The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-06-29

vicws ~ MIN 70 Wnom tne Queetlon u PM
Georges theory II another. Ths labo
unions theory IL another. Bellany woulS
have Z condition Of affairs, in which ever
man would be a laborer. Sure Of work ant
sure OF enough compensation to satisfy
would have . condition OF affairs tina
would secure equal enjoyment of Cod
bounty: abundant opportunity TO satisfy
wants, but leave competition in tact. Thu
rich and the poor wonld still sxist
but his 'iand theory" he thinks
that there would be no slaves. Il
all men had an equal chance to draw
livelihood from mother earth. The labor
unions theory is simply to keep up wages
to the highest notch, now obtaining. Which
in my Judgment is a mere expediency-can
never settle the difficulty that exists. II
does not touch the problem. except on it,
outer circumference. II merely says, "by
tho strength OF combine We will demand
and secure wages that will furnish us with
bread, meat and clothing for to-day"
Bellamy goes to the root of the problem,
he advanced will solve it, He may not have
worked out the details in perfection. There
may be many notifications necessary. Blu
to my min there is but one way to adjust
labor and capital, and that ia TO make every
man 4 laborer and every man a capitalist,
j WAASA ~ AbV0S WAhV uO PAOHObCos ~ AVuk
~ some men are rich and Others poor there
will be friction in the machinery of the
world. 1t is said we oanno get rid Of that.
Why not? ii we believe in the eternal God
as tbs rightful ruler and governor OF the
world.
Do We not pray. "Thy kingdom com on
earth, AZ 1t is heaven" DO we not teach
equal rights to the gifts of grace, that to
every man. except the wicked and I'M
worthy, the inheritance Of the kingdom of
heaven is promised, and that there is no
friction there, there all enjoy alike. We
give equal rights in heaven land see no
difficulty about it,. but on earth. it can
of the worlds goods! God surely means to
have every one of us happy, and it is not
human nature to be content with q con-
dition of affairs that gives to few, more
than they have any need for, and the many,
less than they ought to have to make life
comfortable. Ii il has been said (of course
with a sneer) 'the priests are ready enough
to give the poor an equal share in all that
is out OF sight, but they take precious good
care that tho rich shall keep q tight grip
on all that is within sight" I would like
to ask isn't there just enough truth involved
in that charge to give it a sting? l sur
mise that it is 30 widely believed that
therein We may discover, if w will only
open our yes and see. the answer to the
question SO often wrestlsd with. by men
of the cloth: why are the masses indiffer.
emit to the church?' The following excerpt
seems to me to strike the nail on the head.
No apology is needed for quoting at length,
because it is worth reading and thinking
over, though you have read it and thought
over II hsretofore: why should not
the working masses turn away from or
ganized religion? What is the office
of religion if not to point out the principles
that ought to govern the conduct of men
toward each other; to furnish . clear. de-
cisivs rule of right which shall guide men
in all tho relations of life-in the workshop.
in the matt, in the forum and in the Senate,
as we'll as in the church; to supply, as it
Of passion, the alterations of greed and the
delusions of = short-siRhted expedienoy,
men may safely steerY What is tho use of
a religion that stands pslsied and faltering
in the face of the momsntous problems?
What is the use OF a religion that, whatever
it may promise for the next world, can do
nothing to prevent injustice in this? Early
Christianity was not such a religion, else it
would not have encountered the Roman
prosecutions; else 1t would never have
swept the Roman world. The skeptical
masters OF Rome, tolerant of all gods, care
tions, were keen!y sensitive to q doctrine
based on equal rights; they feared in
stinctively a seligion that inspired a slave
with a new hope: that took
for its central figure a crucihsd
carpenter! that taught tne equal fatherhood
of God and the equal brothe. mood of men;
that looked for the 81 eedy reign of justice,
and that prayed '"rhy kingdom come on
EARTH" = = to-day. in regard to the
condition OF labor men, are saying, some
thing is wrong. \ n Is it not the bust
ness of religion to say clearly and fearlessly
that of old. when threatened and perplexed
by general disaster, men came to the ora
cles to ask, In what have We offended the
gods? To-day, menaced BY growing evils
that threaten the very existence OF society.
men. conscious that something is wrong,
are putting the same question to the min
listers of religion. What is tho answer they
get? Alas, with few exceptions, it is as
vague, az inadequate as the answers that
used to come from the heather oracle.
What IL the prayer that goes up daily and
hourly wherever the name Of Christ ia hon
ored, by all. the Oldest and the youngest,
aud the richest and the poorest, supposed
to go up to the ear Of the Father of ali? 1t
is. 'Givs us this day our daily bread!' But
does the answer always come? Isn't there
lack of bread sometimes? If SO. why?
Are we not taught that God ia . better
Father h those Of the tssh2 They will
not give a stone for bread. nor a serpent
for fish; and for the most part all the chill
dren are treated alike bv an earthly parent.
Now, if this prayer, 'Givs US this day our
daily bread" is sometimes unhssrd, and
We cannot toll why? may not the ~scoffers
mock us, as Elias Knocked the prophets of
Baal, saving, Cry with a louder voice, for
he ID a God; and perhaps he is talking, or
he is in a inn, or on a journey, or perhaps
he is asleep, and must be Awakened"
Either there is no God. or He is asleep;
or else he does give men their daily bread,
M it is in some way intercepted. Here il
the answers: If men lack bread it is not
that God has not Iona his part in provid-
ing it. If men willing to labor are cursed
with poverty, it is not that the storehouse
tina. God owes mon has failed; that the
daily supply He has promised for the daily
wants of His children is not here in abun-
dance. 1t is, that impiously violating the
benevolent intentions of their Creator mon
have nade private property of that provis-
ion that = bountiful Father made fer all.
God never fails to answer prayer, but men
do not deliver the message intact, nor hand
over the goods. They garbls the one. per
suadinQ men who want that God means to
make something grand out of them through
their hard necessities. and stimulate the
others, convincing them that a crust of
bread given in charity from the heart is
the All-MercifuPs answer to their cry.
1t has been said and said and said till We
have come to accept it. that it is a Chris
tian duty for fathers to struggle. to aocu-
mulate something to leave to their children
on tho contrary. intensely anti-Christisn,
be a Christian obligation, "Woe be unto
u.s." "Woe be unto She millions" who less
strong, less lucky, less interruptions, than
thu fev ara upEblA tn oat Annuub aba.6 -