St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1910-03-25
What Would Jesus Do?
BY DIR. A. W. VINCENT
Continued from last week. }


not against nature to make her
yield more abundantly Of her sub
stance, but against fellow-men to
secure that which they have al
ready brought forth. A battle as
wasteful of energies, as cruel and
inconsiderate, and more far-reach-
ing in its effects than any savage
battle of muscle against muscle.
Using in these days the sheer force
Of accumulated capital, which is
more brutal than brute force, for
the brute is satisfied when its NAV
Is filed.
But this battle we are told must
continue, and for whatl As an
incentive, forsooth To stimulate
our energies. What sort Of energiesi 2
To allow the savage to reap re-
ward for overpowering an enemy,
stimulates not his productive ener-
gies but his fighting energies. The
mere producer is robbed and de-
spised. To allow man to reap
reward for speculative business
gambling is an incentive to develop
only speculative gambling instincts.
The mere producer is still despised
aud robbed. only far more system
atically by this method.
What greater incentive to useful
effort, physical or mental, can be
given than to guarantee to each his
full product, that Is, full share
with his fellows of their joint pro-
ductl For production Is no longer
by individual but by joint effort.
Once provide that he may by
shrewdness, scheming and specula-
tive manipulations obtain more than
a just share, part Of what Others
produce, and that this once OBJ
tanned by whatever means, may be
used as capital TO utterly control
the labor Of others, and you have
not only destroyed the guarantee,
destroyed the incentive for useful
production, but have given the
greatest possible incentive to schem-
ing, trickery and oppression; aye,
10 stealing, murder, bribery aud
corruption OF a thousand different
forms. An incentive, All God, how
great the present age bears
eloquent testimony.
Individual self-interest Is never
the best incentive TO effort. II
takes the enthusiasm of numbers
having a joint interest TO bring forth
the best effort. A man will do far
more Tor "our side" ''our college"
"our foot ball team" or 'our coun-
try" than for merely individual
interest.
Does the soldier who fights side
by side with his comrades fight less
valiantly because he knows that
his success Is their successl Is Il
necessary to allow each soldier to
fight independently aud keep all
the loot he can gain In order TO
furnish him a necessary incentive ,
But to carry out the analogy to our
present day business life he must
also fight his comrades and take
from them II possible any loot they
may have gained. And this is In
dividualism-Savagery.
The soldier OF to-day Is not en-
tirely unselhsh. but he is sufficiently
enlightened to perceive that In
such individualism there Is no sue
cess worthy the name of any. He
might overpower the weaker ones
and hold authority over them for a
time. but he cannot rise from the
depths OF savagery until they cease
each other and hold that
physical force In a common fund for
the protection Of each. Then there
is developed within his breast a
feeling Of patriotism, OF conrad
ship, of brotherhood. An incentive
far deeper, more intense. and more
effective than any selfish motive
within the savage breast. He will
die willingly aud proudly tor his
comrades. for his country.
Oh. that we might. in the great
battle OF life, the battle against the
elements, fight as great united
army and SO develop something
akin to that feeling Of eomradship,
that patriotism Now we struggle
among ourselves. the strong main
tanning a position OF safety in the
rear, forcing the weak into the
front ranks TO meet the grim enc
mics, Hunger and Cold, to whom
full many a one falls victim. And
yet these enemies were SO easily
did each but do his
share and meet them with dicipline
and united front
oh, baTbarous Christian civiliza-
ton, not to perceive that to over
power a brother man by means of
mental superiority, is the same in
principle, the same In effect. as to
overpower him by means of physi-
cal superiority; not to perceive that
mental competition for the essen
tisls Of life make true Christianity
as impossible as does physical COM
petitionl
oh. honorably may the Christian
kill where the rule is kill or be
killed; by honorable methods may
he reduce his brother man to pow
erty. where the rule is impoverish !
Or be impoverished But what Of
him who makes no effort or even I
opposes any efforts to change that I
rs,ia. who wotiid preach love and