Newspaper Page Text
August 21, 1912 ] I H ? ]
Editorial 1
The parable which we have lately been studying
in the Sunday school carry many comforting
lessons as well as instruction with them.
Two that are of special help to the preacher
are that he may expect much of the seed that
he sows to produce no return, but should not
be deterred thereby from keeping on sowing,
and that from very small beginnings large results
may be expected. The sower and the mustard
.seed should keep up his courage.
It is a great joy to many to hear that the
principal candidates for the Presidency of the
United States will not go out and "stump" the
country. The people have had eonugh of this,
a nauseating sufficiency, in the unparallelled
spectacle, a few months ago, of the President and
the only living ex-President going up and down
through the land vilifying each other. The dignity
of the chief magistracy of such a country
as ours is surely warrant enough for a becoming
dignity and self-respect on the part of those who
are named for its honors.
Those who tremble for the Church of the future.
because, as t.hpv mv it will ??t iv>
, J ?j * v Hiii uvv fcA/ UUU"
tressed as in the past, are taking counsel of their
fears and forgetting that it is Clod's Church,
that his is the kingdom and his is the power, and
that the forces against which she must set herself
are the same as those of the ages past. Her
life is as immortal as the foundation upon which
she is built. There is no danger as long as her
supporters keep her on that foundation. "When
they begin to depend upon earthly means and
measures and machinery she sees her worst days.
The power of a'very small thing to create a
great commotion has never been so signally illustrated
as in the alarm which a single rat, supposed
to be infected, and the fleas upon it that
will transmit its infection, has caused in the
large coast cities. The scientific dealing with
the beginnings of great troubles should be a leason
to Christians as to their duties. We may
learn much from the world, in the way of wisdom.
A V.V. n A * - ?
mi vui JJLL tUC iTl/tt/ICpTUft L/ C/t bU/T~y \?liAATkf}T"l/y
very acutely attributes the social unrest of the
day, wherever found, to the modern facilities of
travel. He quotes a distinguished publicist as
exclaiming, '' The devil never found a truer note
for his voice than the railway whistle. There
it goes now," he said, "from one end of the
country to the other, crying to all the boys and
girls, 'come away, come away, come away!' And
when they go, they find the place they have gone
to better in no respect than the place they have
left behind."
One phase of the hoped-for manufacture of
rubber, beileved by many now to be thoroughly
practicable, is of vital practical importance. It
will put an end to one of the lines of cruelty
inflicted upon the poor and ignorant. It is very
currently reported that there is no line of hnmAn
industry in which the poor are more subjected
to man's inhumanity to man than that of rubber
gathering, whether in South America or Africa.
The atrocities connected with the trade are reported
to be* frightful. It is claimed that it is
no unfair statement to say that "a ton of raw
rubber represents the life of a man." The
poison reptiles in the rubber districts, wild beasts,
the diseases incident to the work in swamps
and juYigles, and the still worse rapacity and
Kreed of men, are the causes of thia enormous
PRESBYTERIAN Of THE 8<
Votes and
cost. It will be a glad day when all this will
come to an end.
At the recent General Conference of the
Methodist Churoh religious journalism within
the confines of the Churdh received such measure
of COnsideratinn miofti* Ka ?.
. w A^wn/unii/i^ . CA"
pected. Two salient facts of practical significance
emerged ere the Conference passed to the next
topic on the calendar. One of the facts was to
the effect that the official and semi-official papers
of the Church had lost $184,272.86 during the
last four years and that because of this loss the
profits of the Book Concern had been greatly reduced.
However, a not distantly related inquiry
was injected at this point, which was entered on
the record in this form, "What would have been
the income and the profits if the various official
and semiofficial 'Advocates' had not been published
t" The Publishing Agents made a reply
which embodies the second fact after this fashion,
"Your Publishing Agents emphatically believe
that the most important bond of unity in
the Church and the most successful missionaries
in the interest of the whole work of the Church
are the Advocates which are published at strategic
points in the interest of the whole work of
the church. The papers constantly advocate and
exploit our various benevolent enterprises, and
are, taken together, the largest influence we have
for the solidarity of the denomination in the carrying
on of all branches of its great work. These
Advocates are a very important advertising medium
for the sale of books and other merchandise
handled by the Book Concern, and these facts
should be taken into account in making up our
judgment on the value of the family of Advocates."
