should theparty wish to do so, by having some suchanswer as this returned : My name is down onthe registry list. I put it there. Tou are atliberty to furnish all the evidence you can thatI have transgressed. The court which bringsthe case must furnish the evidence. We ask,What can that court do? Nothing. The caseturns on whether or not he scratched out thenames on the ticket, and voted the remainderof it; or, did he drop it all in? It is made amisdemeanor for any one to go into the piolingbooth with you, or in any way to try to influenceyou.According to Synod's law, the offence is notin registering, or in taking the oath that hemight register ; but it is that he did not scratchout the names of men on the ticket, and who,very probably, were the men to execute theamendments, should they become law. Theoffense is not in voting, but in what is on theticket. W e submit that this is narrowing downthe Covenanter position into suoh hair-splittingdistinctions, making it so inconceivably small,that it is a fair question whether it exists at all.To require a Session to censure a man whodoes not scratch out the names, and cast himout if he will not confess his sin ; and hold uphis collegue whe swears, registers ar d votes theticket with the men's names erased, to publicapprobation and praise, is to invite a disregardof the whole question of dissent. Not manySessions are willing to pronounce, in the nameof Christ, censure on such hair-splitting dis.tinctions; and consequently, no interest iataken as to whether members vote or not."Some branches of the church put the banupon music in the worship of God, and tabooall sweet-sounding instruments. But thesebranches of the church are deservedly small.The Bible is not with them. The HebrewPsalms are not with them. What have they ontheir side? Only their own prejudices. , .I would give to organist, choir and chorus fuUsweep. From them I would accept solos, duets,trios, quartettes and choruses. I would havethem render anthems, cantatas, oratorios orsacred dramas. Some of these I would interspersein the ordinary service of each Sabbath,and to others of these I would give the most of,or in fact, the whole service. And this latterwe do in my church bi-monthly, , , ," (Ee«.Dayid Gregg, in Observer). Whether thewriter of the above words will \rish, at theJudgment, tobe judged as the David Gregg ofyears ago, or the David Gregg of today ; the in^fluences given forth then, or the influencjgiven out now ; is a question which that Daywill answer. "How are the mighty fallen, andthe weapons of war perished!"The Geary law, should it be enforced, willprobably be disastrous to mission workinChina. It is to be hoped the law will remaina dead-letter.