Milford chronicle., 1905-09-15

el Of the money OF his friends estate
I'd and put 1t into his business? 1t is al
st well enough for you to denounce the
le misapprOpriation Of trust funds. But
3. supposing you were in that mans place
n and your creditors were knocking al
70 your door, what would you do? fear
IA you might do just as thousands of
a men have done in the past who have
q been bound hand and foot with the
a graveclOthes Of debt. You would be
t, dishonest, as they were dishonest. The
> financial temptation would fling you.
Il ~, sza4tN@ =
{. Poverty Versus Crime.
e Or take another view Of the same
j subject. SuppOsing you are not a
5 merchant, but a clerk or a labOrer
t On account Of the hard times you
$ have lost your position in the store or
! the mine. SuppOsing you have tramped
the streets day after day looking for
: work and never have been able TO
find 1t. And then, supposing hunger
. is beginning to gnaw at your vitals
and the bitter cold to send its chills
playing hare and hounds" up and
down your back, what would you do?
You may have learned what cold and
hunger are when some time you were
out hunting or tramping through the
woods and you were lost. You re-
member how you tramped on and on |
until you became faint from lack of |
food, and perhaps your lips became |
swollen for water to drink, but
there was no water, no food, no
house in sight. How then, did YOU
look at life? Does a hungry man, a
! cold man, have the same chance for
virtue and honesty and purity as a
well fed man and a warm man? oh,
my friends, If you and l ever find
time when we can relieve some Of
these financial distrssses l believe we
will take away a large per cent Of
the crimes and the dishOnesties of the
world. Indeed, / know what l say is
true Most men are not dishonest for
mere pleasure, but only when they
have become brutalized by hunger and
bodily wants and financial necessities.
The majority Of men are honest at
heart.
This truth was forced upon me some !
months ago in a powerful way. / met {
one Of the boys of one of the old farm J
ers of my Bushhiu church, where l S
preached for two summers rs a theO- i
logical student, thirteen miles from a g
railroad. From being a farmers sOn Il
he lad worked his way through college I
and was travelling through the country
in camping wagon lecturing at the
little towns and schoOlh9uses; upun the
Anthracite Coal Beds Of PeuRsyl- Ii
vania-" As a lecturer tBat man had O.
been everywhere. On the deserts. in II
the mountains. at mining camps aud 2
n railroad towns he had spoken. lie. "
lad camped alone in raviaes and by II
Mexican dugOuts and by Indian viz in
ages. Were you never afsaid of Ie- 81
ng att@ei1ed and rObbedY' l asked hiIR W
Never" said be. 4 started cut years ki
IgO believing that most people were Ie
lOnest and that if you trust them they co
would not betray you. l haye been. st
mOng the cowboys and had Indians; N
tgie up' to- me upon the desert miles rs
way from any human being, and L 10
ave never been molested. Further To
IOre; l nave never carried a firearm. sic
ither gun or pistol. l never locked pu
r. my things. But I'd 90 away from of
" wagon for days at a time; and mi
hem came back always fouad my sh
Oods just where left them. If you all
elieve people are honest and trust 30
lem. they Will not betray you'' So so
" L From. a rather varied eEperi- an
ice I feel sure that most people want "
do right. If men do cheat forge me
Id steal Inevitably you will finG that or
ey were first led astray because.hun- err
IT or cold or financial exigeney of fui
me sort drove them to crime God an:
spire- us to help those who are with Dec
It work to- get work, and those who pIa
e. without food and clothing to, get nal
Od and clothing. and those who ans.ini aDl
lauciar difficulties to weather their he's
W months of financial storm. Help. yer
at man financially. Do you nor hear Zoo
e words Of my text. loose hin2i and As,
him go?+ God will save that man wo
financial distress il you disciples, will ant
your part. sur
We must save men morally as, well ftie
Belp them Intellectually and ihan- as
dly. 7 apply that word morally to ma.
that is most vile and corrupt IN CON
man natare. do not. however; ap- Of
2 it in the sense that you and | wit
ould go INTO the city slums and lift bril-
the social outcasts. although, their of
;cue should and must be done by the. wol
Oper Christian workers. But 1 do sufi
ply it in the meaning that we shOulG rigl
lch out a helping hand and keep by
N and women and young boys and thel
Is from slipping over the preciplces b
moral ruin. In ninety-nne cases of G
of hundred this can be done if fitte
; only place around the young folks gos,
: right kind Of Christian assoseia- toda
rs. at +
The Lesson of HereIftx. ret
here are many influences which de- ing
op the moral life besides environ will
mt I believe Absolutely and aTu- 1,he,