The Penn's Grove record., 1900-05-25
DR.. TALMAGES SERMON.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.

SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: Labor Strfkes-A Question Of
Present Import Treated In . Way
Aimed t. Bring About . Better Feeling
Between Employer and E,nploye.
lCopyrtght lsOal
WASHINGTON, d. Cat q time whom In
various districts labor troubles are exist
ing or impending the efforts DR.. Taimage
makes In THIS discourse to bring about a
better feeling between both sides OF this
difficult question is well timed; texts, Gala
:ians, ", 10, ssBut II ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that ye be not con-
sumed one OF another" and Philippians
IL. 4, Look not every mar on his own
things, but every man also on the things
Of Others"
About every six months there is a great
tabor agitation. There are violent ques-'
lions now in discussion between employers
and employees. The present s'strikes" will
go into the past. OF course the damage
done cannot Immediately be repaired.
Wages will not be SO high as thew we're.
Systematically they may be higher, but
they will drop lower. Strikes. whether
right or wrong, always in1ure laborers as
we'll as capitalists. You will see this in
the starvation of next winter, Boycotting
and violence and murder never pay. They
are different stages OF anarchy. God never
blessed murder. The worst use you can
put a man to Is to kill him.
The worst enemies OF the w king classes
In the United States and Irel& nd are their
demented c~oadjutors. Yeare ago assas-
sination-the assassination H Lord Fred
erick Cavendish and Mr.. Burke In Phoenix
Park, Dublin, In the attempt to ayenge the
wrongs OF Ireland, only turnkd away from
that afflicted people millions Dsympathiz.
ers. The attempts to blow up the house OF
common, In London, had only this effect
TO throw out of employment tens Of
thousands OF innocent Irish people In
England. In this country the torch put to
the factories that have discharged hands
for good or bad reason, distractions on
the rail tracks In front OF midnight express
trains because the offenders do moi like
the president OF the company. strikes on
shipboard the hour they We're going to
sail, or In printing oflces the hour the
paper was to go to press, or. In the mines
the day the coal was to be delivered, or on
house scafIoldfngs SO the builder fails in
keeping his contract-allA these are only a
hard blow on the head o; American labor
and cripple its arms and LAME its feet and
pierce its heart. Traps sprung suddenly
upon employers and violence never took
one mot out OF the knuckles Of toll or put
a farthing OF wages into a cailous palm.
Frederick the Great admired some land
near his palace at Potsdam, and he re-
solved to get It. It vas owned by miller.
He offered the miller three times the value
OF the property. The milleg would not
take It because It was the bid homestead,
end he felt about as Nabotb felt about his
vineyard whep Ahab wanted 1t. Frederick
the Great was o rough and terrible man.
n he ordered the miller into his pres
ence, and the king, with q stick In his hand
"a stick with which he sometimes struck
the officers Of state-said to the miller,
"Now, I have offered you three times the
sell 1t I'll takei 1t anyhow" The miller said,
"Your majesty. you won't" ..Yes," said
the king; II will take It," ssThen." said
the miller, III you majesty does take 1t
/ will sue you In the chancery court" At
that threat Frederick the Great yielded his
infamous demand. And the most tmperi-
y outrage against the working classes
Will yet cover beforethe law. Violence and
defiance OF the law will never accomplish
anythi1 hnt righteousness and submls-
sion to will accomplish it.
But the damages done the
labor Etrikes will be repaired, and
Ht4thiagsl oufhtxpo e.
said. The whole tendoncy'6f ouf :. as
you have noticed, Is to make the chasm
W. WOSA AARAVyV "a OmplOf0 WlQ6l dlO
wider. In olden time the lead man of the
factory. the master builder, the capitalist.
the head man of the firm, worked side by
side with their employees, working some-
times at the same bench, dining at the
same table, and there are those here who
can remember the time when the clerks Of
large commercial establishments were Ac.
customed to board with b head men Of
the firm.
All that Is changed, and the tendency is
to make b distance between employer
and employe wider and wider. The ten
dency Is to max the employee feel that he
Is wronged by the success OF the capitalist
and to make the capitalist feel: "Now, my
laborers are only beasts Of burden. I must
give so much money for SO much d~rudgery;
Just so many pieces OF silver for SO many
beads Of sweat" In other words. the
bridge Of sympathy is broken down at both
| ends.
That feeling was we'll described by
Thomas Carlyle when be said: "Plugson
81 st. Dolly understood, buccaneerlike.
says to his men: Noble spinners, this is
the hundredth thousand we nave gained,
wherein l mean to dwell and plant my
vineyards. The hundred thousand pound
Is mine; the daily wage was yours. Adieu.
noble ~spinnersl Drink my health with this
groat each. which I give you over and
aboye.'"
Now what we want Is to rebuild that
bridge OF sympathy, n / put the trowel
to n OF the abutments to-day. and /
preach more especially to employers as
such, although what / have to say will be
appropriate to both employers and EN-
ployes.
The behavior Of a multitude OF laborers
toward their employers during the last
three months may have induced some en-
ployers to neglect the real Christian duties
hat they owe to those whom they employ.
Therefore / want to say to you whom I
confront face to face and those to whom
these words may come that all shipowners,
all capitalists, all commercial firms. ali
master builders, all housewives, are bound
to be interested in the entire welfare OF
their subordinates.
Years ago some n gave three prescrIp-
lions for becoming q millionaire: "Flrst,
spend your life In getting and keeping the
earnings of other peoples. secondly, have
no anxiety about the worriments. the
losses, the disappointments Of others:
thirdly, do not mind the fact that your
vast wealth implies the poverty Of a great
many people,"
Now, there Is not q man here who would
consent to 90 into life with those three
principles to earn q fortune. It Is your de.
sire to do your whole duty to the men and
women In your service.
First OF all, then, pay as large wages az
are reasonable n as your business will
afford; not necessarily what others pay
certainly not what your hired help say YOU
must pay, for that is tyranny on the part
of labor unbearable.
The right of laborer to tell his employer
what he must pay implies the right oil an
employer to compel q man into q service
whether he will or not, and either OF thoae
ideas is d~espicable.
When any employer allows a laborer ia