Goldsboro weekly argus., 1915-11-11

his government, invokes the kindred
doctrine that dynamite is right.
If you will take your Bible and turn
back to the story of Naboth's vineyard,
you will find that Ahab violated three
commandments in order to secure a lit
tie piece of land. The commandments
read, "Thou shalt not covet;" "ThoH
shalt not steal;" and "Thou shalt not
kill" and these commandments are
not only without limitation, but they
are not subject to limitation.
Take for instance the commandment
against covetousness. After specify
ing certain things that must not be
coveted, the commandment concludes
with the clause cor anything that is
thy neighbor's." If this has any
meaning, it covers everything. There
| is no process of reasoning by which
we can retain that commandment and
make it binding upon the conscience
of the Individual if we hold sinless
the nation that covets the territory OF
another nation. And yet the coveting
of territory has been the fruitful cause
of war.
And so with the commandment
against stealing. 1t does not read
'thou shalt not steal on a small
scale;;" it simply says thou shalt not
steal" And yet I am not telling you
anything new when tell you that as
a ru1e-not always, but as a rule-it
is safer even in this country for q
man to steal large sum than a small
sum- If he steals a small sum he is
just common, vulgar thief and no
body has any respect for him; if he
has any fr' ends they are careful no
to allow the fact to be known. If, how
ever, he steals a large sum, he has
two advantages over the petty thief
In the first place, if he steals enough
, he can employ the ablest lawyers, an(
his lawyers can usua1ly-not always
but usually-keep him out on bail un
til he dies a natural death while the.
discuss technicalities in all the court
of the land. And he has second ad
vantage; if he steals large sum, b
: can always find enough people to fur
l nish him social companionship VIII
. will be so amazed at his genius tha
: they will never mention his rascalit
e in his presence. If we find it so dii
r fcult to visit the same indignation
: upon grand larceny that we do upo
: petty larceny we must not be SUI
e prised if, when one nation steals
1 large amount from another nation
r there are some who regard it as a
: act of patriotism.
$ And the commandment against xii
e ing does not read that you must NJ
a kill unless large number join wit
Ii you. On the contrary, the Bible pIaiI
e ly declares that though hand join
n hand, they shall not be unpunished
It And it does not say that if you do XII
e you should be gentle about it and u,
l. the most approved methods. On tt
le contrary, there is no intimation an,
J. where that the moral character Of Il
act can be changed by the method en-
y ployed in putting an end to a hume
N life. 1t is just plain, blunt "thc
r shalt not KILL" and yet as we rea
r history we are compelled to admit tn
g it has been easier for governments
IS hang one man for killing one m
IS than to punish killing by wholesal
r And many poets have felt impelled
to express themselves much in the Ian
IS. uage employed by the author of Gray
IN Elegy who speaks of those who eva
er through slaughter to a throne, al
Id shut the gates of mercy on mankind
d; I have called attention to the
ne commandments for the purpose
as emphasizing the fact that If we ado
d. the doctrine that might makes rigt
20, we must be prepared to repudiate
lst OF the moral code upon which we n