Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-09-08


brend question should be expended in
battlefield on which more troops met than
on any other In tho worlds history was
tho battlefield of Leipsio-160, 900 men
| under Napoleon, $50, 600 men under
| Schwarzcberg. No, no! The greatest and
most terrific battle is now being fought
| all the world over. 1t is the battle for
bread The ground tone of tho finest pas
sage in one of the great musical master
pieces, tho artist says, was suggested to
| him by tho cry Of the hungry populace of
! Vienna as the king rode through and they
shouted: Bread Give us bread!" And
all through tho great harmonios of mu-
steal academy and cathedral / hear tho
pathos, the ground tone, the tragedy, Of
uncountod multitudes, who with stream
| ing eyes and wan checks and broken
! hearts in behalf Of themselves and their
families are pleading for bread
A Look Around Us.
Let us take another look around to 500
| how we may serve our generation. Let
us sec rs far ns possible, that they have
enough to wear. God looks upon the hui
man race and knows just how many in
| habitants the world has. The statistics of
! the worlds population are carefully taken
in civilized lands, and every fow years Off
! GERS of government go through the land
and count how many people there are in
the United States or England, and great
accuracy Is reached. But when people tell
us how many inhabitants there arc in
Asia or Africa at best it must be wild
| guess. Yet God knows tho exact number
of people on our planet, and ho has made
enough apparel for each, and if there be
fifteen hundred million, fifteen thousand,
fifteen hundred and fifteen people, then
there is enough apparel for fifteen hundred
million fifteen thousand fifteen hundred
and fifteen. Not slouchy apparel, not
ragged apparel, not insufficient apparel
but appropriate apparel At least two
suits for every being on earth, summer
suit and winter suit. good pair of
shoes for every living mortal. good
coat, "a good hat or good bonnet and n
good shawl and complete masculine or
feminine outfit of apparel. A wardrobe
FOR all nations, adapted to all climcs, and
not q string or button or pin or u hook
| or an eye wanting
But, alas where arc the good clothes
for threo-fourths of the human race? Tho
other one-fourth have appropriated them.
The fact is there needs to be and will be a
redistribution. Not by anarchistic vio-
lcncc. If outlawry had its way, it would
rond and tear and diminish, until instead
of three -fourths of the world not properly
attired, four fourths would be in rags.
| / will let you know how the redistribution
will take place BY generosity on tho part
of those who have surplus and increased
industry on the part of those suffering
! from deficit. Not all, but the large ma
jority of cases of poverty in this country
are result of idlcncss or drunkenness,
either on the part of the present sufferers
| or their ancestors. In most cases the rum
jug is the maelstrom that has swallowed
down the livelihood of those who arc in
rags But things will change, and by
generosity on the part Of the crowded
wardrobes, and industry and sobriety on
the part of tho empty wnrdrobcs, there
will be enough for all to wear
God Does His Part.
God has done his part toward the dress
ing OF the human race. He grows sur.
plus of wool on the Sleeps back and floclSs
roam tho mountains and valleys with u
burden of warmth intended for transfer
cncc to human comfort, when tho shuttlcs
Of the factories, reaching all tho way from
Chattahoochco to the Merrimac, shall have
spun and woven It, In white letters OF
snowy fleece God has been writing fol
! 900 years his wish that there might be
warmth for all nations. While others arc
discussing the effect of high or low tariff
or no tariff at all on wool you and l had
better see If in our wardrobcs we have
nothing that we can spare for the suffer
ing Or pick out some poor lad of the street
and take him down to n clothing store and
fit him out for the season. Gospel of shoes
Gospel of hatsl Gospel of clothes for the
naked!
Again, let us look around and SEQ how
many serve our generation. What short
sighted mortals we would be if we WERE
anxious to clothc and feed only the most
insignificant part of man-namcly, his
body-whilc we put forth no effort tC
clothe and feed and save his soul. Tim,
is little piece broken off great eternity
What are we doing for the souls of thi.
present gencrationf Let me say it is {
generation worth saving. Most maRnif
cent men and women are in 1t. We make
great ado about the improvements II
navigation and in locomotion and in art
and machinery. We remark what won
dcrs Of telegraph and telephone and the
stcthoscope. What improvement is elec
trio light over IA tallow candle But al
|
pared with tho improvement in the hu
man race. In olden times once in awhile
great and good man or woman would
come up, and the world has made grca
fuss about 1t ever since, but now they ar
so numerous we scarcely speak abou
them. We put n halo about the people o
the past, but think, If tho times demand
ed them, it would be found we have nov
living in this year 1893 80 Martin Luthers
90 George Washingtons, so Lady Hunting
dons, 80 Elizabeth Frys. During our ciyi
war more splendid warriors in north ant
south were developed in tour years thai
the whole world developed In the previous
90 years. challenge the 1000 years be
fore Christ and also the Is centuries afte
Christ to show me the equal of charity OF
Il large scale of George Peabody. Th
generation of men and women is NOR
worth saving than any one of the $50 gen
erations that have passed Off Where shal
we bcgnY With ourselves. That is tn
pillar from which we must start
The Dividing Line.
Prescott, tho blind historian, tells III
how Pizarro saved his army for tho RICH
when they wcre' about deserving him
With his sword he made long mark OIL
tho ground. He said: my men, on tn
north side are desertion and death; on tn,
south side is victory; on the north sid
Panama and poverty; on the south sid'
Peru with all its riches. Choose for your
selves. For my part, go to the south
} Stepping across the line one by one hi
troops followed, and finally his who'll
army.