THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 522, 1 June 1909, Page 4

THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL REFORM.

Sir,—From tho report of a recent sermon preached by the Rev. T. H. Sprott on tho above subject, it would appear that ho does not conceive it' to be a part of his duty to advocate a just economic system. So tho rev. gentleman is content to allow the masses ■to exist for the chief purpose of grinding out wealth for the classes. He is satisfied to see the bulk of-humanity robbed of their,Godgiven natural rights and of'tlleir freedom and independence without l raising his voice to <le-' nounce the abominable iniquity. And this is called Christianity 1 Is this the Attitude that Christ would tako up were lie'on earth now ill the flesh?, I cannot think so. '.. Mr. Sprott must know that the earth, which is the source of all wealth, was given to mankind to enjoy in common. Liko air, .it is ono of .the first 'essentials to life, but it is monopolised by a comparatively few people. ' Divorced from the soil for their own exclusive benefit, the vast majority of human beings are virtually slaves, cut off from a free and independent life, and forced to sell themselves in the labour market, Monopoly of : the land and its revenues is directly responsible for unemployment'and a great deal of crime. It prevents the expansion of trade and the-growth of population, It is, in fact, tho root-causo of all our'social evils; This being so, is the Church going to sit down quietly under this soul-debasing system of piracy? If so,. then the Church will becomo even moro useless as an instrument for the amelioration of the lot of mankind than it now is, and be left still farther behind in tho'march. of progress. ' As illustrating how programmes of social Reform worked out very difterently from what was originally intended, the Rev. Mr. Sprott said that at one time it was noticed , that the greater number of those in gaols'could not read or write, and the natural conclusion seemed •to be that 'these people wero there because they could not read or write. So great 7 educational schemes wero started, and. now, after about a century's trial, thoy found, that about 60 per cent, of those in gaol could read and write. Now, sir, the rev; gentleman's remarks seem to imply that programmes of social reform are useless, and that the present state of things cannot bo But this system can and shall be altered. It is something grander than benevolence, something more august than charity —it is justice _ herself that, demands us , to alter it. Justice that' will , not bo deniod; ;that cannot bo put off—justice that with tho scales carries tho sword. Shall we.w'ard'tho stroke with liturgies.and: prayers?, ( Shall we avert the decrees of imputable law by Raising churches, when hungry infants moan and ; Weary mothers.weop?.,.. . ;, ; . The fact thateducated .'people'? are found in fjaolsis largely duo. to tho operation of our economic system, which forces many into a stato of hopeless destitution and black despair. .11 is a system calculated to breed crime, to breed outlaws and blood-thirsty r&volutionists. • And what can you expect when society is founded on cruelly unjust principles and rnled > and deluded by a gang of robbers, -whoso chief supporters are the parsons, the alleged followers of the lowly Nazarenol—l am, etc., ~-, ■ ■ '.( .• ■ R. DENTITH. Wellington, May 27j 1909.: •