The Florence tribune., 1897-10-09
The Mlner,s Waal4A

.s .t. v has stirred up some v 'he brethren of the church because ne gruo-staked q miner for the Klon- dyke. The Chicago Tribune intar- viewed MT. Mcintyre on the snbiect ana he thus undoes his critics and breaches lay sermon which honors the miner:
 Oonscientious scruples against such an undertaking? No scruples entered my mind then, nor have they since. It was purely and simply matter of principle. The Sermon on the Mopnt and the Ten Commandments don't come into the matter, and theology needn't.
 The fact is, admire a miners wealth. It's clean. There are no blood or tears on it. It is acquired away from the scheming and the cut-throat competition that characterize ordinary business ventures, where the success of one man so often means the disaster and downfall of some other man. or. perhaps, number of men. Nobody has been pinched. Nobody has been wronged. The miner who digs a for tune out the ground has the satisfac- tion that he hasn't robbed soul even though he become hundred times a millionaire.
 Then, too, there is another factor to take into consideration. The man who makes fortune on the Board of Trade or on the Stock exchange, or in build ing up a gigantic business house, adds nothing to the worlds store of avail able wealth. The world, in other words, is no richer because he is richer. lie is rich, rather, because somebody else is poorer. The miner, on the other hand, whether he digs out $lo0 or $lo0,000, adds that much to the worlds wealth, and with the added wealth, he contributes just that much to the possible amount of the worlds comforts and pleasures.
 As l look at the matter, there are few producers of wealth. The many live on the few. The only man compar- able with the miner is the farmer. He gets what he has direct from nature, but he produces perishable wealth. While he meets a want, his contribu- tion to She world's wealth, therefore, is not permanent one like the miners. The gold miner is to-day the king wealth producer of the country, and honor him above all others. It is 10 dishonor; it needs no apology to emulate his example or assist him in his efforts. There's the whole ques- ton in nutshaH.
 Itisn't church matter. The fact is God put the gold in the valley of the Yukon for his children. Any man consistent with such regulations a. are necessary for fair play and th' protection of individual interests, ha' 
 an undeniable right to go thele and dig and delve all he chooses. r h' pulls out $100,0O0 he simply makes g draft, not on somebody's bank account, but on natures treasury. There is no more wrong in that, therefore, than there would be in man sowing wheat or planting corn and trusting to nature to yield twenty, fifty or hundred fold. It's private matter between man and his Maker. There's scriptural authori- ty enough for man to plant and reap a harvest of grain, and I don't see why there isn't authority enough for man to dig and delve and reap harvest Of gold dust and nuggets.
 As look at the matter, therefore, the minister who doffs broadcloth and dons miners garb and faces the perils of the wilderness, and gets a draft cashea on natures treasury for 8 few hundred thousand dollars or 8 million or two is doing humanity a good turn. don't know by what course he could do more good or add more to the sum of:the worlds com forts or pleasures. If he can't go to the field of operation himself, ifs an honorable thing, believe, for him to grub-stake somebody else.
 l can't see why if clergyman, if he chooses, should not be wealth pro ducer. Christian ethics are not against it. There is only about SC much wealth in the world anyway, and life now days is a scramble to get as much of what does exist as possible. l should rank benefaction above benediction. But on the miners wealth, as just said, there are no blood, no tears, no groans, sufferings, sorrows caused to others. It's clean stuff. God himself cashes the check.