The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-08-09
By WILIIAM T. ELLIS.

Here Is d " III
seems at first sight to have sanctioned
what was not "a square deal;' and a
story which in it's application throws
light on present-day Worldwide re-
ligious conditions. 1t is the perple1-
ing parable Of the labOrerS In inc
vineyard. some Of whom bore the bur-
den and heat of the day for the very
same wage that was given to the men
who began work near the close or the
day. it does credit to our
mate sense of justice that most read
ers of the parable find themselves IN
sympathy with the complaints OF the
laborers who had toiled all day. and
yet received no greater payment than
the ate-comers The lesson is one
h will give many a teacher Of older
pupils an uncomfortable half-hour,
owing to the se~nsitiveness OF our day
to all social questions.
4 little careful thought removes
most of the difficulties. Let US find
out VIVA the parable really means.
and why it was related by Jesus.
Equal Wage for Equal Labor.
For equal labor there should be
equal recompense; a woman who Ices
the same work in an office as a man Is
entitled to the same salary. A black
man should get the same wages as a
white for the same work. A poor boy
should not be iscriminated against in
ldVOT OIL du OIilCIdl oOu, LIS ooth
are at the same sort of task. In a
broad. general sense these PROPOSE
tons are u~nassailable, and almost
automatic.
Deeper than these though, is the
question whether the denarius or
penny equal to sixteen or seventeen
cents today, with a purchasing power
many times greater), was a just
stipend for a full days labor. That
is the real test Of this parable. When
it is granted hat the full market price
had been paid for the hire of the men
who went earliest to work. we find the
way open to other considerations.
SO long as he is just with all, an
employer may be lavish with some.
There are other factors than time in
employment, else the foreman might
get less than the office boy. The quail
ity of the work, and the need
and spirit, may SO appeal to an en-
ployer as to cause him to pay one more
than another. The labor MO
movement among newspaper reporters
has never made much Roadway be-
cause Of the iInpossibility Of estab-
fishing a uniform wege among men
whose work varies as greatly in quail
ity.
The Employers Freedom.
Multitudes of persons will be study
ing this lesson in the light Of the labor
question. Such should bear in MIND
the principal of the Justice Of the
mari a day paid to the men first
hired. Society has a right to insist
upon a living wage for all workers.
After that the employer has rights
which may not be invaded, It is his
private affair If he wants to buy a
red vest or a green automobile, or give
a full days wages to a man who
comes to him with a hard-luck story
just before the whistle blows. Their
are personal rights of the individual
which the State may not ~abrOgate. If
I choose to fee one sleeping car port
er a hundred per cent. above what l
fee another, for reasons which I con
sider satisfactory to myself, who is to
hinder Or criticise me?
The parable may not be pressed too
far any way. It simply means that
God Jays for waiting as we'll as for
working. Readiness counts as service
with him. He takes opportunity into
consideration. The men who were
hired at the eleventh hour wanted
work SO badly thai they sought it up
to the close OF the day. Look at the
situation through the eyes Of the man
out Of a job. and see how its aspect
changes. The employer generously
recognized the late-comers' need, as
we'll as rewarded their actual labor.
Perhaps it was he eleventh hour la
borers who actually saved the seasons
crop. We do not object nowadays to
paying the specialist who comes to the
sick room for half an hour at the
crisis. tenfold what the family doctor
receives for weeks of steady attend
ance.
When the Last Are First.
There is a striking Massage at the
close of the eleventh chapter of He
brews, following the narrative Of the
heroes Of faith and their testings:
and these aH-ecaiVed not the
promise, God having provided some
better things concerning us, that apart
from us they should not be made per
tect.' There you have a principle
that runs through life and illuminates
this parable. The last is necessary
to the fulfliment of the first. The
work of the all-day toiler is completed
by the eieventh-hour laborer. 'sOthers
have labored and WE have entered into
their rest" ne work of the world Is