The herald., 1898-02-07
The Los Angeles Theater
Packed
THE UNION REFORM LEAGUE
ELOQUENT SPEAKEPS OF ALL
DEN OMTNATIoNS PRESENT
Comprehensive Discussion of Economic
Conditions and the Remedy as
Advocated by Socialism

The Los Angeles theater was crowded
to the roof yesterday afternoon at the
mass meeting held in the interest of the
Union Reform league, represented by
the national organizer, Rev. w. D. r
Bliss. A large flag formed the back
ground of the stage, which was occu-
pied by the ministers of the various
churches and their wives, representa-
tives Of labor organizations, prominent
people Of the city interested In the
movement and the speakers.
Professor Hardy of the Southern Cal
ifornia university opened the meeting
with prayer, after which the chairman,
marks, and after the singing of "Amer-
lea" by the audience, introduced the
first speaker on the program, Rabbi
Solomon of the Jewish synagogue.
In this philanthropic age of ours, "
said the speaker 'and manifold institu-
tions, 1t Is proper to ask what Is the
| cause of so much organized charity? In
| prosperous times, when thousands of
wheels are busy with our commerce;
| when each has an equal chance to earn
a livelihood, there is no necessity for
charity. When the blazing fires of in
dustry are dead and women and children
cry for bread the most frightful spec
ters stalk about. Poverty is an accident
and owes It's existence to mans mental
and moral inability to recognize the in
Independence of human interests
ours is an age of broad humanity;
we have grown cosmopolitan, have elm
mated time and space. Serfdom we do
not allow; 1t is not our ideal of society
We believe in equality and not in mon
archy; a government of the people, by
the people. War is not our daily occu-
patton. We believe in peace. History
teaches this significant lesson-a ma
tion's elements must be kept in con-
| stant equipoise. An encroachment of
one class upon another means the decay
of society. We must aid and assist,
employ the poor to promote peace, the
fatherhood of God and brotherhood of
man."
| G.. H. Hewes was the next speaker,
representing the wage earners and
working class. Mr.. Hewes also has
charge of a small mission In the south
| east part of the city where there are
no churches. He expressed his conf
dence in the Reform league as means
of education for the people. Competition
must give place to cooperation. So
cialism gives every man a right to live
and to work. If we do not change our
conditions there will come a revolution.
People must have something to do.
They believe there is no law for the
poor, and 1t must be true. The working
man must have place or he must go
down. Let us combine and make the
Declaration of Independence a fact and
not theory.
Mr.. Bliss was then presented and took
as the subject of his address "The Pres
ent Crisis" "Sixty-five years ago." he
said. beside the Atlantic ocean, there
was formed the American nti-Slavery
society. The society argued that slav-
cry was wrong; that under the flag of
this country no man, woman or child
should be slave; that constitution
that countenanced slavery was in league
with the devil and covenant with hell:
that there should be a party formed to
abolish it. Others defended slavery out
of the word of God and said what was
needed was good slaves and good slave
owners. What we needed was to think
of heaven far away The slave lived in
hell and sang of heaven: the slave owner
lived in heaven and talked of hell. John
Brown rebelled and was hanged, but his
soul went marching on. The culture of
New England dragged Garrison through
the streets of Boston, the culture of the
west hanged Lovejoy for printing a mig
ger paper, and the culture of the south
put price on the head of Phillips Then
war came and the slave was free.
To-day we have another form of slav-
cry. At the bar of God the working man
is slave, and the employer is a slave
too, under our compulsory system. The
war was the basis of many large for
tunes. Men established great enter
prises, each for himself. The small op-
orator and storekeeper found himself
unable to compete with the large manu-
facturer and dealer. Those who had
large factories and stores became the
sovereigns of industry. The small dealer
had to compete with the oil king, the
cotton king, the water king.
''If the working man receives one
fourth of the product of his industry that
means that he can expend that amount;
therefore we hear the cry Of the unem-
ployed in the city and the mortgaged
farmer in the country. The mills go on
producing, but the poor cannot buy.
Competition benefits neither the rich nor
the poor 1t is found that the average
wages in Massachusetts and Illinois is
not sufficient to maintain a family;
young men are learning not to marry,
and the middle class find 1t impossible to
maintain a middle-class home.
1.-The home is growing impossible
among the poor, and maternity unpopu-
lar among the rich. In the Scripture
you cannot find from Genesis to NAL
achi that London was given to the duke
of Westminster, that the Astors should
collect rent from half the city Of New
York, nor that California should be
ruled by the Southern Pacific railroad.
Reform cannot come under competi-
tive system, and the first step toward it
is through the municipality, not through
charity"
Rev John Gray led the singing, begged
skillfully for a good collection, and was
the generally useful person of the meet
ing. After the singing of America"
second time, while the coin was dropping
into the baskets, w. H. Stuart, president
of the Social Democracy, read paper
from the standpoint of nom Christian
Socialism. He outlined the history of
the church in reform, commended it for
its present position, and told some
trenchant truths in his arraienment