The record-union., 1891-06-22

L AONo AhS Ocu, Lie iOFS OA SOQ ana man are
1t will greatly benefit you to take the Bible
and familiarize yourself with it's teachings re-
garding mans relation TO his fellow man The
Bible throughout manifests the tender
est solicitude for the welfare OF hu-
manity, especially Of those who are in
know the Bible is a divine book, because it is
so humane. There is no other book so packed
ana saturated with sympathy for wronged
humanity as the Bible. 1t is radical and revo-
lutionary in its teachings. 1t biazes hot with
wrath against those who defraud the toiler Of
his just wages. The Bible is the most ad-
vanced socialistic book on the question of
work and wages. II 1 were an unbelieving
socialist or secularist, having the good of hu-
manity at heart, would stand In the open
market-paee, where men congregate, and
teach It's burning truths to the multitudeS.
BENJAMIN Franklin said that the man who
shall introduce into public affairs the primi-
tive principles of Christianity will revolution
ize the world. The world needs to be revolu-
tionized, turned upside down. for at present it
is wrong side up: Capital is fattening on the
cream, while labor Is growing lean on skim
milk. Capital has the pie, and labor the crust.
Capital has the downy couch, and labor the
bare board. Capital has the cushioned pews
In the sanctuary and labor goes to the gallery.
am glad that some men are wealthy. They
deserve all they have. They, and their fathers
before them, earned all they have by honest
labor, legitimate enterprise and careful econ
omy. Rut the wealth of many modern mill
1onaires has been stolen from the people. 1t
can be said OF them what Isaiah said of some
wealthy r. people In his DAY. The spoil Of the
corporations have reduced the wages
or men and women to what political
economists call the life limit" in wages.
The question asked Is not how much can q
man produce and pay him that, but how little
can he live on and give him that. That is the
iron law OF wages. They reduce wages to
the life limit and themselves pocket the
profits. 1t is a fact. and the fact il a blot on
our civilization, that corporations Cypress the
poor to increase their gains. Men who profess
and call themselves Christians unite to form
''monopolies" and "trusts" and other inven-
tlons of the devil to keep up prices on the
necesSaries of life. All these satanic combina-
tions bear most heavily on the men and
women who do the worlds hard work.
| speak the truth of my heart. I would
rather bear the punishment OF the heartless
reprobates who spat in the face of Christ on
the night of His betrayal than bear the pun
lshment that awaits those modern eXtortion-
ers who, in the language of the prophet Israel,
turn aside the needy from justice and take
away the right from the poor of my people"
You cannot insult Almighty God more than
by wronging your fellow, man, for it is writ
ten ten, he that 3Wgpresseth W the poor reproacheth
sion and slavery are over Would to God they
were over. But the fact is, we have white
slaves by the thousands in our land, men and
women who drudge from morn until night,
hardly earning enough to keep soul and body
together. Careful students of labor statistics
tell us tha> relatively to the cost of living, the
united States are m it'll little % or no + better i.ar
than in the old world Read Helen
Campbells Prisoners of Poverty and
learn how the women workers of America are
cheated and robbed by the rich capitalists
who employ them. Go into details, and learn
how much per dozen woman receives for
making shirts, mantles and other garments
worn by the wealthy. Then read Tom Hoods
Song of the Shirt" and see how sadly
awfully true 1t is of the women who are forced
to support themselves by the needle.
With fingers weary and worn,
With eyelids heavy and red
A woman sat in unwomanly rags,
Plying her needle and thread.
Stitch, stitch, stitch
In poverty, hunger and dirt,
And still with voice of dolorous pitch,
She sang the "Song of the Shirt"
It's Oh to be q slave
Along with the barbarous Turk,
Where women has never a soul to save
II this Is Christian work.
That horrid ulcer of society prostitution.
has its roots in and is fed by social system
that makes woman dependent on man,
Many victim TO mans lustful gold down In
her heart says: my poverty not my will con-
sents." Many. poor girl has been pushed
down that dark incline by the relentless pres
sure of poverty.
