Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-08-18
PRESENT PROBLEMS
OUR REGULAR SUNDAY SERMON
How - Eradicate the Spirit OF Unrest.
That Pervades the Country . %
Present Time.

PrcSen ASu10'
BARYLor. T.. lin the old First Pres
byterian Church here, Sunday morning,
the Rev. John D: Long, pastor: preached
| on @"The Industrial Conflict Inc text
was from Ecclesiastes ii:22: "What hath
| q man for ali his labor?" Mr.. Long said:
The writer Of this text was asking as to
| the rewards of life. Let us accommodate
| it to the conflict now waglng between cap.
ital and labor. It Is the old question OF
the laborer and his hire. What are the
! teachings Of Holy Writ on the question?
Here, as elsewhere, we believe that the
Gospel applies, for as Ruskin suggests, the
GOSPEL bears upon life at every point, and
is either good for everything or good for
nothing.
Civilization is based upon -labor-human,
animal, mechanical. What we call capital
is at bottom only accumulated labor. LII
day labbrer lays brick in a wall; that Is
labor. He saves up a part OF his wage,
and that becomes capital. Mechanical Ia
Dor, by which most of the worlds WORK IS
now done, is human labor invested IN ma
chinery, and working through the same.
OF course, money or capital is secured
not only through saving and invention,
but in many other ways; yet human effort
is back of it all, and it becomes a sort Of
call loan upon the bank of labor. Was it
not Emerson who said, "He that hath a
dollar is master of all to the extent Of that
dollar?"
Vast fortunes nave been piled up by
those who ~have invented machines by
which mechanism may take the place of
human hands. Thus the inventor is en-
abied to draw tho wages OF thousands. We
all know how largely the machine has SUI
perseded the naked hand in the manufac-
daily use. Take, for example, pins and
needles and nails.
To be sure, many great fortunes have
been made by other means than by ma
chinery, but in the main the wealth of
modern times is founded Upon mechanical
labor.
Before asking what the letter or spirit Of
the Bible teaches on the labor question, let
us face the situation of to-day. Organized
labor and capital are in conflict. There
are strikes and rumors of strikes. Each
strike is a battle in the war.
1t may be well to observe that organized
labor has as yet only a fraction of the total
labor army, but it is a fraction that is in
creasing.
Why this warfare? Because labor on the
one hand is dissatisfied with its share Of
the rewards Of industry, and because, on
the other, capital constantly seeks to re-
duce the cost Of production by oDDosino
the demands of labor.
Other factors, however, enter into. the
situation. One arises from the develop
ment OF the modern corporation. Wheth-
er corporations have souls or not, they lack
IN large measure the element of personality
and the personal touch. Men who work.
Tor a corporation are working in the main
tor an nknow entity. Now, we remem-
Der that among the old-time Romans the
word Tor stranger was also the word for
enemy.
Further, there has been much dishonesty
in corporate dealings. Take such things as
the corrupt purchase of public franchises
necessities of life by reason of unjust com
olnatlons to keep up prices. These and
Other similar crimes against the commu-
nifty have done much to infame not only
labor, but the general public against capi-
tai.
Also, the rising standard of life, bv which
me lv1lng wage gets further and further
from the meagre pittance that would srf-
nee to support the frugal Chinaman. leads
the laborer to constantly demand a nor.
lnd more generous wage.
Stlll other grounds of hostility might be
referred to-, such as the natural. though
sinful, envy of the rich by the poor; the
ostentatl9us luxury Of the rich, the growth
Of class distinctions between the moor and
the rich and the inequality of pecuniarv
rewards. The men who. discovered the
priceless boon of anesthesia-who found
that surgery might be- rendered painless hv
the use OF such agents as chloroform and
sther-gained but little money from Their
alscoverles: They doubtless might have
naueo on the worlds fear of pain, and by
using the patent laws and secrecy secured
wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. bnt
70 their honor they did not. On the Other
nano, the men who introduced such I'M
proved and %cheapened methods as the Bes.
no onr process OF producing steel gained
y py the hundred millions. So peo-
pie are tempted to ask, Have NOT Soma
men been rather selfish, to say the least
N the acquisition of their wealth. And
than their share?" III
DeIore we go further let us ask what ;s
20 De the probable outcome of the war he.
s shIe lanor and capital? Is it an irrepres-
pc reconciled? The answer is already hes
ing gwen. Take such a situation as NAV
u9w De seen IN the coal trade OF Chicayo.
Aiter bitter fighting the dealers and he
leainaters nave come together to monopo.
.1 tne coal trade Of the city and keep out
oeen put up at the expense of the onts;de
more. W moie "nu
lie uit1mate outcome, unless the tend
shsy Is checked, will be Organization all
along the line until we have collect1vism~a
taeI organized machine, in which men viii
y = oGgs ang individual initiative and per
s @9; will be restricted to an extent hat
ton. pAosieSs OF clvAlza-
p; Pnt let us take a breath and turn 10 Tho
| blble. What are the teachings Of The R; ne
- regard to labor and wealth? The nld
nr rsofl nf IS plainly anti-capitalistic. In
regarding capital in the Book Of Iev;t tam
plain l;1 that, ;. if enforced, would COMPEL
Sparta nVl Hsa as surely as the iron coin Of
hand was allotted in small parcels 10 tne re-
, ,Genafsd Of the tribes, and could not S1 . he
: And ye shall hallow this fft Icy years.
J. 1and proclaim liberty throughout ali g ihe
shall b be q al the i inhabitants thereof It
s re urn, every man unto his possession sa aad
, Ge sraie pet urn. every man unto bis: family
.AAn n5erest could not be charged on loans
fa A11aa II Thy brother be waxen moor Hm .0a ans
,a1ien IN decay with thee: then thou Rvv' sa anu
I'm OAOu SIH III