St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-01-25
The Rights of Property.

SERMON BY REV. G. N. WEBER, ID. D.,
AT THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
IN TROY-A TOPIC FOR THE TIMES
THE ETHICS OF FINANCE AND THE
MORALITY OF TRADE.
The absolute ownership of all things
is Gods by whom and for whom they
we've created. But "mine and thine
| holds good between man and man.
Right of property is acquired by ap-
prOpriating to ones own use what no
body else has appropriated. The value
| of most things, however, is due to labor
expended on them. Every one has Il
right of property i'll the value his labor
creates. What one owns, one may sell,
give away or beqGeath to another.
Therefore by purchase, gift or inheri
tance men may rightfully possess what
they have bestowed 10 labor upon. In
one or the other of these ways the right
of property is acquired. This right,
albeit less sacred than the right of life
and liberty, is one of vast Importance
to human welfare. The curse ''in the
sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread
is blessing in disguise. AS man is
now constituted the necessity of labor
is the saving of time. But the nerve of
| lluuSlIN Is lllC uCSllC W oNIl. al uCSllC
that never operates wholesomely unless
the right of property is wisely made and
secure. Granted freedom of industry
and security in the possession and en-
ioyment of the fiuits of it, and Il coun-
try will be prosperous under any form
of government. There have been and
are theorists who see in property only
the badge of selHshness. No doubt get
tinn nnI hnllin,r Snciol an1
when the impulse drives hard ut it it
becomes root of evil. But Incidence
aud wastetulness are worse. Within
due bounds the desire for wealth con-
tributes to character and the public
welfare. | quote the following from
Chancellor Kent 1.-The sense of prop
erty is graciously bestowed upon man
kind for the purpose of rousing them
from sloth and stimulating them to
action. 1t leads to the cultivation of
the earth, the institution of government,
the establishment of justice, the ac-
QUESTION of the comforts of life, the
growth of the useful arts, the spirit of
commerce, the productions of taste, the
institutions of charity and the display
of the benevolent affections" The
sense of property makes the difference
between barbarism, with ignorance and
rowing habits, and the stability and re-
r finements of civilized life. Four -ffths
of the municipal laws of enlightened
nations are for the security of property,
and upon the justice and efficiency of
these laws depend the industry, culture
and happiness of the people. 1t was
worthy then of Divine wisdom in legis-
lating for the race to recognize by stat
ute this right, and to give it place
among the authenticated principles OF
immutable morality. To appropriate
to ones self i'll any way what belongs
to another, without his consent, is the
crime marked and forbidden by the
eighth commandment.
THE TEXT APPLIED AS A TEST.
Now you have noticed when train
of cars stops ut Il depot a man takes Il
:. hammer, and grOpes along from car ia
car, sounds the wheels to see if he can
q detect some flaw that would he prolific
of danger if allowed to pass unnOticed.
This evening | propose to use this text
as the hammer by which to test some OF
the wheels Of business and society, to
see if we may not find some that are
! not i'll perfect cOnsOnance with the spirit
of the commandment. | confess the
difficulty of attempting to apply this
law to modern society. The man who
puts a pistol to my head and says,
Your money or your life" or who
4 deftly picks my pocket, or who takes
e valuables and money from my house Oi
g store, without my knowledge or con-
sent, steals. The law settles that, and
we may pass over crime of this sort as
needing no comment.
WHAT ARE DISHONEST TRANSACTIONS.
|, But we have got away ahead of the
: man in the dug-out, and improved Oh
t these barbarOus ways of appropriating
other peoples property. SO that really
it is not so easy to say whether certain
acts should be called stealing, or /;
: transaction. Even the laws and law
. yers cannot always tell, much less /;
minister, who does not know business
l once wasspreaching in Montreal, and