Hell out of Elizabeth City. In the course of events it be- 
 ame necessary for me to dynamite a little Hell out of 
 
 93 
 
 PS 
 
 Published if | ‘ | 
 1E INDEPENDENT. Elizabeth. City, U1. C. 
 
 a 
 
 Price 25c et 
 
 : poe WO. SAUNDERS 
 : of BV 3788 
 fo? y Ps Ait ” 
 : So ae i 
 < are eee oe : 
 Ss’ ct , 
 
 a 
 
ee ge we ae 
 
{32600 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 This unpretentious little book is a reprint 
 of a number of unusual articles and editorials 
 by W..O. Saunders growing out of a religious 
 revival conducted in Elizabeth City, N. C. by 
 
 the Ham-Ramsay Co., professional evangelists. 
 
 These articles and editorials were publish- 
 Sdein THE) (Elizabeth: City, N.C.) INDE- 
 PENDENT, a weekly newspaper edited and 
 published by W. O. Saunders 
 
 “The Book of Ham” is not only a testi- 
 
 monial to the fearlessness and brilliancy of a 
 North Carolina country newspaper man; it is 
 a bold and able indictment of a commercial 
 
 religionist and his sorry tribe. 
 
The Peculiar Business of Saving 
 Human Souls Wholesale 
 
 (Kditorial from The Independent issue of Friday Nov. 28, 1924.) 
 
 By W. O. SAUNDERS 
 
 There are nine white Protestant churches in Elizabeth 
 City, seven of which employ resident pastors. There are seve- 
 ral minor religious groups. The white Protestant churches 
 have a property investment of more than a half million dollars 
 and there are several thousand persons on their rolls-of mem- 
 bership. All of this in one little town of less than 10,000 popu- 
 lation, a third of which is composed of colored people with their 
 own churches and pastors. 
 
 One would think that with so many churches, so many 
 pastors, stich a financial investment and such a membership 
 that the Lord’s business would be very well taken care of in 
 Elizabeth City and that every one in Elizabeth City knew about 
 Christ and his teachings; one would think that the people of 
 Elizabeth City would consider it an insult to their intelligence 
 and an indictment of their churches for any one to consider 
 it necessary to bring a missionary to their town to tell the 
 people about Jesus and show them the way to their local 
 churches. 
 
 But we have witnessed a great phenomenon in Elizabeth 
 City these past seven weeks. With the sanction and support of 
 the white Protestant churches, a professional evangelist and his 
 retainers took over the Lord’s business in Elizabeth City and 
 preached Christ and the bible morning, noon and night for torty 
 and odd days, just as if no one had ever heard of Christ before. 
 And from the way hundreds of people behaved under the spell 
 of the evangelist, one would really think that they never knew 
 anything about Christ before; one would think that a half mil- 
 lion dollars in church property in Elizabeth City had never 
 meant anything to them before; one would think that nine 
 Protestant ministers, and a presiding elder thrown in, had never 
 made any impress upon the religious life of the town, and that 
 everybody was going to hell who didn’t stand up or sit down 
 everytime the new evangelist told them to stand up or sit down, 
 
It has been just as if all the lawyers in town had gotten 
 together and said, we are not the lawyers we should be and 
 we'll just send up to Raleigh and get Jim Pou, one of the big- 
 gest lawyers in the State, to come down here and try all our 
 cases at the next term of the Superior Court. “Jim Pou will 
 wake ’em up and let all the skeptics see what a great thing the 
 law is. And while we’ve got him here we'll make him scare 
 up everybody who don’t know anything about the law and we'll 
 have all the poor boobs running to us to get legal advice 
 whether they need it or not. We'll have to take a back seat 
 while Jim Pou is here, but he’ll make business for us in the long 
 run and the new business we get will be worth every dollar 
 we pay Jim Pou.” 
 
 (You will please note that it would not have occurred to 
 the lawyers to have had some one take up a collection morning 
 and night and make the public pay for Jim Pou’s services.) 
 
 Now (unfortunately perhaps) I am one of those mortals 
 who think a little for themselves and I had heard about Christ 
 before. In fact I have read somewhat of the books of both the 
 Old and the New Testaments and have dabbled a little in phil- 
 osophy and science. Without any emotionalism or hysteria I 
 had come to confidently accept the Christ life as the ideal life. 
 Without any fear or apprehension whatever I had found for 
 myself that the way to God is the Christ way. 
 
 But when the evangelist comes to town and takes over the 
 Lord’s business, hundreds of people with whom I have been liv- 
 ing at peace for years, most of whom never found any great 
 fault with me before, suddenly think they have discovered that 
 I am a lost soul and they make a great stew to get me to ac- 
 cept something that has come into their lives all of a sudden. 
 I never have understood just what they wanted me to do, un- 
 less they wanted me to be a nice little hypocrite like some of 
 them are and pretend to believe a lot of inconsequential things 
 that I don’t believe. Really, I don’t think so many of those 
 who have been worrying me about my soul give a hang about 
 my soul; indeed I think that a lot of them don’t yet know the 
 difference between the evangelist Ham and Jesus Christ. What 
 they really wanted me to do was to accept Ham, give my heart 
 to his outfit and get in the procession of sheep following the 
 new bell-wether. And being one of those unfortunate mortals 
 
 (6) 
 
who think for themselves, I haven’t done anything of the neh 
 In fact I have resented Ham’s interpretation of the bible and 
 have frankly stated that I didn’t think the Plan of Salyation 
 as peddled by Ham is worth a German Mark, since- Ham, thas 
 repeatedly asserted that for every one who i is saved there will be 
 a hundred of us to go to hell... Frankly, I think a Plan of Sal- 
 vation like that is infamous and that it ought to be scrapped. 
 It’s time we got hold of a more workable plan of salvation. 
 Now Let’s Face The Embarrassing Facts 
 
 Now here is where I am going to talk plain to you church 
 people, especially to those of you who stand around the street 
 corners and damn me to hell for not believing just as you believe 
 The whole truth about you ts that you don’t believe very much, 
 because you have never thought things thru for yourself; you 
 have led an indifferent, thoughtless life for years and years and 
 then, all of a sudden, you listen to a clever salesman like Ham 
 and let him do your thinking for you. In forty minutes or 
 forty days you suddenly get a feeling of great righteousness 
 scared into you or drummed into you and then you damn.me 
 because I don’t lose my head and get a mushy heart after your 
 fashion. 
 
 Why did you have to bring this Evangelist M. F. Ham and 
 his crowd to town? I'll tell you and you can get just as mad 
 Peete yOu must get’ mad: BECAUSE YOU. HAVE 
 pee IY POR YEARS TO-LIVE. THE.LIFE YOU PRE- 
 TEND TO LIVE. THE GREAT.RANK AND FILE OF PEO- 
 Pee bor THe CHURCH HAD LOST:RESPECT:FOR: 
 Pe INTEREST IN YOUR CHURCHES: That's WwW AY. you 
 sent for Ham. * 
 
 You sent for res for the same reason that you send for-z ‘a 
 doctor; your souls were sick; they were sick for the .same 
 reason that your body gets sick; because you hadn’t taken care 
 of your souls. You get physically sick because you disobey the 
 laws of nature and commonsense; you abuse your body by all 
 sorts of excesses in eating, drinking and sexual indulgences; 
 you do not regard the simplest rules of health and By siene and 
 -your body suffers. s: ee 
 
 It is the same way with your souls; you are so wrapped up 
 in your business, your family or your worldly pleasures that you 
 do not take time to think beautiful thoughts about God; you 
 
 (7) 
 
do not take time to think lovingly of your fellow man; you 
 rush, you grind—or, perchance, you loaf. ‘The attendance at 
 your church falls off; collections are slow; your wives get up 
 suppers and rummage sales to get money to meet the church 
 budget. Your pastor gets discouraged. You all wonder what 
 is wrong. And then you send for Dr. Ham or Dr. Somebody 
 Else to feel of your pulse, look at your tongue, listen to your 
 heart, roll you, thump you, pound you and give you a violent 
 physic. The physic begins to work and you feel fine for a sea- 
 son—just like a man who has taken a dose of castor oil and 
 worked off a lot of bad stuff. - 
 
 Some of you will behave yourselves for quite a while ; a 
 very few will be permanently benefitted by obeying the laws 
 of life after the effects of the purgative have worn off; but_ 
 most of you will be right back to your old indifferent ways ina 
 very few weeks or a few months. I know you; I know human 
 nature; you can’t fool me or make me see you as better or 
 worse than you are. In another five years you will again be 
 wondering what is wrong with the churches in Elizabeth City 
 and you will send for another professional evangelist to come 
 in and stir you all up again. Maybe it wont be so long as five 
 years. 
 
 How To Win Souls Permanently To God 
 
 Now let me tell you what you must do—and what I must 
 do—to keep this old town straight and to win the souls of back- 
 ward men and women permanently to God. EACH OF US 
 MUST SO EIVE. EACH DAY: IN - OUR: RELATIONS i= 
 WARD OUR FELLOW MAN THAT EVERY HUMAN BE- 
 ING WILL BE INSPIRED BY THE LIVE: Wik iy i 
 ENCOURAGED TO EMULATE THE EXAMPLE WE SEG 
 That is the way and the only way to win the respect of the 
 world for ourselves and for the God we pretend to serve. You 
 see, I include myself in this because I am one of you and my 
 obligations. are the same as your obligations; indeed, because 
 Iam not a member of one of your churches I must walk even 
 straighter than you must walk, because I can not and will 
 not make the blessed Christ the goat for all of my sins. 
 
 And from now on you must pardon me if I watch you a 
 little more intently and a little more critically; you have told 
 me so much about your religion and sent up so many prayers 
 
 (3) 
 
for my poor soul, that I shall be inclined to keep you under sur- 
 veillance and make notes on you as to just what your religious 
 pretensions really amount to. And in the meantime you are at 
 perfect liberty to make notes on me and to spy on my private 
 Pret you will, Lets make ita friendly little’ contest “to 
 see who lives right in this town and who doesn't. 
 
