St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-08-13

IL.
after speaking of the impression among
the laborers that the churches are man
aged in the interest of the rich and the
we'll educated. says !: 81 am disposed
to think that the most of the trouble
lies in this social question: Another
writes Manufacturers make their
men work for almost nothing. On the
average. the men where | work get
81 so per day; they have ten per cent.
taken off that, and man with fami-
~ can hardly pay his rent and live;
and workingmen are human" AnOth-.
er writes ..When the capitalist prays
for US one day in the week, and preys
on us the other six, it can't be expect
ed that we will have much respect for
his Christianity"
This sulIeD, bitter, resentful feeling
finds expression in many of these let
tiers. The wOrkingmen feel that in
the struggle of competition they are
going to the wall and they cannot
see that the Christian law of love is
doing much to mitigate Ricardo's "iron
law of wages" This is the bottom
fact of the wOrkiugmen's alienation
from the church. Any treatment of
the question which leaves this fact ont
of the account, will be superficial and
Intellectual.
Now, with respect to all these COM
plants, the wOrkingmen need some
sensible words of admOnitiOn. SO far
as the clothes question is concerned,
they ought to learn to respect their
own manhood, and not be ashamed of
themselves so long as they are clean
and decent, simply because their gar
ments are less elegant or less stylish
than their neighbours. If they believe
that it is not dress that makes the man,
they ought to stand by their own con
victions, and act as though they be-
lieved it.
AS to the charge of exclusiveness
and snObbery, they ought TO be told
that there are plenty of good churches
in which these evils do not prevail ; in
which the people, as rule, are sensi-
BILE and courteous and kind.
As to the feeling that the churches
are managed in the interests of those
who Cypress them, they may well be
reminded of what Christianity has done
for the working classes in past ages,
and of the life and teaching of its fOun-
der. Surely it cannot be that genu-
inc Christianity is unmindful of the
welfare OF the WOrklnSnen.
But, while these admOnitiOns are be-
ing offered to the wOrkingmen outside
the churches, the people inside the
churches may well be bordering two.
or three serious questions. Let them
ask themselves whether the elaborate
dressing which is now visible in many
of our churches does not exhibit bad
taste, bad manners, and the poorest
kind of religion whether those who
are ready to Outshine and OyercrOwd
their neighbors with their splendors in
the house of God do not manifest de-
plorable lack of Christian feeling7
Let them, also, inquire whether they
are not sometimes justly chargeable
with the exclusiveness and snObbery
laid at their doors whether exhibit
tions of these qualities are not often
witnessed within their walls, and suf-
fered to go unrebuked; whether, in
deed, there is quite as much cOrdiallty
and fraternity in their treatment of
common people as there ought to be in
a Christian church.
And, finally, let them consider very
seriously whether the Christianity of
which they are the representatives Is
doing what it should to make employ
ers more cOnsiderate and more just i'll
their treatment of their employees;
whether tue law of Christ, as they
teach it and exemplify it, has anything
to do with the relations between cap
italists and labOrers whether there is
any need or any possibility that indus
trial society should be Christianized.
We can easily show wOrkingmen what
Christianity has done for them in form
er times but it will be much more to
the purpose if we can show them that
it is working nightly, even now, to
cOunteract the seventies of natural
law that has no mercy for the weak.
1t is my opinion that Christianity has
an answer of it's own to the labor ques-
ton and that when the churches find
their voices and manage to utter this
answer distinctly, they will have no
further difficulty in bringing in the
working people.
Columbus, Ohio. -[Independent.