THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 24, 5 November 1898, Page 3

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER.

•SATURDAY, NOV. 5, 1898.

In the course of the sermon at the Anglican Church on Sunday night, the preacher ■officiating in the absence of tlie vicar regretted thatreverence for old institutions seemed "passing away, and asserted that •authority was losing ground. He said he noted " the same xinclefined independence in the various socialistic ideas that men try to foist upon the world. They dream -of realising an equality by Act of Parliament and civil law, hut differences of rank and of wealth there "have always ibeen and always "will be. "For if men -were made nominally equal to-morrow, 'the man of energy and power, of deter*mination and ability would soon come to iihe top, only ■fulfilling the law that works In nature of the '-survival of the fittest ? 'The more gifted or energetic man would -work his plans, employing the leas so in "his service. Apart from fclris, all cannot Tbe 'masters, the majority must serve, hence ithe necessity for obedience between man cand man." "We conceive it to be no part <of the duty of the ordinary newspaper to tenter into a strictly theological discussien, ibut when public teachers waste the time •of their hearers and their .own opportunities in giving utterance "to this kind of tthing, we are constrained to enter our ■protest. In these days of better education? "wider knowledge and brighter intelligence dt is vain to expect reverence for old instittutions simply because they are old. We ibelieve our young people are better able .and as willing to reverence institutions ■and persons demonstrated to be worthy of reverence as ever they -were in days gone iby, but they cannot do so simply because •some one cays they should. Loolc at the •work such men as the late Professor Drummond, and others nearer our own "floors, have accomplished in bringing and keeping young men under the influence of religion, and and inducing them to live the Christlike life, devoted to the service of others. Much of the so-called irreverence complained of as characterising the ■young people (especially the young men) of our day is largely if not entirely due to such utterances as the statements we are noticing. These statements betray great ignorance of the work and aims of the pre-" sent 'day Socialists; It is not true that the socialist " dreams of realising anequality by Act of Parliament." He Tecognises that "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof' and

designed to reward the efforts of those who work, not that the best is reserved for a few to whom the rest shall be servants. The socialist is a follower of St Paul when he says " If a man will not work, neither shall he eat." If the selfishness and greed of some men causes discomfort to others, the socialist will, if necessary, resort to Acts of Parliament to redress the wrong. It is no part of his plan to take from one and give to another. His theory is that all belongs to all, and that no one can claim of right to live entirely at the cost of another's labour. Fancy anyone in these days asserting that " differences of rank and wealth there have always been and always will be." A very pertinent question still waits a reply — " When Adam delved and Eve spun Whera w*s then the gentleman ?" We are told " that if men were made nominally equal to-morrow, the man of energy and ability would soon come to the top, only fulfilling the law that works in nature of the survival of the fittest." In view of the conditions at present controlling society, this is a pretty startling, not to say brutal doctrine to

come from a Christian pulpit at the end of the nineteenth century. The poor, and miserable must be content to be so because they are " unfit " to be anything else, and It is a violation of the laws of nature to seek to improve their condition. If they had been " fit" to be anything else, they would have risen to the top. Exactly. That is why the head of John Baptist rested on a charger while his murderer's wore a crown. There is no getting away from the suspicion that the preacher was more anxious to conciliate the wealthy than to find out the truth and speak it fearlessly. Where in reason or Revelation is there warrant for declaring that " all cannot be masters, the majority must serve." What are the marks which distinguish the many who are born to serve from the few who are born to be served ? How conies it that in the whirling of time those who serve today were being served yesterday, and those who were servants yesterday, are masters tsday? Aspirations after a nobler life than that of merely working, eating and sleeping are much more general among our young people than many ministers of religion imagine. Nothing is more calculated to crush out and make young men ashamed of such aspirations than to be told by those to whom they look for guidance that they must reckon all who are successful are so because thpy deserve to be. The man who accepts the doctrine of the " Survival of the fittest " should ** allow his garden to run wild, so that the roses might fight it out with the weeds, and ike fittest survive."