The Last Days

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Aug 5, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 30.

him, and say, Wo to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay ["pledges," R.V.]! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee." Hab. 2: 6-8.

17. What does another say of the last days?

"And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. And the songs of the temple [literally, "palace," as in margin of R.V.] shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence." Amos 8: 2, 3.

NOTE.—The above are a part of the predictions of God's word concerning the vast increase of wealth and the consequent class troubles which grow out of the conditions. Labor-unions claim that they have greatly helped conditions by "pitting" great combinations of labor against the great combinations of wealth. It is a debatable question whether they have helped matters even within their own unions. True, they have shortened hours of labor and increased wages, but in most cases the cost of living has increased more rapidly than wages, and serious class bitterness and hatred have resulted. Labor-unions have often been deceived by their own trusted men, and the proportion of successful strikes is counterbalanced by the unsuccessful. From January 1, 1881, to 1906, the open struggles between the representatives of capital and labor cost more than $285,000,000, and threw out of employment 3,714,406 persons. Each striker lost on an average $44.00; and 366,690 persons lost on an average $73.00 each by lockouts. In the anthracite strike of 1902, 183,500 miners were out of work for five months. The loss to miners in wages amounted to $30,000,000; to operators, $69,000,000; to merchants in mining towns, $23,000,000; to factories closed for lack of fuel, $7,000,000; to merchants outside, $16,000,000; to railways, $34,000,000; business permanently abandoned, $8,000,000; troops in service, $2,000,000; police in patrolling district, $35,000,000; in railway men's wages, in protecting non-union workers, in fires and flooding of mines, $5,820,000: the total cost of the one strike in money alone, saying nothing of the loss of life, is $200,000,000.

There is still a larger class of professional men, of farm workers, and workers in other lines, who have not been benefited, and in the nature of the case could not be. They have seen little or no rise in wages, little or no increase in business, with constantly rising prices in the necessaries of life.

The great combinations that control the markets will continue to control prices; and times for the many, as compared with the few, will grow relatively harder. Add to this, losing faith in God and religion. The next thing is revolution and misery to the rich. We are not stating that which we wish to come. We welcome no bloodshed or violence. We are willing to leave to God all adjustments of that which can not be righted by ordinary means. But we must give His warnings.

18. Is there anything to be gained in uniting to oppose these evils?

"Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand." Isa. 8: 9, 10.

19. What counsel does God give us in this respect?

"For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid." Verses 11, 12.

20. What is our hope?

"Sanctify the Lord of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary." Verses 13, 14.