Clouds in the Horizon

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 1, 1904

Clouds in the Horizon

WHEN Elijah’s servant returned from his seventh scanning of the heavens as he looked “toward the sea” from Mount Carmel, and reported that “there ariseth a cloud out of the sea, as small as a man’s hand,” the prophet was able to interpret even this slight sign in the horizon; and he said, “Go up, say unto Ahab, Make ready thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” Elijah’s forecast was correct. That cloud was the forerunner of a storm. And in a short time “the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.”

There are clouds in our horizon which are larger than a man’s hand, and in the light which prophecy throws upon current history it ought not to require a prophet or the son of a prophet to interpret the meaning of some of these signs.

There are clouds in the political horizon. The recent presidential election has given to the already dominant party a new lease of power with a largely increased majority in both houses of Congress. The echoes of the hurrahs of the victorious party have hardly died away, and the light of their triumphant bonfires and illuminations has hardly ceased to dazzle the beholders, when notes of warning are sounded by some of the more thoughtful of their leaders. Parties somewhat evenly balanced serve as a check upon each other. An unbalanced majority encourages recklessness and irresponsibility.

The people have emphatically approved of the recent departures from the political traditions of this country in entering upon a colonial policy and in aspiring to become a world power. The few voices raised against imperialism have been almost drowned in the storm of popular applause of the new policy. It is inevitable that the course already entered upon will be pursued more strenuously than ever. There are many pitfalls in this path. An increased standing army, an increased navy, a strong foreign policy, and a desire to have a recognized influence in international affairs can easily be the beginnings of a military despotism, even under the form of a republic. The demand for a strong central power to maintain law and order in the face of so much domestic strife between the rich and the poor, the classes and the masses, will serve to emphasize the tendency. Add to all this the growing demand for religious legislation and the organized campaign for a union of church and state, and one ought not to be cried down as an alarmist who frankly states his serious apprehensions for the future. The clouds indicate a storm. It is not too early to begin to look for a shelter. The storm may break soon.

There are clouds in the financial horizon. There has been a steady and rapid accumulation of money and money power in the hands of a few men. Think of these recently published statements: Three great financial corporations in this country “have absolute possession of property and money in the form of assets of over $1,000,000,000, . . . and indirectly through their affiliated institutions of an additional sum, the aggregate of which is much greater than all the national banks of America and the great financial institutions of Europe, such as the Banks of England, France, and Germany. The three have a ready cash surplus of almost $200,000,000, which is greater than the combined capital of the four greatest institutions of Europe,—the Banks of England, Russia, France, and Germany. The income of these three companies is, each year, $100,000,000 greater than the combined capitals of the Banks of England, Russia, France, and Germany.” This reveals a situation which is astounding even to those who have been aware that the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. The figures quoted almost stagger the mind. Croesus would be embarrassed by his poverty in the presence of these modern plutocrats. They are in command of the finances of the country. They are behind the great trusts and other combinations of capital, some of which have gained the reputation of having robbed the common people of their investments. This vast accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few is a peril and a temptation.

The history of its acquisition is now being made public, in part at least, and it is stained with fraud and corruption. The public mind is being stirred to the depths, and public confidence is being seriously disturbed. Financial distrust breeds financial disaster. Even in this hour of apparently remarkable prosperity there are conditions existing in this country which could quickly bring a crash and a reign of financial terror. The way is all prepared for the fulfilment of the scripture statements concerning the troubles of the rich in the last days. Some men are foreseeing and predicting the storm. There are clouds in the moral and religious horizon. Revelations of the real condition of things in different parts of the country have been coming thick and fast during the past year. With the gradual decline of piety in the church, with the loss of the old-time revival power and experiences, and with the widespread departure from the Bible standard of doctrine there has come a swift deterioration of public morality. In city after city it has been shown that the public officers were public plunderers, robbers of the people whose interests were committed to their care. And now, to cap the climax, a responsible writer in a reputable magazine makes the following statement concerning the legislature of the state where the Pilgrim fathers set up their standard of austere piety: ‘I do not hesitate to say, then: “The Massachusetts Legislature is bought and sold as are sausages and fish at the markets and wharves. That the largest, wealthiest, and most prominent corporations in New England, whose affairs are conducted by our most representative citizens, habitually corrupt the Massachusetts Legislature, and the man of wealth among them who would enter protest against the iniquity would be looked on as a ‘class anarchist.’ I will go further and say that if in New England a man of the type of Folk, of Missouri, can be found who will give over six months to turning up the legislative and Boston municipal sod of the past ten years, who does not expose to the world a condition of rottenness more rotten than was ever before exhibited in any community in the civilized world, it will be because he has been suffocated by the stench of what he exhumes.”’ When such assertions are made concerning the representatives of our civilization, what can be expected of the recognized criminal element? It is the fulfilment of the sure Word which says that “evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse.” It is a return of the days of Sodom and Gomorrha, and the same storm is impending. Happy are those to whom a message of warning shall come, as it did to Lot, and who shall heed the warning.

We have given only a glimpse of the real condition of things in our world. What do these things mean to us? Do we realize that the third angel’s message is the warning message, and the message of hope and salvation to the inhabitants of a world staggering under its accumulated load of moral corruption? Do we appreciate the real situation? O there must be such a voice in the earth proclaiming this last teaching of the gospel of the kingdom as shall call with authority to God’s standard of righteousness all those who are willing to listen to a divine message of deliverance. This is the time of the loud cry of this message, and we may each have a part in it. So let it be.