April 18, 1815.
4
)
DR UEUIIONS LECTDKES
The Sin of the Frodioal Sou Seen in Hew
Light WHAT WE POSSESS HOT OURS
Tha Elder Brother At Great a Sinner
Breaks in the Social Organism
Cause Individual and
Social Death
The Social Significance of the Story
of the Prodigal Son
' The following lecture by Prof. Georire D. Her
rou la on of a aeries of four reported from sten
ograph ootea, taken down in the clam room for
Tac Wialtb Makers. They are informal lect
ures delivered extempore. Two succeeding
lec tares were on Wealth and Co-operation.
The story of the Prodical Son might be
called the social theology of the New
Testament. In the story of the Prodigal
Son there has been an endless individual
istic application; while the true signifi
cance has not been taken into account.
It is a fact that we hare had to wait for
science itself to reveal to us the plain
truth. The relation of man as an indi
vidual to God, is not the difficulty, but
the relations of man with man. The
story of the Prodigal Son is the story of
a break in human relations. -The diffi
culty begins with theindividualiumof the
man's consideration of his relation to his
possessions. He savs: "I will take ray
part and I will separate myself and go off
and do as I feel like doing with what is
mine."
The moment this man said, . "What is
mine is mine," that moment his fall was
accomplished. The moment the man
begins to regard his property as bis indi
vidual possession, that moment the man
had become a fallen being, out of his
normal relations to his fellow men, to
the universe, to God. It was that in
which his real prodigality consisted. The
emphasis is not laid upon the fact that
he went and ate husks, but upon the fact
of the break in the social organism; he
began to treat himself as an individual
instead of a part. If the finger had self
consciousness and could proceed to sever
itself from the hand, it would not do
much for itself or for the hand either; no
more can a man who seeks to treat him
self and his relations and possessions
from the standpoint of himself. When a
man begins to enter upon a career that
is independent of consideration of his re
lation to his fellows, the fall of that man
has been accomplished; sorrow has been
given to life, to the social organism as a
whole. The man said: "What is mine is
mine." The moment that man had done
that his life was gone. It does not
matter whether he ended with husks, or
ended in a palace. The fact was that he
had severed himself from God and his
brothers. The same lesson may be
drawn from the story of Dives and Laza
rus. In the hut or the palace, the man
who has marie himsell the consideration
of lite, or his membership in the body ol
humanity the consideration of life; that
man by so doing has wrought discord
and pain in all human life. If every
other man on earth had his whole mind
set toward God aud there yet remained
one man who was out of that harmony
the universe would be distraught with
pain. If I have a great deal of pain in
my finger, or my foot, or any place, my
whole body will be full of physical discon
tent; we are so truly one.
It is a terrible fact yet a supremely
hopeful fact that we cannot get away
from each other. No man can be fully
extricated until all men are extricated.
It is a terrible responsibility, but, on the
other hand, our supreme ground ol nope.
Though the Prodigal Sou was fundamen
tally a failure, he was still ason even after
he became a prodigal. He had commit
ted suicide in wevering himself from mem
bership with God and with man. So he
goes on, his relations become more ana
more a discord; hesinks lower and lower.
When he has reached a certain depth, he
conies into the consciousness of being out
of his right relations. Redemption is
getting back into normal relations. To
be awakened to the consciousness ot sin
is not to be awakened to the simple fact
that I am a sinner, but that 1 am a sin
ner against somebody. He had sinned,
His awakening to the consciousness of
sin was the awakening to consciousness
of wrong done to somebody. 1 he only
fundamental and hopeful ground of re
pentance is the awakening to the met
that one had wronged somebody. It was
not: I am a sinner and 1 am (oat, but,
'I will arise and go unto my father's
house and sav, "Father I have sinned
against thee."
It was the awakening of conscience, to
i a realization of how he had violated and
wronged his inheritance. Life and pro
perty are a gitt, a trust, ana not to be
used in an individualistic way. It is true
that we have behind us the mighty push
of hereditv that brings with it good as
well as evil. The good that we have is a
gift to us from the past, all ol it. All
that we have of life and property comes
to us as an inheritance. That gift can
nnl v h renaived and treated as a trust.
