BOUGHT WITH THB INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF flatting m. Ma^it 1891 J\.:..^.^M..on a3>Uiiq: olin 3 1924 030 246 676 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030246676 -» iettcfjarlr E. lEIg's OTorfts. THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN AMERICA. Price, $1.50. TAXATION IN AMERICAN STATES AND CITIES- Price, $1.75. PROBLEMS OF TODAY. Price, $1.50. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY. Price, $.go. THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO., Publishers. AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL ECONOMY. Price, $1.00. PUBLISHED BY HUNT & EATON, New York. FRENCH AND GERMAN SOCIALISM IN MODERN TIMES. Price, 75 cents. PUBLISHED By HARPER & BROS., New York. *- Social Aspects of Cheistianity. AND OTHER ESSAYS. BY EICHAED T. ELY, Ph.D., Absociate Pkofessob of Political Economy in thb Johns Hopkins TTnitebsitt. NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION. NEW YORK: THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY, Copyright, Bt Thomas T. Cbowbll 8e Co. 1889. Ttpogkapht bt J. S. CnsHiNG Sc Co., Boston. TO MY FRIENDS PRESIDENT EDWARD OLSON, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DAKOTA. AND PROFESSOR WILLIAM R. HARPER, OF YALE UNIVERSITY. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAQE I. Social Aspects op Christianity 1 I. Statement of Fundamental Principles ... 1 II. Statement of Fundamental Principles Con- cluded 10 m. The Simple Gospel of Christ 19 rv. The Christian in the World, but not of the World 30 V. The Alienation of Wage-Workers from the Church 39 II. The Chxtrch and the World 49 III. Philanthropy 83 IV. Ethics and Economics 113 V. The Social Crisis and the Chuech's Oppor- tunity 11.3 PREFACE. All of these essays, except the second, have abeady appeared in print, and a word with refer- ence to each of them may not be out of place. The first essay, which gives the title to this little volume, was originally a lay sermon, preached in the Presbyterian Church, in Fredonia, N.Y. Subsequently it was enlarged and published as a series of five articles in the Congregationalist of Boston. The second essay was originally an address, delivered before the Baptist Ministers of New York, at one of their usual Monday gatherings. The third essay consists of two parts. The first appeared in the magazine the Chautauquan, and was part of an article bearing the same title. The second part — with the introductory remark — was written for the Baltimore Sun at the soli- citation of the Charity Organization Society of Baltimore, and by that Society reprinted in the form of a pamphlet. A special edition was printed for the New York Charity Organization Society. The fourth essay appeared in the weekly journal Science, and was reprinted as one of a series of X PREFACE. essays in tlie little volume called " Science Eco nomic Discussion." All of these essays have been revised, and con- siderably changed — chiefly in the way of enlarge- ment — for this volume. The essays were prepared for different audi- ences, and it is natural that there should be some repetition, as they were written withoiit thought of future publication as a collection of essays. I do not know, however, that I regret this. It may be well to approach the same thoughts from different standpoints, and to get a clearer com- prehension of their full significance than would otherwise be possible. My thanks are due to those who have given me permission to reprint the essays. EICHAED T. ELY. Johns Hopkins Univbksitt, Baltimore, August, 1889. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY. o»Jo STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. " But when the Pharisees had heard that He had •put the Sadducee^o silence, they were gathered together. " Then one of them which was a lawyer, asked Sim a question, tempting Sim, and saying, " Master, which is the great commandment in the law? " Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy Crod with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. " This is the first and great commandment. " And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. '':' " On these two commandments hang all the law I and the prophets." (St. Matt. xxii. 34-40.) This is a most remarkable, and at the same time a most daring, summary of the whole duty of man. A human teacher would never have ven- tured to reduce all God's commandments to two simple statements; nor would such a teacher have 2 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. presumed to exalt man's obligation to love and serve his fellows to an equal plane with his obli- gations to love his Creator. All other religious systems will be searched in vain for such a classi- fication of human duties. The first and great commandment, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with aU thy soul, and with all thy mind," does not strike us as strange. It is natural that the Supreme Being of the uni- verse should require of us. His creatures, an un- conditional and unlimited homage; but — listen! — The second commandment is like unto it — is like unto it — of the same nature : Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself — and — on these two commandments — on these two equally — hang all the law and the prophets. But John, the beloved apostle, the apostle of love, — and, as God is love, we may suppose that he understood better than others the nature of Christ, — is very bold in his exposition of our duty to love our fellows, making that a test of one's love to God. "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" And in another verse in the same chapter of his Epistle, John says, " We know that we have passed from death unto life, because — because — we love the brethren." St. Paul, indeed, goes so far as to say, " For aU the law is fulfilled, even in this : Thou STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 3 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Gal. v. 14.) •^/St. Paul evidently felt that love to neighbor car- ) ried with it love to God. Christ, himself, has told us the method by which he will at the last Judgment separate the sheep from the goats. Listen to his words, which must be quoted in full, and every word should receive careful attention : " When the Son of man shall come in Ms glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory : " And before Him shall be gathered all nations ; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from his goats : " And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, hut the goats on His left. " Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world : '■'■For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat : 1 was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me in; " Waked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. " Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, and fed Thee ? or, thirsty, and gave Thee drink ? " When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? naked, and clothed Thee? 4 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. " Or, when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee ? " And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you. Inasm uch as ye have done it ' ,^ unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have ''^~ done it unto me . " Then shall He say also unto them on His left hand. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ; \ '■'■For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no I meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink : " I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, ,'■' and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. " Then shall they also answer Him, saying. Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee f " Then shall He answer to them, saying. Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not unto one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. " And those shall go away into everlasting punish- ment : but the righteous into life eternal." (St. Matt. XXV. 31-46.) The minds of readers have been so generally- absorbed by the awful punishment meted out to the wicked, that terror has not allowed them to notice what is the most marked feature in the nar- rative ; namely, the exquisite beauty of the human- ^itarianism which it breathes. It is the Gospel of STATEkENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 5 Humanity, because it is the gospel of the Son of m an. ^ The marks of distinction are perceived. They are no t regular attendance at nhurnh — n ot sound notions in regard to the form of baptism or methods' of ordination, or apostolic succession, or the nature of the Lord's Supper, or Church organization — not any notions, whatever, as regards the future Ufe — not any subjective feelings in regard to God. These are all, doubtles^s,jimp.Qrtant,;._but these are not~the distinctive things by which Christ separates the good from the bad. The per- formance or non-performance of social duties in the gospel narrative separates the doomed from the blessed: "I was in prison, and ye visited me," etc.: I say this is something new in religious systems. AH false systems of religion exalt the love of God above the love due our fellow-men, and tell us that we may serve God by injuring our fellows. How many millions of human beings have thought that they did God service by human sacrifice ! Not only is this true, but it is furthermore true that, in proportion as believers in the true refigion depart from the mind which was in Jesus Christ, they neglect the second commandment. Thus, when Christ dwelt on earth. He found men excus- ing themselves from duty to their fellows on the plea of higher obligation to Deity. The reader will recall at once one instance. Moses com- manded men to honor their fathers and mothers, 6 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. and included, as a matter of course, the mainte- nance of father or mother in case of need; but the Hebrew theologians said a man could exempt himself from his duty to support his parents by consecrating his goods to the Lord. "But, ye say" — thus Christ addressed the scribes and Pharisees — "if a man shall say to his father or mother. It is corban, that is to say, a gift (devoted to God), by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me (by which I might support thee), he shall be free. " And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or mother." But Christ added, "Ye have made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition," and He upbraided them by ad- dressing them as "Ye hypocrites." Nothing is more difficult, nothing more requires divine grace, than the constant manifestation of love to our fellows in all our daily acts, in our buying, selling, getting gain. People still want to substitute all sorts of beliefs and observances in the place of this, for it implies a totally different purpose from that which animates this world. It is when men attempt to regulate their lives seven days in the week by the Golden Rule that they begin to perceive that they cannot serve God and mammon ; for the ruling motive of the one service — egotism, selfishness — is the opposite of the ruling motive of the other — altruism, devotion to others, consecration of heart, soul, and intellect STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 1 to the service of others. Men are still quite will- ing to make long prayers on Sunday, if on week days they may devour widows' houses ; or, as Rev. Mark Guy Pearse said two summers since at Chautauqua, they are ready to offer their prayers and their praise on Sunday, if on Monday they m ay go into the market p laca_ and skin their ^fellows and sell their hides. The second commandment, which is like the first, means that in every act and thought and purpose, in our laws and in their administration, in all public as well as private affairs, we — if in- deed we profess to be Christians — should seek to confer true benefits upon our fellow-men. It) means that the man who professes to love God | and who attempts to deceive others in regard to 1 the real value of railway stock, or, for that matter, any other property, that he may coax their money into his pockets, gsHaTTiypocrite and a liar.-^ It means that the man who oppressesThe~hireTing in his wages is no Christian, but a pagan, whatever may be his declarations to the contrary notwith- standing. What does God say of such an one? He says : " I will be a swift witness against those that oppress the hireling in his wages." What does His second commandment mean for those rich men who keep back the hire of their laborers? It means that they " must " weep and howl " for the miseries that shall come upon them." And what does this message mean for monopolists who ; 8 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. use their superior advantages of wealth or intel- lect, or bodily strength or other resources, to crowd out and grind down their fellows according to the methods of modern commercial competition ? The prophet Isaiah shall tell us : " Woe unto them thatt join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth." It is nee d less to enlarge upon this. It must be seen that the arrangements of this world are no t ■maYwvrd with tbft__com mandmen t given to love ou r neighbor as ourselves . These words may be found in writings previous to Christ, but never before His time had there been a serious attempt to carry this teaching into all the relations of life with all men. Thus it was a true word when Christ said to His disciples : " A new command- ment I give unto you, That ye love one another ; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." It is indeed a strange conception that some peo- ple have of the gospel of Christ. That gospel which in its highest unity is Love is divided into two parts: the first is theology, the second is sociology — the science of society. " Theology treats of God and His relations to His creatures, and of the existence, character, and attributes of God, His laws and government, the doctrines we are to believe and the duties we are to practice." Such is the definition of theology found in Webster's dictionary. The first words STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 9 are sufficient. T^olog2_"is the science of God and His relations to His creatures." But the whole science is simply an elaboration of th e first of the t wo ^reat commandments on which hang all the law and the prophets. It is a proper study for man ; especially is it a fitting study for those who are called to serve as ministers in God's church. We all know with what assiduity the study of theology has been pursued. Men of great intellect have by the thousand devoted their entire lives to it, and every clergyman is expected to prepare himself for his sacred office by a train- ing in a theological seminary for several years. This is well so far as it goes. This ought not to be left undone, but this is not enough. What has the Church done with the second commandment. whicji, ijijts elaboration, becomes social science or socwlo^i^?^ 10 STATEMENT OP FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. II. STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES CONCLUDED. The question was asked at the close of the last paragraph. What has the Church done in the way of careful research in social science ? It is neces- sary to reply that she has done comparatively little, and next to nothing since the Protestant Reformation. It is necessary to offer a word of explanation. In the earlier ages of the Church social science was cultivated to a greater or less extent by theologians, and there is much in their writings of which note must be taken in any history of that part of social science called politi- cal economy. This is particularly the case, it needs scarcely to be said, with the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas in the thirteenth century. Now in later centuries it is doubtless true that the greatest and best thoughts in social science may be traced very generally to Christian inspiration, but they have been an indirect rather than a direct j>utgrowth of the life of the Church. Yet as this social science, which deals with the relation of man to his fellows in what we call society, has for its special province human happiness and well- STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 11 being, and the underlying conditions of a prosper- ous, righteous, and progressive state of society, it might naturally be supposed that such a science, above all others, would absorb the attention of men seeking to obey Christ's new commandment to love one another, and to promote the true wel- fare of their neighbors in all those infinite ways which love suggests. - The Church has, in recent years, for the most part, contented herself with repeating platitudes and vague generalities which have disturbed no guilty soul, and thus she has allowed the leader- ship in social science to slip away from her. It can, then, scarcely excite surprise that communism has become infidel, and socialism^niaterialistic. Has_s he not, indeed, without anv careful ex amina- tion of thei r claims, hastened to conde mn them to please t he rich ? . ' • ■ The wrong of this is not connected with the fact that socialism and communism are not prac- ticable theories for modern industrial society. It was not a deep penetration into the principles of social science which led the Church to take this stand, but subse rviency to ^^^ p"WPTR o^ ^'^'''' ■vTOr]iL_~r'suppose there is nothing which causes the worldly-minded among professing Christians such uneasiness as the narrative of the rich young man who turned away in sorrow when told to sell all that he had and to give to the poor, and those verses in the Acts of the Apostles which tell the 12 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. simple story of the communism, founded in love, I which prevailed among the early Christians. But do not our fashionable pastors hasten to tell us first that Christ did not really mean the young man to give up his property, but only wanted to try him, which from the context and the nature of the case is a manifest absurdity ; second, that this communism of the Christians at Jerusalem was a lamentable failure, which explains their subse- quent poverty ? I am sure I have frequently seen such statements, and I know with what eagerness these comforting words are received into willing, ears; but I know not of the slightest historical foundation for this alleged connection between the communism of the Christians and their pov- erty, while there is, indeed, reason to attribute it to other causes. Still less can it be claimed that there is any such necessary connection when in the United States we have a single communistic settlement whose property is valued at ten mil- lions of dollars, and several which are in a really prosperous condition. The ministers of the Church repeat often enough the words of the Golden Rule; but the question arises. How am I to show my love for my fellow- men ? How am I to go to work to elevate them, to make them both happier and better ? How am r, as a follower of Christ, to conduct myself in the industrial world? What are my duties as employer, as landlord or tenant, as creditor or STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PMNCIPLES. 13 debtor ? What position should I take on the land question, on the subject of labor organization, and the other aspects of the great labor problems? What force have the regulations of the Old Testa- ment concerning business for^jne-^iOA." ? What about such a matter as interest on money?