 And now, don’t worry about my soul; 1 am not worrying 
 about my soul; God will take care of that. Don’t worry be- 
 cause I refuse to pack all my sins off on Jesus. In the final 
 judgement I shall be judged for the life I have lived, not for the 
 things I have believed or disbelieved; the Great Judge of the 
 Universe will consider not what I believed, or what you believ- 
 ed, but the effect of my belief on my character and the effect 
 of your belief on your character. 
 
 And be careful how you damn me because I am a behever 
 in the theory of evolution. First inform yourself as to what the 
 theory of evolution really is. The theory of organic evolution 
 is as much a fact to-day as the law of gravitation; it is the 
 theory of evolution that leads the minds and hearts of thought- 
 ful men straight to God because it reveals and interprets the 
 workings of Divinity in every form and substance of life. The 
 
 theory of evolution has nothing to do with the descent of man 
 from monkeys, as you have been led to believe. Men who tell 
 you that are themselves ignorant of the theory of evolution or 
 they are miserable liars who take advantage of your ignorance 
 to prejudice you against the greatest achievement of science 
 and the greatest fact in,the realm of human knowledge. You 
 have been imposed upon all these seven weeks by an evangelist 
 who has used every art and wile at his command to prejudice 
 you and embitter you against the great truth of evolution 
 which has forever established the fact of Divine Eminence and 
 made it possible at last for the human reason as well as the 
 human heart to accept God. Get the truth about this 
 theory of evolution before you proceed with any scheme 
 of Ham’s to throw it out of your schools. If you are not 
 afraid of the truth and will earnestly seek the truth you will 
 discover some day that Ham has played you for a sucker and 
 you will be verily ashamed of the fact and will hate Ham for 
 the lies and slanders he has preached between those sermons in 
 which he gave us something like a true glimpse of the loving 
 
 (christ. (9) 
 
How the Row Started 
 
 This is the Editorial That Provoked the Rev. M. F. Ham to 
 Attack W. O. Saunders 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Oct. 31, 4924.) 
 
 ROSENWALD AND HAM 
 
 TULIUS ROSENWALD, president of Sears-Roebuck & Co. is popu- 
 larly regarded as a big, clean, upright, generous citizen who 
 gives freely of his money and his talents for the betterment of 
 “yg humanity. I don’t know Mr. Rosenwald personally, but I have 
 
 heard him spoken of with esteem and admiration by many high class 
 men who do know him personally. And so like many another I have been 
 shocked: at charges made against Mr. Rosenwald by Evangelist Ham. 
 
 The evangelist accuses Mr. Rosenwa‘d, who has given millions to 
 education and charity, of being a party to the vice ring in Chicago. I 
 wired Mr. Rosenwald of these charges. Here is the answer, not from 
 Mr. Rosenwald, but from his private secretary: 
 
 JULIUS ROSENWALD 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 October 24, 1924. 
 Dear. Mr. Saunders, 
 
 Your telegram came when Mr. Rosenwald was out of the city and it was not = 
 pessible for me to bring it to his attention promptly. We are aware from several 
 other sources of the statements made by Mr. Ham, the Evangelist, about Mr. 
 Rosenwald. While they are false and annoying, and easily disproved, it has seemed 
 the dignified thing to let him say what he pleases. Therefore, | am sure Mr. Rosen- 
 wald would not care to make any statement for publication in The Independent, al- 
 though he would appreciate your friendly tender of its columns for that puPpose. 
 
 To those who know Mr. Rosenwald, the charges are absurd, because his entire 
 life has been devoted to helping humanity. [n the fight against commercialized vice, 
 he has given a great deal of his time and money; and is continuing that service. 
 He was a member of the Chicago Vice Commission, appointed by the Mayor, and for 
 more than 410 years has keen vice-president of the Committee of Fifteen, a voluntary 
 
 . organization of citizens, whose purpose in uniting is ‘‘to aid the public authorities 
 In the enforcement of laws aganst panderng and to take measures calculated to 
 prevent traffic in women.’’ ‘This committee succeeded the Chicago Vice Com- 
 mission. it has spent around haif a million PIL contributed by private 
 
 in- 
 dividuals, in its good work. 
 Thanking you for your interest. 7 
 Yours very truly, : 
 WILLIAM Cc. GRAVES, 
 
 Secretary to 
 Nir. Rosenwald. 
 
 So Mr. Ham may continue to assail Mr. Rosenwald, 
 
 since he has 
 found a subject who is too big to notice him. 
 
 (10) ae 
 
One Week Later 
 
 The Following Article Appeared on the Front Page of The 
 Independent under the Bold Caption, “I Believe the 
 Prophet Ham Has Lied.” 
 
 (From The Independent, Friday, Nov. 7, 1924.) 
 
 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs 
 and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, the elect——Mark 13 :22. 
 
 By W. 0. SAUNDERS 
 
 . I hold no brief for Julius Rosenwald of Chicago; I do not personally 
 know the man. 
 
 I hold no brief for the Jews; there are all kinds of Jews just as 
 there are all kinds of Christians, and some of them mane up a darned 
 sorry tribe. 
 
 But I do stand four square for honest speech and fair play in all 
 human relationships and there never was a time when I would not use 
 such influence as I have to defend any man who is unjustly treated. 
 
 For defending Julius Rosenwald of Chicago against what I believe 
 to be false and defamatory charges made against a good and honorable 
 
 man by a.mendicant mouth-artist, I have been assailed by the Evangelist 
 M, fF. Ham and all Christian people have been urged to shun me as a com- 
 panion 2 the devil and an enemy of God. 
 
 ~ Who Is Julius Rosenwald 
 
 Julius Rosenwald is one of the most lovable and useful men in 
 America. He was born in a modest home in Springfield, O., on the street 
 where Abraham Lincoln lived. He began life as a clerk in a country store, 
 later sold clothing and finally became identified with Sears who was a 
 telegraph operator in Minnesota, and Roebuck who was a jeweler. Rosen- 
 wald made the business of Sears, Roebuck & Co., by establishing two 
 principles: : 
 
 First: That every item of merchandise sold by the firm must be 
 exactly as represented, and the company spends many: thousands of 
 dollars annually in laboratories to test their descriptions. 
 
 Second: That any purchaser may have his money back without 
 guestion or without having to assign a reason. 
 
 These two business principles alone, inaugurated by Julius Rosen- 
 wald, revolutionized merchandising practices in America. Compare them 
 with methods of your own Christian merchants. 
 
 It has been said that Sears, Roebuck & Co. under the guidance of 
 Julius Rosenwald, did more than any other concern or institution to 
 raise standards of living, by making a wider selection of goods available 
 to the most isolated family in America. It is also a fact that Sears 
 Roebuck competition transformed the average small town store and forc- 
 ed it to keep its prices in line on every commodity that people must buy. 
 
 Between 30,000 and 40,000 people are employed by Sears, Roebuck & 
 Co. and Rosenwald has distributed five per cent of the net earnings of 
 
 (11) 
 
the company to the employees annually, without making deductions of 
 dividends. 
 
 Compare these services of Rosenwald with the oratory of -the 
 Prophet Ham! 
 
 But Rosenwald’s greatest contribution to the social progress and well 
 being of mankind is in his philanthropies and his philosophy of life. It 
 was Julius Rosenwald who said: “IT IS A CRIMH FOR A MAN TO PILE 
 UP MONEY AFTER HE HAS ACCUMULATED ALL THAT HE NEEDS 
 FOR HIMSELF AND FAMILY, AND THERE IS A STAGE WHERE 
 ACQUISITION BECOMES A VICE.” 
 
 Following that rule of life which he has laid down for other rich 
 men to follow, Julius Rosenwald has given away practically all of his 
 own money, over and above his expenses. There is hardly a county in 
 any Southern State that has not been a beneficiary of his extensive bene- 
 volence. Your county superintendent of Public Instruction M. P., Jen- 
 nings, will tell you that it was Rosenwald money that made possible the 
 building cf two negro school houses in Pasquotank County at a time when 
 the county didn’t have sufficient funds for these schools. Julius Rosen- 
 wald has also been a liberal contributor to the State Normal School at 
 Elizabeth City. . 
 
 Prof. N. C. Newbold of the State Department of Public Instruction 
 has placed thousands of dollars of Rosenwald funds in the various coun- 
 ties of the State and Prof. Newbold says: ‘the charges made by Ham 
 are not true and are a gratuitious insult to the Governor and the Depart- 
 ment of Education; do you think the Governor and the Department of 
 Education would deal with a man like Rosenwald if he were the type 
 of man Mr. Ham represents him to be?” 
 
 Joseph P. Knapp, a thoughtful and well infcrmed citizen of Currituck 
 County, who has given liberally of his own fortune to build up a model 
 school system in that county, says: “I regard Julius Rosenwald one of 
 our finest citizens and I feel like a piker when I think of what he has 
 done for the betterment of America compared with the little I have done. 
 Julius Rosenwa'd has been the inspiration to many of our men of 
 wealth who have loosened up and done something for their felowman.” 
 
 In his sermon at the tabernacle last Friday night Mr. Ham read 
 rapidly and with vehemence a lot of stuff purporting to be evidence that 
 Mr. Rosenwald is a party to the vice ring in Chicago. He charged speci- 
 fically that Mr. Rosenwald had aided the acquirement of property by 
 negroes in the vice district of Chicago and had headed a commission 
 which reported no vice in this district “though subsequent investigation 
 disclosed it as teeming with dens and dives in which unspeakable evils 
 were taught and practiced.” He then read reports of grand juries and 
 newspaper clippings about vice conditions in Chicago, as if Julius Rosen- 
 wald were responsible for all the vice in that city. At the conclusion 
 cf his sermon he said that “any man who will whitewash a gang like 
 that in order to prove a preacher a liar needs praying for and needs it 
 bad.” But they didn’t pray for me; his crowd applauded; they condemn- 
 ed me with a storm of hand-clapping instead of trying to help me with 
 their prayers, because such is the kind of spirit engendered in a com- 
 munity by Mr. Ham. 
 
