The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1895-10-12
a 6ocialistic Sermon.

a socialistic Sermon.
]. Kier Hardie, the Scottish miner
and labor leader, preached social
istic sermon in Oakland, CAL, last
Sunday. Hardie's appearance upon
the platform, says the San Francisco
Chronicle, was the signal for pro-
longed applause. He was accomPa-
MED by Frspk Smith, ex-secretary
of the London Municipal Council.
Hardie took as the text OF his
sermon, "Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done on earth as it Is in
heaven" He said the words of the
t amiliar prayer had a meaning very
different from that which they too
often conveyed. He was inclined
to believe that the protested Chris
tians had yet to realize the hope
expressed so long as social condl-
tons now existing contlnue<to
thrive.
IF heaven is not cut up with
twenty five-foot lots and the Chris
tan saint is not compelled to pay
q ROYALTY or some other tax before
he can spread his wings Of peace,
then heaven is not yet realized on
earth. The kingdom has not come, :"
said the speaker. ave may differ
as to our ideas of heaven, but do
not believe it is a place of exorbi-
tant water rates, where one must
pay rarely for the privilege of using
one of the necessaries of life"
He reviewed some of the causes
which had contributed to bring
about the grand coal miners strike.
He said the miners earned $l.5O a
day, and were to suffer reduction
of Is per cent. They protested, be-
cause, the speaker said, the mine
owners were making $40 week,
while the landlords or the owners
of the land which was mined de-
rived an income on royalty from the
nine-owners of $1,000 or more a
week. He said the division of the
income was unequal, and the min
ers said to their employees: Your
pay not ours is too high. You can
stand reduction, we cannot.
"This is social system which
creates Carnegies, Huntingtons,
Vanderbilts, Goulds and all that
ilk. You call them millionaires.
We have them at home, but we call
them dukes. The duty Of duke
is to marry a millionaire's daugh-
ter. I think that when the king
dom has come the ability to squeeze
the life blood from your neighbor
will not be the exploit that will
land us on top. Moral worth is
the standard by which a mans
value will be measured. Thy will
be done on earth as i. is in heaven. :"
Hardie said he was a Christian,
not one who professed Christ, but
who believed the moral laws of life
were contained inChrist's teachings,
and were the laws for the individ-
ual, for the State, for the nation.
Then, turning to the solution as
proposed by socialism, he urged a
unifcation upon one platform.
SIN England we have an INDIE
pendent Labor party. Its mem
bers are socialists. We do not say
You must be one of U.S. but we say
You cannot be one of US until you
are socialist Then we convert
them to socialism. There are three
movements in England for reform
the land, the temperance and the
single tax. We say to each of the
leaders in these side issues: Come
with US; we have something better
than all of them. You must unite
on one common ground to etem
the current against you. No one
will make progress as long as this
question is split into all sorts OF
side issues. Unite and do something.
The common ownership of land
and the cooperation, instead of the
competitive industrial system, are
the fundamentals Of the socialism
preach.