Life is a mission, an errand to others. It
is a trust. Property is a trust. The
Prodigal Son awakened to theconscious'
, ness of the fact that he had used his in
heritance for himself. His conviction of
sin was the awakening to the fact that
V he must use what little he had left, use it
for others, use it for all, use it for God.
I That was his awakening to the conscious
ness of sin, that was his repentance.
' Now, when he gets back, comes the
older brother, that brother has had
more neglect than he deserves. The
whole history of the world is miniatured
here the whole life of men. It was the
Father who had not given up the young
man, knowing that God is the friend of
the prodigal. He is the father of the
prodigal still, knowing how God kept in
endless pursuit. But with the brother it
was not so. Now as a matter of fact the
brother who was not a prodigal was iu a
worse condition than the one who was a
prodigal. This leBson may be seen also
in the social wrongs. The man who has
succeeded mar be as the older brother.
Here are the great respectable classes
and here are the great unrespectable
classes. The respectable people are living
for themselves, they have lost their true
life. The prodigal has treated his inherit
ance as bis own and has squandered it.
He was individualistic. On the other
hand the elJnr broiii- r has bm-n penuri
ous and saving, but he haa bwn just a
alfib. They are jnt the same, the only
difference Is, one had ben saving lor him
self, the other had tried to have a good
time with It in bis own mistaken way. It
is more natural for the generous man to
become the prodigal, and theeutirely sel
fish man to become the opposite of the
prodigal in worldly conditions. Here is
the story of our gonial conditions. To
day there are men who treat their in
heritance as something which they are to
preserve for themselves and men who do
not treat it as a trust at all. They ar
both in an unfortunate plight, but some
how it seems a great deal easier to reach
the prodigal than to reach the respect
able man. God has a better chance at
his life. Though the man who is the re
spectable one may be in the church.he may
may still be a strong and individualistic
life, a wholly selfish life. The one has
thrown away his trust, the other has
taken his trust and used it for himself.
The one has failed to keep his trust at all,
the other has misused it.
The normal relation would have been
that not only the father but the brother
also should seek to save the prodigal. If
the brother had been in right relations
with the prodigal, if he had been in right
relations in the social organism, be too
would have been seeking the restoration
of the prodigal to his right normal con
dition. The one was out of his right re
lations to God as truly as the other. The
one needed to learn the truth as well as
the other. The one needed to know the
meaning of life and its relations as well
as the other. As far as we can gee in the
world the elder brother has not awaken
ed to a consciousness of bis sin. That
part of society which is economical has
not recognized its sin. The vision of
wrong anywhere is my responsibility to
set it right. Every wrong in the world
is an obligation laid upon me to set that
wrong right. We cannot be saved in the
largest sense apart from our enviroment.
There is discord everywhere until there is
concord everywhere. We are as respon
sible as God is to the relative measures
of our powers. We are responsible with
God for setting right the wrong that is
in the world.
The true selfhood of man is not in him
self. We look for our true selfhood in
vain when we look for it in ourselves. In
other words, we all use the term universe
without its meaning very much to us.
Your life, my life, is a universal life. God
and man, a unity, a universe, are all in
volved in our lives. We are tangled up.
The writer to the Hebrews said that
Abraham and Moses, who had gone be
fore us into the invisible activities of life,
had to wait forua,that they could not be
perfect without us. Death itself can not
change us. We read that Moses and
Elijah came down on the mountain and
appeared to Jesus. Jesus talked with
them. It is a revelation of the fact that
all life is one, that we are bound together.
