The age-herald., 1899-07-30


 Standard oil and the Water of Life will not mix
 If man say love God and hateth his brother, he is liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seenF
 Thus does John in his first epistle de- nounce those who pretend to love the Heav- enly Father while they hate the earthly brother
 Christ condensed the Ten Commandments into two when He said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as myself"
 The first defines mans duty toward the Almighty; the second his duty toward his fellow men. The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of are parts of the same gospel and cannot be separated. We have no way of measuring mans love toward the Creator except by the good will which he man1fests toward his fellow creatures.
 There Is a wide zone between the affirma- tive benevolence which religion commands and the rectitude which government com pels. The Christian cannot content himself with life of negative harmlessness; the fruits of the spirit must manifest tnem- selves in positive helpfulness.
 The object of this article, however, it not to point out ways in which the Christ ian may aid his brother, but rather to in- dicate few of the ways in which he may be doing justice to him.
 The subject of taxation is an ever present one. Other questions may come and go, but this question, like Tennysons book, goes on forever. It Is an admitted proposi- ton that each citizen should contribute to the support of his government in proportion to the protection enjoyed by him and the benefits received. If, because of a bad sys- tenn of taxation or because of the faulty administration of a good system, taxes are collected in such way that some pay more than their share and others less, in- justice Is done to those overburdened and particularly shown to those too lightly tax ed. An unjust system, In effect collects from those overtaxed dgives to those undertaxed; or. h other words, transfers money from one mans pocket to another mans pocket. The wrong done in this way approaches. if 1t does not reach. the pro- portions of grand larceny. If the unjust law Is the handiwork of those who profit by it and Is enacted because of the advant- age which 1t brings to it's authors how shall we describe the moral character of the act? The wrong consists in the fact that money is taken from one person without an equivalent being returned by the govern ment and given to another without a con-
 
 ing immateral The person who robs by force or by fraud is no more guilty, from a moral standpoint, than the man who pur- posely secures legislation which transfers to the shoulders of others the public bur den which he himself ought to bear The advocates of an income tax believe that taxation involves a moral as well as po- ltical question, and believing in equality before the law, they favor an amendment to the constitution specifically authorizing an income tax. Can the opponents of such an amendment place their opposition upon moral grounds? Can the Christian who loves his brother conceal from the as- sessor property rightfully subject to tax ation or favor tax systems favorable to himself, unjust to others?
 It was said of the Scribes and PhafiSeeS, ''They bind heavy burdens and grevous to be borne and lay them on mems shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" This indictment might be brought today against those who encourage extravaganza in legislation and yet evade their share of burdens which they impose.
 Honest differences of opinion to the merits of any proposed financial policy are to be expected, but there ought to be no differences of opinion as to the ideal policy, toward the securing of which every effort should be directed. The questions, What money Is sound? and What dollar makes the nearest approach to honesty? may af- ford ground for dispute, but there should be no dissent from the proposition that the best dollar, no matter what system secures it. is the dollar which is most stable in It's purchasing power. Absolute stability, II at tainable, would give us an absolutely hon est dollar. but such dollar has never yet been devised.
 In money, as in other matters, we strive for perfection, knowing it cannot be fully attained Every fuctuation in the purch- asing power of the dollar injure5 some one. If a dollar rises in purchasing power 1t benefits those who own money and those who hold contracts payable in dol lars, but it injures those who owe money and those who produce wealth.
 A dollar which falls in purchasing power produces the opposite effect. To increase the number of dollars called for in con- tract would not be tolerated for a moment; to increase the purchasing power of the dol lar however has exacted the same effect. The purchasing power of a dollar may be changed by legislation. For instance, other things being equal. legislation which les sons the volume of standard money in creases the value of each dollar. This idea was forcibly set forth by MT. Mckinley in a speech made in Toledo. Ohio. in 1891. Spea king of Mr. Cevelands hostility to silver he said "He was determined to con- tract the circulating medium and demone- tize one of the coins of commerce. limit the volume of money among the people, make money scarce and therefore dear. He would have increased the value of money and dl- unfinished the value of everything else money the master, everything else the serv- ant"
 If legislation intended to make money scarce and therefore dear makes money the master and everything else the servant, can Christians ignore the moral question involved?
 Tn the parable of the sower Christ taught that "the cares of this world and the de- ceitfulness of riches choke the truth" and history confirms His teachings. Reforms come from those who suffer, not from those who are benefited by existing conditions, and yet in 1896 those who were perverting