Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1904-01-28
i" COMMERCIALISM p"
A Brilliant Sunday Talk By Rev. Dr..
Reese P. Als0p.
Jesus Christ Is tho Measure Of the Stature OF
the Perfect Man.

abundance of the things which he pos
Sesscs.'
DR.. Asop said:
heard Lately from brilliant speaker
an address on "Commercallsm. 10 tne
surprise of all, it was a panegyric rather
than a datribe. His argument was that
commercial that is, business activity, the
industrial epoch in which we live and
whose push we feel, engenders certain use
full and even moral qualities, such as thrift,
underlying all accumulatons of capital:
truth telling, which is essential to success.
full trading; trust, without winch the vast
credit system of the day could not exist;
the sense of responsibility shown in the
honesty of the great army of clerks and
place holders, among whom breaches OF
trust, defaults and the like are compare.
lively rare, the percentage of the honest
being surprisingly high At the same time
our Civil War and the Boer. WaIr. have
cxtngush heroism and lberallty.. wit,
ness the gifts of rich men to education and
charities.
Now that is all true, and yet there is
bad flavor about the word commerciallsm.
If has another cannotation. Is it not
matter of emphasis? Jesus says. Seek We
first the kingdom of Cod He says again,
"What will man give in exchange tor his
life?" What are men exchanging their lite,
with all its possibilities of symmetrical de-
veopment. for: What are they seeking
irst9 Is it not too largely material sue.
cess? st. Paul says; Having food and
raimcnt we have enough The feeling OF
to-day scorns such moderation. A modest
competence Is nowadays nothing accounted
of To make a living is not enough to
achieve comfort for self and family is a
snral thing men aim and toll and struSSe
for more dazzling przes--a success that
makes a noise and Is talked Of; that gilt
>,rs and dazz'es the eve
This is commercalism as | understand
it: the measuring of success by the stand.
ard OF the mar ct place, the sinking OF
otHcr aims IN the eager rush after gam,
Thcre are high things possible for man.
Gu ture Of body. mind, growth IN moral
aiii spiritual attainments. expansion IN
sacn'ty and usefulness. There are magn,t'
cent careers open to HIM IN s"leuce, IN art,
in literature, in philanthropic service:
Over against all these stands the spirit OF
the age and cries fo!'ow me. The ideal is
man who turns everything to god that ne
touches; a man who gets and holds and
then goes on to get more and hold more.
Two conversations lately overheard illus
trate the point. DR.. Rainsford, Of st.
Georges Church. walking down New
York avenue, overheard the talk OF three
or four university men before him. Look
ing upon the cleaning equpages and splen
hld dresses ltlttls ny one sdih ~ "h''h'i
II tell YOU, boys, II is money that goes IN
THIS town. is it not" The belief that it ia
money that gop,-thc feeling that it /.
money that ought to co-arP eTidcnces Of
an almost universal sentiment.
who is building that magnificent
hnusc:' said me to another. 'Oh. that -
TO he the residence of So aud 50, iln used
teller found out that he had business abi!'
ny, aud | ted you he did not leave him
long Baptist preacher. lie took him
INTO the standard OIL Company, and now
see what a success he has achieved. There
speaks commprci,lism. There ia the voice
of the ideal which has almost hypnotlzcd
our generation.
bureau, II have no tlme to make money.
sounds ike a piece Of insanity, Gordon's
refusal to accept reward from the Chinese
Emperor for his help IN the Ial lhng re-
helion sounds like a piece OF QuXousm,
I he simple HE" As lived by Thoreau IN
tho woods as pictured by Wagner, sums
only an ldylhc dream. The pursuit Of
learning for learning : sake, the service OF
man with no itch tor reward, the quiet,
unostcntatious sacrifice of personal interest
tor the good of others, these are rep,l.
dated as folly. The maddeuing crowds
lguob,c strife Is what makes Itself heard.
1t draws like the song of the siren. Lake
tine suction OF vast mac.strom, u SEXES
men and draws them in. BY and by, diz.
Zled BY the fierce whlrl, they forget the
hCh things and are content to be SIMPLY
money-makers. That IL what | understand
10y comnercla,ism: the thrusting into the
front place Oi merely material success. 1t
is corruption OF the spirit IN which HE Is
iivid, II is low, wrong motive. II brings
IN and holds before the soul "A Ease stand.
ard OF value. IL mlsconCcIves what Is the
I c IL. I'D. .tn., La
man to his possessions. IL is radical cor.
rnption of the idea,-an absolute reversal
of what our text says. Commercialsm de-
cares and persuades that mans life does
consist in the abundance OF the thing,
which he possesses Therefore. it urges
let him love supremacy those things; let
TIN aim at them, follow after them, sink
his very life in them. Let him for them
forego, If needs be, mental culture, artistic
development. moral elevation spiritual ac
tivity and all that goes to make full de-
vetoped manhood. Quench, il necessary,
all lofty aspirations Get things, gather
them about you, entl,rone yourself on and
among them. Let atrophv seize every
other faculty so your faculty for getting
and getting ON grows stronger.
Let me give an Illustration or two.
There ~ story of a man who was so eager
to keep safe a very precious thing that he
took 1t with HIM into a closet set his can.
die on the floor and then diligently nailed
+ last the door, only to find as his candle
dickered ont. that he had shut himself in
with his treasure. Nailed and encoftined
in his own strong box. Here Is another:
| read some time ago OF a Young man. who,
upon graduation from college, found him
self the posseSsor OF $4,000 a year He had
heath, strength. education, position.
Choices lay open before him. lie might 60
in for political life for philanthropic scrv.
ice, or college settlement work. He might
become a student and a patron of art, OF
literature. lie might throw himself into
the civic life Of his day. In any of dozen
the service of man and of God. But a,as.
be was dazz!cd by the ideal of the age.
Ambitious to turn his one million into
many, tc win the power or notoriety vast
wealth can bring. he flung himself into a
hanking house. All the beautiful opportu
mites that invited him he iorewent simply
and on,y that he might increase his plea
pile which was Already sufficiently large.
Grant him all the success he coveted, what
would be the end: A dwarfcd man, with
an immense pile heaped up around him. A
life practically sunk and lost in the abund
/, ance of the things which he possessed
As | SAID, then, moment ago, CONNER
c,aIsm is found IN wrong emphasis.
Wealth is good fairly won and nobly used.
Il is not money, but the love of money,
shat is tAe root of all evil Business is
good, commerce is good and necessary, in.
dustrlallsm is good and brings forth
eoodly progeny of virtues; zeal, activity,
perseverance. cleyerness in affairs, are all
praiseworthy. Material success is desir-
able. "The blessing of the Lord it maketh
rich" Yes, but to put these things first,
to rush after them so eagerly as to forget
other and higher things, in word, to sink
in them ones life with it's possibilities OF