Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 194, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 August 1913 — SHORT SERNANS FOR A SUNDAY HALF-HOUR [ARTICLE]

SHORT SERNANS FOR A SUNDAY HALF-HOUR

Theme: RIGHT USB OF WEALTH. ♦ ♦ * BY EDWIN WHITTIER CABWELL, a D. ♦ ♦ + Text—Bat thou shaft remember the Lord thy God; for It Io He that gfveth thee power to get wealth.—Deut, vHI., 18. ♦ ♦ * It la customary when speaking of wealth to enumerate its evils. We all know that the inordinate, miserly love of money is the tap root of the whiskey evil, the slavery evil, the gambling evil, the social evil, the living for pleasure evil and the capital and labor war evil. But when a man like John Stewart Kennedy departs this life bestowing from thirty to forty millions of property to a multitude of noble charities the public beholds a more optimistic side of the acquisition of riches. Wealth itself cannot be an evil any more than the wealth of intellect, wealth of heart or wealth of character and influence are evil. It is only when one of the gifts of the Creator is made a god to be worshipped that it becomes sinfuL "Ye cannot serve (or worship) God and mammon.” Abraham and Job were millionaires in a time when a million was equal to fifty millions of present values. Solomon’s wealth was beyond all computation. He asked only for wisdom, but received both riches of mind and treasure given him by the Almighty. Zaccheus and Cornelius, two converts of the New Testament time, were men of layge property. No one In Bible history is condemned because of possessing great riches, "for the Lord maketh poor and He maketh rich.” The power to acquire riches is as much a God given gift as the power to move men by oratory or to influence men by love, or the power to write like poets, philosophers, historians and scholars, or the power to reveal nature’s secrets, like Newton, Watt, Ben, Morse and Edison. The rich men of the past have aided in these wonderful discoveries and shaped the destinies of nations. George Washington gave not only himself to his country, but poured out his gold in the hour of the Revolution’s needs. Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, loaned large amounts to the Republic, and with the remainder of his money founded a college of learning for fatherless boys. Peter Cooper has embalmed his name tn the memory of minions; the name of William E. Dodge will never perish from our annals. We do not need to search history for characters among the wealthy who have been an honor to the race and a blessing to many of their fellow beings. The number of living philantropists is increasing rapidly every year. We could fill a whole column with the names of munificent givers who make possible our churches, hospitals, orphan asylums, colleges, universities, our travellers* aid societies, homes for the aged and Infirm, our children’s aid societies, our libraries, museums and charity organizations. There is no question that the craving of all men is for brotherliness, helpfulness, kindness and friendliness, and this soul hunger is being fed in a larger degree to-day than ever before. The rich and the poor are coming together in harmonious unity, ushering in the day when the war between capital and labor will cease forever. The river of wealth is as potential for good as for evil Let all, therefore, endeavor to turn this mighty tide into the broad channels of human needs, for everything liveth whither the river cometh. Then the great ministry of wealth will not be to tarn the world into a wilderness, but the wilderness into the garden of the Lord.