"I AM Jehovah thy God. . . . Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Ex. 20: 2, 3.
To have Jehovah alone as God is to love Him with all the heart and soul and mind and strength. It therefore plainly follows that anything by which any part of the heart or the soul or the mind or the strength is turned from God, is devoted to anything other than to God, is in itself to have another God than Jehovah. And this is what is forbidden in the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."
One of the chief gods which it is natural for men to have before the Lord is "the god of this world," "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."
One prominent phase of the worship of "the god of this world," is the worship of Mammon, or riches. And this is not by any means least, tho it is the last one in the list; for is it not written, "The love of money is the root of all evil"?
This is so wrapped up with the phase of "the pride of life"—ambition, self-exaltation, self-aggrandizement, gloriosus—that it is, in great measure, inseparable from it. For there is nothing which gives worldly glory so quickly, so easily, and so abundantly as money; and there is nothing that gives power so quickly and so easily as does money. All this, simply because mankind is naturally so worshipful of Mammon. And yet it is all idolatry; it is all a denial of the true God; it is a breaking of the First Commandment, which says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." For, says Jesus: "Ye can not,"—not, Ye ought not; not, Ye shall not; but,—"Ye can not serve God and Mammon."
Since the true worship of God is to love God with all the heart, and all the soul, and all the mind, and all the strength, and anything that draws away either the heart, soul, mind, or strength to it, and comes between man and the true worship of God, is another god; so the allowing of money, the desire for money, the love of money, to come between a man and his true service to God, is the worship of Mammon. And to allow the desire for money, the love of money, to separate a man from true Christian thoughtfulness, and care of mankind temporarily and eternally, is the worship of Mammon; it is to have another god than the Lord; it is to break the First Commandment.
The distinction may be clearly drawn by saying that the keeping of the First Commandment is the being right, and doing right, with no thought whatever, at any time, as to what it will cost. No amount of money can ever have any consideration whatever in any question of serving God; in any question of loving God with all the heart, or our neighbor as ourself. And yet everybody knows that "What will it cost?" does have a positive bearing with the vast majority, even of professed Christian people, upon the exercise of their love to God with all the heart, and their neighbor as themselves.
But to allow this question to have any bearing whatever is the worldly way. It "is not of the Father, but of the world." For with the world the first question is always, "What will it cost?" "How much can I make?" In all the dealing, all the traffic of business relationship in the world, the way of the world, and the inquiry of the world, is only, "How much can I make?" And if more can be made by oppressing the neighbor, the oppression takes precedence of the love of the neighbor, and the neighbor is deliberately robbed.
Monopoly, Its Result.
If a neighbor begins business of the same order as that of a man who has already begun, he is deliberately underbidden, undersold, that, if possible, he may be crowded completely out of business, in order that the first one may be left alone, to have all, in order that he alone may be rich, and have the worldly glory of his little kingdom of the crossroads. And those that have succeeded most fully at this form gigantic combinations to crush out, or absorb, all lesser ones, until there remains but one vast combination drawing tribute from all the people in the nation, and even of the whole world.
But God has written of it all that "he is a proud man" "who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and can not be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people;" "that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil." But "shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long?" "Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shall be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee." See Hab. 2: 5-9.
This is all "the pride of life," which "is not of the Father, but of the world." It is all Mammon-worship. And since the literal, original meaning of the word "mammon" is "that in which one trusts," it is particularly appropriate that these various combinations, which crush out all individuality and demand tribute of all peoples, should be called "trusts."
Yet the most gigantic of the "trusts" is but the extreme of that trick of trade held by the individual by which, to get the trade, he undersells and crowds out the man across the way.
The most gigantic "trust" is but the extreme of that trick in trade by which the individual or the little partnership or corporation asks more for a thing when there is no competition than would be asked if there were competition. Whosoever, without competition, demands a greater price than he knows that he would take if there were competition, is an exactor of unjust gain. And "he that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor." Prov. 28: 8.
The most gigantic "trust" is but the extreme of that trick in trade on the part of the individual, by which, through his beating down, or "jewing," he tries his best to get a thing for less than he knows that it is worth. "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." Prov. 20: 14.
