Omaha daily bee., 1891-02-01
WEALTH Is A DIVINE GIFT.
Bishop Newman is Believer in Money and
Rich Men.
LhBoR'S WILD CRY AGAINST CAPITAL.
The Rich Are Gods Almoners and
Disbursing Agents - Power OF
Wealth for Good-Tho W ealthy
Not Damned.

believe In accumulated wealth. Inc ac-
quisition OF property is a divine gift Indus
try and frugality are the laws Of thrift 10
amass great fortunes is special endowment
As poets, philosophers and orators are born
such, so the inancier has genius for wealth.
BY intuition he is familiar with the laws OF
supply and demand He seems gifted with
the vision of a seer Of the coming changes in
the market; he knows when to buy and when
TO sell, and when to hold fast. He antci-
pates the flow of population aud its effect
upon real estate. AS the poet must sing be-
cause the music Is in him, so the financier
must make money. He cannot help it. Tho
endowment of this gift is announced in
scripture: "The Lord thy God giveth thee
power to get wealth" And all such promises
are illustrated in the present financial condi-
tion Of Christian nations, who control the
finances Of the world.
Against these natural and lawful rights TO
the possession of property is the clamor for
the distribution of property among those who
have not acquired il. either by inheritance,
or skill, or industry. 1t is a communism that
has no foundation either in the constitution
Of nature or in the social order of mankind.
1t is the wild irrational cry of labor against
capital, between which, in the economy OF
nature and in political economy, there should
be no common antagonism. There is wealth
of muscle, and wealth Of brain, and wealth
Of character He is laborer who does
productive work; he is a capitalist who has
s. or $500, 900. Capital may be a tyrant, and
labor may be q despot. The employer and
the employe have involabe rights; the
former TO employ whom he can for what he
can, and the latter to respond when he can
The envy of the poor and the Jealousy Of the
laboring classes are not excited against those
who possess vast fortunes, but against the
supreme case and the supreme Indifference of
the rich.
Wealth has the noblest of missions. 1t Is
not given to hoard nor to crafty, nor for
the show of pomp and power. The rich are
the almoncrs of the Almighty. They are His
dsbursng agents They are the guardians
of the poor. They are to inaugurate those
great enterprises which will bring thrift to
the masses not the largest dividends but
the largest prosperity. Capital makes 1T
possible for the laborer TO enjoy n happiness
that waits upon honest industry. 1t 10 for
the rich to improve the homes of the poor;
but many rich mans stable is palace com
pared to the abode Of the honest and inteli-
gent mechanics. When the wealthy are the
patrons of those social reforms tnat elevate
society, then they will receive the benedic-
tions of the poor. 1t is for them to give di-
rection to the legislation essential for the
protection of all the rights and interests of a
community. When they build libraries of
learning, museums of art, and temples of piety,
they will be esteemed the benefactors of
their kind. When the wealth of capital
joins hands with the wealth of intellect,
the wealth of muscle, and the wealth of
goodness for the common good, then labor
and capital Will be esteemed the equal
factors in giving every man life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness
The right to property is founded in nature,
sustained by organized society, and protected
blythe sanctions of the divine law. This
right has its origin in a prior fact that each
human being is distinct individuality,
adapted to all the purposes Of self-govern-
ment and responsible to God and to society
for the manner in which his powers are en-
ployed. BY his physical nature he Is con-
nected with the universe which is modified
to supply his wants He is so created that
he is dependent on the air the sunshine, and
the products of the soil for the continuance
of his life, and that end is attained as he puts
forth his natural powers and extracts from
the universe that on which he can s. bsist.
He has right to use his body as he will,
provided such use is not an interference with
the equal rights of his fellow men. Possess.
ing an intellect, hehas a right to the products
thereof. He may investigate this subject
or that, entertain such conclusions as
his Investigations may teach, and pub
lish these conclusions for his own benefit
provided they do not work injury to the hap
piness of others Endowed with a soul OF
sensibitles, passions, and aspirations, he has
the inherent right to seek happiness, always
recognizing a common right in each of his
fellow creatures. By this physical, intellec
tual, and spiritual endowment man is mad,
Tor society, and each individual in his socia
capacity is bound to every other individual
by the law of reciprocity. If, by the constitu
zion of nature, a man has a right by himself
he has also equal right to that which may re
suit from the innocent use of his bodily anC
mental powers. The result is what men cal
property
,n1l tod at,,n,
accorded the right to possess that which h
has made, and the power of control over tn
same. He has not only the right to a piec
of gold by discovery, or purchase, or labor
but, when he fashions the same into work o
art, his right is increased by virtue of hi
skill. Around this sacred right divine an
human laws throw their awful sanctions
'Thou shalt no steal' is the command o
high Heaven. The Creator treats this righ
as "a self-evident fact, directs his mandate
against every act violative of the same an
against the temper of mind from which sue
violations proceed. In harmony therewit
human governments among their first act
protect this individual right, and treat tn
offender thereof as guilty of wrong, an
punish him accordingly.
Upon the recognition of this right depen
the existence and progress of society. 1gnor
this right and no one would labor more tina
is sufficient for his individual su bsistence, q
he would have no more right than any othe
person to the surplus; and there would ther
lore De no RECOMMENDATION, no provision Tor III
future, no means by which improvement
could be made; there would be no doubl
cities, no elegant homes no invented mean
OF travel, no advanced civilization. Th
question involves the distinction between
the savagery Of the barbarian and the rein,
ments and comforts of civilized life.
nation of thieves would be nation of ba
bariaus,
There is no prejudice against honorab
and benevolent wealth. The war of toda
against capital is against the aristocracy
riches, and where wealth is boarded and a
propriated for personal qualification an
grandeur, or held for the love of the powC
that issues therefrom.
1t is this selfishness Of the affiuent thi
awakens the wrath OF the poor of the labo
ing classes. Nor is there violent opposite
TO fortunes speedily acquired, but public di
pleasure is aroused against the man of wealt
who manipuates the market for his own bel
eft. and is Indifferent TO the bankruptcy
hundreds and thousands whose acquire
fortunes are sacrificed by his heartless stoc
gambling
1t is not true that the rich are necessaril
msanthropic, Largo possessions in Ian
and money do not sour the milk of humi