The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-10
WHAT WEALTH OWES.

"Your wealth Is not your own" said 8
certain clergyman to wel.cushioned pews;
lit is not charity to help the poor, but 8
duty which YOU owe them" A critic IN.
swers: ''lf owe my property to anybody,
to what particular individual do 1 owe til
What Claim has he on me for any part Of 1t,
and for what part? Must we not admit
that the word owe In this application was
wrongly used'"
It cannot be said that the phrase is of nc
consequence OF all the dangers which
threaten modern society. the worst and
greatest comes when those who have little OF
nothing begin to believe that the property oil
others rightly belongs to them; that the rich
man has no right to the property he holds;
must have robbed others or he could not be
rich and ought to he forced to disgorge
Hence the public teacher who, whether In
carclcsSness or in excess OF feeling, uses
words which may be interpreted as denying
the rights of property. is liable to DO more
mischief than years of labor can undo.
On the other hand. the danger comes only
because wealth has ar too often ignored Its
obligations, treated the poor as If they hao
no claims or rights. and poisoned every act
of charity with an insOlrnce of patronage
making it offensive anil inSutferahle. The
hard man who grinds his wor%ingmcn
fleeces to the utmost those with whom he
trades, uses wealth only for selfish ends.
and tramplcs underfoot the poor and the
weak as If they had no souls, can never sci
the account right hv liberal check in the
pate on Sunday. The lives Of such men
make socialism and all its ftiries and 1ollie'
not only possible, hut intensely natural.
The Christian rule il not hard to find.
There is n sense in which every man does
literally owe all that he has and all that he Is
He does in very truth rob somebody, If he
does not devote all that he is and has to the
good of others. He owes to the Infinite
Giver, from whom he has received all. He
holds all property. all powers. and life l'sef,
ONLY as trust. which he has no right to
devote to the qualification of self, but Is
bound by a most sacred duty to use for the
good of Others To him it belongs to nudge
In what way he can best use that trust and
any property he his. to him; and 10 the
Master who will approve or condemn.
But the poor are not God's authorized
collectors. To them belong no title what.
ever to the property. He has given In trust
to others, or suffered others to gain. Only
too oft IN the "unfaithfu servant" Of whom
il was said, "From him that hath not shall
be taken even that which he hath" is he
who has SO abused his powers and onportu-
mites in this world that he can neither care
for others or for himself. and 80 rails at
mankind and society The naked fact that
man has nothing gives him not the right
to the slightest share of the vast wealth
which the holders arc hound to use accord.
ing to the will of the Master. 1t nigh! not
be his will that the nearest penniless man
should have enough money to buy another
drink.
Wealth owes all that it can do to make
the world happier and better. But poverty
also owes all that it can do to the same end.
The poor owe not to the rich nor the rich to
the poor, hut both to him for whom all
are only stewards. For each man the only
question is what he had done with the gifts
and opportunities and powers entrusted to
him.-[New York Tribune.