p. 399 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 25. (6/22/1915)

Earlier text: THE CHICAGO OF CHINA

The Underwood

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UNDERWOOD BUILDING NEW YORK

Supported His Wife

By J. H. Hartog

A YOUNG man marries. He promises to love and support his wife. His father tells him to take of his weekly wage and hand it to her to buy food and clothes.

Monday morning his father asks him, “Have you fulfilled your promise?”

“Yes, father.”

“Have you fulfilled your duty?”

“Yes, father.”

“Very well, my boy! That is right.”

“O, but,” says the boy, “next week I do not have to give her any of my money, do I?”

“Why, of course you do,” replies the astonished father. “What makes you talk such nonsense?”

“Why, father,” answers the son, with a knowing smile, “you admit that I have ‘fulfilled’ my duty and my promise, and you told me that when Jesus fulfilled the law, He ‘did away with it.’ So then if that is the meaning of ‘fulfill,’ why, by your own argument, I do not have to support my wife any more.”

Poor father! He would not have much of a reply to make, would he?

J. H. HARTOG.

Liberty Is the Result of Law

LIBERTY is the result of law—not, as many suppose, of the absence of law.—Joseph Alden.

Wanted for Missionary Work

S. L. Stafford, Route 3, Statesville, N. C.: a supply of literature for missionary reading rack.

Mrs. Hugh Will, Route 5, Ava, Jackson Co., Ill.: a continuous supply of any of our literature for missionary work.

Elder W. H. Armstrong, 521 Overby Street, Danville, Virginia: a continuous supply of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, both weekly and monthly, Watchman, Life and Health, Liberty, Youth’s Instructor, tracts, and pamphlets.

Cottage for Sale Near Sanitarium

For Sale—Five-room cottage, near St. Helena Sanitarium. Over an acre of bottom land, well watered; barn and chicken house; young family orchard and berries; alfalfa; near good intermediate school. For further particulars, address D. E. Robinson, Sanitarium, California.

San Joaquin Valley Farm for Sale

For Sale—Twenty acres rich land in San Joaquin Valley, two miles from station, stores, and post office; one mile from public school; five miles from Seventh-day Adventist church and fine ten-grade church school. Land in alfalfa and family orchard; also stocked with eleven cows, four heifers, two horses, 125 chickens; modern six-room house, with pantry, bath, closets, stationary washtubs, hot and cold water; barn, windmill, tank house, all farm tools, telephone. A very pretty home. Price and terms on application. Address F. O. Nichols, Box 76, Mountain View, California.

Garden City Sanitarium Notice

Dr. Geo. Thomason, formerly of St. Helena, will be at the Garden City Sanitarium, San Jose, June 24-30, to see patients. Address Garden City Sanitarium, Phone San Jose 385.

The sanitarium also announces that they have arranged with Dr. P. A. Jordan, specialist in eye, ear, nose, and throat, for future work. Dr. Jordan is one of the foremost specialists in his line on the coast. Office, Ryland Building, South First Street, San Jose, California.

Our Representatives

By Editor

UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN

Alabama Tract Society, Room 316, Lyric Building, Birmingham, Ala.

Alberta Tract Society, Lacombe, Alberta, Can.

Arizona Tract Society, 417 West Fifth St., Los Angeles, Cal.

Arkansas Tract Society, 37 E. South St., Fayetteville, Ark.

British Columbia Tract Society, 1708 Maple St., Vancouver, B. C., Canada.

California Bible House, 537 25th St., Oakland, Cal.

California-Nevada Missionary Society, 341 E. Lodi Ave., Lodi, Cal.

California Tract Society, Northwestern, 537 25th St., Oakland, California.

California Tract Society, Southeastern, 417 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, Cal.

California Tract Society, Southern, 417 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, Cal.

Central California Bible House, Box 1304, Fresno, Cal.

Chesapeake Tract Society, 1611 Tenth St., Baltimore, Md.

Colorado Tract Society, Eastern, 1113 Kalamath St., Denver, Colo.

Colorado Tract Society, Western, 122 So. 8th St., Grand Junction, Colo.

Connecticut (See New England, Southern).

Cumberland Tract Society (Eastern Tennessee), Graysville, Tenn.

District of Columbia Tract Society, 708 McLachlen Bldg., Washington, D. C.

Florida Tract Society, Room 11, Yowell-Duckworth Block, Orlando, Fla.