 By indirection and innuendo Ham, in order to bolster up his damn- 
 able theology, sows the impression in the minds of thousands of his hear- 
 ers that Julius Rosenwald is the head of a gang in Chicago that maintains 
 
 (12) 
 
hundreds of negro dives in which white girls are enslaved and made to 
 submit their bedies to negro men, and that Rosenwald is a demon who 
 reaps his profits from this: infamous business. 
 
 Ham says I should have the prayers (he means the condemnation) 
 of all God’s people for “trying to whitewash a gang like that in order 
 to make a preacher out a liar.’ Ham knows that I have nct tried to 
 whitewash any vice gang in Chicago and I ask a fair-minded public to 
 say what they think of a preacher like Ham who would defame the 
 name of a good and innocent man like Rosenwald because he happens to 
 be a Jew, and then damn to hell a newspaper man who musters up 
 encugh courage out of the honesty of his heart to call for fair play? I 
 ask you what do you think of Ham? 
 
 Now it is not easy for me to produce evidence quickly in reply to 
 Mr Ham and I can not satisfy the intelligence of the community with 
 such flimsy evidence as Mr, Ham can use and get away with; with his 
 zift of oratory, his audacity and his cunning develcped thru years of 
 training, first as a lawyer, then as a traveling salesman and now as an 
 evangelist, he can cram almost anything down the throats of the masses 
 and get away with it. Mr. Ham has this advantage that he claims to be 
 a prophet of God and he has the support of most of the good church 
 people in the town behind him; out of the goodness of their hearts and 
 the simplicity of their faith good church people are slow to question any- 
 thing that parades in the name of Jehovah. The good church peop'e 
 know that there is something wrong with our town and like drowning 
 men grasping at a straw, they think Ham is going to right everything. 
 Mr. Ham has the gocd people of the town with him at present and he 
 employs this fact to intimidate, -bull-doze, damn and destroy every per- 
 son who doesn’t agree with Ham. I say, therefore, that the public will 
 not be satisfied with any sort of evidence I present in defense of any 
 position I must take; I must produce conclusive evidence. 
 
 Ncw I believe. from what I know about Julius Rosenwald and his 
 works as a citizen, a humanitarian and a philanthropist that he is a pure 
 and upright citizen and that M. F. Ham has either carelessly or deliber- 
 ately lied about him. ; 
 
 I am conscious of the strength of the language I am using; I want 
 to make it plain: I believe that with respect to his charges again Julius 
 Rosenwald Ham is a careless or malicious liar. 
 
 I am conscious of the fact that failure to justify my belief that Ham 
 is a liar in respect to Rosenwald is going to cost me the loss of friend- 
 ships and prestige that I now enjoy, BUT A RIGHTHOUS GOD SPEAKS 
 TO ME THRU MY MIND, MY HEART AND MY SOUL AND I AM 
 HELPLESS TO DO OTHERWISE THAN TO PROCLAIM WHAT I BE- 
 LIEVH TO BE THE TRUTH. 
 
 I have stated my belief and I ask all thinking and charitable-minded 
 men and women to withold judgement upon me until I have had time 
 to sustain my charges or admit that I am wrong. If I am wrong about 
 Rosenwald, I shall be man enough to say so and bow my head in sub- 
 mission to whatever punishment my friends and neighbors—and my 
 enemies in this town— may inflict upon me. 
 
 Ham’s Untenable Position 
 
 Every profesional evangelist has to have some device with which to 
 terrify ignorant and simple-minded people. They used to rely solely 
 
 (18) 
 
upon hell, but folks don’t believe seriously in hell like they used to 
 believa and many latter day professional evangelists have the idea 
 that they must set up some other bugaboo to frighten folks with. Most 
 of them abuse the Catholic church, making the Catholics out to be 
 seeking the overthrow of all governments except that of the Papacy. 
 A few others abuse the Mormons and say Mormonism is working for 
 the overthrow of everything beautiful and sacred. But Ham, being 
 deep down in his heart both a Romanist and a Mormon, can not con- 
 sistently raise much hell about either Catholicism of Mormonism, so 
 he takes it out on the Jews, using material that Henry Ford with all 
 his millions tried to cram down the throats of the public, and which 
 Mr. Ford himself has had to abandon and practically repudiate. 
 
 And Mr. Ham is so inconsistent. He paints lurid pictures of how 
 the Jews are plotting to murder and destroy Gentile civilization and in 
 the next breath tells us that it is all according to God’s plan. Well, if 
 it is God’s plan, then why damn the Jews because they are the helpless 
 pawns in a game being played by a great Jehovah? 
 
 Mr. Ham prophesies all sorts of dire things that are to be done to 
 us by the Jews, but nothing that he says the Jews plan to do is in- 
 consistent with what the Jews did to their neighbors and enemies in 
 - those far off days when Jehovah walked and talked with their propieis 
 and leaders in Israel. Read your Old Testament and see how the Jews 
 burned, pillaged and murdered according to the laws of Jehovah, and 
 how they ravished virtuous women and battered out the brains of inno- 
 cent babes according to what they have written down for us to believe 
 were the direct orders of Jehovah. 
 
 Mr. Ham tells us to believe that the Jews are going to do no more 
 and no less to the world in years to come than they did when Jehovah 
 showed his back-sides to Moses and walked and talked with old father 
 Abraham. 
 
 And I—and all others who think—are to be damned and cast into a 
 burning hell if we do not accept the bible as taught by the prophet Ham. 
 
 When Ham came into this community I received him with an open 
 mind; I have been slow to criticise or condemn him; but since he has 
 snatched off my hat and thrown it into his ring I might as well out with 
 it and say that I believe he is a dangerous fanatic, a shrewd, vicious and 
 uncompromising demagog, a careless mouth-artist, an irresponsible bunk- 
 shooter and a stirrer up of strife, hatred and bigotry. d 
 
 I agree with all those who say that Mr. Ham is going to do a lot of 
 good in the community in fetching up a lot of cheap, dirty, evil-minded, 
 vulgar and vicious little sinners and making them good for a season. 
 Thoughtful men too, who will disagree with much of his bunk, will also 
 find much food for healthy reflection in some of his sermons; but I state 
 it as my honest opinion, based upon my own human experience and my ~ 
 knowledge of,human nature, that most of the good that Ham does will 
 not be permanent good and that the harm he does will last indefinitely 
 if not couriteracted by a lot of sober thought before it is too late, 
 
 Instead of cementing the relationship of people in this community, © 
 he will engender bitterness and hatred that will persist for twenty years. 
 
 Instead of reforming all the back-sliders and hypocrites in the 
 churches, he will fill the churches so full of back-sliders and hypocrites 
 that the churches will be in worse repute than when he found them. 
 
 (14) 
 
I have heard him preach nothing but intolerance, hatred and con- 
 tempt for all who have honest differences of opinion. 
 
 He will make converts, yes—and he will take bootleggers, harlots, 
 drunkards, bums, dead-beats and ignoramuses and make them the leading 
 Christians in our town and invest them with authority to lord it. over 
 everybody who stands in their fanatical way. Mark my words. 
 
 He pretends to have come to cure sick churches and he will leave the 
 churches incurably sick, alienating the interest and support of many of 
 the most thoughtful and upright men in your town. 
 
 He pretends to come to save the youth of the town, and when the 
 emotionalism has subsided and youth is given an opportunity to think 
 for itself, the youth of the town will be thoroly ashamed of Ham and his 
 works and will drift farther than ever away from the church. You can’t 
 flim-flam modern youth for long. 
 
 Ham and Science 
 
 Mr. Ham has been ruthless and uncompromising in his condemnation 
 (f all knowledge and all science. 
 
 All invention, all art, all industry, all culture, all human progress is 
 according to Ham, but the work of the Devil. 
 
 The science that lights his tabernacle; the science that afords trans- 
 portation to the thousands who come to his sermons; the science that 
 made possible the printing and distribution of the very book from which 
 he preaches; the science that enables him to wear a different suit of cor- 
 rectly tailored clothes at every meeting he holds; the science that enables 
 him to live in luxury; the science that feeds him, is but the work of the 
 Devil, the enemy of God, to be hated by all Christians according to his 
 statements. 
 
 If Ham had his way, civilization would be but a multitude of morons 
 sitting on the shores of Time twadding their thumbs, singing hallelujahs 
 to a bloody Jehovah and waiting for ravens to feed them. .Ten thou- 
 sand Ramsays couldn’t collect enough out of such a bunch to pay for one 
 of Ham’s tabernacles. 
 
 Cancellation of subscriptions from those who think more of Ham 
 than they think of truth are now in order; in saying what I believe to be 
 the truth I know that I shall be punished by these who unthinkingly 
 accept the Rev. Mordecai Ham as the last word in the wisdom of God; 
 but I tell you that you are going to need me and the influence of this 
 newspaper in your community long after Ham is gone. And if you try 
 to starve me out as another preacher in this town once tried to do, yon 
 will fail ultimately because I believe in*a God who is forever on the side 
 of eternal truth, and truth crushed to earth will rise again. Ham may 
 bull-doze, ccerce and intimidate the merchants, the school teachers asd 
 others in the town, but I shall suffer myself to be tarred and feathered 
 ly any mob he stirs up, rather than that he should coerce me 
 
 My back is bared, crack your whips and glut yourselves on my blood 
 all you who are too weak and too dishonest to think for yourselves! If 
 you think as I do and are man enough to stand by one who is fighting for 
 intellectual liberty and human understanding, tell me so. 
 
 (15) 
 
THE COSPEL THEN AND NOW. 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 14, 1924.) 
 
