The Universalist. [volume], November 20, 1897, Image 1

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VOL. XIV. aCTW_CHICAGO AND CINCINNATI, SATURDAY, auvEMBKK ‘JO, 1897._NO. 47
The 'Qyuijersass—Zt
A RELIGIOUS AND FAMILY WEEKLY
Universalist Publishing House,
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CONTENTS.
CHICAGO. SATURDAY, NOV, 80. 1S»7.
Pace One.
The Universalist Church In a New Light.
Henry George.
Page Two.
Fourscore Years.
Page Three.
The Sunday School Lesson.
Page Foar.
Editorial:
The New Paper.
Thanksgiving's Old World Ancestors.
The Alcohol Disease.
Views of the Editors.
Page Five,
Clinrch News and Correspondence.
Page Six,
The Family Page. Farm. Garden and Dairy.
Page Seven.
Onr Boys and Girls.
Page Eight.
News of the Week.
Acknowledgment.
Chnrcb Notices and In Memoriam.
OUR CONTRIBUTORS.
THE UNIVEHSALIST CHURCH IN A
NEW LIGHT.
BY REV. L. J. DINSMORE.
The Unirersalist church is appear
ing before the world in a new light.
It has always been a deeply religious
body, full of inspiration and cheer to
the devout soul; but in these later
years, for the first time in its history,
is it taking its rigbttul place in the
popular estimation as a religious
force. It has been regarded as a do
mestic institution, and its chief work
has been held to be controversial.
But the Chicago convention begins a
new era, and the church is hastening
forward a9 an evangelizing move
ment, and seeks the field of the com
mon life of man as the most appro
priate arena for the exercise of itB
divine gifts of love and help.
That transformation of energy is
not strauge and foreign to the facts
of its history, or the nature of its
being. It is a living organism, full
of the spirit, and seeks to help men
in the actual life they are now living.
It addresses itself to the amelioration
of human life as it now is, not as it
was a thousand years ago, or will be
five hundred years hence. A church
of today, for men and women now on
the earth,—that is the law of its be
ing and the Eecret of its history.
The fathers of the church found
the world beclouded with the shadow
and shame of medimval Calvinism,
and the immediate work before them
was its absolute and complete de
struction. At no point did it touch
genuine Christianity. It was a hid
eous and monstrous perversion of
God and man, and as long as its
blight rested on human life, there
was no hope for progress. As long
as the devil was enthroned in heaven,
his work would go on in the midst of
men. And so it was that the rallying
cry of all who were working for the
moral redemption of the world in the
opening years of this century became
“Down with the devil and all his
works! ’
How completely this was done, the
history of the century shows. It
would be foolish to claim all credit
for the liberty and love that have
come to the world as the result of the
work of our church fathers. But
without them and their renovating
influence, there can be no doubt that
the world would be very different.
If in certain benighted regions of
this country the old Calvinism still
lingers, and the old orthodoxy has
still a place, it is dead in all the great
centers of life and energy. It may
linger in Texas or North Carolina,
but from such arid soil spring forth
no currents of progress. They break
out from hearts that are warm with
human love and souls that are in
stinct with the desire for truth. The
great institutions of learning that
sway the thought and life of this
generation, bear, it may be, sectarian
names, but they all belong to the
great broad church of God-loveis
and men-helpers, and their inspira
tions are not to the conservation of
mediaevalism, but to the evolution of
a more practical Christian brother
hood and service. And these words
give interpretation to all that is noble
and beautiful in the world today.
How much our fathers helped in
this wonderful reconstruction, no one
can tell, but their work was beyond
computation. They were men of the
times, and they stood for the truth
the world needed like prophets and
seers, and now we are beginning to
realize their worth. The ghastly
perversions of Christianity which
long passed current have largely
been eliminated from the heart of
the world, and men are beginning to
learn that love and help are far more
religious and akin to the Christ
spirit, than the most elaborate scho
lasticism that has never penetrated
into the mystery of the sell forgetful
life, and in the central delusion of
self-worship, has forgotten that ser
vice and not speculation is the key
to the kingdom.
The Universalist Church is quick
to feel the need of the world for
leadership in this direction, and itB
recent activities are all for the sake
of a simpler and clearer presentation
of the everlasting Gospel of father
hood and brotherhood,—so simple
and clear that it will cotne to men
like the breath of the morning re
freshing and blessing those on whom
its influence falls. It would belittle
benefit to this generation to correct
its thinking if its heart be not in
fused with a sweeter spirit. The
Universalist Church has a message of
truth which this age is ready to hear;
and if the indications are not
strangely deceptive, it will soon be
recognized as the great evangelizing
power of this new century that is
dawning upon the world with such
bright promise. It has the right.