Georgia Tract Society, 169 Bryan St., Atlanta, Ga.

Greater New York Tract Society (See New York).

Hawaiian Tract Society, 767 Kinau St., Honolulu, H. T.

Idaho, Northern (See Upper Columbia Tract Society).

Idaho Tract Society, Southern, Room 327 Sonna Building, Boise, Idaho.

Illinois Tract Society, Northern, 3645 Ogden Ave., Hawthorne St., Chicago, Ill.

Illinois Tract Society, Southern, 304 W. Allen St., Springfield, Ill.

Indiana Tract Society, 521 E. 23d St., Indianapolis, Ind.

Iowa Tract Society, Nevada, Iowa.

Kansas Tract Society, Room 615 Butts Bldg., cor. First St. and Lawrence Ave., Wichita, Kan.

Kentucky Tract Society, Box 398, Nicholasville, Ky.

Louisiana Tract Society, 810 Jackson Ave., New Orleans, La.

Maine Tract Society, 75 Grant St., Portland, Me.

Manitoba Tract Society, 290 Bannerman Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Maritime Tract Society, Can. Pub. Assn., Oshawa, Ont., Canada.

Maryland (See Chesapeake Tract Society).

Massachusetts Tract Society, 607 Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.

Michigan Tract Society, East, 426 Trumbull Ave., Detroit, Mich.

Michigan Tract Society, North, 510 Petoskey St., Petoskey, Mich.

Michigan Tract Society, West, 1214 Madison Ave., Grand Rapids, Mich.

Minnesota Tract Society, 336 East Lake St., Minneapolis, Minn.

Mississippi Tract Society, 932 Union St., Jackson, Miss.

Missouri Tract Society, 203 W. Franklin St., Clinton, Mo.

Montana Tract Society, 411 S. Black Ave., Bozeman, Mont.

Nebraska Bible Supply House, 905 N. California Ave., Hastings, Neb.

Nevada (See California-Nevada Missionary Society).

New England Tract Society, Northern, 136 N. Main St., Concord, N. H.

New England Tract Society, Southern (Rhode Island and Connecticut), 51 Whitmore St., Hartford, Conn.

Newfoundland Tract Society, Box 217, St. Johns, Newfoundland.

New Hampshire (See Northern New England).

New Jersey Tract Society, 200 Columbus Ave., Trenton, N. J.

New Mexico Tract Society, Box 286, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

New York Tract Society (Greater), Room 902, 32 Union Square, New York, N. Y.

New York Tract Society, Eastern, 317 W. Bloomfield St., Rome, N. Y.

New York Tract Society, Western, 527 Garson Ave., Rochester, N. Y.

North Carolina Tract Society, 234 Summit Ave., Greensboro, N. C.

North Dakota Tract Society, Drawer N., Jamestown, N. Dak.

Ohio Tract Society, Box 8, Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Oklahoma Tract Society, P. O. Box 644, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Ontario Tract Society, Box 308, Oshawa, Ont., Canada.

Oregon Missionary Society, Western, 508 E. Everett St., Portland, Ore.

Oregon Missionary Society, Southern, 1164 Military St., Roseburg, Ore.

Pennsylvania Tract Society, Eastern, 4910 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa.

Pennsylvania Tract Society, Western, 7155 Mt. Vernon St., Pittsburgh, Pa.

Rhode Island (See New England, Southern).

Saskatchewan Tract Society, Box 244, Regina, Sask., Can.

South Carolina Tract Society, 1208 Calhoun St., Columbia, S. C.

South Dakota Tract Society, Drawer R., Redfield, S. Dak.

Tennessee, Eastern (See Cumberland Tract Society).

Tennessee River Tract Society (Western Tennessee), 509 Cole Bldg., Nashville, Tenn.

Texas Tract Society, North, Box 15, Keene, Texas.

Texas Tract Society, South, Box 755, San Antonio, Texas.

Texas Tract Society, West, Amarillo, Texas.

Upper Columbia Tract Society, College Place, Wash.

Utah Tract and Bible Society, 776 E. 6th South, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Vermont (See Northern New England).

Virginia Tract Society, 2705 W. Main St., Richmond, Va.

Washington Missionary Society, Western, 228 S. Brannan St., Auburn, Wash.

West Virginia Tract Society, 124 Marion St., Fairmont, W. Va.

