In the fourth meeting the general subject of discussion was "A United Church and the Social Order." The discussion was to have been opened with an address by Justice Harlan, Presbyterian, of the United States Supreme Court, on "Labor and Capital." He did not come, and his place was taken by his pastor, Dr. Radcliffe, of Washington, D. C. He said that the question is a Christian question. It has not been settled, and will not be settled until the Scriptural statement has been experienced, "Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God." The rich man's camel has been altogether overworked; and it is doubtful whether he has any desire even to look at the eye of that needle. Christ has not brought to us the idea that mon-kery is the ideal of life. The Federated Church, while emphasizing the teaching and example of Christ, will also emphasize the integrity of the individual. The church of Christ, as it would solve the problem of labor and capital, must recognize and emphasize the distinct personality of the individual man. Calvary stands, but Sinai has not been destroyed. Christianity carries righteousness, which is law and love. The spirit of Christ requires a fair day's wage for a fair day's work; everywhere and in all cases, whether of man or woman. The church of Christ will stand by the public school. The Federated Church will re-enforce the Bible in the public school. The Federated Church will declare and contend, not for a continental Sunday, nor for a Puritan Sabbath, but for the true, and the true observance of, the Lord's day.
Bishop D. H. Greer.
Dr. Tucker, president of Dartmouth College, discussed "Citizenship:" What rank do we propose to give citizenship? If we are not prepared to give it the first rank, we are not ready to deal with it at all. What are the qualities that lead men to achieve greatness by way of citizenship? (1) Imagination, or if you will, faith. We ought to move out of "we ought" in relation to reforming our cities, and pitch our camp in "We can do it if we will." Why do we discuss citizenship in a federation of churches? The test of fellowship in this whole matter of civic righteousness is simply that they be able to "cast out devils"—the devils of greed and lawlessness.
Frank Mason North, D.D.
Dr. Doane, Episcopal, spoke on the "Family Life:" The family is the foundation of all human association. Our language has a monopoly of the work and idea of Home. "Here is the place, not for federation only, or combination, or co-operation, but of absolute, impregnable unity, and the place to begin is not in the legislature or in the divorce courts, but in the teaching of the pulpit, the insistence of the ministry, and the influence of Christian manhood and womanhood for the solemnity and sacredness of marriage."
Dr. Van Dyke, of Princeton University, spoke on "The Ideal Society:" It is a large, difficult, and remote subject. It is the goal of all the churches. The man who wants to be saved above, is on the way to be damned. No religion can do anything for me that does not make me do something for you. When the ideal society is reached, there will be no more churches, no more ministers; for all will know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. All men's good will be each man's goal. That is the ideal society—and it is a long way off. A golden age can not be made out of brazen hearts. The guide of Christian progress is the word of Jesus, "The kingdom of God is within you." What are we to do now, to aim at to-day, and to hope for to-morrow, to bring the ideal society? The foundation of Christ's work was the individual will and character. The first step is not through the heart of humanity, but through the hearts of men. The ideal society relies more on moral principles than legal statute. There is no law that man has made that man can not evade. The chief reason why society is not better is because so many men are bad. Legislatures can not reach the roots of the evils. It will be an ill day for the church when she yields to the delusion that society can be reformed from the outside. A society in which the Golden Rule seems to be impractical is not a Christian society. The church must hold ever that her field of effort is the life within, and that the root of human sorrow lies deep in human sin. Back to Christ was the cry a few years ago. The true cry is ever, Forward to Christ; forward to Christ the Founder and the Master of ideal society.
Chas. L. Thompson, D.D.
THE FIFTH MEETING.
By Alonzo T. Jones
A United Church and Missions.
Chas. L. Thompson, D.D.
THE fifth meeting was occupied with addresses on the general subject of "A United Church and Home and Foreign Missions." This discussion was preceded, however, by the passing of Dr. Gladden's resolution addressed to Russia, as follows:
The Inter-Church Federation of the United States of America, assembled in the city of New York, and representing 18,000,000 of communicants in the free Protestant churches of America, sends greeting to the Christian rulers and Christian ministers and the Christian people of Russia, beseeching them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to do what they can, without delay, to put an end to the dreadful cruelties which are now being inflicted upon the Jewish people in many parts of the Russian Empire.
That those who bear the name of Jesus Christ should practise such cruelties, or tolerate them, brings pain to the heart and shame to the face, of every true Christian in all the world. And what grief it must cause to the blessed Christ Himself, who pronounced His blessing on the merciful, who bade us love our enemies and bless them that curse us, and who gave us that parable of the Good Samaritan who succored and befriended a suffering Jew. Our hearts go out to the Russian people in this day of their trouble and calamity. We are praying that peace and welfare may soon be restored to you, but our sympathy is chilled, and our prayers falter on our lips, when we read of this terrible carnage. The people of Russia must not, in her time of need, make it hard for their Christian brethren in all the world to think kindly of them.
