Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-02
SEES A CHANCE
TO END POVERTY
NATURE IGNORANT OF SUCH A
THING, SAYS DR.. LOCKE
GIVES LONG LIST OF FIGURES TO
BEAR OUT CONTENTION
Christians Cruelty Slow In Taking Up
Cause of Oppressed, Declares
Well Known Methodist
Pastor

permanent would reflect upon the be-
nevolence of God. There is no pow
erty in nature, and when men respond
as completely as the soulless creations
to Gods wish and will there will be no
poverty among men. I presume there
will always be some dependents; sick
ness infirmity, feeble-mindedness In
competency and loss of parents and
means of support will produce some
pauperism, but when poverty is abol-
ished this class will be greatly reduced.
There is marked diHerence between
poverty and pauperism."
These were expressions made by Rev,
DR. Charles Edward Locke, pastor of
the First Methodist church, last even
ing in an eloquent sermon on How to
Abolish Poverty" He said in part:
1.-THE veXed question, Can poverty be
abolished? is answered by the Scrip
lures in the Affirmative. The rapt
Prophet Isaiah confidently foretells
time when among the blessings of the
gospel the desert shall rejoice and
blossom as the rose He says No
lion shall be there, and no ravenous
beast shall go up thereon, it shall not
be found there and when this is full
filed the lean and gaunt wolf of pow
erty, with glarlng eyeballs and pro-
truding teeth and voracious hunger,
will disappear. Isaiah just as specific
ally declares that ii is the mission of
divine truth to loose the bonds of
wickedness, to undo the heavy bur-
dens and to let the oppressed go free
and to break every yoke. Surely there
will be no place for poverty in that
happy day of redemption from the
yokes and burdens of sin.
Christ Was First Apostle
I'm a special sense Jesus Christ is
a. q ufNlA nor
that all humanity might be made rich.
He was the first real apostle to the
poor. John the Baptist's doubts were
removed when he heard that the poor
had the gospel preached to them. The
manger Messiah did not enter the world
in the estate of the poor to reduce
mankind to want, but that 'ye through
his poverty might be made rich
''It is a dictum of Christianity that
'godliness is profitable unto all things.
having promise Of the life that now is
and because Christ teaches economy.
sobriety, frugality honesty, caution ana
faith, Christian men usually succeed IN
temporal matters because these quail
ties are indispensable to true prosperi-
tv. There will be no room for poverty
In the world when there is plenty of
room for Jesus Christ and his truths In
the hearts and lives of men.
Poverty is the result OF abnormal
conditions; when causes are removed
effects will disappear. Christ has been
quoted as teaching that poverty would
never end, because he said, The poor
We have with you always, and that
was true of those people who declined
to receive and serve him: and think
will be true everywhere until the Naza-
rene becomes the accepted teacher of
all men.
Who Is ResponsibIe7
where does the great responsibility
for poverty lie? There are 10000 per-
sons in the almshouses of New York
state. It is said that in the United
States one in twenty is in poverty. In
London one person out of five is in the
hospitals, warehouses or asylums. 1t
is also declared by students that the
dangerous classes are poor. Who is
responsible for this lamentable condi-
tion. this fearful menace? Edwin
Markham is doubtless right when he
charges it upon the masters, lords and
rulers in all lands Influential society,
statesmen, Christians, have been cruel
Iy slow in taking up the cause OF the
oppressed.
"Society has been unpardonably neg
1igent in handling a subject upon which
multitudes of lives and the happiness
of many are daily depending. Nor can
these distressing problems be solved by
persons who have but one point OF
view. There is more than one great
cause of poverty. Specialists have ac-
ouired the habit of disparaging and
showing little interest in all other
causes except what they consider the
supreme cause. The Socialist. the An
archist. the single-taxist. the trade
unionist and the temperancist have
made strong attacks upon the sources
of poverty, but a great massive. sim
Infamous assault will be needed for
success. Brave, patient, capable men
must strike for the causes and remove
them.
'Professor Tucker spoke truly at
Harvard: The philanthropy which is
contented to relieve the sufferer of
wrong social conditions postpones the
philanthropy which is determined at
any cost to right those conditions
Practical Help Needed
"If poverty would be abolished, prac-
ticaI help must be given to those per-
sons who are overwhelmed with the
problem of how to make living. II
takes more courage than some people
possess to go alone into the battle Tor
existence Many young men go into the
regular army because their subsistence
is provided for; and since it takes
man to make a soldier good warriors
cannot be developed out of such ma
terial. Doubtless many young women
are led into lives of shame becouse they
have not the courage to face the strug-
gle for bread.
az have been told by men in the liquor
business there was nothing else for
them to do. 1t required little capital,
and with liberal methods Of adPltera-
tion it was easy to make living. Then,
there are the indolent and the shift
less who should be encouraged, and, II
necessary, forced to work.
"Mans right to work must be recog-
nized. Fichte says somewhat anarch-
istically: Property is the result of
the work of the ego but if a man can
find no work he need not respect pri-
vate property, since in his case the
state has not fulfilled its contract But
when the state prepares work for him
it will be the states right that he
shall work. 1t is the duty of the state
to help the shoemaker and tailor. both
out of work, so that each can make the
articles needed by the other instead of
begging them or receiving them from
the state.
Some Claims Recognized
"The state has always to some extent
recognized the claims of the dependent
classes; those who by death have lost
their means of support, and those who
have reached old age. 1t is claimed
that old age is the greatest cause of
pauperism in England. where it has
been proposed to pension aged people.
Then there are the improvident, who
seem to lack capacity to husband their
ec-nings. The municipal pawnShop es-
tablished first in ItalV bV SaVOnaHOia. ii