The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-01-28

WANTS ARBITRATION
The Rev. Dr.. Hathaway
breaches Upon the Great
Brooklyn Strike
ECONOMIC SYSTEM DENOUNCED
1t Is Heathenish aud Gives Wealth
to the Few-Watered Stock
One Cause of the
Trouble.
ECONOMIC SYSTEM DENOUNCED

I w % Ill Z = ~
| terday morning preached on the BROOK
Ivn strike. He took his text from Mark
x 81. the story of the rich man VINO
| called on our Lord and asked what ne
| should do to inherit eternal lie. ne
| lacked the one thing necessary, the foVe
| of his fellow men. The sermon IN part
follows:-
This rich young man is a typical char
| acter, and by him our Lord teaches a lar
deeper lesson than we usually are aware.
| Note he was a man of good impulses,
| pure character; a man respected ana
| honored; a good man. Had he llVed Al
this day we would have called MN a
Christian. HI was strictly a moral man,
| kept the letter of the law perfectly, ana
| paid all of his legal obligations TO the
| penny. He was very rich. Had ne ilved
| now he would be the president OF a troi-
| lev company, or some great corporation
| or sugar trust. He was just such a man
| as fill our churches today.He said ne hao
| Kept the law perfectly. No doubt ne had
| in its letter, but Jesus told him that he
| lacked one thing, and this was the all
| important thing. He lacked the love OF
| his fellow men. He did not see in man
| kim his brothers. He did not see Chrlst
in the poor man. He was a good man,
| but he loved gold more than God and MS
fellow men. He knew nothing of the
| spirit of the law. He had no conception
| of the law of love; the law of Jesus; the
| law that moved Christ in all his work.
He knew nothing of the brotherhood OF
| man, and the relation of man to God, rs
| taught in the person of Jesus Christ. HE
| lacked the knowledge of the Gospel and
| the spirit of the Gospel. He represents
| thousands of so-called Christians of to-
| day. To test him and set clearly before
| the world the lesson He would teach,
| Jesus said, go sell what thou hast and
| give to the poor, and tho shalt nave
| treasure in Heaven. The result of the
test was just what it would be today
with our m~illionaires, just what it is to-
| lay with thousands of so-called Christ
ians. Who can deny it?
A SAD SCENE.
at is a sad scene we have been called
upon to witness in the city of Brooklyn
| said Mr.. Hathaway During the past
| two weeks a scene of civil war-brother
| against brother-scenes of strife, hatred
! and blood. A scene to cause the God
| less of Liberty to weep. and should
cause every lover of his country TO
mourn as well as blush with shame. A
| Inference between employer and employ
"a which can only be settled in this day
Nv force. What better are we h other
| nations?
Seven Thousand soldiers with fixed
| oayonets and 5000 policemen with drawn
lubs, to protect the trolley companies
| against 5000 men, the larger part Of
whom lave proved themselves to be
| perfectly peaceable. Men who have felt
/ necessary to take the terrible chances
| If a strike in mid-winter in defense OF
heir manhood. and to force. if possible,
| i.ving a for exceptionally severe
| md trying service. such things
| should be possible is a disgrace to civ
| ilization.
@aThe whole trouble lies in the fact thai
our economic system from centre to cir
conference is anti-christian; It Is
Il being unselfish, our economic system
5 purely selfish. instead of being a syses
he few. Instead Of an equitable distri-
| sutton of God-given wealth, it IS a sys-
en- that concentrates the wealth in the
| nod it is master and slave. Instead of
II things being common it is the mill
0naire re T Fl s9u CHRISTIANS?
"Let us look for a moment at the
| facts, not theories, but solid facts. 1t
S said that some of the presidents, Of
4 Il dllu III l. NttN1OE -
companies are Christian men, Do their
acts show it? The almighty dollar to-
lay is king. Look at the facts in Brook
,ountry and the entire economic system.
These trolley companies have secured
possession of public highways. The
virtualg own TIE nsd pn franc f5sssts Secures unls
oyga vote of the Aldermen of the city.
| It is ali und.sputed fact that the ma
iority of these franchises are secured by
bribery and corruption. Not a penny il
| gfven Ito the people, who are put off
With the explanation that the roads are
Tor their benefit. The fact is the public
s wholly subordinate to the money to be
| made. The public IS a necessity from
which to squeeze the money for the
emparv vaults. which is the sole pur-
"Some will say the benefit is mutual
Cor the cornpany and the public. Mutual
II is only so far as it is a necessity for
the company to make it so for its own
Haying procured the franchise, the com
! oany sequips the road and proceeds to
run only as many cars as are abso-
lutely necessary for the largest profit,
10 that IN busy hours the public hang
on straps, and the men employed are so
manipulated as to secure the most ileurs
and the largest service for the least
\ money. The managers are thus enabled
TO pay a fair interest or dividend upon
ave millions for every one Of actual cost.
.Stocks for millions additional to that
actually necessary put on the market
and sold for the benefit Of e small NUM-
Der of men who manage this enterprise
for the public good. Then the screws
are put on the p alaissa and the EN- EN-
wafered stock. BY this means !. will be
seen that If they succeed in grinding out
dividends upon $50, 900. 900 of so-called
stock, they will practically make that
amount out of nothing. In order to Go
his both public and employees suffer.
TO DEPRECIATE STOCK.
Then the time will come when the
company will wreck the road, or per-
haps provoke q strike; II order to de-
Dany into the hands of a receiver. This
viii wipe out all surplus stock-a dead
loss to the holders-and secure for
themselves the entire amount of their
robbery. And the laws of the land pro
tect men in these dishonest schemes,
and for this the army is maintained and
called to protect them.
1.-THE men have simply asked for s.
i das and ten working hours. This was
denied them. and twelve or thirteen
hours were necessary to earn tina
amount. Then 9 pernictous system OF
riopers is put into effect tha further
u senslaves them.