The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-03-31
The Voice of
The People
MR.. HEWITT REPLIES.

Editor Providence News
My attention was called 10 n letter
which appeared In your paper of last
Friday. wherein / was. / think, rather
unjustly hauled over the Goals by Mr..
John ii. Nickerson. I'm future illusions
] will abbreviate this name 20 Mr.. NJ
In the unfortunate letter which / wrote.
that has aroused the ire OF this gentle
man, l ask the question. what is So
cialsm?" and l again ask it OF course
most OF us know the dictionary definition
of the term. IA more equal distribution
of property" and therefore as / truly
stated In my letter. have asked dozens
OF people what form the distribution had
to take, and how are we to arrive at II,
but the answers have been. as l said.
/ anything from simple cooperation to
rabid anarchy.
/ can assure Mr.. n. that as far as
wanting a share I'm the good things / am
as much a Socialist as he is. but fear
that for some long time ! shall have 10
be content with the wanting. for until
these so called Socialists settle down 10
some logical basis they will never gain
the confidence OF the people sufficiently
for them TO upset the present state OF
things for although the people have the
power, yet with that power there is dis
cretion enough TO know that 1T is better
TO bear the ills we have than fly TO others
that we know not Of
Mr.. n. charges me with the use OF nat
ural gas. As gas Is an illuminant would
IL not have been better IL he had used a
little go as to have thrown a light on this
question? Some sort Of gas must have
got into his head. for in trying to be sa-
tirical he becomes hysterical when he
says that ] am suffering from Perry
tonitis," a complaint never heard OF be-
fore, but says IL IL a Providence name,
for the condition OF the brain when II
turns from the natural gray matter to
that OF n golden hue.
My dear Mr.. N, such change never
does take place. and therefore the ex-
planation that person so afflicted can
not grasp a plan advanced by the people
falls TO the ground. In my letter stated
that | had been referred to their ltera-
ture for information las to what Social
ism Is. but instead Of gaining any, met
with little else than n condemnation OF all
outside its own peculiar fad, for they are
not by any means unanimous In their
belief (as witness the squabbling now I'm
full progress among them) and therefore
when he charges me with Ignorance of
their belief l must plead guilty. for I am
only human. and their beliefs are mani
fold.
also stated that in one OF their papers
they allowed Jesus to be put on the same
level with some OF their leaders not be-
cause He was the Son OF God. but be-
cause, on several occasions He spoke
against the rich" The mission OF our
Lord while on earth was that of a
Saviour. and when He found that riches
were likely To he a hlndrance to the sal
walton OF the soul OF the rich man. natu-
rally. az following His mission spoke OF
the stumbling block but we must suppose
that there were many well-to-do people In
the multitudes that daily heard him and
that were sincere believers In Him. people
90 whom II was not necessary to speak
In the strong terms that were used in
Isolated cases, Just as there are nowadays
many who are doing good with the money
Il is their good fortune 10 possess
our Lord generally condemned the mis-
use of the money, not the possession OF
IL. Mr.. N says that Jesus placed
himself on a level with the common
people" Most certainly He did. but He
~ certainly did not exclude any from His
ministrations. for His mission was TO all
and therefore being universal could not he
communistic. as the charge 10 the mis-
sionaries was. Go We into all the world
and preach the Gospel"
The great mistake that these so-called
Socialists make Is that they consider the
mission of our Lord 90 have been merely
~ VI thdlUNN hNnNeH OF n femnOral
character. We Christians OF every de-
nomination believe that His work was Of
n spiritual character The difference of
opinion Is that they believe lie was man
only and died a disappointed man. We
believe that He was God and Saviour and
LETT this earth, only when He had fulfilled
Hts mission-that IL. plainly shown the
road that leads 20 everlasting llfe-and
we have as much right 20 this belief as
they have 10 theirs
There was nothing ~ the anarchist
about Him. for lie said. Render unto
Caesar the things that are Caesars and
andunto God the things that are God's"Mr.
n. says I'm HIS letter that the only time
our Lord was ever raised or lowered was
when He was crucihed BY the rich and
buried by his humble followers and that
was the end.
TRULY Mr. y. SAYS What awful
things We Socialists would do N we had
The power" frmly believe this. for