Making friends of the mammon of unrighteousness
is often overdone or else done inadvisedly. It
yet remains true that resourcefulness and tact,
alertness to opportunity and power to adapt
social and business advantages to the highest
ends are parts of our equipment for effective service.
"The children of this world are in their
generation wiser than the children of light." A
rather extreme instance of this worldly wisdom
is noted by The Congregationalist, which describes
and comments on the case as follows: A
clever drummer selling vacuum cleaners in the
West has invaded the California farm market,
utilizing one of his machines as a weapon against
grasshoppers in the alfalfa fields. The insects
jump out before the machine and are swept into
its hopper, and the farmers dry and store them
for chicken food. Since the days when a Yankee
sailor sold warming pans at a large profit in the
tropics we have heard of nothing more characteristic
of the Yankee ingenuity.
The nations seem more than ever bent on
constructing areaunaughts, discovering more
powerful explosives and kindred schemes which
propose the greatest damage to the greatest number.
If they are fully decided to ignore moral
interests and refuse to believe that high character
is the real strength of a nation, we suggest
that they set themselves to inventing appliances
along these lines. A sixteen-inch gun which will
shoot a twelve inch gun a certain distance as a
projctile, which will in turn shoot a smaller gun
several miles further, which will at the right
time fire a shell which will explode in the enemie's
camp forty miles away; or a shell with
an aeroplane appliance which will unfold its
wings at the right time and carry it the desired
distance to be exploded at the psychological mo
) U TE (967) 9
Comment
ment; or a shell that can be exploded by wireless
at any desired stage of its progress. How
to hit the enemy while keeping at a safe distance
from his guns is the climax of modern
valor and crown of martial heroism.
NOTES IN PASSING.
BY BERT.
In the forty-sixth Psalm there
a companion are two parts, each concluding
and a Refuge, with the refrain, "The Lord of
Hosts is with us; the God or
Jacob is our refuge." In the Psalm there are
mountains being cast into the sea, a moving
earth, roaring waters, raging nations, earthpuakes,
es, desolations; such things as make one long for
comforting companionship and a safe retreat.
Then in the midst of these dread calamities there
appears a quiet, tranquil river, great and enduring
peace, and a sense of uninterrupted repose.
This rest is made possible by the consciousness
expressed in the refrain, "The Lord of Hosts is
with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."
Whether the "hosts" are the anmy
r - - -
/ ne hora gelic beings as some have it, or the
of Hosts, multitudes of earth as others take it,
is of small importance. He is Lord
both of the angels and men, and both angels and
men are hastening to do all his holy will whether
they know it or not; whether they want to or
not. u
It is wonderfully comforting to my fearful
heart to know that the Commander of the hosts
of earth and heaven is with me. The foe who
appears too strong for my one poor arm of flesh
presents but a mean appearance, after all, confronting
the innumerable allies commanded by
the invincible King who stands beside me. Such
weakness as I felt when opposed to them, they
show when opposed to my Friend.
But that which gives me inspiration is not that
T ?* ? -
x tun auenaea Dy the hosts of the Lord, but by
the Lord of Hosts. It is not the legions he commands,
but himself from whom all my confidence
is derived. The hosts cannot help me without
His Presence. I do not ask to see horsemen
and chariots of fire, I only ask to see him. Then
I know that if he is Lord of all the hosts of earth
and heaven, he must be my Lord to command me,
and I find that his companionship with me is dependent
upon my obedience to his will. The
Lord of Hosts cannot be with me unless I permit
him to command me in all things.
"What honor to Jacob that God AlThe
Qod mighty should couple the name of the
of Jacob, patriarch with his own. He who is
Lord of all powers does not consider
it beneath him to be the God of a single individual.
"The God of Jacob is our refuge." How
rich in significance is that statement. There were
at least four great epochs in the life of Jacob.
The first is marked by his deceit of his father and
his injury to his brother. Jacob is a cheat, and a
liar, and a thief. And what does it mean that
God calls himself the God of Jacob but that
Divine Love is 90 long-suffering and so tenacious
of its own that even under the most trying provocation
it will hold on to its own. Is this not
our comfort in our deep consciousness of sin t Is
there anything but this to keep us from the
depths of utter despair f Even at our worst we
have the God of Jacob for a refuge.
Then there was an experience at Bethel which
Jacob never forgot. Fleeing from home, lonely
and miserable he lies down with a stone for a