^ To take usury — which, as every one knows, in the Bible means simply interest, not excessive interest as now, but any interest at all — seems to be regarded as a great sin. It was forbidden the Israelites in their dealings with one another ; and in ..case of poverty, it was forbidden to take in- terest even of strangers. In Lev. xxv. 35-37, we read as follows : " And if thy brother he waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee ; then thou, shalt relieve him : yea, though he he a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. " Take thou no usury of him, or increase, hut fear thy Crod ; that thy hrother may live with thee. " Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase." And the Psalmist answers his own question, "Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle, who shall dwell in Thy holy hiU?" with the words, " He that putteth not out his money to usury." It was, moreover, long forbidden members of the Christian Church to take any interest on money lent ; and, while the Church is silent now, the laws of many of our States at least limit the 14 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. rate of interest. Now I do not propose to discuss exhaustively this question of interest, which would require too much space. I simply mention it as one of those questions which a Christian man ought to consider, and which ought not to be ignored by the Church. It is, moreover, a ques- tion which it seems to me can be easily resolved by a study of the evolution of industrial society. If my opinion is wanted, now that I have raised the question, I can only say, without going into my reasons, that I believe moderate interest is, as a rule, not sinful increase in our days, but that I do think it conduct unbecoming a Christian — to put it very mildly — for a rich man to charge in- terest on money lent a poor man to relieve him of distress, or to put him on his feet again when he is once down. I do not believe it is right to exact anything more than the return of the princi- pal, nor do I believe that the poor man ought to feel obliged to give more. Rather let him relieve some one else in time of increasing prosperity. This is, as I take it, the spirit of the old usury laws, for the capitalistic mode of production did not exist when they were promulgated, and loans were made chiefly to relieve personal distress. Now can any one tell why the spirit of the economic and industrial laws of Moses should not be bind- ing on us ? Christ said He came to fulfil the law, and those for whom love has abolished the old ceremonial law must feel compelled to do more — - STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 15 not less — for their fellows, than the old Mosaic legislation required. Moses founded a commonwealth which, for gen- erations, continued free, happy, prosperous, know- ing neither pauperism nor excessive wealth; and Moses, viewed merely as a statesman, probably never stood so high in the estimation of scholars as he does to-day. Yet the Church passes over the Mosaic economic legislation as of no conse- quence, or as of no binding force. The letter of the law would in this case be death, but I believe the spirit would mean life. There is much in the Mosaic legislation which mere "money-makers," whose Christianity is confined to professions, would not like to hear, but there is reason to tliink that careful study might have adapted some of its provisions to modern life with benefit to all who wish to live righteously. There is more or less concern on the part of the clergy with the problems of the day ; and as they are so largely ethical, they cannot avoid reference to them in sermons and lectures. Their flocks look to them for leadership, but they too often appear like blind leaders of the blind; for they manifestly have never received instruction in sociology, and there has been universal failure to give it that prolonged, concentrated attention which theology has received for hundreds of years. The blame rests by no means exclusively on the clergy and least of all on the present generation 16 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. of clergymen. The mistake is one of historical growth, and we and our fathers, laity as well as clergy, are responsible. These questions, upon which I barely touch, are difficult, and require profound thought from truly great minds. Is this discouraging? It undoubt- edly proves that the course of action for Christians in modern practical life is a difficult one to dis- cern. It undoubtedly proves that it is not easy to follow the command. Love thy neighbor as thyself. I do not suppose that the Almighty intended it should be easy. I do suppose that — to take one example — He intended that the man who care- lessly scatters his alms here and there without reflection should be as likely to do harm as good, and that such is the case the history of charities amply demonstrates. We cannot love our fellows effectively unless we give them our mind. We must devote our- selves long and carefully to the study of the science of human happiness, social science. This second branch of the gospel of Christ, so long neglected, ought to be pursued with equal earn- estness, with equal diligence, by Christians, with theology. Suppose when we went to church we heard Sunday after Sunday nothing about the nature of God, and our relations to Him, save a ceaseless iteration of the first commandment, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 17 all thy soul and witli all thy mind." That con- tains all of theology; yet we would regard it as absurd for the minister not to develop the thought of that grand, all-inclusive precept. Equally ab- surd is it for the Church not to develop in all its ramifications the second commandment. What is wanted is not dilettanteism with respect to those duties which we owe our fellows, but hard study, pursued with devotion for years. I should say that half of the time of a theological student should be devoted to social science, and t heologic al seminaries shcoild-be the- ehief-Iniel- lectual centres for sociology. It is true that we get at the second command- ment through the first; and we must first love God, in order to serve as we should our fellow- men. There seems to be little danger, however, that the theoretical truth respecting our duties to God will be overlooked. The real danger. is .that-jr^. wi ll come to thin k that we can serve..Go._d-witlioui devoting our lives to our fellow-men, without be^^ coming in the fullest, complefesl~senge ' of the word, philanthropists. Did it ever occur to you that a man who claimed to be a Christian, and was not at the same time a philanthropist, was a hypocrite and a liar? Yet, if Christ speaks true, this is undoubted. Select one of the gospels, and read therein the words of Christ, and you will see how Christ comes back 18 STATEMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. again and again to our social duties. The Sermon on the Mount illustrates this, as do also the last three verses of the ninth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. Christ was "moved with compassion," and He turned the thoughts of the disciples away from themselves to the plenteous harvest, and bid them pray the Lord of the harvest to " send forth laborers into the harvest." But still more striking are verses fifteen to seventeen, in the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. Christ asks Peter three times if he loves Him. " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these ? " Peter asserts his love each time ; and how is he bidden show his love ? Is it by fasts ? or self-torture for sin? or withdrawal from the world ? or prayer and meditation ? By no means ; but by service to his fellow-creatures. " Feed my lambs " — " feed my lambs " — " feed my sheep." These are the three answers of Jesus. THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 19 m. THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Now what have been the results of this neglect by the Church of the nature of our duties to our fellow-men? They have been of the most far- reaching character, and explain the fact that, in eighteen hundred years, the Church has not made greater progress. The cause of this neglect is sin. Largely, if not chiefly, the sin of concession to the powers of this world, so that they might hear nothing to terrify or alarm them, or even to make them un- comfortable ; and the result has been sin, sin, sin, until in the markets of the world you cannot dis- tinguish a Christian from one who professes to live for this world only. Howells says — and I believe truly — that it is a sorrowful comment upon our Christianity that^Tolstoi.'.s frank accept- ance of the TTiPTinig p nf Christ ph^iild mn i kn him seem ^o the world as eccentr ic or mad. What are you going to do about it? I notice that, according to Mr. Howells, a radical clergyman replies: Yes, those are doubtless the teachings of Christ ; but the political economy of Christ was ignorant and mistaken. He says that 20 THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF OSBIST, Christ was a good soul, but an inferior intellect. You see we have here the old question, What will you do with Clirist ? One answer is given, and it reduces Him to the rank of idle dreamers of im- possible Utopias; a good man, but one of weak mental capacities. Whether or not Mr. Howells has correctly interpreted this clergyman, it is, at any rate, but an exact description of a common form of unbelief, though it rarely finds so frank and outspoken an expression. A clergyman of another denomination recently used these words in a published article : " If the Bible entirely sus- tains ' Progress and Poverty,' then with Mr. Henry George the Bible must stand or fall. For my own part, if I could be convinced that the Bible did somewhere or other really af&rm the peculiar doctrines of that very popular agitator, that part of the Bible I should most unhesitatingly reject." And in the same article, after stating that his first great master in political economy was John Stuart Mill, for whom he has never lost his reverence, he proceeds to state that Mill seems to him "to be superseded neither by Moses nor by Karl Marx." I do not quote this because I believe that Henry George is indorsed by the Bible, any more than I believe that Tolstoi is free from grave defects, but to show the position into which a considerable portion of the Church has drifted. Let us look at this matter from a somewhat different standpoint. The prayer for us all is: TBS SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 21 " Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth." Yet the Church has so failed to instruct us in regard to the will of God in earthly matters, that professed Christians seem at times to lose all dis- tinction between right and wrong in affairs of this life, and occasionally one hears it said that Chris- t ian e thics have nothing to do with pr actical bu si- jlfiss. Le t us take this matter of gambling in stocks or provisions. I mean merely speculative, dealings — not bonoTJlde purcha ses^ Can a Chris- tianI3Lnmcih eUliiug ? — TT'iocIai science hadlseen studied by Christian ministers with as much dili- gence as the one theological doctrine of baptism, there could be no doubt — it would be needless to ask the question. What is the essence of theft? I mean from a moral, not a legal, point of view. Is it not trying to get something for nothing ? Is it not trying to get hold of your neighbor's property by some kind of hocus-pocus, without making him a fair return? Most assuredly; and that is precisely what those do who buy stocks on margin, deal in futures, and the like. I was glad to see, in a .village paper published in New York State, so clear a moral perception of the nature of the transactions of a misguided and fallen young man who lost money in wheat speculations, stole money from the bank of which he was president, and fled to Canada. Su ppose bis whea Laoatuxl ations had been success/ ful, would that have alteredliia .moral character ? 22 TSE-^SiMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Most certainly i)ot. He was all the time engaged „iaatteropts to get hold of the property of others without a return. There is only this diffe rence. In theo ne c a se he wou ld have beeitfrffiorally-speak-^ _ingj_a_tliief ; now he is, legally sped^ug, a thief. This paper to whicli~I"Tiave"referred then very properly says : " We may look for the cause of this fall to the unholy greed for money, the reck- less spirit of gambling and speculation, so common in these last years." I was also glad to see — and it is a cheerful sign of the times — a powerful article on this very topic in a Presbyterian paper, published in Omaha, I believe, but the name of the journal escapes me. I do not mean to condemn unreservedly the stock exchange. A considerable part of its busi- ness is perfectly legitimate. Nevertheless, it is a great gain when the speculative element in its transactions can be dismissed. Professor Adolf Wagner, of Berlin, counts it as one of the good features Avhich have resulted from the purchase of Prussian private railways, by the state, that their stocks can no longer be used as formerly, merely for speculative, that is, gambling purposes. I regard this as a strong argument for the nationali- zation of railways. The idea of the stock ex- change is sound, but it is inevitably so fruitful of mischief and all manner of iniquity that we can regard it only as a necessary evil and must rejoice when the field of its operations is curtailed. THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 23 Yes, yes; strange conceptions have people of the gospel of Christ! and a phrase has been in- vented, "the simple gospel of Christ," which means an emasculated gospel of Christ, a gospel of Christ with one-half omitted, a gospel which, while teaching us to pray Thy will be done on earth, yet would keep Christians from concerning themselves with things of this world, so that the will of God may be done — things like temper- ance, righteous dealing, fair elections, the uproot- ing of crime and poverty, the elevation of the masses. Two years ago last winter, in Baltimore, the street-car employes were working over seventeen hours a day, and rebelled against this monstrous cruelty. A mass meeting was called to favor the passage of a bill for a twelve-hour day — a bill finally passed — and several clergymen attended the meeting and spoke in favor of the measure. One clergyman, Mr. S., took the ground that it was a question of the preservation of that Chris- tian institution, the family; for what kind of a family life can you have where the father is away seventeen hours a day, seven days in the week, and scarcely knows his children by sight ? Well, shortly after the event, a Presbyterian minister, Mr. G., was accosted by one of his parishioners with the remark, "I wish your_£dfindi,Mx.-S., wo uld confine hi mafilf to preaching the simple gospel ofjChrist.^^^ — '-S-The-sim.ple gospel of Christ," 24 . THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. replied Mr. G., "the simple gospel of Christ I What is this I hear, my. friend? So you own some street-railway stock, do you ? " The parishioner looked very uncomfortable, and finally confessed that, though he didn't, his wife did. Two years ago the present autumn we heard of a somewhat similar instance, in what is called Mr. Moody's church in Chicago. Rev. Mr. Goss preached a sermon on the trials and temptations of working-girls, and remedies for them, to which some members of his flock objected — not because they took exception to any specific utterance, but because they wanted simple gospel sermons. Sim- ple gospel sermons, indeed ! More likely, if we may judge from other instances, because they wanted to serve Mammon six days a week, and to atone for it by formal lip service rendered to God on the seventh ! If the preacher had hammered away at the sins of the ancient Egyptians, four thousand years ago, or the immoralities of Paris, four thou- sand miles away, we would hardly have heard objections because the sermon was not a simple gospel sermon. Once more : some earnest men have formed the American Economic Association, to investigate problems of social science, in order thereby to contribute to human progress. Its aim is to advo- cate no opinions, but simply to strive to find out the underlying principles of industrial society, and to diffuse information among the working THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 25 classes and all classes. Briefly stated, its purpose is to study seriously the second of the two great commandments on which hang all the law and the prophets, in all its ramifications, and thus to bring science to the aid of Christianity. Now you would imagine this something to appeal to every Christian, would you not? Yet it does not. As secretary, it has been my duty to solicit members, and raise the few hundred dollars needed every year for printing its publications and other purposes, and I can assure the reader it seems impossible to induce one in ten Chris^ tians, among those who can well afford it, to con- tribute three dollars a year or twenty-five dollars for a life membership. It is difficult for them to grasp the idea that this society is a real legitimate Christian institu- tion. Prizes encourage research. The experience of our best universities with fellowships, shows the advantages of prizes, suitable in amount and awarded under satisfactory conditions. Yet any one who will try — as several have done — to raise a few hundred dollars for prizes for the best monographs on subjects like Child Labor, Women Wage-Earners, The Housing of the Poor in Cities, Taxation in American Cities, will be surprised at the general apathy and indifference of people asked to contribute, and to find how few they are, comparatively, who seem to care to do anything more for their suffering fellow-creatures than to administer some kind of soothing-syrup. 26 TEE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Now it must not be supposed that I am pessi- mistic. Far from it. I see many evidences of better things. To begin with this very associa- tion of which I have spoken : we do get sufficient support to live, and no professional class is so largely represented in our membership as clergy- men. The American Economic Association is men- tioned, not because it is more important than other societies, but because its history has shown me the feeling of too many Christians with respect to simple philanthropy, unconnected with any sectarian glory, and because it serves as illustra- tion. Illustrations abound on every street-corner in every city. As I was waiting one Sunday in a hotel parlor in Toronto, Canada, I heard two ladies discussing the fact that street cars in that city did not run on Sunday. The decision finally reached was th at the only good feature about the arrang e- me nt was that it gav e the ho rses a chance to res t! And are not societies for prevention of cruelty to animals stronger than those for prevention of cruelty to children ? Most remarkable is the illustration given of the shortcoming of the Church by the hymns of the Church. It is said you may know a nation by its songs. We may know the life of the Church by its hymns. If the Church in her history has been full of love for man, it must be seen in her hymns. Hearts welling up, filled to overflowing with love THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 27 to our fellows, must seek expression in song. Let tlie reader take any hymn-book he pleases and read hymn after hymn, and seek for the hymns expres- sive of burning, all-consuming altruism. He will not find them, though he will find any number which turn the heart in on itself and tend to nour- ish a selfish, individualistic piety. I and me — I and me — these are the frequently recurring pro- nouns. Theological seminaries — would that they might be called gospel seminaries — are beginning to turn at least some serious attention to social science, which, if it be little, is nevertheless a beginning. The Andover, Yale, and Hartford seminaries have courses of lectures on social science, and I see that Bishop Potter of the Episcopal Church includes provision for instruction in social science in his plan for a great cathedral in New York. I would gladly dwell on some conclusions which flow naturally from what has been said, but the shortness of space forbids it, and I can only call attention to a few things which Christianity re- quires. First, let us look at the internal arrangements of the Church. It goes without saying that these should be thoroughly Christian; but what does that mean ? To begin with, certainly an absence of all that fosters the caste spirit — for that sepa- rates man from his brother; and a presence of everything which tends to draw man to man, and 28 THE SIMPLE GOSPEL OF CHSIST. thus to promote a realizing sense of tlie brother- hood of man. We are taught that the strong should bear the burdens of the weak, from which we may conclude that the Church should be tender and considerate in all her dealings with the unfortunate, with all those that labor and are heavily laden. Apply this to dress. The attire of Christians should b e .