We speak not as the representatives of any military or political power. Our churches have no connection with our government. We speak only as the followers and disciples of the Prince of Peace. It is the love and honor we bear our common Lord that makes us speak. It is the truth we have learned from Him that we are trying to utter. We speak not as Americans to Russians, but as Christians to Christian men; and we implore you, brethren, by the mercies of Christ, that you will act at once, with one accord, and rise up and speak the word which shall restrain these atrocities and heal the reproach which they are bringing on the Christian name.
The discussion of the question of the church and missions was opened by Dr. Mills, bishop of the United Brethren. He said that in this great conference we are indeed upon the holy mount with the glory of God overshadowing us, and the glorified Son of God in our midst. We must learn how7to make vitally pregnant and permanent the noble ideal of Christian unity in the spirit and plans and work of the church; even as our fathers embodied their glorious ideal of liberty, equality, and fraternity, in the great nation composed of federal states. Then the church will be, not in ideal only, but in reality, a glorious republic whose only head is Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and whose citizens are all brethren. Can not this federation secure such co-operation of the denominations in Porto Rico in the conducting of our educational institutions, instead of the several weak ones that are struggling for existence? The same can be done as to theological education at home, and in the foreign countries. The federation of churches can secure such co-operation in mission fields as in a crisis to loan a worker by one denomination to another, and prevent threatened disaster. Even beyond this federation of Protestant churches, we may confidently look and hope for a re-union of Christendom.
Dr. Niccolls, Presbyterian: This federation of churches promises the realization of the unity of Christians. It shall come to pass that the imperial cause of conquest of the world for Christ shall lift the churches out of sectarian divisions into one great unity.
Dr. Morehouse, secretary Baptist Home Mission Society: The mission of the church of Christ is missions. A united church for home and foreign missions, is the call of the present time. Never was Christendom more united in this than now. Another aspect of the case is unity and fellowship among denominations by home and foreign missions. Unless we evangelize the many elements poured upon us by immigration, they will demoralize us. Besides, here is a point where home and foreign missions join.
Bishop Warren of the Methodist Church was to have spoken, but could not be present, and Bishop Fowler took his place, and delivered a timely and splendid note of warning against anything tending toward centralization, or assumption of power, by this federation movement. He urged that the denominations as such, each in its place and in its own integrity, must ever be recognized and respected, however small it may be. If this federation should grow into a centralized power, under which the denominations lose their distinctive identity and native, perfect freedom, then we should see here despotism, cruelty, and persecution, by Protestantism. Human nature has not changed. It was a sorry day for the world when there was but one human brain in the world, and that brain in the chair of St. Peter's.
Bishop Levering, of the Moravian Church: The great meaning of this assembly is that it is composed of delegated representatives from the large denominations, sent expressly to consider and accomplish federation. We are glad that out of the crude efforts of earlier times there has emerged this grand movement for unity in diversity, to secure co-operation for the more effective promotion of the kingdom of God.
Bishop Galloway, of the Methodist Church, South: To my mind there is great significance in the meeting of this great assembly in this great city, where, in 1844, the church to which I belong was divided. There are two great problems that confront us to-day. The first of these is foreignism. The other, and especially, is the attitude of American Christianity toward the men of color. I believe in a Gospel that is adapted to human needs, under whatever sky or whatever color. I have no respect for that Christianity that applauds the missionary to the people of Africa and at the same time ostracizes the missionary to people of the same color in our own country. It is not wise for northern brethren to too severely criticize the white neighbor of our black brethren in the South.
Dr. Waters, United Presbyterian: Federation is an advance over comity. In order that federation shall be effective in foreign mission work, it must be international.
A Railroad Accident near Rock Springs
A Railroad Accident near Rock Springs, Wyo., December 7, resulted in the death of ten persons and the serious injury of nineteen others. A fire was started in the wreck, and five of the dead bodies were burned beyond recognition. The wreck was caused by the collision of a freight train with the overland passenger train—owing, it is said, to a confusion of orders on the part of the conductor and engineer of the freight train.
IS THERE WORK FOR ALL IN THE COUNTRY?
THE census of 1900 gives the number of persons engaged in gainful occupations who were unemployed during any portion of that year as about 6,500,000, or nearly twenty-two per cent. of the working population. Last year it was said that an astoundingly large number of men were unable to find employment. In New York alone it was reported that 100,000 men could not get work. Mr. Leroy Scott, writing in The World's Work, casts considerable doubt upon these statements. After a first-hand investigation of men out of work in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, Mr. Scott comes to the conclusion that the problem is not so much to find work for the unemployed, but to find men who will work.
For much of his information on this subject the writer seems to have relied upon the experience of the charity organizations, the municipal lodging-houses, and investigators who make observations from within the ranks of the unemployed. The manager of a Chicago employment agency is quoted by Mr. Scott to have said, in reply to an inquiry as to whether there were not a great many men out of work, "Sure; but ninety per cent. of the people out of work don't want work." The writer proceeds to give some substantial proof to show that this is so.
Mr. Benjamin C. Marsh, secretary of the Pennsylvania Society to Protect Children from Cruelty, studied 118 men picked at random, who found refuge in the municipal lodging houses, the men all saying that they were looking for work. Employment was secured for thirty-one of the 118. Eleven soon threw up their jobs, and only six stuck to their work. Forty-five men, when they learned that an effort was being made to find work for them, suddenly disappeared. Mr. Marsh at one time dressed himself in old clothes and set out to test the truth of the reports that there was no work to be had. At the end of the day he had sixteen jobs on which to begin work next morning. He urged several men to take these positions, but they refused.