The ouly thing for us to do is simply to
lose ourselves, our individual lives, find
ing our supreme intxTest in the extrica
tion of all life from sin. There is nothing
for us to "do except to take the only con
tract that has ever - been given to us. It
is not worth while giving our attention
to ourselves from an individual stand
point, but we are to give ourselves to the
extrication of the world itself, the rise of
human life from this predicament. The
ouly way any of us can get out is to get
but together. There is a sense in which
we can come into individual relations
with God by working with him for the re
demption of the world. We are all
caught in its tedemptive processes
Dying does not change us. The only way
to find our true life is to find it through
the surrender of ourselves, -willingly,
gladly, to this redemptive process, which
is lifting, creating, making perfect the
world. That is what Jesus means when
he gays, "He that saveth his life shall
lose it." He commits suicide, moral
suicide just as truly as the finger that
separates itself from the hand. Life con
sists in living rationally, christianly,
humanly. Life is but one thing. It can
not mean anything else. Abandoning
interest in ourselves and giving our
selves in entire selfabandonment to the
true redemptive processes, is the way of
life. These processes will crush us if we
do not. Wear i lost if we do not. He
that saveth his life shall lose it; he that
loseth his life shall save it. It is the
social philosoph of the story of the Prodi
gal Son. It is the philosophy of life that
we have to learn through pain and strug
gle before we will accept it and give up to
it. Narrow is the gate and straight is
the way of getting in and few there be
that find it.
It reveals to us on the other side, a
social theology of God. God's relations
to the world are just what he asks yours
and mine to be. We may think it is not
so. But it needs but a momentary con
sideration to realize it. We will never
abandon ourselves to that redemptive
work iu which we are all caught unless
we understand that God is abandoniug
himself to that redemptive process. God
is not pursuing his own happiness, he is
pursuing the redemption oi man. The
revelation of Jesus is the revelation of
God himself as being constantly sacrifi
ced. God himself cannot get any rest of
a certain kind until this redemption is
accomplished- He suffers all the time
from the consequences of sin. Every Bin
of man is a particular, a constant cruci
fixion of God. There is a sense in which
God has to be delivered from our sins.
Paul goes ou and sums it all up. The
whole creation groans and travails in
pain, the pain of God, waiting for the
manifestation of the sons of God. In
other words Paul says this: the whole
physical creation, our human life, all are
caught in the throes and pain of the re
demptive heartache and sufferings of
God; waiting until we become manifested
and perfected as sons of God. So God
and man, the natural world, the physical
world, is involved in the sin of man. This
is the only possible extrication. God
himself has to beextricated. Tlnvt is the
philosophy of life on the one side, the
social theology of God on the other side.
That is the philosophy of redemption. It
is not a sane universe, except that be
true. From the moral standpoint we act
like fools to the measure that we do not
surrender ourselves to the universal re
demptive process.
Get Money Through Pnblic Improve
ments Des Moines, Iowa, April 1, 1805.
Editor Wealth Makers:
We have become so accustomed to the
private loaning, and private borrowing
of money, that many reformers, I notice,
still cling to the idea even when formulat
ing plans for a more equitable system of
finance than at present prevails. I be
lieve that private loaning (and borrow
ing too) is all wrong, fundamentally so,
and unnecessary. I would utterly des
troy It. root and branch, by making It
unprofitable-.
lA-t the federal government ondertnks
all public works ol a national character,
and pay for same in the purest of pure
flat money, which money would be full
legfll tender and receivable for any debt
due the nation. Let each state borrow
as much of said money as is required for
public improvements within the state and
deposit state bonds with the U. S. treas
urer for the amount borrowed, paying
for the use of such money, cost of issue.
Then allow each cof nty to borrow from
the state In the same manner. I contend
that when it is possible undereuch a plan
for individuals to ask and get interest,
over and above state and couuty cost,
then money should be considered at a
premium over general prices, and that
such a condition is unwholesome. It
should then be obligatory on the part of
the couu ty, state or nation, to undertake
further public work, and so render pri
vate loaning unprofitable.
Suppose a state were to undertake an
unusual amount of improvement, money
would then become more plentiful and
wages would be relatively high, as com
pared with neighboring states. Labor
would then flock to that state and the
tax on the state debt would sink into in
significance.
On the other band states that got
"economical" and refused to borrow
money, would soon lose their citizens
and get "in the soup." Or again if money
became too plentiful aud unprofitable to
use, the state and county could curtail
the amount in general circulation, bo re
deeming their obligations to the general
government and so lessen the annual tax
until private loaning and borrowing
again made its appearance.
