THE UNSETTLED CONDITION.
By T.
The war that is growing closer and stronger between capital and labor will soon unsettle every manufacturing and commercial interest. These great manufacturing and business enterprises, many of them so extensive in their proportions as to almost fill one with amazement, are, at the present time, furnishing employment to whole armies of men, and women, and children. There are a great many men whose father and mother before them worked in the factory. They were born and raised to factory life. They know nothing else, and are in turn training their children to look upon the shop or factory as their only means of support. The factory is their little world, and to look outside of it seems dark; they dread to think of the possibility of ever being compelled to try any other field in which to gain a livelihood. Neither are all of this dependent-employe class in shop or factory. Many of them clerk in stores, work for the railroads, in the mines, or in some other place where they must always look to others to supply them with work. What will these do when the industries and commercial interests of the world are broken into chaos? Have they given any serious thought to this problem? You who are in the employ of some one else, and have never given a serious thought to making employment for yourself,—you who have always looked to others to “give” you a job, rather than to make profitable work of your own,—you who are thus dependent, what will you do when the crisis comes? What will be your lot when every business interest is broken to pieces? You may say that no crash is coming. You may say that such a thing is absurd. But in this you are deceived. A revolution lies right in front of us that will unsettle everything in the world, and place every commercial activity in such a state of uncertainty that no man can depend upon the security of his job. When we say this, we are not expounding a theory about something that may possibly come; we are telling what we know to be just ahead of us. And knowing these things, we desire to help as many of our fellow-men as will be persuaded to prepare for the gathering storm. We are having a “tidal wave of prosperity” just now, but when the wave recedes, in a little time from this, it will reveal the wreckage in every quarter. This prosperity of the present should be taken advantage of by all to fit themselves for the adversity that will suddenly follow. The rich men of the land are able to run their shops and factories now, but there is a muttering of discontent among the masses that will inevitably bring reversal. The voice of history ought to enable even the skeptic to see this, and all who know and believe the Bible have this unmistakable voice of prophecy to cause them to understand the things that are coming upon the earth. In view of the whole situation in these times, every one, unless duty’s call is otherwise, should begin to cast about for an opportunity to get out of the shops, the stores, and the factories, and settle himself on a piece of ground somewhere in the country. All may not be able to do this without help, but the effort should be made, and the old proverb says, “Where ‘there is a will, there is a way.” Now, do not brush this aside as an unimportant matter. There is trouble ahead of us in this old world, and those who can have little homes in the country, and who are independently producing their own living from the soil, will have much less of this trouble than any others. And besides, the independent country life is the most satisfactory any way. The man in the little country home is his own master. He is not required to come and go at the bidding of masters who prescribe his hours of toil, some of these masters saying they will discharge him unless he works ten or twelve hours a day, and others threatening to boycott him if he does. But in his own country home he can arrange his work as he himself thinks best. If men continue to allow themselves to be dependent upon the wills of other men, looking to them for employment continually, they may expect nothing but trouble when the break comes. The bright hope that should be woven into every man’s mind is the sure promise of the soon coming of Christ. There will be very turbulent times for a little while, but this turbulence will be ended in that not-far-distant day when Jesus comes. And while the elements are gathering, we should do all we can to urge men to get into the places that will promise the greatest security and peace. T.