The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-13
WAYS OF GETTING A LIVING.
REV. A. VI. WILLIAMS on THE IN
DUsTRIAL SYSTEM.

The Need for Better Organization
of Charities in Savannah-The
Harm OF Indiscrimihate Giving.
Living by Fraud-FOrms of Grab
bling a Living Practiced Under the
Eyes of the AuthOrities-The sin of
Tax Returns-Abuses to Be Cor
rected.
Rev n NJ Williams preached 10 an
unusually large congregation at Wesley
Monumental church last night. His sub
/ ject was an important one to everybody.
! He discoursed in a forcible and enter
/ tanning vein upon Three Ways of Get
/ ting a Living"
| The sermon was based upon Luke 1854:
/ Then the steward said within himself,
/ What shall do? for my Lord takes from
me the stewardship. 1 cannot dig; to
J beg 1 am ashamed. I am resolved what
to do, that when 1 am put out Of the
/ stewardship they may receive me into
! their houses.
THE question Of a living" Rev.
! Mr.. williams said, "is an important
/ one, and involves both morals and relig-
ion. The question pressed on the stew
ard of the text and he passed in his
mind all the ways in which living may
/
! Let US" he said, change this order a
little and consider them. The first ex-
pedient suggested to his mind TO avoid
work, was begging; This he de-
| do with the needy. Every needy person
/ should be helped, but in such a way as to
! do no harm.
'Indiscrimlnate and unthinking help pro-
| duces shamelessness, which is seed that
| produces many forms of vice. 1t also pro-
duces the very dependence from which the
| evil springs. Many beggars make more
than the unskilled laborer.
Giving IS a Christian superstition. Many
| Christians cling to 1t like the Orientals to
| their opposition to the application of SAN
| ltary principles to abate epidemic diseases.
| The Bible teaches we must consider the
! poor, and Philip Brooks says: Not until
| YOU make men self-reliant intelligent and
! fond of struggle fonder of struggle than
of help; not until then have you renewed
| poverty
find out how to dispense charity so as to
do no harm. but the greatest good.
THE question will have to be solved by
| government control The beggar should
be brought before a proper officer. If able
| to work he should be set to work on the
1 public roads. If young, he should be placed
! in a home of correction. II disabled IN a
I've are not ready yet for that step. Sa-
vannah's great present need is better or
/ ganization of its charities. There should ne
! some person employed to investigate every
| case Of need; an applications for help
should be referred to this officer. The city
! should be districted and applications made
| for funds to meet these demands
Having rejected the work method and
| decided against the begging plan, our
| steward fixed on the only other way open
to him-the getting of living by fraud
If all the scheming TO get a living with
out work now going on could be con-
| centrated and condensed ii would lift
| our land out of its industrial depression.
How many persons live by the various
| applications of stealing. There is the low
thief, against whom every mans voice
Then there is the grabber The man
| lives on what he can get out OF other peo~
pie without giving value received. They
say there is much of this in Savannah.
That many mans wages ana salary
finds its way into the Golfers of this class.
| Is Savannah getting to be the mecca OF
gamblers When | was up the country
last month a man told me that the sports
were making their way mere, hndlng II a
fine field for operation. The story in to-
days Morning News of the smart visi-
tors winning the money of some of our
for a rigorous public sentiment in favor
of the execution of our laws!
But there are the larger forms of steal
ing. SHARP practices" Those schemers
who always have on hand some trick
to take in the simple. ! must not forget
to mention the mammoth frauds that are
practiced on our whole people in water
ing the stock of corporations to keep up
prices and to keep down wages.
Another form of living on others is
the sin of the tax return. A man is will
ing to enjoy schools lights, streets sew
erage, and the police protection we ought
to have and hope to have under the new
commission. without bearing his share
of the burden. Bishop Pierce once said,
Lies enough are told in a single county
in returning taxes to damn a world
Let us now return, said Mr.. Williams,
ito the true God-appointed way of get
face shalt thou earn thy bread, He that
will not work neither shall he eat Work
is part of the redemption scheme of God
1t promotes physical welfare. forms men
tai development, and is the chief morahzer
known to man.
Carlyle says, Work is the mission of
man in the earth
Roosevelt says, I would preach the doc
trine of work to ALL and to men ofswealth
the doctrine of unremunerative work. 1t is
| ignoble to try to heap money on money
Labor" one says. was the stamp of
the slave in antiquity, the mark of the
serf in the middle ages, and the glory
Il am glad to believe that the general
condition of what we call
specially the laboring man is
improveing. His dwelling, during
the past sixty years, have been greatly
improved according to the testimony of
Mr. Carroll Wright. The average wages
paid have been constantly rising and the
purchasing power increasing. "
THE fact that things are better than
they once were is no argument against
correcting abuses which remain I call at
tention TO the points in which improve
ment can be made.
"Our industrial system should be so
reconstructed that every man may find
work in the field for which he is best
adapted. Carlyle says: The saddest thing
in the world is a man willing to work, but
unable to find it.
Assure a man of his right to hold
his position as long as he does his work
well. Now, frequently a man is the vic
tim of favoritism. The personal element
| enters too largely into the question and
best interest of the workman, the cor
pOration he serves and the community is
promoted by decreasing the liability of
displacement from within or insufficient
| cause.
''The hours of labor should be re-
| duced. Work for a reasonable time helps
body mind and soul. When the limit is
passed, injury is done.