^lailLand simple, such as will not divert attention from theWOT^d~of€rod. An entire absence of everything in dress which cultivates worldliness and awakens a desire for perishable riches must be enjoined. Absence- of such dress as will awaken envious desires in weak natures is equally a matter of course. And this means not merely plain dressing; for the simple dressing so often admired in fashionable churches is frequently more expensive, far more expensive, than the gaudiest dress in poorer churches. Plain and inexpensive dress is what is required. Rich Christians are especially called upon to take the lead in all this. Let the strong bear the burdens of the weak. Apply Christian principles to the matter of pews. We all know what James says about those who give the back seats to the poor, and the choice seats to those of goodly apparel and gold rings. Yet by our syste m of rented pewa - for wc have gone~ so far as to intro duce noti ons of private property in the house of God — we do not simply TBE SIMPLE GOSPEL Of CBRIST. 29 occasionally violate the command given by James, but we bring it about that the rich habitually have the best seats. Now, as I take it, the Christian principle is this : Seat first the guests of the church. The Christian duty of hospitality enjoins upon us to reserve the best for the stranger. Then the poorer people should follow, and the rich and powerful, the strong, should take what is left. The ordinary arguments in opposition to free churches are "of the earth, earthy." They are said not to be "practical." "It won't work," we are told. What has a Christian to do except to believe that the right is practical, and the only practical thing in the universe? Christ's life it- self was not, as the world goes, very practical. One might have told Him, " This will not work. You are not practical." And indeed He was re- jected and put to death, and His life appeared to be a worse failure than a church sold at public auction by the sheriff. Friendly intercourse between church members is likewise an obvious duty ; but I have never yet heard any attendant on a fashionable church ex- claim, " How these Christians love one another ! " The injunction of Christ in regard to feasts, I think, ought to be taken Uterally. A Christian will seek out the neglected, the lonesome, the needy brothers and sisters, and invite those who can never reciprocate with like social courtesies. 30 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD, IV. THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD, BUT NOT OF THE WORLD. Besides the exhibition within the Church of the spirit of Christian brotherhood, the life of Chris- tians outside of the Church, in their dealings with the world, must also conform to Christian princi- ples. Christ calls upon us to choose between Him and the world, and He wants no half-hearted fol- lowers. Remember the message unto the Laodi- ceans : " I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot : I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing ; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." I Every opportunity to bring ,to pass righteous- ness in this world is one that a Christian cannot neglect. There are the working classes needing intellectual and moral enlightenment — and rich people, too, equally needing enlightenment — there are children, little children in factories, ruining body, mind and soul by excessive toil and danger- BUT NOT OF THE WORLD. 31 ous companionship at a tender age, who ought to be rescued ; there are women engaged in improper toil away from home ; there is intemperance, the curse of hquor, to be fought ; there are tenement- house districts to be redeemed — work, work on every hand for Christian men and women, but where are the workers? Some say we cannot maintain ourselves in the business world if we attempt to carry into our business Christian principles. Very well, then, change the world until Christians can live in it ; and in the meanwhile let me remind the reader, with Rev. Mark Guy Pearse, that there was a time when men and women could not be Christians and keep their heads on their shoulders, and that then they died cheerfully as Christians. It is one of the fundamental principles of Chris- tianity that temporal goods are committed to us in trust, and that we shall be held accountable for our trusteeship. But temporal goods mean more than money. They include time and opportuni- ties, and the idle man is truly a robber — a robber of God's bounty. If we_jdslib-eiautfily and.-peigis- tentl y fail even to try hon ^ptly t.n arli-ninistgr-^nnr p roperty. — be it much or little. — also our time, tal ents and opport miiti£s,-a6Qe¥d i H S f to t he-p^rin- ciplefi-o£-altriiism -=J3y— whieh-I-j3aeara-simply„aILr_ emfepaeifig Christian -lxyve-^=="w^e-eafin0t^i-rly-&laim to be Christians, and, if the Bible speaks true, gaias_await-u*-foE- our. -disobedience. It is idle to 32 TSE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD, talk about a belief which does not manifest itself in works. A good tree must bring forth good fruit. It is the law of nature. So when a heart is welling over with love to all of God's children, loving action is bound to follow. It comes of itself, just as the trees put forth their leaves in spring-time. ■^ How, then, do professing Christians employ [ their substance ? When one visits the leading I churches of New York and Boston, when one ' forms acquaintanceship with their members, with the very best will, it is simply impossible to beheve that they are even trying to place the needs of others on a par with their own needs. Self comes \ first, and there is little apparent effort to obey, in their expenditures of money, the precept that love Ifor others should hold equal place with love for self. The more seriously one reflects upon this, the longer one turns it over in one's mind, the more shocking appears the divergence between j/ profession and practice. The average Christian is " of the world," and is governed by its motives in his expenditures. To get on in life, to enjoy the pleasures of wealth, to be spoken well of by those high in the ranks of fashion — all this is the dominating motive. Consider a case like this : a man spends $1500 on an evening's entertainment to gratify vanity. What could have been done . with 11500? Here is one thing: it could have been used to endow a permanent scholarship in BVT NOT OF THE WORLD. 3S> the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. Let the reader reflect upon that. It means that for all time our colored pupil shall receive education at this most excellent school where with the training of the head goes the train- ing of the hand — one of the most essential things in the development of the colored race. These Hampton pupils go forth to serve as teachers and preachers, and form the best leaders of their peo- ple. The colored youth educated are benefited, and those whom they influence are benefited. Thisis not only C hristian, it is patriotic, for our American institutions depenrl n pnn the .ftleyation- of the ignorant masses, and hnw nrgp.nt a.rp t.hp. appeals for mean s with whip.h tn exiemLtli ia wnrV ! Read these words from the circular of that ad- mirable man, Gen. S. C. Armstrong : — "In the country districts, which contain the majority and the best material of the colored popu- lation, the ^teachex.-is- usually - the— only— iff and available leader. He, and he only, can start Sun- day-schools and temperance societies, can initiate sound Christian work, and overcome the hostile influence of the ' old-time religion ' and its votaries. In the earlier stages of a people's progress, the teacher's sphere is in the field, shop, church, and home, as much as in the schoolhouse. In the past eighteen years our army of graduates has done this many-sided work among a benighted peo- ple thirsting for knowledge. They have secured 34 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD, the good-will of all true men, and peace and progress have followed them. " Is there any sounder policy, any more compre- hensive philanthropy, than that which shall firmly establish such schools as Hampton, and enable them to pour into this mass of ignorance an an- nual stream of self-reliant young men and women whose training has included the whole range of practical living ? The South calls for over twice as many teachers as can be supplied for its 15,000 negro schools." '' It is within bounds to say that within a compar- atively near future 1000 people will be rendered happier and better by a gift of $1500 to the Hamp- ton Institute. Now will a man who spends $1500 for an evening's pleasure, or for any luxury what- soever — even should the enjoyment of it extend ^through years — tell me that he is sincerely en- deavoring to act with respect to these poor col- ored people, in accordance with God's command -that he should love his neighbor as himself? It is not my purpose to make a plea for Hamp- ton. This is merely an illustration. I have known $1500 to send 100 boys from the slums of New York to homes in the West, where the majority — not all, but a large majority — will become honest, industrious, and useful citizens. Keflect on the in- calculable amount of good that such an expendi- ture produces. Yet a p rofessedly Christian woman .will sometimes spend $1500 on dress_in a year ! BUT NOT OF THE WORLD. 35 There is a plea for extrayagance with which it is hard to have patience, so obviously is it contra- dicted by the application of a little common sense. It is said it gives employment to labor — as if every expenditure of money did not do that ! It would be hard to name an expenditure of $1500, which would give such a vast amount of employment to labor as the endowment of a Hampton scholarship, or the removal of 100 boys from the slums of New York. The employment which a feast or a few fashionable dresses give is not to be mentioned in comparison. You, my reader, are bound to employ labor when you spend money, but God gives you a choice. You may employ the labor to work for yourself, or you may give labor such a direction that others will receive benefit therefrom, and you are answerable for that choice. If you spend |200 on a dress, you do it because you prefer your hap- piness to others. That same money spent for cheaper dresses for old ladies in a home would give quite as much employment.^ Now the number of ways in which money can be so spent as to benefit others, not to pauperize others like alms-giving, but to lift up men and women into a higher hfe, is simply infinite. If one has the wealth of Croesus, every cent of it can be spent advantageously for the good of men. Ten- ement house reform in the single city of New 1 This thought is more amply developed in my Political Economy, Cbautattq.ua Press, 1889. 36 TSE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD, York could well consume eighteen millions of dollars. Take the grand work going forward at Chautauqua, which only needs comparatively little money to place it upon a firm foundation, but which could use profitably millions. The Chau- tauqua work in its various ramifications reaches three or four hundred thousand people a year, and all over the length and breadth of the land are scattereci isolated households, hamlets, villages, even cities, whose life is richer and fuller by reason of Chautauqua. Baltimore is to-day a happier and better city because Mr. Enoch Pratt gave over a million dollars to found a magnificent free library with branches all over the city. But in every State there are villages and even large cities with- out suitable libraries. P laygrounds for c hildren are a need in every city. Thejo ye of the beauti- ful__ougliLJx)--b©- (Cultivated -by— betteii-4UiHic_.art galleries than exist in this country, and by more of them. The money which can be spent in im- provingcid^nentar j^ liisliructioh, ='by adding to it physical culture, sewing, cooking, and maniial train- ing, is simply unlimited, while even a little can do much for one primary school. Limits of space for- bid any extended mention of mission work at home and abroad ; but it is safe to say that if Christians were consistent in their use of wealth, the revenues of home and foreign missionary societies would be quadrupled immediately. ,A-6farist ian may :_say , if I lo ve mx-Jifiig]ib. or as BUT NOT OF THE WORLD. 37 myself, my neces sities are as importan t a s his. T rue, bnt m y p.n mforts are not as important as his ne cessities, _ nor are my luxu p'"' ""^ guppTitLLiitioa as impo rtant as my nwgh^r^s_comforts. Luxury can never be indulged in by a Christian so long as he can minister to the real well-being of others, and supply them with material goods- helpful for their development ; and this forever renders luxury an impossibility for a Christian. Luxury is materialistic and selfish; it retards the mental and spiritual development of a people, and tends to impoveiiali.^a_nation. -Luxury bre_eds ' luxury, as sin begets siDu_-J9ne tries to outvie another. Men spend more than they can afford. Speculation is fostered as a means of money- getting, and fraud and embezzlement are the legiti- mate outcome. Wasted fortunes, blighted careers, broken hearts, boundless opportunities forever lost, — these are the end of which the beginning is self-indulgence. It is impossible for a Christian carefully to examine the nature of industrial society, or even to look a very little way into social science, with- out drawing a very close line around personal ex- penditures which are not sinful. This looks very much like cross-bearing, and it seems to me that we modern Christians have well-nigh forgotten the existence of a cross. Christ meant that we should lead a life of renunciation. He said we must take up our cross. What He did say was this : " My 38 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Why? Because love renders sacrifice easy ; and if we love our neighbor as Christ loved us, we will rejoice that it is permitted us to give our goods, our lives, and all that we have, for others, and we will account the renunciation of pleasures in which this world delights as but an easy yoke and a light burden. ALIENATION OF WAGE-WORKERS. 39 THE ALIENATION OF WAGE-WORKERS FROM THE CHURCH. Theke are those who deny that wage-workers are alienated from the Church, and I have care- fully considered their arguments ; but after years of observation and reflection I have been forced to i\ the conclusion that there is a clear alienation of TH'thinking wage-workers from the Church which, on \jthe whole, is growing. I do not say this with any other feehng than one of profound regret ; but as it appears to me a fact which can be denied only by those who are ignorant of the actual situation, I hold it to be well that it should be known. I could give evidence which would fill pages of this book ; but as there are other things to be said, I can only leave my readers to look carefully into the matter, and by a perusal of the labor press, and by conversation with representative wage-earners, to form an opinion for themselves. I think, how- ever, I can safely say that I have had unusually favorable opportunities for getting at the facts, as I have followed the labor movement with interest, and have enjoyed the confidence of representative workingmen to a great extent. 40 ALIENATION OF WAGE-W0RKES8 This alienation sometimes amounts to positive hostility, as I think is quite generally the case in New York and Chicago. In other places, as in Baltimore, there is little aggressive opposition, but simply widespread indifference. I will quote a few sentences from a labor paper, published in Chicago, by men who are inclined to be compara- tively conservative, and who resist all proposals of violence and anarchy as stoutly as any so-called " capitalistic " newspaper. These words, I think, represent fairly the honest opinion of a large class of our best wage-workers : — On Thursday evening the Rev. C. F. Goss addressed a meeting called under the auspices of the Brotherhood of Carpenters. ... In order to get an expression of opinion from his audience, he asked those who had ceased to sympa- thize with the churches to hold up their hand. It is need- less to say the number of hands that were uplifted caused a pang of regret to the speaker. A question that we would like to propound to the minis- ters of Chicago is : Have the working classes fallen away from the churches, or have the churches fallen away from the working classes ? We know hundreds and thousands of workingmen who have the utmost respect, admiration, and even love for the pure and simple teachings of the gospel, and the beneficent and exalted character of Jesus Christ, and yet they scarcely ever put their feet inside the Church that "is called" His. Not because they love the Church less, but because they love their self-respect more. They realize that there is no place in the average Chicago church for the poor man unless it is in the position of janitor, cer- tainly not in the cushioned pews surrounded by individuals who not only regard poverty as a disgrace, but by their FROM THE CHURCH. 41 Tulgar display endeavor to perpetually remind the poor man of his poverty. . . . While there are noble and notable ex- ceptions, it must be confessed that but few of the average Chicago preachers go out of their way to " preach the gospel to the poor" — of course "good" people who are "rich" establish mission schools for "bad" people who are "poor," and they occasionally succeed in bringing within the fold a few women and children who are not sufficiently intelligent to realize that a mission school is a sort of a religious soup- house, where the gospel is distributed as charity. One reason why wage-workers do not love tlie Churcli is not peculiar. The wickedness of men's hearts leads them to resist the gospel. Working- men are like others in this respect, although cer- tain temptations, as pride, and arrogance, and ab- sorption by concerns of this world, are not so powerful in their case. We must remember that Christ said it was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, and never alluded to any spe- cial difficulties in the way of the poor as a class. We are also told that time was when the common people heard Christ gladly. These, however, are general considerations. What is now desired is to know the peculiar cause which alienates wage- workers as a class of industrial society from the Church, and this may be stated in a single sen- tence. The leaders of the Church, the representative'^ men and women in the Church, profess to love the working classes, but as a matter of fact, they do not love them, and this wide divergence be- 42 ALIENATION OF WAQE-WORKERS tween profession and practice is keenly felt. I here state a grave charge, but who among my readers will deny it? Before any one does, let him examine his own conscience. How do I know that chu rch-go ers do not love the ^day la bo rer? Howd o I know that my wife loves_m&2 There is a conduoTsuitable to love ; a conduct not prescribed by law, but which is the natural, spontaneous outcome of love. Now the consequences which would inevitably follow did the representative men and women of the Church love the bread-winners of the United States are sadly missing. I will give a few specifications. First, these church leaders are so far away from "the toiling masses that they fail to understand ' their desires, and the motives of their action. I meet few clergymen who, even when they want to be friendly, can give an intelligent statement of the side of labor in any of its many controver- sies with capital. They rarely converse with lead- ers of the workingmen, and perhaps more rarely read any labor paper. If they loved the masses, they would instinctively draw near enough to know their aims and motives. Christ moved among the masses and understood them, and to- day the poorest laborer and the most obstinate trades unionists, yes, even the despised walking delegate, will feel a strange attraction for that wonderful Being who spoke words which go straight to the heart. Did not an assembly of ^t FSOM mis csvnaa. 