The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-15

between them. and the further fact that
each group or union has, or at least
tends to have its own code Of ethics.
This opens the wide field OF inter-class
morality. Now. then. our national
problem is to maintain unimpaired the
organic unity of all these social and in
dustrial parts. It is more than an
enononic or political question; it is a
moral and religious problem; it is a
condition to which the church is sent
with the word Of the living Lord. So
ciety in it's countless organizations. sep
arate and independent, seems to be like
a bag of marbles; but il government is
a mere bag to hold together by external
restraints separate organizations of
self-interest, how can government itself
bear the wear and tear of them? How
can the prosperity Of the whole con-
tinue? The problem is, How are all the
members of our modern democracy to
be kept working together in the unity of
the body? Are organized classes to
prove the death of democracy? We
fought one war, a revolutionary war to
gain our right to exist as one free, self
governed people. We fought another
war to preserve our political integrity
as one nation. We have another, third
conflict to fight through in order to
maintain our social and Industrial In
tegrity. 1t is hopefully bloodless war,
but it is certainly a moral conflict. It
may prove to be the greatest and
crowning conflict Of the three. We
are now in it, and it is blindness not to
own it's responsibilities. We may not
now anticipate any single event, like
the firing upon Fort Sumter, to fuse the
hearts of men into one tremendous pas
sion, but a touch Of coal famine ought
to be enough to awaken all the classes
to a realizat ton Of the fact,that the COM
mon prosperity Of a people cannot last
If it be composed only of organized self
interests. One Of our first and relig-
ious duties, therefore, is to seek out, to
stimulate, and to honor all the integral
ing powers-all Influences that make
whole, that serve to bind social and in
dustrial groups together.
From this survey of existing condi-
tons two things may be clearly seen to
be things that are not to be done. We
are not to seek to overcome the evils of
class organization by futile efforts to
destroy the principle of organization.
That is a vital principle. It sowed the
seeds of order in chaos. To it We owe
the suns and the stars, all the diversi-
ties Of the flowers of the earth. the
fruits of the fields, and the races of
men with their wealth of achievements.
We cannot uproot that principle. But
life. progressive and fruitful life, is to
be gained, not by stopping ut any point,
but by the direction throughout of the
principle of organization. The moral
problem of our civilization is, not to
prevent men from forming unions, but
to see that each class, like every MEM
Der of the body, is organized not for
its Independent interest merely, but to
fulfill its proper function in the life of
the community.
Another thing not to be done is to
speak word or to do deed which
shall tend to widen the breach between
separate groups and classes. Glass hos
tilities are the tares which the enemy
soWs in the harvest field of democracy.
There may be few men so wicked that
they would themselves SOW these tares.
are too many men who carelessy give
words Or deeds as seeds of tares for
the enemy to sow. Any one who in the
columns of newspaper or in a pulpit,
or in the conversations of men, uses
foolish, diVisive words, or utters bitter
ly separative speech, is simply leaving
out over night the seeds of tares where
the enemy may find them to SOW Such
conduct even of good men Is essentially
immoral and anarchic.
DR.. Smyth proceeded to speak of the
positive motives and powers which
must be worked energetically to pre-
vent the moral dshtegration Of den1oc-
racy. One is patriotism. Amy express
sions or tendencies in the world of
fashion, of education or Of labor that
are reckless of the supreme sanctity of
government, or that bring patriotism
into contempt, are anarchic, and should
be condemned and consumed. And
patriotism, which Is now our joy in our
whole country, has its hearth, where
its flame Is to be kept always burning,
in love for the city. We need some
thing of that spirit which at times pre-
vailed in the free medieval cities, in
which all their guilds were united in
great achievements, and their cathe-
drals built, such as was signalized by
this decree once of the council of me-
diaeval Florence: mo works must be
done by the commune but such as are
conceived in response to the grand
heart of the commune, composed of all
citizens, united In one common will"
We need that spirit; we need among us
all more love of our city.
Other unifying forces may be group
ed together as the natural forces Of HUI
man sympathy and good feeling. We
use the word brotherhood now as a
word to conjure with. But classes of
men who want what they regard as
their rights cannot be satisfied with
our sympathies. Men who cry for JUS
tice would rather starve to death than
to be fed with pity. The divine love
i'll nature works through law; we have
no evidences Of the divine benevolence
in nature except as we find blessings
Continued on Seventh Page)