City Hall Condemned from the Pulpit - 1894

The preacher had let it be known what was to be the primary topic of his sermon. The topic drew enough attention that the church, the Wentworth Presbyterian Church, was well-filled for the evening service on Sunday October 28, 1894.

          Among those in attendance were reporters for the Hamilton Times and Hamilton Spectator who wrote extensively about Reverend James Murray’s sermon which was later referred to as “a Trumpet Call for Good, Capable, Respectable Men in Municipal Life.”

          The “Civic Sins” which Reverend Murray attacked included gambling, intemperance and Sabbath Breaking, and the specific targets of his criticism were the elected officials in Hamilton City Hall, aldermen and the Mayor.

          The text selected by Rev. Murray to introduce his sermon was from Jeremiah, Chapter 29, verse 7 : “And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captive away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.”

          The context of the scripture was the captivity of the exiled Jews in Babylon. While the Jews might have had good reasons to be indifferent, or even antagonistic towards the welfare of the city of their captivity, God’s teaching was that the good of the city welfare was the duty of all who lived there.

          There had been a series of events which had brought Hamilton City Hall into disrepute.

Rev. Murray addressed his remarks to those who were focused on getting from the city what they wanted for their own benefit, rather than work as a servant for the public good:

“All men were to seek the peace and prosperity of the city wherein they dwelt, and this meant its material interests as well. They were not to see how much they could get out of it without giving a corresponding return as many men nowadays do. If the Lord expected men in olden times who were in captivity to be faithful to the interests of their city, how much more should he expect men in this enlightened nineteenth century to be zealous for its peace and prosperity?”¹

¹ “A Chamber of Bacchus : Hamilton City Hall So Designated by Rev. James Murrary”

Hamilton Spectator. October 29, 1894

Rev. Murray declared that he resented the idea that ministers must not condemn wrong in municipal or other public affairs:

“He regretted that more good men did not speak out freely on public questions.”²

² “The Peace of the City : Rev. James Murray on Some Civic Sins”

Hamilton Evening Times. October 29, 1894.

One particular issue which Rev. Murray and other city ministers were opposed was the running of Sunday trolleys on the Hamilton Street Railway :

“He related briefly his connection with the agitation against Sunday cars and his belief that the men who were so anxious for the comfort of the workingman, his wife and family, were influenced solely by their desire for gain. He believed that the Sabbath was made for man, that God appointed it to be a day of blessing and benediction, and that he was not afraid of being called by any name – even a Sabbatarian – for standing up for its purity. He unhesitatingly declared that the running of trains and steamboats and street cars on Sunday was a movement in the wrong direction, and he would be unworthy of his position if he did not speak out his convictions.”¹

The recent opening of the Hamilton Jockey Club’s race course was next referred to by Rev. Murray :

“He felt proud when he heard that Hamilton had a race course second to none in the country, but subsequently he had wondered why he should be proud of it. He thought that the sport was alright for those who liked it, and many good, honest people go there, but what of the gambling, the betting and the force of police it required to restrain the disorderly element attracted to these practices!

          “In no soil does the poisonous weed of gambling grow more luxuriantly than in that of the race course, and he feared many men, and some women he was told, got their first lessons in betting and bookmaking there. The gambling element should not be allowed to control our city.”²

          Reverend Murray then turned his remarks to the current mayor of the day, although without mentioning his name, Alexander David Stewart. A. D. Stewart in 1894 was not only Hamilton’s mayor but he held another job as secretary of the Hamilton Jockey Club. In that position the mayor had recently been charged with assault in connection with an incident in which he roughly manhandled a person while ejecting the man from the bar at the Jockey Club. The mayor was charged and had to appear in the Police Court where he was convicted of the offense and fined.

          As articulated by the Spectator reporter, Reverend Murray was direct and scathing in his remarks about the mayor:

          “(He expressed his belief) that some unpardonable things were done at the municipal headquarters, the city hall. He objected strongly to the chief magistrate moving his private office there and there transacting his business as secretary of the Jockey Club.

          “ ‘ The other mayors have not done it. When I had occasion to call on the present incumbent’s two predecessors on business not connected with the city, I found them at their own offices, and I maintain that the secretary of the Jockey club should never have mixed his private business with the business of the city. I object to the mayor and council asking a half-holiday for the opening of the races. They are not there to further the interests of a private corporation that many of us do not consider a credit or benefit to the city.’ ”¹

          “ ‘ I object to the Chief Magistrate of our city acting as a private police for the Jockey Club and laying his hands on a little man – or a big man either – and coming up to disgrace us in the Police Court in consequence. I can understand a man in a moment of excitement doing a rash act, but can you understand how the Mayor of a Christian city makes light of the insult thus put on the city?’ ” ²

                Another matter which the reverend gentleman declared to be worthy of condemnation was the fact that the mayor served liquor in his office to his fellow politicians and others who visited him there ‘on business:’

          “ ‘ I object to the mayor to the mayor having liquor in his office at the city hall and inviting aldermen and others in to drink, thus making the place a Chamber of Bacchus. Our Christian temperance workers are vitiated by the chief magistrate’s conduct in this regard, and if he had no respect for himself, he should consider the moral sentiment of the people.”²

          Reverend Murray exhorted all who heard his message to do their duty as citizens and place in the Hamilton City Hall good men:

          “He would not say Christian men. There were some Christian men he could not vote for because they had not the necessary ability, and there were some Christian men he could not vote for because they were not honest. What is wanted are honorable men – men above reproach and above suspicion. Better men could be secured by Christian electors taking a deeper interest in municipal matters.”²

                In concluding, Rev. Murray referred to the excitement and partisanship which dominated civic election, conditions leading to poor choices made by electors. And the reverend urged his listeners to pray for the peace and prosperity of the beautiful city of Hamilton.

          The Spectator coverage of the sermon ended as follows :

          “There was no demonstration of applause during the sermon, but there were frequent little evidences of sympathy with the speaker’s utterances. Mr. Murray spoke for nearly an hour.”²