Democratic messenger., 1894-01-06
AT TIE TABERNACLE.
REV Or. TaLMAGE breaches ON THE
GREAO QUESTION.

Ever Present Distress Among tn. Work
ing Classes Alcohol and Improv i.Icnce
Are P"'-=: Factors.
BRooxLyN. Jan. 1T seemed appro-
pirate that DIR. Talmage should preach
this sermon after his personal contribu-
tion Of 5000 pounds nf incat and :, 900
loaves of bread to the poor who gather
ed shivering III the cold around the nak-
cry and meat store of Brooklyn, where
the food was distributed without tick
cts. and no recommendation required
except hunger. The text was, Matthew
XVI. II. Ye have the poor always
with YOU.
Who said that? The Christ who
never owned anything during his earth
ly stay. His cradle and his grave were
borrowed Every fix he ate was from
some one else's tree. Every drop of
water he drank was from some one else s
well. To pay his personal tax. which
was very small. only 81 cents, he had
10 perform miracle and make fish
pay it, All the heights and depths and
lengths and hreadths Of poverty Christ
measured III his earthly experience. and
when he comes to speak of destitution
he always speaks sympathetically. and
what he said then is as true now" Ye
have the poor always with You"
For 6.O0n years the bread question
has been the active and absorbing ques-
ton. Witness the people crowding mp
to Josephs storehouse in Egypt. Wit
ness the famine in Samaria and .Ieru-
salem. Witness the 1000 hungry people
for whom Christ multiplied the loaves
Witness the uncounted millions of pco-
pie now living. who. believe. have
never yet had one full meal of health
ful and nutritious food in all their
fives. Think of the :1i4 great famines
in England. Think of the 81. 600. 900
people under the hoof of hunger year
before last in Russia. The failure of
the Nile TO overflow for seven years in
the eleventh century left those regions
depopulated. Plague of insects in Eng
land Plague of rats in Madras PIesi-
dency. Plague of mice in Essex. Plague
of locusts in China. Plague of grass
hoppers in America. Devastation
wrought by drought. hy delnge. by
frost. by war. by hurricane. by earth
quake. by comets flying too near the
earth. by change in the management of
national finances. by baleful causes in
Vulnerable. proceed TO give you three
or four reasons why my text is marked
ly and graphically true in this year
1894
THE TARIFF BUGBEAR.
The first reason we have always the
poor with us is because of the perpet-
ual overhauling of the tariff question,
or. as shall call it, the tariffic contro-
versy. There is need for such word,
and so take the responsibility Of man
ufacturing il. There are millions of
people who are expecting that the pres
ent congress of the United States will
do something one way or the other to
end this discussion. But il will never
end. When ! was $ years of age. re-
member hearing my father and his
neighbors in vehement discussion Of
this very question. 1t was high tariff
or low tariff or no tariff at all. When
Your great grandchild dies at 80 years
Of age. it will probably he from over
exertion in discussing the tariff. On
the day tho world is destroyed. there
will be three men standing on the post
office steps-one high tariff man.
another low tariff man. and the other
"a Tree trade man-each one red in the
face from excited argument ON this sub
Iect. Other questions may get quieted.
the Mormon question, the silver ques-
tion. the pension question, the civil scrv-
ice question. All questions of annex
alton may come to peaceful settlement
by the annexation of islands two weeks
voyage away and the heat of their vol
canoes conveyed through pipes under
the sea made useful in warming our
continent, or annexation of the moon,
dethroning the queen Of night. who is
said TO he dissolute. and bringing the
lunar populations under the influence
Of our free institutions; yea. all other
questions. national and international.
may he settled. hut this tariffic ques-
settled. hut il can never be moderately
quiet for more than three years at a
time. each party getting into rower
taking one of the four years to fix il
mp. and then tho next party will fix it
down. Our finances cannot get well be-
cause oi too many doctors. II is with
sick nations as with sick individuals
IN Il. A.
his hody y doctor is called in. and he
administers febrifuge. "A spoonful ev
cry hour But recovery is postponed
and the anxious friends call in another
doctor. and he saws: What this pa
iient needs is blood letting: now roll
But still recovery is postponed, and a
homeopathic doctor is called in. and he
administers some small pellets and
says. M the patient wants is rest. 4"
Recovery still postponed. the family
say that such small pellets cannot
amount To much anyhow, and an allo-
pathic doctor is called III. and he SAYS,
What this patient wants is calomel
and jalap. Recovery still postponed
hydrOpathic - s,ctor is called in, and
he says What this patinet wants is
hot aud cold baths. and he must have
them right away. Turn on the faucet
and get ready the shower baths. Re-
covery sill postponed. an eclectic doc
tor is called in. and he brings all the
schools 10 hear upon the poor sufferer
and the patient. after brave struggle
for life. expires. What killed him?
Too many doctors. And that is what is
killing our national finances. My per-
sonal friends. Cleveland and Harrison
and Carlisle and Mckinley and Sher-
man. as talented and lovely and splen-
did men as walk the earth. all good
doctors. hut their treatment of our Ian
gushing huances is so different that
neither treatment has full opportu.