The organizer or the president of the "trust" who boasts in his enormous gain is no more an idolater and a sinner in this thing than is the individual who, in his degree, and to the extent of his power, does the same thing precisely. If he had the ability, or the power, of the organizer or the president of the "trust," he would be doing precisely the same things that he is doing now, only in the larger measure that would be his, as the head of a mighty corporation. And so certainly is it true, as written, "In the world, the god of traffic is the god of fraud."
All such is but the worship of Mammon; it is idolatry; it is to have another god before the Lord; it is not of the Father, but is of the world; it is neither loving God with all the heart nor the neighbor as the self. "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; if I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; . . . this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge; for I should have denied the God that is above." Job. 31: 24-28. And this equally and as really as if I were a worshiper of the sun and the moon.
There is a better way: it is the way of the keeping of the commandment of God: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." It is the way of Christianity: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." You know that you do not like to have a man work a scheme upon you, by which he requires you to pay for a thing more than he would take for it if there were competition. You know that you would not like to have people "jew" you down to take for a thing less than you know that it is worth. Put yourself in the other man's place—and stay there. Look at things from his side, and continue to do so. "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." This is Christianity; it is the keeping of the First Commandment, Yea, it is the keeping of all "the law and the prophets."
Nor is it hard to do this. It is the easiest thing in the world for him who has the heart to do it. And God gives the heart to do it; as it is written: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you."5
Idolatry in Giving.
A further method of manifesting idolatry in the worship of Mammon is in giving away the money that has been so obtained. There is just as much idolatry in giving away money that is obtained by idolatry, as there is in getting it by idolatry. Not all Mammon-worshipers are misers; only a very few of them. Many of them are abundant givers; and these have just as much satisfaction in giving away the money as they had in getting it, because it is further indulgence of the same idolatry.
The poor man is oppressed and robbed in the increased prices; small dealers are oppressed and robbed or driven entirely out of business in order that a few in the great combinations may draw to themselves the tribute of all the people. And when that is done, gifts of millions will be made to colleges and universities, hundreds of thousands to hospitals, thousands to churches, etc., etc.; and the givers further pride themselves upon the world's idolatry of their "great benevolence." But there is not a particle of benevolence in any gift that is thus made; it is sheer idolatry.
The Value of Gifts.
We say it with emphasis; for it is applicable to people who are not millionaires, as truly as to those who are: All the value of our giving as measured by the Lord, in perfect justice and righteousness, rests altogether upon the basis upon which we make or obtain our money. If my money is not made honestly, not a cent that I ever give away will stand in my credit; in righteousness, and in justice it can not. I robbed another man to get it; it is his still, and when I give it away, it is his money that I give away.
And this is another reason why the two mites of the poor widow, that day when she gave it, was more than all that the wealthy put in of their abundance. We know that the Mammon-worshipers in Christ's day were like the Mammon-worshipers in this day. They would crowd down in the dealing when the people were selling to them; and they would crowd up on the price when people were to buy of them, and thus at both ends they increased their gains.
Then they would put great offerings into the temple treasury of the Lord, and take credit to themselves because they gave so much to "the cause." But that poor widow, who, because of these men who devoured widows' houses and for a pretense made long prayers, was reduced to a pittance honestly gotten, but by the hardest,—that widow, who, out of her love to the Lord, gave what little she had left after she had passed through the devouring hands of these men—when she came into the temple of the Lord, giving the little that she had, she gave more than all the others together. Every particle of it was honest. Every particle of it came from honest effort. And that was a gift that measured according to righteousness in the sight of God. There is such a thing as honest dealing; and it can be practised in this world. And whatever means is not acquired in that way, how much soever of it may be given, it can not be counted as the gift of him who gave it. It will be counted to those widows and the poor whom he has ground down to get it, to the laborers whose wages he ground down to the lowest notch to increase or to preserve his great gains.
God Will Righteously Adjust Matters.
This is why God says to the laborers, Be patient unto the coming of the Lord. The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits of the earth, and hath long patience for it. Be ye also patient; your labor is not in vain. God knows the just wages that you earn, and of just how much of it you are robbed. And in the day of reckoning He will reckon it to you in full justice and righteousness.
Be ye patient. Serve God. "Obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ."
