The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-05-08
Evangelization of the World.
Continued from Page one.)

Continued from Page One.)
ing Of the centers of trade and man
ufaCture. The completion of the
isthInian canal viii bring the orient
close 10 our very doors. Down IN
Mississippi and over the Gulf the pro-
ducts of the great northwest viii float
at less cost than over the steep grades
OF tie ~Alleghanies to the Atlantic or
he Rockies to the Pacific.
The South today has a population
of $4,000, 900 as against 33.S55.0O0 for
the rest OF the country in 1880. The
South has more money invested In
cotton mills than all the rest Of the
unit in 1850. The consumption
III its own mills is 500, 600 bales great
er than that of all the rest of the mills
in the United States twenty-five years
ago. Its production of bituminous
coal is almost twice as great-70, 00O.-
600 tons, as against $4,000. 900. It's
petroleum output. 42,495. 900, agatnst
26,107,00o. 1t is freely predicted and
With reason hat this section, with It's
abundant stores Of ore and coal and
limestone in such close proximity, bids
fair, in the next quarter Of acentury.
To dominate the basic steel industry
of the world. The total value of its
farm products is $500. 000. 600 greater
than in all the rest of the country in
1850. New orleans now ranks second
only to New York anon American
exporting ports, and Galveston -
third. Gulfport. Miss, leads all DO
nestle ports in its shipments of luHi-
Der, Pensacola in sawed timber and
Mobile in croSstieS.
Now III the midst of these activities
the church must be active. 4 new
and larger programme of missions
must be provided. Every toiler must
be in the field, every sentinel at his
post. every Waterman on the wall.
This amazing .industriaIism has de
veloped 4 materialistic spirit hitherto
unknown among us that menaces the
very kingdom of Christ. Material
prosperity may be the peril Of the
church. The fiber of her strength,
t%oughened through years Of adversely,
may be weakened by wealth. The pa
triarch's pillow was a stone, but he
had visions of angels and the glory
may enfeeble energy and dull the
spirit of a divine compassion. "The
smoothness of conventional routine
deadens the soul. Thus affected, thu
church is in danger of becoming the
priest and the LeVite that pass by on
the other side.
Along With these rapidly accumu-
lating fortunes there must be de-
Veloped a loftier appreciation of the
stewardship of wealth. Bitter preju-
dice, born of poverty. can be remove
only by the ~redemptiVe agency of the
gospel and the slow processes of edu-
cation OF the one hand and the bene-
ficent use Of wealth on the other. If
the vast triumphs of commercial
genius are converted into means for
the oppression of the poor, hostility
will cease and the spirit Of brother
hood will prevail. The courageous
application of the fundamental laws
of Righteousness and love to every
great social and industrial problem
is the chief duty of the church.
Another factor has entered into the
problems chat demand the attention Of
cur Methodism-the question of for
eign immigrants. During the year
1905 the immigration records show
that 1,026,499 immigrants landed on
our shores, 100000 of whom We're
from Southern and Eastern Europe.
Vast numbers We're totally illiteratc
and alien to our national customs ana
ethical standards and public spirit.
THIS enormous ana miscellaneous mass
of foreign ignorance and poverty Sc
vereIy strains the assimilating power
of our social institution. and const1-
tuteS Il pefilouS mcnac to our Chris
tian civilization. Until very recently
the South has been but slightly affect
ed by foreign immigration. The vast
Southern Europe have been distribut-
ed over tn North and West. Now. |
however, the tide has turned south
ward. with Galveston and New Or
leans as popular ports Of entry. The |
Italian ambassador at Washington has |
endorsed an organized movement to
turn Italian immigration south
ward, as agricultural and other |
~laborers; and certain legislation
Is uending in Congress looking to thci
distribution of the immigrant popula-i
ton over the entire Sotuh. Mean TAM
pa. Fla, there is q Little Italy" With
600 inhabitants. Already in manyI
Of our States there are large foreign
language and u~nacQuaIuted with our
national genius. To nG"o these conl-I
ing thousands with h 2ducatiya and
redemptive agencies of the gospel isl
the urgent duty of the Christian
of these southern States |
When the Lord saw the multituiesI
Who We're as sheep Without a Sh"l Il
it is said that he was moved
with compassion" That same compas-I
sionate love for neglected peoples andi
the Christless multitudes must stir |
the energies of the church today.
And with these comes n enormousl
problem of the city. We can scarcely |
appreciate the tremendous signifcancel
cf the city III modern life. There isl
Sn old saying: What Lancashire
thinks 'otiay England MI G. tomor- |
.rN. With an undreamed Of emphJ-I
termines today the ountry will dol
tomorroW." After all that may be said
about the moral value of country lifai
and the virtues of the rural gentie-i