Richland Reporter from Richland, Kansas • 5

feel that we were not hardly welcomed. Ever since we have been here we have cheerfully devoted our columns to ail the church news obtainable. No one can truthfully deny this fact. We have never yet attacked the members composing the churches and they can hardly conscientiously say so; but; some of the members of both churches are assailing us. It looks very much like the more that one may do in the interest of these churches the less they are appreciated.

The ministers and their congregations may not be aware of the fact they probably are that one of the ministers caused considerable bitter feeling and comment (even among his own congregation) by the radical address he delivered the Sunday before memorial day. Through charity for mistakes and actual good will toward the church we kindly persuaded several parties to withdraw replies presented to us for publication and which would have greatly agitated the then bitter by those who had been furnishing these repor ts that they were instructed not to again furnish them for us. We have never asked one cent for publishing anything for the churches, whether in the' nature of advertising or job printing, yet it is quite customary for newspapers to charge for these. We published every week the church reports (but few newspapers do nor will do so) with a view of doing good for the churches. Remember the Reporter reaches many that these churches do not.

Now because this preacher had "an ax of his 0vn to grind" he called upon his members after church for what proved practically to be an indignation meeting. Now the and a number of members of both of these churches are using their influence to get all the patronage they can away from the Reporter, looking upon us with scorn, and some will not even speak to us any more, and they begrudge us and our readers any more church news. They are going to run this paper out Our Response. Because we called a country preacher's attention to a matter that was in the estimation of many a little imprudent, he feels that he has been injured. How? He came to this office and in a bulldozing manner demanded an apology, and made an indirect threat that we would be boycotted.

This was not the first time he assailed us in that peculiar braggadoeia manner of his The first time, we had been here but a few days, and was almost an entire stranger. He plainly intimated to us that if we did not go according to his ideas that he would fight us through the pulpit and do all in his power to run us out of here. He related to us the circumstance of a show that came to this town and how he denounced it and compelled his members to withdraw their patronage and thus, the show was compelled to not exhibit, and left here much the. loser financially. If this preacher possessed honest convictions he would not feel injured by having his attention called to a matter that many of the public consider not to the best interests of his church.

If he had the heart-felt interest in the rich harvest of the perishing souls that Christ had, he would thank us rather than call on his members to use their influence against us. That man knows full well that he tried to scare the Reporter into his harness (wTe will not permit any faction to control this paper) and since he found out that his attempt was a failure he has held a spite against us. We are not judging him when we make this assertion. His very actions and countenance have plainly revealed it; and actions often speak louder than words. But we have been too liberal in our views to undertake to try to obstruct any good work of his church.

We have not absented ourselves from his church because of prejudice, but because we have been made by him to feelings. Only a couple of weeks ago the other preacher got so ex cited in a sermon that he made of town. Now the above combination of doings we call boycotting, but those people don't like this definition. Perhaps it would be more appropriate and suit them better to call it a sample of their Christianity but we have never seen a verse in the bible that indicates that Christ ever taught such. a comparsion of the people of this town to the people of a town in Brown county and let remarks drop that are not setting well in the minds of many of our citizens, some of whom desired space in tl'op for reply, butweoffered the best apology we could in the interest of this preacher and his congregation and evaded publishing any replies.

We aided in suppressing discord. Does the part we performed look as though we were trying to injure the churches? In return for our part part we are receiving bitter ani A certain man got up in the indignation meeting last Sunday night and reiterated that "he weighed us (in his own scales) and found us wanting in the balance." We are frank enough to admit that are guilty of breaking some of the ten commandments, (where is the person that isn't guilty?) but we will weigh with that man at any time on a pair of honest scales. mosity and being boycotted by most of them. We thank those who were kind enough to furnish us' the reports of the doings of the churches and Sunday schools each week, and if the re-ports were still furnished us we would cheerfully print them and any other church news. WewTent this week to get the reports from both churches and were informed Notice, The regular time of meeting has been changed to Tuesday evenings.

All members are requested to be present at the next meeting..