Drafting Accumulated Fortunes
By F.
THE demand for a “conscription of wealth” is rapidly gaining ground among the laboring classes of England. The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the forty-eighth trade union congress: “That as the manhood of the nation has been conscripted to resist foreign aggression, the maintenance of freedom, and the protection of capital, this congress demands that such a proportion of the accumulated wealth of the country shall be immediately conscripted as is necessary to defray the financial liability incurred by the prosecution of the war, and thus avoid borrowing huge loans, upon which enormous sums will have to be paid in interest by future generations, which will handicap the industries of the country in national and international competition, diminish trade, and impoverish the people.” The press dispatch states that the congress has further instructed its parliamentary committee to initiate a huge campaign demanding “an immediate census of the accumulated wealth of the country,” for the purpose of bringing about a “conscription of wealth.” Such sentiments and demands are tremendously significant when viewed in the light of the prophecy that foretells the miseries soon to come upon the rich in these “last days.” It follows: “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James 5: 1-3.