The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-12-09


who was what Kipling calls a nrse
class fighting man"
The real fighter is not the one who
Is forever sQuabbHng- Noisy conleh-
/tion Is far removed from real CONNECT
The clustering boaster is seldom tins
man with many hicks in his rl1le stochi
tc borrow a figure from pioneer Gays
The militant apostle, Paul, declared
that he fought with the beasts a.
FDIesus-but he did not stop to hght
with every yellow dog that parked al
his heels Nehemiah could fight like
a hero but equally like hero, ne
could abstain from fighting Wnen
pack of petty. conspiring squapplers
tried to entfce him from his real work
Here was a great man, the builder
of a city, a Kings Counsellor, a proved
leader of men, who did not hesllate
to take a dare When the enemy
said,-"Come on down and talk VIII
MS the reply was, Il am doing great
work 7 am too busy to come down,
from this man, who knew how to keep
first things first Well is it for society,
in every such troubled time as that
which Jerusalem underwent IN thS
days of Nehemiah, if it has leader
who can reserve his powers for their
best use.
An Old Labor Question
Every big work is beset by many
concentrations. small and large. The
labor question arose with Nehemiah
during the project of rebuilding the
walls of Jerusalem The poor peop!e
had been obliged to mortgage their
little farms and vineyards, that they
might share in this work The rlch
were profiting by the extremity OF the
poor. and were devouring their land
Say what we may about the lapor ques-
sion the fact remains that the burueH
"a all social problems falls heaviest
liTson the working man. Statesmen
may decree war without losing an
hours sleep, but it is the working man
who furnishes the food for powder
Hard times come, and It IS the toner
of small income who first feels their
nincb Patriotism costs the comm ION
people most, and, yet it is the common
people who are the most instant IN
PATRIOTISM The rich man may grow
richer out of army contracts and
quickened markets, but the burden OF
every social crisis comes first and heaV-
lest upon the shoulders of the one VINO
works.
In Nehemiah's day. the problem was
up to the mobiles who had devoured the
land Of the toilers. Nehemiah went at J
then, man-fashion. and with the
straight talk of the devout patriot,
made them see their sin, and called
upon them to repent. He compelled
them to restore to the people the lands
they had seized, and he would not let
them 90 until they had taken vow
to that effect The upshot was that
$his experience in social justice was
followed by a religious revival, which |
is a principle that works both ways |
Where there is justice between man |
and man, there is likely to be free
entrance for religious truths Where /
there is a genuine quickening of relig- |
ious interest there is certain to follow |
social justice.
A Model Ruler.
China has been in terrible convul |
sions in an endeavor to get rid of graft. |
That patient nation had been exploited
for centuries by the official classes, and /
the rights of the people were entirely |
overlooked. Now, in a social cata- |
clysn, China is seeking to obtain self
publication. The same sort of graft
problems which we would like to call |
purely Oriental were they not so evil |
IDENTIFY in existence in America. awaited |
Nehemiah. He found the servants of
the officials behaving as masters of the |
people The Old Testament picture is |
quite a good portrait of the average |
city policeman, who thinks himself a |
master of the masses rather than a |
servant of the public. All this Nehe- |
nniah vigorously eliminated from the
religious motive because of the fear +
of Cod" He taught the people TO deal I
honorab1y and fraternally. 1t takes /
high motive to transform even petty +
conditions We will never get clean i
politics il America until the people as
q whole are animated by the fear of I
Jehovah.
Three Willy Foes.
There were certain vested interests
that were hurt by the excess Of pub
lie spirit in Jerusalem. They did not
want the walls rebuilt, nor the peoples
patriotism aroused They were not
equal to a frontal attack, because Ne
yaerniah knew how to fight as well as
NV to build; so they tried the ancient
Ii fIaf
real issue Let US remember, when
ever tempted to turn aside from our
true work to engage in controversy,
that perhaps it is an enticement like
that of Sanballet- Tobiah and Goshen,
Nehemiah'S ancient enemies Their
pIar was expressed in their message
leone. let us meet together in one of
the villages in the plain of ono" Four
times this polite invitation to confer
ence was sent to Nehemiah.
Fifty the issue that goes into the
realm of perpetual palaver- Talk is
the handmafden of every doubtful pro-
iect that beguiIes mankind; the first
asset of all of the fraudulent schemes
that prey upon the peoples purse is "a
good line of talk" Delay in discussion
always serves the guilty Principles
cease to be clear and purpose become
cIouded, when there is prolonged con-
ference. which the Chinese call
40 ee-talIxee' There are some sub
iects which belong outside of the range
Of discussion. fright is right, since
Cod is Cod Wise is the man who
will not go down to the plain of Ono to
l,o1d a conference with evil. In the
sfsst place. Il never pays to stop work
! or a Quarrel It may be laid down as
q rule that every quarrel is bad which
interferes with work Often, as in the
case. of .Neherniah,s enemies. their mo-
tive is this stoppage of activity
One may go a step further and say
that there can be even too much of
religious conventions. In some quar-
sers. the idea of a religious worker is of
q nerson who Is so busy going to con-