The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-12-05
ruC RUILDER WHO
WOULD NOT FIGHT,
THE International Sunday School Les
son for December 10 is nehemiah
and His Enemies" Nehemiah 6.
(By William T. Ellis.)

~ 2 dog fight. Contests allure the
normal man. Politics are usually pas
siye until a real row is started. The
fotball games of a few days ago had
a much larger attendance than the
Thanksgiving preaching services. All
the world loves a warrior. That is
whv we come with new Zest to this
sparkling story of old Nehemiah, who
was what Kipling calls "a frst-class
fighting man,
The real fighter is not the one who
Is forever squabbling. Noisy conten-
ton is far removed from real con-
fict. The clustering boaster is sell
dom the man with many hicks in
his rifle stock, to borrow a figure from
pioneer days. The militant apostle,
Paul, declared that he fought with
the beasts at Ephesus-but he did
not stop to fight with every yellow
dog that barked at his heels. Nehe-
n7iah could fight like a hero, but
equally like q her he could abstain
from fighting when a pack of petty,
conspiring sQuabblers tried to entice
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 hesitate
to take a dare" VIXEN the enemy
said, Come on down and talk with
u.s. the reply was, II am doing a
great work, / am too busy to come
down." from this man, who knew how
to keep first things first. Well Is it
for society, in yer such troubled
went in the days Of Nehemiah, if it
has a leader who can reserve his
powers for their best use.
An Old Labor Question.
Every big work is beset by many
complications, small and large. The
labor question arose with NeneHlah
during the project of rebuilding h
had been obliged to mortgage their
little farms and vineyards that they
might share in this work. The rich
were profiting by h extremity CT
the poor, and were devonring their
land. Say what we may 0 the
labor question, the fact remains that
the burden of all social problems falls
heaviest upon the working a
Statesmen may decree war
losing an hours sleep, but it is h
working man who furnishes the FOOD
for powder. Hard times come. and
it is the toiler Of small income who
first feels their pinch. Patriotism
yet it is the people who are
the most instant in patriotism. me
rich man may grow richer out OF
army contracts and quickened q
kets, but the burden Of every social
crisis comes first and heaviest upon
the shoulders Of the one who WORKS.
In Nehemiah's day the problem was
I'D to the mobiles who had devoured
the lane of the toilers. Nehemiah
went at them man-fashion, and with
the straight talk of the devout pa
triot made them see their SIN, ana
called upon them to repent. He
compelled them to restore to the peo-
pie the lands they had seized. and he
would not let them go until they had
taken a vow to that effect. The up
shot was tha this experience in social
justice was followed by a religious re-
viyal, which is a principle that works
both ways. Where there is justice
between man and man there is likely
TO be a free entrance for reilslous
truths. Where there is q muir
Q~uickening of religious interest there
is certain to follow social Justice
a Model Ruler.
China has been in terrible convui.
slOns in an endeavor TO get Iiu -
graft, That patient nation had oeen
exploited for centuries by the oiiiciai
classes, and the rights Of n people
were entirely overlooked. Now, in a
social cataclysm, China is seeking TO
obtain self-purification. The same
sort Of graft problems which we
would like to call purely Orleh.ai'
We're they not SO evidently IN exist
ence in America, awaited Nehemian
He found the servants or n oil e
behaving AS masters of the people.
The Old Testament picture is quite q
good portrait Of h average Guy
policeman, who thinks himself a mas
ter of the masses rather than a seIS-
ant Of the public. All this Meme
miah vigorously eliminated from .ne
religious motive because Of the lear
of Cod" He taught the people 70
deal honorably and fraternally. II
takes a high motive to transform
even petty conditions. We Will netei
get clean politics in America until 'ne
people as a whole are anltlateu ny
the fear of Jehovah.
Three Willy Foes
There were certain vested interests
that were hurt by the excess OF pup.
lie spirit in Jerusalem. They dlo hol
want the walls rebuilt. nor the peo-