The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-07-01
OPPOSED TO
The BOYCOTT
Strong Sermon Preached Against It
& by the Pastor of the West Pitts
ton Presbyterian Church.
Special to the Scranton Tribune.


Pittston, June 3O.-Rev William r.
I, Harshaw. D. D., of the West Pittston
Presbyterian church, III his sermon
Sunday morning had this to say re-
sgarding the boycott:
The thing is unnatural. Here are two
men in the community that have been
born In 1t and grown up together. One
JOINS a certain organization of his own
"lii. Ihe other man exercises his liberty
ana says I do not feel inclined to join
But, says his aged comrAde, "you
= must Join. II ,'ou do not join, then l will
not work With you; neither will patron
lze any merchant who sells goods to you
10 the extent of my ability, will starve
you and yours to death, until you give
up your liberty and join the organization
TO which / belong. and allow your in
divldual liberty to be regulated by the
organization Now there is the situa-
tion. l am sure have not exaggerated II
one iota. Now, 1 submit to any candid
mind that such condition is unnatural.
to call 1t by no harsher term But the
method is not only unnatural, but it is
un-American
1t there be one principal that is wrought
INTO the very warp and woof of our
national constitution. one principle that
stands out in all our history, and in all
our life, one principle that has cost us
blood and treasure from Bunker Hill to
Gettysburg to maintain, 1t is the principle
OF individual liberty consistent with the
highest good of the whole as represented
in the state. But 1 am no longer free;
! must join an organization whether I
VIII, or won't i have no choice; / must
work when the Organization says "work,"
ana must starve when the organization
says 'starve." The organization decides
hours and pay. l am simply part of a
machine. and the weapon that Is to be
used In order to force me to surrender nv
liberty is the boycott The trades union
idea Is all right, but its value to the
working classes of America is in exact
proportion to the liberty of choice in
membership. But the situation that faces
every man today Is starvation, or sur
render Nor Is that all Of it. The weapon
Is not used alone on the Individual him
self. II that will not suffice, then the
weapon is turned upon wife and child,
and, through these, he is to be reached
and frightened and forced. | know moth
ing OF union. or non-union here. One
man Is as good as another TO me--the
man who mines the coal, as the operator
who furnishes the capital. ! want to see
justice for all and each; but know this,
that under the blue sky of America, under
the Stars and Stripes that float above us,
on this soil. crimson with the blood of
men that have died for liberty, on this
land filled with the green graves of men
who have counted not their lives dear"
that they might perpetuate constitution
and flag, here the boycott is an alien, and
has neither right, nor place. nor home,
whether It be the employer or the en-
ploye, who uses 1t.
Unnatural un-American. 1t is, at the
same time. un-christian. The Master
enunciated this principle and made it
fundamental. "As ye would that men
should do to you, do ye even so to them"
The scripture gives this as the supreme
test OF discipleship. by this shall all
men know that ye are my disciples when
ye have love one for another" That love
which is demanded is not theory, but a
fact, not an emotion that exhausts itself
In Mysteries, but "a something that lives
within, that breathes itself In every
breath. and beats In every heart throb
and manifests Its power In word and life
And yet, imagine one Christian man
fronting another Christian man., while the
shadow of the cross Is above t,sem both
aiii one through clenched tee', rs to
the DINER, lniess you yield w. ~,
I'll make II impossible for you IS get
work. or food. or clothing; I'll starve
wife and children; II hound you from
place to place; I'll dog your steps and
watch your ACTIONS; III make life a
burden and death desirable. unles you
join my organization. and do as the or
gahization decides must be done"
Teere Is the situation. That IL what II
means In cold blocd. That Is what the
= ---"ers tian at aha nrinciniA inta life