Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-06-16

At least one of the New York evening
papers of May IT gave us very interest
ing figures as given by the general u.s.
sembly of the Presbyterian church of
the nation. They are as follows: at
has now 1,600 ministers without any
employment and $500 In churches
which are not self sustaining because
having but an average membership Of
forty-siX. 1t has also not fur from 1000
ministers unable to do any church work
because too old or sickly and are in
need of assistance to live. The minis
ters with fair or good salaries would
have to be assessed at an average of
over S2T0 per annum in order to ut
least give an average annuity of $500
to each of the 1000 incapacitated min
listers. That charge of over $27o would
be altogether too much for the minis
tiers under fair or good positions to
pay"
There we have wonderful problem
to solve. The Presbyterian church
must have, in proportion to its total
membership, large share of the
wealthy and well to do classes. That
church and the Episcopal church are
considered by far better patronized
than any other by the classes In wealth
and comfortable enough to see that their
ministers should have u good share of
our supposed prosperity. And yet look
at the situation. Commence with the
large army of not far from 1000 men
who, after having worked for the sal
vation Of souls for thirty or forty years,
are In need of charity to keep them
selves and families alive now that our
beloved civilization declares they are
not good for anything. If civilization
had any sense, men would be always
good for something, or no one would
need charity anyhow.
And what about the other group of
ministers, a brigade of 1000, anxious
to be useful in the profession they
have chosen? To them civilization
says: We have nothing for you to do.
If you don't like the conditions we
place you in, hang yourselves.
Now comes the army to which civil
Zation Is for the present willing to give
something of Il job, and they have to
work at starvation wages because
their average congregations of forty
six are themselves as poor as rats. If
they were not, an annual average of
$50 from each member would give the
minister something like $1,000, the
minimum sanitary needs for the aver
age family, and enough would be left
for the other expenses of q small
church building.
Lastly comes the larger army with
fair or good salaries unable to furnish
to the incapacitated ministers the mis-
cradle sum of $500 for the old fellows
to live, with but one-third Of the sani-
tary requirements that each family
needs today. And yet that is the mis-
erable sum that civilization gives to
most of our working families, to the
workers without which our whole in
dustrial fabric would rapidly crumble
to pieces and potentates themselves
would soon become paupers or else
workers with starvation earnings.
What happens with the Presbyterian
church and its $4,000 active or would
be active ministers must take place
with the $4,000 ministers of all
churches in 1900. And please see that
that is connected with the number Of
$4,000 churches, congregations. We
have then $1,000 congregations that
cannot even have a regular pastor,
while, judging by the number of in
capacitated ministers In the Presby-
terian faith, we must have over 10000
incapacitated clergymen all told shov-
eled into the garbage heap by our glo-
riOus Christian civilization.
Evidently, then, the anaconda of our
rotten progress does not even respect
the ministers of our churches and
gradually envelops In its poisonous
coils the preachers of the gospel as
well as the great multitude of our
plain workers who furnish the food,
clothing and shelter without which no
preacher could be had. Not even our
souls can do anything without at least
u portion of the needs of life.
Now comes the funniest part of the
whole problem-viZ, the utter absence
of mental capacity Of our 100000
citizens grouped in churches, since,
with mighty few exceptions, we don't
see their willingness to do any bottom
work for the suppression of our indus
trial evils, with that dreadful old
Mime. Prosperity upsetting every
thing right and left. Charity here,
charity there, prayers everywhere; JUS
tice, equity, honesty nowhere in the
general relations of our national life.
Please wake up, friends of high and
low degree. There is u final Judgment
every day In the year for number of
us whose bodies go down under the
sod, and the soul goes somewhere in
the infinite, there to answer to n right
eous God at least the following ques-
tlon: "What did you do to suppress
iniquity in your own nation, the iniq-
ulty which, incarnated in law, discards
point blank the equity of the uni
verseY JOSE GROS.