No church has a nobler Gospel or a
loftier appeal. The times are ripe.
The Chicago Declaration is but one
step in the forward movement. We
leave behind us the creed contro
versy, that rfe may devote all our
vital energy to the salvation of men.
That is our chief work, and in the fu
ture as far as we can read it—the sal
vation of sinffenr. Not
old sense of a depraved humanity
and a ruined world, but sinners be
cause of ignorance and imperfection
and degradation. Salvation not from
a primal curse, not from penalty and
punishment for sins committed, but
from evil conditions; salvation, that
is, education, advance, reform, rescue,
progress; the advance from night to
morning, from ignorance to light,
from sin to love. In the deep dark
valleys where the most men are still
living it is dark and dreary, but way
up on the mountain side it is light.
And the few brave souls who have
dared to climb up there see wide
regions of truth and love all un
dreamed of by those who are living
in the clouds below.
The Universalist Church is climb
ing up into the light. It is learning
She law of service, and its energies
will be administered according to the
needs of the hour. It faces the fu
ture, and is ready for the new duties
of the new day. If here and there
local conditions may seem to modify
its message, it is still only in the
seeming; and broadly speaking, it
has become a church of love and ser
vice, and as such keeps step with all
workers for God and humanity wher
ever they may be found. Love is its
bond of unity, and the winning of
souls to Christ its essential work.
Chicago. Nov. 8.
HENBY GEOEGE.
BY REV. R. F, JOHONNOT.
It is not too much to say that there
has perished out of our midst, struck
down in the very heat of battle and
the thick of the conflict, while his
clarion voice was yet ringing, one
who is a lineal descendant by spirit
ual birthright of the ancient order of
prophets and a worthy successor to
the prophet of the exile.
Henry George has stood for a gen
eration crying with a voice that has
reached every city and hamlet of our
land and passing beyond the ocean has
been heard in every civilized country.
He has cried for the oasting np of a
highway straight and level over
which the peoples of the earth may
march into prosperity; for theremov
ingof the stumbling blocks of injus
tice and oppression, has predicted
that poverty is to be removed from
the path of progress, for the Lord
himself in the constitution of this
world and of society has Bhown a
way clear and easy, one in which a
wayfaring man though simple mind
ed can not err. The vision of the
earth filled with peace and gladness,
nation8 walking hand in hand in fra
ternity, and the families of mankind
blessed with abundance and happi
ness which the Hebrew seer painted,
has been touched with still brighter
colors by this modern prophet. The
voice which for many years was like
that of one crying in the wilderness,
where no man could hear, has gone
forth unto the ends of the earth.
Being dead he yet speaketh.
Whatever one may think of Mr.
George’s theories, no candid student
of his works, no cne who knows his
life, can deny him the role of a great
and pure minded prophet. The Duke
of Argyle dubbed him, somewhat
contemptuously, “The Prophet of
San Francisco.” I term him the
Prophet or Apostle of Justice; for
that was what was at his heart, that
was his aim,—no matter how mis
taken may have been his methods,—
to get justice done. He saw on every
side the great inequalities of social
and industrial conditions; the squat
ter s shanty stands by the side of the
millionaire’s palace; thesqualor of the
slums contrasts sharply with the
luxury of the boulevards. With the
progress of civilization the lights and
shadows become {stronger. It was
not Bimply 'these’inequali ies that
stirred,the heart of Mr. George, but
country, among them by Herbert
SpeDcer, Prof. Huxley and the Duke
of Argyle. While Mr, George has
written much since, his fame will rest,
1 think, principally upon this book.
Soon after it was published it fell
into my hands and its reading made
a powerful impression upon me; for
many years its arguments seemed
unanswerable and while later study
has brought me to doubt the correct
ness of his ideas upon many matters
and to disbelieve that the application
of his scheme to society would abolish
poverty and bring about universal
prosperity, I have never ceased to
believe that Mr. George has yet rend
ered a great service to the cause of
economics and that in a modified way
some of his ideas will ultimately be
incorporated into our political system.
But what must impress every one
who studies his works is the high
mindedness and humanitarian spirit
which breathes throughout themt
the spirit of eminent fairness with
which he treats every opponent, his
evident desire to find the truth above
all else and to stand for it whatever
it may be, whithersoever her paths
may lead; and, mounting still higher
the deep moral purpose and fervent
religious spirit which he every
Here we see tbe strength of his re
ligious feeling. It is not my inten
tion to attempt to discuss the pecu
liar economic doctrines of Mr. George.