There is a world of difference between
paying interest to "your uncle". and tri
bute to Sbylock.
The plan of government loans to indi
viduals is impracticable and the proposi
tion brings deserved ridicule upon its
projectors. We have that system now
and it is a flat failure. What has the in
dividual to offer as security? Do we
want a system of government pawn
shops (as at present)? Not much. I
notice a correspondent proposes to
"soak" bis land, but he needs to be re
minded that as the land is the Lord's,
and as he didn't help make it, he would
have some difficulty showinga title to it.
The days of absolute ownership of land
are too near to a finish, to propose lend
ing money on land. We own what we
create. Let reformers understand that
the monopolists who are eating the life
out of this country don't care a button
what they do, so long as we don't under
mine interest and rent.
Fuss and blow all we want to about
combines, trusts, railroads and other
monopolies, every last one of them is
founded on either laud or money mono
poly, or both. There are . but two essen
tial monopolies, land and money, only
two ways to get something for nothing,
interest and rent. Do anything you
please to destroy these two factors, and
you upset and destroy the whole outfit.
I believe in socialism thoroughly, but I
do not believe in adding unnecessarily to
the complications of government. Let
us reduce government to its simplest
terms. We have too many Grover
Clevelands, too many John Shermans al
ready. If iu the days of Alex. Hamilton
the government mistrusted the people,
just so in our day do the people mistrust
their rulers. Yours truly,
. ' ' ' - G.
Blacklisted '
Blacklisted, dishonored and branded,
Ohl Freemen degraded and spurned,
Because you have dared and demanded
A share of the treasure you earned.
And this is the product of "promise,"
From lips that but utter to lie;-
A gift that those Greeks take from us,
The "right" to toil on till we die.
Ayl did they not say they would bridle
The coursers of wrong in their speed,
If workingmen, hungry and idle,
Would be yoked to the car of their
creed?
That mothers and babes who have wait
ed, In the darkness of doubt and distress,
Through them should again stand elated
In homes they would brighten and
bless? ' ,
How long shall the juggernaut rumble,
Impelled by the votes we supply?
How long can our liberties crumble,
Ere tyrenny dares to defy? ,
How long shall our lives and disaster,
Be wedded through wrongs that we
see? "
How long shall the tyrant be master,
Of men that God meant to be free?
Ohl send me your answer, my brothers,
Who so often have trusted in vain,
That no longer the pledges of others,
Shall rivet and strengthen Our chain;
That the shysters who ciaim to be sages
Shall be known by the lies they have
told
For they lie as they've lied in all ages,
Since manhood was bartered for gold.
Nemo.
Placerville, Idaho.
Selections by It. Agnes C.
What is love? Smiting Upon the harps
of lite until the chord of self tremblingly
passes into music out of sight. Tenny
son. ...
Through the harsh winds of our day,
A low, sweet prelude finds its way; -Through
clouds of doubt and creeds o,
iear,
A light is breaking, calm and clear.
Whittier.
It is ever true that he who does noth
ing for others, does nothing for himself.
Goethe.
A kind thought, a loving deed is like
sprinkling perfume on the garments ot
another. You too shall breathe and
receive of its sweetness. Anon.
No man ever sank under the burdens
of today. It is when he adds tomorrow's
burdens that the weight becomes more
than the man can bear. MacDonald.
The man who isconstantly looking out
for a soft thing may be assured his par
ents contributed one to the world.
It is only by infusing great principles
into the common mind, that revolutions
in human society are brought about.
George Bancroft.
WHY SUTTER WITH
Sick and Nervous
HEADACHE?
STou may be easily and quickly oured
by taking-
Ayer's Pills
"I have been a victim of terri
ble headaches, and have never
found anything to relieve them
so quickly as A yer's Pills. Since
I began taking this medicine, the
attacks l have become less and
less frequent, until, at present,
months have passed since 1
have had one." C. F. Newman,
Dug Spur, Va.
"Having used Ayer's Pills with
great success for dyspepsia, from
which I suffered lor years, I re
solved never to be without them
in my household. They are in
deed effective." Mrs. Sallie
Morris, 125 Willow St., Phila
delphia, Pa. .
