The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1936-03-06
METHODIST JOIN
KARL MARX
r. Carleton.
Dear Editor:

Dear Editor:
The tragic affair happened over
in Great Falls this week. A bunch
of us Methodist Ministers had
come together to swap sermons.
The first day all of us behaved
ourselves with Methodistic pro-
priety. The bishop was there to
watch us. He has a very prOnoun-
ced prediction for the sound Of
his own voice and likes to do the
thinking for the conference and
the planet Mars. He makes the
appointments and controls the des-
TIMES of hundreds of ministers
and we just felt that any "redism"
would be quite improper and ex-
ceedingly undimplomatic before his
pontificial lordship. The bishop,
you will understand, is a strong
believer in both social and christ
ian brotherhood. But he hasn't
been quite baptized with sufficient
christian grace to advocate econ
omic brotherhood. You see, editor,
we have orders in the Methodist
Church, and every minister is paid
in proportion to his rank. The
Understanding and poorest paid
ministers are out on "hard scrab-
BILE circuits where they are lucky
to get jack rabbit stew and sage
brush tea. But the bishop, belong
ing to the highest order in the
church, gets the largest financial
stipend. Of course there is not a
syllable in the teachings of Jesus
to justify such inequalities, but
what of it? All the ministers are
forced by Methodist Law to dizzy
up a certain percentage of their
salaries to the bishops. So you can
see that it would hardly do for the
bishop to advocate economic
brotherhood. The result would be
disastrous to his pocketbook and
correspondingly advantageous to
the pastors under him. So he bears
down hard on social and christian
brotherhood and puts the soft
| pedal upon economic brotherhood.
/ fear that some of us have long
felt that christian brotherhood
without economic brotherhood is
so much ballyhoo.
Unfortunately the bishop left us
after the first day and then go
Tempores o Mores''-hell and So
cialism busted loose. Really, edi-
tor, the fault was not altogether
ours. A certain DIR. Dierberger-
he is the sky pilot of the first
Congregational Church of Great
Falls-was responsible for that
meeting turning pink and then
crimson red. Yet the above men
toned recalcitrant, congregational
divine was admittedly soft spoken.
| do not remember that he raised
his voice during the entire forty
minutes Of his discourse. But there
must have been dynamite packed
away somewhere in his message,
for at it's close the whole durn
meetln' seemed to explode in fav-
or OF co-ops, socialism, Marxism
and every form of radicalism that
all the radio speakers tell us to
hate worse than black cat streak
ak SSAVSS Tie 4dWus
Honestly editor, it was down
right awful. Karl Marx, Frederick
Engels, Eugene Debs, Brother
Lenin and the whole galaxy OF
reds couldn't have acted any
worse. Why that bunch of wild
eyed enthusiasts organized a cen
trail committee in Great Falls to
evangelize all Montana with their
screwy propaganda. Something
must be did and that pronto. Our
present profit system is in danger
Hell Will soon be screechine
around every street corner. Lush
grass, hazel brush and cactus ber-
r1es on the streets of our great
cities. Civilization will blink out
IN inky darkness, and atavistiC
savagery will envelop our fair
land, if Karl Marx is not speedily
accommodated from our church
Now, editor, if you get an IN
foreground message that some If
us Methodist preachers are roost-
ing in some dank, vermin infested
jail, as the result Of an over plus
OF coop enthusiasm, we shall lex-
pect you to bail us out and hire
one Of those highpowered, $500.
VUO criminal lawyers to rescue Us
rom the clutches of the Liberty
league and the one hundred per-