Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1893-04-13

Social Questions Are Religious Questions
Messages That Make Comfortable Sim
ners Squirm-The Labor Movement the
Church's Opportunity.
At recent meeting of the Kansas
City Ministers alliance Rev. Charles L.
Kloss of the Southwest tabernacle read a
paper on the Labor Movement In Amer
lea" from which the following excerpts
are made:
The greatest herctic and sinner Of his age Is
the man who supposes that the content of
religious thought is fixed, and that he or his
churchly progenitor has fixed 1t. The next sim
ner in rank is the man who limits religious
questions to purely speculative, theological or
doctrinal.
These are new times, and there are new Is
sues and questions to face, and the old gospel
has In 1t q heroic and new message to fit the
issue.
Social Questions-and the labor movement Is
the most gigantic of them all, absorbs and In
wolves most every social relation-are religious
questions They concern mans relation 10
man, and 1t is possible to SO get a message out
of the divine word with reference to them as to
make every comfortable sinner In our pews
squirm In studying the labor movement 1t Is
necessary to take into account the complex ele-
ments entering into 1t, its history, what the
movement stands for and involves, and the re-
lation Of the state and church to 1t. Sixty or
more years ago there was no labor movement.
The capitalist sat at the same bench with his
three or four Journeymen. Now the capitalist
is one of many associated in q corporation, is
fenced Off from his employees by rules and
regulations, comes in contact with them only
through subordinates, and what he schemes
for and gets is dividends.
But for years the gulf has been widening.
We never had SO many millionaires as now,
nor so many tramps; never so much wheat,
corn and breadstuffs and never bread SO scarce.
Laws have been made favoring the strong
naturally-the strong made them. The sur
vival of the fittest obtains-with the definition,
"The fittest are the financially strong" man
ranks in the eyes of the world according to his
wealth, with very little scrutiny as to how he
made 1t or how he spends 1t. Such a premium
has been put on wealth that a man is hardly
eligible to our highest legislative body except
he be a millionaire. Men cannot deny the
gradual infringement of the rights of the
weaker by the stronger. 1t has been SO imper-
ceptible, 1t has come so gradually and 1t has
been only recently that the laboring man be-
gan to think he had any rights at all, and only
recently that there has been such thing as la
Dor legislation.
There had been occasional mutterings now
and then, u strong ringing protest from some
laboring men or friend of the laboring man be-
fore the war, but the labor movement we now
have Is q development since the war, and has
made its greatest record in the past decade.
1t Is a movement to secure more leisure, bet
ter wages and more economic resources to the
laborer. 1t might be characterized that way as
a whole. 1t began as organization in self de-
fense, and no one questions their right to do so.
Capital had been organized and entrenched for
selfish and predatory purposes for years. The
labor movement by reason of its organization
ought to excite the sympathy of every man who
loves fair play. Labor is the under fellow In
the fight-and fight 1t is, no kind of fine talk
can disguise. 1t Is war, gigantic, colossal, as
no war of history, and in its wake follow all
the horrors of conflict of desperate forces.
The first efforts of laboring men excited ridi-
cule, as many of their attempts have since
Generally now they see how long and slow a
growth the present state of society Is, and how
1t is to be corrected by long and slow process
of teaching and training by use of the ballot.
Strikes are growing In disfavor, and arbitra-
ton is advised. We laugh at the bombast and
rhetoric of their preambles and resolutions,
but they are correcting their rhetoric and have
turned the laugh on us again and again by their
ability to make good many of their demands.
The labor movement is the churchs oppor-
tunity-a chance to show friendliness and for
ever win instead of ALLEVIATE the wageworker
Two as safe and conservative economists as
Washington GLADDEN. and Richard L. Ely as
sert that the workingman Is slowly being alien
ated from the church. Washington GLADDEN.
found In his own church, with seats free, a
plain building and special efforts to reach
them, only about one-tenth of the families be-
longing to this class, whereas Of ~ leading
business men of Columbus 40 per cent were
communicates and n per cent were regular at
tendants. Whatever the cause-we have not
time to discuss 1.-THE fact is indeed a hard one
and admitted without much dispute.
The bulk of Christ's ministry was to the bod
les of men. Touch a mans body, and you put
in an entering wedge for the whole gospel TO
follow. General Booth is an expert in reaching
the masses, and he does it none the less effect
lively because he tries to give men employment
and creature comforts before he sings psalms
to them. There Is just the environment to feed
spiritual life. Too much help vitiates as well
as too little. That is why Solomon, suppose.
wished for neither extreme. 1t Is not demanded
to reduce men to a dead level, but to elevate.
eliminate to some degree pressing, biting temp
tations, and help solve some of the practical re-
ligious problems.
The ministers are the natural leaders of this
movement or ought to be-not to advocate any
specific reform 50 much, as by their attitude