THE TERRIBLE PROBLEM OF THE POOR.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 219, 17 September 1888, Page 8

THE TERRIBLE PROBLEM OF THE POOR.

(FROM OOR SP£OULCORRBBPbNDEN;T.) London, August 11. The Lambeth Conference terminated on Saturday week with a special service at St. Paul's, at which 144 bifihops and a number ■of distinguished laymen were present. The Bpeoial feature of this aeryicewaa a magnificent sermon by the Archbishop of York on what he termed " the terrible problem of the poor." While he was_being; conducted to the pulpit the Archbishops and Bishops left, the choir and. seated; themselves under the dome opposite the pulpit on the north side, ana as the preacher was to direct his observations to them especially he had to turn his face from tbei niajor part of the congregation. The Archbishop of York, however, has both manly voice and manly presence^ arid hia elocution has all the power of a natural style and impressive emphasis. On this occasion, he preached a remarkablyitelling . discourse,, the text being the extract from Paul's Epistle to the Romans—" For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth' for the manifestation^ of the sons of God " (Bth chap., 19th verse).Afterfttie lapse ofceighteen centuries,, the preacher showed, the 'world,, 'full of misery, still awaitd for a redeeiriing power* since strife, and struggle, pain and death/ seem :tb, be iuscribed upon the vvprld's foundation stones. ■* He then ■gave^reasbns; why thefaithfulshould,not lose heart, .but read* intthe past: the triumph of the future; In elaborating.* the proposition; that the sins . and' miseries which: 'yet remain caunot be overcome by mere civilisation , the Archbishop said: ~ A' The tools which she can use are not fit for that kind of work. Turn your thoughts to London and New York for a- single day! In either, city human creatures groan and trayail, knowing as yet no redemption from sin and also from sorrow by Divine or any love. The night doses oyer the day- of struggle, but reti comes not with the .aarkv Meb watch round death beds, and while they sorrow feel that death at> least is rest.. Houseless wanderers are fortunate who, can sleep unobserved under a tree. Some of them -— I " kiiow ! j'iti 'to be true—have learned to sleep upbri their feet; to thenvihe doorstop is forbidden; they are''only allowed such sleep as can consist with moving on. The servants of pleasure are still astir—tho pleasure that is made; Of drink arid shameless appetite, which must' not bei palled brutal in justice to the brute. Consider, tbo, the poverty; as well as- the sin. -Wealth vvaa never so great; poverty was never,more stark and gnndirig. /Westward, there are streets aria palaces charged to-the5 full: from garret to basement,!with contrivances of luxury such as no mediffival Queen ,p vqje. , clreitmt;of.^ -'Eastward, there aredwellingal tarinofen'umei'buC'u'poTi which' none of-these luxurious inventions have lighted,.'. In maiiy of thorn' a few helpless wt.meii ;try. to keep, up a, coptiriuanQei qf■ loodwbicn barely staves off starvation;-by tho few daily pence which;their work ,is adjudged!to: be worth; :If our. boasted progress becomes more rapid Ido not see why trie riches may not grow, greater, arid the poverty more deadly. We compassionate the poor ; we are indignant with those who stand next them' and do not seem to help. We heara good deal just now aboutwhatiis; called fclibeweatingsystem, which is, after all, an attempt to organise in workshops a number of lielpless■creatures who,' without such organisation,, would oarn no Iwage, at 8,11. We have been considering last week, amongst othe,r .topics, .the Socialism which is now inaking itself felt in every country; Socialism is not so much a Syeterri, a discovery, as ;|ari" outcVy of hungry dospajir. lbs idea is that nothing can be more unjiitat -than the pie«cnt social at.ue; thai <my .'change,, even though it be .thro,ugh;,universtti'i.' conflagration, must be improvement. \yhat exists, they think, is evil beyond coo-. caption.: Many of its .poor remedies ..are childish, contradictory, a.revival of old experinaerits that have ended ift failure. •' Abolish heirship; and; succession t " tliey say ; " organise workshops 'without the pbiver..to disriiiss the useless 'workers." And so oni The teiTible element of this .question.is;that our^present progress ag-; gravates> ■ both1 extremeSj,; doubiirig the; wealth of the rich, halvirig:.bhe wages-of an increasing/multitude ,of poor. The quick progress of science does not alleviate. it; against the.sldwer progress of spiritual improvement ib is the ' chief resisting i agency. You cannot always shut your ;eyes to the terrible 'problem .of the poor. Perhaps you may not fear that thW will ever destroy, society; they are too weak and helpless for that; But stillj. even the most placid conscience must be rineasy. We: .may sleep in our beds because starving hand 3 can furnish no weapon,-kindle no torch.; because brains faintiwith sfcarvation can conceive rib treasonable plans. But our sleep cannot be so sound if we know that sx,4. sieters are starving around;"'*.

Whior was ib who said " The murmurs of bhe poor are jusb. Why this inequality of condition ?';Eormed as we are pub of ,the sanie mud, there is no way of justifying this except in saying bhab; God has committed the poor to be rich, and has as- j signed them bheir mainbenahce but of their superfluiby ?" Ib was no communisb. _ Thp | words are those of Bossuet. Competition, j trade, brilliaut invention, bhebope of profib, have made many rich; but in.the nabure, of bhe case, the great commercial machipe stands sometimesstil];and then the capital ; of the ri<;h remains, and the labour, which i is the capital of the poor, lies useless, and : they starve. 3)The power of Christ, on the otherharid, which has \vrought such wonders intnepast,ennoblingthefamily life, building hospibals; freeing the slave, organising the care of the poor, still,exists, and if it seems weaker, it is owing to the weaker faith of His followers. Let us consider this deeply ; with prayers and tears; nay, with larger and .constant sympathy;- Let us more actively affirm the doctrine of, love to others. Let us apply ,it to bhouglttless niamages, intemperance, and want of thiifb —the chief causes of the helplessness of bhe people. Leb us speak of avarice as a deadly sin ; leb us explain* bo t?oe people bhe sin of luxury; leb us charge wealth with t its proper trusts, .its Christian duties, leb us' remind JDives that only not <■, to think of Lazarus at the gate is asm againsb Chrisb. The sermon being eridiid, bhe Archbishops, and Bishops returned to the eacraiium and the Communion was administered bo them, Gounod's " Te Deum "was sung, and at the close of the service the procession re-, tiredin reverse order, to that by which it entered. ; " •