 GREAT multitude followed Jesus over the sea of Galilee and 
 up into a mountain. “When Jesus lifted up his eyes, and 
 saw a great company come unto him, he saith to Phillip, 
 OR Sd Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” . The guota- 
 tion is from the 5th verse of the Sixth Chapter of St. John. Jesus was 
 concerned about entertainment for those who came to hear him preach. 
 “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” he asked anxiously 
 to Phillip. | 
 
 It’s a far cry from Jesus of Galilee to the sleek, well-groomed gen- 
 try of modern times who pose as his diciples, whose first coneern is 
 to pass the tin pans for a collection and whose last concern is what 
 the people shall eat. 
 
 Those observing citizens who say that we would have few hel- 
 raising evangelists but for the money in the business say a mouthful. 
 The more profits, the more prophets. 
 
 THE evangelist Ham prcmises to close his revival in Elizabeth City 
 Sunday night; after which it is hoped that God will no longer “hover 
 like a lowering cloud over Elizabeth City.” Won’t it be a grand and 
 glorious feeling to think of God as smiling once more. 
 
 MANY a preacher who thinks the Anti-Christ is interfering with his 
 work in the community needs to take a look at himself; perhaps his 
 greatest handicap is not the Anti-Christ, but his own fat-headedness 
 and incompetency. 
 
 Did Ham Lie? Read the Evidence 
 
 ( From The Independent, Friday. November 14, 1924) 
 
 By W. 0. SAUNDERS 
 
 In his sensational attack on the character of Julius Rosenwald. the 
 evangelist M. F. Ham read to an audience cf 4,000 Elizabeth City people 
 an article alleged to have been printed in the Chicago Daily Tribune, in 
 support of his charges, 
 
 Y have asked the Chicago Tribune and leading citizens of Chicago 
 to tell the Elizabeth City public thru this newspaper what they know 
 about Julius Rosenwald. Here are replies from The Tribune, Chicago’s 
 greatest newspaper,—the paper from which Ham claims to have quoted—, 
 and replies frcm many other prominent Chicagoans as well: 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Ghicago, JIl., Nov. 10, 1924. 
 TO INDEPENDENT, 
 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 E’nck'e find cnvthing In record of Julius Rosenwald to support charges made 
 by Evange.ist. 
 
 Ro onwald has atways ronked very high as philenthrepict, giving mony thousen4d 
 every year te various educat onal and other helpful org2n’zations, regardiecs of creed. 
 
 (16) 
 
Morally, he was always ranked as a clean man and has done what he could to 
 stamp out vice and crime conditions in Chicago. 
 
 He has been chairman and member of numerous committees to improve condi- 
 tions and there is no hint that he ever ‘‘whitewashed’’ any crime or condition. 
 
 TRIBUNE—N. B. 
 
 Chicago’s State's Attorney Knows 
 
 The one man in Chicago in position to know whether Ham’s charges 
 against Mr. Rosenwald were false, is the Hcn. Robert E. Crowe, State’s 
 Attorney of Cook Ccunty, whose business it is to prosecute Chicago’s 
 criminals and who has been relentless in his war on vice 
 in that city. Here is a telegram from Mr. Crowe: 
 
 » 
 
 conditions 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Chicago, Iil., Nov. 11, 1924. 
 THE INDEPENDENT, 
 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 In reply to your telegram, will state that Mir. Julius Rosenwald is one of the 
 bect type of American citizenship we have in Chicago. He is a foremo:t leader in 
 all movements which have for their object the hetterment of mankind. if the 
 charges that you refer to were not so maliciously false | would term them silly. 
 
 ROBERT E. CROWE, State’s Attorney. 
 
 From the President of a Great University. 
 
 Dr. Walter Dill Scott, president of Northwestern University of 
 Evanston, Ill., personally knows Julius Rosenwald. Here is his tele- 
 gram to this newspaper :— 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Evanston, Hll., Nov. 10, 1924. 
 THE INDEPENDENT, 
 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 ff a Christian is one who exemplifies by his life the teachings of Jesus then 
 Julius Rosenwald of Chicago is a Christian. %& have heard him referred to as the 
 bet Christian in Chicago. He is unostentat’'ous but generous in h's philanthrophies. 
 Ke contributes wisely to thoce American institut’ons that ere most needed in promot- 
 ing Civilization. He is extremely frank and fair minded and public spirited. We 
 regard him as possibly Chicago’s greatest citizen. 
 
 WALTER DILL SCOTT. 
 
 From the University of Chicago. 
 
 Dr. Ernest D. Burton, president of the great University of Chi- 
 cago knows Julius Rosenwald. Here is a telegram from Dr. Burton :— 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Chicago, ill., Nov. 10, 1924. 
 THE INDEPENDENT, 
 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 As a patriot, philanthrophist and broad minded American Mr. Julius Rosenwald is 
 one of the foremost citizens of Chicago. Although he is a Hebrew he omits no 
 opportunity to pay his reverent respect to the founder of Christianity. The state- 
 ment which you report regarding Julius Rosenwald could have proceeded only from 
 dense Ignorance as to the fact or from malice. 
 
 ERNEST D. BURTON, 
 Pres. University of Chicago. 
 
 From a Chicago Business Leader. 
 
 Harold H. Swift, is vice-president of the firm of Swift & Co. and 
 one of the Jeaders in business in Chicago. Read his telegram :— 
 
 (17) 
 
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Union Stock Yards, Ill., Nov. 10, 1924. 
 THE INDEPENDENT, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 : Answering have regard for Julius Rosenwald as a man and citizen and con- 
 sider he has been outstanding in community in attempting to make Chicago better, 
 finer place in which to live. He has fought vice by giving lavishly of both time 
 and money and has been agent of great good and is so recognized in the community. 
 HAROLD H. SWIFT. 
 
 From a Leader of Baptists. 
 
 Dr, Johnston Myers, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Chi- 
 cago, is also President of the Chicago Baptist Ministers Association. 
 Read what he says:— 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Chicago, Ill., Nov. 10, 1924. 
 THE INDEPENDENT, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 Charges against Julius Rosenwald absolutely and entirely false. I have known him 
 thirty years. He is one of our most highly respected and useful citizens. He is 
 honored and respected by all who know him and loved by citizens) of every creed and 
 color. Has always stood for righteousness and the highest ideals. He has helped 
 protestant churches and scores of other good institutions. He has been the friend 
 of every good cause. His life is clean and without reproach. Such false chargés 
 made by an Evangelist ought to discredit him in your community. 
 
 JOHNSTON MYERS. 
 
 Another Baptist Minister Speaks. 
 
 Dr. Melbourne P. Boynton is another big Chicago Baptist, pastor 
 of Woodlawn Baptist Church and a member of the headquarters com- 
 mittee of the Anti-Saloon League of Chicago. Dr. Boynton wires :— 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Chicago, IIl., Nov. 10, 1924. 
 TO INDEPENDENT, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 Inquiry concerning Julius Rosenwald received. Mr. Rosenwald is one of the 
 most highly repected citizens of Chicago, and is a well known philanthrophist. To 
 charge him with fostering or protecting vice is ridiculous. Wire any newspaper in 
 Chicago or consult late addition of ‘‘Who’s Who in America’’ for further particulars. 
 
 M. P. BOYNTON, 
 Pastor Woodlawn Baptist Church. 
 
 From a Minister and an Army Officer 
 
 The telegrams reproduced here are in every instance from men so 
 prominent as to be listed in “Who’s Who in America.’ The senders 
 are known to this newspaper only because they happen to be outstanding 
 citizens of Chicago and men of national prominence whose patriotism, 
 fairness and integrity are beyond question. Here is a telegram from 
 Rev. Thornton A. Mills, pastor of the New England Congregational 
 Church of Chicago and a Major in the Officer’s Reserve Corps of the 
 LS] Army: ( 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 Chicago, IIl., Nov. 11, 1924. 
 
 EDITOR THE INDEPENDENT, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 Campaign against Julius Rosenwald is either malicious falsehood or the 
 hallucination of a carzy man. Rosenwald is one of the most thorough going civic 
 spirited one hundred per cent Americans in the City of Chicago, supporting every 
 good cause and with record aboslutely free from anything resembling the aiding or 
 abetting of vice conditions. Your sensationalist is simply using low, cheap methods 
 of publicity. 
 
 THORNTON A. MILLS. 
 
 (18) 
 
From a Presbyterian Minister. 
 
 _ The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago is one of the wealthiest 
 and most influential Churches in that City. Here is a letter from its 
 pastor :— 
 
 FOURTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
 JOHN TIMOTHY STONE, Minister 
 CHICAGO 
 November 6, 1924. 
 Mir. W. O. Saunders, Editor 
 The independent, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 Dear Mir. Saunders: 
 ft has been called to. my attention recently that an evangelist named Rev. M. 
 F. Ham, who has been speaking in the South has been very much misinformed in re- 
 gard to our fellow-citizen in Chicago. Mr. Julius Rosenwald, and that he has 
 attacked the good name of Mr. Rosenwald on several occasions. 
 i know nothing whatever as to the verity of this statement, neither do I know 
 Wir. Ham and I may have been misinformed as to what I have heard. I wish through 
 you, however, to state clearly (and you are at liberty to use this in any way through 
 the press) that Mr. Julius Rosenwald is one of our most highly esteemed citizens, 
 and no citizen with whom I am associated in this great city has done more to show 
 his public spirit, his interest in all things that are good, and this has been backed 
 by a righteous life and earnest consistency in his whole attitude to things that are 
 goed and upright. He is one of our best philanthrophists and a man of God and 
 earnest benevolence. He is one of our most patient and faithful cooporators in at- 
 tacking vice conditions in our city, both practically and efficiently. As Vice- 
 President of our Committee of Fifteen he has been recognized by that splendid 
 body of men as unflinching and fearless, as well as generous, in his support of all that 
 has stood for clean and upright living. 
 i want you to know how definitely these facts are given to you that you may 
 curtail or correct any unjust rumors which may be made. 
 Faithfully yours, 
 JOHN TIMOTHY STONE. 
 
