The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1905-12-02
PUTNAM H|IE Il ..G;HURGA|. .
N HlllsT \ / TENDER SPOT
Asks Where it Stands on Econ.
! 'omic Questions Puts Some
Facts Up to Preachers.
Some Of, the Sheep Craze in
Green Pastures, While 9th
ers Faanish in Desert.

VA0 d SSsAAASA A0 AS0VAVs
The bishops. tho preachers, the
laymen. all are asking the question:
What is the matter with the church? ?
Why does it no longer attract men?
One Sunday, not long ago.. in. q
rather large congregation, the writer
was one of Ave men In attendance!
Only i've men In 4 large congrega-
tion!
This was an extreme case, no
doubt. But who will deny that it
is an example of general :symptom =?
Men do not care for the church:
That is. not to say that men are no
longer religious. True. the failure
Of. the church to feed the religious
hunger Of the world 10 causing in
creasing numbers to; lose faith in re-
ligion. But men who -intoll1gently
discriminate between merely human
institutions and divine principles are
just as religious az such men ever
were.
It. may: answer the need of the
family, but not of society; of the in
dividual, but not of the mass.
Yesterday was the, day of the cir
cult rider. Theifamily was so loosely
connected with the SOCIAL body-men
lived so far apart-that the preacher
was forced to go far to ffnd q small
congregation. The: sermon is tho
same today as then, except as to hell
fire; but human society is different.
Then the preacher warned his hearers
against stealing purses-and 1t suf-
feed as to theft. Trade we4 a thing
so simple. and the values were SO OBJ
vious that: each Individual was COM
petent to protect himself against in
iquity In matters Of barter. Then
the purely social relations: were few
in kind! but the: preacher.laid down
the law concerning them Hfl.
Today the industrial life of the
country is extremely social; and the
individual is extremely dependent
upon the integrity Of the social
mechanism for his equity in the
final distribution viii any man pre-
tend that the :Sdistribution is equit-
able? ~ r.: III - -f-
''Wiat. is: tie lmatter,Swith tho.
chufth9 This: The church Yat1s
8Abandunedz zsncistY to- tia .tent1er naeIz
'cls5 Of commercia1 pirates / wh6asi
gifts have purchased ssilence from tho
clergy in general, and frantic. sup
port from some clergymen In par
ticular. =" ;.'*':*
Here and there a prophet cries
aloud from the pulpit: unheard by
the church at large, or, If heard, con-
demned as an agitator or q sensa-
tionalist! The whole secular world,
recognising the prevailing political
afia *eomnercf cfal@d fo4Iais boldly
calling spades spades, but the clergy
calmly and circumspectly continues
to. call spades alleged mechanical
instruments, used in excavating-
perhaps!" 49,: ~.
The preacher will valorousty de-
nounce the Sunday peanut peddler-
and board the Sunday trolley car at
the close Of his sermon. He will cry
anathema upon the boys who play
ball on Sunday, and on the same day
himself patronize q transportation
system that chains multitudes to the
wheel of toll seven days a week, year
in and year out. ..
The preacher declares that his duty
is to inculcate the fundamental prin-
ciples of morality, leaving the prac-
tfcal program to his hearers. Jesus
commanded: Thou shalt not. steal.
But he did not end with merely stat
ing a central principle; he went into
the~Temple, overturned the tables Of
the money mongers, and branded
them as thieves.
What good is a principle that can
not be applied?
"What is the matter with the
church," ~...-.:
This: 1t strains at the gnats of
individual peccadilloes, and swallows
the: camels of social diabolisms.
The hypocrite will pretend<to scorn
wealth; will characterize desire for
wealth as sordid; will advise con-
tentment with poverty: will denounce
the poor for their unrest, on the one
hand, and on the other will dy to
the defense Of the rich oppressor,
while always his grovellinE soul Is
drunk with the contemplation of the
6OAA0A 9LA 00So oAA<A JesoPoA " "0AA0 Vi kA0
New Jerusalem! a city whose bound
less wealth he dearly hopes to share;
wealth that he Is striving for, tooth
and nail, by hook or by crook. to
capture. ",- - e:'
Justice demands that the social me-
chanism deliver to every one the
equivalent of his contribution to the
total Of product. Or. to state 1T In
another way: Justice demands that
the social mechanism deliver to mo
one more than the equivalent Of his
:contribution to the total Of product.
but: the prevailing social mechanism
delivers countless millions to some
and leaves multitudes in
abject poverty. ~. =: -
5 Some Of the sheep are grazing In
green pastures, besides the .:stth
:waters,' while many are famishinga In
the desert. But the shepherd daFts
not interfere, except to adjure tho
hungry bleaters to ''be contsnt With
that condition in life to which" etc,
ending with an infamous hlaxphepay!'
And then he wonders why, the n0aF.