In that day God will distribute justly all the rewards of labor. He is the righteous God. The Christian can cheerfully bear to be ground down, robbed, and oppressed; he can wait for the day of grand distribution in righteousness; for he knows that in that day he will receive all that his honest toil ever earned, and he shall have the eternal glory of it. Even tho in this world some Mammon-worshiper absorbed it, and made a great gift of it, and got the worldly, fleeting glory of it; yet since from the beginning it belonged in righteousness to him who was defrauded of it, in righteousness it, with all the fruits of it, will be reckoned to him to whom in righteousness from the beginning it belonged.
This is the word and the message of God to the robbed, oppressed, and defrauded workingmen everywhere to-day, who are clamoring for a more equitable distribution of the fruits of their labor: "Fear God, and keep His commandments." No righteous distribution can be made by force and violence. In that way, an iniquitous and bad condition can only be made more iniquitous and worse. "Sanctify the Lord of Hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread." "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Then shall every man receive his own reward according to his own labor. "I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."
DECEPTION IN ORGANIZATION.
A FEW men organized can make a great noise, and make the public believe they are the controlling power. Thus the masses are cowed into the belief that they are powerless before the organization. So the organization moves on, no matter how destructive the motive, and the masses give way or fall into the line which offers the least resistance, or that for the time seems popular. When the smoke clears away, and the masses come to their senses, they find they have been swayed by a mere handful. Two or three bluffers will "go through" a trainload of people, or a lone highwayman will "hold up" a stage load; and after it is over the victims will begin to realize what they might have done. So it was in the terrible French revolution—hardly two per cent of the people were engaged in it. They seemed to be the whole French nation, but they were not. The so-called organized labor movement represents less than ten per cent of the labor element in the country, yet they assume that all other laborers are disreputable and enemies of labor. Why?—Simply because they do not assist a few men to corner the labor supply, and profit by it. Is this fair? Is it right? Is it manly? Is it anything good?
Blacklists and Boycotts
NEITHER blacklist nor boycott is fair or manly, to say nothing of Christian.
THE MIGHTY CONTRAST.
By Editor
Love Versus Selfishness.
ONCE man walked with God in Eden. He beheld the undimmed glory of His Maker.
No discordant note jarred the perfect harmony between Creator and created. Life flowed from the great living Fountain to human receptacle, which in turn became a fountain of life to other creatures; for its law was love, and the constant giving of life meant increased capacity and the constant reception of larger life.
But when he who is personified selfishness entered Eden, and man yielded to his suggestions and became his slave, selfishness instead of love took possession of man's heart. Love for God and His creatures was perverted and became self-love. Life was perverted, and became death. Since that time mankind has been led to believe that to be unselfish is to court ruin and death, and that the chief end of existence is to grasp all one can and to hold what he grasps.
The dominant note in the scale of selfishness at the present is greed for gold and what gold will buy for the service of less base and baser lusts. There is noble teaching sufficient, there is law in plenty, but, like Israel of old, men turn from the hearing of that which is good to the worship of the golden calf, to worship at the chief of the shrines of lust, by the gilding of which "the god of this world" blinds the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine in. (2 Cor. 4:4). Out of this selfish, material worship rises the horrible strife depicted so forcibly, graphically, and truthfully by Mr. Mente on the cover page of our special issue of last week. The class strife of the world to-day is engendering a horrible class hatred which is issuing in world-wide crime and revolution, predicted again and again in the Word of God.
Must the selfishness, the division, the strife with its awful consequences, always continue? Is there no better way? Must conscienceless greed ever triumph over honest toil? Or to check this must labor, stirred by envy, ruled by hatred, seek with an even more vengeful spirit to defeat or destroy its adversary? No; this is not necessary even in this world of sin. God has revealed the better way in His Word and exemplified it in Christ Jesus. The actuating principle of His life was love,—love not merely for His own, but for those outside His own. He knew that while might seemed to make right, that in the eternal verities right is might, and He was willing to wait God's time in its glorious, all-pervasive, eternal demonstration. He gave Himself for others; and by faith looked forward to the "long gain" when He should see of the travail of His soul and should be satisfied. The motive power of His life is expressed in two terms of reproach which his enemies cast upon Him. One was,—
"A friend of publicans and sinners!"
and the other,—
"He saved others; Himself He can not save!"