A large number of men have difficulty in finding and holding positions, even when they look for them, because they are unemployable. "An almost universal fault with the men in this class," writes Mr. Scott, "is that they desert their jobs after pay-day, for a spree, or if they do work for a considerable time, they spend their earnings as fast as they are secured."—Christian Work.
WHOSE OX?
WEBSTER'S old spelling book, we remember, tells the tale of a man's going to inquire of a lawyer as to what damage he, the farmer, ought to pay the lawyer as the lawyer's ox had broken into his field, had a fight with the farmer's, and the farmer's ox had killed the lawyer's. And in a very bland way the lawyer stated the price of the ox. "All right," the farmer said, " that is just about what I thought,—only your ox broke into my field, and my ox is the one that is killed." "O!" said the lawyer; and then he began to make another argument as to what duty was, and the laws of accident, chance, etc., but the farmer stopped him and said, " We will abide by your judgment. I can clearly perceive that your argument depends entirely upon whose ox is gored."
Mr. John Pierpont Morgan seems to feel about the same as the lawyer did. Report states that another capitalist, Zimmerman, has beaten him out of millions of dollars in a deal, and Mr. Morgan is greatly enraged over it, and declares that he will punish the men responsible for the affair. And yet how many during all these years of his amassing wealth has Mr. Morgan beaten—men who lost their all? The loss of ten million dollars is a mere bagatelle to Mr. Morgan. He ought to be willing to bear it with a smile; but men who bear the sway in the financial world that he and a few others do, get to thinking, after a while that they must be treated as tho they were members of the royal family, and no one must even presume to question their right to rule and reign in every affair of life. There is coming a time, and that soon, when all of them will bow before the King of Kings.
OBEDIENCE TO, NOT COMPROMISE WITH, THE LORD.
By Editor
WE do not question the sincerity of the author of the following lines. It is an honest effort to reconcile two conflicting views and bring together Seventh-day people and First-day people in the observance of two days. But it can not be done. This is what he says:
By common consent and usage, the first day of the week, called the Lord's day, is set apart by the church and recognized by the state as a day for religious worship. The Lord's day, however, is not a day of rest but a day of strenuous Christian endeavor and service. With many persons Sunday is the most laborious day of the week. Moreover, a large number of persons, especially among the working people, if they want any time for themselves, usually take Sunday because all their other time is required by their secular duties.
Why not have one day in the week for physical rest? And, as a preparation for the activities of the Lord's day, there is no day more fitting than the seventh day of the week. The fact that such an arrangement may seem to favor the seventh-day Sabbath is no argument against it, but may really be considered an argument for it by many persons who are not clear in their own minds concerning the Sabbath question.
They hold that the Ten Commandments, as the moral law, are entirely distinct from the ceremonial law of the Jews, and that we have no more right to change one of them than we have to change another; they also hold that the seventh-day rest antedates all Jewish law and was intended for all men as a commemoration of creation.
By associating the cessation of the usual routine of daily toil with the seventh day of the week, there would not necessarily be any detraction from the Lord's day but it would rather emphasize the true significance of that day,—the joyful commemoration of resurrection and re-creation, which is the central fact of Christianity, the keystone of the Gospel arch, the hope of humanity.
A general observance of such a rest day would not revolutionize social conditions. Its practicability can be seen in the fact that at the present time, all the teachers employed and the pupils enrolled in the schools of our country, comprising about twenty-three per cent. of the entire population, observe Saturday as a day of rest; and if it is beneficial for the mental toiler, why not for the physical toiler? —The Ideal Church.
He who recognizes the holiness of God's law can never compromise. The Sabbath is not given as a day of mere cessation from labor, but a memorial-day of God, a holy worship-day, the only Lord's day of the Bible according to the Bible. "To obey is better than sacrifice." "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Putting the two days on a level is putting no difference between the holy and the profane. Why not settle the question, not with a divided, halting, indeterminate, and expediency-loving public, but with God? The Bible never points to a day as the memorial of the resurrection. God's witness before men of that great event is the manifestation of His power and life and righteousness in men.
Sunday Laws and Political Hypocrisy
Belgium goes on chopping off the hands of Kongo natives, and otherwise punishing them, when they fail to do their tasks in unpaid service for the king. But Belgium has enacted a Sunday law, to take effect next July, which is quite stringent in its provisions. So it is in this country; the more corrupt our politicians become, the more ready they are to make a show of morality by supporting enforced Sunday observance. This fact is manifest in the increased activity of Sunday agitators, and their encouragement by politicians who personally care nothing for Sunday or any other religion. The principle is the same as that which the Saviour denounced when he said, "Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widow's houses, and for a pretense make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation." When a professed politician, especially one who shows no personal scruples in the matter, becomes solicitous for stricter Sunday observance, it is pertinent to ask, What is he trying to conceal?