43 w orkin s ;men in these United S tates not long ago greetj jip. nfl.nnp. nf _ Christ with applause , and the TiiPTrtirm_r (^yn anniAH nf rihristianity ; tha^is_tfl^sa,y^JjLJaJ[lhristiianityin-^ctiQiU-.. Chris- tianity minus philanthropy is not Christianity at 86 PHILANTHROPY. all. On the contrary, it is a monstrosity. It is superstition, persecution, and cruelty. It is wor- sliip of the devil, and not God's service. A man who claims to be a Christian and is not" "at the same time a philanthropist is a hypocrite and a EarT J acques Ferrand is the villain ~oI "Eugene Sue's " Mysteries of Paris." He oppresses the poor and ruins young girls. Before people know all his crimes, they say of him he is hard, grinding, exacting, but " do you observe how devout he is ? how regular in his attendance on church ? " His long prayers are regarded as a partial excuse for his atrocities, but in reality they do but damn him the more deeply. " God will not be mocked." Love to God is piety, and the science which deals , wg^h this part of the gospel is called theology. ' Love to man is philanthropy, and the science "^ which deals with this part of the gospel is called sociology. The two are inseparable. The attempt to sever them is like parting the Siamese twins — both die. The errors and troubles of the Christian Church in the past find their chief explanation in the ex- altation of theology and the neglect of sociology. The •exclusive cultivation of theology leads to dogma, and dogma produces dissensions and mu- tual hatred. Christ said, on the other hand, that he who should do the will of God would know of the doctrine. Life and action lead to truth, and truth means unity. In reading the biographies of PHILANTHROPY. 87 eminent philanthropists, I have been impressed with this fact: those who do God's will rather than talk about God's will, come very close to their fellow-men. Perhaps no better illustration of this is afforded than by the biography of that eminent man, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury. As I am an Episcopalian, it will not be considered as aimed against that body of Christians, when I remark that he was brought up as an exclusive and bigoted adherent of the Church of England. He thought it a " meritorious thing to hate dissenters," and relates that once when reading a book it sud- denly struck him " the writer must have been a rank dissenter," and he shut up the book, " recoil- ing from it as he would from rank poison." Later we find this same man working in Exeter Hu.ll meetings and revival services with Christians of all denominations, we read of his friendship for Mr. Spurgeon and of the assistance wliich he rendered Mr. Moody. ■» Piety has acquired in many ears a hateful sound, because, separated from philanthropy, it has be- come a sham, and of all shams none is more hideous than pretended piety. Perhaps nothing in the New Testament is more marked than the manner in which Christ emphasizes philanthropy as if aware — as indeed He must have been — of the tendency to prefer everything else to that. Lip service, long prayers, sound belief, — all these Christ found in abundance, but life was wanting. The Sermon on 88 PHILANTHROPT. the Mount opens with the inculcation of inward and spiritual virtues, meekness, pureness of heart, poorness in spirit, sorrow for sins, .but among the beatitudes we find mention of the merciful and the peacemakers ; and then Christ turns to his disciples and directs their attention away from themselves to their fellow-men, " Ye are the salt of the earth." ..." Ye are the light of the world." . . . "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works." Thus is it always — Christ turns the thoughts away from self. There appears to be a great awakening to the ^truths which have been here so inadequately out- lined, yet there seems to be a danger ahead of us. It should be remembered that philanthropy is not mere sentimentality. Philanthropy is not gush, and we must take heed that our talk does not end in vague and glittering generalities. Philanthropy must be grounded in profound sociological studies. Otherwise, so complex is modern society that in our efforts to help man we may only injure him. Not all are capable of re- search in sociology, but the Church should call to her service in this field the greatest intellects of the age. The seminaries which train ministers of religion should be great leaders of thought in economic and social studies. It is the office of philanthropists gifted with insight and blessed with means, to encourage such studies by the FHILANTHROPT. 89 foundation of prizes, professorships, and publica- tion funds. One of the most useful books in recent times is Fremantle's work " The World as the Subject of Eedemption." It indicates the whole scope and purpose of philanthropy. Philanthropy embraces the individual, the family, the community, the state, the nation, and finally humanity. Philanthropy with respect tn thf» timp-plf-mpnt — is of two kinds, positive and prev entive. Philan- thropy may also be divided into two kinds with respect to the agencies employed ; namely, volun- tary and coercive. Let us examine briefly these^ varioiis kinds of- philanthropy, ^—Prevpntivfi philRuthragv^-f Hrticipates harm an d stops it. This is tbfi bfist kind of philanthropy. A few illustrations may make the meaning of this kind of philanthropy clearer. It is meritorious to build hospitals and reformatories. It is far better to diminish the need of these institutions. Child labSr is a cause of poverty, disease, and crime. To abolish child labor, to replace it by intellectual, moral, and industrial training, to restrict the labor of young people within the limit prescribed by physiology and hygiene, to pass laws compelling employers to fence in dangerous machinery, and to watch over the enforcement of these laws, — • all this is philanthropy of a higher type. The collection of fresh-air funds, sending poor children to the country, is a showy kind of philan- 90 PHILANTHROPY. thropy and does some good. This is not to be underrated or despised. It is far better, however, to assist in the passage and enforcement of sanitary- laws, giving the children all the year round clean, wholesome streets to live in, and healthful lodg- ings, and thus rendering less necessary the spas- modic and irregular gifts which after all send comparatively few for a short time away from wretched slums. Charity organization societies are excellent, but far better is philanthropy which keeps men and women from becoming paupers. Preventive philanthropy makes less noise in the world and builds fewer visible monuments to grat- ify pride than positive philanthropy. It also im- plies a watchful love to foresee evil. It requires a higher degree of self-renunciation. It is the kind of philanthropy especially commended by Christ. It acts not for the praise of men. It passes often unseen by men, and when perceived is frequently little admired. Indeed, philanthropy of this kind often brings curses from men rather than bless- ings. The history of English labor during the iirst fifty years of this century offers a good illustra- tion. Men, women, and children were being con- sumed in the manufacturing establishments of Great Britain. Flesh and blood were turned into bright gold by long, weary hours in overheated, poorly ventilated factories, or in mines under- ground. Accidents, easily preventable, were of daily occurrence. This was the time of which Mrs. Browning sang in " The Cry of the Children." PHILANTHROPY. 91 " Our blood splashes upward, O gold heaper, And your purple shows your path, But the child's sob in the silence curses deeper, Than the strong man in his wrath." Now only praise was meted out to those who built hospitals and doled out alms to the human refuse of the mines and factories ; but when Chris- tian men stepped forward and said, "The strong arm of the law must protect children who cannot help themselves, and the industry of England must cease to destroy human beings, and to turn out human refuse on society; cannibalism shall exist no longer in England," then these men took upon themselves a cross indeed, the cross of a long and bitter fight against all the hosts of Mammon. A study of philanthropy shows that Christ meant what He said in His social teaching. Doubtless Tolstoi falls far short of the truth, but certainly he has done good service in empha- sizing the teachings of Christ. The cry of philan- thropy should be, " Back to Christ." Positive philanthropy a ims to cure jBxisting_. p^M^H— ly^-.- pnfprg a.ft.pT' t he harm is done a nd at-~ tempts, so far as may be, to undo it. It gathers up the fragments that nothing further may be wasted. It leaves the ninety and nine sheep in the fold and goes after the one lost sheep. It is a sacred duty to do this, and the superiority of pre- vention to cure must not detract from the glory of men who are engaged in this kind of work. 92 PHILANTHROPY. Insane asylums, charity organizations societies, and reformatories may be mentioned. The penal code may even be described as philanthropy of this kind. Society's action has hitherto been to far too -great an extent merely positive. The state ap- pears to large classes as merely a power which hems in and punishes. The permanence of civili- zation will be secured by the substitution of pre- ventive for positive action by governments. It is all very well to hang anarchists. It is better so to educate the young, so to purify politics, so to build up the home, so to reform our business methods as to take the standing-ground out from under the anarchists. Philanthropy may in its methods be voluntary. It may be exercised by individuals in their indi- vidual capacity or by associations of individuals freely banded together. A large part of our phil- anthropy is of this kind and always must be. Coercive philanthropy is philanthropy of gov- ernments, either local, state, or national. The ex- ercise of philanthropy is coming to an increasing extent to be regarded as the duty of government. It was because this was to so large a degree recog- nized by the old Hebrew state, says Fremantle, in his "World as the Subject of Redemption," that the Jews rejoiced in their law. This law was the protection of the weak and needy, the safety of the fatherless, the bulwark of the helpless, the PHILANTHROPY. 93 refuge of the oppressed. Well sings the Psalmist of the God-given law of Israel : " The delight of the righteous is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." No room for anarchy there ! Imagine any one singing thus of — well, let us say the Code Napoleon. Coercive philanthropy must rest on voluntary philanthropy. Neither one alone is sufficient. This is one of the most useful lessons to be learned from English factory legislation. Men like Gladstone, Macaulay, Sir James Graham, and J. A. Roebuck, who had opposed it, all lived to acknowledge their mistake, and some recanted very handsomely. The conclusion of all was well summed up in these words by Mr. Roebuck in 1860 : " We ought never trust to the justice and humanity of men whose interests are furthered by injustice and cruelty. The slave-owner in Amer- ica, the manufacturer in England, though they may be individually good men, will, nevertheless, as slave-owners and masters, be guilty of atrocities at which humanity shudders." A few words should be said about the eco- nomic possibilities of philanthropy. It is possible to introduce righteousness in our daily life. In a sermon at Chautauqua, the Rev. Dr. Bashford recently said that a Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation in one of our cities had after debate de- firlor] fliat, it, was impossi ble to do business on Chr^±iaji_priiici^jleS;__ Professor Henry C. Adams, 94 PEILANTHROPT. one of the most thoughtful economists in the country, in his monograph, " Relation of the State to Industrial Action," has raised this question: Does not all the preaching about the necessity of righteousness in business simply make men worse ? The argument is that as the business world is con- stituted at present, men must commit sin, and to point out to them their sinfulness, but awakens a sense of guilt and increases their sinfulness. Now this is a question with which Christian philan- thropy is concerned. The business life of men is the basis of all social life, and if the foundation is faulty, the super- structure must be imperfect. Whatever inherent wrongs there are in our industrial life are capable of correction; and Professor Adams has himself, in the same monograph to which reference has been made, offered fruitful suggestions with this end in view. Sufficient goods to satisfy all rational wants of all men can be produced. The problem of produc- tion has been solved, that of distribution awaits its solution. Theodore Hertzka has recently made some most interesting investigations.^ He calcu- lates that in the civilized nations of the earth the recent inventions and discoveries — especially the application of steam to industry — can do twelve times as much physical work as all the men living in these nations. In other words, it is just the same ' In his Qesetze der Sozialen Entwickelung. PHILANTHROPY. 95 as if twelve slaves were working for every man, or sixty for every family, whereas in ancient Athens, there were only ten slaves for an Athenian family. He estimates further that a sufficient supply of goods for a family can be produced by sixty days' labor of one man, and that at present a laboring man's family consumes only one-tenth of that which he is capable of producing. n. There are several things which ought to be very clear to those who desire to give practical manifestation to their love for their fellow-men. First and foremost is some kind of an idea of what can be rationally contemplated as a possible future for the masses. There should, in the sec- ond place, be diligent inquiry as to the means which may be used to assist the masses to attain this highest economic, intellectual, and ethical ele- vation. From neglect of the first consideration philanthropists have frequently endeavored to encourage people to reach an unattainable ideal. From a failure to reflect with care on ways and means they have unfortunately at times injured those whom they longed to serve. One ideal is expressed in the first message of Abraham Lincoln to Congress, in these words : — " There is not of necessity any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed in that condition 96 PHILANTHROPT. for life. Many independent men, everywhere in these States, a few years back in their lives were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the world labors for wages awhile, saves a sur- plus with which to buy tools or land for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another beginner to help him." Another ideal for the vast majority is expressed by Charles Kingsley, in these words : — " I do not think the cry ' get on ' to be anything but a devil's cry. The moral of my book [" Alton Locke "] is that the workingman who tries to get on, to desert his class and rise above it, enters into a lie, and leaves God's path for his own — with consequences. "Second, I believe that a man might be, as a tailor or a costermonger, every inch of him a saint and a scholar and a gentleman, for I have seen some few such already. I believe hundreds of thousands would be so if their business were put on a Christian footing, and themselves given by education, sanitary reforms, etc., the means of de- veloping their own latent capabilities. I think the cry ' rise in life ' has been excited by the very increasing impossibility of being anything but brutes while they struggle below. I believe from experience that when you put workmen into hu- man dwellings and give them a Christian educa- tion, so far from wishing discontentedly to rise out of their class or level others to it, exactly the PHILANTHBOPT. 97 opposite takes place. They become sensible of the dignity of work, and they begin to see their labor as a true calling in God's church, now that it is cleared from the accidentia which made it look in their eyes only a soulless drudgery in a devil's workshop of a world." Which is the correct ideal — that of Lincoln or that of Kingsley? Both are somewhat extreme, but there can be no doubt that Kingsley showed a far better comprehension of the nature of indus- trial society than did the great American states- man. Only comparatively few can rise to posi- tions of eminence, because eminence means the existence of a mass lower down — a majority not eminent. It is a relative conception. Can every tree in a forest be higher than all other trees? Just so absurd is it to expect every one to attain wealth or prominence in professional or literary pursuits. Every railway president necessitates the existence of several thousand wage-receivers ; every bank president presupposes clerks, book- keepers, and others in a subordinate position; every merchant of wealth requires numerous sala- ried employes. By no human possibility can this be otherwise. It is no more impossible that two and two should make five than it is that the many should rise in the ordinary sense of that word. It is not the fault of employers, nor is it due to the thriftlessness of employes. It lies in the nature of things. If you tell a single concrete 98 PHILANTHROPY. workingman on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that he may yet be president of the company, it is not demonstrable that you have told him what is not true, although it is within bounds to say that he is far more likely to be killed by a stroke of lightning; but it can be mathematically proved that by no amount of diligence, thrift, and intelli- gence can one out of a thousand employes attain that position. The number of those high places is necessarily very limited in proportion to the entire population. This thought is expressed in different words by a celebrated American divine, the late Dr. William Ellery Channing. He says in the recently published selections from his note- book : " Only a few of the laboring class can rise, for it is by them that any one rises." It is of the utmost importance that this truth should be fully grasped by all who would assist society. With industry organized as it is now, it is a necessity that the ordinary free hired laborer should be fixed in that condition for life. More than this is true. The number of those who can rise to the top of industrial society relatively diminishes because production is carried on on an increasingly large scale. When the average number of men in each manufacturing establish- ment is four, one out of four can be at its head ; if the average number is ten, only one out of ten can occupy that position. Scarcely any one will be likely to dispute the fact that the industrial move- PHILANTHROPY. 99 ment of the day is towards production on a vast scale. A recently published and correct statement in regard to the milling industry illustrated it. It was to the effect that the number of flouring mills in the United States had recently and rapidly de- creased, while the number of barrels of flour pro- duced had increased. There is a desire to substitute co-operation for our present system of production. Many of the world's best thinkers believe that this change Avill take place some day, but it seems to be very clear that it can only be brought about as the result of a long course of evolution. Let us, however, sup- pose that the aims of the co-operators could at once be realized. What would thereby be effected? Undoubtedly this would give to the masses the largest economic welfare that could be attained, for with labor and capital thus united the entire product of industry would accrue to the laboring classes. It would involve an intellectual and ethi- cal training, and would lift up the entire level of society, beginning with the lowest social stratum. It would, however, still be necessary for the vast majority to toil at manual labor, nor can this ever be otherwise. It is doubtless best that it should not be other- wise. The number engaged in useful toU is now too small, not too large. It seems to me that, sim- ple as all this is, many philanthropists would have made a different disposition of their property if 100 PHILANTHROPY. they had fully understood it. Too frequently we see men shaping their conduct as if the laboring class could be benefited by lifting men out of it. Consequently, we see inducements offered to men to forsake the occupations of the artisan and me- chanic and become preachers, doctors, and inde- pendent business men. Every newspaper helps to fill the minds of youth with the idea that they ought to become great bankers, manufacturers, or railway presidents, if not presidents of the United States.^ This they are brought to think is what it means to "rise in life." Then, after filling the mind of the average boy with dreams of unattain- able wealth, these same newspapers are astonished to see him turn away in aversion from humble but honorable toil. The doors should be thrown open as widely as possible, and every endeavor should be made to give genuine superiority an opportunity to find a position high up on the social ladder. But let no one imagine that he has conferred a direct benefit on the masses by lifting those born among them above their fellows. The direct effect of a removal of the best talent from among the 1 A distinguished judge of Baltimore told me that he once vis- ited in company with another gentleman St. Mary's Industrial School near Baltimore. This school is a reformatory for young criminals, but the gentleman who accompanied the judge, in talking to the boys tried to encourage them with the thought that any one of them might become president of the United States. This seems to me to have been more than foolish — to have been almost wicked. PHILANTHROPT. 