However beautiful in theory, they are
undoubtedly open to many serious
practical objections. But his ideas
ate so often misunderstood, even his
critics have taken so little painB to
acquaint themselves with what he
really teaches, that simply to do him
justice, who was himself so eminently
just to all opponents, I wish to
briefly state his fundamental ideas.
Mr. George starts with the assump
tion that, while, during the last cen
tury, man’s power over nature has in
creased a hundred fold; (while now
h6 harnesses the waterfall and the
steam giant, and makes the subtle
currents of electricity do his bidding;)
while by meanB of machinery he cuts
and hammers and carries where once
human muscle was employed, yet
society has not reaped the benefit of
these inventions and discoveries.
Could we at the beginning of this
century, he argues, have foreseen the
marvelous mechanical development
it has witnessed and with prophetic
eye seen its labor-saving devices and
accumulating wealth, we should have
expected thatthis development would
sense which confuses so many people
and leads them to wholly misunder
stand the theory of the single tax.
By rent, Mr. George means the un
earned increment. Let me explain.
The value of the laud in Chicago de
pends upon the fact that a great pop
ulation with its many industries is
gathered here, and the demand for
that land is great. Men want the
land because people are here with
whom they can do business. Take
away the population and the land
has no more value than it had when
wild prairie. The owner of land can
do nothing to make it more valuable;
for whatever he adds to it is improve
ment, it is not land, that is, it is not
natural opportunity, and that is what
we mean by land. The value of the
land, that is, its demand for use, is
created by the presence of popula
tion; society creates its value, not the
landlord. This is the merest A. B. C.
of political economy. But Mr.
George argues, that, if society creates
the value of land, makes this incre
ment which is not earned by the
owner, then society should receive
back this increment in the form of a
tax.
Such, in brief, is the theory which
Mr. George has built up and fortified
From the Painting by L. Alma-Tadema.
Thanksgiving’s Old World Ancestors—Harvest 1 TVstival, Ancient Rome—Page 4.
it was the thought that these distinc
tions arose not out of the natural
order of society, not from the differ
ences in human capacity, but from
injustice, and oppression growing
out of a disordered social state by
which the few were able to exploit
the many, and under cover of law
turn the golden streams of wealth
produced by the toiling millions into
their own pockets. It was this belief
in injustice done, creating the dire
poverty of the present, which made
his heart burn within him. “Our pri
mary social adjustment,” he writes,
(Progress and Poverty, 493) “is a de
nial of justice. It is this which turns
the blessings of material progress
into a curse. It is this that crowds
human beings into noisome cellars
and squalid tenement houses; that
fills prisons and brothels; that goads
men with want and consumes them
with greed; that robs women of the
grace and beauty of perfect woman
hood; that takes from little children
the joy and innocence of life’s morn
ing. . . It is something grander
than benevolence end something
more august than charity—it is Jus
tice herself that demands of us to
right this wrong. Justice that will
not be denied; that can not be put off
—justice that with the scales carries
the sword.”
Rarely has a man lived who felt the
denial of justice to his fellows so
keenly as Henry George. The ideal
citizen is undoubtedly he who feels a
wrong done to others or to the social
order as Bharply as if it were aimed
at himself and who works as hard to
right it. In this respect Mr. George
was an ideal citizen. His whole life
was a plea for justice. This is w hat
I wish to impress upon the reader,that,
however wrongfully or rightfully he
worked as it may seem in his methods
and theories, at heart he was trying
to institute a social order based upon
justice. To be unjust to the memory
and aims of such a man is the height
of injustice.
In 1879 while holding a small office
from which hs derived his living,
after four years’ work, he brought out
his book ‘‘Progress and Poverty
which was destined to be more widely
read and to create a greater sensation
than any other economic treatise ev. r
published. From this time Mr.
George became a marked man. Re
ceived with some ccntempt by the
economists of this country, in Eng
land this book not only had en r
mous sales,edition aftereiiinou be ng
exhausted, but it was revie v> d by
some of the most noted men of that
where exhibits. This latter spirit is
so marked that Mr. George may not
only be termed an apostle of justice,
but a lover of humanity and a
preacher of righteousness. Had he
turned his attention to the pulpit he
would have been a great preacher.
Here is a quotation taken from
“Progress and Poverty” which shows
what manner of man he was and
illustrates what I have just written:
“For the man who, seeing the want
and misery, the ignorance and brut
ishness caused by unjust social insti
tutions, Bets himself, in so far as he
has strength, to right tkem, there is
disappointment and bitterness. So
it has been of old. So it is even now.
