The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-10-13
PRINCES AND COAL FAMINE
INTERESTING DISCOURSE BY REV. E. ". STONE LAST EVENING

NAAy yN0NnSha-hEs EettlAoAAAEN Churches, and Frantic NswspaPer Ap- psaIs-I. Our System of Government a FaiIurss-WrOngs of Working People -GOvernor Stone Conservative Graspins CapitaIists-Rtght and Jus tiee wuI Prevail.
 Rev. E. W. Stone. the well known pastor of the Grand avenue Baptist church, preached in that church last evening on Princes and the Coal Fam inc" It was a highly interesting dis course and was listend to with very attentive interest His text was Psalms 146-3:
 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom there Is no help" He spoke in part as follows:
 There is a tendency in human nature in times of personal trial and great public emergencies or impending catas- trophies to turn to earthly princes for relief or help. It is both natural and reasonable. They are the embodiment of the peoples power. To whom else on the earth can they turn? am willing to go a step farther and seemingly to advise against the psalnist' ezhorta- tion. There are times when we ought to look to them for help and redress. One end for which governments exist is to prevent the strong from expressing the weak. And wherever there is dis tress from the oppression of the strong it seems to me we ought to look to rul- CTS for relief.
 ''Rut alas how often do they fail and disappoint us! Their sincerity is not always to be relied upon. Their con stancy and fidelity cannot always De depended upon. And even their vast power is limited. There is hardly ruler in the civilized world that has as much power as the president of tnls countrv. And vet even he stands pow erless before the troubles in Pennsyl- vania that are so seriously disturbing the country. When Spain was starV- ing the Cubans our government hustled together an army and speedily redress ed the wrongs of that afflicted people. But now here in our own land. on the threshold of vigorous northern winter and with the prospect of as much sut- fering and perhaps death as span caused Cuba. the ruler of this people is absolutely powerless. Oh, the notes Tn other peoples' eyes! Put not your trust in princes. In some cases they have no power to help however willing they may be.
 "But the psalmist does not stop here. He points us to the Ruler of heaven and earth who has all power-wno Will execute judgment for the oppressed; give food to the hungry: raise up the bowed down; relieve the fatherless and widows and turn the ways of the sel- fish upside down-to Him who shall reign to all generations
 CT want to apply this exhortation in view Of the coal famine that stares us in the face. Almost wholly we are looking to the president and the gover- nor of Pennsylvania to settle the strike and provide us with coal Fool resolu- tions by city councils, hysteric petitions from churches and frantic appeals from newspapers which can do no good other than to show their authors feelings are sent up to these officials. The presl- dent has frankly said he could do noth- ing. And if there is any real principle
 
 the public has a right to insist on the president forcing either side to yield, even if he had the power. The public can afford to sacrifice if there is to be any real gain from this struggle. There has never been any permanent prog ress in the world except as somebody has suffered.
 "I1dividuals and bodies of men have
 
 much to say that for once in the worlds history the public can afford to sacrifice for the gain of a class? Mark you both contestants claim to be fight ing for the good of the working man.
 Governor Stone has been cautious in the exercise of his power: altogether too much so, some think. I do not He is near the scene and has inside infor- nation. He knows, too, that much of the rioting has taken place only in newspaper columns for public effect He has sent soldiers when they have been asked for by the constituted au- thorities.
 Then, too, he is in position to know the tendency of government by the ar my Do we realize where this is lead ing? Have we set our faces in the way of ancient Rome? Is our system of government failure that every year or two we must call in the army to pre- serve order?
 ''I am no alarmst. But certain ten dencies and practices have always re- suited in certain things and always will At least our leaders of public opinion should take into account, in their fran tic cries in the face of threatening dis aster, the law of consequences.
 Tt seems to me, too, that the ten dency of this thing is to unduly empha- size prosperity at the expense of jus tice and human rights. So soon as il is attacked by a lawless mob, largely imported by the owner for selfish pur- poses, then the army at immense cost to the state must be called out to pro- tect It. You cannot fail to see that the inevitable effect of such things is tc make capital grasping and naughty to- wards labor.
 "The state does not exert itself tc right the wrongs that may be perpe- trated upon labor. No army is ever called out to secure to the laboring mar justice and his inalienable rights anC it ought not to be. But is this denia
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