Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-02-06
Hard Times for The CLERGY.
London Snectatnr

iEoiiuon spectator.
mere are very much fewer fairly
good hvings than there used TO be. The
ran IN the value Of 1.-THE. the difficulty
OF nnding tenants for glebe farms. the
impossibility of getting any decent re-
turn from such glehe as is in hand,
nave reduced the income of a great
many benefces by something like half.
LlVings varying from f400 to $500 a year
nave become livings varying from $3.50
TO 1000, and this decline may Just make
the difference between comfort and
plnching. We say nothing of the many
llrlngs which do not reach the lower of
these levels, because when "A mar is
Weighing the advantages of orders as
a profession he does not take much ac-
count Of them. What nay be called,
then, the smaller prizes OF the church
are worth vely much less than they
We're nfteen years ago. The greater
prizes among hvings have been equally
affected by this change, and they have
also sustained a loss of another kind.
Often, especially in the north, they COW
cred a great deal of ground. and as the
population has grown, one daughter
parish after another has been carved
out of the original area and has carried
away a portion of the original income.
But IL is NOT only the parochial clergy
who have suffered. Dignitaries have
had 10 ( their share as wen. Where
deans n chapters have retained their
lands IN preference to exchanging them
Tor a fixed sum paid them by the occle-
siastical commissioners, they have
equally a to put up with large re-
auctions Of income. There are no
longer any golden stalls" and even
the inferior metal that has been sub
stltuted has been further alloyed of
late years. SIN, all this has not as yet
prevented radical speakers and writer's
from e~nlarging upon the rich prizes of
the church, and setting Ii on a level in
his respect with another great profess
sion, the law. The archbishop OF Cam
terbury pairs off with the lord chancel-
Tor, the archbishop of York with the
master OF the rolls, the bishops with he
Judges, the deans with county court
Judses There Is, no doubt, a rough
SORT OF parallel between these various
ollces, nut the comparison leaves out
OF slSht one Very important clement.
In the church. there is nothing answer
ing 10 the great sums made In practice
AT me a II Is not the judgeships and
the Few other highly paid offices that
constitute he real prizes of the bar.
They are to be sought rather in the in
comes which lead successful advocates
To regard judgships in the light of re-
tlrlhg pensions. If proprietary chapels
brought their owners fl0. 900 or ia, 900
a year., we should have a counterpart
10 thls in the church. But there is MOTH
ing or the kind, nothing which can hold
out TO a man of exceptional ability the
prospect of a large income dependent
on his own efforts.
III addition to the dignities. which at
the best only answer to the legal posts
when a successful barrister thinks
twice and thrice before he accents.
there are a very few good livings. pro-
motion to which is in a great degree n
matter OF interest or chance. and that
Is all. With medicine the comparison
Is more equal, because, though i'm this
also very large incomes can be- made in
private practice, there are absolutely
no oilclal prizes. only one kind of sue
cess is open To the physician or the sur
geon, and that is the success which has
Tor It's outward ana visible sign a
waiting room and more pa
tents h a be crowded into a day.