FATHER DIVINE
FATHER'S great Work of regenerating the minds and bodies of the children of men is now recognized by officials of the Police Department of New York and other cities, and they are seeking His continued cooperation in greatly reducing the vice and crime and other menaces of a minor nature such as hitchhiking, false fire alarms, et cetera.
On this occasion we had as guests at the Banquet, Captain Turk of the Twenty-eighth Precinct and Inspector Butler of the Sixth Division, both of whom expressed appreciation of FATHER'S past cooperation, requesting that this assistance be continued in the future, after which FATHER spoke briefly, outlining a few phases of this great Work. Thank YOU, FATHER Dear.
The foregoing statements are those of the transcriber, and following is FATHER'S invitation to visiting friends to speak, which He extended after the proofreading of His Message given during the Righteous Government Forum at Kingston Extension, Saturday, December 23rd.
PEACE, EVERYONE! Good Health, Good Will and a Good Appetite, with Life, Liberty and the reality of Happiness--these and all other blessings we establish.
At this instance I would just like to repeat the conclusion of that long drawn out rehearsal, Message and Manuscript and Lectures and Addresses and Statements, in the conclusion there where you find I said in part, I had arisen especially to give our visiting friends a chance to speak. I repeat, I reiterate, the same is in evidence; therefore I refrain from speaking and give our visiting friends a chance to speak if they care to, at this instance. If they do not care to move volitionally, if we are privileged to call on them by introduction according to their respective professions, we will be glad to do so. I thank you.
Inspector Butler responded as follows:
First I am going, FATHER, with Your permission, to introduce myself--Inspector Butler of the Sixth Division. FATHER DIVINE, I want to thank You for Your kind invitation, and especially for the good meal and good food. Next I want to thank You for Your former cooperation, and hope that we will have Your cooperation in the future; and through You, I want to thank Your followers for their cooperation with the Police Department.
I have not been up here so long--less than a year--but the men I work with, Sergeant Rieger, Captain Turk and Inspector Mulholland, inform me that these people do more to keep down accidents, to keep people from pulling the false alarms of fire, than any other group in this locality.
Now I want you to know that I appreciate it, and if I can show my appreciation in any other way besides telling you, I want you all, through FATHER, to come to me at any time and I will do what I can. I want to thank You.
As Inspector Butler resumed his seat, Captain Turk rose to speak as follows:
Again I want to thank FATHER for all the good things He has done for the people--His followers and the people in this Precinct in which I am in charge of. Two years ago I came here from Brooklyn not knowing much about Harlem after an absence of about ten years, and I saw there was a great deal of unsettled conditions here. Of course you all remember what happened in nineteen thirty. So I got hold of Rieger--Sergeant Rieger--and said, "Look here, what are we going to do here?" He said, "I'll tell you what we will do--FATHER DIVINE is the Man we have got to see. If we can get the cooperation of FATHER DIVINE and His followers, we can settle conditions here, and things will be different."
So we started out to get hold of FATHER DIVINE to get the cooperation of the followers. We brought in all through safety, traffic safety; we reduced crime; we reduced fires; we reduced the number of false alarms which caused a number of persons to be injured. We reduced that and we thank FATHER for that. So we continued on, and during the years, as you know, at election time a few years ago there was some more trouble. Rieger said, "Well, we will go back from where we started. We will go to FATHER DIVINE again and ask Him for His cooperation"--which we did, and you know that has been all settled. Thank FATHER for that.
So Rieger said, "I have been talking to FATHER DIVINE about a vacation. You and I have worked too hard." So FATHER DIVINE gave us a nice invitation to go hunting. So we went hunting. We were afraid of being injured, and he said, "You will never be injured in the Promised Land." So we went up and had a wonderful time and wonderful meals, and came down and we all gained from being up there.
So we hope that the cooperation with the followers will continue, and whenever it is necessary, I will come to FATHER and ask Him for your help, and I thank you all for your cooperation. Thank FATHER!
FATHER rose at once to deliver this brief Lecture when Captain Turk had concluded.
PEACE, EVERYONE! At this instance I would just like to take up just a few brief seconds to say the honor is on this end and the appreciation the same. We appreciate cooperating with the Police Department. I AM not saying it because I AM here in the presence of Inspector Butler and Captain Turk and other representatives of the Police Department, but you all know how it was a few years ago--there was always some uprising in and among the civilians and the Police Department and much slander against the Police Department concerning police brutality; and through such, I believe it created much antagonism among the common people against the Police Department. Therefore they could not and would not be respected as they should, for their respective official duties, by those of the civilians and others with whom we come in contact.