 The U. S. District Attorney Speaks. 
 
 I wired Hon. Edwin A. Olson, U. 8. District Attorney of Chicago, 
 for information concerning Mr. Rosenwald.. Here is his reply :— 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 : Chicago, Iil., Nov. 12, 1924. 
 THE INDEPENDENT, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 Know nothing of matters set forth in your telegram except that Julius 
 Rosenwald is considered one of Chicago’s most representative and respected busi. 
 
 ness men. 
 UNITED STATES ATTORNEY OLSON. 
 
 You have the evidence. Hvery letter and telegram received by this 
 newspaper is on file in the office of the editor and may be verified 
 by any doubting Thomas. NOW, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THOSE 
 MINISTERS AND OTHER SO CALLED CHRISTIANS IN ELIZA- 
 BHTH CITY WHO CONDEMN AND BOYCOTT THIS NEWSPAPER 
 FOR NAILING AN INFAMOUS LIBEL? 
 
 Thousands of professing Christians applauded the evangelist Ham 
 in his tabernacle when he asked them, “WHAT DO YOU THINK OF 
 A NEWSPAPER MAN WHO WOULD WHITEWASH A GANG LIKE 
 EAE?” 
 
 I ask you, WHAT DO YOU FHINK OF YOUR OWN PREACH- 
 ERS WHO ARE TRYING TO WHITEWASH A SLANDERER LIKE 
 HAM? 
 
 (19) 
 
As regrettable as this controversy may appear-to many local peo- 
 ple it is in crder this week for me to try to prove the Evangelist 
 M. F. Ham a liar with respect to his charges against Julius Rosenwald, 
 of Chicago. 
 
 I do not believe that it is helpful to the fair name of Elizabeth 
 City, nor to the gcod of the churches, nor the real Christians, that 
 SLANDER shall go unrebuked. Elizabeth City can not afford to smirch 
 its fair name by listening to words of untruth concerning any one and 
 certainly not concerning a man whose reputation for honesty and for 
 wise welfare work is nation-wide. 
 
 Slanderers and libellers, if ordinary citizens, are punished by law. 
 This case is nct one for legal action; it is one for the Jeading citizens of 
 Elizabeth City to resent—resent deeply and permanently—to resent per- 
 sonally as a matter of personal pride—that any one should come into 
 their city and publicly denounce one of the cleanest and most useful 
 men in the country. And so I put the evidence before you, having the 
 faith and confidence in your desire to know the truth, and believing 
 that your judgement against the false ‘prophet’ will be final and em- 
 phatie. 
 
 Taking advantage of the fact that there are only a few Jewish 
 famities in Elizabeth City, Ham has bitterly assailed the Jews in 
 sermon after sermon and accused the Jews of plotting the destruction 
 of Gentile civilization and conspiring by every possible device to de- 
 bauch the Gentiles and weaken them physically, mentally and morally. 
 He pcinted to Julius Rosenwald of Chicago as an example of the dia- 
 bo*ical International Jew, accusing Rosenwald of aiding and abetting the 
 most horrible vice conditions in Chicago and by implication making Mr. 
 Rosenwald a party to a vice ring that encouraged negro men to traffic 
 in the bodies of young white girls. 
 
 For mildly resenting these ruthless and baseless charges against 
 Mr. Rosenwald, Ham has held me up as a co-partner cf the Anti- 
 Christ (whatever that is) and branded me as an enemy of the church 
 and an enemy of God, implying among other things that I had attempted 
 to whitewash the most vicious criminals in Chicago. 
 
 The Subterfuge of a Coward. 
 
 Believing Ham to be a ruthless and menacing liar; believing him 
 to be spreading a gcspel of misunderstanding, hate, fury and iniquity 
 in Elizabeth City that would innure to great harm to the city and to 
 the best interests of the churches in Elizabeth City, I saw nothing else 
 to do but to challenge him to a show down, which I did in last week’s 
 issue of this newspaper. 
 
 Ham let every opportunity to retract or modify his statements against 
 Mr. Rosenwald go by until Wednesday morning. Having thrown every 
 possible bluff for a week and having finally convinced himself that 
 this newspaper had nailed him with his lie, Ham told the tabernacle 
 crowd Wednesday morning that he had never said these things about 
 Rosenwald at all, but had simply read what others had said. 
 
 A flimsier makeshift excuse was never advanced by a cornered 
 liar. Thousands in Elizabeth City know very well what Ham said 
 about Rosenwald and how he denounced this newspaper for having 
 defended Rosenwald. even telling the people that a newspaper man 
 who would “whitewash a gang like that” (meaning Rosenwald and the 
 Chicago vice ring) needed praying for and needed it bad. 
 
 (20) 
 
Ham was driven to take water Wednesday morning because some 
 one carried news to him of the numerous telegrams that have come 
 to this newspaper, the publication of which telegrams should forever 
 damn Ham in the opinion of thoughtful and fairminded people. Ham 
 said that I would publish such communications, but that they wouldn’t 
 -mean anything at all. I dcn’t know who gave him the information; I 
 would dislike to think that the contents of these telegrams were di- 
 vulged to Ham by John D. Sykes, Western Union Telegraph operator 
 in this city, who is clerk to the Ham-Ramsay meetings and who offi- 
 ciates nightly at the meetings. 
 
 But it is no excuse for Ham to say he only read what some one 
 else had written; the peddler of a lie is as bad as the liar himself and 
 Ham is unspeakably bad because he read things written by others, 
 declared that he had other proofs to back up the things he had read, 
 and then proceeded to build up a case against Julius Rosenwald and 
 the whole Jewish races on lying documents. 
 
 No one accuses M. F. Ham of being a fool; he is one of the slick- 
 est, most ingenious and best informed men of his kind. He knew or 
 should have known that the “Protccols of the Seven Wise Men of Zion” 
 from which he has read to his audiences in this city many times were 
 repudiated three years ago and utterly condemned by such men as 
 Woodrow Wilson, Wm. Howard Taft, Lyman Abbctt, William Cardinal 
 O'Connell, William Jennings Bryan, Evangeline Booth and more than 
 a hundred other prominent statesmen and clergymen of the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 But, knowing these things to have been repudiated, Ham has as- 
 sumed that the people of Elizabeth City are a lot of Ignorant hicks 
 who would fall for anything he told them and he has used a lot of 
 old and thoroly discredited Anti-Semitic propaganda in his gospel of 
 race prejudice, fear, fury and hate. He has gotten by with his retailing 
 of second hand lies in other towns because other towns haven’t an “un- 
 business-like” citizen like me to tell him where to get off. 
 
 Ham’s cnly replies to that article last week have been in the na- 
 ture of hedging evading and bully-ragging. He has been going to prove 
 great things and he has proved nothing except that he is what I have 
 represented him to be, a charlatan, a four-flusher and a liar. This lan- 
 guage is plain, emphatic and Ham knows that I am liable before the 
 law for using such language if I can not back it up. Ham is a lawyer 
 himself. 
 
 In his first attempt to reply to my statement that he had led 
 
 about Rosenwald, Ham tcld his tabernacle crowd that it wasn’t M. F. 
 Ham who had been called a liar, but that Jesus Christ had been called 
 a liar. 
 
 Ham is not deceiving any one by such fraud tactics. HE KNOWS 
 THAT I CALLED M, F. HAM A LIAR, and nobody else. 
 
 Ham/’s late attempt to disclaim responsibility for the slander of 
 Julius Rosenwald in Elizabeth City is a cheap and infamous subterfuge 
 that will destroy the faith of thousands in the preachers of the Christi- 
 anity Ham pretends to represent. No man in America has a cleaner 
 record in public or private life than Julius Rosenwald; there are 
 few men on earth to-day whose characters would be as splendidly repre- 
 sented as Julius Rosenwald’s character is represented by his fellow 
 townsmen in this newspaper to-day. Ham, with all his knowledge 
 
 (21) 
 
and information, knew the truth about Rosenwald all the time; but 
 he didn’t give any one e'se in Elizabeth City credit for knowing any- 
 thing, or credit for having bravery enough to eall his hand. 
 
 And then, in his floundering endeavor to extricate himself from 
 his miserable predicament, Ham went so far in his sermon Wednes- | 
 day as to say that the attacks against him were inspired by the Russian 
 Soviets and went out of his way to attack the Elizabeth City Rotary 
 Club, implying that the whole attack on him in this city originated at 
 a recent luncheon of the Elizabeth City Rotary Club. What piffle! 
 What an insult to the intelligence of Elizabeth City! 
 
 The Truth About Rosenwald. 
 
 Now, is he a liar? I have on my desk copies of reports of the 
 Committee of Fifteen of Chicago and another book of 299 pages attesting 
 to the work that Julius Rosenwald has done in aiding the authorities 
 of Chicago in cleaning up every vice condition in that city. I can not 
 reproduce those documents here and it isn’t necessary. But in a 
 preceding column of this newspaper I respectfully submit the testimony 
 of prominent court officials, business men and Protestant ministers of 
 the city of Chicago regarding the true character of Mr. Rosenwald and. 
 the esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens and neighbors. 
 Read what these real men say about Mr. Rosenwald in the light of the 
 infamous charges that have been made against him by the man Ham. 
 
 Of course, Ham may be expected to brand all of these prominent 
 court officials, heads of big business, presidents of universities and pas- 
 tors of big churches as enemies of God, friends of the devil and agents | 
 of the Anti-Christ. And there are a lot of people who will not believe 
 the truth about Ham, but who will swallow every thing he says about 
 anything or anybody. There are perhaps so many as a thousand men 
 and women in Elizabeth City to whom Ham could prove that black is 
 white—to their satisfaction. 
 
 Ham’s Prayer and Mine. 
 
 J have thoughtfully and prayerfully considered the attitude this 
 newspaper should take this week; I have listened respectfully to the ~ 
 appeals of good people who think that by discrediting Ham I may dis- 
 credit all religion in the minds of mentally weak people. 
 