A just and merciful God will judge who was
most to blame, the woman who was driven,
or those who drove her to such depths by
sleek, fierce fraud, organized into q iniuuit-
Gus industrial system.
/ said that the Bible was on the side of the
l1el anu WOIltu VINO 40 the WOflQS WORK,
and it is. AS Charles Kingsley said, sThe
Bible Is the rich mans warning and the poor
mans comfort"
II you want a scorpion whip to lash the
backs Of the unrighteous rich who defraud
the poor Of their just rights and fair wages
you will find 1t ady-made for you in the
Bible. Listen to this whitening inyective that
fell hot from the inspired lips of the Apostle
James: 60 to, now, ye rich men, weep and
howl for the misery that shall come upon
you. Your riches are corrupted, your gar
ments moth eaten. Your gold and silver is
cankered, and the rust OF them shall be wit
ness against you, and shall eat your flesh as
1t were fire. Behold the hire OF the laborers
| who have reaped down your fields which is of
| you kept back by fraud, crieth, and the cries
of them who have reaped that is of them who
have done the worlds work. are entered into
the ears Of the Lord of Sabbaoth +"
God in heaven to-day hears the cry OF
earth's weary toilers as truly as he heard the
bitter cry that rose from the slave-fields of
Egypt three thousand years ago. And he who
smote the crown and pride of Egypt will
smite the modern Pharaohs who to enrich
themselves grind the faces OF the poor"
The light must be turned on these social
subjects. The press must do il. The pulpit
must do 1t. Men who love truth and Justice
and. humanity must stand in the puipits OF
the land and speak out against the wrongs of
man as distinctly as did the prophets Of the
olden time. Listen to jeremiah and tell me
| II his words have no application to men to-
day: wv oe unto him that buildeth his house
by unrighteousness and his chambers by
wrong; that useth his neighbor's service with
| out wages and giveth him not for his work -
! Has not the Bible something to say on work
/ and wages? How can a man preach the
whole Gospel of God and not discuss social
! problems? You imagine that God is princi-
| pally interested in ecclesiastical matters-that
| He is chiefly occupied with listening to the
| prayers of the devout. You imagine that re-
| ligion has to do mainly with ordinances cere-
monies, creeds, etc; but this old Bible assures
us that God is as interested in the manufact-
urer'S payroll as in the worshipers PRAYER
| book. The great God who sits on the throne
| of universe, descends to make laws In de-
fense of those who do the worlds work Con
slider how tender, Just and humane this old
Mosaic law is: The wages of him that is hired
shall not abide with thee all night until morn
ing" To pretend to worship God and
neglect these labor laws is rank heresy.
The teachings of the Bible on work and
vision of the sordid world to-day. The
church has been telling men that they
will be damned unless their creed is correct
This book declares that damnation will fall
upon wrong doers rather than on wrong
thinkers. Men will be judged not by their
creeds but by their deeds. Jesus found men
whose religion allowed them to "devour
widows houses" while they made "long
prayers" He did not denouncs prayer but
he did make it clear that to pay we'll was as
much religious duty as to pray well.
Wrongs done TO man cannot be Cancelled, or
atoned for, by worship offered to God.
The Bible is humanitys book. 1t is the peo-
pies book. II champions the cause of the
weak against the strong, of the poor against
the rich. Not against the rich because they
are rich, but BECAUSE they are unjust 1t Is
against injustice that the Bible wars. A sys-
TEN that puts the multitude at the mercy OF
the few is rotten at the base. Half a dozen
or more men determine how much the mil
lions OF America shall pay for the oil they
burn In their lamps. Another score or so
decide the price these millions shall paw for
the coal they burn In their stoves. Ifthe peo-
pie complain these autocrats sneeringly
answer, WHAT are you going TO do about il.
We have you in our grip and will hold YOU
there" Wendell Phillips said he was
ashamed of q civilization which made 5, 600
men depend on one. What would he think of
a civilization that makes &C, 900, 900 depend