35. THE "THREE PROBLEMS" OF MAN 237

address will suffice for our present purposes, as it gives the keynote of the whole:—

"MAN has faced three extraordinary problems. The first was the simplest: the taking possession of the physical world, the appropriation of natural forces. The second was more complex: the organization of industry, the working out of an industrial system. The third is the most perplexing: THE SPIRITUAL DIRECTION OF HUMAN AFFAIRS."

In these few words we have a clear statement of the idea of the consolidation of human affairs, and the bringing of that consolidation under spiritual direction. And not only so, but the intimation is plainly given, that, when this is brought about, Man's task will be accomplished; for it is Man who has faced these three "extraordinary problems"; and Man is now addressing himself to the solution of the last and most perplexing one.

We ask particular attention to the fact that the system described by this professor of the new branch of Social Economy is, in every essential particular, identical with that predicted in Rev. xiii. In this Programme of Social Work we see the great intellectual energies, which are controlled by the higher education of the day, directed towards the fulfilment of that prophecy. The Programme of Social Work embraces the development of the Social organization, the training of Social organizers and Social economists, the inculcation of the Social spirit, and the diligent impression upon the public mind of the Social point of view.

It is noticeable also that, while many of the clergy are taking up the cause of Socialism (which, though similar in name, is a radically different system from the social organization proposed by Prof. Devine), there are, on the other hand, a number of the largest and most influential Churches that have passed into the hands of the capitalists, and are liberally supported by them. The cause of capitalism has also its doughty champions among the clergy, such, for example, as Chancellor Day, of Syracuse University, defender of the Standard Oil Company, and author of The Raid on Prosperity, an attack on the policies of President Roosevelt.

But whether men be working in one or the other of these hostile parties of Social organizers, all are working towards precisely the same end, namely, the consolidation of all human affairs, the giving of "spiritual direction" thereto, and eventually the exaltation of the Superman, the great "Social Economist," to the head of that Consolidation.

THE PREDICTED END OF CAPITALISM

The devotion of man to the heaping up of money is the outcome of three prominent traits of the unre-

DEVOTION TO MONEY-GETTING generate human being, namely, selfishness, unbelief, and the vain-glory of life.

1. It has been truly said that whenever one man receives a dollar he has not earned, another man has earned a dollar he did not receive. Every one of the colossal fortunes of the day exists because of the impoverishment of many whose labour has gone to the production of the wealth that constitutes them. Business principles are frankly the quintessence of selfishness; so that no further argument or proof are needed to establish the point that devotion to the accumulation of money proceeds from selfishness.

2. Devotion to the accumulation of wealth is also an evidence of unbelief and lack of trust in God; for those who truly trust Him have the sure promise of His unfailing providence. Their trust is not "in uncertain riches, but in the living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy" (1 Tim. vi. 17).

3. Finally, the possession of great wealth is a mark of distinction, giving to the possessor thereof a place of prominence among men, and making him the object of attentions that are pleasing to the natural heart. Thus the vain-glory of life incites to the heaping up of money in these last days, in which, because of their democratic character, the honours and distinctions for which men strove in other days have largely lost their value.

There is no reason whatever to suppose that an appeal to the very rich, in the name of humanity, and for altruistic considerations, to forego the further accumulation of riches, will be of the slightest avail; for there is scarcely a man among "modern men" who, with the same opportunities, would not use them to the fullest extent for his own benefit.

Neither will denunciations of the "criminally rich" and "malefactors of great wealth," though coming from the highest official station, have the smallest effect in staying this passion for the heaping up riches in the last days.

But God is not unmindful of the use which many of those who possess great riches are making of them, or of the sufferings caused thereby to millions of human beings. Jehovah of Hosts has His own plan for dealing with the evils of Capitalism, and has given His word of comfort to those of His people who may suffer therefrom.

In James v. 1-8, we have a passage of Scripture which wonderfully illuminates the present stage of Industrialism. That this passage relates to the end-times is certain, because it is specifically addressed to those who have heaped up treasure "in the last days," (this is the literal rendering of ver. 3). Moreover, the counsel it gives to the "brethren," whose endurance was to be tested by the accumulation of these fortunes, is to wait patiently "until the coming of the Lord." This is a plain intimation that, when the period of swollen fortunes should arrive, then "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh" (ver. 8), so near, indeed, that

THE "RICH MEN"

they who suffer by reason of these evil conditions need formulate no plans for their own relief. The Lord's coming will bring deliverance to them before they can accomplish anything for themselves.

