The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-25
THE MAMMON OF AMERICA.
Rev. 7. h. BlenuS breaches On the Bdle
Of The COultTy'S Great Wealth.

Danger Of the Vast Accumulation Of
Money-Dr. Josiah Strong's Figures.
Rev. T. H. Blenus of the Christian
| church preached yesterday morning on
the Mammon OF America Mr.. Blenus
/ quoted the 10th verse of the 62d Psalm;
Trust not in oppression and become not
vain in robbery. If riches increase set not
/ your heart upon them !" also, the words
Of Solomon, "A good name is rather to be
chosen than great riches, and loving a
yor than silver or gold - also, Christ's
words, ''Ye cannot serve God and Nam
mon.
America to-day, said Mr.. Blenus,
! the richest of the nations, and although
I young in years, we are rapidly becoming
/ old in wealth, experience and influence,
and still it can be safely said we are yet
in our infancy in the development of inn
! mense resources. We have millions of
/ fertile and productive acres yet unsettled.
We have hundreds Of millions of feet of
| lumber yet uncut, standing in virgin for
ests. while our mineral wealth, untold in
| its immensely, has scarcely been pros
| pected. With such resources, with the
| wonderful developments now taking
| place, we are rich people, and growing
! richer every day.
WHERE THE DANGER LIES.
Here lies the danger. here turks the
enemey Paul the Apostle said, ''They
that will be rich fall into temptation and
a snare, and into many foolish and hur T.
tul lusts, which drown men in destruction
and perditiOn, for the loveof money is the
root of all evil" What is true of indi-
yiduals is true Of nations. And with us
| to-day the love of money is the root of
nearly all our evils Mammon has be-
come god Of mighty influence among US,
| and his power extends even into the
| hallowed precincts of the church, and
| among his yotaries numbers thousands of
those who profess to love and serve the
Savior of men.
America to-day is being consumed with
the heated passion for gold. Wealth has
always been the parent of righteousness,
luxuriOusness Is the mother of enervation,
and enervation is the bed of decay and
death. Let the history of nations teach
us. In the reign of Solomon, Israel was
the marvel of the world, her gold and her
silver We're so plentiful that it was of lit
tie more value than the stones of the
streets. Nations did her homage, and
bowed in admiration of her luxurious
ness. But destruction soon fol-
lowed this acme of worldly SPLEEN
dor. 1t was so with Babylon
Rome and Spain. Our own celebrated
Bancroft has told us that ''sedition is
bred in the lapof luxury" and already to-
day there are signs, they may be no larger
than mans hand, yet signs of con
spiracy ana sedition in America, which,
like the mutterings of the approaching
thunder or the first tremor of the de-
structive earthquake, are to the observ-
ant ominous.
LIvY's WARNING.
Livy once wrote that "Avarice and lux
ury have been the ruin of every great
state" | cannot think that history will
reverse itself for our especial benefit.
America is yet young, and, like many
young people, is putting in crop of wild
oats; but the harvest will come.
Charles Sumner once said, Nations have
decayed, butit has never been with the i'm
becility of age" We do not have to grow
old to decay. Our forefathers were not
the offspring of luxury. The wolf of
hunger often came painfully near the
doors. They had more respect
for God than for Mammon
to turn their backs on Mammon, leave
him on distant shore, and come to a
country where in the fullness of time,
they engraved on their coin In God we
trust"
Mammon makes men ignore the claims
of God, the spirit of fosters
materialism, hardens the heart
STILES the conscience, and final
ly damns the soul. We have two
hundred thousand persons engaged in
in the manufacture and sale of liquor in
our country. This traffic causes
nine-tenths of our crime and poverty. 1t
annually destroys 10000 lives of our citi-
zens, multiplies thousands of widows and
orphans, and fills thousands of homes
with oh l.,
distilled curse handledl l answer, for
the money there is in it. Mammon is the
god of the rum-seller.
AN ARIsToCRACY OF MONEY.
We have in this country a growing aris-
tocracy. Not of blood, we do not believe
in that. Not of intellectual superiority
because some of our aristocrats can
hardly read or write. Not of unusual
spirituality, as a large portion of Ameri-
can aristocrats are skeptics, or semi-infi-
delS. 1t IS an arlStOcracy of money 1t
seems to matter little how this aristo-
crat gets his wealth. If he only
gets it he can Join the army Of
Mammon worshipers and get into
society. He can make q cool million by
either watering stocks, a continued shut
! down. curtailing Of the meager paw of
! hundreds of day laborers, or in gambling
on million bushels of wheat that Gods
soil never produced 1t matters little
whether he makes it by cheating the
widow and orphan out of the hard armed
/ dollars of deceased husband and father.
| or in selling his honor, his conscience. and
| yes his soul in some deal that unfortu-
| nately he has the power to control; he
makes it, and joins the aristocracy of
! America.
| WHAT Is THE MEANING
! What is the meaning of this9 This
/ gambling, this business of the prize ring
! the brothel where virtue is trodden
! under the foot of Bacchus, and where
reason and honor are blighted foreyer}
All this is for money. We claim the pro
| lection and ask the aid of high heaven.
| while for Mammon's sake we trampIe
under foot nearly every hallowed and
/ sanctitied statute of the Almighty.
| 1t is not wrong to make money; it is
| not wrong to become rich, where both
can be accomplished righteousIy, honestly
and consistently. 1t is wrong to make
| money for moneys sake merely. 1t is here
where MammOn enters and pollutes the
| heart and damns the soul 1t is not ,tour
| money!" our stocks our houses" 1t is
! all Gods, and we are Gods stewards.
The estimate of our national wealth
! places it at S63, 000000,000 Thirtv-one
| thousand persons out of our population of
| over 90, 0O0,000 possess more than one-half
of this.