Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-20
BY JEROME DAVIS.

| proclaimfng civil war than we have
been for centuries past" and, in fact,
| it was class conflict UNPARALLELED
in the annals of history. Should we
not be warned of the terrible impasse
to which we may come unless scien-
tif1c knowledge and technical equip
ment are placed at the service of all,
with special unearned profit to none?
| Nor Is England the only example.
| The average American Is becoming
| painfully aware of serious flaws in our
| own industrial mechanism. Some
thing is wrong with the lubricatOr.
| Whenever we attempt a gear shift
| the engine stalls. In the transfer
| from a war to a peace basis. strike
| succeeds strike and class warfare
| even a Herrin massacre occurs AL
most every basic industry suffers
| coal, railroads and (but yesterday
steel. A scientific and impartial an
alysis seems to indicate a structural
defect. Some would have us believe
that the iron man of industry, our
own creation, threatens to become our
master. The church cannot stand still
In all these crises, nor can we drift
| comfortably and complacently in a
direction which will inevitably lead to
disaste We must reconstruct the
| foundation of our structure before the
I 10 uDOIt us. I1OW IdI CdH
| the church safely go, and what has
| she a right to expect of business men
! 10 a normal period before the storm?
Does Not Expect to Dictate.
| 1t is first necessary to make abSO-
| lutely clear what the church does not
| expect of Christian business men. 1t
does not assume the autocratic task of
debating just how a particular bust
ness shall be conducted nor insist that
| industry shall be run according to an
Interpretation of the Golden Rule
necessarily spelling financial failure.
The church does not attempt to set
itself up as an infallible authority on
all the ethical problems of commerce
| and finance. 1t does not claim itself
technically competent to censure all
the acts and policies Of an individual
| firm. Much less does it demand that
all the profits of business shall be
| turned into the treasury of the
| church. It Is seeking something very
much higher, more difficult and more
! fundamental than any of these things.
i The church expects business men
| who are processing Christians to
| make a sincere attempt to square
their daily conduct pattern with the
ethical teachings of Jesus and with
the spirit of His life. 1t is plati-
tudinDus to say that no man can be
! sure that he is practicing what he
knows nothing about; yet many mod
ern Americans could not give single
precept laid down in the Epistle OF
| James much less state clearly the
fundamental social principles of
| Jesus.
| Function Is to Teach.
One function of the church is to
| teach us some of these facts:-a an
other, to interpret just what is in
volved in praying, '"Thy kingdom
come" and what 1t means really to
want Gods will done on earth as it is
| in Heaven. 1t Is the task of the
| church to help the business man to
see that this necessitates running the
| business first of all for the good of
| the consumer, second for that of the
producer, third for that of the inves-
| tor, and last of all for the good of
himself. In the long run there is not
so much difference between these
| separate interests as at first might
| be imagined. Sincere men may diff
| fer regarding the priority Of the
| claims of the different parties to In
dustry, but devoted Christians can
| hardly deny that discipleship means
the subordination of self.
| Indeed, it takes a relatively slight
| acquaintance with the life of Jesus
to realize that he did not say, Seek
We first the kingdom of profits" but,
Seek We first the kingdom Of God"
How far the modern business world
has departed from this concept each
reader can judge for himself. Again,
Jesus taught his followers definitely
| that they must serve the group. ''He
that would be the greatest among you
shall be the servant of all.
| These were no abstract theories;
| they were the stuff of which life itself
was to be built. Jesus Himself lived
| this principle by sharing with his
| followers every material thing He
had, and even on one occasion taking
upon Himself the task of washing His
followers feet.
Roosevelt Is Quoted.
| One of our greatest e::Giculties IL
| that we are quite ready to acknowl-
edge the glittering general principle
but quite unwilling to practice 1t,
| however vociferous our profession.
| Theodore Roosevelt discovered this
when he tried to enforce certain
laws and made the significant COM
| ment: "A right is valueless unless
reduced from the abstract to the con-
crete. This sounds like a truism. So
| far from being such, the effort prac-
| tically to apply it was almost revolu
tionary, and gave rise to the bitterest
denunciation of us by all the big
lawyers. and all the big newspaper
editors, who, whether sincerely or for
hire, gave expression to the views of
the privileged classes"
Now, running business for the
benefit of the consumer means not
only that he shall be satisfied with
what he receives. but that no more
profit is exacted from him than is
necessary to make the service the
best possible in the long run. In
other words. service to the consumer
demands not only good quality but
the lowering of prices to the furthest
point possible consistent with provid
ing what is wanted. To state the
matter in another way. reward should
be proportional to service rendered,
although the ambiguity of this state
ment is apparent. since it Is relatively
easy to persuade ones self of the
social value of any task. Every one
should be able to realize. however,
that no service is being rendered in
the case of commodities which are
socially questionable "a standard
which at once precludes most Of the
profits in land and stock speculation.
as well as injurious or shoddy goods.
Service Is Qualified Justice.
Service to the worker means moth
ing less than according him precisely
the treatment one would give to ones
own wife or children. provided they
were in a similar condition and had
to accept similar employment AS
Mr. Rowntree. the English manufac-
turer, once said: 'As follower of
Jesus. / cannot go to sleep in com,
fort at night until / know that con.
ditiOns in my plant are such that I