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THE DANGER SIGNAL

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · May 3, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 18.

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THE DANGER SIGNAL.

By Editor

DURING the latter part of March, at a meeting of Methodist preachers in Chicago, two papers were read which have attracted considerable attention. One was by Albion W. Small, head professor of sociology in the Chicago University, and the other was by Judge E. W. Burke, of the Chicago bench. We are informed that both of these gentlemen are Methodists, tho not preachers.
Among the things that Professor Small said, we find the following: "You are aware, as well as I, that there are clouds on the social horizon already bigger than a man's hand, foretelling changes of which no one is wise enough to predict the end. If present tendencies continue, it will not be very long before the man whose business it is to communicate ideas will be gagged by those who publish ideas, and the publishers will be shackled by the makers of paper, and the paper manufacturers will be held up by the transportation lines, and the transporters by the producers of steel, and the steel industries by the coal operators, and the coal miners by the oil producers, and the oil magnates by the stove makers, and the cook-stove men by the sugar trust, and the sugar interest by Wall Street, and the stock brokers by the labor unions, and the labor unions by the farmers, and the farmers—God help them—by everybody."
The subjoined significant paragraphs are taken from Judge Burke's paper:—
"Storm centers of labor and capital are gathering over against each other, threatening the very integrity of the industrial firmament of man. The late appearances of the hitherto unsuspected intellectual and physical forces but add Titans of unknown strength to the conflict toward which all the world is consciously or unconsciously rushing. He who observes and reflects on matters of Church and State feels this condition in the very pulsing ether, the like of which history does not disclose.
"No human wisdom can say what mean the great and increasing aggregations of capital, now sufficient to buy kingdoms. If these shall be arrayed against the empty hands of labor, then shall mass collide with mass, and who can predict the end thereof? I see no commanding spirit of compromise in these approaching and threatening avalanches, which seem destined to involve the whole social system in universal ruin before the young men of this audience become threescore and ten years of age; so that the church, as it passes into the twentieth century, meets a perfect whirlwind of world forces which overwhelm the statesman, the philosopher, and the historian, and drive them back into the cave of Sinai, while the storms pass the bounds of known law, and rush on to a fate that makes the thoughtful tremble."
The foregoing words of both Judge Burke and Professor Small are not quoted because they are the strongest utterances they made on that occasion, for they are not, but they are simply quoted as a sample of the whole of the paper that each one read before the meeting of ministers.
It was about 2,433 years ago that God inspired the prophet Daniel to say of the "time of the end" that "there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time." Dan. 12:1-4. The SIGNS OF THE TIMES for a quarter of a century has been telling the world that the agencies are now actively working that are about to fulfil those striking words of Daniel's prophecy. And whether they will acknowledge the meaning of it or not, we find that men everywhere are beginning to see that a terrible situation is now confronting the world.
The Saviour tells us that among the signs of His second coming there shall be "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." Luke 21:25, 26. When the Lord forewarns us of distress with perplexity that shall cause men's hearts to fail them for fear; and when He tells us that a time of trouble is upon us such as never has been seen since there was a nation, we should look out for it, for it will surely come. And now that the time is actually here, so that this trouble is not only seen but felt, we should not allow ourselves to be deceived as to the meaning of it.
God is not bringing this trouble upon the world, but almost three millenniums ago He told the world what He saw was coming, so that when the time is reached we may be led to understand that God sees the end from the beginning, and therefore we may confidently trust Him.
It should not be overlooked that the Lord, in the very same verse where He tells of this "time of trouble," also says, "At that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Are you written in the book? That is the all-important question now; for "every one" written in the book "shall be delivered."
It is high time to be most thoroughly aroused, for our heavenly Father can not permit the terrible evils of this time to continue much longer. He will soon send His Son in person to destroy it all. T.