The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-02-19

| society an absolutely new conceDt!on
| of the relation of man to man and left
! it as q seed. He did not deal with
the miseries of society, as you and I
are often tempted to deal with them.
He did not dismiss the blind and the
lame and the rest out Of His sight
and teaching. He dealt with them
| four-square. and relieved them. He
| translated the mind and the heart OF
| God to the consciousness of man and
He made them realize at last that His
religion was in the world to be re-
creative force First Of all. begin.
ming at the individual heart and life
and then bringing about the recon-
struction of society because of the
different way in which men regarded
each Other.
That brings me to the subject on
which J have been specially asked to
speak tonight You and I, whether
we are disposed to like the situation
or not, aud most of us resent 1t as an
insufferable impertinence, are con-
| fronted in this republic, and in this
| twentieth century, with incompara-
bly, the most tremendous problem. in
| its relation to the right construction
of human society, with which the re-
public hes vet had to deal. and that
problem is the problem of the unifica-
ton of the ideas and sympathies and
purposes and aims of men. and you
cannot go home tonight and lay your
head upon your pillow without being
conscious, whether you choose to ac-
KNOWLEDGE it or not. that there is in
| the depths of poverty and want and
shame all about you profound So
cial discomfort, and that there are
earnest and able men let us be just,
although we don't love them), who
are deeply persuaded that there can
be no peace in human society unless
that peace is wrought by the absolute
destruction of principles which are
precious and beautiful and dignified
in human society. They say the
whole social fabric must be pulled
down and thrown to the ground and
the man who stands in the way OF
that must be got out of the way. Now,
the question which confronts you and
me is: How are We to deal with this
state of mind and what are we to do
to remedy it? We know that If such
social revolution were to come to
pass tomorrow it would be attended
by cruel and brutal indignities and
that the guardianship of the family
and the safety of the State itself
would be imperiled. Our social prob
lem here in America, and especially
those problems which involve our re-
lations to the men who work with
their hands, are not to be solved by
revolution. but by quite another
method. First of all we are to recog-
nize the situation, the tremendous
convolution, the transformation l
may venture to call it, which has
come to pass in the workingman's
life by the invention OF machinery,
by the building up of great central
forces for the employment of men un-
der conditions which separate him
absolutely from the master whom ne
serves. The workman is as absolute
ly unknown to the man or the cor
poration-and it is often corpora
tion-who employs him as II he lived
in Dahomey. 1t is along these lines,
whether you choose to recognize 1t or
not, that danger lies; and the church's
relation to that problem is one, after
all, which is in the hands Of every
one to whom I am speaking. HOW
much do you know of the life Of the
workingman? How much time have
you given to understanding it or to
soften it or to inspire it? 1t Is not
the giving of money, or the creation
Of charitable institutions that builds
up the feeling Of brotherhood among
men. The poor man resents our con-
descension. He does not want that
or your gold; he wants recognition or
his manhood. The shop girl wants
you to honor her womanhood; to re-
spect her in the task in which she is
toiling and suffering. You can do
much to make that task. easier and
create an atmosphere in which she
and you can move alike as members
of the same divine society and fellow
soldiers under the same Master.
:. That brings into view the relation
of the church to these great social
problems. You and I somehow or
other must bring the man who works
with his hands to recognize his place,
his right. his Office, his calling in the
church of God. The first business OF
the church is to place her houses OF
worship at the service Of the people
who work with their hands and then
in the life of the church to encourage
that spirit which will help US to un-
derstand and to serve it. There is
but one way to do that. Instead Of
turning to any ism" of the hour or
theory of social reconstruction, or
any new philosophy which under
takes to re-create society upon theo-
ries which are essentially barbaric in
their nature, you and must go back
and look into the face of the Master
and find in Him the secret of our SER
vino ond Dur triumDh