* * * But for those who would
seek Truth and follow her; for those
who recognize Justice and would
stand for her, success is not the only
thing. Success! Why, Falsehood
has often that to give; and Injustice
has often that to give. Must not
Truth and Justice have something to
give that is their own by proper right,
theirs inessence,and not by accident?
That they have, and that here and
now, every one who has felt their
exaltation knows.” (p. 5C0). What
nobler preaching thau that! It is
only the soberest truth to speak of
Mr. George as a deeply religious
man. Yea, more than this, his science
of society is based on religion and
ethics. To his ardent followers the
theory of the single-tax, as it is pop
ularly called, is a religion; for does it
not embody in its nature the princi
pies of justice, truth and love; is it
not based upon faith in a Divine
Order which provides happiness and
well-being for all society, if only its
natural laws are followed and what
is the essence of religion but to do
justly and to love mercy and to talk
humbly with God? This is the rea
(03, I think, why single-taxers are so
devoted to this scheme, why they
love it so ardently, because it com
prehends more than a mere economic
idea, but embraces a providential
order for society.
“It is blasphemy,” says Mr. George,
“that attributes to the inscrutable
decrees of providence the suffering
and brutisbness that come from
poverty; that turns with folded hands
to the All-Father and lays on him
the responsibility for the want and
crime of our great cities. We de
grade the Everlasting. We slander
the Just One. Tne Creator showers
upon us his gifts—more than enough
for all. But like swine scrambling
for food, we tread them in the mire,
while we tear and rend each other.”
result in lifting the burden of work
from men’s shoulders and making
each life easy and comfortable. But
such, he says, is not the case. On
the contrary men have to work
harder than ever and poverty in
creases with accumulating wealth.
He finds the explanation of this
strange phenomena in the fact of
private ownership of land, by which
term he embraces all natural oppor
tunities, such as use of water. Men
must have land, he asserts, in order
to carry on any business or to live;
we must possess land even to have
standing room and place. Land be
ing the prime requisition for life and
business, he who owns the land holds
a first mortgage on all man’s efforts
and powers of production, yea on his
life itself. To own the land is to own
the men who must use that land.
The land owner has been able to ap
propriate in the form of rent all the
wealth produced by labor saving de
vices. So fast as man’s power to pro
duce wealth increases, the land owner
raise, his rent accordingly. From
this rent no one can escape, because
laud he must have. To this fact,
mainly, is due the poverty and dis
tress we see on the one hand, and the
enormous fortunes on the other.
To obviate this Mr. George pro
poses to abolish the private owner
ship of land, that is to abolish the
essence of it, the power of the in
dividual to take rent; he proposes
that the government shall take this
rent in the form of a tax for the use
of society. As the claim is made
that this rent or tax will yield all the
revenue needed for governmental and
social purposes, it would constitute
all the tax of any kind whatsoever
that need be levied and so this theory
is popularly called the Single Tax.
Of course, this term rent is here used,
not in its popular, but in its economic
sense, meaning what would be paid
for the use of land over and above
the amount paid for the poorest or
least valuable land in use. This tax
does not fall upon land improve
ments, that is upon houses, stores,
factories, etc., but upon the land it
self, or more properly upon land
values. Land which has no value
for use would pay no tax. An im
proved lot or farm with buildings
upon it would pay no more tax than
an adjoining lot or farm equally good
for use, which is Dot improved or
used, it is the failure to understand
the profound distinction between the
term rent as popularly used, signify
ing the rent of buildings, machinery,
etc., and its use in this economic
with remarkable ingenuity. To un
derstand it in all its bearings and
revolutionary results one must read
his works. Now it is not my pur
pose to criticise this theory, only to
present it as fairly as possible. What
I am alone concerned with is to do
him justice in regard to it. He is
said to propose a wholesale confisca
tion of property, in taking away the
private ownership of land. While
undoubtedly this plan would confis
cate the property of some, and this
is one of the weak points of the
theory, Mr. George argues that it is
only re-appropriating for the use of
society that which has already been
taken from it by private ownership.
The real confiscation, he argues, was
when laud which originally in the
history of human society was held
common, was transferred to private
ownership. Society is but recover
ing its long stolen property, and
while this may work hardship to
some bona fide present owners, this
is no worse than the recovering of
stolen property which has passed
from the hands of the thief to inno
cent purchasers. The hardship done
the few, by this process, he says, is
outweighed by the good done the
whole of society. We must do him
the justice of understanding his opin
ions.
