The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-12-06

that the possession OF great "ealIn
is a crime. Wealth is sin only Wnen
it is unrighteously acquired or in
humanity expended and used. The
man who becomes rich in righteous.
ness is an honor to the Common
wealth. The man who spends his
substance in a decent way with due
regard for the public good is q credit
to the State. But bad men whose
wealth is the result of malicious
depredations upon the public, and
whose moneys are expended in un-
clean ways, are public criminals and
disgraces to humanity. 1t also does
not follow necessarily that system
of corporate combination destroys IN
diyiduality. 1t may destroy to some
extent the money making capacity OF
the individual; but to destroy man
ability to exercise his financial in
stinct is not to destroy the man. In
dividualitv is not a matter so :nucn
of money as of mind, heart, and soul.
And any system which permits men
to enjoy a larger opportunity for the
exercise of their intellectual, moral
and spiritual capacities, and which
enables humanity to realize In
larger fashion the fulness OF human
personality upon every side, must be
valuable to mankind. Righteous CON-
bination will afford opportunity for
all the faculties. The individuallsm
CT to-day is an insult, in the last an
alysis, to personalities who are made
in the image of Almighty Coo.
About all that it emphasizes is our
capacity and desire to make mofey.
And however valuable money may
be and however much we may all
need it, this is the eternal truth or
God, that that system which empha-
sizes this side of mans nature al
most to the stultifying of his mental,
ethical and spiritua. characteristics IS
thing of sin.
The message Of Christ to capital.
And what is this gospel? If under
stand the truth of God unto men of
wealth as it has been revealed unto
us in Jesus Christ our Lord, it is this.
that money is a trust; that wealth is
q talent; that the possession OF eX-
traordinary ability for financial sue
cess and commercial leadership is a
gift of God compelling inescapable
upUA tAOSS ~ plOSSOo ohN Sa
forcing tremendous obligations. A
mans money is to be used not unto
the satisfaction of his selfish desires.
but for the good Of all. Men are not
to be treated as slaves. They are not
to be considered as machines Bear
ing in mind the admonition OF our
Lord, whatsoever ye would that
men should do unto you, do ye even
so to them," our men Of financial and
commercial prominence should re-
member that even the humblest man
is a personality and not mechan-
ism; that even laborer is a child OF
the living God If there are any men
who should have patience, forbear-
auce, charity, loving kindness, ten
derness, compassion with and for the
! men who toll. they are the men who
in the providence of God are su-
premely endowed with the fulneSs
and the fatness of the good things of
life. 1t is the business, as. under
! God, it should be the happiness, OF
our men of means and Of commercial
prominence to study the comfort, to
| enhance the Joy, TO foster the educa-
ton, to assist the moral and spiritual
upliftment of the man who is work
| ing for a wage. Their delight it
should be, as it is their duty, to
tighten labor and to increase wages
to the utmost limit that me economic
| conditions which are existent will al
low. They should see that the toiler
| has free hours, sufficient and often
enough not only for rest, but also for
| honest recreation Men do not ask
| for aims, they simply desire chance
and an opportunity to do something
more than eXist-to live. In the
darkest days of African bondage
| there were no worse, though there
were different, conditions, than those
| which characterize the inhuman white
slavery that is a feature of the eco
nculic system OF to-day. Multitudes
! of men exc out but bare and, at
best, a miserable existence, as the
fruit OF honest, laborious and often
time dangerous, toll; while those who
i pay their wages live in splendor, af-
| fluerce, and, many times, in super
/ cilious and arrogant Indifference to
! the needs of men. The message Of
Christ to the man of wealth is call
! for selfishness. self-sacrifce and hon
est philanthropy.
! The great need of capital to-day is
an installation in its heart OF the prin-
| ciples and the personality, of the
! character. and the convictions Of
Jesus Christ. We cannot nope for a
sound exercise of commercial au-
, thority; we cannot, wisely and SEN
| sibly, expect a true development Of
our commercial life without the pres
| ence of His truth IS the guiding and
controlling factor in the hearts and
j the minds and the souls of our men Of
wealth. Filled with the spirit OF
! Christ they will love men; and low
! ing men, We shall have 10 fear.