Workmen's advocate., 1889-12-07
SOCIAL INJUSTICE.
RABBI SCHINOLER CONSID- FRS THE PROBLEM OF
 THE AGE.

His PropOrtiOnate Share of the
 Common Burdens of Humanity
 Competition, Labor and Caste.
 At the Temple Adath Israel last week, Rabbi Solomon Schindler delivered the third lecture in his course, His special subject was "lnjustlce.". He said: When we behold the many evils which life carries with itself, and when we see them increased by the selfshness with which every individual endeavorS to disencumber himself at the expense of the rest; when we behold that no mat ter what improvement human genius has called into existence, the very bur den of live has not been made easier to the great many, we are likely to exclaim despairingly with the author of the sixth chapter of Genesis: "The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is full of violence" That Justice, the equitable distribution of the com- mon burden, is the first and strongest law that regulates social intercourse, cannot be denied by any one and the least we ought to expect of a society that is to prosper would be that the common load should be justly divided among all of its members, and that nobody should be allowed to shirk the duties common to all. 1 intend today to speak of that injustice which does not appear to us as such, of that in justice which as yet we are not accus- toned to call by that name. The con- science of man is the product of the social order in which he lives, and it Is affected only by such actions as initiate against that order. Not before a new order of things is developed and accept ed by all does the conscience of men become sensitive to every disregard of these new conditions. This transfor- nation of thought is a very slow pro- cess, and while few only advance with more rapid strides, the masses generally finger behind and generations come and go before they show themselves to be lifted inch by inch to the higher level. It is not many hundred years ago that in this very city stern judges convicted poor old woman of SOrCery and burn ed her as witch. Now do you suppose that these people had no consclence; that these people has no sense ol justice! How long is it since the North and South of this country stood in arms against each other; the one to abolish slavery, the other to uphold it /? Now, do you believe that all those southerners who have left their lives on the battle fields were conscious of the injustice of sIav- cry In speaking of injustice today, I shall point out only such of our deeds as are enot considered at present to conflict with justice, but which, on the con trary, are yet considered to be proper and as yet dOnot
 DISTURB THE CONS SCIENCES OF MEN.
 I shall speak of such deeds which, if brought before judge today, would be pronounced to stand in harmony with the laws of the land, the same as years ago a judge would have pronounced a slavetrader innocent as long as he con- formed with the laws that then regu- lated his traffic. shall, however, point out actions which, though considered at present perfectly just, equitable and proper, begin to be looked upon by some as the cause of a defect in human society, as the cause of some of the miSerieS of live.
 In our present age, and in accordance with the circle in which our thoughts are moving, we consider It perfectly J just. perfectly equitable and perfectly legitimate that men should compete with one another in all the different vacations of life. We even believe today that competition Is one of the main springs of human activity, and that If 1t were broken or removed the machinery would either come to a sudden stop entirely or move on spasmodically i'll jerks. The method of stimulating men by competition to exert themselves and to bring out all that is within them may be Tn certam measure and from Cer- tain point of view good one; 1t would in fact, be the best and the only one if nature had made us all equal. But, alas, mother nature has not and just here is the rub. It is an injustice to place the weak by the side of the strong and tell him that he must compete or go down entirely. But this injustice is neither seen at present nor felt, and our consriences do not as yet reprove us for it. The time will and must come when the injustice and the wrong that follow in the wake of competition will be seen;