The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-01-25
CHRISTIAN and popu-
LlSm.

A1OlNs
THE FIGHT FOR REFORM SHOULD BE
| MADE IN THE NAME OF THE
GREAT NAZARENE.
There was a time when. the whole
Industrial system of the civilized world
was one great sweat shop. There were
no strikes, no labor guilds, no contest
! OF labor with capital, because the
handicraftsman was a serf. No wages
were paid in ancient Rome; the work.
| ing classes lived on charity. The py-
ramids were built by men who never
| dreamt of getting an honest wage for
an honest days work.
7 Then came the Carpenter of Naza-
reth, distinctly man of the people, He
treated the labor problem and indus
| trial questions in a manner new to the
world. His teachings were that one man
! is as good as another, because there is
one God and Father of us all. Follow
up the declaration that God is no re-
spector of persons" and you come to
the Magma Charter and the Declaration
OF independence. The philosophy of
the Gallilean Carpenter has dignified
labor. Himself a workingman, the
twelve who gathered about him were
men OF handicraft. The early church
and the church ever since has been
recruited for the most part by work.
ing people.
Under the influence of the Christian
religion the world has been continu-
ally bettered. This is particularly
true in regard to Industrial life. The
improvements have been gradual, for
great evils are not leveled in a day.
Three pence a day were the wages Of
carpenter in England in the thirteenth
century. In the fourteenth century
the hours Of labor were from a. m. to
1880 p. m. That the bettered condi-
tion is due to Christian influence can
easily be seen by consulting man of
the world. Compare China, Egypt, and
Turkey with the nations of Christendom.
The discomfort among laboring classes
in Christian lands only proves that
! Christianity has blessed the working
| man, for the right of complaint and the
right to seek to improve their condition
is one of the things that Christianity
has vindicated. The religion which has
accomplished so much can be trusted to
accomplish more. The rights of the
toilers are safe in the hands of the Naz-
| arean carpenter.
Some alleged followers of the Naza-
rene there are who preach to the
rich alone, but they are only the alleged
followers. Present conditions have
| robbed labor of it's attraction, of it's
beauty. 1t is no longer the philoso-
piers stone that changes all it touches
| to wealth. but the mark of unmerited
inferiority.
1t is these conditions that have filled
people with selfshness and desire to
! grab everything in sight, and has
crushed and almost killed the spirit of
fairness. But man by nature is capa-
bic of far better. He never left the
hands of the creator in imperfection.
Change conditions and he will once
more stand in all his manhood, or, as
Mr.. Bellamy puts it, stand straight be-
fore God. To get men to serve him
he must, as one who discusses this
question, says, follow the vocation for
which they are most adapted. This is
true. Plato saw that the only way to
make the world happy was to set all
men on a level. If this were done the
cry of the millions of oppressed, un-
fortunate ones would be heard no
longer; sick and diseased bodies would
become stronger and healthier, and sad
and gloomy lives would turn into
bright and hopeful ones again. The
ultimate result of giving all equal Op-
portunities would be complete harmony
er garden filled with flowers that have
been painted beautifully by the Great
Artist and given fragrance, but little
beauty, and still others who can boast
vi Utduly, Uut WIN nave liz
there are some painted red, and some
blue or white But lady enters with
sharp pen knife, carefully cuts one
here and one there, few Of this kind,
and a few of the other, and together
they make bouquet that is rich in both
fragrance and beauty.
Some men may be born strong,
some with hands to take hold of the
plow, and others with fine and deli
cate ones; some men may be born to
become blacksmiths, and others artists,
yet to give all chance to become that
for which they were adapted would
bring harmony to society and result in
| the happiness and general good of ALL
Southern Mercury.