101 masses is an injury and not a benefit. The follow- ing quotation from the novel " Fraternity " brings out this idea : — " The mistake generally made in helping the poor is the attempt to drag up individuals out of the dark, and a constant struggling up of enlight- ened spirits from among them. What we want is rather a constant immigration from the brighter spheres to ours, to aid in changing it, not to assist us in quitting it." If people could have more fully grasped the idea that the vast majority must ever be found in the working classes, so-called, there would have been- a more earnest endeavor to render their lot a hap- pier one. The kind of philanthropy we need is one which will render the life of the ordinary child, the ordi- nary man, and the ordinary woman Tjoth a happier and a better life — a more wholesome life than it is apt to be to-day. This is why I observe with such delight the practical workings of the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Mr. Pratt, as I understand it, did not desire to make merchant princes out of carpenters or blacksmiths, — which might perhaps do them more harm than good, even if it could be accomplished, — but he did wish to render the life of the people of Baltimore, regardless of occupa- tion, richer and fuller, and' this he has accom- plished. Consequently, I should place Mr. Pratt's benefaction second to none of the institutions with 102 PHILANTHROPY. which philanthropists have blessed our favored city. What improvement in the lot of the great mass of mankind is possible ? It would seem that ther e i s no re,p.son why any mp.Tnhp.r of a, civilized c nrri- munity should^be excluded from participation jii all the blessings of civilization which h e can enjoy- T o render these bles girig§_3,i^&fissih1fi tn all rathglL. than to makg._a_Jewi_rich or distnigmshed_is_ the 3ffice j)f philanthrgpy^.and-K is the duty of public policy to encourage a wide diffusion of the free gifts of nature and of the rich acquisitions handed down to us by past generations. What are the real wants of men as distinguished from their ficti- tious wants ? First, there is a religious culture, which should be offered by our churches to all freely, rich and poor alike. The full duty of the churches will never be done so long as church privileges are sold for money. " Without money and without price " should be the motto of every Christian church in tendering its privileges. As I take it, a gift of the largest possible sum, a hundred thou- sand dollars, a year, if you please, entitles one to no privileges whatever, nor does inability to con- tribute a dollar a year work a forfeiture of any privileges in the house of God. Ethical culture must come chiefly through relig- ion, but not wholly. It should not be separated from schools of any grade, and should be supplied PHILANTHROPY. 103 by good literature. A wholesome environment is a great aid to ethical culture. It is difficult to attain a high plane of life in the atmosphere of the slums of our great cities. But these are blots on our civilization, and can and should be abol- ished. The good work has already been begun in many quarters, and it will never cease until it is complete. Here also is an opportunity for public authority and private philanthropy to find a field. It is not necessary to make a gift in this case ; fre- quently it may not be even desirable. Good, com- fortable houses can be built for the laboring classes by associations, and rented so as to yield at least four per centum net on the investment. A gen- tleman in Brooklyn, who has done a good work in providing houses for the poor, receives six per centum net. English ladies and a few American ladies have done a good work in this field, many of them collecting the rents so as to form a con- nection with the tenants and to benefit them by their friendship. Miss Octavia Hill is especially known on this account, and more about her work can be read in the article on " Workingmen's Homes" in Harper's Monthly for April, 1884. A walk through our alleys will show that this work is needed in Baltimore. It is needed in every American city. Intellectual culture is also a right of every human being, and our age for the first time in the world's history is beginning to render it accessible 104 PBILANTHROPr. to all. This must be done by public authority, by co-operation of the people through the agencies of States and their various subdivisions, particularly municipalities. As Hon. J. M. Curry, the agent of the Peabody fund, truthfully asserts: " I am only stating a truism when I say there is not a single instance in all educational history where there has been anything approximating universal education, unless that education has been fur- nished by government. " But if philanthropy is not equal to the task, it can co-operate efficiently with public authority and promote the growth of intellectual culture. I use these words in the largest sense and would include training in the industrial arts and the fine arts. At the present time private efforts might well take the lead in the matter of manual training and help to bring about a time when there shall be no such thing as unskilled labor, but when every man shall be well equipped for some useful occupation. Then for girls there is training in cooking, sewing, and other useful womanly accomplishments which have been too much neglected. Happily some- thing — far too little, however — is already being done in our cities. The work must not be allowed to cease until public authority, which alone can do it, supplies every one with this useful training as supplementary to what is already given in schools. The careful training of all girls, regardless of rank or condition, in womanly accomplishments will PHILANTHROPT. 105 render the home more attractive and wholesome and will hasten the time desired by Kingsley, when it will be easier than now for the ordinary man to be a saint, a scholar, and a gentleman. "We have thus taken a hasty glance at religious, intellectual, and ethical culture. It is possible in all these spheres of life to help men to help them- ' selves. A large field is thus offered for philan- thropy. It has already accomplished much in this field and is destined to achieve grander triumphs in the future. Another class of philanthropic work is reached in the case of food and clothing. The test of all true help is this : Does it help people to help themselves? Does it put them on their feet?" With respect to education, the answer is in the affirmative ; with respect to gifts of food and clothing, it is the exception, when it is not in the negative. Mr. Enoch Pratt might have endowed fifty free soup-houses in the city of Baltimore, instead of founding a free library, but his gift would have been a curse instead of a blessing to us for all future time. Plague, pestilence, and famine together could not work such irreparable harm as fifty free soup-houses. The danger in gifts and clothing is that people will cease to try to exert themselves and will become miserable dependents on the bounty of others, losing their self-respect and manhood. These gifts must then be made with the most extreme caution, and in 106 PHILANTHROPY. saying tliis I am only giving the result of world- wide experience. Even in this rich land of ours it would not be difficult to increase the number of paupers dependent on the toil of other people to one in fifty of the whole population. This is a very conservative estimate. In certain localities, through unwise administration of charity, the number of paupers has increased until they have numbered one in thirty, one in eighteen, and even one in fifteen of the population. Let us try to think what this means. We speak of the German army as a heavy burden resting on the German people, and so it is ; yet large as it is it includes less than one in a hundred of the people. In Baltimore, as elsewhere, there is reason to believe there are a great many pet paupers con- nected with our churches and charitable insti- tutions. I believe every clergyman in the city who has given thought to the subject will bear me out in this statement. They hang on year after year and receive support from well-disposed but too often thoughtless people. The office of relief of pauperism is, first, temporary satisfaction of material wants, but secondly, and chiefly, cure of that contagious and disgusting malady. A pet pauper is a monstrosity. If the same person begs food and clothing year after year, it is a sign that those who minister to him fail in their duty. There is always a temptation, to which even the most lovable of the fair sex sometimes yield, " to PHILANTHROPY. 107 pose as Lady Bountiful" among humble depend- ents. This should always be resisted. The sooner charity puts people on their feet and sends them away, the truer the charity and the more successful its work. The workingmen of Balti- more were some time since trying to start a co-op- erative shirt factory for the sewing women of our city. I belicYC thoughtful clergymen will admit that this is a nobler form of charity than the estab- lishment of ten mothers' meetings of' a type too common ;i yet false ideas are so prevalent that many a person would feel more moved by an appeal to buy coal for gratuitous distribution among the poor than by an appeal to buy five dollars' worth of stock in this co-operative enter- prise, and thus help these poor women to help themselves, and to become so independent that they would need no further assistance. There is so much that philanthropy can do to benefit our race that it is a sin to waste money- either in doubtful forms of charity or in luxury. In accordance with what has been said, a few gen- eral principles can be laid down : — _, 1. To help the masses, one should improve their surroundings ; should assist them to develop their higher faculties, and should open to them all the 1 It must not be supposed by this that I mean to counte- nance wholesale condemnation of mothers' meetings. Some of them seem to be doing a good work, but for the most part a reform of some of the features is evidently desirable. 108 PBILANTBROPY. advantages of civilization in proportion to their capacity for enjoyment. One should not try to improve their lot by aiding as many as possible to escape from the conditions under which the masses live. These conditions themselves are to be ame- liorated. Those exceptional cases who exhibit evidences of unusual talent of any sort, should be helped and encouraged to develop this for their own sakes, as well as for the sake of society. 2. All help should include effort on the part of those aided. The sooner charity becomes need- less and self-help sufficient in each case, the more successful the charity. An excess of help is dan- gerous. On the other hand, an absence of help may be even more disastrous. John Stuart Mill utters these wise words : " It is even more fatal to exertion to have no hope of succeeding by it than to be assured of succeeding without it. When the condition of any one is so disastrous that his ener- gies are paralyzed by discouragement, assistance is a tonic, not a sedative : it braces instead of deaden- ing the active faculties." 3. Philanthropy, like religion, wants first of all the gift of the heart and soul of those who would do good to others. Unless you give yourself, you cannot help others. To scatter money carelessly, to throw dimes to beggars, will prove a curse to society, and can scarcely be expected to bear a rich harvest of treasures in heaven. Individual treatment and personal contact are needed. PHILANTHBOPT. 109 4. Of all charitable and philanthropic effort, that which aims to prevent misery and degrada- tion is most successful. " An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Children are the ones on whom well-disposed persons and reformers should concentrate their efforts. Oliver Wendell Holmes said that philanthropy should begin its work three hundred years before a man was born, but heredity is beyond the control of society. En- vironment is not, however, and in the case of the young that is quite as important. Among the things which children need in a city like Balti- more are more breathing-spaces — playgrounds in the heart of the city. Where children have no home, one should be provided, and no pains should be spared to supplement the work of the home. Children cannot protect themselves against parents who neglect to educate or otherwise to do their duty to them. The strong arm of the law must protect them, and law must be supported by Chris- tian effort. Voluntary agencies should co-operate effectually with public agencies to save the chil- dren and thereby to diminish the field of repressive philanthropy. Sanitary improvements are good preventive measures for both old and young. Im- proved dwellings and strict tenement-house laws also aid in giving strong bodies to the race. Postal savings banks, and also municipal savings banks, like those which are doing so good a work in Ger- many, would have a high value as preventives of 110 PHILANTHROPY. pauperism and promoters of well-being, could they be established. Some employers in making a gift to employes at Christmas time or New Year's give them a bank-book with a sum to their credit. This is the best kind of a present, as it starts men on a road which is hard travelling at first. The highest practicable wages are, of course, desirable, and those who pay their employes good wages are more truly philanthropists than those who cut wages and give largely to chapels for the poor. Co-oper- ation, whenever it has a chance of success, is hope- ful and deserves encouragement, as do all honest measures which tend to a wide distribution of wealth. This article must be closed by one more sugges- tion. Our Baltimore workingmen need a large hall, a workingmen's institute, let us say — some- thing like the People's Palace described by Walter Besant in that admirable novel "All Sorts and Conditions of Men." When Besant described the People's Palace in his novel, it was purely imagin- ary, but it is now in process of construction, and an account of the reality is given by the same writer in the Contemporary Review for February, 1887. I recommend both novel and article as con- taining more practical political economy than nine- tenths of the economic treatises. The purpose is to give working people a place, largely under their own control, where they can meet for social purposes and can find rational rec- PHILANTHROPY. Ill Teation. Instruction in industrial arts, music, painting, etc., is to be provided to take young peo- ple off from the streets and to teach them useful occupations. A workingmen's institute could in- clude also what is found in the very successful Workingmen's College in London, started thirty years ago by Rev. Frederick Denison Maurice, in which laborers have received instruction from men like Ruskin, Sylvester, Seeley, Sheldon Amos, Thomas Hughes, and Sir John Lubbock, not de- signed to lift them out of the laboring class, but to render their lot in that class a more enviable one. In a building for such an institution provision should by all means be made for halls for all kinds of workingmen's societies and for their political gatherings, that they might not find it necessary to meet in liquor saloons. Reading-rooms and other places for the gathering of men when not at work ought to be another feature. Good music ought likewise to be a prominent feature, for the appreciation of music by the masses and its benefi- cial effects have frequently been observed by those who are seeking the elevation of society. This one measure would do a great deal to promote temperance. It would also be a complement to the benefactions of Johns Hopkins and Enoch Pratt, and would help to promote that good feel- ing among all classes which exists already to far greater extent in Baltimore than in any other large American city. The workingmen of Balti- 112 PHILANTHROPY. more feel the need of some large hall of their own An excursion to Tolchester was given recently in order to raise funds for an "Industrial Hall." The circular advertising the excursion stated that the Knights of Labor desired "to establish a permanent home for labor organizations, as at present many of them are compelled to meet over saloons in uncomfortable halls." What a fine op- portunity to do good temperance work and to encourage self-help ! This idea was suggested to me by the late Rev. Dr. Leeds, rector of Grace Church, of Baltimore. In a letter dated March 9, 1885, he said this among other things : " There is a fault in the Church in not elevating as she ought — and as she has it in her power to do — the so- called laboring classes, and in promoting in all ranks in life a feeling of brotherhood. ... It is not through worship alone that we shall reach them ; but even more, I believe, by the provision of places of innocent pastime and social inter- course among themselves, free from the dangers of alluring saloons, and yet antidotes to the gloom of unattractive homes in crowded lanes and alleys. Out of them they will pass, under the Church's encouragement, into her places of prayer of their own choice and motion." IV. ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. In the study of no science is it more important to bear in mind the distinction between words and ideas than in political economy. Locke enforces the far-reaching character of this distinction in general in one of the books of his wonderful work, " Essay on the Human Understanding." The following personal anecdote is narrated; and so weighty is the truth which it conveys, that it ought to be read frequently and fully grasped : "I was once in a meeting of very learned and ingenious physicians, where by chance there arose a question whether any liquor passed through the filaments of the nerves. I (who had been used to suspect that the greatest part of disputes were more about the signification of words, than a real difference in the conception of things) desired that, before they went any further on in this dis- pute, they would first establish amongst them what the word ' liquor ' signified. . . . They were pleased to comply with my motion, and, upon ex- amination, found that the signification of that word was not so settled and certain as they had all imagined, but that each of them made it a sign 116 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. of a different complex idea. This made them per- ceive that the main of their dispute was about the signification of that term, and that they differed very little in their opinion concerning some fluid and subtile matter passing through the conduits of the nerves, though it was not so easy to agree whether it was to be called ' liquor ' or no, — a thing which then each considered he thought it not worth the contending about." This illustration brings us at once to the heart of a large part of past economic controversies. The same words have stood to different men for different ideas ; and in their hot debates about capital, value, money, and the like, they have often been talking about things not at all the same, though they supposed them to be so. One man comes forward with a definition of value, and cries out, "It is of vital importance," as if that would settle all the social problems of the ages, whereas he has simply told us how he intends to use a particular word. He has really accomplished nothing in economics. Having settled upon his signs, he is ready to begin work. I may choose to adopt another definition : what does that signify ? Simply this : to me this sign stands for this idea ; both may be right, though it is of course important to be consistent, and retain throughout the same sign for the same idea. Another gives a definition for capital, and then says, " To speak of produc- tive capital is mere tautology." — " Of course, my ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. 