The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-03-07

no use trying to hide it or cover it I'D.
We live in an age Of trusts and COM
bines and capitalistic greed that means
simply death to thousands of innocent
men. women and children 1 thank
God If there is God. which l very
much doubt. that |, for one, have never
dared to marry and try to have home.
Home Talk Of hell Is there ally big
ger than the ono this man with his
three children has On his hands right
this minute? And he's only one out of
thousands. and yet this city and every
other big city in this country has its
thousands Of professed Christians who
have all the luxuries and comforts and
who go to church Sundays and sing
their hymns about giving all to Jesus
and bearing the cross and following him
all the way and being savedl l don't
say that there aren't some good men
and women among them. but let the
minister who has spoken to us here to-
night 60 into any one Of dozen aris-
tocratic churches could name and pro-
pose to the members to take any such
pledge as the one he's proposed here and
see how quick the people would laugh
at him for fool or crank or a fanatic.
Oh. no! That's not the remedy That
can't ever amount to anything. We've
got to have new start in the way of
government The whole thing needs re-
constructing. don't look for any re-
form worth anything to come out Of
the churches. They are not with the
people. They are with the aristocrats,
with the men Of money. The trusts and
monopolies have their greatest men in
the churches. The ministers as class
are their slaves. What we need is a
system that shall start from the COM
mon basis of socialism founded on the
rights Of the common people,
Carlson had evidently forgotten all
about the three minute rule and was
launching himself into a regular ora
tiOn that meant, in his usual surround
ings. before his usual audience, an hour
at least, when the man just behind him
pulled him down unceremoniousiy and
rose, Carlson was angry at first and
threatened u little disturbance, but the
cAoAAcl AOiAA&uoCu llIll VI JllS RUE, anu
he subsided. with several mutterings
in his beard, while the next speaker be-
gan with very strong eulogy on the
value of the single tax as a genuine
remedy for all the social ills. He was
followed by a man who made bitter
attack on the churches and ministers
and declared that the two great obsta-
cles in the way of all true reform were
the courts and the ecclesiastical ma.
chimes
When he sat down. a man who bore
every mark of being street laborer
sprang to his feet and poured out per.
feet torrent of abuse against the corpor-
ations. especially the railroads. The
minute his time was up big, brawny
fellow who said he was metal worker
by trade claimed the floor and declared
that the remedy for the social wrongs
was trades, unionism. This. he said.
would bring on the millennium for la
Dor more than anything else The next
man endeavOred to give some reasons
why so many persons were out of en-
ployment and condemned inventions as
the works of the devil. He was loudly
applauded by the rest of the company.
Finally the bishop called time on the
free for all and asked Rachel to sing
Rachel Winslow had grown into a
very strong, healthful, humble Chris
tian during that wonderful year in
Raymond dating from the Sunday
when she first took the pledge to do as
Jesus would do. and her grea5 talent of
song had been fully consecrated TO the
service of her Master When she began
to sing tonight at this settlement meet
ing. she had never prayed more deeply
for results tC come from her yoice-the
voice which she now regarded as the
Master s, to be used for him.
Certainly her prayer was being a
swered as she sang. She had chosen the
words
Tlark, the voice of Jesus calling,
Follow me. follow nn!
Again Henry Maxwell. sitting there,
was reminded of his first night at the
Rectangle in the tent when Rachel sang
the people into quiet. The effect was
the same here. What wonderful power
good voice consecrated to the Masters s
service always is! Rachel's great nat
ural ability would have made her one
OF the foremost opera singers of the age.
Surely this audience had never before
heard such melody. How could it? The
men who had drifted in from the street
sat entranced by voice which hack
in the world" never could be heard by
the common people because the owner
of it would charge So or So for the
privilege. The song poured ont through
the hall as free and glad as if it We're a
foretaste of salvation itself
Carlson, with his great black bearded
face. absorbed the music with the deep
love of it peculiar to his nationality.
and tear ran over his cheek and glis-
tened in his beard as his face softened
hoo A.,l, L