The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-02-18
CHURCH SEES new
GROWTH OF POWER
Bishops Find Spiritual Value in Labor
Movement.
BY c. K. CUMMING.

Movement.
BY c. K. CUMMING.
| LONDON, Feb. 17.-Ten years ago
the Church of England was still IN
! the main buttress of the established
order. 1t stood for political conser-
vatism and economic privilege. To-
day it is the herald of new social
order which is in direct line with the
aspirations of the labor movement.
Standing in a white sheet for its past
shortcomings and its blindness to the
social implications of its own teach
ing, it is earnestly striving for a re-
approchement with labor. There could
hardly be a more striking sign of the
revolution IN thought which has re-
Gently taken place-the undoubted
precursor of far-reaching changes in
, the world Of action.
There were of course exceptions to
the general attitude of Kingsley. Yves
colt and Scott Holland preached in
burning words the gospel Of social
justice. The Christian Social union
held aIoft the banner of human broth
erhood. And there was the little band
of ardent spirits in the Church So
cialist league. Socialism was notably
strong in the high church party.
But, taking the church as whole.
its attitude was one of acquiescence
in the existing economic system. The
workingman could hardly be blamed
for regarding it as accurately indicat-
ed in the words of the hymn not yet
expunged from the pages of its hymn
nal:
THE rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made Them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate"
The dominant point of view of the
upper classes was sympathetically ex-
pressed by Watts when he wrote:
''Whene'er take my walks
abroad,
How many poor 1 see,
How thankful l am to my God
For all his gifts to me-"
And this particular blend of SNUG
piety and happy irresponsibility was
by no means extinct in the years Just
before the war.
Against the long line of abuses
industrial revolution, the church rails
ed no corporate protest. 1t saw moth
ing essentially wrong in a state of
affairs under which a large percent
age of the population was invariably
u1der-fed and poorly housed and
without security for more than a week
in advance, although clergymen la
bored heroically in the great cities
to alleviate the miseries which these
conditions entailed. AS some of its
own leaders said recently:
We have been content with the
ambulance work when we ought to
have been assaulting the strongholds
of evil. We have allowed avarice and
selfishness and grinding competition
to work havoc over the broad spaces
of human life
To the inadequacy of it's former
ge, the conscience of the church |
is now awakened. And there are sew |
eral very interesting points about this !
modern social revival. First, it is not |
represented merely by a few enthus- !
lasts. The movements, both as re- |
CARDS the public statements which |
have been issued, and the organiza !
tons which have been founded to put !
these into effect, has the official sane |
ton of the highest authorities of the |
church. No doubt, as with all causes,
the driving force comes from minor
ity In some quarters there may be a |
dead weight of indifference, or even
hostility. But the fact remains that |
the whole body of the church is pledg-
ed in name at least, to the new pro-
gramme Of social ideals.
A still more important point is the
fact that these ideals are not con-
cerned with palliatives merely. The
analysis probes deep, revealing a state 4
of things for which only drastic rem
edies will avail What is contemplate
ed is fundamental change in the eco
nomic structure OF society. This is
very clearly shown in the famous re-
port of the archbishops' committee on
christianity and Industrial Prob
lems", which serves as the charter Of
the whole movement.
In this report, the committee OF
experts-employers labor
leaders and clergymen with special |
knowledge of industrial problems
went straight to the root of the mat
ter They pronounced the faults of
the present system to be- due not to
accidental or occasional mal-adjust-
menus put 10 inherent ueleCLS III the
very nature Of the social order. 1.-The
solution of the industrial problem in
not merely the Improvement of
individuals, but a fundamental change
in the spirit of the industrial system
itself"
They condemned the whole prever-
sion of motive in modern industrial
ism which encourages competition
for private gain instead OF oo-opera-
ton for public service, with the re-
suit that the workers are regarded
'as hands rather than as persons and
deprived of all responsibility for all
human interest in the work which