Birmingham age-herald., 1895-01-27
THE WAY OUT.
Suggested Methods of Overcom-
 ing the Stress of the Times.
Sam Jones Advocates the Application of the Golden Rule as a Remedial Meas ure-PreierrIng Qns Aa9ther -
 In Brotherly Love.
lcopYRic IT. iso5.1

Of the evils Tn Whlcn we ma ourSclVeS so often entanglcd.
 This new year ushers in upon us n condition of things we have never had to meet before.
 It is no part of philosopher now to try to account for the evils which be- set US in the commercial and industrial world, but the real philosopher is hunt ing the way out.
 It has been said that words are leaves, but deeds are fruits" Now is the time for fruits, we have had leaves long enough.
 The cast, with it's problems over the financial and manufacturing issues, the west with it's short crops, Florida with its frozen oranges, the south with it's five cent cotton, the middle states with their overproduction of wool, cattle and horses-thesc all present ques- tions and entanglcments which noth- ing but the wisest wisdom and the most heroic effort ought to tackle. These are the only weapons by which the common difficulties can be conquered.
 Politicians have failed to solve the problem or meet the wants of the peo- pie; the vaporizings of editors and the logic of the philosopher have all alike failed to lead the people out of the will derncss over into Caanan.
 There is but one way out. We can work our way out, for busy man will earn something, busy man does not talk much. busy man does not spend much, busy man has something to pay past dues with. 1t is better to work for nothing than to be idle for pay There are thousand things to which we can turn our hands and keep busy.
 If work was the habit of our lives we would soon find our way out of the diff faculties which beset us on all sides. We have few men who are over worked, but the large majority of men work too little and many not ct all.
 It is the duty of every man not only to be employed at something, but to pay every dollar-cvcry nickel he can on his debts. When ono man pays it ena- bles another and another to pay, and one dollar may travel from San Fran cisco to Boston in a weeks time and pay thousands of dollars of debts.
 This is no time for hoarding money. Every man who has money ought to turn it loose in the best possible way it can be used. There are millions locked up, hidden away, which, if wisely used in the next twelve months, will usher an era of prosperity upon the country.
 We must be lenient towards each other. This Is no time to sue and to levy executions, to file bill and put men in the hands of receivers. It is no time for the hungry debtor to bounce upon the more hungry creditor. An execution levied upon a man to-day might not pay fifty cents on the dollar, when twelve months from now the creditor will get one hundred cents on the dollar. Thousands of our good people to-day are begging terms with the tax collector; thousands of men who three years ago were in ease and comfort are to-day strained in every nerve to get the bare necessities of life and to meet emergencies which come upon them. The song prayer comes in so well now:
 'Teach me to feel another's woe,
 To hide the faults sce
 That mercy to others show
 That mercy show to me-"
 God lives and reigns. The darkest hour is said to be just before day. Where there is will there is way. All things come to him who wait man never loses anything by being merciful and kind.
 1t is a source of pleasure to see what patience and forbearance our people exercise toward each other. Many a creditor or debtor is patient when they as debtors are pushed by their creditors. Maybe if one should sue, another would have to sue, and another and another, until the sheriff would go from morning till night levy ing executions here and wonder. We can avoid this. We must do it. Let the farmer do all he can to help the merchant, the bank do all it can to help the farmer, the laborer do all he can to help all the others, and if we are help full instead of hurtful in all our rela- tions toward each other we shall gather strength for the conflict, victory will come, sooner or later, with q better and brighter day which must surely be somewhere in the near future.
 This is not the time that, like Shy lock, we shall demand the pound of flesh. These are the times when we must accept ten per cent. pigment, or twenty per cent payment on debt and wait with worthy honest brother; these are times above all others when debtor should seek to pay even five per cent. if no more than that.
 To do nothing when little would do so much is almost criminal itself He who does the best he can not only satisfies the average creditor but will carry the consciousness that he is Q good, honest, upright man. To be harder than we are obliged to be upon a creditor must and will carry regrets as time wears on. You cannot tget blood out of turnip Forbearancc can not cease to be a virtue until times are better. If one can wait all can wait. Then all will wait.
 We can do thousand things we have never done. There is no telling what man can do. Possibilities are almost infinite, backed up by pluck, and energy and honesty.
 Talls is cheap, the less some men do