"I always use Ayer's Pills, and
think them excellent." Mrs. G.
P. Watrous, Jackson, Fla.
Ayer's Pills
Received Highest Awards
AT THE WORLD'S FAIR
oooeooeeooeeeooooeeeeeeoi
bmssss imiiii mm m iiimiuiiimii iiiiimimmm mm nl
IS THERE NO HOPE
Through table, tame and luxury haT pawed
The ancient nations onward to their tomo:
The nations ot today are following fast
Along the same Ignoble coarse to doom.
If luxury conld be for every one.
And not be held by an exclusive few.
Injustice would not with the nations i nn
And hurl them from the path where comes the
- new. ,
What of the pew? ' Each came with noble creed,
And mighty boast that Justice shonld be done,
But, like the old, gave luxury to greed, !
And so passed downward to oblivion.!
to there no hope? Must avarlcealone,
Receive the good of all that men perform,
And leave the generous spirits hot a stole,
And to the masses but the work and storm?
My brother lookl The new. advancing last
To wrest from modern greed Its lawless power,
Declares that brotherhood of man, at last.
Shall reach Its glorious noon. Its crowning
hour. '
Stand Arm, my brother! there Is hope today.
For o'er the new, we're greeting, Justice reigns.
And manhood is aroused to clear away
The monuments of aelflsh strife and gains.
J.O. Talmadg.
Coming County Populists all Right
Wisneh, Neb., April 1, 1895. ',
Editor Wealth Makers: i
The Populists of Cuming county, as far
as t have been able to ascertain, are
heartily in iavor of the resolutions pre
sented iu The Wealth Makers of March
28. We tried to reform the old parties
till we got tired of the job. Then we
formed anew one; and to ask us now after
all we have accomplished, and have two
million voters, to give up our platform
and fuse with the Democrats on free silver
comes rather late in the day. Who gives
us the assurance that we would be much
better off if such a combination were
successful and free silver should carry the
day? As long as the trusts and mono
polies are on top, and the banks have the
same facilities to concentrate the money,
thpy would get hold of it, whether the
circulation per capita were fifty dollars
or five. Let the volume of money be
ever so large, we will get none of it unless
we have something to buy it with. What
is to hinder those men that can corner
the money and make it scarce, wnen our
crops are ready for market, in order to
get them cheap, to do so after we have
tree coinaee of silver? We will get per
manent relief only when the government
owns the railroads and when we have
government banks where we can get
money at a email rate of merest. Under
these circumstances it would be worse
than foolish for us to give up the Omaha
platform that demands legislation on
those Hues and take up withmething
very much less important. It is much
better to stick to ourprinciples, even if
victory does not come so soon, than to
win next year on a compromise. If the
demands in the Omaha platform cannot
be enacted intolavv.it is a comparatively
unimportant matter to the rank and file
of the Populists who holds the offices.or
by what party name the office holders
are called.
If our leaders are true they will carry
the flag of Populism forward in the mid
dle of the road; if not, we will find new
ones. . Louis Dewald.
We have just received a large supply of
the new book, "Money Found," written
by Thos. E. Hill. Price, 25c. Send in
your orders. Nothing like it.
Catarrh Cannot Be Cured
with LOCAL APPLICATIONS, as they cannot
reach the sent of the disease, Catarrh is a blood
or constitutional disease, and In order to core
yon must take Internal remedies. Hall's Ca
tarrh Cnre is taken internally, and acta directly
ca the hlood and turnout surfaces. Hall's
Catarrh Cnre is not a qnack medicine. It was
prescribed by one ot the beat physicians In this
country lor years, and la a regular prescription.
It I composed ot the beat tonic known, combined
with the beat blood purifiers, act Inn directly on
the mncous surfaces. The perfect combination
of the two InKredlents Is what produce such
wonderful results iu curing Catarrh. Bend tor
testimonials, free.
F. J. CHE. VET & CO.. Props., Toledo, O.
Sold by Druggists, price 76o.
