The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-09-06
DR.. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BLYTHE NOTED
DIVINE
Subject: The Flag OF Truce-Interests OF
Capital and Labor Are Identical. and
When They Cease to Antagonize Each
Other Strife viii Cease.
rCopyright. Louis Klopsch, 1899. J

When They Cease to Antagonize Each
Other Strife Will Cease.
Copyright. Louis Klopsch. 1891
WASHINGTON, D. C.-In this discourse Dr..
Talmage suggests how the everlasting war
10 happy end. The text Is Corinthians
xiii, 81, The eye cannot say unto the
hand, have no need OF thee"
Fifty thousand workmen in Chicago
ceasing work In one day; Brooklyn stunned
by the attempt to halt its railroad cars;
Cleveland in the throes OF labor agta-
ton, and resslessness among toilers all
over the land have caused au epidemic OF
strikes, and, somewhat 70 better things,
apply the Pauline thought OF my text.
EYou. have seen nm elaborate piece OF, ma
chinery, with a thousand wheels and
thousand bands and n thousaN pulleys all
controlled by one great waterwheel, the
machinery so adjusted that when you jar
one part OF 1t you jar all parts Of 1t. Well,
human society Is great piece OF mechan-
ism controlled by one great and ever re-
volving force-the wheel Of Gods provi-
dence. You harm one part OF the machin-
cry OF society, and you harm all parts. All
professions interdependent. All trades in
terdependent. All classes otpeople inter-
dependent. Capital aud labor interde-
pendent. No such thing as independence.
Dives cannot kick Lazarus without hurt
ing his own foot. They who threw Shad-
rach into the furnace got their own bodies
scorched. Or, to come back to the figure
Of the text, what strange thing 1t would
be II the eye should say: I oversee the en-.
tire physical mechanism. I despise the
other members OF the body; IL there Is any
thing am disguised with, it Is with those
miserable, low lived hands. Or, what IL
the hand should say: am the boss work
man OF the whole physical economy; have
no respect for the other members OF the
body. If there Is anything despise, 1t Is
the eye seated under the dome Of the fore
head doing nothing but look.
come In, and I wave the flag of truco
between these two contestants, and say,
1.-THE eye cannot say to the hand, I have
no need OF thee.'"
That brings me to the first suggestion,
and that Is, that labor and capital are TO
be brought to better understanding by
complete canvass OF the whole subject.
They will be brought to peace when they
ind that they are Identical In their inter-
ests. When one goes down, they both go
down. When one rises, they both rise.
There never has been IN exception to the
rule. That whic. Is good for one class OF
society eventually will be good for all
classes Of society, and that which Is bad
tor one class Of society will eventually and
In time be bad for all. Every speech that
labor makes against capital postpones the
day OF permanent adjustment. Every
speech that capital makes against labor
'postpones the day OF permanent adjust
ment. When capital maligns labor 1t Is
the eye cursing the hand: When labor
imaligns capital, It is hand cursing the eye.
AS fur as have observed, the vast maj or
ity Of capitalists are successful laborers.
II the capitalists would draw their
glove, you would see the broken finger
nail, the scar OF an old blister, the
stiffened finger joint. The great pup
fishers OF the country for the mos' part
were bookbinders, or typesetters, on small
pay. The great carriage manufacturers
for the most part sand-papered wagon
bodies in wheelwright shops. While. on
the other hand, In all our larga manufac-
turing establishments you will find men on
wages who once employed hundred or
five hundred hands. The distance between
capital and labor is not great gulf over
which is swung Niagara suspension
bridge; 1t is only a step, and the capitalists
are crossing over to become lnborers. and
the laborers are crossing over to become
capitalists. Would God they might shake
hands while they cross. On the other
hand, laborers are the highest style OF capt.
talists. Where are their investments? In
,banks2 mol In the railroads? No! Their
nerve, their muscle, their bone, their me.
:chanical skill, their physical health are
magnificent capitall He who has two eyes,
two ears, two feet. two hands, ten fingers,
has machinery that puts into nothinGness
carpet and screw and cotton factory, and
all the other implements on the planet.
Tho capitalists were laborers, the laborers
were capitalists. The sooner We under
stand that the better.
Again, there Is to come relief to the la-
boring classes OF this country through CO.
operative associations. am not at this
moment speaking OF trades unions, but OF
that plan by which laborers put their sur
plus together and become their own cap
ltalists. Instead OF being dependent upon
the beck Of this capitalist or that capital
ist, they manage their own affairs. 10
England and Wales there are S1S co-opera-
lbers; they have capital OF SlS, 900, or
what corresponds to our dollars and they
do a business annually OF $4,000, 900.
Thomas Brassey, one Of the foremost men
lin tho British Parliament, on the subject
says: "Co-operation Is the one and the only
irelief for the laboring populations. This
lis the path," he saws, "by which they are
to come up from the hand to the mouth
style OF living, to reap the rewards and the
Derby and John Stuart Mill, who gave half
their lives to the study OF the labor ques-
tion, believed In cooperative institutions.
:, "But," says some one, "haven't these In
stltutlons sometimes been failure?" Yes.
Every great movement has been failure
at some time. Application OF the steam
power failure, electro telegraphy fail
ure, railroadlng failure, but now the
chief successes OF the world.
ptk tvh hty n
plus being put by laborers into co-opera-
tive associations when the vast multitude
OF toilers OF this country are struggling for
their daily bread and have no surplus?" 1
reply, put into my hand the money spent
by the laborlng classes OF America for rum
and tobacco. and will establish co-opera-
tive associations In all parts OF this land,
some OF them mightier than any financial
institutions OF the country. We spend In
for tobacco We spend over 81, 500, 900 900
directly or indirectly for rum. The labor
ing classes spend their share OF this money.
Now, suppose the laboring man who has
been expendipg HIS money in those direc.
tions should just add up how much he hns
expended during these past few years, and
then suppose that that money was put into
q cooperative association, and then sup
pose he should have ali his friends In toll,
who had made the same kind CT expendi:
ture, do the same thing, and that should
be added up and put into a cooperative
association. And then take all that money
expended for orerdress and overstyle and
ovetllving on the part OF toiling people In
order that they may appear as we'll as per
sons who have more income-gather that
all up and YOU could have cooperative as
sociattons all over this land.
am not saying anything now about