The prominent features of this passage, which conveys a message of special importance at the present time, are the following:—

First. A class of "rich men" is addressed. It is doubtful if such a class ever existed in the previous history of mankind. There have been rich men, of course (though hardly in the modern sense); but there has been no class of people whose common characteristic was simply that they were "rich." There have been aristocrats, nobility, upper and lower classes, educated and uneducated classes, high caste and low caste, gentry and peasantry, literary groups, musical, artistic, scientific, political, etc. But in our day there is a distinct class of "rich men," a financial group, whose bond is simply that of wealth, its possession, its use, and particularly its augmentation. These "rich men" have their own separate and special interests, their own mode of living, their own "society," pleasures, entertainments, amusements, etc. What distinguishes them from other men is nothing more, or less, or other, than that they are "rich." And it may be remarked that what would have been regarded as a fortune one generation back would not to-day admit its possessor to the much envied class of "rich men."

Second. The rich men are admonished to weep, howling for the miseries that are coming upon them. The precise nature of the miseries which are to threaten this plutocratic class is not stated, the language of verses 2 and 3 being symbolical. But nothing that could happen would make a plutocrat so miserable as the threatened loss of his money; and that such is the nature of the predicted calamity is plain enough from the words, "Your riches have rotted."¹ The significance of this appears to be that the great horded piles of wealth have become valueless. Such would be the case if, for example, a socialistic government should declare all railroads, manufactories, etc., in which the money of the wealthy is invested, to be the rightful property of the people at large, i.e. of "Society." The evidences of the riches, i.e. the stocks, bonds, and other "investment securities" would remain, but the value thereof would have decayed. The riches would have "rotted." In like manner, the words "Your gold and silver has been eaten away; and the canker of them shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire," indicate, not the loss of fortunes in ordinary ways, but the actual eating out of the value of possessions, and that by a process which will entail poignant anguish to their owners, comparable to fire gnawing at their vitals. Moreover, these "miseries" are not

¹ The author is using in these comments the literal renderings given in Bagster's Englishman's Greek N.T.

HEAPING UP TREASURE merely coming upon individual members of the wealthy class, but upon the entire group of "rich men." Nothing but a radical change in the social order, such as the abolition of private ownership of capital, would bring about such a result.

Third. The passage indicates a period or era of the world's history wherein there shall be a very marked accumulation of wealth—something far beyond the ordinary fortunes of those previously reputed to be rich—in a few hands. The specific charge against these rich men is that they have "heaped treasure together." Here is a heaping up of treasure—the making of great piles of wealth—and a devotion to that process as the business of life. Heaping up riches is the all-absorbing occupation of these men, employing all their energies, occupying their thoughts, and forming the topic of their conversation.

The expression "heaps" of treasure aptly indicates the fabulous accumulations which a few men of this generation have amassed; and this era of heaping together of riches in amounts which render their owners conspicuous, and which separate them into a special class, began but a few years ago. So rapidly has this process of accumulation of wealth come about, and so rapidly is it running its predicted course, that the culmination of the era which it especially characterises must of necessity be very close at hand.

It is estimated, on the basis of Government Census

Reports, that the wealth of the United States has been increased six-fold in the past fifty years. But this prodigious increase of wealth has not tended to equalize the economic conditions of the people. On the contrary, the treasure has been "heaped together" into the hands of a very small and steadily decreasing number of people; and the inequality between the very rich and the very poor is greater than ever before. It is estimated that the bulk of the wealth of the United States is in the hands of about 250,000 persons.

Fourth. The prophecy foretells that, along with this amassing of treasure by a few rich men, there will be suffering so great as to cause loud outcries; and that the cries of the sufferers are so piteous as to evoke the special assurance that they have not been unheeded in heaven as on earth, but have "entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts."

Such suffering exists to-day, and is most acute in those very centres of human activity where the heaped-up treasures are procured. Such suffering exists in this country at a time of abundant harvests, and when barns and warehouses and stores are filled with the produce of the field, and with the products of human industry.

These cries of suffering human beings are a conspicuous feature of modern "civilization"; and, in the midst of the superabundance which the bounty of God has provided, they convict man of failure to

HUMAN INCOMPETENCE administer righteousness and justice even in the things upon which man himself has bestowed no labour. On this testimony, man is justly adjudged to be utterly incompetent to manage his own affairs, even to the extent of relieving destitution, and the suffering it entails, and that in the midst of super-abundant wealth. And, therefore, the judgment of God, which has waited long, draws near. For if the man of to-day is unable or unwilling to establish a social system which shall at least be free from the foul blot of cruel injustice and indifference to the miseries of the poor, and that shall put at least a limit to the oppressive power of sordid selfishness, rapacity, and greed of gain, it is the sublimity of folly to indulge in the promise and hope that a better condition will be established by the man of to-morrow. It is presumption and folly for the man of this generation to speak for the man of the next generation; and even if he could certify better things of the latter it would not relieve himself from condemnation. The man of to-day has no warrant to speak for, or to promise anything on behalf of, the man of to-morrow. Yet he not only does so, but he even seems to think that, by predicting better and more equitable conditions in some indefinite future time, he is thereby excusing his own selfish and unjust use of the opportunities which the existing system has afforded him.

