The advocate., 1891-12-30
EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.
CONNEAuTYTELE. PN., DEE. 20. 186

| Guo COunbEy ANOm pA&Co W PAhCcg nue
many things from day to day in the pres
that indicate the trend Of public senti
ment, both among the masses and among
the classes. An instance Of the latter
find in The Progressive Thinker, of Chi
cago, in the issue of December 10Th, un
der the title of "Hard Times from the
Side of an Aristocrat." I desire to lei
The PROGRESSIVE Thinker tell its owE
story. 1t is as follows:
There never was, nor can there be, a more
brutal, utterly selfish and despicable doc
trine than the Darwinian struggle fol
existence" when applied to the social rela,
tions of man. It iusti6es oppression, the
aggregation of wealth in the hands OF
those able to grasp il, the occupation o.
everything the "fittest" are able to gain anG
keep. Thus far, in more or less distant
way, religion has held aloft an ideal, pure
unselfish and undefled by the instructive
passions of the brute. Now this sacred
ground is invaded. The pulpit is infected
with the theories of material science, in.
fected with the crude matter of material
ism, which stops short of the half way
boundary between matter and spirit, and
sees in man only an obiectless animal. Oh
course the poor, the unfortunate, are not tC
be considered. They are the "unfit," and
charity, which would prolong their lives il
opposed to the laws of nature. She weeds
out the "unfit" by disease and famine. That
is the way she improves the species, and
charity thwarts her purpose. The poor, by
their poverty, show their ''unftness," and
starvation and disease ought to be allowed
to cut them off and give more room for the
wealthy few.
Yes, the pulpits are imbibiug this doc
trine and mixing it with the sayings of the
Great Teacher, who, not having place to lay
His head, showed, according to this new exc
gesis, His eminent "unftness' to live.
Rev. Brooke Herford is an example. He
is sleek, well fed, an arlstocrat ministering
to an aristocratic church, the members of
which know not the hard hand of toll. The
other day he went to flourish his eloquence
and advise with his wisdom the Associated
Charities of Boston. Did he repeat: $50
sell all thou hast and give to the poor2"
Oh, no. On the generous hearts of the as
sembly of the most sympathetic and de-
voted men and women in the east, he
poured the icy water of his proud and un-
feeling philosophy. He said, "good, whole
some starvation" was what he believed in.
Starvation to make the poor more careful
and prudent, so that they would have some
thing ahead for hard times. Here is the
problem: A laborer with wife and four
children-say only four-receives SO q week
wages, less So for rent. With economy, the
most common food can be provided, with
clothes that are darned and patched to the
last. How much wholesome starvation"
must such family bear, 30 they will learn
TO save and thus become Astors2 Ah, Rev.
Brooke Herford, to save, there must be
something left to save. You might as well
say that starvation would loosen the chains
from the limbs on which they were riveted,
as that it would teach those to save who,
after the bare necessities are obtained, have
nothing left but dependent mouths asking
for more. It is all we'll to talk about the
extravaganza and want Of forethought and
improvidence of the poor; of the money
they waste in drink. The very men who
make these charges indulge in single sup
pers that cost more than the wages of a
toiler for year, and drink wines, single
bottle of which represents a hard days
labor. All! wholesome starvation" might