 One might as well say that the exposure of Daugherty, Fall, Do- 
 heny and other crooks in the Republican party would wreck that party, 
 but the fact is that when these crooks were gotten out of the way the 
 Republican party was restored to power last week by the largest pop- 
 
 ular vote ever recorded in the history of political parties in this country. — 
 
 And so may the churches expect to reclaim the confidence of the peo- 
 ple when they have been forced to drop men like Ham. 
 
 I say that I have weighed this question thoughtfully and prayer- 
 fully and I am more than ever convinced that Ham should be exposed 
 and exposed as ruthlessly as he assails those who do not submit to 
 his damnable theology. Ham gives no quarter and admits no middle 
 ground; he invokes the great God of the Universe to bring destruction 
 upon his enemies. I shall give Ham no quarter and I ask the great. 
 God of the Universe | to have only mercy on Ham for his infamous 
 preachments. 
 
 Instead of defending himself and facing the issue like a man, 
 
 (22) 
 
Ham has resorted to every insidious device within the knowledge of 
 his crafty profession to destroy this newspaper and it looks as if he 
 is adroitly and insiduously appealing to the basest instincts of the 
 mob in Elizabeth City to bring about my undoing. 
 
 An Appeal to Base Passions 
 
 In his pulpit Sunday night he made the remarkable statement that 
 Six or seven men who attended his meetings would have killed a promi- 
 nent man in this town, but that he had dissuaded these men from killing 
 that man. I do not know what citizen Ham’s followers would kill, 
 but I insist that his statement to that tabernacle crowd Sunday night 
 was a cowardly and dastardly suggestion to some of his followers in 
 this town to take some one’s life and remove from his path any man 
 who mustered up enough courage to fight a theological hyena and all 
 his infamous works. 
 
 I have said that I believed Ham’s theology was debasing and bru- 
 talizing and would do more ultimate harm than good. Do I need to 
 submit more proof that Ham’s own brazen boast that six or seven con- 
 verts of his meetings are ready to kill some man in this town if he but 
 -says the word? 
 
 What kind of religion is it that puts hate and murder into the hearts 
 of so many men who listen to this preacher night after night? I ask 
 you! 
 
 Ham is using the identical tactics that were employed by another 
 preacher in this town fourteen years ago, which resulted in a riot and 
 the shooting up of my home on a Sunday night. I call upon all good 
 people in Elizabeth City and thruout the State to mark the incendiary 
 utterances of Ham and if anything happens as a result of his damn- 
 ably insiduous and inflamatory preachments they will know at whose 
 doors to place the blame. 
 
 I Make No Apologies. 
 
 In the meantime I have no apologies to make for anything I have 
 said about Ham. I am more than ever convinced that he is an in- 
 solent mountebank, a ruthless demagog. a preacher of hate, a joy-killer, 
 a tyrant playing upon the fears, the prejudices and the weaknesses of 
 unthoughtful humans. He has ruined business in Elizabeth City, just 
 as he has ruined business in Raleigh, Henderson, Goldsboro and else- 
 where. He has damned to hell everybody who ever took a drink of 
 liquor; branded as enemies of God any man or boy who plays or pa- 
 tronizes a game of baseball or a game of football, and branded as adult- 
 eresses every pure little girl who ever let a boy put an arm around her 
 at a dance. He has asserted that 99 out of a hundred of us are going 
 to hell and has slandered Elizabeth City in sermon after sermon, even 
 declaring this town worse than the city of New Orleans. He is a kill- 
 joy and a spreader of fear, pointing a gun in the faces of the mob and 
 forcing them to believe what he says. And when some of them dis- 
 agrees with him, that one is branded as an enemy of God and all 
 church people are exhorted not to patronize or support in anyway the 
 business of that man. 4 
 
 Anticipating the proof of his infamous lying which this newspa- 
 per publishes this week, Ham is seeking to save his face by declaring 
 
 (23) 
 
that he will prove by government documents that the propaganda 
 against him in Elizabeth City originated in Soviet Russia. Ham’s 
 agents have already spread the lie thru the town that I was paid 
 $5,000 for writing that article in this newspaper last week. 
 
 Ham is in a deep hole with the sides soaped and he will repeat 
 more lies to try to extricate himself. I have no doubt that he will 
 read a lot of stuff from government documents that are themselves 
 lies, because there are a lot of liars in Washington and some of them 
 have turned out a lot of lying government documents. I have no 
 doubt that he will say that every testimonial to the character of Ju- 
 lius Rosenwald published in this newspaper is the result of Russian 
 propaganda. And the regrettable thing about it all is that there are so 
 many people in Elizabeth City who will be fools enough to believe 
 Ham and deny authentic proofs. I said last week that I believed M. 
 F. Ham to be a liar; I SAY NOW WITH ALL EMPHASIS THAT I 
 KNOW HE HAS LIED, and I am happy to have been an instrument 
 that will forever discredit him with all thinking men and women in 
 North Carolina and ultimately drive him out of the state. 
 
 I wonder if Ham thinks any gocd can be accomplished by lead- 
 ing the church people of Elizabeth City to make war on this news- 
 paper? I am not making war on the churches in this town and have 
 never made war on them, but God helping me I shall take my stand 
 for what I believe to be right and defend my position against the 
 boycotts and batteries of all the cohorts of a hateful religion. Any 
 preacher who wants to pick up Ham’s cudgel when Ham is gone will 
 find me on the job. On the other hand, if the churches want to undo 
 the mischief that Ham has done in the town and will work together 
 for a friendlier, happier, healthier, cleaner town, I’m with them—as 
 I have always been with them in all gocd works. | 
 
 More Evidence 
 
 (From The Independent, issue of November 21, 1924.) 
 
 Indisputable testimony to the unimpeachable character of Julius 
 Rosenwald and the utter baseness of attempts to link him with vice con- 
 ditions in Chicago continues to come to this newspaper. Here is a tele- 
 gram from Hon. Wm. Emmett Dever, the Mayor of Chicago :— 
 
 WESTERN UNION TELEGRAM 
 
 Chicago, Il!l., Nov. 13, 1924. 
 W. O. Saunders, 
 Editor The Independent, Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 
 Your telegran received. Attack which you say has been made by so-called Evange- 
 list against Mr. Julius Rosenwald, a citizen of Chicago, is so maliciously false as to be 
 unworthy of notice. I! am inclined to think Mr. Rosenwald’s name has been selected 
 by this man solely hecause of Mr. Rosenwald’s prominence as a Chicago citizen. For 
 your information, and not because I wish to dignify the charges by an answer, 1! take 
 pleasure in saying to you that Mr. Rosenwald for years has been identified with almost 
 every important movement inauguarted for the benefit of the City of Chicago and its 
 people. He has been particularly helpful in law enforcement: and vice suppression. 
 He has contributed of his money and his abilities to charity in such degree as that he is 
 regarded as one of the great philanthropists of his time. May 1! repeat that this state- 
 ment is made out of deference to you and your paper and not because ! believe the 
 charges are worthy of notice. 
 
 W. E. DEVER, Mayor. 
 
 (24) 
 
Says Ham Injures Cause of Religion 
 
 Dr. Johnston Myers, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Chicago, 
 and President of the Baptist Ministers Association of Chicago, wasn’t 
 satisfied to merely wire this newspaper in defense of Mr. Rosenwald. 
 Dr. Myers writes as follows :— 
 
 JOHNSTON MYERS 
 2320 Michigan Ave. 
 CHICAGO 
 Nov. 11, 1924. 
 W. O. Saunders, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 Dear Sir:— 
 
 I was glad to answer your telegram. 
 
 Such an attack upon Julius Rosenwald which was made by the evange’ist is cruel, 
 unjust and unfair. If the evangelist has any honor or any of the spirit of Christ 
 he will publicly retract his statement. 
 
 Julius Rosenwald has done as much as any other cone citizen of Ch'cago for religion, 
 morality and education. Among his benevolence is the colored Y. M. C. A., the great 
 Y. M. C. A. Hotel to which he gave the first $50,000. He is on almost every com- 
 mittee which has as its object better morals and better politics. He is a liberal Jew 
 and shows much more of the spirit of Christ than thousands of Christians. He ts a re- 
 fined, cultured, patriotic gentleman. 
 
 if you do not publish this letter it would be well for you to hand it to the evange- 
 list saying I requested him to read it. He could get this same information from any 
 other well informed man in Chicago. When the church makes such attacks through 
 preachers the whole cause suffers. 
 
 Yours very cordially, 
 JOHNSTON MYERS. 
 
 And Here Are More Letters 
 
 HYDE PARK BAPTIST CHURCH 
 5600 Woodlawn Avenue 
 CHICAGO 
 Nov. 11, 1924. 
 Mr. W. ©. Saunders, Editor, 
 THE INDEPENDENT, 
 Elizabeth City, N. C. 
 Dear Sir:— 
 
 Recently my attention has been called to the fact that an attack has been made 
 on the good name of Mr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicego. Although f am not per-— 
 sonally acquainted with Mr. Rosenwald, | am well advised of the high respect and 
 abundant confidence which his friends accord him. Perhaps this fact will add some 
 weight to my testimony on his behalf. He is regarded as one of Chicago’s foremost 
 citizens, is recognized and admired for his great generosity and for his public spirit. 
 Knowing the relationship of friendship and mutual regard which exists between 
 my colleague, Mr. Gilkey (now in India) and Mr. Rosenwald, I can add Mr. Gilkey’s 
 unqualified support to all that I have been privileged to say about Mr.. Rosenwald. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 NORRIS L. TIBBETTS. 
 
 THE NATION 
 20 Vesey Street 
 NEW YORK 
 November 12, 1924. 
 
