The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-01-09

is the wicked spirit of improVluence. "A
vast number of people have such sma-. in
come that they cannot lay by IN savings
bank or life insurance one cent year. IL
takes every farthng they can n earn eI,1 10 20
educate the chi dren, and IL you Dldlle t
such people for iinprovidence, you enact
a cruelty. On such salary as many GERMS aI
and employees and many ministers OF REL
gion live, and on such wages as nllny
/workmen receive they cannot, IN twenty
years, lay up 20 cents. But you know anu
I know many who have competent income
and could provide somewhat tor the future,
who live up. every dollar. and when they ,
die, their children go to the poorhouSe or on
the street. BY the time the wife Sets the
husband buried she IS in debt to the under
taker and gravedigger for that Wnlcn she
can never pay. While the man llVed ne
had his wine parties and fairy SUNK WITH
tobacco, and then expired leaving DIS falnl-
" upon the charities of the world 10 not
quies and read over such a carcass the
beautiful liturgy: BLESSED are the dead
who die in the Lord" for, instead OF that,
I will turn over the leaves of the Bible to
First Timothy, 9Th chapter 18TH verse
where it says: "If any provide not for his
own, and especially for those OF his own
house. he hath denied the faith, and is
worse than an infdel," I will turn to
jeremiah, 22d chapter, 10Th verse where
it says: "He shall be buried with the
burial of an ass. drawn and cast forth be-
yond the gates of Jerusa en-" / cannot
imagine any more unfair or meaner thing
than for man to get his sins pardoned at
the last minute. and then go TO heaven
and live in a M onsion. and go ridinS about
In golden chariot over the golden streets,
while his wife and children, whom he might
have provided for, are begging for cold
Victuals at the basement door OF an earthly
city. Il seems to me there ought to be
poorhouse somewhere on the outskirts Of
heaven, where those guilty of such i'm
providence should be kept for while on
thin soup and gristle instead of sitting
down at the Kings banquet 1t is said
that the church is divine institution and
[ believe it. Just as certainly are the saw
in =
divine institutions. AS out of evil good
often comes. so out of the doctrine Of prob
abilities. ca culated by Professor Hugens
and Professor Pascal for games of chance,
came the calculation of the probabilities of
human life as used by life insurance com
panieS, and no business on earth is more
Sable or honorable, and no mGhtier me- cy
for the human race has been born since
Christ was born. Bored beyond endurance
there is one style of paper that | always
sign with a feeling of Sladness and triumph,
ana that IS q paper when me ne lnaur-
ance company requires from the clergyman
after decease in his congregation, in
order to the payment of the policy to the
bereft household. | always write my name
then so they can read il. | cannot help but
say to myself: Good tor that man to nave
looked after his Wltc and children after
earthly departure. May he have one OF
the best seats in heaVen!" Young man!
The day before or the day alter you get
married, so To Il life insurance company of
established reputation and get the medical
examiner TO put the stethoscope to your
lungs and his ear close up TO your heart,
with your vest of, and have signed, sealed
and delivered to You a uocument that VIII,
in the case OF your sudden departure, make
for that lovely girl the difference between
Il queen and a pauper / have known men
who have mad an income OF $1,000 $4,000,
$1,000 year, who did not leave one tarthIng
to the surviving househo Il. Now that mans
death is a detalctuon, an outrage, SWIM
die He did Il 1T die; he abscondeC. There
are 100000 people in America today a-hun-
gered through the sin OF improvidence.
=
l cannot AFFORD 10 pay the premium on 81
life Insurance. Are you sure about that?
depend on the promise in jeremiah, 18th
chapter 18th verse: Leave thy fatherless
children L VIII preserve them alive, and
let thy widows trust in Me" But if
you are able to, remember you have no
right to ask God to do for your household
that which you can do for them yourself
For the benefit of those young men excuse
T. practical personality. Beginning my Iife's
work on the munilicent salary of $40 a
year and parsonage and when the call
WaS placed in my hands, | did not know
now in the world / would ever be able to
spend that amount of money, and | remem-
Der ndulging i'll deVOut wish that | might
not be led into worldlness and prodigality
by such an oVerplus of resources and at Il
time when articles CT food and clothing
were higher than they now, | felt it Il
religious duty to get my life insured and l
presented myself at an office of one of the
great companies, and l stood pale and
nervous lest the medical examiner might
have to declare that l had consumption and
heart disease and a half dozen mortal all
ments, but when | got the document, which
J have yet iii full force, | felt u sense of
IlanlineSs and con .idence and quietude and
reinforcement, which is good thing for
any young man to have. For the lack OF that
feeling there are thousands of men today
in Greenwood and Laurel Hill and Mount
Auburn who might well have been alive
and well and supporting their families.
They got q little sick, and they We're SO
worried about what would become OF their
households in case of their demise that their
agitatiOnS oVercame the skill of the ply
sicianS and they died for fear of dying. |
have for many years been such an ardent
advocate of life insurance companies that
some people have supposed that | received
monetary compensation for what | have
said and written. Not penny. ! will give
any man a hundred dollars for every penny
| have received from any life insurance
company. What l have said and written
on the subject has resulted from the CON
yiction that these institutions are a bcnCtlic-
ton to the human race. But, alas, for the
Widespread imprOV idenCe! You now in
your charities helping to support the fami-
lies of men who had more income than You
now have or ever have had, or ever win
have and you can depend on the IMPROVE
dence of many for the truth of my text
in all times and in all places: ''Ye have the
poor always with you"
Another fact you may depend upon for
perpetual poverty is the incapacity OF many
to achieve n livelihood. You can go through
any community and find good people with
more than usual mental caliber, who never
have been able to support themselves and
their households. They are mystery to US,
and we say: Il do not know what is the
matter OF them, but there is q screw loose
somewhere" Some of these persons have
more brain than thousands who make
splendid success. Some are too Sanguine
of temperament, and they bargains
where there none. A common nlinnOw
is to them goldfish, and a quail Il llamnSo,
and blind mule on a tCWpath a Bucepha-
lus. Ehey buy when things are highest
and sell when things are lowest. Some one
tells them of city lots out Wes., where the
foundation OF the first house has not yet
been laid. They say, What an opDOrtuni-
ty. and they put down the hard cash
for an ornamented deed for ten lots under
water They hear of a new silver mine
opened in Nevada, and they say, what a
chance" and they take the little money
they have in the savings bank and pay 1t
out for as beautiful a certificate of mining
stock as ever printed and the only
thing they will ever get out of the invest
ment is the aforesaid Illuminated Autograph.
They are always on the verge of million
airedon1. and are sometimes worried as to
whom they shall bequeath their excess OF
fortune. They invest i'll aerial machines,
or now inventions in perpetual motion, and