The Washington times., 1902-01-13
THE CHURCH
AND LABOR.
Industrial Problem a Moral
Study.
THE REV. DR.. McKIM'S SERMON.
Unions. He Says. Have in Fifty
Years Produced PrOdiGiOus Ad-
vance in the Conditions of Work
ingmen-The Duty of the Church
to study the Situation.

One of the great questions of the day.
''The Problems of Capital and Labor and
the relations of the church of Jesus
Christ to them, was the subject of the
sermon delivered last evening by the
Rev. DR.. Randolph H. Mckim, rector OF
tine Protestant Episcopal Church of the
Epiphany. He said IN part:
What is the function of the church of
Jesus Christ to the conditions of the in
dustrial world? The answer is indicated
in my text, which is TO be found in Acts
vii:26 And the next day he showed him
self unto them as they strove and would
have set them as one again, saying: Sirs,
ye are brethren; why DO ye wrong one
10 another
The Industrial Warfare.
'The surface of industrial disturbances
Is the strikes-when capital and labor
are arrayed against each other-when
war exists between the contending forces
of society and converts our streets into
battlefields. Underneath is the indus
trial warfare between wageworke:s and
capitalists.
THE deep sense of wrong existing in
the masses of workers in our modern So
ciety is fully expounded in Dr. Peabody
work entitled Jesus Christ and the So
cIal Question: which | commend TO your
reading
There has been a prodigious advance
in thg condition of the laboring class as
comDared 10 fifty or seventy-five years
ago The laborer of today lives better,
his home is better. and his wages nave
been greatly advanced. But the labor OF
ganizations have aroused in the hearts OF
these lahoring men an ambition for some
thing better.
Relation TO the Church.
..What relation has the church of Jesus
Christ to these things7 Some tell us
nntbine whatever Others say, stand
aloof and do not interfere. But the re-
iation depends upon our ideas of what
the real function of the church OF Jesus
Christ is.
..If the church is nothing more than
gymnasium for religious exercise. 1t has
nothing to do with these problems But
If on the other hand, the church is
powerhouse for the development OF Christ
manhood and of freedom, peace and mar
Inony. it will be profoundly disturbed by
these problems. What concerns the moral
character of men, the well being of men,
the church.
Church should Take CoEniznnee.
I'VE should not only preach on Sunday,
but should follow the laboring men INTO
their homes and life on Monday and see
what can be done to help their condition.
The church ought TO understand the aims
and purposes of the labor organizations
of the country so as to be better able to
understand the real significance oil the
movement for the ends of harmony and
peace
The labor organizations have elevated
the Iaboring classes mentally and NOR
ally, and promoted human brotherhood.
There have been blunders and errors
made but ii is not necessary to dwell
upon them. 1t is a hard-hearted person
indeed who is not touched by the strug-
giles of the toiling masses to improve their
condition and rise TO a higher social
scale
Again, say it is the duty of church
members to try to understand the signifi-
canoe of labor movements and to ascer-
tain the Justice or the injustice of their
demands For us to blindly commend is
just as bad as to blindly condemn. We
must study the question, for why should
not the church be ready at all times to
act as peacemaker between man and man
move a great misunderstanding that ex-
lists in the minds OF wage earners | re-
fer TO the misunderstanding in regard TO
their believing the church is only inter-
ested in the wealthy and prosperous. and
does not care for those who are toiling in
the dust Of the arena.
Action of the Convention.
1.-The twentieth century opens very
hopefully for the whole industrial prob
lem. The action taken at the recent con-
vention of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, at San Francisco, on the relation
of the church TO capital and labor will
have a moral influence over the land for
ever.
Il consider II a remarkable fact that
the resolutions looking toward the estab-
lishment of a church commission a
board of arbitration should have SO thor
oughly commended themselves, and I feel
safe in predicting that it marks the ad
vent OF an era in which the great labor
questions will be settled by confidence
and arbitration