The Baltimore Plan,
now practically endorsed by President Cleveland, is attracting
universal attention because it is based on the evident fact that
the currency and banking systems of the country must be re
formed. But is the Baltimore plan a reform? It gives the associated
banks the power to expand the currency and relieve the country.
It also gives them the power to contract it at will and create
universal distress for their own private gain.
It puts the credit of the government behind every bank note.
It donates all but half of one per cent of the profit on the note
issue to the banks, and it leaves
Napoleon of Finance to wreck a bank and leave the government
to pay the notes.
It leaves the banks free to demand the highest interest that
the several states will allow, and affords no relief to farmers and
business men of moderate capital.
Contrast with this
The Hill Banking System.
In "Money Found," an exceedingly valuable and instructive
book published by Charles H. Kerr & Company of Chicago, and
for sale at the office of this paper at 25 cents, Hon. Thos. E.
Hill proposes that the government open its own bank in every
large town or county seat in the United States, pay 3 per cent
on longtime deposits, receive deposits subject to check without
interest, and loan money at the uniform rate of 4 per cent to
every one offering security worth double the amount of the loan.
This plan is not an expense to the government, but a source of
large revenue.
It secures the government amply, which the Baltimore plan
does not.
It relieves the distress of the common people, which the Bal
timore plan does not. ,,
It protects not only note-holders but depositors, who are un
secured now and under the Baltimore plan would be still
worse off.
In a word, the Baltimore plan is in the interest of the bankers,
the Hill Banking System is in the interest of the people.
Consider them both, and ask your congressman to vote for the
ttie you believe in.
And send us 25c. immediately for the book. "Money Found"
has no equal in its line. Address,
Wealth Makers Pub. Co.,
Lincoln, Nb
PURELY
i.
$3.00 for first $1,000, $4.00
for second $1,000 In the Cy
clone Department. Same in
Fire Department.
NEBRASKA
Mutual Fire, Lightning and Cyclone Ins. juo.
Oyer f650,000 insured. Have paid $630.00 in Losses. Have
had bat one assessment. 10c. per $100.00.
J.
t9Agents wanted.
Faster Time Better Service.
The Black Hills passenger now leaves
daily at 1:25 p. m. and will land passen
ger at Hot Springs at 8:05 a. m., and
at Dead wood at 11 a. in. next day.
From Chicago two fast trains arrive
here week days, one Sundays.
For further information apply as be
low. A. S. Fikldino. City Ticket Agt.
1 MnuiiL-u (Jpn'l Act..
117 So. 10th St.
Good News!
Governor Larrabee's great work, "The
Railroad Question," is now issued in pa
per covers. It is the standard authority
on the stbject and has just been adopted
as a text book by Vassar College. Every
reformer should have a copy. Price,
cloth, $1.50; paper covers, 50c. Ad
dress, Wealth Makers Pub. Co.,
Lincoln, Neb.
Homeaeekera' Excursions
On March 5 th and April 2nd, the Mis
souri Pacific will sell tickets to Arkansas,
Texas, Oklahoma and other southern
points at on fare for round trip plus
$2.00.
For illustrated and descriptive pam
phlets or further information call at city
ticket office. 1201 0 St. .
F. D. Cornell,
CP. AT. A.
plenty of opportunities for a
MUTUAL.
No Fire Insurance accepted
from territory covered by local
company.
Y. M. SWIG AET, Secretary,
Lincoln, Nib.
"Among
the Oarks,"
Tha Land of Bir Apples, Is aa attoactJVj
and Interesttns; book, handsomely Ulnstratef
with news ot Booth Missouri scenery tnclndlni
the famous Olden Frnlt Farss ol fcOQO awes U
Howell conntr. I pertains to frnlt raising U
that (rreat fruit belt ot America, the southeri
slope of the Oiorks. and will prove of great valua
otonly to fruit growers, but to T7 'a10"
and homeseeker looking tor a farm tad a noma
Mailed free. Address,
J. E. L0CXW00D,
KanjM City, Ma
INorth-Western
LINE
F., E. & M. V. B. R. is the best to and
from the
Sugar Beet Fields
NORTH NEBRASKA.
All arufalsta sell Dr. Miles' Nerve Plasters.
1