Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-11-09
A NEWSPAPER SERMONET

Under the caption, "Digged Into the
Earth and Hid His Lords Money" the
Chicago Tribune of Sunday presents
its readers editorially these religious
thoughts:
And unto one he gave five talents, to
another two, and to another one; to
every man according to his several
ability; and straightway took his jour
ney.-Matt. XIV, Is.
And cast We the Improbable servant
into outer darkness; there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.-Matt
XIV, so.
And again I say unto you, 1t is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of
needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God.-Matt. xix, "a.
In the winnowing Of men, in the
search for leaders, the vision at first
is clouded by the dust of empty names.
The strong and the willing are hidden
by the weak and the cowardly as is
the grain by the chaff, but the fails
are working although the eye sees
them indistinctly or not at all.
Men are coming to the judgment
seat, consciously or unconsciously,
willingly or unwillingly, to be apprais-
ed by the weight of their service and
the value of their acts, to be judged
by the measure of their opportunities
and the sum of their accomplishments.
1t will be asked: What were the
advantages placed in your hands?'
1t will be asked: What are the
works you show?"
The Tribune has been advised by
one of it's contemporaries to leave
the bible out of it," but fails to COM
prehend why the richest store Of hui
man wisdom and the richest store Of
human experience should be placeless
in a quest for the realization of ideals.
1t finds nothing elsewhere which in
accurate definition and illustration of
the responsibilities of men compare
with that wonderful story of the stew
ards and the talents, and again it
fails to comprehend why this stern
but just parable should be ignored by
those to whom the talents have been
given in this day and age.
We have turned to the scriptures,
which deal with the rich and with
riches, with their advantages and dis
with the cruelty which
they may wreak upon the poor, with
the suffering and the curses which
wealth may bring down upon its pos
SCISSORS. We know that in spite of the
of modern philosophy and
in spite of modern research there is
little of practical wisdom which can
not be found between the covers bind
ing together the old and the new tes-
taments.
We have considered the views of
the sage and of the man of the world,
of the cynic and of the preacher. We
have considered the words of the "Son
of David, King in Jerusalem" and the
parallels and sayings of the "Son of
Man." and 1t is borne in on us that
all the ages the philosophers
have but repeated with monotonous
although with everlasting
truth the great principles OF human
conduct which have been known to
man ever since he emerged from bar
barism
The relation of opportunity to obli-
cation may have been modified, but it
has not been essentially changed.
In a search for leaders who will d.
rect a willing and anxious following to
the making of a better, fairer and
squarer city the Tribune has laid be
fore the public the names of some who
reDreSent caOifaI and industry and tha
names of others in control of the great
which come in closest touch
with all the people.
We are convinced that although the