It was for this cause I rejoiced to have the privilege to be a little attraction to attract some of the people to cooperate in bringing about a closer relationship between the civilians and the Police Department; not only between the civilians and the Police Department, but all of our citizens, that we might understand each other better.
Again I wish to say, it is a privilege to know that through cooperation such as this, as a matter of course being daily expressed and expounded, propounded and manifested here in these different audiences wheresoever I AM, the good will goes out from one to the other towards our fellowmen and to the authorities, and we cooperate in every way possible.
Now we mean to continue to cooperate in any legitimate and Evangelical way such as we have been doing, and of course we want to see, as I said many years ago, this city cleansed and cleaned up from all of its vices and crimes and debauchery of every kind. Our work is not confined to this vicinity alone, but as a SPIRITUAL ADVISER and ADVOCATOR of RIGHTEOUSNESS, I believe it reaches into every field of endeavor and into every community in our great metropolis.
It is for this cause I advise and encourage My followers, hearers and friends to do even as we have been doing in the act of curbing crime and vice of every kind, and lift up a standard individually, severally and collectively, that others might copy after the fashion we are showing them.
Again I wish to say in reference to the visit to the Promised Land, it is a privilege and a glorious privilege to have visiting friends visit those places; to let them see first hand just what we are endeavoring. It is written:
"Charity begins at home and spreads abroad."
We are endeavoring to let this go from shore to shore and from land to land. As you have heard here recently, even the beginning of that Message, I have proposed the UNITED REPUBLICS of the Americas as a united method of national and international defense.
First, if we, through negotiation and through the purchasing of property individually, severally and collectively, as My followers have been doing, set forth a sample and an example of individual independence according to the Declaration of Independence, and live it and express it--I do not mean to say go out and purchase property or live in divers communities and become to be public charges, but to the extreme reverse of such, I stress the INDEPENDENCE of the individual, even as we declared our independence as a nation. Therefore My followers are purchasing real property cooperatively and running different businesses and having different trades, putting them forth into expression cooperatively .
We stress the cash and carry system as a method to overcome and to solve the economic problem; therefore My followers, as you know, not one of them is on the welfare. He is discounting himself, disgracing himself in My consideration if he goes on the welfare, if he claims to be a follower of Mine.
It is for this cause we mean to lift up a standard until we can contagionize our divers communities with the spirit of honesty, of competence and truth, and rid our general public of all dishonesty from the cradle to the grave. I believe when men are taught and teach the people to try to get something for nothing, it grows up in them, the spirit of dishonesty, incompetence, of graft and of greed. It may not be seen politically or nationally in the beginning, but as it goes forth into expression, I believe it will and it actually does envelop and develop to a great nation. Through graft and greed, invasions arise and start in the divers countries, one nation against the other.
If they would have accepted of this preconceived Message, and could have imbibed the spirit of it, endeavoring to live according to this economic system according to My version, I believe we could have evaded even the World War and this last war of wars that is going on now. But if we as the Americas, or United States of America's Republic, will UNITE with all of the other twenty one Republics of the Americas, and give each and every one of them our American independence such as we have, and do not try to monopolate their borders selfishly for a selfish purpose, all of the Republics will accept of us.
This is a national and international defense in My version; but from an economic point of view, we have put forth a sample and an example of it into expression economically as individuals. My followers have purchased land and houses, and are still doing such, as My proposal to purchase the coveted Czechoslovakia--it was an expression according to My version, according to My conviction in the act of bringing about economic independence.
As My followers had been inspired and advised by My inspiration to purchase property individually, severally and collectively and be independent, even so I stress the significance of the nations of the earth doing the same; refusing to try to monopolate, to invade and to take anything by violence, but accept of it only through negotiation and by the purchase
Of such things as they might need; therefore I believe if we live in this--endeavoring to let the good news go forth even from the fireside and then into broader borders, as it may be termed, our work will not be in vain.
Hence, as I say, we want to cooperate with the Police Department. That is one step, and we mean to continue to do it and lift up a standard of perfection among the nations. We mean to express honesty, competence and truth, be law respecting, law abiding and even law making citizens; but we do not mean to confine such a blessing to this our country alone, for we want it to go from shore to shore and from land to land.
Unless this can be established in the Central and South American Republics, we will be, no doubt in the future, invaded by other powers, by coming in on those other borders with which we are connected, and involve ourselves in some great war again. But as with an individual, so with a nation; therefore we want our respective coworkers, followers and friends and participators, those who are even just admirers of that which we are endeavoring, to give us their cooperation and we will continue to extend a helping hand from our house, from our homes, in our streets, in our cities, and will extend our help in cooperation universally, and will be of some real humane service to humanity. I thank you.
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