The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-25

tent effected all classes of society. even our leaders7 Is 1t not to De trsced In the uncertainty. the want or islatIon7 Which of our modern states men handles great economic problems with the enthusiasm. the detiniteness Of tfa Bright or Golden, wnIsa Rahspt or Peel or q Gladstone or the imagina- ton of a Beacons field? Which of our novelists has the humanitarlan ardor empire crushes us and we shrink from its responsibilities.
 T shall be reminded, no doubt, that the despondency of which I have been speaking is due mainly to the failure of our great legislators and philan- thropists to bring us to the land of promise which inspired their imagi- ed the Corn Laws and passed the Fac tory Acts and Reform Bills were do- ceivsd in their forecast of the future. for us an era of unparalleled and fnex- haustible prosperity Their dreams were so far realized that the wage sSrner today s 6sceiwes n, higher wags power. The strength of the privileged classes is diminished. The power of labor to organize itself and to dictate Yet there Is profound dissatisfaction with the conditions of modern indus try. The legislators of the Victorian Age never toresaw the rise ol the were making for. the rich to multiply riches without sconcerning themselves about the condition of those who part of their concern to consider the dangers which attend the use of ab- stract terms By talking about labor and capital we may easily overlook the of the workmen and the capitalist mean much more to the State than machinery. or products; They never land, free and prosperous might yet
 have so great a proportion of her pop uiation on the brink of Sdestitution their caicaIations on Enlightened self
 interest but they miscalculated the diffusion of enlightenment
 Our subsequent discussions on Socialism and on methods of relieving poverty will give us abundant oppor- tunities of offering as individual mem.
 bers of the Church, our several con tributions to the solution of the prob as a body, Is not committed and ought not to be committed to any one of these
 solutions. though the Church, as sity of a solution being found. We shall be strenuous advocates of sani- tary and decent housing. of temper ofoS of Sortection afe a5 '" of the weak. of just moyal of public indictments to betting and gambling and to sexual tmpurlty' We shall insist upon justice as the foundation of all civic virtue. on the sancity of the marriagetie we shall
 make 1t our duty to study those econo- mic laws which are as much q matter
 of scientific inyestigation as all other | laws of nature"
 The Baptist Union which met at
 Bradford also took up the same lipe of thought and 1t was agreed that there is something wrong In the pres ent social system. The Union adopt. cd this resolution as expressing best | its sentiments:
 ssThat the members of the Assembly of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland desire to express their deep | concern at the large numbers of the
 unemployed in the. great centres oi | population and their sympathy with | them in the consequent suffering and | conviction that measures should be | immediately diVised by the municipal l Authorities and by the Government to
 meet the situation by providing sn em' | ouate scale. They further urge the | members of the Baptist Churches tc | aid and encourage such measures tc the utmost of their ability"