p. 4 | A Revolution Imminent by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 14, 1912

A Revolution Imminent

By F. M. W.

The World's Unrest—No. 4

A Revolution Imminent

We have fallen upon evil times in this world's history. Religiously, politically, and commercially, sweeping and far-reaching changes are being effected. We have presented some of the elements at work in this transformation. We give in this number the portent which attaches to the working of these revolutionary forces as viewed by some of the leaders of public thought:—

Says Canon George William Douglas, in the New York Times of Sept. 15, 1912:—

Few Americans, except politicians and settlement workers like Jane Addams, know how great the danger in this country is of a real revolt of labor. On Labor day there comes to us on every side a discordant, exasperated cry whose substance is, Give us the rewards of labor! We have not a fair share! It is the discontent of the poor; and for this we, in no small measure, are ourselves to blame, if blame there can be; for we, the better educated, have given to the poor—nay, forced on them—the microbe of education. We have sent them to school, and thereby we have taught them to expect more of life, more even than a living wage. And when they behold (for we are not backward to disclose it) our luxury, displayed before their eyes more generally and conspicuously than ever in the history of mankind, the poor want to share it and feel what it is. Nevertheless, their expectations are suffering a severe and immense disappointment.

In a speech of similar import, Prof. Frederick Harrison, of England, says:—

I have studied these labor troubles too long and too closely to dream of any legislation, or conference, or agreement whatever doing more than patching up a truce for the moment; and I hold the necessary reorganization of society to be far too deep, and wide, and complex to be brought about by any panacea, or in any one revolution of industrial life. One who for all these fifty years has watched this growing unrest, and has been in close touch with the best labor leaders and the most enlightened chiefs of industry, could not give way to optimism to-day. I see long and arduous struggles before both workmen and managers in our anarchic industrial world. And I know what menacing obstacles face both, whether political, economic, or social.

H. G. Wells, a prominent writer of Great Britain, in the New York Times of Aug. 11, 1912, sounds this note of warning with reference to the conditions that threaten Great Britain, and for that matter the whole world:—

Our country is in a dangerous state of social disturbance. The discontent of the laboring mass of the community is deep and increasing. It may be that we are in the opening phase of a real and irreparable class war. Whither are these forces taking us? What can still be done and what has to be done to avoid the phase of social destruction to which we seem to be drifting? . . . The thing our society has most to fear from labor is not organized resistance, not victorious strikes and raised condition, but the black resentment that follows defeat. Meet labor half-way, and you will find a new cooperation in government; stick to your legal rights, draw the net of repressive legislation tighter; then you will presently have to deal with labor enraged. If the anger burns free, that means revolution; if you crush out the hope of that, then sabotage and a sullen general sympathy for anarchistic crime.

We shall conclude quotations of this character by one from Dr. C. H. Parkhurst, of New York City, as reported in the New York Evening Journal of May 6, 1912:—

Certainly to the observant eye the signs of tempest are already in the air; and to one who looks across the world with a glance that takes in the whole collective scene, it is not easy and it is not reasonable to maintain one's self in perfect serenity of mind. . . . The more serious thing to consider is that what we listen to here is but a few notes of the general concert of discontent that prevails on both sides of the sea, and that that discontent is everywhere declaring itself in tones that are increasingly confident and bold. And, so far as appears, nothing essential is being done to stay the forward march of dissatisfaction. We had civil war half a century ago, and the mutterings of another civil war of an economic kind are distinctly audible.

Many similar statements from other thinking men might be quoted did space permit. It is left alone to the student of the prophetic word to estimate the portent of the great conflict, and even he, because finite, can do it but imperfectly. The apostle James, speaking with direct reference to these times, says:—

“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist thee.” James 5: 1-6.

These conditions he sets forth as those that should obtain in the world immediately preceding the coming of the Lord. While palliative measures may be adopted which for a time will bring relief, while arbitration committees and governmental influence may patch up temporary peace pacts, we know that the conflict will deepen and grow more bitter. Christendom is confronted to-day by a great menace in the aggressions of Romanism, but another and greater danger, so far as the world's social relationships are concerned, is found in the growing menace of industrial war with which we are surrounded. The one only hope of relief in one case as well as in the other is in the reign of the Lord Jesus, who will put down the rule of anarchy, banish sin from the universe, and establish his own blessed rule of peace and righteousness. For this glad day our hearts devoutly yearn.

