The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-01-07
1T IS A MONSTER CRIME.

Bishop Kilgo. in Durham, IN when
he properly declared that the Dur
ham Water Company's forcing
muddy water down the threats OF IN
nocent men and women and children
was a monster crime" The Raielgh
Water Company n the various other
public service corporations are guilty
Of the same crime. He declared that
the action of the Durham Water COM
pany was an illustration Of the way
in which helpless people in this day
and time are treated. He declared II
is the duty of the officers Of the State
TO have the contract enforced but that
the water company itself was espoh
sible for the kind Of water that IS
being sent to the people. He said that
the majority of the church people IN
this day were very much like the
Priest and the Levite who, seeing the
sick man in the road, went by on
the other side and he would have
died but for the good Samaritan. lie
declared that many men in the church
and members of society thought they
ought not to be bothered with help
ing their fellowmen and that their
religious obligation begun and ended
with paying small sums monthly tor
the support Of the preacher.
1t is refreshing to hear from the
pulpit the declaration hat it is the
duty Of Christian men and the duty
of the pulpit to take c~ognizance of
the evils which have long gone un-
restrained. 1t too often happens that
if a minister. seeing the health Of
the people destroyed by bad water
or any other enc that ought to be
purified, cries out against the wrong,
he is told hat it is the business Of
the preacher to preach the gospel, not
to go into politics or try to run a
government. The bushes Of the
church primarily is to save men, but
if il is blind to the crushing crimes
Of monopoly, the destruction Of pri-
vate enterprises by trusts, the fur
nishing OF muddy and deleterious wa
ter to people, the manning and kill
Ing of people by railroads for the
lack Of modern safety appliances, the
employment Of tender young children
= at long hours in the mills-if it is
! silent or blind when these things
! exist, it is not the church OF the
/; Christ who took the whip-cords and
drove the money changers from the
temple, who nilloried the Pharisees
for taking usury and who Numbered
t against all who oppressed the poor
+ or devoured the homes of widows
I In an address delivered before the
!, National Editorial Convention in New
n Orleans a few years ago, the editor
OF The News and Observer took sub
stantlally the same position tina
!, Bishop Kilgo took in his sermon las
. Sunday. In part, Mr.. Daniels said:
To-day our ~iniquity is wireless. II
the old days laWleSsness was a rudt
{ and rough vice and found it's express
G sion in fighting and shooting. TIL,
TlOlatOr OF the law had a victim an(
publlc enthusiasm was easily directed
o at the man responsible for the crime
n We are now sweeping into a tropica
4 period OF sin which is largely i'm
day, is invisible to the naked ey,
a and We do not know whose wither
are Wrung by it. The hurt passes int,
that vague mass. the public, and i
" tneTe lOSt 10 view. Hence it does no
h axe a Borgia to knead chalk, alun
is and plaster into a loaf, seeing on
cannot know just who will eat tina
IS loaf or what grippe 1t will give him
Our modern sin is imperSonal. TIL
man who charges three prices for tn
necessities Of life commits his Grim
in a richly furnished directors roor
in a great city, and takes from tn
es mouth of labor the bread it has carr
lg ed tho even disclosing his ider
N tity. His victim is the general pub
lie and the law-breaker has been to
De we'll advised by shrewd attorneys I
or Se punished for his crime.
In THE press raises a great outer
n and properly SO, against the polite;
boss n the corrupt public officia
" but back Of every thieving boss ar
dishonest official is the dominatir
hand Of some trust magnate
m~onspolist. What profits it to SCI
a boss to prison or to put stripes {
the hireling Of the trust that defes I'll
OF government and then laud the re
dr. criminal as a ph~ilanthropist and pu'
he lie benefactor because he losses a fe