The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-26
WEALTH'S RESPONSIBILITY.
Rev. DR.. Behrends's Sixth Sermon on
christianity and Modern Socialism"
A Man Must Not Be Considered Criminal
Merely Because He Is Rich-National Debts,
Standing Armies and the People.

llvered the sixth In his series or dlScourseS on
Christianity and Modern Socialism, in the
Central Congregational Church, this evening.
The edifce was completely filled, and the address
was listened to with the closest attention. The
topic of discussion was "The Responsibilities OF
Wealth." DIR. Behrends said:
Strictly speaking, rights and responsibilities
purely personal. They iEhere in manhood
The poor man has not more of the former and
LEGS of the latter nor has the rich man more or
the latter and less of the former Both are I'M
der obligations to defend their personal rights
and to discharge their personal duties But of
class can it be said that it is called upon to be
the guardian of another. Service is a universal
duty; it is not a badge of distinction. We are
all summoned to bear one anotners burdens, yet
only in such a way that every man shall bear his
own. And l have little hope of our religious
teachers contributing to future industrial peace
and prosperity by ostentatiously patting the la.
borer on the back, and then joining in the cry OF
thief against the men of wealth. Let us have
the courage of our convictions If no great for
tune can be the reward of legitimate industry,
then let us crush out the rich as we would a
band of murderers. Let them be hung to the
lamp posts if the law will not reach them,
for in such a case a vigilance committee
would be more righteous than the courts.
And il wealth be not a crime and the rich
have their rights, let US champion these as hon.
estly and fearlessly as we defend the manhood OF
the poor. We contend, then. that no man is to
be regarded as criminal simply because he is
rich. There has been no END to the indiscrlmi-
nate abuse that has been heaped upon the rail
way magnates, the cattle kings and the bonanza
farmers, as If they were band of outlaws and
robbers. To one of these men death must have
been a welcome release, for no man of our gen.
Grafton has been more roundly denounced and bit
terly blackguarded. The immense Vanderbilt for
tune, it has been said, was wrung out OF the
earnings of the poor, from the taxes imposed by
a railway monopoly upon helpless people.
There is no truth in the charge For Cornelius
Vanderbilt the first great railway king. had con-
structive ability of the highest order, as marked
as that of any military or political leader. 1t
was not inherited or borrowed capital that made
him rich, but the new departure in railway
consolidation which he inaugurated. The knit
ting process began iE 1861, and was completed
in 1869 Since then freight charges have
been reduced to nearly onethird The State of
New York alone saves nearly $75, 000, 900 annual
ly; the State of Ohio, $50 900 900 year; and the
country at large, $40O, 900 year. In. the
light of such facts the great Vanderbilt fortune
should not be criticised. What he secured only
small part Of what the people were annually
wasting; they gain each year more than he OBJ
tanned in q life time. In fact it may be laid
down as rule that great profits are not the
earnings of capital, but OF skilled superintend-
ence, and to destroy the rich man is like cash
iering the generals of an army. or passing
statute that no man shall command more than a
thousand soldiers. We touch the vital point in
this debate when we insist that the laborer must
always be treated as a man. Labor may be a
commodity in the market, but the laborer IS not
an article of commerce. He is always more than
a machine, more than horse. 1t does not pay
to starve and overwork the brute 1t is inhu-
man to starve and overwork the man. Such a
policy is both suicidal and tyrancal 1t degrades
the workman and impairs the quality of
mis- work. It may make cheap labor. but 1t will
increase the cost of production. What man
can do in twenty -four hours will depend very
much on what he can have to eat In those twen-
ty four hours. If his diet is liberal. his work
will be mighty. Only second in gravity is the
matter of shelter and the restriction Oh child la
Dor, together with the prevention OF tasks be-
yond the natural limit of endurance. Childhood
must not be mutilated. Labor must not issue
in dangerous exhaustion, and the hours Of toll
must be graduated by its severity. Workshops
must not be hretraps, and sanitary legislation
must supervise the laborers dwelling. The prin-
ciple of insurance should be made to cover, at
least in occupations of special danger, as in min
ing and the manufacture Of explosives, the op-
eratives, as well as the Mines buildings and raw
materials And there is one other right that
must not be withdrawn. the right of every to:,1eri
to the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship To
deprive him of that is to demoralzs him, to rob
him of his highest birthright, the right in which
to ird time in which to worship God 1t is not
too much to say that the Christian Sabbath has
saved the modern European and American races.
The clean linen and best coat on the first day of
the week, the Sunday dinner, unhurried with
the household, the elevating and consoling IN
huences OF the sanctuary, the rights of uni
! versal manhood, and industrial civilization must
be adjusted to them: Sunday labor of many
kinds may be a necessity but it must not be per-
mitted to make ChurchlesS class. The plea Of
this argument is not that of charity or of sent-
ment, but of simple justice. The poorest man is
man, and the man at the social bottom may
M ha Or0nnd RI y,oxUdar hafvvaap tho nd
neither millstones Of unchecked competition
Better break the millstones than the man be-
tween, and the will break the grinding
wheels For If men of wealth cannot be made to
hear and heed the still small voice there will
come again the rumbling earthquake, the rend-
ing whirlwind and the sheeted fire. Manhood
must never be sacrificed, and there must be not
only freedom of contract but contract between
free born men. One of the most prominent
forms of modern capitalstic industry is the cor
poration. 1t is of comparative recent origin,
and 1t has grown to enormous proper
TONS 1t Is based On the concentration
of capital and intelligence, moving in concert
and competent by its superior strength and tact
to eliminate and crush out the individual pro
Queer. The introduction of expensive machin-
cry has made associated capital an industrial ne
cessity and corporations are not likely to disap-
pear But they should be held to strict account
They the creations of law, and therefore
should oe held amenable to law. Their charters
sn0ulu De 0ennlte, ana SUBJECT TO revision, and
their transactions should be open to govern
mental inspection. Some have urged that the
great railway corporations be converted into
national property, but the project has found few
advocates among mon who understand the mag
nitude of such an enterprise and the boundless
corruption which it would encourage in political
administration. But publicity should be de-
manded at the hands Of all who enjoy valuable
franchises secured by the consent of the peo
pie. The question of corporations suggests the
related one of inventions. TIE natural right of
an inventor is very limited. His control is abso-
lutte only so long as he keeps his discovery secret,
or so long his discovery is without practical
value. The public, by legal statute opens for
him the path to fortune. and the public has a
right to insist that the gains shall not become
extravsgant and such righteous limitation i'm
poses the obligation of publicity. The great
fortunes that have been accumulated through
the securing and purchasing of patents, Great
ing monopoly in producing or use, indicate the