But already the era of multiplication of wealth has proceeded far enough at least to prove beyond all doubt that increase of prosperity does not tend to improve the character and condition of man. On the contrary, it serves only to excite his lust of gain and pleasure, and to develop a state of society wherein there may exist at one end criminal indulgence, and at the other abject misery.

It is a very common practice of the day to solicit admiration for this glorious era of "progress" and "prosperity," by parading large figures showing the great gains which have been made in various directions. But if our scientific civilization is to be judged by the statistics of its gains, then it is condemned by its own figures; for these show that the gains in wealth, commerce, size of cities, miles of railroads, tonnage of ships, etc., whereof the age boasts, are equalled or exceeded by the increases in murders, suicides, divorces, and insanity. Each of these latter groups is increasing in the United States at a rate far exceeding the increase in population. These are the real fruits by which the character of our wonderful era of progress may be correctly known.

Fifth. But still more significant is the reference in the prophecy to the cry of the labourers, protesting against the system whereby their just reward is kept back or diverted from them.

The present era of industrialism is characterized, not only by a class of "rich men," but also by a distinct

THE "CRY" OF THE LABOURERS

"labouring class"; and this class, like the other, is becoming more and more conspicuous. Organized Labour is one of the chief factors of the present economic situation; and it has a definite "cry" of its own. Who is there, in these days, that has not heard the outcry of the labouring class? That feature of the era is emphasized in the prophecy: "Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, CRIETH." The harvest which these rich men have gathered into their storehouses has been the product of human toil; and the cry of the reapers is that their hire has been kept back by fraud or artifice.

It has already been pointed out that the special complaint of the Socialist labour-leaders, and of those whom they represent, is that the wage-system is really a fraudulent device, whereby the capitalist is enabled to appropriate to himself as "profits" the larger part of the value of the labourer's work, and whereby the latter's labour is purchased, not at its actual value as measured by what it produces, but at the market price of labour in a competitive labour-market, i.e. in a market where there are always unemployed workmen competing for work. The passage is very specific in speaking of the "hire" of the workmen, thereby pointing to a state of society wherein the labour is performed, not by slaves, but by hired labourers. This feature of the passage is very impressive, and has a special claim upon our attention as we see these identical conditions assuming prominence until they have become one of the most conspicuous characteristics of the society of the day.

Sixth. "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth." Rotherham renders this, "Ye have luxuriated upon the land"; and Bagster's literal version says: "Ye have lived in indulgence in the earth and in self-gratification."

We hear and read tales of unprecedented extravagance on the part of the very rich; of entertainments which cost enormous sums; of dinners and even of single gowns which cost a fortune; of displays of dress, jewellery, and table decorations; of competition between members of the wealthy class in the matter of providing unique, costly, and sometimes amazingly grotesque features for their respective banquets and other entertainments. Styles of dress and headgear are also going to unprecedented extremes of lawlessness. Luxuriating upon the land, and living (i.e. spending their lives) in indulgence of all sorts and in self-gratification, are certainly among the distinctive characteristics of that class of ultra-rich which the era of industrialism has brought into existence; and "for whom judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction slumbers not" (2 Pet. ii. 3).

God has noted all these things, and has specifically foretold "miseries" coming upon the rich and self-

"A TERRIBLE ERA"

indulgent far greater than those now endured by the defrauded labourers, at whose expense they luxuriate on the earth. Just what form this coming calamity will take, is not definitely stated in the prophecy. Neither do present conditions admit of a prediction of its precise form; but the near approach of some catastrophe is being freely predicted by not a few of those who observe and comment upon the existing state of Society. Indeed, with economic conditions so badly out of balance—and rapidly becoming more so—it requires little foresight to predict a speedy and radical change.

Professor Ely, of Johns Hopkins University, thus expresses himself upon the present situation:—

"I must frankly say that I believe we are just beginning to enter a terrible era in the world's history—an era of domestic warfare such as never has been seen, and the end of which God only can see."

We may supplement Professor Ely's statement by saying that God has not only seen the end, but has revealed it. Therefore they who believe His Word will not be disturbed by these things which are coming to pass upon the earth. The passage upon which we have been commenting states clearly that, when the described condition of things appears, then the Lord's coming is so near that His people need take no measures for their own redress, or participate in any political schemes of social reform. What they are to do is specially enjoined in the words, "Be patient, therefore, brethren, till the coming of the Lord." He Himself will bring deliverance to them that look for Him; for "unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, apart from sin, unto salvation" (Heb. ix. 28).

He Who alone can set all things right shall surely take the government upon His shoulder, and He will do it at the moment when man's attempts at self-government have most conspicuously failed.

The purpose, therefore, of this important prophecy, so clearly descriptive of these "last days," is to arouse the Lord's people, and to exhort them to be in a constant state of watchfulness and readiness for His coming.

"Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it until it receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your heart: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF SOCIALISM

Thus far our attention has been directed mainly to the economic side of Socialism, contrasting it with the existing order of Capitalism, which it aims to supplant. But, as has been stated, Socialism does not