 Vr. W. O. Saunders, 
 The Independent, 
 Elizabeth City, N. GC. 
 Dear Mr. Saunders, 
 
 J have read with profound appreciation your fine editorial in the Independent of 
 November 7th. You are, of course, quite right about Julius Rosenwald, and 1! 
 believe that a man like Ham does true religion more harm than anybody else could. 
 You certainly smashed him, and I hope you are not going to be bothered with him 
 again. 
 
 With kind regards, and best wishes, 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 OSWALD GARRISON VILLARD, Editor. 
 (25) 
 
Evidence as to the true character of Julius Rosenwald is to be 
 found in the public prints by all who read. The recent disclosure of in- 
 come tax records revealed the fact that Julius Rosenwald, one of Chicago’s 
 wealthiest men paid an income tax of only $1,596 all of his income ex- 
 cept that represented by this small tax having been devoted to philan- 
 thropies. 
 
 The newspapers under date of Nov. 15, carried the news that the 
 firm of Sears, Roebuck & Co., under orders from Mr. Rosenwald will dis- 
 continue the sale of all forms of firearms. ‘‘Our action,” said Mr. Rosen- 
 wald, “is based on our desire to protect cur good name and maintain the 
 public good will. We feel that the moral side of all public questions 
 is the right side.” 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 7, 1924.) 
 
 YOU KNOW THE TYPE 
 
 = UT of my notebook I pluck this thought from Coleridge: “He who 
 QO) begins by loving Christianity better than truth, will proceed by 
 RTA Ee loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and end 
 ieee by loving himself better than all.” Can’t you see how true this 
 is? You will find Christians who think themselves better than Jews and 
 Jews who think themseives better than Christians; you will find Pro- 
 testants who think all Catholics are going to hell, and you will find 
 Catholics who know that all Protestants are going to hell. You will 
 find Baptists who scorn Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Disciples, Russel- 
 lites and the rest. And you will find Episcopalians and the rest looking 
 with contempt upon Baptists. And when you find such you don’t have 
 to search far to find that these contemptuous ones love themselves first 
 of all. The greatest harm that a narrow evaneglistic gospel does in a 
 town is that it produces a lot of smug, bigoted, conceited, sanctimonious 
 pinheads and pismires who think that a little blood of a Lamb that they 
 have never beheld has washed them whiter than snow and made them 
 so darned superior to everybody else. Look-out for a lot of these hypo- 
 critical self-righteous products of the present revival in our town. 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 7, 1924.) 
 IT’S A GREAT LIFE 
 
 OUR wrong doer is almost invariably a weak-minded person; 
 men and women who sin most are most deficient in mental 
 calibre. Drop into your police court any morning and look 
 over the defendants on the day’s docket: you will find the 
 real criminals are just folks who have a screw loose somewhere. 
 
 All wicked folks are mentally and spiritually weak; they sin because 
 they haven’t the intelligence and strength of mind to resist sin; and 
 for this very reason—because their minds are weak—they are easy 
 marks for any evangelist who will throw enough hell and damnation 
 into them to harrow their poor little souls. That is why it is so 
 easy to get professions of faith from bootleggers, prostitutes, bums, 
 dead beats, drunkards and the dregs of society generally; they haven’t 
 the strength to resist the rousing appeal of a professional evangelist 
 ‘who pours fear into them night after night, any more than they have 
 
 (26) 
 
the strength to resist evil doing. But holding them in line after the 
 confession has been wrung from them! That is the problem. 
 
 There is another raft of easy recruits for any well planned religious 
 revival; your evangelist can make it so uncomfortable for every un- 
 churched man and woman in a small town, that hundreds of ‘honest 
 doubters become fawning hypocrites who, to retain the esteem and 
 patronage of the mob, submit to the evangelist and unctiously profess 
 to believe anything, just for the sake of being popular. 
 
 The evangelist flays the backsliders and hypocrites in the church 
 and then proceeds to fill the churches with new additions of back- 
 sliders and hypocrites; all of which make more work for evangelists later 
 on. It’s a great life. 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 7, 1924.) 
 WHO REPUDIATES CHRIST? 
 
 OU who are truly seeking a way of life, read again Christ’s 
 Sermon on the Mount. You will:find it in the fifth chapter 
 WO of the book of Matthew. Ask yourself if Christ in that sermon 
 SNZ, enjoined you to do more in your relations toward your fellow 
 man than is expected of you in your relations toward the members of 
 your own household? You must admit that the ideal of Christian 
 conduct laid down in that sermon is hardly more than the attitude one 
 expects to assume toward his own brothers and sisters, or to one’s wife 
 or one’s mother. 
 
 Now if Jesus taught anything it was that all human beings are chil- 
 dren of one good and merciful heavenly Father; that in accepting the 
 fatherhood of God we should accept the brotherhood of man; that the 
 human family is, after all, but cone great household of brothers and sis- 
 ters under God. The Sermon on the Mount was presented only as a 
 reasonable code of conduct for such a brotherhood, and it was Christ’s 
 desire that men strive to attain to such a brotherhood. 
 
 Nowhere can I find that the Master said that his teachings as set 
 forth in the greatest sermon in his ministrial career are not to be attempt- 
 ed by us; throw the Sermon on the Mount out of the Bible and you 
 have destroyed the very essence of Christianity; you have taken away 
 the flesh and blood and all its beauty, warmth and vitality and left 
 only a hideous skeleton in its place. There is where I parted company 
 with the prophet Ham; for Ham says that to attempt to put into 
 practice the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount would result only in 
 anarchy and chaos. Mr. Ham gives us a religion of fear and bigotry and 
 _ hate instead; he is a theological bootlegger peddling poison stuff in 
 
 place of the waters of eternal life. 
 
 (27) 
 
- 
 
 The Prophet Thoroughly Repudiated 
 
 +s 
 
 (From The Independent, issue of November 21, 1924.) 
 
 The battle is over except for a little sniping and bushwhacking 
 upon the part of those who don’t know that it is over; and from 
 this latest and boldest fight in its long career of fighting for right 
 and truth and justice this newspaper emerges victorious. My clash 
 with the evangelist Ham has resulted in a conclusive victory for this 
 newspaper. There isn’t any doubt about that. 
 
 But, as is too often the case, only the innecent suffer. I shall suf- 
 fer little because I have won; Ham can not suffer because he has only 
 to shift his base of operations to some other State and begin all over | 
 again. But Elizabeth City has suffered and it is going to require a lot 
 of patience and tact and hard work to undo the harm that has been 
 done. In the end Elizabeth City will be blessed and beatified by an 
 experience that must call into prominence the.best, the wisest and the 
 noblest leadership that it can produce. 
 
 Ham came to Elizabeth City to dynamite hell out of Elizabeth City. 
 In the ccurse of events it became necessary for me to dynamite a little 
 hell out of Ham. Now that was a lot of dynamite to turn loose on one 
 little town and it was inevitable that things should be blown to pieces and 
 a lot of people hit by the flving fragments of the upheaval. Between the 
 pair cf us Ham and myself have blown up a lot of good and a lot of bad. 
 It’s the task of those who remain on the battle field to clear away the 
 debris, bury the dead, patch up the wounded, salvage the good and recon- 
 struct a cleaner, healthier, wiser friendlier Elizabeth City. God helping 
 me, I shall do my part in this work of reconstruction and there are others, 
 beth in and cut of the church, who will do their part. Those who will 
 hinder are those outside the church who have seen in my fight on Ham 
 only a fight against their enemy: and those inside the church who have 
 been falsely led to believe that my fight on Ham was a fight on the 
 churches and on real Christianity. . : 
 
 A Strenuous Week For Real Christians. 
 
 The wisest and best leaders of religious thought and life in this 
 town have had a strenuous week cf it. Ham was to have closed his 
 revival last Sunday, but many thought it wou'd not do for him to decamp 
 so soon and run away froma fight in which he had been worsted and dis- 
 credited. A movement was inaugurated to hold Ham for another week in 
 the hope that things cculd be patched up. Ham agreed to stay another 
 week. 
 
 But instead of helping matters by staying over, Ham went wild and 
 at the tabernacle Sunday morning he preached one of the most vitupera- 
 tive and vindictive sermons of his career. He read extracts from my 
 newspaper and, without actually calling my name, accused readers of this 
 newspaper of aiding and abetting the devil and being in imminent danger 
 of hell-fire. His whole sermon was directed toward punishing me and he 
 was violent and ruthless in his language. That sermon did Ham more 
 harm than anything he has preached; it broke the morale of his followers 
 who saw that he had ceased to even try to pose as a man of God and was 
 
 (28) 
 
debasing his pulpit and his sacred positio:: to punish a man who had 
 driven him into a corner, 
 
 Ham either sensed the reaction to his sermon or some one sat down 
 on him so hard that he was compelled to change his tactics. He had an- 
 nounced another sermon on “The Anti-Christ” for Sunday afternoon 
 and word had been put out that he was going to fire his biggest guns. 
 But he didn’t do any such thing; he swallowed his wrath, swung around 
 like a weather-vane in a changing wind and when he entered his pulpit 
 Sunday afternoon he preached one of the finest sermons of his series. 
 He preached, not on hate, but on love. The same preacher who had 
 preached hate and fury and vindictiveness in the morning, talked only of 
 love in the afternoon, saying that the only earthy kingdom that could 
 ever endure would be a kingdom founded upon love. 
 
 One of Ham’s Converts Grabbed Me. 
 
 I heard his sermcen Sunday afternoon and marveled at the agility 
 of the man in turning about-face, and at his chameleon like quality of 
 changing color to match his environment., But the power of his oratory 
 and his skill in handling his crowds did not persaude me that I had done 
 other than right in damning the cther sort of Sermons he preaches. Even 
 while I sat on his platform, a woman in his choir called me over and ask- 
 ed me to give my heart to God. I told her I had long ago given my 
 heart to God. She said, ‘“Won’t you accept Christ?’ I told her I had 
 accepted Christ. She was staggered for a moment, but she rallied and 
 came back with this: 
 
 “T hope you HAVE accepted Christ,’ she snapped: “For I have been 
 praying for you. “I FELL PROSTRATE ON THH FLOOR OF MY ROOM 
 THURSDAY MORNING BEFORE” YOUR PAPER CAME OUT AND 
 PRAYED GOD TO EITHER CONVERT YOU OR KILL YOU.” 
 