Again, he is often unjustly con
founded with socialists and commun
ists. On the contrary, he stands at
the very antipodes of thought from
these agitators; he is the rankest
kind of an individualist. He holds
that every man is entitled to what he
can earn and what wealth he can
create. He advocates no division of
property or state management. He
holds we have no right to tax a man
on what he has produced. He would
abolish all taxes on buildings and
improvements of all kinds. The
economic rent, which no man has
made alone, but is the result of social
and industrial life, would suffice for
all purposes of government.
While there is no time to make
this more clear, I trust it is evident
that he is no communist or socialist,
but is aiming to give to every man
just what he earnB, but no more; to
take from him nothing that be has
earned or created, but not to allow
him to hold what he has not earned
or produced. However mistaken we
may regard his theories, we must see
him as a high-minded mac, aiming
at simple justice.
For these principles he lived and
for them he died. He is borne to his
resting-place with no stain upon his
shield of honor. He was no self
seeker; whatever of political aspira
tion be had was solely in aid of the
advancement of the truths he loved.
Said Dr. Lyman Abbott, “To do
something to lift God's children to a
better plane has been the object of
Henry George’s life.” He died as
every brave man would prefer to die,
in th§ very thick of the struggle.
Knowing his physical weakness when
he went into the contest for the may
oralty of New York, and realizing
that its strain might snap the cord of
life, he did not hold back from wbat
seemed his duty.
He died in faith, too; in the faith
that his ideas would ultimately tri
umph. Like the ancient heroes of
whom the writer of “Hebrews” tells
us, he died “not having received the
promises, but having seen them and
greeted them from afar.” “The truth
that I have tried to make clear,” he
writes, “will not find easy accept
ance. But it will find friends—those
who will toil for it; suffer for it: die
for it, if need be. This is the power
of truth. Will it at length prevail?
Ultimately, yes. But in our own
times, or in times of which any mem
ory of us remains, who shall 6ay?”
His faith was the outcome not only
of his belief in the truth of his ideas
and in the power of truth, but also
of his trust in God. With the preach
er of old he could say, “If thou seest
the oppression of the poor, and the
violent taking away of justice and
judgment in the state, marvel not at
the matter: for One higher than the
high regardeth: and there be higher
than they.” (Eccles. v. 8.)
Henry George is dead and his life
work done, but “being dead, he yet
speaketh.”
Oak Park, 111.
MONEY AND MISSIONS.
The two things go together; they
cannot be separated. If the Univer
salist Church proposes to do mission
ary work, either at home or abroad,
it must fprovide the means for such
service. Under the conditions now
existing, there must be organized,
systematic efforts put forth, to collect
large sums of money, without which
no importan ^missionary movement
can be made efficient.
To apply these propositions is the
demand of the hour. Making such
an application, we should both hear
and meet the present urgent call for
means to sustain our Mission in Jap
an. The General Convention Board
appeals to the church at large for the
sum of $10,000,1' *th which to sustain
the Mission, ana to enlarge the scope
of its usefulness. Do our Universal
ist people propose to raise this amount
promptly and cheerfully? This can
easilyj^be done, if we take hold of the
work^unitedly, realizing its import
apce,‘being animated by a resolute
purpose to stand by the Mission and
to keep it in successful operation.
This is our business, brethren and
sisters of the’ Universalist Church.
We have entered upon the work; we
are committed to it, and by every
principle|of‘ honor and good faith we
are bound to carry it forward. What
reason'^indeed, is there for any
thought of withdrawal from the di
stant field 'never more inviting than
it is today ■ „ Certainly we could not
justifv a withdrawal of aid at this
time, by saying that we have com
pletedthe enterprise which we un
dertook less than eight years ago; or
that we have met with such failure as
to show the inexpediency of contin
ued effort. Neither may we say that
there is no longer need for the mes
sage which we havetobear.orthatthe
way of service is obstructed so that
we can no longer work to advantage.
Nor yet have we any right to affirm
that the burden is greater than weoan
sustain. It will not be regarded as
a burden, if we have missionary ardor
prompting us to give and to do for
the advancement of Christian work.
To meet the present call will in no
Bense be burdensome, if only there is
a united and hearty movement to
rightly divide the amount required,
and a general purpose to give one’s
full part, in response to the appeal,
with perhaps something over to make
up for unavoidable deficiencies.
There is a claim; let us recognise
it; there is a duty, let us perform it;
there is a pleasant privilege of co-op
eration in this cause, let us so appre
ciate the privilege as to make a gen
erous offering, either on the approach
ing Japan Sunday, or at some other
early date, to the end that the Uni
versalist Church in Japan miy be es
tablished on a permanent foundation
and the kingdom of our Lord be ad
vanced among men.
Rev. J. J. Lewis is in Iowa this week
fulfilling several lecture engagements.