The San Francisco call., 1897-02-11
Taylor Rogers Talks to
Liberty Branch About
Them.
If We Were All Good Chris
tians We Would Be Good
Socialists.
The So. Called Christians Have Not
Followed the Doctrines as
Laid Down.

Colonel Taylor Rogers was scheduled to
deliver a lecture before Liberty Branch of
the Socialist Labor party last evening at
the Turk-street Temple on the "Econom-
les of the Sermon on the Mount" He
carried out the programme, although for
a brief interval in the midst of it
there were grave fears that he might
not. He had forgotten his Bible By a
most unforeseen accident as it develo ped,
one in the large audience was Christian
believer, and not only that, but he had
his Bible with him, with the leaf turned
down at the Sermon on the Mount. AS
the book was handed up to him the
speaker, who plainly confessed himself to
be no church member, found himself to
be almost persuaded TO believe in miracles.
The cloudy prospect for the lecture cleared
up irp ediately.
Economic law, according to the Greek
derivation of the word, said the speaker,
is law of the household-municipalit
state, nation or the world.
Discussing the economic law of the Ser
mon on the Mount, the speaker said he
would not do so from the standpoint of
the theologian, as he belonged to no
church.
The lecture would have to do with
earth, earth, earth; it would never get
away from the earth, he said. He knew
of no other state and the earth was quite
good enough for him. In his introduce
tory remarks he referred to the prodigal-
ity OF nature, the necessity of man to
work, and to social nature of man-all
of them absolute laws of nature.
Private property he charged as the one
great wrong of the world. Greece and
Rome and the long line of nations and
empires of the world had fallen through
t he absorption of theland into the hands
of few. At their beginning in every case
the land was held in common. At their
fall the great majority of the people were
not allowed to trespass upon the land ex-
cept 10 labor for its owner.
Turning to the Sermon on the Mount he
called attention to its utterances as they
agreed with the doctrines of the modern
apostles of socialism. He said that from
the pul pits of these times one could only
learn that Christ taught of the world and
the life to come. The speaker said that
about nine-tenths of ChrIsts teachings re-
lated to this world, ana II they were fol-
lowed the grinding Competitive system
would long ago have disappeared and ali
things would be held in common.
Ii Christ was divine he could promul-
gate no error. He had been acknowledged
by atheists and his so-oalled followers
alike for 1900 years to be one of the great
and morally.
He believed that all things should be
held in common, and advised the young
man before undertaking to follow him to
first dispose of all that he had. His i'm
mediate followers refused to 60 to war;
refused to accept office and believed in the
equality of the sexes and in monogamic
marriage.
"How are we to get back to the COM
munistic conditionsP' he asked. by
taking up the institutions of commerce
and production, one by one, and incorpo-
rating them into the system of government
is one way, the way / believe to be best.
Accomplished in the full, we would have
the conditions Christ advocated and
would realize the fatherhood of God, the
brotherhood of man and the motherhood
OF earth in all Its radiant splendor."
The lecture was literally applauded and
also literally criticized in the five- minute
speeches,