The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-09-06
.[ABORER SHOULD GET
HIS SHARE OF PRODUCT
When He Receives Less He Ia Led
Into Temptations Of
Anarchy.
POVERTY FATHER OF CRIME
DIR. Maclachinn Shows Justification
For Efforts Labor Puts Forth For
Betterment of Condition.

taking as his text, John 6:27, DIR
Maclachlan preached a strong sermon
to an interested audience in the
SeventhStreet Christian Church last
night
Or. Maclachlan said in part:
tomorrow is to be celebrated all
over the land as Labor Day, and II
seems fitting, therefore. that the pull.
pit of Him who was known amons
His contemporaries as the .'Carpentel
of Nazareth" should have some mes.
sage for the occasion.
1t is not at all in my mind that
can say anything new or startling, bu,
1t is my privilege as a ministed OF the
Gospel to remind you of great prIn.
cipie which must underlie any per.
manent settlement OF the labor ques.
ton
The principle. namely. that the fina
end and aim of your work Is to be
looked for not in the material but
in the spiritual realm, not in the
wages you get from II, but in the char.
acter you acquire, and the extent I.
which you further the kingdom OF
God through it.
Jesus tells the peole who follow
Him through the expectations of an
other miracle of the loaves and fishes
that they are working for the wrong
things. the things that perish.
But we cannot neglect the things
that perish. AS there is no soul here
on earth with body. to ne
glect the body. save at the call
of some higher duty. is to ne
sy1A ttan Ii1r4
are to serve God and We must cal
IL we are TO live.
No Virtue in Poverty.
Here In the West we do not toll
crate the Idea that there is virtue
in poverty. rather we take such pow
erty TO indicate some spiritual lack
in the man who Is content with il
when he might better his condition.
When the returns for mans labor
Is less than that which constitutes a
living wage. he Is not only exposed
temptations that YOU and l proha bly,
know nothing about but is harTassed
by a constant anxiety for the future
which takes the heart out of him
and produces either that fierce spiri,
Of rebellion which makes an an
archist out of good man. or else
that sadder hopelessness SO well de-
scrihed in Markham's Man with the
Hoe
They say that poverty Is no crime
| am not so sure of that. When we
remember that the overcrowding OF
large families In insufficient quarters
is the direct cause of the great social
evtl when we consider that the chill
dren of the poor constitute the largest
proportion of definquents In our Juve-
nile Courts. when we consider that
IL
street come from homes of poverty
/ say that we should begin TO ask
ourselves whether our modern civil
Iizatlon has not made impossible
the benedic,ion Of the Carpenter OF
his own class Blessed are We poor.
Fair Pay For Services.
1t Is this that provides justiffca.
ton for the efforts which labor puts
forth TO better it's material condition
They want fair share of the proauc,
tAe.F-l enough money To lift
them permanently above the dread OF
pauperisin, enough to give their chill
dren a chance in life. enough to HELP
the children out of the Juvenile Cour,
and off the street.
They want time enough to read a
book 10 listen to good music, to real
ize that they, too, are sons of God
and heir to His riches.
While By no means commencing al
that labor has done To ttain It's
end | feel that the labor move
ment of the last fifty or sixty years
has been one of the greatest instru-
ments under God for the advancement
of HIS kingdom and marks the first
systematic effort on a grand scale To
carry out the mind and purpose OF
Jesus in regard to the grea, sub
merged mass of humanity which since
the world began has been exploited by
the rich and powerful.
Man is not brain and stomach,
he is soul and any organization OF
society which does not make that SUI
preme, is a hideous mockery OF the
best that is in him
You must be religious. Your move
ment must rise to the dignity of a
crusade, if II is TO be successful. God
must be In II from first 10 last.