The times., 1897-12-27

Church tall ed yesterday OF Some things
! that would be changed for the better If
| the spirit of Christmas We're carried into
| all our activities, and Though all the
year"
1t was Christmas sermon ali the way
through There were n,mtations from
Dickens's Christmas arols,' suggestions IN
what the day does not mean and good
advice on how to apply Christmas in daily
life. He said:
Il have been thinking much for ths
past few days " hat happy change would
come over this grand old world of ours
grand despite all the trouble and sorrow
which a residence III il involvas-if only
this spirit of Christmas which has been
bringing SO much gladness into millions
of homes during the week that has just
passed could only he carried into all the
activities Of our daily life, and through all
the YEAR
1T would make us all Christians in the
largest andhest sense, for thespirit OF { hrist-
mas is the spirit Of Christ, aud we have
the authority of tie Great Apostle for say
ing that if any man have not tie spirit
of Christ lie is none of His. This places the
Christ stirit hove all dogmatic telief, all
zeal for the church, all eXternals OF benc'o-
lence. almsgiving and everything Of the
sort and pronoHnces the sentence oil exec II
munica ton upon every man who, III the
daily concerns of life is ruled by the spirit
of selfisbness, Cf ayarioe, Of greed. And
this accords perfectly with that splen'iid
panegyric of Paul on the supremacy OF love
Though one be gifted with eloquence thai
is seemingly angelic and have not love he IS
as sounding brass or as changing cymiril-
SO one may he great as teacher ana 50
mighty in faith TO move tie mount aims,
and yet be counted as nothing II he IA c
not love. He may give all his goods 10 'ced
the poor and even give his body 10 Je
burned. anu vet If self is at tie root of It
all if love is not the p'cving spirit, il
profiteth him nothing.
DR.. ent talked OF what this spirit
would d. il the business world. 1t would
do away completely with all antago l'sm
and strife, all the fierce competitions
and ungenerous rivalries OF our present
social state No man VIII wish to EXPLOIT
or despoil Ills neighbor. No one VIII De
willing to gain through alother's loss.
Under the present regime each has To pro
tect his own interest against the interests Of
every other. He has no one to guar nim
against loss but hims IF. Under the re@i ne
OF the Christmas spirit there is none 10
injurc.
"The business world is today moving
rapidly, though unconScously, in the di-
rection OF the very methods which the
Christmas spirit would adopt should IT
come to the Throne. The movement is not
due TO tie presence or power Of this
spirit, but TO growing perception of the
destructive and dangerous character of
the competitive method. AMI the absolute
necessity Of pooling issues and acting to-
,-ether as q means of self protection. As
yet. Self-interest on the purely material
plane is the chief factor i'll the move
ment toward cooperation. When men in
the same line of business find themselves
hard pressed by competition, and realize
that success is probab bic only to the fe " of
greatest ability and largest resources, and
that failure and ruin are as certain as
death to the many of less ability and
smaller means, self-interest prompts at
once to some union OF forces with n view
t. augment the chances of success.
i nsSS COtllDliidliOiiS belns lOIIleu ONLY
by self-interest and without any regard
even for others in their line, only the few
who arc the strongest ana most formidable
rivals of each other are invited to enter
the combination. This we may call class
cooperation. Despite the selfishneSS Of
this plan, the knowledge that the interest
of each is the interest of all cannot fa!l
I'm the long run TO have some educational
value I'm carrying the members Of this
combination forward to perception of
the nece ssity ty-even from the standpoint
of sell t-inteIest-though not the lower
self-intereSt wholly-for 4 wider inclusive
cooperative movement. Already the
business trains of this ma ton and of the
world have come to realize the necessity
Of some measure of organized cooperation.
The move ement is in the order of a normal
evolution and must, in the nature of things,
go forward, becoming wider and wider
I'm its scope until the whole body of the
people shall share in the benefits of
universal Co operation
With sIch a Cooperation, DR.. Kent said,
the whole hcdy Of society would realize
the Importance Of every member, md the
duty of securing to each the fullest pos
sibIe opEortunity for the use and devAI-
opment oil all special gifts, together with
such just and equita BILE distribution OF
the common product as would wipe out
poverty and the misery which il brings.
Competition implies antagonism ')f in
tercSt: cG-opera ton, identity OF Interest.
We speak toda Y Of the social body. But
under our present system the term is a
misnomer. We are not organized as 4
body. II Lody every member has its
place and functions in relation TO the
whole, and the interest OF one is $ sacredly
guarded as the interest of another. The
life of She bod V is the life of all its parts.
No single member can be sacrificed with
out injury 10 the whole. The competitive
regime denies the whole theory of Social
unity. The Individual life can only be
promoted at the expense of others.
''All iniquity and injustice W. Ill
be done away with speedily were the
spirit OF Christmas once to take real and
permanent control of our industrial at,
fairs. lriv;ite ownership in land woul,l
be abolished. Private control of public
f franchises OF every sort would be done
away. No individual would he allo we'd to
enrich himself at the public expense.
Every community in this country is
ridden by hosts of corporations, which,
through the connivance or the ignorance
of the ruling powers, obtain legal per-
mission to plunder the people.
I'VE want in our midst the presence of
a spirit that isn't SO awfully tender or
corpor atoms and mas some sort of decent
regard for the rights of the people.
When we get this we will make pro-
vision for the people not provision TO
feed them or clothe them by individual
Or public charity, but provision for their
IS wealt creating labor.