THE CHURCH AND LABOUR.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 515, 24 May 1909, Page 6

THE CHURCH AND LABOUR.

'•' 'g; r —"Wide Awake" says it is not trno that the Chuioh has maintained a stony ' silence on tho Labour question. i stiu maintain that there has been a conspiracy 6£ silence on this important question by Mo ' churches as a whole. Of course, thero may be an individual caso.hero and thoro whoro a parson denounces the oppressors of the poor, but I havo never yot heard a minister of religion denounce any particular economic wrong from tho pulpit or the pubho platform, and indicate'tho remedy for it. Ino clergy devote most of their time to preaching about tho mansions in the sky, hence ' the description "sky pilots" which has been applied to thorn. No; if the Church is to progress it must bo a live institution. It must throw'in its lot with tho landless wage- ' earners, and assist them in tiw fight for freedom and justice/ Yonr oorrospondont asserts that "Too bospol, has to"'do primarily with individual character." This is a strong reason why the parsons should vigorously expose and condemn tho monstrous system or injustice under which wo live, and which, so deeply effects "individual character." How doee it affect "individual character"? In this 1 way: lt> turns tho blessings of material progposa into a corse. It crowds human bemga into hovele. It fills prisons and brothels. It goads men with want and coneunwa them with greed. It robs women of tho grace and beauty of perfect womanhood. It takes from little children the joy and I innocenco of life's morning. _ ' I All this is duo to ono thing—a vast, nn- ' bridled monopoly in tho land of our country, ' whereby tho many are robbed of their rightful inhoritanco by tho few. Moses in his day instituted private possession of tho land, but not monopoly—individual rights subject to tho rights of others. But in our day most of thoso born in theso islands havo no legal right to live an independent lifo; they must first satisfy tho demand of some private owner for tho nso of a bit of God's earth.

■J. '":- 'The people :: are masked,to sacrifice .Vtheir : '; blood to .'protect their.; nativo. land,;- .Then •; ; Vwhy/'should v a■ tiny' : minority' of i'tbeir 'niim- '::■■; ;;berbe"'allowed;;to own; it; without rendering '■■'■■ - : to their fellow-countrymen an adequate re-. ',■ •':•:; turnr for ■'.■■'. ;;■;;';' ! ; ; : ■■'Whilst; in v strictest equity-, the |and.' should ./belong to all, the owners have ap- ;-';■•■ it, and; entrenched themselves'bo■;.;":bind laws made , bjp.: their own.class. Tho naV; ; ;.' tural.result of .this-has-been to foster >in tb« v:'.. : '..'owners.•'.',. a condition 'of 5 ;-irresponsibility. ''ft..- Thoy can easily■withhold somoland from use, ;ov»nii' thereby .'restriot-the.■ , Buppljp.s6' : as-\to''dn- ;■ 'hance "the'vdlno.df the^remainder...'.■■la'-'doing ;.;■ ißo.'thoy.prevent labour from having the full : ;, .access' it should have to natural opportuni- '!':;■ Vtjes. , -A very- little thought will show that;l ■^Vv^Havei'BowC'pHt^ffly'-'finger^^on:'the.-principal ;;;causo;bf involuntary poverty;and overcrowdi -'ing, becauso land •monopoly interferes with :}■■;'■': employment, ;and-proyents .the/natural dis-, : :: tribntion of the■.people, upon the land. v "Woe ;; v unto, them that. joitt:house to house, that'lay: . field ito field till there be no room.' r ; : ; '■':":In: seeking for the euro 'of '.this .state of ..'' ■.things wo' need; to: observe one; great fact, -■■"■:'.:. that .the -value (of; land ..depends almost entirely upon the people about it and on it. Let '". , ■;the -people vanish .-'and | the site value vanishes :. -..too; Horo: we have'surely .a'God-given meas- ,: ; v. ure by; which tbydctorminethe responsibility ..'.'vof'every 'owner, for.the privilege he' enjoys /;'/.'. 'of.roserving a pavt of the nation's soil to his ; v own'■;use.'.'.lt; is''by^no means, necessary to .;.■ dispossess, an owner,'but to mako. him. pay '■'■■'t to the community a tax proportional to -the ''value of his;monopoly. As a result ho will •'either use his land, well or seek for someone ■;... ols'p .to.uso it,for him.. Tho.prcscnt system! .:'':.c'ausos an .inequitable;distribution of God's ■'.- '.;bounty. :, It hands over to the almost, irrer : \ 'Bponsiblo few vast'stores.■and..;revenuos. of ■■■'.. '-wealthy whilst it dooms thei many often to a . precarious existence, of. toil and poverty. It ■■'.■■'. ''■ :)s.;ilecessarily accompanied by a certain pro- " ; ; portion of unemployment. If wo regard this '~;'■'iniquity" in our hearts, if wo'secrotly or openly.' , uphold-it,- and do nothing to. abolish •■'.-'•-,..' it. then let us not bo surprised if "the Lord : .will not hear us , ' when wo call upon Him. ';.''■"• 'If. Christians cannot do something to alter /this state of things, they/may as well give t up their title to tho name. We have no-right Vto willingly participate ■in a condition of ' 'thing's: which is clearly contrary to the de.signs of the Creater and not use our influ- ''.. ; : ence. to alter.it. ■■■■■'.'...' ~':/, ,■'■■'.':'"■ Tho.'remedy above referred, to.,ie clearly ■v , expounded in; the famous works of Henry Georgo; which "Wide Awake" should read (; without delay, , especially 'fPrOgress and Poverty."—l am, etc.. ' .„' ; ■■' ■ ;;■;::; '■".:■ ; : :, WAKE .'UP. ';.;: :;:■ Wellington May 22. ■ : ;: ~ ." ..•., 'Winter : has come. So hae Phosphol Emjir ; ; ;.noN, the.finest cough cure of the 6 Toi Chronic Chest Complainte, .Woods' .Gteat Peppermint Coze, K 2s. 6&J