Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-09
COUNTRY is IN DEBT
TO POOR AND NEEDY
Jay GouId's Daughter Is Paying Her
Fathers Obligations by Her
Charities, Says Robert
j. Burdette

With foreign missions as his subject
and with the words Tn debt to every
body" the Rev. Robert j. Burdette,
d. D.. pastor of Temple Baptist church,
yesterday delivered foreign mission
sermon at the Auditorium.
what do you suppose old Russell
Sage was worth when he died? The
papers said millions. Much they knew
about it. He died head over heels IN
debt. and his blessed wife is paying his
debts now. He owed the hungry, the
poor, the suffering, everybody-every-
body but his poor self, and he never
paid a debt If he could help it. There
came to him as it thunders into the
listening heart of every man: Thou
shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for
He it is that giveth thee power to get
wealth.
How much do you suppose jay
Gould and Jim Fisk were worth when
they died? They had plenty of money.
Rut Fisk was SO worthless that death
flung him away on a bartender's bullet
with a harlot in the background OF the
quarrel. and Jay Gould never even paid
for black Friday His blessed daugh-
ter. whose beautiful riches grow into
eternity as fast as she pays her fathers
debts, is expanding the estate she in
herited beyond the many millions.
The Rich Are In Debt (
"The rich have barrels of money.
Rut they are in debt everywhere. They
owe everybody. And they owe God,
the Almighty and the all bountiful.
"Whv don't we do something then to
helm these unhappy rich men, out IL
they are in debt so dreadfully? Well,
we do everything we can. We econ
omize on the soup Kitchen ana cut
down on the bread line rather than let
the rich suffer. They see to that them
selves. Ever since Il can remember
ANYTHING about it one administration
after another there has been pipe line.
a horizontal elevator, coin express
running between the United states
treasury and Wall street..
"That's YOUR money. Taxes from
widow with five children living out here
In the meanest part of town in a bum
palow about the size of a herder's tent.
She hasn't enough to dodge with nor TO
lie about and hide, so the United states
of America numbering about S0,000,O00
people and owning some 3,ood,o
square miles of real estate with prop
ertv estimated in value FIVE years ago
at s107 O4.192,410 manages to get q
strangfe hold on her and wrest about
81 n year out of her little property.
man OF EiNC ttStbCc ttSVstS
THE man with five homes howls
louder and lies harder over his taxes
than the man with one house--and that
a stand up bungalow painted with
roses.
sOne hundred and one of every hun
bred thousand of our people are actual
nailpers in the almshouses. And we
are in debt to every one of them. we
arc in debt to every convict that enters
nrison or reformatory. We who have
Education and any money are in debt
ali over the country. They are dun
ming us with their crimes, their pow
ertv their sunken cheeks. ignorance,
shabby garments and weary eyes; their
children prematurely old crying to us
TO give them back their fresh, young,
sweet faces God gave them and In
human toll wrung from them; girls
with the look in their eyes from which
n,,re women shrink, call those women
To give back to them the look their
mothers loved; drunkards, liars, thieves
and gamblers stop us on the street
with defiant eyes that say, Pay me
what thou owest thou disciple of the
Christ who died for me. Jesus Christ
gave more than that to one of us on a
cross Of shame.
"Those are the people to whom we
are debtors. In Gods name let us pay
our debts"
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