117 dear sir," I reply, " the idea of productivity is im- plied in your definition, but it is not implied in mine. Your proposition, as oftens happens, is a mere repetition of what you already said about cap- ital in your definition ; but capital is not a living definite thing, like a horse or a cow. If it were, our difference of definition might imply error ; at any rate, a difference of opinion." Let us take the case of money. One economist ardently maintains that national bank-notes are money; another denies this. Controversy waxes warm; but ask them both to define money, and you shall find that each included his proposition in his definition. It is mere logomachy, nothing more. One writer — and a very clever one — says, " Value never means utility." That is incorrect. Good writers have used it with that meaning. What he ought to have said is, " According to my definition it can never mean utility." When we pass over to definitions of political economy, we encounter like divergence of concep- tion, and this explains much controversial writing. The words " political economy " do not convey the same meaning to all persons, nor have they been a sign for an idea which has remained constant in time. A definition means one of two things, — what is, or what one wishes something to be. What is political economy ? We can give an answer which 118 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. will describe the various classes of subjects treated under that designation, or we may simply state what. we think the term ought to include. The latter course is that which the doctrinaire always follows. Professor Sidgwick, in his " Scope and Method of Economic Science," complains because certain recent writers include " what ought to be " in their political discussion. Does political economy include anything more than what is ? Is its prov- ince confined to an analysis of existing institutions and the social phenomena of to-day? Here we have to do with a question of fact. What do writers of recognized standing discuss under the heading or title " political economy " ? Open your Mill, your Schonberg, your Wagner, your eco- nomic magazines, and you readily discern that the course of economic thought is largely, perhaps mainly, directed to what ought to be. It is not, as Professor Sidgwick says, that German econo- mists, in their declamations against egoism, con- found what is with what ought to be; for no economists know so well what is, but that they propose to help to bring about what ought to be. This is the reason why the more recent economic thinkers may be grouped together as the " ethical school." They consciously adopt an ethical ideal, and endeavor to point out the manner in which it may be attained, and even encourage people to strive for it. ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. 119 But this is not all. As has been well pointed out by Professor Giddings, what is includes what ought to be. The ideal exists, but not universally. The ethical aim of reformers is to render general that excellence which at the time is isolated. Past, present, and future are organically connected. The germs of a better future always exist in the present, but they require careful nursing. They do not develop spontaneously. This establishes a relation between ethics and economics which has not always existed, because the scope of the science has been, as a matter of fact, enlarged. The question is asked. What is the purpose of our economic life? and this at once introduces ethical considerations into political economy. Of course, it is easily possible to enter into a controversy as to the wisdom of this change of conception. Some will maintain that economic science will do well to abide by the conception current at an earlier period in its development, and restrict itself to a discussion of things as they are without regard to past growth or future evolution. The discussion between representa- tives of these two conceptions would reveal dif- ferences of opinion as regards economic facts and economic forces. Why should economic science concern itself with what ought to be? The answer must in- clude a reference to the nature of our economic life. 120 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. This life, as it is understood by representatives of the new school, is not something stationary : it is a growth. What is, is not what has been, nor is it what will be. Movement is uninterrupted; but it is so vast, and we are so much a part of it, that we cannot easily perceive it. It is in some respects like the movement of the earth, which can only be discerned by difficult processes. We are not conscious of it. Although the thought of evolution of economic life had not until recently, I think, been grasped in its full import, yet econo- mists of the so-called older school, like Bagehot and John Stuart Mill, admitted that the doctrines which they received applied only to a compara- tively few inhabitants of the earth's surface, and even to them only during a comparatively recent period. In other words, English political economy described the economic life of commercial Eng- land in the nineteenth century. Now, a growth cannot well be comprehended by an examination of the organism at one period. The physiologist must know something about the body of the child, of the youth, of the full-grown man, and of the aged man, before he fully understands the nature of the human body. Our biologists, indeed, insist that they must go back to the earliest periods, and trace the development of life-forms forward dur- ing all past periods, and they endeavor to point out a line of growth. The modern economist desires to study society in the same manner. ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. 121 Lord Shei-brooke and others have claimed for political economy the power of prediction, and this has been based on the assumption that men will continue to act precisely as they have acted in time past. What seems to me a more truly scientific conception is this: the economist hopes to understand industrial society so thoroughly, that he may be able to indicate the general lines of future development. It follows from all this, that the future is something which proceeds from the present, and depends largely upon forces at work in the past. More than this is true. The economic life of man is to some considerable extent the product of the human will. John Stuart Mill draws the line in this way : he says tliat production depends upon natural laws, while distribution " is mat- ter of human institution solely." Both statements are somewhat exaggerated. The truth is, politi- cal economy occupies a position midway between physical or natural science and mental science. It is a combination of both. With the inventions and discoveries of modein times, we seem almost to have solved the problem of production : but the problem of an ideal distribution of products still awaits a satisfactory solution. But how largely does this depend on human will? Mill points to the institution of private property as fundamental in the distribution of goods. This is true, and the historical economist discovers that 122 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. the idea of property is something fluctuating. He ascertains that there was a time when landed property was mostly held in common; that in certain parts of the earth it is still held in that manner; while there are far-reaching variations in systems of land-tenure, even in England, France, and Germany, — all of them countries in about the same stage of economic development. Take changes in labor. The laborer has been a slave, a serf, and a freeman in various stages of economic development. His condition has been one of human institution, yet how largely fraught with consequences for the distribution of goods. One more illustration : take even railways. How differently would the wealth of the United States to-day be distributed, had we adopted an exclu- sive system of state railways in the beginning of railway construction, and adhered to that system ! The ethical school of economists aims, then, to direct in a certain definite manner, so far as may be, this economic, social growth of mankind. Economists who adhere to this school wish to ascertain the laws of progress, and to show men . how to make use of them. It has been said that recent tendencies in politi- cal economy indicate a return to Adam Smith; and as in philosophy the watchword, "Back to Kant," has come into vogue, it has been thought that political economists ought to find inspiration in the cry, " Back to Adam Smith ! " While rec- ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. 123 ognizing the truth which this imphes, I am in- clined to the opinion that in some respects the drift is back even to Plato. If you should attempt to develop a conception of political economy out of Plato's writings, would it not, when formu- lated, be about as follows : Political economy is the science which prescribes rules and regulations for such a production, distribution, and consump- tion of wealth as to render the citizens good and happy ? ^ With this compare Laveleye's definition as found in his text-book : " Political economy may therefore be defined as the science which determines what laws men ought to adopt in order that they may, with the least possible ex- ertion, procure the greatest abundance of things useful for the satisfaction of their wants ; may distribute them justly, and consume them ration- ally."^ Though exception may be taken to this definition as a rather too narrow conception of political economy, it answers very well the pur- poses of the present article, for it draws attention to the ethical side of the recent development of economics. It is well to describe somewhat more in detail the ethical ideal which animates the new political economy. It is the most perfect development of all human faculties in each individual, which can 1 See the writer's " Past and Present of Political Economy," p. 48. a Taussig edition, New York, 1884, p. 3, 124 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. be attained. There are powers in every human being capable of cultivation ; and each person, it may be said, accomplishes his end when these powers have attained the largest growth which is possible to them. This means anything rather than equality. It means the richest diversity, for differentiation accompanies development. It is simply the Christian doctrine of talents com- mitted to men, all to be- improved, whether the individual gift be one talent, two, five, or ten tal- ents. The categorical imperative of duty enforces upon each rational being perfection "after his kind." Now, the economic life is the basis of this growth of all the higher faculties — faculties of love, of knowledge, of aesthetic perception, and the like, as exhibited in religioii, art, language, literature, science, social and political life. "What the political economist desires, then, is such a pro- duction and such a distribution of economic goods as must in the highest practicable degree subserve the end and purpose of human existence for all members of society. This is different from the conception of life which is current in society, though it is in har- mony with the ethical ideal of Christianity. The majority of the well-to-do tacitly assume that the masses are created to minister unto their pleasure, while this ethical ideal does not allow us to accept the notion that any one lives merely " to subserve another's gain." An illustration will make clear ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. 126 this difference. Listen to two ladies discussing the education of the serving class, and you shall find that the arguments probably all turn upon the effect thereby produced upon them as ser- vants. An incident which happened at a gath- ering of some kind of a ladies' church society tells us a great deal about our ordinary senti- ments. The ladies were discussing the " servant- girl question," and one after another told her troubles. One of them, however, was silent until urged to tell them about her experiences. She said, "Really, I have no trouble with servants." "How is that?" all exclaimed. Finally she con- fessed that she made her servants a matter of prayer and asked that she might be taught her duty to them. " Your duty ! " was the surprised exclamation; but a new light began to dawn on them. Some confessed that they had asked the Lord to send them good servants, but no one else had ever asked to know her duty to her servants. As has already been stated, the demand of ethics is not equality. A large quantity of economic goods is required to furnish a satisfac- tory basis for the life of the naturally gifted. Books, travel, the enjoyment of works of art, a costly education, are a few of these things. Others lower in the scale of development will need fewer economic goods. One may be able to satisfy all rational needs for what can be pur- chased for three dollars a day, while another may 126 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. need four times that amount. Again : while it is probable that those who belong to the ethical school, as it is called, with Mill, look forward with satisfaction to a time when the condition of an ordinary servant will be held to be beneath members of civilized society, it is doubtless true that large numbers to-day, and for a long lime to come, like, perhaps, the majority of our negroes, will find in the condition of servants in really superior families precisely the best possible opportunity for personal development which they are able to use ; and it is possible that there will always be some unworthy of anything higher than a menial position. The ethical view of economics rejects the com- munism of Baboeuf as something not merely im- practicable, but as something not at all desirable. On the other hand, social ethics will not allow us for one moment to accept the apparent ideal of Renan, when he calmly assures us, that, to such an extent do the many subserve the gain of the few, that forty millions may well be regarded as dung, do they but supply the fertility which will produce one truly great man. Like many others, including indeed representatives of high culture, he seems to regard human development as some- thing existing altogether apart from individuals, as an end to be pursued in itself without regard to the condition of human beings as such. ■ It cannot well be argued that present society ETBICS AND ECONOMICS. 127 satisfies, in so high a degree as one may rationally desire, the demands of ethics. On the one hand, we see those who are injured by a superfluity of economic goods; and, on the other, those who have not the material basis on which to build the best possible superstructure. In both cases this is waste of human power, or, we might say, waste of man. It is desired in future so to guide and direct the forces which control the production and distribu- tion of economic goods, that they may in the high- est degree subserve the ends of humanity. It is not claimed that the power of man is unlimited, but it is maintained that it can and will accom- plish great things. Here we have at once a standard by which to test economic methods. Take the case of low wages. It is argued that low wages increase pos- sible production. Even if this be so, such wages diminish the power of the recipients to participate in the advantages of existing civilization, and con- sequently defeat the end and purpose of all pro- duction. Child labor, female labor, and excessive hours of labor, fall under the same condemnation. In the language of Roscher, " the starting-point as ' well as the object-point of our science is man." It has been said truthfully that the essential characteristic of the new political economy is the relation' it endeavors to establish between ethics and economic life. A new conception of social 128 MTHtCS AND ECONOMICS. etbics is introduced into economics, and the stand~ point is taken that there should be no divergence between the two. While representatives of an older view endeavor carefully to separate the two, the adherents of the ethical school attempt to bring them into the closest relation, — indeed, I may say, an inseparable relation. They apply ethical principles to economic facts and economic institutions, and test their value by that standard. Political economy is thus brought into harmony with the great religious, political, and social move- ments which characterize this age ; for the essence of them all is the belief that there ought to be no contradiction between our actual economic life and the postulates of ethics and a determination that there shall be an abolition of such things as will not stand the tests of this rule. If industrial so- ciety as it exists at present does not answer this requirement, then industrial society stands con- demned ; or, in so far as it fails to meet this re- quirement, in so far is it condemned. It is not that it is hoped to reach a perfect ideal at one bound, but that the ideal is a goal for which men must strive. The new conception of the state is thus secondary, in the opinion of the adherents of the ethical school, to the new conception of social ethics. Doubtless there is a new conception of the state ; for in this co-operative institution is dis- covered one of the means to be used to accomplish the end of human society, the ethical ideal. Per- ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. 129 haps still more important is the departure of econ- omists from the individualistic philosophy which characterized the era of the French Revolution, and which has gained such a stronghold in America, because our republic happened to be founded at a time when this view of individual sovereignty was in the ascendant. The philosophy of individual- ism came to us from England, which had been influenced by France, as well as directly from France, at a time when our thought was in a formative period, and was especially open to new ideas. But the ethical school, I think it safe to say, places society above the individual, because the whole is more than anj' of its parts ; also be- cause, as Aristotle says, " the whole includes all the parts, but the part does not include the whole." In time of war, society demands even the sacrifice of life ; in time of peace, it is held right that in- dividual sacrifices should be demanded for the good of others. The end and purpose of economic life are held to be the greatest good of the great- est number, or of society as a whole. This view is found distinctly expressed in Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," particularly in one place, where he says, "those exertions of the natural liberty of a few individuals, which may endanger the liberty of the whole society, are, and ought to be, restrained by the laws of all governments." This view, however, does not imply a conflict be- tween the development of the individual and the 130 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. development of society. Self-development for the sake of others is the aim of social ethics. Self and others, the individual and society, are thus united in one purpose. It is not possible to develop all these thoughts in a single essay, for that would indeed require a large book ; nor can any attempt be made to offer anything like complete proof of the various prop- ositions enunciated. It has been my purpose to describe briefly a line of thought which it seems to me characterizes what is called the new political economy ; and it should be distinctly understood that this paper claims only to be descriptive and suggestive. It may be well, in conclusion, to point out the fact that the ethical conception of political econ- omy harmonizes with recent tendencies in ethics. The older ethical systems may, I think, be called individual. The perfection of the individual, or the worthiness of the individual, to use another expression, was the end proposed. Moral excel- lence of a single person was considered as some- thing which might exist by itself, and need not bear any relation to one's fellows. Men were treated as units, and not as members of a body. The new tendency of which I speak, however, pro- ceeds from the assumption that society is an organ- ism, and that the individual is a part of a larger whole. Rudolph von Ihering develops this idea in the first two volumes of his Zwech im Recht. ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. 131 The source of ethics he finds in society; the end of ethics hkewise is discovered in society; and from society, according to this theory, is derived the ethical motive power which resides in the human will.