Wisconsin Tract Society, Box 57, Grand Rapids, Wis.

Wyoming Tract Society, Crawford, Neb.

Above is a list of our authorized agencies and depositories, and we invite you to communicate with them if you wish to secure any books of periodicals advertised in this journal.

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“Civilization in the Melting Pot”

In Harper’s Weekly for May 29 is an article by Buck White. Mr. White was ordained a Congregationalist minister, but he was dismissed by his church on account of his socialistic views. He is the writer of several books as well as of magazine articles. Some of his utterances are worthy of note and comment, for the reason that they are so characteristic of much matter that is appearing in these days. Some of his most striking sentences follow:

“Wide is the war now mutilating Europe, and must be referable to some wide-flung cause. That cause is commercial competition. When business is war, war quickly gets to be a business. Captains of industry, clashing one against the other, exchange their civilian suits for the regalia of murder; metamorphose into captains of artillery and battle cruisers. Competitive trade blossoms into competitive armaments. And competitive armaments bring forth death.”

“Lust for markets is the true and infallible root of militarism. Not all the men in the world nor all the angels in heaven can prevent bloodshed, when once commercial rivalries have reached a certain point. Then get under your load of guilt. Between mammonism and militarism is a consanguinity, a family likeness.”

“Dividend maniacs are the causes of this bedlam that has been let loose.”

“Capitalism is a troubled sea, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. Lust of wealth is a disrupter of the peace. But you have enthroned and glorified that lust. You have erected statues to it. You have lauded it to be the exemplar of youth. And in liturgies you have consecrated it with divine sanctions. Greed has become a swollen tumor. Each cupidity heightens the thirst, and is an inlet to more. Ever the dropsy swells into a bigger and uglier bloat. Therefore the wolf steps more and more to the front in all of the children of earth.”

“The planet is becoming smaller and the powder magazine larger. In these high-powered times, let war take another leap forward such as the last three decades have witnessed, imagination cannot paint too darkly the mad-blazing catastrophic events. In solemn earnest I tell you, civilization is hard up against the alternative, revolution or extinction.”

“We have sworn an invincible vendetta against the superstition that because hog-heartedness has always been in man, therefore it always will be. You call us fanatics, in that we propose to evangelize the world’s industrialism, O ye of little faith.”

“I recognize that a Revolution Church presents a target very tempting to the inquest crowd. And they converge upon us their gibes and slings. But we recant no jot or syllable of our proclamation. It is a time for big issues. The most critical moment in the world’s history is upon us. That is the stark truth. And they who pooh-pooh us for saying it, betray the mentality of a fiddling Nero. In times like these, to pass one’s day in a twilight sleep, chirping merrily that all is well with the world, is a folly beyond laughter. Events are transpiring to stun the stoutest mind. We are at time’s meridian. Adequately to picture forth our day, all the heavens and hells of Dante would be requisite. Men of soberness are hollow-eyed with the thought of it; in them, a numbing presentiment of crisis. More than map-changing is the present war. For good or for ill, it will alter the social geography.”

“Many are perceiving that revolution is inevitable. If that revolution can come under churchly auspices, it is a relief to their minds, and lightens the nightmare that is sitting so heavily on their bosoms.”

“The socialists had a material program but lacked spiritual power. The churches on the other hand had the spiritual power, but lacked the material program. Each was lopsided, and each therefore impotent. Never again will it be possible to preach a purely material socialism, with much power over thinking minds; likewise, never again will it be possible to persuade thinking people that Christianity in its present form has in it the potency of world-redemption. Only in a union of the two, stands a way out of our social unblessedness . . .”

“Thus in the realm of industry and art and ethics and religion, civilization is in the melting pot. This present order draws near its end. We are approaching a great culmination. Such an era, while it is fraught with elements of terror, is in equal degree an unparalleled opportunity.”

The socialists sense and recognize the conditions that are in the world. They are awake to the situation. Many of them express the hope that the reforms called for to change “the existing order,” may be brought about through a “bloodless revolution”; others, however, think that the change will have to be made through much bloodshed and strife. But no matter what their theories may be, they are captivating the ear of the masses throughout the world.

Humanity is staggering under its burdens, and is looking for relief; and to the great multitude, the socialist seems to be pointing the way out. One significant thing in connection with their propaganda is what they term “Christian socialism,” and is expressed by Mr. White in the foregoing quotations. They expect to see the church brought into their social reforms in such a way that it may become a spiritual power.

