St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-30
MINNEAPOLIS.
RESPONSIBILITY OF RICHIE.
Rev. William Wilkinson Voice
Soma Idnac CT, Thic S,1hinnf


is reported to have spoken in recent
speech:
mo anarchist or socialist" said he,
SIS so dangerous to the community a.
the rich man who makes money for his
own selfish enjoyment"
mir. Depew has seen much of life i'll
all places. He is a wealthy man, a
very large employer or director of labor:
a man Of affairs, a man of society, and q
churchman, who can have no relish fOr
the socialist on one hand, or tie an
archist on the other. Yet he declares
boldly and truly enough that men who
add house to house and land to land,
and who look upon themselves as alone
the persons to enjoy these things, are
menace to the state. Aid so they are
And they cause more than half the dis
content in ali lands to-day. as they have
in every land and I'D every historic
time. Such men do not see the gravity
of the opposition they provoke, or they
would not. as now they often do, tiaunt
their wealth and their enjoyment of it
in the face aud view Of men whose lives
are one struggle for the decent pro-
visions of life.
How to reach such rich men is the
question, so they may take a proper
view OF the prosperity they have, and
that they may use the wealth they pos
sess so that it may do good and help to
give stability to society and make the
heart of the sad to sing for very joy.
Let 1t at the outset be clearly and un-
mistakably stated that it is not by en-
acting law which shall say to every
rich man Divide thy goods; all men are
or ought to be equal; every man has a
natural right to part of your money
For that would sap the very springs
of thrift. 1t would kill honest
enterprise in all large under
takings. 1t would, in very many cases,
be absolute robbery, and is to be at the
beginning, on every wise consideration,
condemned, root and branch. Yet there
is HIGHER, nObler law comes into just
operation, which, if let do its perfect
work, will reach, eradicate and cast out
the evils of selfish wealth, and give to
large possessions glory and meaning
they in any other light can never have,
and fill them with a possibility of bless
ing rich and rare for their owner. Let
him take for himself generous living;
make just provision for those who de-
pend upon him; then let him look
round and ask: How can / best use
my money so that it will do the most
good to the world in which L
live, for | cannot take it with
me? If l could the archangel could not
change a dime, nor can | control it. 1t
will quickly have passed out of my
hands. | shall soon have gone to
place III which it is not a legal tender.
At that time this wealth of mine may be
put TO a use | would not have had. But
here and now there are many ways of
using it TO bless men and to bring honor
to God, who alone has given me power
to get wealth. This man will find that
the more he thinks upon these aspects
of money and mems needs, the wider
will open the door of usefulness, and
the greater the mission and honor of
wealth. At once lie will see that there
is no perfect isolation, no perfect sepa-
ration in the world: that is divine
order and decree; that we are every
man related to his fellow man, and that
we all are, in large measure, depend
ent one upon another. 1t will be
as clear as the sun at noon that the man
who tolls with his hands is as needfIl
to the body social as is the man who
thrills the popUlace with his eloQuence;
that the man whose back is bent with
the weary burden of life for three score
years and ten III occupations men label
mental is Just as necessary as the
statesmen who rule nations, and is often
more honest. The rich man will soon
see that wealth, if not the result of cir
is so In very many cases, and in
most that it is the result of powers
which their owners had 20 part in gain
ing, for acquiSitiVnesS is a natural gift,
as men speak of natural. And he will
also find that now, as in all past days.
the pure joys, the great sorrows Of life,
are not the heritage of any one class,
whether the rich, the poor, the ignO-
rant or the learned. but that men in all
stations in life need sympathy, while
many need just what rich men can
give.
"Oh, that l could, in this year of
wealth; this year when God has visited
our earth and watered it; when He has
warmed it with sunshine and kissed it
into fruitfulnesS above the expectation
Of the husbandman; when there is
plenty in the village and prosperity in
the city; when the worth of farm lands
is increased: when the traffic, and hence
the income, of the railways Will be
larger: when men will pull down their
barns and build greater; when mort
cages will be paid and houses enlarged;
when the singing of the turtle is
of plenty in every street! Oh,
that l could reach for one
short hour the ear and gain the heart of
men whom love Of God has blessed with
wealth and sound in their ear the cry of
the needy, the poor, the lame, or halt or
blind-the needs Of men and women
who have grown old in the ranks of pow
erty and who now linger in homes that
their loved ones have left! | think there
would not be children'S home, a hos
pital for the sick, inirm poor or a place
intended to Tighten the lot Of the unfor-
tunate but would find it had all the
money it needed to carry on the work of
mercy, helpfulneSS and love. Men
would have less, it is true, in banks or
stocks; but in self respect. in the glory
which comes of duty nObly done, not
by the compulsiOn of law, but by the
prOmptings OF the free will service
they would have the salts
faction which is GOdlike; for
He is the king of giverS. Men would
see in wealth not a plutOcracy to curse
men, but potent means of mighty help
which in the direSt sadness sings its
loudest and sweetest songs; the noblest
minds. the most deft hands. the warm
est hearts would all be used in the gain
ing Of money, not for selfish ends, but
rather for the power it brings to bless
and make glad the children of pain and
love; so we should quickly see the one
thing which is how a bone of conten-
ton and stone of stumbling. and which
gives TO the adYenturer at least nall MS
stock in trade, to the agitatOr his
grounds of attack upon institutions as
we understand them. changed into the
long-dreamed-of but never found phil
Osopher's stone, which turns all into
gold. Ask the most wisely gener-
Gus man of wealth you have ever
known swhat part of his money has
been TO him the most decidedly blessed,
how he got the most exquisite pleasure,
which part has done him and others the
most good, he will tell you his purest
Joy has come out of that he did not use
Tor selfish purposes, but for the good OF
his fellows. Ask the poorest man you
know, who has had an uphill fight with
want, a man with ache in every limb
pain in every part of his body, man
who could not take care of his own
wants and needs? Whom do you most