^ Social ethics thus replaces indi- vidual ethics. Ethics becomes one of the social sciences, and indeed, to use Ihering's expression, the " queen " of them all. With this view of Iher- ing, should be compared the teaching of Lotze; and I will close this paper with a quotation of some length from his "Practical Philosophy": " To antiquity, man appeared without any mani- fest attachment to a coherent system, transcend- ing his earthly life, pre-eminently as a creature of nature, whose aim — not so much moral as alto- gether natural — could only consist in bringing all the bodily and spiritual capacities with which he is endowed by nature, to the most intensive, and at the same time harmonious, cultivation. . . . This whole culture is not a preparation of the powers for a work to be accomplished ; but it is a self-aim to such an extent that the self-enjoyment of one's own fair personality, and its secure tenure against all attacks from without, form the sole content of such a life. . . . Just the opposite of this, under the influence of Christianity, the con- ^ See work Zweck im Becht. A r€sum€ of his arguments may be found in liia article, " Die geschichtlioh-gesellschaf tlichen Grundlagen der Ethik," in Jahrbuchfur Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung, und Volkswirthschaft, for 1882. 132 ETHICS AND ECONOMICS. viction is formed, that, strictly speaking, e very- man is called only to the service of others ; that the effort to concentrate all possible excellences in one's own person is, at bottom, only a 'shining vice ' ; but true morality consists in the complete surrender of one's own self, and in self-sacrifice for others. . . . Nothing, therefore, remains for us to do but to supplement the ancient self-satisfaction, without surrendering aesthetic culture, by having all the powers acquired by such culture placed at command for the accomplishment of a life-aim in accordance with motions of benevolence ; " and "benevolence, . . . the service of others, consti- tutes the focal point of ethical ideas." ^ 1 See Lotze's " Practical Philosophy," Professor Ladd's edi- tion, Boston, 1855, pp. 58-60. THE SOCIAL CRISIS AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. ADDRESS BY RICHARD T. ELY, Delivered at the Fifth Annual Convention of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Philadelphia, Saturday, Oct. 18, 1890: also (with a few slight modifications^ at the Convention of the Young People's Societies of Christian Endeavor, Pittsburgh, Friday, Nov. 7, 1890. THE SOCIAL CRISIS AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. oJOto THE SOCIAL CRISIS OUTLINED AND CHAR- ACTERIZED. You all are familiar with these -well-known lines from Shakespeare : " There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries." This tide in the affairs of men is what we mean hy a crisis. A crisis is a great turning-point, from which we may proceed to fortune or to ruin. There are individual and also social crises. Human history records many remarkable crises in the life of society and of nations. The Church has also had her crises. The era of the Protestant Refor- mation was a great social, religious, and national crisis. The words and deeds of remarkable men at that time have exercised a potent influence upon the thought and action of subsequent ages ; for a period of crisis is an unusually plastic period. The latter part of the last century witnessed most momentous crises in the world's history. Our 136 THE SOCIAL OBISIS Declaration of Independence and our Revolution- ary War constituted a crisis which can hardly be overestimated, — the full import of which, indeed, is as yet but dimly apprehended. The French Revolution a little later was one of these world events which are powerfully moulding history, and which will continue to mould it, for cen- turies. When we look through American history from the time of the formation of our federal Constitution to the present, we find frequent turn- ing-points, which, although of lesser import, are still genuine crises. All important social move- ments have their crises, and the year 1886 wit- nessed a crisis in the labor movement. It reached a height heretofore unknown among us, and a great opportunity was then offered for beneficent change and progress. But adequate preparation had not been made for this crisis. Its meaning was not fully understood by the leaders of the labor movement, and the right kind of men did not come forward for leadership. Sad is it to contemplate all the wasted social energy, the frus- trated hopes, the heart-burnings of that year. The year 1886, however, constituted but a com- paratively little crisis, which itself is a part of a greater crisis. It is believed by careful observers in all the leading civilized nations that this last quarter of the nineteenth century is a period of one of the greatest social crises in the world's history. It has been truly observed that "great economic AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 137 and social forces flow, with a tidal sweep over com- munities that are only half conscious of that which is befalling them." While there can be no doubt about this, it is equally true that, in looking back over past history, we often find at least an imper- fect consciousness of the true nature of existing crises on the part of wise and good men. What are the characteristics of the present social crisis ? I suppose the chief characteristic of all is a deep stirring of the masses, not a local stirring, not merely a national stirring, but an internationa l, world-wide_ Atirring of tEe^ass^sT The aim, of this movemen t is a profound social reconstructi on. What is desired is change, not merely in surface phenomena, but in the foundations of the social order. ThQae_institutlQns which lie at.,^fl_:£acy basis of social life, and which gi ve shape and direc - tion to this life, are called in question. Perhaps, when the full import of this is understood, it may be a sober judgment — and not a rash exaggeration — to say that it is the most important, the farthest and deepest reaching crisis known to human his- tory. Let us examine very briefly a few features of the present social crisis. It is, among other things, economic in its nature. It is concerned with material good things, or, as we often say, with wealth. The manner of pro- duction of these material good things is examined critically and pronounced faulty. The distribu- tion of these good things among the various mem- 138 THE SOCIAL CRISIS bers of the social organism is likewise critically examined, and is pronounced iniquitous. Pro- posals are made for new modes of production and distribution of economic goods. Sometimes these economic discussions reveal a degrading material- ism, but at other times a lofty idealism and de- termination to make the material side of life subordinate to the highest social ends. Recent historical researches have shown how fundamental are our economic relations. The progress in his- torical studies during the present generation has largely been due to a better appreciation of the influence of ordinary economic institutions and habits upon every department of ' social life, — art, religion, literature, all included. However spirit- ual a man may be, it is necessary for him first of all to secure an economic basis for his activity, if ■ he is to do even the noblest work in the world. I call attention to these considerations because I wish you to grasp the full significance of the fact that our present social crisis is largely economic in character, and not to turn away from it as unworthy the consideration of the deepest intel- lects and the most exalted characters. Another feature of the social crisis is its world- wide" reach. This ^as already been mentioned, bulrwe'must call to mind a few particulars. One is the organization of labor, — once merely local, then at a later period national7"and now interna- tional and cosmopolitan. About a generation ago AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 139 labor organizations began to adopt the word " inter- national " as part of their title, and such they have become with ever-increasing extent from that time to the present day. Those who are influen- tial in the organization of labor, including even many ordinary artisans and mechanics, embrace a tremendously wide sweep in their vision. Events of importance to wage-earners in any one part of the world are known very soon in every other part of the world. In the office of the editor of a labor paper you will see among his exchanges labor newspapers not merely from every European coun- try, but from Asia, Africa, and Australia. You will find newspapers devoted to the interests of labor, printed in at least three different languages, part of the paper in one, part in a second, and another part in still a third. I call to mind one labor paper printed partly in English, partly in German, and partly in Bohemian. I remember another paper which used principally English, but sometimes printed French articles. Not only are intelligent workingmen aware of events in other lands which concern them, but day by day to an increasing extent they act in concert. Workingmen in Belgium learn of a strike in England, and refuse to accept offers of employ- ment in that country. They come to this country for employment, and when they find that they are expected to take the place of strikers, they return to Belgium with money furnished by 140 THE SOCIAL CRISIS their American fellows. A great strike of dock laborers in London breaks out, and is carried to successful completion with the aid of con- tributions received from Australian workingmen, living on the other side of the globe. Simultane- ously on the first of May workingmen parade, make speeches, and otherwise participate in a dem- onstration for an eight-hour working day in the United States, in France, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere. In our American Pittsburgh, repre- sentatives of six nations met a few years since and formed a union of glass-workers designed to em- brace every one engaged in that industry on the entire surface of the globe. The last issue of the North American Review contains an article on labor movements in Great Britain by Michael Davitt, in which he states that our American or- ganization, the Knights of Labor, is rapidly spread- ing in Great Britain and Ireland. We have already heard of assemblies of Knights of Labor in Belgium and Australia, and the General Mas- ter Workman of them all is Mr. Powderly. Our own country, also, issues an invitation to organ- ized workingmen everywhere to hold a world's congress of labor in Chicago in the year 1893. The circular, which proceeds from the American Federation of Labor, begins as follows : " Wage- workers of all countries ! Comrades, — recogniz- ing the identity of interests of the wage-workers of the world, the great bond of interest and sym- AND THE CBURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 141 pathy which should prevail in the "hearts and minds of all toilers," and then proceeds to an- nounce the labor congress to be held at the time of the World's Fair. The object of holding the congress is stated to be " to formulate and dis- cuss the very many questions affecting our inter- ests, to give a greater impetus to the cause of progress and civilization, and to make known to the world by our unalterable determination that we insist upon being larger sharers in the world's progress." Truly, these facts which I have cited, and to which I might add many more similar in nature, lend dignity to the labor movement, what- ever else they may indicate. We havH^on the other hand, an organization of capital which embraces within the scope of its activity many nations, and even the idea of an exclusive world combination of capitalists is be- coming familiar to us in the proposed world trusts. , These organizations mean — it is useless to dis- guise it — conflict, deep and prolonged. Even if happily it does not mean a conflict at arms, it does mean a conflict none the less real, and per- haps at times scarcely less disastrous. It is all very well to say that capital and labor are allies and not enemies, but the phrase, if it means any- thing, is but a pious aspiration. The interests of nations, we may as well say, are harmonious and not diverse, but nations from time to time in the world's history have gone to war, and in 142 THE SOCIAL CRISIS all probability will continue to do so for an in- definite period. Fortunately there is coupled with the desire for radical change a pronounced longing for domestic a nd international peace, and together with the words^i',strikaZ andji£o.mbiiiati on"~we see join ed t he words "a xbi^-^"^'"" 'V anji-tLtuM3jiiUa±km7' One of these organizations mentioned, namely, the Knights of Labor, has from the very beginning placed among its aims, not merely the assertion of the rights of wage-earners, but plans for arbitra- tion and for the ultimate harmonious co-operation of all social and economic factors. Consistently with this the Knights of Labor have always been willing to admit to their ranks employers as well as employes, and have gladly welcomed the pro- fessional classes, so that we find among them at least some considerable employers and men of means, as well as teachers, preachers, physicians, writers for the press, and authors. Labor organizations, however, are only one of the characteristic features of the present social crisis. We have many other features ; anarchy, of both a violent revolutionary and a peaceable type. The International Workmen's Association, including the Chicago anarchists, is, however, our best-known representative of anarchy. Wherever found, anarchy is cosmopolitan in feeling. We have the opposite of anarchy, socialism, the extension of which over the face of the earth has been one of AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 143 the most remarkable social movements of modern times. It is as yet scarcely a generation since a well-known French historian of social movements penned the obituary of socialism, but penned its obituary, as we now see, before it was scarcely born. The ink was hardly dry on this obituary notice before socialism again reared its head, and now it has become a power felt in every civilized nation the world over without an exception. We have in this country the American type of social- ism, the new Nationalism, which has made so much noise in the world and has spread so rapidly that it is difficult to realize that the first Nationalists' Club has not yet held its second anniversary. We have also the movement instituted by Henry George, designed to modify a fundamental eco- nomic institution, private property in land, and Henry George's name within ten years has become a household word in America, Europe, and Aus- tralia, and is not unknown in Asia and Africa. It is sometimes foolishly asserted by ignorant people that these social and economic movements are not American, but essentially foreign. This is absurd. They are, as pointed out, cosmopolitan, and not national at all, and take them all together it may be doubted whether any country has con- tributed so much to these social movements as the United States. From every land the wage-earning classes are looking to America for inspiration and direction. 144 THE SOCIAL CRISIS i^other feature of the social crisis is the relig- ious restlessness ^oFthe time". ■ EYefftKe^Hest^is- torical churches have felt this influence and are undergoing change. Religion is a social_tie.; it unites men ; it is a necessary eie ment in^tbfi. social organism if ~itelnembers are to woric ha rmom ojisly together, and in our estimate j)f_Jhe_tm^imgsiij2f the"sociaI~erisis we must not fail. to_ inq uire into religious mojrements. What is the character of these new forces which are revolutionary? Do they promise peaceful revo- lution, or one of violence and bloodshed, a benefi- cent or a maleficent revolution? That depends upon their religious character. These forces may be guided by a religious spirit, or they may be directed by a spirit of irreligious materialism. If Christ, the head of the Church, guides these forces, all will be well. Happily some earnest Christian men are engaged in these tremendous social move- ments, and are using all their power to direct them into proper channels. Would that there were more of these Christian men bringing their influence to bear upon these social movements ! But there are in these movements those who are vicious, as well as those who misunderstand the nature of Christi- anity, and identify it with abuse of Christianity. We find un-Christian and anti-Christian elements in these social movements. We discover those who are simply indifferent to the claims of Christi- anity; absorbed by other forces, they pay little AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. ' 145 heed to it. We find also a man like the Italian patriot, Mazzini, a noble character, rejecting Chris- tianity because he thought it taught men the selfish pursuit of individual salvation to the exclusion of social welfare. We find men like Mr. Frederic Harrison, the London Positivist, who contrasts the professions of Christians with their practice, and turns away from Christianity with pathetic words — words not devoid of a noble ring. "In a healthy state of things," says Mr. Harrison, "and if Christianity were equal to its proud professions, it would be the business of the great white races of Europe to raise the standard of civilization through Asia, and ultimately through Africa. But what was seen at the present day in Africa," he said, " was the great lust of conquest, of trade gains, of lands to be won by fighting, and profits to be snatched by fraud, strength, wealth, and chicanery. . . . Christianity as the morality of nations has visibly failed. Socially regarded, it did almost nothing to control the state of expect- ant war and the jealousy of nations. . . . The power of Christianity for the moral life of the individual was one which Positivism has always recognized ; but the power of Christianity for the intellectual, scientific, or political life of nations in a revolutionary age, or for the industrial life of the present generation, was a problem of the day. It was there that Christianity not only failed, but was criminally complacent to the evils." We find 146 THE SOCIAL CRISIS among the elements of these social movements a spirit of resistance to Christianity, passing into open attack, culminating in the revilings of men like the Chicago anarchists and John Most, who say the Church is bad, thoroughly bad, a bulwark of privilege, in Europe of dynasties, here of pluto- crats. "Heaven," says one writer of this class, "is a dream invented by robbers to distract the attention of the victims of their brigandage." An article in^ Host's paper, the Freiheit, concludes with the exclamation: "Religion, authority, and state are all carved out of the same piece of wood. To the devil with them all ! " And the Pittsburgh manifesto of the International Working People's Association contains this sentence : " The Church finally seeks to make complete idiots out of the masses, and to make them forego the paradise on earth by promising them a fictitious heaven." A man like Colonel Robert IngersoU comes forward as the champion of oppressed humanity, and to many becomes a l^ero. Have we not in what has been said given some indications of a very real and very awful crisis ? These forces which are outlined are not altogether condemned — far from it — but it is maintained that they indicate a present social crisis, the like of which may be difficult for any man to point out in human history. AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 147 THE SOCIAL CRISIS AN OPPORTUNITY. Dr. Josiah Strong, the author of the well-known book " Our Country," once said, in an address to which I had the pleasure of listening, that he would rather live in the last half of the nineteenth cen- tury than in any previous period of the world's history. He intimated, if he did not say it in so many words, that he considered his position as a disciple of Christ in this age preferable to that of one of Christ's own immediate followers in his life- time upon earth. The reason why he could make such a statement becomes obvious on a little reflec- tion. Dr. Strong is fully conscious of the~existence of an extraordinary social crisis, and he feels that our opportunities at present are in proportion to the gravity of the crisis. There is no doubt about this. A crisis means an opportunity, and the present social crisis is the Church's unprecedented, unparalleled opportunity. The Church cannot stand athwart the path of progress and prevent the onward movement of the