Evening star., 1940-07-29

| ii N means OF "hu-
manizing" mod
Charles G. Ross. ern capitalism
! can be seen in a series of lectures
he delivered in 1888 as the holder
that year of the annual Earl lee
| tureship in the Pacific School of Re-
ligion at Berkeley, Calf. He gave
in one of these his personal def
milton" of religion:
Religion is method whereby
man reaches out toward God in an
effort to find the spiritual power to
express here on earth, in a prac-
tical way, the divine potentialities
in himself and his fellow human
| beings"
Running through all these lee
tures-as, indeed, through all that
Wallace has written on his favorite
theme of the general Welfare"-is
the conception of religion as a nee
essary binding force among the
people if the ideals of democracy
are to be translated into practical
| effective action for the good of the
/ common man.
Excerpt From Writings.
Repeatedly in his writings one
comes across expressions like the
following:
I'm the fuller sense of the term
democracy is possible only where
people are educated, hold to the COM
mon aim of the general welfare and
impose upon themselves in tolerant
manner the necessary discipline for
its attainment. This discipline and
this service to the public good self
imposed by each individual can
be attained only where there is a
profound religious ideal animating
the vast majority of the people and
/ where that religious ideal mani
| tests itself in a vigorous zeal for
| the welfare of whatever portion Of
| the population may at any time be
| ill-fed, ill-clad and ill-housed. This
must be the basis Of our democratic
economic movement in action
What does Wallaces philosophy
require of the church and of the
individual, in practice? He gives
the answer with the fervor Of the
| evangelist that he is:
This genuine American doctrine
(of public service) can continuously
be preached IN compelling terms by
Catholic priests, Protestant ministers
and Jewish rabbis. Nearly all the
prophets of the Old Testament
preached the doctrine of social JUS
tlce. Jesus in His Sermon on the
Mount preached it in its most
extreme form. Karl Marx preached
it in distorted form because he was
too much under the influence of the
British economists and scientists Of
the early 10Th century. Seeing
the dilemma of capitalism and
the misery of the workmen. he failed
to catch the possibilities of combine
ing the good points of capitalism
democracy and religion.
Axis Partners Beliefs.
Marx believed in the doctrine OF
the general welfare brought to pass
by the dictatorship of the proletar-
lat. Hitler and Mussolini believe in
the general welfare of their respec-
tive nations brought to pass by the
corporate state -
I'VE cannot allow ourselves TO
bring out a premature decision on
behalf of the common good by
means of violence Instead of vio-
lence we require men whose souls
are aflre with the need of preaching
the doctrine of democracy for all
the people of the United States. T
don't care whether these men are
Catholics, Jews. Protestants or
non-church members provided they
preach with the same conviction as
Amos preached the doctrines Of
social justice to the northern king
dom of Israel. I earnestly believe
That those who work for and preach
the doctrine of social service, ac-
cording to the best of their UNDER
standing and according to the fire
OF the spirit as they conceive the
spirit, will find their efforts richly
rewarded
Not to work for the common good
is, l believe, a violation of a funda-
mental law of the universe"
Practical Application.
One further quotation to show the
depth OF the Secretary's religious
conviction and the practical appli-
cation that he gives it:
Most wholeheartedly do I believe
in the reality of unseen forces
which lie all about us. Most whole
heartedly do I believe in existence
after death. And yet I cannot
help saying that a man who is well
prepared for the world to come and
poorly prepared for this earth is not
doing the cause of religion any
good. We should use the heavenly
powers to serve the cause of prac.
tlcal, joyous living here on earth.
ana, unless we are very unusual
kinds OF saints or philosophers, we
should use our contemplation of the
heavenly powers chiefly for the pur-
pose OF enriching our comprehen-
sion of the earth contact and the
social contact"
Mysticism? Perhaps, but suf-
fused with practicality.
enough mas been quoted to show
that If Henry Wallace remains in
character-and none who knows
him can doubt that he will-his
campaign speeches will be some
thing unusual on the political
hustlngs. They will have the in
tellectual quality, should say, OF
woodrow Wilson's speeches, when
ne was preaching "the new free
DOM"
unlike, notably, the speeches OF
Roosevelt IN 1882, when ghost writ
ers for the nominee were working
both sides of the political street.
Wallace's speeches will weave a con-
sistent pattern. They may sound
dull on the radio, they won't pour
1t on" or call names, but they will
be worth reading, whatever ones
political views as the rootured