Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-07-13
THEPOWER OF MONEY
REV THOMAS DlxoN's SERMON ON
THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.


CAFE CHARLES, Va. July 2.-Rev
Thomas Dixon. Jr., has closed his cot
tage here for July and August and re
moved, with his family, to Cobbs is
land, on the seaside. Cobbs island i
the next island to tie south from Broad
water the IA lite resort of President
Cleveland on q Virginia coast. 1t i.
merely a "Trip Of canl. with the ocean OF
one side AMI Droa lwater bay on the 9th
or. Il las been /; sar,ors resor. for
long number OF years for hunters and
for fishermen. II is the center Of the
hunting and fishing district Of the east
ern shore of Virginia.
Mr.. Dixon began today a series of ser.
mons, to be continued through July and
August, on the question of "Money and
Christianity; or, The Modern Problem Of
the Almighty Dollar The introduction
to the series was delivered this morning
in the Methodist church at Cobb's island.
Through the months of July and August
the hotel and cottages are crowded with
guests from every part of the country.
The audience was a representative one.
composed Of men Of every class and sta
ton in life, but included a large number
of country people in Northampton coun-
ty who have grown to know Mr.. Dixon
during his residence on the cape through
the past spring months
The text chosen was Exodus xxi, 3,
A. And all the people brake off the
golden rings which were in their ears
and brought them unto Aaron. And he
received them at their hand and fashioned
it with a craving tool and made it a
molten calf, and they said These be thy
gods, o Israel, which brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt"
MODERN IsRAELITEs.
The children Of Israel, if they were the
first to make golden calf and worship
it, certainly have not been the last peo-
pie guilty of this desertion of the true
God for the image made with human
hands. The problem of money is the
problem of the latter days of the nine
teenth century. The problem of money
is in fact the problem of modern life. 1t
is the one question with which we are all
intimately concerned from the very be-
ginning of life to its close. 1t costs
money to be born into the world, and
under present tariff schedules ii costs
more to die. From the beginning TO the
end il is this everlasting money question
with which mortal man is confronted. |
The money issue is the one magnet
around which all other problems at last
do center. Mans interest in money
seems to be the power by which he can
be tested both physically and morally. |
The French government uses this magnet
as the power by which mans capacity for
the army is frequently tested. When men
are summoned to enter the army, they |
are often afflicted with various diseases
of sudden development. Men are stricken
dumb and deaf in most unacccuntable
ways. A deaf man appears before the
French tribunal as possible army re-
cruit. He of course can hear nothing
The loudest word of command makes no
impression on him. He declares through
signs that he cannot hear il thunder.
After the examination is completed and
he has been discharged as unfit for serv-
ice, as he departs from the tribunal an
officer follows him to the street and
drops a gold coin behind him on the
pavement. Instantly he turns, attracted
by the magic ring of the coin, to pick it
up He is at once arrested and forced
into the army ranks. 1t is test of mans
character in thousand ways 1t is a
test of a nations character. 1t is the test
Of the nature of society as well as of in
diyiduals and nations.
FARMERS ALLIANCE.
Our own nation is most intimately ;
just now with this tremen-
dous problem and its possible develop |
ments. We are in the throes of posi- |
Bile panic that will be an epoch making I
event in our history. Men are studying ,
the money problem as never before, and ]
they are studying it from the bottom to q
'he top. The question of money involved 4
n the problem of gold or of silver as a |
standard opens finally the broader ques- |
ion of the right of money to exist. We e
ire brought face to face with the tbeo- C
les promulgated by the great French Il
md German socialists of the past cen a
ury. In tine theories of the Farmers t
A1AaASO dhu ibS dllicu pdTIitS we dlc
rought face to face with the reincar-
ated doctrines of Karl Marx and Rod
ertus D
These problems of money standard D
nd of the question of intrinsic value 20 b
} the very heart of the social problem of a
he century. They will not be settled in II
day. They will not be settled in one "
or in two. This money 7
roblemis destined to make and unmake T
arties and statesmen for the next quar- n
II of a century 1t is the problem Of 7
lie hour. In the world of politics it is Sc
lie problem of the future for the pro "
'u,,aest statesman. In our Introduction d;
} this study we do not propose to enter bi
pom the discussion of these profound as W
cts Of the money problem. We shall us
scuss rather money as the unit of com. nc
ercial value, and therefore the stand nc
d of measurement for economic pow RI