Our Relation to the Situation

But what lessons should we as a people learn from the present situation? How should we relate ourselves to these conditions? Permit a few suggestions:—

1. We should recognize in the great industrial conflict a significant sign of the last day, a precursor of the rapidly approaching end of all things.

2. While recognizing the dangers that confront us, the elements of evil that are at work, and the fact that both parties to the conflict are governed by wrong principles, we should keep from our hearts all partizanship. Free from prejudice, we should labor for the men on both sides of the controversy, striving to lead them to find rest in God, and to recognize the times in which we live. We should be careful, even when dealing with these conditions as signs of the

last days, not to arouse a spirit of partizanship by what we may say or write. Great discretion will be needed in dealing with these questions.

3. As has already been suggested, the conditions are continually growing worse. We have reached the evil times of the last days. Our cities, the great centers of population, are the chief scenes of conflict. Soon residence in these cities will become unsafe. Soon it will be difficult to proclaim freely the truth of God and obtain from the public an impartial hearing. Now, as has been emphasized by the spirit of prophecy, is the time to work the cities. This is God's time, our time, the most favorable time that we shall have, for the accomplishment of this work.

4. While the cost of living has greatly increased, due in a large measure to increased price of life's commodities, and due also in part to increased extravagances and a departure from simplicity, a higher price is paid in the commercial market for every article of barter or trade. The members of this church, a large majority of whom are farmers and producers, can obtain a high price for their products. This year affords most generous fruitage; the harvest has been a large one. This is the time above all others when we should encourage liberal contributions to the cause of God. We believe the time is here when our people should respond to the exhortation to “sell that ye have, and give alms,” and that our brethren and sisters, instead of adding farm to farm and house to house, should recognize this as God's time in which they can dispose of the properties which have been entrusted to them, at a high market value, and invest their means in the cause of God.

5. This is the most favorable time we shall ever have in the history of this work to rid our denomination of institutional indebtedness. We can not tell how soon another great financial crisis may sweep over the land. This is the time for us to place our institutions in such a condition, by the refusal to incur further indebtedness and by an earnest effort to liquidate present indebtedness, that they will stand unmoved through the stress and storm of the future. It is probably safe to say that the present affords the greatest material prosperity which this world will ever see. Peaceful conditions will not long continue. The crises of the future will afford small opportunity for the adjustment of financial obligations. The present is the time for action. As individuals and as stewards of our Lord's goods, we should set our houses in order in this period of prosperity and opportunity.

6. In order that these results may be accomplished for our work, in order that the burden of debt may be lifted, and that our people may have means whereby they may give liberally to the extension of the work, the doctrine of simplicity of living should be taught and practised. In common with the world, we have partaken of the extravagance of the age. The luxuries of a few years ago appeal to us as present-day necessities. We must come back as a people to the old-time simplicity of faith and of life which once characterized our church. We must bind about our supposed wants. We must recognize the cause of God and its needs as the paramount interest in our lives, as the object for which we should labor.

7. We are in the perplexities and trials of the last days. The mutterings of the coming storm are plainly discernible. The world's wild unrest will soon meet its culmination in the last great battle of Armageddon. The nations are angry. Pent-up passion will soon find vent in the fearful conflict of the last days. But this is the day of our opportunity. In the midst of the gathering darkness, the church of God is to unfurl the banner of light and truth. Recreant will the church be if she is not prepared to play her part as the representative of the Prince of Peace in the closing scenes of earth's drama.

With the perplexing problems before us, with the obstacles confronting us, with the powers of evil arrayed against us, the church faces the greatest crisis in its history. The employment of no human means or agencies will fit the church for the work before it. It can not trust to human genius or devising. It can not rely upon diplomacy or numbers or knowledge. Plans and resolutions and church machinery will not afford it motive power. The power which the church needs to-day is the power of the Holy Spirit. The need of the church of God to-day is for men and women who know what Israel ought to do. Hence, above every other blessing, we should seek for the outpouring and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. The King's highway should be cleared, the stones of stumbling removed, the idols cast down from every heart, and the Spirit of God, which will bring every other blessing in its train, received as a most welcome guest.

With the possession of a spirit of consecration that will place all upon God's altar; with the simplicity of faith and childlike confidence that will take him at his word and believe his promises, together with a simplicity of living that will enable us to discard the pleasures and luxuries of the world, devoting to God our lives, our property, our all, we may be enabled to bring to our work such earnestness of purpose and such devotion of heart that God will be pleased to let his face shine upon us, and let his Spirit descend in copious showers upon his people. For this personal and individual experience in God let us earnestly live and labor.

F. M. W.