The Rich and the Poor by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 12, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 15.

The Rich and the Poor.

By Editor

That the poor are frequently their own worst enemies, that many of them are shiftless and extravagant, that many more are addicted to bad habits, that thousands of poor workmen are bound by some tyrannical trade union a dozen times more oppressive than helpful,—that all the above and more is true, all thinking people will admit. But because these things are so, men and women, and especially Christian men and women, should not settle down in contentment and indifference, and conclude that the fault is all with the poor. The poor have their faults, and they are not glossed nor varnished, nor given high-sounding nor smooth names. But the rich have their faults also. The grinding greed of great soulless corporations is known of God, and some souls will be held to account for it. The cruel avarice which has forced out of trade and shop and store thousands upon thousands of poor men, that wealthy companies or men might extend their trade and grow richer, lies at the door of some one or ones, who will be called to meet it in the day of God. The heartless cruelty of great firms, which cast off tried and faithful yet underpaid servants who have helped in creating the wealth, and men who discharge them at a time when work is needed most, are remembered of God. The greed, the avarice, the covetousness, the heartlessness, the indifference to their poorer brothers, are all written in the books of heaven, and will all appear at the Great Assize. The wealthy "defaulter" and the poor "thief," the "shrewd" manager and the "dishonest" clerk, will all meet on the same common level. God is just. Let the rich use their means so as to glorify God and help their fellowmen. Let the poor submit himself unto God. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 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." "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord." Let both classes heed what the great Judge says.