Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-16

| An exchange of "fraternal delegates be-
! tween the central labor union and the min
! isterial union of every city in the country
| Is the latest phase OF the old problem of
| the church and the workingman.
| This Is not the fanciful notion of a hare
| Drained evangelist or neutrality-suspicious.: 1t is
! the carefully wrought out plan of a preach
/ er whose theological seminary was a ma
! chine shop; 1t has already been put into
operation In more than dozen cities; and
back of the project stands the great Pres
byterian denomination.
| The idea is one result of radical innova-
| ton in religious work by the Presbyterians,
who more than year ago employed as
| part of their denominational organization.
! Rev. Charles Stelzle of St Louis to do
| special service among workingmeE. This
| move was a recognition of the fact that
| between the church as a whole and work
| ingmen as a class there is a great gulf
| fixed. To bridge this gulf is Mr.. Stelzle's
| mission His twofod work is to interest
| workingmen in the church and to interest
I the church in workingmen. In pursuit of
| that end he has travelled in all parts of
| Amerlca-he is now on the Pacific coast
| visiting churches. gatherings of ministers
/ and religious conventions, setting forth the
| cause and claims of labor, and especially
| of organized labor and addressing meetings
| of workingmen in behalf of the churches.
A Workingman in the Pulpit.
| Mr.. Stelzle has dual role to play. When
with the ministers. being quiZZed on the in
| trcate and pressing labor question he
| champions The labor union and scores the
| churches for their shortcomings with re-
| spect to the workingman. He stands
| squarey for the cause of organized labor,
and in many a debate has proved himself
master OF the difficult ques tions-the
closed shop" and socialism, to cite only
two-that are bound up with the present
day Industrial Frequently he is subjected
to q rapid-fre cross examination by minis
tiers who have heard only the employers
side of the case. that would entangle one
less fully informed than he or less accus-
toned to addressing public assemblies.
On the other hand, when, taking advan-
tage of his privilege as a member in full
standing of a machinists' local union which
belongs to the American Federation of La
Dor, MIR. StelZle attends a meeting of labor
unionsts, he holds a brief for the churchs
side of the question He is full-fedged
clergyman, having been called from the
pastorate of the Markham Memorial
Church, st. Louis, where he conspicu-
ously successful in interesting workingmen,
to his present wider work.
UnioniStS not baShful, they know how
to speak up in meeting, and what they have
to say concerning the churches is generally
said without any frills or euphemisms. So
Mr.. Sickle hears many --unt criticisms of
his cloth and of the derelictions of the
churches in their relations with the men
who toll. He is a self-possessed jolly-friar
sort of person, and takes it all in good
part; but he seldom misses his opportunity
to tell laboring men what he thinks to be
their duty in the matter.
Ministers and Unionists Swap Dele
gates.
AS result of this wide experience-so
wide and varied that Mr.. Stelzle says he
has not heard a new question for many
fhC eft mi
ters-he has come to the conclusion that
the chief difficulty in the entire situation is
that the churches and the workingmen SIM
ply fail to understand one another He
thinks they should get together. Nearly
all the criticisms made on both sides are
due to miSapprehenSions
Therefore he has evolved plan of an
exchange of ''fraternal delegates" between
the ministerial unions of the country and
the central labor unions. There are five
hundred cities in the United States which
support central labor unions: almost
every one of these has a ministerial union
which includes the ministers of nearly all
Protestant denominations. Now the fash
ion has been started for these two bodies
to exchange delegates.
The plan has been adopted in Brooklyn
Minneapolis, st. Paul, Omaha, Denver,
Cripple Creek Des Moines, Wichita Port
land Ore; Joliet. New Brunswick, N. j..
San Jose. Cal; Portsmouth. Ohio, and Bell
ingham, Wash. 1t is being pushed in scores
Points for the Preachers.
Mr. Stelzle thinks the labor situation In
America is serious, even critical and alarm
ing. He is close to such leaders as Mitchell
and Gompers and he evidently believes that
they are seriously concerned for the future
lest organized labor, realizing it's power
should follow after utopian 'isms.' Every
where says MIR. StelZle, thoughtful labor
leaders are endeavoring to secure the sym
pathetic interest of the church" Out of
his experience he declares that a preacher
coming in the right spirit, Is of a hos
pitable welcome at a central labor union.
The consent of the workingmen TO the new
plan is assured; all that remains is to arouse
the interest of the ministers. To that end
he has addressed a letter to a representa-
tive of every ministerial union in the coun-
try urging the new plan. AS the labor
question is being increasingly discussed in
preachers meetings and religious papers,
the ministers are found hospitable to the
idea, though some employers In the church.
es have spoken out in objection to it,
Mr.. StelZe has also written, and the
Presbyterian board of home missions has |
issued a letter of instructions to the fra
ternal delegates who are being appointed !
by the ministerial unions. In this he gives |
some interesting advice, and suggests pos
sible results from this alliance of pulpit and |
workbench that may be far-reaching and |
revolutionary. For example:
IF I were seeking to secure the attention |
of Workingmen In my city there Is no posi- |
ton which / would covet more earnestly |
than that Of fraternal delegate to the Cen |
trail Labor Union. 1t would practically |
make me a chaplain of organized labor in |
my community, and 1t would put me into a |
position In which could say some things |
to workingmen which 1 could say in no |
other capacity.
. Never before In the history of organized |!
labor has there been presented such an OPP |
portunity to secure the interest of working
men as exists today. Whereas ten years |
ago the opposition to the church by work. |
ingmen was most bitter, today the spirit Is |
one which will permit the church to do |
some things which would have been |
spurned even two years ago. !
The frategnal delegate does not ask the