Middletown transcript., 1899-12-23

There were half a dozen long rude
tables and benches in the great room,
and when the noon whistle sounded the
men poured up stairs from the machine
shop below and, seating themselves at
the tables, began TO eat their lunch.
There were perhaps 800 of them They
had read the superintendent notice.
which he had posted up in various
places. and came largely out of curl
osity
They were favorably impressed. The
room was large and airy. free from
smoke and dust and well warmed from
the steam pipes.
About 90 minutes Of 1 Alexander
Powers told the men what he had in
mind. He spoke very simply. like one
who understands thoroughly the char
acter of his audience. and then intro
duced the Rev. Henry Maxwell of the
First church, his pastor. who had con-
sented to speak few minutes.
Henry Maxwell will never forget the
feelings with which for the first time
he confronted that grimy faced audi
ence of workingmen Like hundreds Of
other ministers. he had never spoken to
any gathering except those made up of
people of his own class in the sense that
they were familiar in their dress and
education and habits to him. This was
a new world to him, and nothing but
his new rule of conduct could have
made possible his message and its effect.
He spoke on the subject of satisfaction
with life. what caused it. what its real
sources were. He had the great good
sense on this first appearance not to rec
ognize the men as a class distinct from
himself He did not use the term
"workingmen" and did not say word
to suggest any difference between their
lives and his own
The men were pleased. A good many
of them shook hands with him before
going down to their work. and Henry
Maxwell. telling it all to his wife when
he reached home. said that never in all
his life had he known the delight he
then felt in having handshake from
man of physical labor. The day marked
an important one in his Christian ex-
perience, more important than he knew.
1t was the beginning of fellowship be-
tween him and the working world. It
was the first plank laid down to help
bridge the chasm between the church
and labor in Raymond.
Alexander Powers went back to his
desk that afternoon much pleased with
his plan and seeing much help in it for
the men, He knew where he could get
some good tables from an abandoned
eating house at one Of the stations down
the road, and he saw how the coffee ar
rangement could be made very at
tractive feature. The men had respond
ed even better than he anticipated, and
the whole thing could not help being a
great benefit to them.
He took up the routine of his work
with a glow of satisfaction. After all,
he wanted to do as Jesus would, he said
to himself.
It was nearly o'clock when he
opened one of the company's long enyel-
opes which he supposed contained or
ders for the purchasing of stores. He
ran over the first page of typewriter
matter in his usual quick, businesslike
manner before he saw that he was read
ing what was not intended for his Office,
but for the superint of the freight |
He turned over page mechanically, |
not meaning to read what was not ad- |
dressed to him, but before he knew it |
he was in possession of evidence which |
conclusiyely proved that the company
was engaged in systematic violation |
Of the interstate commerce laws Of the |
United States. It was as distinct and |
breaking of law as if a pri-
vate citizen should enter a house and |
rob the inmates. The discrimination |
shown in rebates was in total contempt |
Of all the statutes Under the laws of |
the state it was also distinct violation
Of certain provisions recently passed by
The legislature to prevent railroad
trusts There was no question that he
held in his hand evidence sufficient to
convict the company of willfu1, intelli-
gent violation of the law of the COM
mission and the law of the state also.
He dropped the papers on his desk as
f they were poison, and instantly the
question flashed across his mind, "What
would Jesus dor" He tried to shut the
question out He tried to reason with
himself By saying it was none of his
m ci pocc Ha hod e11Y,r,ocod -, n xao-, - |
ess indefinite way, as did nearly all of
jhe officers of the company, that this
1ad been going on right along in nearly
III the roads. He was not in position,
,wing to his place in the shops to prove
direct. and he had regarded it
Ill as matter which did not concern
lin at all. The papers now before him
'evealed the entire affair They had
through some carelessness in the address
,ome into his hands What business of
lis was it? If he saw a man entering
lis neighbor's house to steal, would it
lot be his duty to inform the officers of
he law7 Was railroad company such
! different thing9 Was it under diff
erent rule of cSnduct, SO that it could
OBJ the public and defy law and be un-
disturbed because it was such great
rganization2 What would Jesus dot
Then there was his family. OF course
he took any steps to inform the com
mission it would mean the loss of his
Iosition. His wife and daughters hsd
lways enjoyed luxury and a good place
n society. IF he came out against this
awlessness as witness. it would drag
i'm into courts. his motives would be
and the whole thing
would end in his disgrace end the loss
{ his position. Surely, it was none of
is business. He could easily get the
apers back to the freight department
nd no one be the wiser Let the iniquity
o on. Let the law be defed What was
to him? He would work out his plans
or bettering the conditions just about
i'm. What more could man do in
his railroad business. where there was
. much going on anyway that made it
impossible to live by the Christian
tandard7 But what would Jesus do if
9 knew the factss That was the ques-
ion that confronted Alexander Powers ,
9 the day wore into evening.
The lights in the Office had been
urned on The whir Of the great en-
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