And both charges were true, literally, gloriously, eternally true. He was a Friend of sinners, those whose sins wounded Him the most deeply; but He was not a friend of their sins, or to excuse them in their sins. Therefore He gave Himself to save them from their sins. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
That was the mission of the loving Christ of God. To save others He must give Himself, and the cross is but an object lesson of His eternal, forth-flowing love. "He was wounded for our transgressions." "With His stripes we are healed." He is the smitten Rock from which flows the healing, life-giving waters. He says to you, O dissatisfied Rich Man, filled with greed; He says to you, O dissatisfied Laborer, filled with envy and hatred; "Come unto Me, . . . and I will give you rest." "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, . . . from within him shall flow rivers of living water." The believing soul will become a fount of blessing. "Whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that [in the day of judgment] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. . . . Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."
O soul in this great world's strife, here are a few of the precious promises of life to you. Make them real and vital to you by believing. If you are "rich" in this world's goods, what does it amount to? God may say to you the very day you read these words, "Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?" The only riches of worth and permanence are the appropriated riches of the grace of Christ. If you are the poorest of the poor in this life, you may be rich in the "exceeding riches of His grace," and heir of His everlasting kingdom.
In a little from this the toil and strife will be over, and the everlasting kingdom of God will open for all those whose hopes center there. Will your lot be cast in the perishing world, or in the everlasting kingdom of God, whose law is everlasting love?
TWO MIGHTY CORRUPTERS OF CHARACTER.
By Editor
TWO of the mightiest corrupters in civic and business life are fear and wealth.
Many a man has entered political life with the purpose of doing just right, of keeping his conscience at par, and of making a clean record. If a legislator, among the first things that he meets from some of his constituents is the request that he work for a certain measure before the legislature. He sees that it is a "job," and he refuses to have aught to do with it.
The next time his "valued constituents" meet him it is with a thinly-veiled bribe or a threat of defeat at his next election. He reconsiders his first stand only to fall. If he does not accept the bribe, he has an ambition to continue in political life, and he gives the measure his support, and loses his manhood.
Thousands upon thousands in political life, in business life, are stultifying their manhood to-day through fear of threatened consequences. Many dealers to-day have broken with old and honored customers, contrary to conscience and judgment, upon the demand of the trust. Very many more have submitted to dictatorial, imperialistic union dictation through fear of the boycott.
Thousands upon thousands, we opine, of working-men and women are in the unions to-day through the fear of threats from unionists. Loss of work or personal violence stares them in the face so large that conscience and manhood are yielded.
Corrupting Power of Wealth.
From recent revelations the corrupting power of wealth has its hold upon labor-union leaders, who are paid employees of the trust.
The corrupting power of wealth in one form or another affects all phases of life.
The great Standard Oil Company was built to its present colossal proportions by the illegal obtaining of rebates upon railways, and other questionable methods.
The national government at the present time reeks with the scandal of the corruption of wealth in several of its departments; and the paid representatives of the people are not infrequently the lobbyists of corrupting trusts. (See editorial article in Leslie's Popular Monthly for November, 1903.)
In scarcely a State does there not exist a ring or rings of politicians under control of great corporate wealth. And this ring is so manipulated, sometimes unsuspectingly by men high in the counsels of State and nation, as to control and modify all legislation likely to affect adversely all special interests. The same corrupt politicians are used in the interests of class legislation if it is thought the class controls votes enough to affect legislation. Deleware for years, until recent compromise, has not had full representation in the Senate, owing to the corrupting influence of wealth, unblushingly used to buy political preferment. It is a common saying that to become a senator in the United States, one must be a very rich man.
Our great municipalities teem with corruption. The art of "grafting," and "jobbery," and "bribery," and "boodling," has been worked out to a science. Look at the list of our large cities: New York, controlled by Tammany; Philadelphia, controlled by a State ring; Chicago, endeavoring to break away from corruption in its municipal life, yet held in iron-bound tyranny in its business life by labor unions; Pittsburg, St. Louis, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and so on down to the smallest municipalities. Corruption through "boodle" and "graft," if not laid bare, is openly charged almost everywhere.
