CHAPTER VII.
PRACTICAL POLITICS.
In a cause as holy as ours, false modesty is as unwise as false dignity. When we realize that money represents human effort, that it gives multiplied power either in war or peace and that the possession of money, with its accompanying power to an almost unlimited extent, is enjoyed by our enemies, it is well for us to admit at the start that we, every Volunteer of us, must make constant efforts wherever speaking or working, to raise funds, on however small a scale, for the great work before us. One humble but time-honored method, which has proved useful in every popular movement, recorded in history, is that of "taking up a collection." People may laugh at it and the collections be small but we must not be deterred by ridicule nor discouraged by the apparent insignificance of the returns. This is the only way to give all the people systematically and persistently a chance to contribute according to ability to the cause that means liberty and the opening of opportunity to them. Therefore, let no speaker listen to advice from the timid and over-modest, who shrink from the sneers and taunts of the over-nice, but at every meeting let them pass around the hat after the manner of our forefathers. We must also remember that in every audience, however small, there may be some penitent Croesus awake to existing evils but as yet with no clear vision of a remedy, with power and will to help but lacking knowledge as to where such help should be given. Sudden conversions are not unknown where the message of truth is delivered with sincerity and simplicity. There are thousands of rich men at this moment who, if properly appealed to, would give liberally to the cause that to them seemed likely to promote the general welfare. There are many human hearts now waiting, like the Pool of Bethesda, for the angel's touch, which shall "trouble" their calm and transform them into sources of healing for the woes of humanity. No speaker knows but he may be the one destined to open up these closed fountains of power. The heights and depths of human nature lie beyond our ordinary vision. A man's power of response to an appeal in behalf of those who suffer is not always graven on his forehead, so that "he that runneth may read." In any audience there may be some listener, apparently indifferent, in whom all the preliminary processes of conversion have already taken place, and who needs only the warm breath of an atmosphere charged with unselfish enthusiasm to complete the work of regeneration. Such cases are on record. Within a few years, the gift of a million dollars was received by the promoters of a reform movement in New York, not from an habitual contributor to such enterprises, but from a sudden convert, a man ordinarily cold and indifferent to humanitarian movements, and before unresponsive to his brothers' needs. Perhaps it was not the need that previously had failed to stir his heart, but only the methods of helping that had not satisfied his mind. There are rich men and women to-day, honestly desirous of bringing about better social conditions and willing to make sacrifices to that end, but who, so far, have found none of the methods suggested practicable. To such we may appeal with certainty of response, thereby being furnished with the sinews of war by those who owe their wealth to the very system we oppose.
And why not? Because a man has been thrown into a brutal and wasteful contest and has come victorious from the struggle is no reason why he should wish his children and humanity at large to be forced into another of the same kind. Such a man well knows that he, too, in spite of apparent success, is also a victim. He sees the possibilities of life under a better social system—the order, the beauty, the harmony, the possible development of higher faculties and extinction of those that link him with the brutes. All this he sees, and even while scrambling with the rest for possession of the booty, he would hail with joy any change that promised to relieve his children from a like sad necessity.
Starve fifty Sunday school teachers for a week, lock them in a cage together, throw in a roast of beef, a plum pudding, a pitcher of soup, a plate of pickles and a pot of beans, at the same time telling each to get what he can, as no more will be furnished for a month; and a swinish scramble will at once ensue, in which two thirds of the food will be wasted, and in the end one man will have a pocket full of plum pudding, another a handful of pickles, and the strongest the roast beef to himself in a corner.
Let it be understood that he who gets the roast beef is no worse than the others, nor will he, because of his success, NECESSARILY favor an indefinite continuation of such brutal scrambling. The difference between him and the least successful is a difference in strength, NOT NECESSARILY A DIFFERENCE IN AIM. To-day, most men are actuated by the same spirit. To desire success and a share of life's gifts is right and normal. It is the political system under which we live that has transformed this natural and healthy impulse into a devilish desire to absorb not only all wealth but all opportunities.
To remedy this radical evil, it is not enough to change individuals; we must change the system. It is, of course, to be expected that the impulse to change our present barbarous monopolistic methods will come from those who have failed in the scramble for riches. For the possession of wealth naturally tends to promote in the minds of those who possess it, a certain degree of satisfaction with the methods by which it has been acquired and a tendency to oppose any change. A spirit of toadyism and fear of social ostracism also induces many to sacrifice their highest ideals. Great fortunes often destroy the independence which it might be supposed they would secure to their possessors; yet, in spite of the temptations of wealth and the unwritten, but none the less rigidly enforced mandates of a heartless society, not a few are ready to make the required sacrifices in order to advance the interests of our common humanity.
To such partially awakened minds, it ought not to be difficult to show that the times are ripe for a solution of existing problems other than that offered by charitable associations. For eighteen centuries the Good Samaritan has been the working model of the church and society, yet the number of the wounded and robbed on the world's highway has so increased that the gigantic systems of modern charity are inadequate to meet the increasing demands upon them. Why? The answer is clear. No very keen intelligence is required to see that one very important duty has been neglected by the Good Samaritans of all times. Occupied with caring for the wounded, they have neglected to hunt down the thieves, who have accordingly increased in numbers and boldness. It is time for us to leave effects and study causes, to organize at once to hunt down the thieves, for, when these are routed, there will be fewer victims on whom to exercise charity. Why plan educational and charitable institutions in the slums when the causes that produce the slums are left untouched? Why add another to the five hundred churches of a great city, when the influence of the money power makes the preaching of the real gospel well nigh impossible,[7] thus largely destroying the usefulness of those already built? Instead of new homes of charity, let us organize to end the need for charity. Instead of building one new school, the true educator will ally himself with those forces that seek, through public action, to place education within the reach of all. Instead of building a new church, the devout Christian or Jew will divide his substance with the party that aims to make possible the application of the principles of religion to the everyday affairs of life and to all social institutions.
Never was there a cause that appealed more strongly than ours to a man's generous instincts. In the middle ages all Europe was fired by the idea of wresting the Holy Sepulchre from infidel hands; to-day Greek and Cuban patriots are laying everything upon their country's altar for the sake of national honor and freedom. Our cause is nobler, larger than any of these. Not Christ's tomb, but the race He died to redeem; not an insignificant nation, but humanity is through us pleading to be rescued and restored to liberty. Our appeal is not to a class, a church or a nation; it is to MEN for MAN.
ONE DOLLAR GIVEN TO OUR CAUSE WILL ACCOMPLISH MORE FOR THE ALLEVIATION OF HUMAN SUFFERING, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRUE CIVILIZATION, THAN FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS SPENT FOR ANY COLLEGE, CHARITY OR CHURCH. As hundreds of poor men have sacrificed all they possessed, given up home and the comforts of family life, to travel from town to town urging the principles of the New Democracy; so will there be rich men, who, feeling their RELATIONSHIP TO HUMANITY TO BE MORE BINDING than any ties uniting them with a selfish class, will also give up the larger part of what they have and lay it on the altar of their country.