Restoring the Coin Superscription.
THE House of Representatives by a vote of 255 to 5 passed a bill requiring that the expression "In God We Trust" be restored to the coins. President Roosevelt is a religious man, and when he caused the expression to be stricken from the coins it could not be charged that it was done by an irreligious hand. It was done out of reverence and respect to God. But there came a strong clamor to have the superscription restored, and Congress has almost unanimously acceded to it. If an apostrophe were addressed to the American dollar saying, "In thee we trust," it would much more truly represent the actual facts in the nation at large. This is a money-mad age. Everything is made to bow before the god of money-getting. And to require the inscription "In God We Trust" to be placed on the coin is requiring the money to11say the exact opposite of the real condition of the people. President Roosevelt is most assuredly right in his contention that placing this superscription on the coin tends to produce irreverence for the great Creator and divine Father. But certain religious people have had the conviction that it was the sign of great irreverence and a very wrong thing to have this phrase removed from the coin. Articles have been written about it, and many resolutions by religious bodies have been passed condemning it. The vote of the House upon the measure shows how unanimous the members are in thinking that they would go against this sentiment to their peril should they fail to demand that the superscription be replaced on the coin of the Republic. This is a matter of but little consequence in itself alone. But the religious people who are in favor of coercing Congress into passing certain religious measures will be very quick to see that if they can influence the vote on a thing of this kind, they can also get other measures passed that will be still more to their liking. There has been a strong and growing sentiment in favor of various kinds of religious legislation, and things of this kind will help the work of that character along. The fact that the present House of Representatives has passed such a measure will be made a part of the accumulating basis for further demands. With this seemingly innocent legislation as a precedent, the laws that may be enacted in a very few years from now may not be so innocent, even in appearance. All past history should teach us that any kind of religious legislation is dangerous. There are many devoted people in all the churches in the United States who truly trust in God. But to try to put such words of trust into the mouths of the majority of the dwellers in this land is nothing short of hypocrisy. T.