 And then the lady resumed her stand in the choir and sang: 
 “Oh, how I love Jesus!” 
 
 She chopped off the words as if with an axe; her eyes flashed fire. 
 I studied her for a moment and thought yes, she seems to love Jesus like 
 a tigress loves a piece of raw meat! 
 
 That is the evil that Ham does—making so many vicious, hateful, 
 religionists by his methods. I have no doubt that he has had thousands 
 praying for God to ‘‘convert me or kill me’’—with emphasis on the kill 
 me. 
 
 Ham makes a lot of that sort of converts and he makes armies of 
 hypocrites. I can show you not one or two or three, but dozens of letters 
 that have come to me from former converts of Ham-Ramsay meetings 
 in other towns, who were brow-beaten and driven to indorse Ham and 
 embrace his theology. They didn’t have the guts to stand out against 
 him and against the hatefulness and bigotry of their so called Christian 
 neighbors. Now that Ham is not standing over them with his lash, they 
 hate Ham and hate themselves for having submitted to him. They send 
 their subscriptions to this newspaper and urge their friends to subscribe. 
 
 Of course, Mr. Ham is still ranting about a lot of old newspaper clip- 
 pings upon which he cliams to have based his charges against Julius 
 Rosenwald. He protests that he was honest in his attack on Rosenwald. 
 But Mr. Ham pretends to be a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ and 
 
 (29) 
 
no such preacher has a right to indulge in personalities in his pulpit; he 
 has no right to assail the character of any man upon newspaper testi- 
 mony. But all that is not to the point. In my issue of Oct. 31, in first 
 réporting Ham’s attack on Mr. Rosenwald I did not accuse the evangelist 
 of being in error; I merely expressed shock at such statements as he had 
 made; I only said that Mr. Ham had picked on a man who was too big to 
 notice him. But just for that Ham took up his whole sermon on Friday 
 night, Oct. 31, in detailing vice conditions in Chicago, picturing all the 
 horrors of that city’s festering vice district, and by implication accused 
 me of “whitewashing” the Chicago vice gang. When he made that ac- 
 cusation against me he had carried his audience of 4,000 so far with him 
 that they forgot they were in a temple of God and applauded him vigor- 
 ously, condemning me and my newspaper by their demonstration. I was 
 not present, but my wife was present and one of Ham’s ushers (a smug 
 and unctious little goody-gceody) clapped his applause in my wife’s face 
 to deliberately insult her. That is the true history of the whole con- 
 troversy. When my wife came home burning with shame and indigna- 
 tion and said that Ham had made me out a liar and that 4,000 of my 
 fellow townsmen and women had applauded him, I told her not to lose 
 heart, that I believed Ham himself. was a ruthless liar and I should 
 proceed to try to prove it. How well I have succeeded will be recorded as 
 a journalistic triumph as well as a state-wide sensation. The public has 
 been judge and jury and the public, outside of those who will hear only 
 Ham, has pronounced its verdict in hundreds of testimonials and an in- 
 pouring of new subscriptions to this newspaper. From a circulation of 
 less than 5000 copies three weeks ago, the circulation of this newspaper 
 has jumped to nearly 6000, 
 
 It is going to take a lot of love—and a lot of patience and charity— 
 to overcome the seeds of bitterness and hate that Ham has sowed in the 
 hearts of those who have followed him with much zeal. That’s our job 
 in Elizabeth City, and the sconer we buckle down to it the sooner the 
 green grass will grow again on the fire-scathed, smoke-blackened, blood- 
 soaked surface of our disordered little corner of earth. 
 
 THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 28, 1924.) 
 
 ET us be thankful this day, and every day, for life’s com- 
 pensations, for they are many. 
 
 Let us be thankful for Religion because of the peace 
 and comfort it brings to the troubled minds and hearts of 
 those who might not otherwise understand or cope with the common 
 conflicts, contradictions, vagaries and vexations that are a part of 
 life. 
 
 Let us be thankful for Science that with infinite patience and faith 
 sublime has discovered so much of the splendors of the Divine Plan, 
 revealing God at work in every clod, in every rock, in every caprice of 
 wind and rain and dark, and in everything animate and inanimate. 
 
 And last, but not least, let us be thankful for Friends, for truly 
 noble friends are our veriest wealth and joy; it is for the esteem and 
 approbation of friends that we strive and do; we order our lives that 
 they may be acceptable in the eyes of our friends; for friends we give 
 the best there is in us and rise to heights of nobility, love and useful- 
 
 (30) 
 
ness to which we would never attain did no one care—for the true 
 blessing of friendship is not in what it. does for us, but in what it in- 
 spires us to do for ourselves, for our fellows and for God. 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 28, 1924.) 
 
 CERTAINLY 
 
 ANY in Elizabeth City think they have seen wonderful re- 
 sults in the Ham-Ramsay meetings and many good Christian 
 men and women expect lasting results for good in the lives 
 Ba of many converts. It is to be hoped that those who enter- 
 tain such expectations will not be disappointed. Surely Elizaheth City 
 is entitled to much good in return for the price it has paid fcr its 
 seven weeks’ of spiritual emotionalism. 
 
 The more than 7,800. dollars contributed toward the. cost of 
 the tabernacle and the other expenses of the meeting, including the 
 salaries of Messrs. Ramsay and Rodgers, and the $5.500 to $6,000 
 offering to Mr. Ham personally are sums representing only a part. of 
 the cost of the meeting. For seven weeks the merchants of the city 
 have given much of their time to the meetings, closing their places of 
 business and taking a loss in trade amounting to many thousands of 
 dollars. It should be a conservative estimate to say that first and 
 last, in actual cash and in loss of time and business, the Ham-Ramsay 
 meeting cost Elizabeth City not less than $25,000. Surely Elizabeth 
 City is entitled to some evident benefit for such a liberal investment. 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 28, 1924.) 
 
 SHAKE, BROTHER, SHAKE! 
 
 QUOTE: “If religion in a man’s life makes him bitter and 
 resentful toward all opposition; if it gives him license to make 
 a vulgar parade of all his peculiar antipathies: if it makes 
 him feel free to appeal to the racial and religious jealousies 
 of people; if it makes him self-righteous and contemptuously critical of 
 all those who differ with him in their understanding of sacred truth — 
 then we would feel justified in saying that we will follow the example 
 of our Master, and cast our-lot with the sinners, for we will find them 
 kinder, more charitable, and easier to- live with,—to say the least.” 
 
 The quotation is from the current issue of The Mission Herald. 
 organ of the Eastern Diocese of North Carlina (Episcopal). 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 21, 1924.) 
 
 AN APOLOGY 
 
 N the heat of any violent controversy it is easy for a fellow 
 to make mistakes and say some things that may offend even 
 his best friends. If in the knocking down and dragging out 
 of the evangelist Ham I have said anything offensive to the 
 religious sentiments of genuine Christians I am very sorry and will 
 do anything within my power to make amends. While differing with 
 many devout Christians, I have a profound respect for all truly re- 
 ligious minded people and would not willingly offend one such any 
 
 (31) 
 
more than I would wantonly offend + a woman or a little child : 
 
 In order to shield Mr. Ham by evading the true issue, ‘(wheth 
 he had or had not lied about Julius Rosenwald) , some things that 
 have said have been purposely distorted and grossly misrepresented{g 
 to make it appear to Christian people that my fight was not a figh# 
 on Ham but a fight on all Christians and the churches. This is not tr 
 and Mr. Ham knows it is not true. Mr. Ham has found it necessarg 
 to accuse me of saying things that I have not said, since he is neithes 
 man enough nor Christian enough to stand up straight and admit thagas 
 he was wrong. ie 
 
 No, my fight is not on the churches and never will be. I am nos 
 a church member, not because I am hostile to the churches; all thay 
 keeps me from being an active member of some church is the fact thas 
 I entertain sime beliefs that are not exactly orthodox and I woulg 
 feel that I held a membership in any church in our town under false 
 pretenses. Hyery honest preacher in this town knows how I stang ; 
 and respects my sincerity. No honest preacher will tell you that I a rile 
 an enemy of God or an enemy of the church. Among the new subscribet ait 
 to this paper as a result of the Ham controversy are eight upstanding 
 
 Christian ministers, 
 
 (Editorial From The Independent, issue of Friday, Nov. 14, 1924.) 
 
 ore ETERNAL TRUTHS 
 
 PICKED this up in a bible the other day: “Harnestness 
 the path of life, thoughtlessness the path of death.” Ang 
 then this: “Creatures from mind their characters derive; ming 
 marshalled are they, mind made. Mind is the source of eithe 
 bliss or corruption.” I say I picked this up in a bible; but it wasn Sumas 
 the bible that the Rev. Mordecai Franklin Ham preaches from; it  ieeiparttny 
 from the Dhammapada, one of the books of the bible of the Buddhistag fttetitt 
 What a fine text for a sermon! “Earnestness the path of immo @iaiime 
 tality, thoughtlessness the path of death.” : q 
 Surely, God’s eternal truths are not exclusive with any 01m 
 religion; God has revealed himself in many world religions. I do n@ ait 
 have to be told that the language quoted is inspired language; I knoy Hie 
 that it was inspired. parti 
 And we know it is true that men derive their characters from theigg : 
 mind; right thinking produces an upright and righteous man or womans 
 wrong thinking produces the other kind of man or woman. We Alt 
 what we think, not what we think we are. I take issue with the avayl 
 gelist because he condemts human reason as the work of the Devil 
 If we didnt. have human reason to guide us we would all go to ne 
 indeed, and not Ham and his Ram- ifications could save us. 
 
 And This Endeth 
 The Book of Ham 
 
 (32)