CURRENTS OF UNREST AND DISSATISFACTION
MANY of the people of America at the present time are congratulating themselves on the fact that we are at peace. Numerous of these are saying that our isolated position and our peculiar condition in general is such that we will not be plunged into war. But if we would note passing events even superficially, we would see that the land is filled with discontent and the spirit of strife and violence. It has not been very long since bands of the Industrial Workers of the World were creating riotous disturbances in one city after another throughout this nation. We came near having a civil war in West Virginia only a little time ago over a coal miners' strike. United States troops had to be called in to settle the difficulties in Colorado. Troops have been called into Butte, Montana, to deal with the situation there. Then there was the trouble in Michigan that gave so much perplexity. In addition to these greater disturbances, there are continually in progress, in one part after another of the nation, local conflicts that are creating a more and more bitter antagonism between the various strata of society. For instance, some little time ago Carl S. Persons killed a man, affirming that he did it in self-defense. The controversy involved the Illinois Central Railroad. Those who are defending Persons are sending out a million documents endeavoring to show that the Illinois Central is seeking to have him convicted in order to get him out of their way. They affirm that if the railroad company is successful, it will be a case of judicial murder at the instance of a greedy corporation. Documents of this kind can not go out without having their effect. And this one in question is only a sample of the many. Now, we do not presume to know the right or the wrong in this case, or in any of the similar cases that are constantly arising; but we do know that the literature that is circulated, the speeches that are made, are creating sentiments of class hatred that are liable to burst out at any time into a great conflagration of strife. And those who are familiar with the actual conditions in our nation know that this is not a mere theory. We are calling attention to facts that too abundantly exist on every hand. Luke says that "as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the Flood came, and destroyed them all." Luke 17:26, 27. In presenting the same thing, Matthew says that they "knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:39. They did not know, and the reason why they did not know was because they failed to heed the warning message of Noah. God has warnings, in His prophetic word, concerning these very times in which we are living. This one quoted from the words of the Saviour is one of them. He tells us that the days of the coming of the Son of man will be as was the time of Noah, and it is stated that in that time "the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." Gen. 6:11. The predictions of the Bible abundantly show that violence, crimes, and wars are among the things that will especially mark the closing days of time. We need to study and understand these prophetic utterances. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived by those who would have us believe that everything is all right, when our senses ought to show us that there is very much indeed that is all wrong.