The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-18

An American citizen, well known for
business success and philanthropic spirit,
has said: 1--WE should help the worthy and
not the worthless. We should put the lad
der within the reach of the aspiring and
not in the reach CT the degraded"
Society has an element called by General
Booth the submerged classes" There are
in it drunkards, harlots, paupers and all
sorts of criminals. They are transgressors
against moral, social and industrial laws.
Some people refer to them as 1.-The Off
securing of society,"" They are regarded
by many, and the eminent gentleman
already quoted would appear to be one of
the number, as unworthy of help. The
motto of these thinkers would seem to he:
Encourage the worthy. Let the worthless
perish"
Not thus was the example set for us in
the conduct of the Great Teacher. He came
to put "A ladder in the reach of publicans
and worse. BY its aid some of them. like
the Magdalen or the lunatic of Gadara,
mounted to a better life. After all, there
may not be so great a moral chasm be-
tween an aspiring Pharisee and a dissi-
pated prodigal. In biblical speech they are
both classed as sinners against God"
What, anyhow, is a sinner? Call him a de-
serter from the ranks of righteousness.
Call him an Anarchist, defying the higher
laws of the universe. Call him a striker
against a just employer whose are all the
fields and industries of this world. Call him
one who is out of sympathy with
those plans of redemption in which alone
there is hope for the upward progress of
our race. Scripture sums it up and calls
him one whose mind is in 'enmity against
God" He may be all this and be very as
piring, In fact, the more aspiring he is for
SalfGb ends the less he is likely TO care
for God, man or devil. So far as terms Of
righteousness can express his moral worth
IL Is written in ciphers.
But no human being is absolutely worth
less, for there is an ever-present oppor-
tunity for repentance and conservation of
powers to Gods service. The supreme aim
of Jesus was to save the lost because He
saw worth In the so-called worthless.
Ought we not to extend u helping hand to
the most unpromising of our fellow-men?
The condition of some among the sub
merged classes Is due to early surround
ings, for which they are not responsible.
Is a child to be blamed for having had a
thief for a father, or a harlot for a moth
err? IL q child has no other home. must it
be condemned for finding one in the street?
If 1t Is bred among the worst of surround
ings, as familiar with vice and crime as
more fortunate children are with church
and school, is it a wonder that it should
become a social outcast? If its training
could have been right, hereditary evils
might have been checked. To say the
worthless should be offered no gospel of
help, is to condemn offhand to lasting saw
agery a portion of our population who have
never had a chance.
The fact is the elements of good char
acter lie very near the surface in every
human life. There is something good inf
some part of every ones nature. One per-
son may have sympathy, but no other vir-
tue. Another has patriotism, or reverence,
or sobriety, or hertism, even when all 9TH
err good qualities seem hopelessly sub
merged. Probably you could not go into
any prison in America and find any con-
siderable number of the inmates without
many excellent traits. With mastery gen.
ius Victor Hugo shows how the noblest
qualities lay near the surface in Jean Val
Jean, who was supposed to be a hardened
galley convict. There is no one past re-
demption. Watch for the good in the worst
of people and you will be sure to find it.
According to an old Breton legend, there
was in that country a seacoast town called
Is, which was swallowed by the sea, and
the tradition runs that when the water
was rough the spires of the submerged
churches could be seen in the hollows of
the waves, and that in calmer weather
the sweet, low music of sunken bells rose
from the depths. In all lives, though sub
merged in sins and evil deeds. there are
y~earnings for better things. We are pften
surprised to see evidences of it. In gospel
mission halls. in slum districts, you can
see tonight outcasts, ~drunkards, thieves
gathered from the streets at the sound of
music and singing the songs of Zion"
They do not aSpjra tn a religious life but
there is something good in them, and
Christ had it in view when He loved them
and gave himself for them.
Every stage of civilization has it's
standards of worth and worthlessness.
The savage elects as chieftain, rating
him of highest worth. one who is the
mightiest hunter or most bloody war
rior. Jesus assured us that in heaven
standards of value are not the same as
on earth. We are accustomed to do hon.
age to the pharisees. A naughty. sue
cessful. self-willed egotist is at a pre-
MUM among his fellows. HE is aspir-
ing. Give him, therefore, a chance to make
more money" The average man despises
the convict or pauper. A bar sinister brands
them. What right have they to get in
the way of better men? There is no use
In helping them. They are confirmed in
evil by having a ladder put in their reach"
Such is the opinion of many. The stand
ards of judgment in heaven may reverse
the decisions of earth. "Tha first shall be
last and the last first" The heart of the
chiefest sinner that is trying to lead a
better life is of more value in the eyes of
heaven than any prosperous egotist who
Is satisfied in his phariseeism.
1t is extremely suggestive that in the
gospels it is beggars, prodigals, publicans.
harlots and thieves who are represented as
receiving the kingdom Of God. Never was
a message of hope so assuring, or a way
of escape SO ali-embracing as that made
known TO fallen humanity in the gospel of
Christ. The very fact that one has made
complete ~shipwreck of life is the chiefest
reason why he should lift up his voice and
call on Jesus for deliverance. The ladder
IS not placed by Christ in the reach of the
aspiring so much as in reach of the nom
Awarded