The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-28

The editorial invitation to write on
this subject for the special edition OF
The Herald is one which I appreciate
as it affords me the opportunity to
say few things which need very
much to be said, and which, coming
from ministerial lips. may be regard
ed, seeing that what 1 have to say is
Lot hattering, as impartial.
In answer to the question, then,
What is the Church doing to solve the
labor question? I have TO reply: She
IS doing absolutely nothing. By the
church, L refer to the church as an in
stitution, as we see it throughout the
length and breadth of christendom,
and not TO any individual organiza-
ton make no distinction as TO sect.
1 speak of the church as a whole.
1t seems rather q sweeping state
ment to make to say that an institu-
lion numbering millions of commune
cants and millions of dollars in real
estate, 1 say it seems rather a sweep
ing statement to say that such an in
stitution is doing absolutely nothing
to solve the labor question.
But l will try and subStantiate the
statemen In the first place, then, TO
confine ourselves to America, the val
ue of church real estate in this coun-
try alone is estimated at $780, 600, 900.
Now, when you consider that no as
sessment is made upon this vast sum,
You begin to realize that TO make up
for this immunity the burden of tax
alton must tall proportionately heaV-
Ter upon the shoulders of those who
are not thus exempt from a just tax
alton, and the lab0ring man, in the
aggregate, with his little home and
* hn whom
increased assessment falls lightest.
In this one respect, then, the church
is doing nothing to solve the labor
question; and not only that, but she
is doing worse than nothing, for she IS
holding back the car OF progress by
the dead weight of her lethargy, or the
Wilful disregard of common honesty.
in this one respect, then, the church
could, il she would, do a great deal to
solve the labor question, by declaring
herself on the side of equal taxation,
without compromise. Until the church
does this, she cannot be called even
Christian institution. out from the
gloom of medieval superstition the
church must come and stand the
search light of today, or remain for
ever in unregretted darkness.
Again, why is the church doing
nothing TO solve the labor question?
Because her hands are tied, or rather
her tongue. which is synonymous in
this connection Our churches are run
by few. by the elect" probably. es-
pecially in the case OF a presbyterian
form of government. In the case of
an episcopal form of government they
are run by a synod, and in the case of
the congregational system they are
very often run by one man-not the
minister. He Ghe minister) is only
the does the rest" after the button
hxrt ha
the few. 1t has been said over and
over again that the modern fashion
able church, l care not what the de-
nomination, is nothing but a club
house for the wealthy. l wish could
deny the accusation, but 1 cannot. L
have said that the church's hands are
tied But by whom? By the men
who run the church. It is the minis
ter whose hands are tied. He is often
more sinned against than SHINING. He /
cannot give expression 20 his noblest
instincts because the man in the front |
pew pays the most or all of his sal
airy. And then, TOO, he has a wife and /
family TO support, and what will a
man not do for his wife and family?
IN this way, mans best feelings for 4
oppressed humanity are smothered, !
and he is compelled to preach the hol- /
low inanities and wretched artificial /
tiles that so often fall from the lips of
the pulpit under the guise Of Christi
anity.
The millionaire sits in his cushioned .
seat and drinks in the flattering unc-
ton, which he hugs to his soul with I
the ardor OF a thirsty man, proving T.
thereby, perhaps, that he has con-
science, though his will and his con-
science do not pull together, and this
leads me to say that the fault does not ,
lie so much with the pulpit, after all,
Ha a
forced to preach to a number of rail-
road magnates. land mOnopolists and
standard oil kings, what can he say
upon capital and labor, upon the land
question, or upon any other great
modern reform. that is worth hearing?
What can he say upon these questions,
I ask, that is worth hearing, without
giving offense to those gentlemen who
sit on the satin cushions. and who pay
to have Christianity preached to them
so that ii will chime in with their own
conduct of life? The answer is, abso-
luteIy nothing.
In this way, then, we see again
that the church is doing nothing TO
solve this question, and can do moth
Ing. l have exonerated the ministry
to a great extent from the blame of
this. But 1 should not be speaking
the truth if I exonerated every indi-
vidual minister from such blame.
Many, / know, are IN Qurdnce vie,
and feel deeply the humility of their
enforced silence; and many, again,
have administered the narcotic of in
difference TO their conscience, so that
they do not hear the whisper Of the
still small voice of truth which to the
unobstructed ear sounds with the i'm
peliing power of Niagara's roar
But there is another side to all this,
and 1 wish now to present it. The ar
gunent on this side is that the func-
tons of the church are not temporal
or material; they are spiritual OF
course, If you admit this, then the
position Of the church is beyond dis
pute: your Indictment of her inactiv-
fty in the labor question falls fiat; it
is no indictment at all This is the :
line Of defense the church takes. But
it remains to be seen whether she can ,
hold il. 1 do not think she can. She
is iii the world, but certainly not OF
the world" in any modern sense. But
the church IS supported by the world,
and could not live without the world.
Il IS onl. fair, then. that she should !
do something for a living, else she is
but a parasite fungus, devouring
sustenance without making any re-
turn. The question is, whether her {
-6fr;tuai functions, as generally ac- 1
,epted. are a sufficient return for what ]
she receives. 1 answer. No They have
been tried for at least eighteen hum 7
bred years and found wanting. Now,
whether this is due to The natural {
iepravity'' of the human heart or to j
10 Of ba church in =