The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1914-08-24
CHURCH MUST
SAVE MASSES
SAYS STELzLE
Social Engineer Describes
Religious Instincts in
Workingmen and Praises
Work OF Labor Unions.

To an audience that packed the big
assembly tent to its capacity. Charles
Stelzle, social engineer, delivered his
lecture on "A square Deal" Mr..
Stelzle was born in tenement on the
East Side OF New York and went to
work in cigar factory at eight years
OF age. During these early years, he
was obliged to help support a mother
and four sisters. Later on, he worked
, seven years In a New York machine
! sAul. WINE luere, ne was discovered
by The Presbyterian church and plac-
ed upon the platform.
'"1nis social problem of ours" de-
clared Mr.. Stelzle. lis the most i'm
! portant that confronts us. Some
people think we could abolish the
labor question by abolishing labor
! sure it would be more difficult to
| unions.
This is tae era of the comman man.
Several hundred years ago we won re-
! Hgious democracy. Then we won
political democracy. We are now
marching inevitably toward industrial
democracy. No human power can
| stop this march ant no divine power
VIII.
The labor union is but an incident
| in the industrial revolution. There
| is no such religion in labor unions and
, so much social spirit in the churches.
| it has become a question whether the
| labor movement will capture the
church or the church capture the labor
| movement. Will the church save the
masses? Indeed the question is al
| L ~
| save the church?
Chance for Church.
"It is more important for the church
to grip the mechanic than to grip the
| millionaire and am especially
anxious to see the Christian church
awake to it's obligations to the work
ingman.
1.-The great nation of workingmen
honor Jesus Christ as friend and
leader and the majority of them be-
lieve in his divinity.
THE American workingman is ma
! turally religious. For years I have
written syndicated article each week
that is published in several hundred
labor papers. They always give the
most prominence to the articles that
have the most to say about the Bible
and Christianity.
"In the lower East Side of New
York there Is square mile of terri
tory that contains 100000 people
Eighty Protestant churches have NOV
ed out of that district. I am familiar
with it and know that you could not
find any neighborhood in the world
that has more religious hunger.
THE labor question is fundamental
ly moral and religious one. All the
answers to the labor question which
are now being considered are religious
| in essence. 1 am glad that working
men are responding to the appeals of
| the church as they have never done
! before in the history of the labor
| movement in the United States.
Church too Narrow.
"The vision of the church has been
too narrow. 1t has thought of the
| masses only in connection with evan
F.; gelistic campaigns. Evangelism is all
| right but something more must be
done. The church to which evangel
i ism sends it's converts must be what
it ought to be or it will not hold them.
What must the church be to hold
workingmen? First, it must be alb
solutely sincere Workingmen have
been betrayed so often they become
| suspicious. Because a few capitalists
| and employers have exploited them,
| they believe that all in the church are
the same type. / thank God every
day that the majority of capitalists
and employers in the church are real
| men of God.
1.-The church must become more
| democratic. And that places a de-
mand on the working man as we'll as
, on the rich man. Many workingmen
say too many rich people are snobs. l
say. workingmen are also snobs. In
| the shop in which l worked, we had
at least seven grades of society and
i the men in the upper grades looked
down on those in the lower grades.
| 1t is fine thing to speak of the
| aristocracy of labor but any spirit
among the workingmen that creates a
class spirit is their greatest enemy.
The church that fosters that sort of
spirit and snobbishness is church
that will do more harm than good.
Need Clear Message.
ITO hold the workingman, the
Christian church must preach a clear
| social message.
"You wonder why working people
are radical? They are not radical. II
! they ever awake to the actual con-
| ditions under which they live, we will
have revolution. The amazing thing
is That WOrKlngmen take tnelr con-
| dition so calmly. 1 have a profound
! conviction that if the Christian
church did all she could do, no other
agency could accomplish so much
toward bringing on that justice in in
dustry which will prevent the coming
| of revolution.
"The church also needs to have in
it the spirit of prophecy. 1t is some
times fashionable to belong to church
and doesn't cost much. It will be a
good thing for a church If it is called
upon more to suffer for the sake of
righteousness. For the church to un-
dertake the problems that now con-
front US means that she must make
great sacrifices but If she is not will
ing to make great sacrifices for the
sake of her gospel, what is that gospel
worth? The laboring class will not
consider that it is worth much of any
thing"