Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-10-03
Attitude On Labor Question
Subject Interesting Paper At
Opening Of Preachers Meeting

| oPNHS VI CdIHCIS' WeetiHS
! Tuesday morning at 10 O'Clock in the
Hallowell Methodist church the first
| session of the two-day Augusta dis
! trict preachers meeting opened with
devotions conducted by Dr.. d. y. Holt
| OF Auburn. Then came hymns. Mrs.
IL. .. Mcgert at the piano. Then fol-
lowed three timely and interesting pa
pers. The first was presented by Rev.
| CHARLES Howard Atkins, pastor of the
| Highland Avenue NJ. T.. church of Car
! diner upon Our Attitude to the Labor
! question Mr. Atkins emphasized the
attitude of our Lord that the laborer
is worthy Of his hire" as being part Of
universal law of life. The dignity
of labor Is one of the truths which is
| finding expression in this age of serv-
ice. In our country this is shown by
! the fact that so many young men have
worked their way up. step by step.
from the very lowest position in n
| great business to its highest executive
| Office. America is the land of oppor-
tunity for all ambitious and true
| hearted laborers. But first of all we
| must not make the mistake of conffn-
| Ing tho use of the word laborcr to those
who do heavy manual work. A man
| who does his part in managerial or
Il
| laborer. There should be no false dis
tinction between the man who uses
| his brain to think and direct and the
| man who uses his strong right arm
| TO obey and carry out the plans Nor
should we make the mistake Of assun1-
| ing that every laborer is, entitled 10
| the same share in the income from
| productivity. Practical communism
would be impossible in a country like
| ours. The duty of a Christian towards
| the labor question is two-fold. to teach
| the dignity of all true toll and to pre-
| mote the cooperative interest Of all
parties carrying on any industry. In
7 closing the speaker defended tho right
ct collective bargaining, but also the
employers right to select other en-
! rloyes If this should seem the right
course. A discussion followed.
The second paper. Personal Re
| ligious Experience" was read by Rev.
| w. p. Holman of Oakland He re-
| viewed the long list of prophets and
patriots of Israel. and then said:
This is too fast company for any one
| of US TO keep unless the Lord God AL
mighty shall Himself quicken US for
the race. May God move our hearts
and quicken our feet" Then he gave
with feeling and effect a chapter from
| his own life" his personal religious
| experience. Prayer he called the first
essential for ministerial work, study
of the Bible the second. He gave inter-
| eSting and concrete examples of his
own methods of work. and finally af-
| firmed his belief in the necessity of
| regular revival period in the church.
The third paper was 1.-THE Wit
ness Of the Spirit by Rev. ]. c.
Bearce of Fairfield. He declared the
| witness of the spirit to be one of
the distinctive doctrines of Method
| ism. It's preaching by the early
! Methodists was a great contribution
! towards the saving of the English
| nation to sobriety and Righteousness.
| He declared also that there was need
| of this same evangel of life and hope
| in this day. We need this evidence
of our personal relation to God. 1t
gives us an assurance of our SonShip.
At noon dinner was served in the
church vestry. The dining room was
| in charge of Mrs. Clarence Turner.
! She was assisted by Miss Margaret
, Turner. Miss Erlene Hutchinson.
Miss Catherine Leach. Miss Reta
Pettee and Miss Mary Martin. In the
. kitchen were Mrs. w. II. Perry, Mrs.
Ernest Luce. Mrs. Will Albee, Mrs.
Julia Bradbury and Mrs. Albert Tai
house. The dinner was excellent,
The afternoon session began with
devotions conducted by Rev. MIR
Rogers of Calvary N. L. church.
Lewiston, Mrs. McGert again at the
piano. The first paper OF the after
noon was by Rev. A. |. Oliver of Au-
burn on Growth in Grace" He said
people are too much taken up with
church activities and lose sight of
the necessity of growth n grace.
God blessing follows that favor
Grace and truth are an expression
of the Christian religion. Spiritual
growth is 4 living act. a legitimate
result of life from within.
He was followed by Rev. James NJ.
Gage. ID. ID. Area secretary for the
\. f. Area for the Centenary. He is
an eloquent and pleasing speaker.
and in very forceful way brought a
vision of the work Of the Centenary
in the mission work of South Amer
lea. India. Japan and China. Then
came a paper. Sources of the Hcxa-
touch" by Rev. T. c. Chapman of
Norway. He was clear, logical.
scholarly and interesting. a review
of the amusement question was given
by A. Pollard Jones of Waterville.
After supper in the vestry and
devotional service in charge of Rev.
Ernest Haywood, DR.. Guy II. Black !
of Philadelphia gave an inspiring adj
dress. Histheme was Evangelism"
He spoke of the preparation for
campaign, such as surveys and re-
sponsihility lists and prospect cards !
He considered that business methods !
should be applied to evangelism and
quoted freely from his own expert
ence and that of others to prove his !
points. All the services were well
attended and We're of great value ,
They will be continued today. The ,
program is given elsewhere.