Bribery of all sorts is everywhere common, and is winked at. Much has been said of the various and picturesquely evil deeds of Sam Parks, and their approval or condemnation by labor unions. But it seems very clear that Parksism is but a symptom of the disease afflicting the body politic, commercial, and social. The man himself, according to evidence presented by Mr. Ray Stannard Baker in McClure's Magazine for November, was himself a paid tool of a trust while receiving his salary as a business agent for the union. In fact, it has been openly charged again and again that the most notorious bribery in our State and municipal governments are our great commercial concerns. Says Professor Richard T. Ely:—
Nothing has so corrupted and debased our political life as private corporations in control of natural monopolies. We have got so used to municipal corruption that it seems to us as something inevitable.
In speaking of bribery in the building departments of New York City's government, Mr. Baker, in the article above referred to, asks and answers the following questions:—
Why have they paid graft and bribed building superintendents and inspectors?—Because they wanted to break the law.
That, indeed, is the secret of all graft. They wanted to put in cheaper materials than the law called for, they did not want to make their building really fireproof, they did want to hurry and scamp their work and increase their profits, or they were too cowardly to resist the demand of corrupt officers; so they used bribe money. . . .
Do employers want honest labor leaders? And does any one really suppose that all builders really want honest delegates? Does any one suppose that our street-railway owners, our gas concessioners, our owners of dock privileges, really want honest aldermen, honest city officials? No sir; they do not. If the delegates and officials were honest, profits would be decreased, the builder would not be able to beat his competitor, and the street-car capitalist to rob the public of franchises. After all, this is a republic, a government by the people. If, as a people, we really did not want bosses we should not have them. Grafting is only one expression of our American lawlessness.
Here is another quotation from the same article:—
Parks is the visible sore of the disease, the invisible germ of which—money corruption—is circulating in the blood of the American people, and takes its victims high and low.
Who Is Responsible?
Mr. Jerome [William Travers Jerome, district attorney of New York City] has said: "This corruption in the labor unions is simply a reflection of what we find in public life. Every one who has studied our public life is appalled by the corruption that confronts him on every side. It goes through every department of the national, State, and local government.
"And this corruption in public life is a mere reflection of the sordidness of private life. Look at what we find on every side—men whacking up with their butchers and grocers, employers carrying influential labor leaders on their pay-rolls, manufacturers bribing the superintendents of establishments to buy their goods."
Mr. Baker closes his trenchant article with this paragraph:—
"And men still call for special revolutions," says Henrik Ibsen, "for revolutions in politics, in externals. But all that sort of thing is trumpery. It is the human soul that must revolt."7
And only by the human soul's revolting, in the strength of God against the overwhelming corruption, is character made—righteous and enduring character. Unions can not make it. Human combinations of any sort can not make it. These, on their present low trend, are destroying character, dealing with it as a commodity to be bought and sold in the open market.
What is the outcome of all this appalling corruption in all phases of life? Society, or any aggregation of persons as such, never reformed itself. No nation ever reformed itself. Only by individuals separating from an ever-corrupting mass, stepping out alone for God and the right, is true reform effected.
Inspiration has foretold this corruption, so prevalent before the day of God's visitation. Here is our prophecy:—
"The godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge is ready for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of the soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is as a briar, the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge; the day of Thy watchmen, even Thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity." Micah 7:2-4.
Read also Isaiah 59; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Revelation 18, and other Scriptures, which clearly portray the very condition of the world at the present time as demonstrated by the constant revelations of corruption among all classes in all spheres of life.
Is There a Remedy?
There is. It must be found in the revolt of the individual soul against sin in every form, and a turning to the right with all the heart. To this God calls in His last world-wide message of the everlasting good tidings to the people of this world:—
"Fear God, and give Him glory; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters." "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." Rev. 14:7; 12-16.
"The harvest is the end of the world." Matt. 13:39.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Gal. 6:7, 8.
THE POLITICIANS AND THE LABORERS.