These theories must be very fascinating to those who, as suggested by Mr. White, see events transpiring that “stun the stoutest mind.” But those who have made themselves familiar with the prophecies of the Bible can see how clearly all of these events are shaping themselves to fulfill utterly the divine predictions. All these human expectations will come to naught.

The world is indeed standing in the presence of a great crisis, but that crisis will not result in some human reformations that will uplift humanity. That crisis will be the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven.

It is indeed true that “this present order draws near its end. We are approaching a great culmination.” But as we approach that culmination, are we depending upon the sure word of the divine Father as our guide, or are we merely limping along in the light only of the speculative theories of mere men?

No Paper Next Week

By Editor

Following our usual custom of omitting an issue in the middle of the year, there will be no paper next week.

“Cold-blooded Commercialism”

MR. RUDOLPH SPRECKLES, who himself is one of the merchant princes of the nation, and in the millionaire class, says in a recent issue of Harper’s Weekly that “cold-blooded commercialism actuated the men who control the governments of the nations now at war and is responsible for the slaughter of millions of innocent victims in Europe to-day.”

Some other striking sentences from his short article are the following:

“Mammon rules the earth. To-day money dominates publicity and the political, financial, business, social, and even religious activities everywhere. . . . Great armies and navies are maintained at public expense to hold in check other competitive nations and to conquer or dominate the smaller countries, and this is always for the benefit of the ruling class. Is it a wonder, then, that organized wealth in the hands of a selfish minority, rules everything? . . . The craven spirit of commercial greed is running riot in the United States as it did in Europe. Human vultures gloat over their big profits gained in selling powder and death-dealing implements to belligerent countries. The needs of starving men, women, and children are creating new millionaires. Making money out of the deplorable distress of humanity, exploitation, trade expansion, and financial advantage seems to appeal to a large part of the ruling class in this country as this nation’s opportunity in the present upheaval. . . . It requires courage to enlist and fight against the false god Money, but unless its evil power be destroyed now, the day of retribution will soon come in this country as it has in Europe.”

It seems to be recognized on all hands that “cold-blooded commercialism” is about all there is to the foundation of the war in Europe, and the “big profits gained in selling powder and death-dealing implements to belligerent countries” must run up into the millions, for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of orders for guns, shrapnel, and the like have been placed with the leading factories in this country.

A little handful of men own a large part of the wealth of this world, and through their holdings they control nearly all that they do not actually own. Profits, and ever more profits, in order that they may continue to amass their millions, is the great object these men keep before themselves. They seem to realize very little of the condition into which they are driving this world. Their love of money has completely intoxicated them, and they are furiously flying past every danger signal and rushing to their ruin.

There are thousands of men—and some of them are in the millionaire class—who recognize these dangers, and who, like Mr. Spreckles, are speaking out against them. Would that all these thousands would give heed to that strikingly clear prophetic utterance which reads: “But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money.” 2 Tim. 3:1, 2.

Nothing could be more accurate than the perfect fit that the conditions of this time make to this prophetic utterance.

The Church and Political Peace

CARDINAL HARTMANN, the archbishop of Cologne, has issued a pastoral letter directing that a petition for peace be included in the general prayers of the Catholic churches in Germany. When the peace program is agreed upon, we will find the church power in the center of the stage. But it will be a church power that will be seeking to establish peace in a political way. And we need to beware. The church as a political organization has always worked disaster and tyranny. The spiritual power of the gospel must work in the hearts of men. It cannot render its Heaven-appointed service in political harness.

Take Heed for Deceptions

THERE is no one thing that stands out more prominently in the New Testament than the warnings against deceptions. “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt. 24:4), says the Master. And again He says: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Verses 23, 24.

And in the vision given to John on Patmos, he saw a power arising, of which he wrote, “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.” Rev. 13: 13, 14.

A great many people seem to have the idea that if a marvelous or truly miraculous thing is done, it must come from the hand of God; but if such were the case, the Lord would not have sent these warnings through His word. When Christ says, “Take heed that no man deceive you,” it is evident that He has a plan by which we may avoid deceptions. That plan is based upon a knowledge of His word. We must know His word for ourselves, and not through the mere hearsay of some one else, if we are to avoid the deceptions that are prepared for these last days.