mighty social forces which are sweeping over us. Any attempt to stop these forces is reckless madness. The Church may, however, direct these forces into such fruitful channels that they may become powerful for the good of man and the glory of God. The Church must gain leadership, and what does that mean ? Not that clergymen as such, perhaps 148 THE SOCIAL CRISIS not at all, should be recognized as pre-eminently social leaders of the time, but that the spirit of Christ should be infused into tEe social mover aent under consijderation, .aJld-JJaajLjtlia_social~3eSces which are producing this upheaval of the world should become mighty ethical TOTcesT"" It is " said that the Church must gain leadership, and how? This question may be answered by asking and answering other questions. How does it happen that the Church has lost a leadership which she once possessed? How does it happen that as a matter of fact the present social crisis has come upon her almost unawares, and that she is not prepared to meet it ? The tro uble is that she ha s in recent centuries to a large extent been preach- ing""arone-sided haJi-g^peL^_and not a wholegospel. The remedy is a strong masculine gospel, and not merely a feminine gospel; in other words, a whole gospel. What we needis the whole truth, and that includes a social^ as well as an individuaTgospel. While avoiding destructive criticism, let us~ex- amine ourselves honestly and encourage construc- tive criticism. It is as a sincere friend of the Church, a believer in the Church, a member of the Church, that I come before you and criticise the narrow, negative, individualistic attitude of Protestantism. It is because one-half of the gos- pel has been neglected that a lot of phrases like " saving souls " — many of them unscriptural — have come to represent the whole of the gospel AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 149 to the minds of many. The Church's oppor- tunity, then,^s to turn ...away from a negative, 'narrow, individualistic Protestantism, and'To'pro- claim the -broad" xathoITctt y" of ""Christian truth a nd-T)t?Iigy : Tn" metaphysics we hear cries like these — Back to Kant!" "Back to Plato!" ' Let us in the Church raise the cry — Back to Christ ! not, however, in any fanatical spirit. God re- vea ls HimseliJ xi_J3,aiiMa»4B-.kiatQry. in jQcial, life, in His Church and in the State, but the greatest revelation o£ all is in Christ! The lBTBIe~contains the fullest account of this revelation, and it is this revelation of Christ that helps us to understand all the other manifestations of God in His world. The same thought may be expressed in other words, namely — "Forward to Christ," indicating that, if we look to Christ for an ideal and an in- spiration, we do not mean to return to antiquated institutions, but to press forward to a nobler future than any past age. If any think " Back to Christ " means reaction, we will add the cry " Forward to Christ." The gospel of Christ is both individual and social. It proclaims individual and social regen- eration, individual and social salvEition. Yet to such an extent has half of the gospel been neg- lected that the very phrase " social Christianity " strikes some as strange. Let us contrast the kind of gospel I have described as only half-gospel with the gospel of the Bible. In a previous address 150 THE SOCIAL CRISIS delivered elsewhere I called attention to modern hymns. While many of them are undoubtedly grand, yet taken as a whole they contain in their exclusive individualism an unanswerable indict- ment of the life of the Church. I would empha- size this point, because the hymns of the Church must of necessity reveal the true inward life of the Church, just as the life of a nation is revealed by its songs. The narrow character of the hymns of the Church has been brought home to me for- cibly of late, because when preaching a few lay sermons in which I have endeavored to bring out the social content of Christianity, I have in vain searched for hymns suitable for the occasion. It is difficult to find a hymn in our hymnal which is not individualistic, while many of them reveal an unhealthy introspection and positive selfishness. You may open the hymn-book at random, and see if this is not true. In preparing this discourse I took up a copy of our hymnal, and on opening it the first hymn that I saw was that which begins with this stanza : — " Whate'er my God ordains is right ; His will is ever just ; Howe'er He orders now my case, I will be still and trust. He is my God ; Though dark my road, He holds me that I shall not fall, Wherefore to Him I leave it all." AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. lol And the last stanza reads as follows : — " Whate'er my God ordains is right ; Here will I take my stand, Though sorrow, need, or death make earth For me a desert land, My Father's care Is round me there, He holds me that I shall not fall ; And so to Him I leave it all." This hymn, which is a fair sample of the vast majority of modern hymns, is perhaps good enough so far as it goes, but it is a very serious fault that the hymns we have stop where they do. I take my Bible and let it fall open where it will in the Psalms, and the first psalm that I see is number 68. It begins : — " Let Q-od arise., let His enemies he scattered : let them also that hate Him flee before Him. " As smoke is driven away., so drive them away : as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of Crod. " But let the righteous be glad ; let them rejoice before God : yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. " Sing unto Crod, sing praises to His name : extol Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name JAH, and rejoice before Him. " A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows, is God in His holy habitation. " God setteth the solitary in families : He bringeth 152 THE SOCIAL CRISIS out those which are hound with chains : hut the re- hellious dwell in a dry land." The entire psalm is social and national, and it does not contain an / or me except when the words are put into the mouth of the Lord. Many of the psalms, it is true, do contain the individual element, and are an unspeakable comfort and help to the individual as such in times of sorrow and distress. The very next psalm, for example, begins : — "Save me, Q-od; for the waters are come in unto my soul. " / sink in deep mire, where there is no standing : I am come into deep waters, where the floods over- flow me. " I am weary of my crying : my throat is dried : mine eyes fail while I wait for my Crod." But before the Psalmist has finished he remem- bers that he is one among many, that he is a mem- ber of a social and national organism, that he is an individual with brothers, and he turns from himself and sings : — " The Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not. his prisoners. ******* " For Q-od will save Zion, and will huild the cities of Judah : that they may dwell there and have it in possession. " The seed also of His servants shall inherit it : and they that love Sis name shall dwell therein." AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 153 It is a glory of the Psalms that you always find these two elements so beautifully blended. Their content is both individual and social, feminine and masculine. There are other songs in the Bible which are equally instructive in this connection. I have in mind the songs recorded in the Gospel according to St. Luke connected with the birth of Christ, and I beg you to notice the marked and painful contrast with the generality of modern hymns. We have iirst the song of Mary, the mother of Christ : — " My soul doth magnify the Lord, '■'■And my spirit hath rejoiced in Grod my Sa- viour. " For He hath regarded the low estate of His hand- maiden: for, behold, from henceforth all genera- tions shall call me blessed. " For He that is mighty hath done to me great things ; and holy is His name. " And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation. '■'■He hath showed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. " He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. '■'■He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent hungry away. " He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remem- brance of His mercy ; 154 THE SOCIAL CRISIS " As Re spake to our fathers., to Abraham, and to Mis seed forever." The next song is that of Zacharias, who, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesied, saying : — " Blessed he the Lord G-od of Israel ; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, " And raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David ; " and the song concludes in these words : — " And thou, child, shall he called the prophet of the Highest : for thou shalt go hefore the face of the Lord to prepare His ways ; " To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their Sins, " Through the tender mercy of our Crod ; whereby the day spring from, on high hath visited us, " To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Next follows the song of the angels. And the angel said unto the shepherds watching over their flocks : — '■'■Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. " For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, ivhich is Christ the Lord." And after this announcement, " Suddenly there was with the angel a mul- titude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying. AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 155 " Grlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." We would do well to ponder the subordination of the individualistic element to the social in these songs. Surely its deep significance may teach us that God's way for us to save ourselves is humbly in His fear to work diligently for the salva- tion of individuals and nations in this world ; in other words, for the coming to pass of that king- dom which filled the mind and heart of Christ. When we read our Bible thoughtfully, we must be struck by the grand, sublime, all-inclusive gen- eralizations which include the whole duty of man within the compass of a few words, but also with their minute and detailed practical application to the affairs of life. We find this in the Psalms ; we find such homely subjects mentioned as in- terest on money, as weights and measures, as righteous judgment, as merciful consideration of the need of the poor. Beyond controversy there runs all through the Bible as a distinct aim of God's purpose for Israel the abolition of pov- erty, and the establishment of general social welfare. This is not all, it is true, but it is a promi- nent part ; and this is a part of the law of God which Christ came to fulfil. It was the cere- monial law merely and not the social law which Christ abolished. The spirit of the entire social law of the Old Testament is as binding upon us as upon any member of the Jewish commonwealth. 156 THE SOCIAL CRISIS You all remember one of the early sermons o\ Christ in which He proclaimed His mission : — " The spirit of the Lord is upon me,. because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind; to preach the acceptable year of the Lordr 1 Thus Christ proclaimed His mission of social as ■well as individual salvation, and announced that He was anointed to establish here among us a kingdom of God. You will also remember how 1 The acceptable year of the Lord wa8 a reference to that great social and economic institution, the year of Jubilee. An old commentator says: "This was a year of general release of debts and obligations; of bond- men and women; of lands and possessions, which had been sold from the families and tribes to which they had belonged." There is controversy about some points, and it is not clear that there was a remission of all debts. It is, however, indisputable that it was an anti-poverty measure. The avowed design was that there should be no poor in Israel. It is forced and unnatural to make Christ refer merely to de- liverance from spiritual poverty and to the healing merely of inward spiritual disease. Such an interpretation is contradicted by the gospel accounts of his life. No one who heard Christ imagined that he promised merrli/ inward, individualistic bless- ing. As Christ expounded the Scriptuves, " alt bare Him witness and wondered at the ijracious words which proceeded out of His moullt." It ought scarcely to be necessary to warn against an opposite error to that against which I contend. Christ did not promise merely or even chiefly material blessings. He always taught the subordination of tlie material to the spiritual, and that is the aim of the true kind of social reform. AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 167 unsparingly Christ condemned the cruelty and oppression of His day, and how He mentioned defi- nite, concrete forms of sin, — " Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- crites ! For ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers : therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation." I think most of us do not understand the kind of social sermons that Christ preached. If, however, any one will take the twenty-third chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, and will trans- late it into modern language, substituting for the sins there denounced the chief sins of our day, and for the influential persons there named those classes which are most prominent in our society, — as for scribes and Pharisees, railway magnates, coal barons. University professors and doctors of divinity, I think he will come to understand bet- ter than before one reason at least why Christ was crucified. A man who would talk as Christ did on the streets of Chicago or New York would be in danger of being clubbed by the police, if nothing worse. I am not saying that we should imitate this language, but I am simply trying to point out to you its nature. If we read the writings of Christ's apostles, we shall find likewise mention of specific evils of the day and unsparing denuncia- tion of them. Keeping back the hire of the la- borers was a social evil in the time of St. James as at the present day, and St. James did not hesi- 158 THE SOCIAL CRISIS tate to bid the rich men who kept back the hire of the laborers to weep and howl for the miseries which should come upon them. Perhaps had he lived in our day, he would have had something to say about weekly pay-bills and powerful corpor- ations which resisted them, and he might have used equally plain and vigorous language. We see, then, how the Church could not be ready for the movements of our time. These are distinctively social, and her social armor she has allowed to rust. She has attempted to answer the question, " What must I do to be saved ? " but she has not been equally clear and explicit in her answers to questions like these — How must I relieve the oppressed? How must I help the fatherless ? How must I overtlirow the machina- tions of those who in our own day make long prayers for pretence and devour widows' houses ? What must the American people do to be saved? What must I do to help work out the salvation of the American people? As soon as we grasp thi s thought of t he gripial p|-| f|raG.taii . ^ i ^ ..« n > « i»lTLaia the in dividual cha racter of Christiani j:yj_a£fi -fiiid every page of the Scriptures illun^inated with, a. new ligET. We find, foF example, that when Christ said. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all earthly good things shall be added unto you. He was proclaiming a truth rather of social and na- tional application than of individual application. Material good things are by no means always AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUNITY. 159 added to the individual seeker of God's kingdom, and Christ again and again distinctly said that His followers must often give up all these material goods. These material good things were not added unto Christ, who surely first of all sought God's kingdom, nor were they added unto His im- mediate followers. But it is true to-day, as in the time of Christ and in all times, that that nation which in all its laws and institutions seeks first the kingdom of God shall have all these things added unto it. New significance can also be attached to institu- tions like the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Its individual character, which is usually exclusively dwelt upon, is only one part of its significance. What is its social significance ? It is fraternity ; brothers and sisters in Christ partake of a common meal, and from most ancient times this has been regarded as symbolic of brotherhood and also as promotive of brotherhood.^ To this day German students enter into a new relation with each other by drinking together what they call " Brother- hood " (Bruderschaft). After drinking this to- gether, they no longer call each other " you," but by the familiar appellation "thou." As soon as the Church studies carefully and ' This gives peculiar significance to the invitation to come to the Holy Communion. " Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbors," etc. 160 THE SOCIAL CRISIS begins to understand the fulness of the gospel message, an abundance of concrete social topics will be found suitable for discussion in the pulpit. I have recently been reading two interesting books, one called " Social Christianity," the other " The Philanthropy of God," containing sermons preached by a well-known English Methodist minister, Mr. Hugh Price Hughes. Mr. Hughes acknowledges that in his earlier ministry he preached narrow, one-sided individualism, but in these books he discusses topics like these : " The Administration of Justice," " Jesus Christ and the Masses," " Jesus Christ and Social Distress," " Christ the Greatest of Social Reformers," "National Char- acter Determined by National Laws," " The Brotherliness of Christ," " Gambling," " Inter- national Arbitration," " The Problem of London Pauperism." In one of his sermons he mentions these nine social evils against which we must wage war : pauperism, ignorance, drunkenness, lust, gambling, slavery, Mammonism, war, and physical disease. In treating of the last evil he mentions six requisites of public health. These are : 1st, sanitary houses ; 2d, fresh air ; 3d, warm clothes ; 4th, pure water ; 5th, Avholesome food ; 6th, vigorous exercise. You see how wide the field opened by the discussion of such topics from a religious standpoint. AND THE CHURCH'S OPPORTUXITY. 161 My Friends and Brothers, — I rejoice in the growth and prosperity of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, which in its programme has given so large a place to practical Christianity. Your growth and prosperity are the indications of our_ need of an organization like yours. You are helping the Church to understand the two sides of the Chris- tian gospel, the individual and the social. Con- tinue in your good work, and hasten that day of triumph when Christ shall be the recognized leader of all great social movements, and when Christians, realizing as never before the fulness and completeness of the individual and social sal- vation of Christ, shall attain a new conception of the abundant and all-suiBcient love of God re- vealed to us in His son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, and shall understand better than before why Paul concluded his wonderful thirteenth chapter of Corinthians with these words, — " And now dbideth faith, hope, love, these three ; but the greatest of these is love." RICHARD T, ELY' S WORKS "JVb Tnan in this country speaks tvitJi the same authority or de~ serves more earnest attention.'' PROBLEMS OF TO-DAY. A discussion of protective tariffs, taxation, and monopohes, by Richard T. Ely, Pii. D., author of "Labor Movement in America," " Taxation in American States and Cities," etc. i2mo, ^i.^o. This work appeals to all classes and conditions of men, " Republicans," "Democrats," "Independents," Legislators, Private Citizens, Merchant Princes, Mechanics, and Day Laborers. All are alike interested in the ques- tion of a protective tariff, the nature of monopolies, the welfare of labor, the national surplus, the morality of subsidies, etc. " Written in an impartial spirit," — Commercial Bulletin, "Strong and vigorous." — Age of Steel. " Consummate skill and the most cogent reasoning." — Detroit Free Press. *' What he writes is always worth reading." — Baltimore Sun. " Which every citizen who has the best interests of the country at heart should read." — Western Christian Advocate. TAXATION m AMEEICAN STATES AND CITIES. By Richard T. Ely, Ph. 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