By Editor
It is well to note and to remember that politicians who are bearing about a pretended burden for the 'laboring class' have always a special reference to the welfare of the labor unions. The man who vouchsafes any special solicitude for the far larger labor element, those who do not sustain such formal organizations, is set down as an enemy to the laboring class. A moment's thought reveals the reason for this condition. Shrewd politicians and political parties always encourage the formation of clubs for the more perfect control of the masses. Men are induced to form these clubs under the representation that it is for their own benefit, but everybody ought to know that the real beneficiaries are those who get access to the public crib, either as office-holder or under the patronage of the office-holders. The professional politicians always aim to get in ahead of the procession of clubs. So they are taking advantage of the disposition to form labor unions. By encouraging this idea, and posing as friends of labor, they hope to get the political support of the unions. And they are succeeding. It is the spirit of politics that is inducing the laborers, ostensibly for their own benefit, to bind themselves in bundles for the more convenient handling of their would-be political masters. It is worthy of particular note that no special 'labor' politician has any good word for the great mass of laboring people outside of the unions. These are virtually, and oftentimes directly, told that they are unworthy of consideration, or even of protection by the government, unless they will come into the organizations—which means that they can be practically handled for political purposes. Many union men are blind to this fact as yet; but there are others who see it and admit it, yet think they can not help themselves and keep their jobs. It is not surprising that people who have been reared in ignorance and illiteracy should be lured into combinations, to be made the stepping-stones of individual ambition; but it is surprising that men and women who have been fairly well educated under institutions whose boast is the inculcation and protection of personal freedom and independence, can be thus led to sell their birth-right. But these are days of delusion, when the shrewd few are seeking more and more to control the credulous masses. When capitalists are trusting in their wealth, and laborers are trusting in their human unions, and all are manipulated by the wily politicians, it is high time for the disciples of Christ to seek a 'closer walk with God.' Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
EQUALITY OF RIGHTS.
No man acquires any additional rights as a man by joining any society, association, or organization. The true civil government has no right to recognize any segregation of this kind.
John Smith is a man and a citizen. As a man and citizen under any just government he has equal rights with every other man and citizen. He may join the Methodist Church or the Catholic Church, or any other religious denomination; but his church affiliations have given him no added right of recognition by the government; they have bestowed upon him no rights to which his fellow citizens outside of all church folds are not entitled. He may join every labor union in America, every lodge,—social, beneficiary, or otherwise—any political party; but these add not one iota to his rights as a citizen and as a man. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is still his equally, and only so, with all other citizens.
He may feel that his labor organization is working for the uplifting of the laboring men, and that opposition to it is against the good of the laboring men, but his fellow citizens have the equal right to think and labor to the contrary. Whatever may be his belief—even tho it be wholly right—he has no right to impose it upon others without their free and full consent in profession and practise. And the converse of all this is true. The demonstration of these theories must be left to time, and their acceptance to the free will of the convinced citizen.
The right to believe and practise or not to believe, the right to buy and sell, to labor for what and for whom and when one will, rests in every citizen equally. So long as he does not contravene the equal rights of his neighbor he is free to believe, to teach, to practise, but not to compel.
Trades unionists assume that he who opposes labor unions, or he who maintains an absolutely neutral position, are foes of labor and mankind. Let them hold it as a theory if they will, but they have no right to seek to enforce their theory upon others.
Other men may believe, and some doubtless do believe, that unionism as at present exploited is the most evil thing for the laboring men that ever found standing among them. They have the right to believe this and teach it as they will, but no right even to seek to enforce it upon others.
The devout, consistent Roman Catholic believes that all hope of salvation lies within the fold of the Roman Catholic Church, and that to reject that church is to abandon all hope. Some have believed this so consistently, supremely, and unwisely that they have sought to compel acquiescence in others; and the result has been untold persecution. The Roman Catholics have the right to believe as they do, even tho their belief be wrong, but they have no right to enforce their belief, or to seek to enforce it upon others, be the others Protestant or heathen. The same is equally true of any religionist, or no religionist.
These propositions seem so self-evident that their mere statement is superfluous, and yet almost everywhere are they ignored—by Capital and Labor, in Church and Society. And yet they are vital. On the maintenance of them in their integrity rests the stability and perpetuation of the republic. Their destruction in the hearts of men, and their consequent elimination in public life presages the utter ruin of this government, this nation, this world. And thus has the "more sure Word of prophecy" spoken. When things, institutions, mere materials, or the schemes, plans, or theories of men are counted superior to men, woe betide. God has ordained civil government to protect men from men who can not control themselves. God has placed His church here to save through Christ Jesus men who can not save themselves. But when the governments of earth refuse to do the one and the church rejects the other, both State and Church must be set aside, and Christ must come to render justice and judgment, and upon those who have ignored or rejected His way will fall the destruction they have invited; they will reap the fruit of their own sowing. But those who trust in Him shall be saved.
